Garlando

I read somewhere that, to boost the apparent size of a hand held fish, use a wide angle lens on your camera.The book had photos showing the effect of switching lenses and dang if the wide angle photo made the fish seem considerably larger. -Never tried it though. G.

In my favorite local pond my son and I do quite well with perch pattern Shad Raps and Fat Raps. They have accounted for quite a few 6 and 7+ lb.ers which here in eastern Massachusetts is nothing to snear at. Of course, if there was a baby pickerel lure we'd probably do even better since we get two pics for every bass!

I remember a few recent statements in Bassmaster about the phenomenal growth of bassfishing as a sport in recent years. Maybe it's not enough to offset the decline in shad and alewife netting.

I like Spiderwire Ultracast 15lb. on my Stradic. Never had a line handling problem! Power Pro in same weight has a bit more memory/stiffness and can loop off ocasionally. Fireline even a bit more than the PP. I think braid is great, esp. in the tinted weed filled water I fish. G.

I find that in any half day period there usually is at least one hour or so where the bite really picks up but then for whatever reason drops back off. Last Sunday my son and I were fishing our local pond and after all morning on vitually no action I switched to a torpedo and was casting to isolated weed mats in open water under a blazingly bright sun and caught one 8 lb.er and had another explosive strike but no hook-up with in ten minutes. My son also had on a very good fish on a hula grub cast to a floating weed mat but lost it in the jungle. Then nothing for the rest of the day. So it definitely is worth keeping at it inspite of the doldrums. I'd rather cast to empty water than watch TV or go to the mall any day. G.