Crestliner2008

Ended up calling Garmin. Very patient and helpful folks there. Turned out the DVD program for "MapInstall" needed to be ugraded. Once I did that, the software worked the way it was suppose to - and the topo maps are on the GPS now. Pretty detailed maps too! Thanks!

My son just bought a Garmin Legend HCx kit with topo map DVD, etc.. We installed the topos to my computer and then uploaded it to the GPS with seemingly no difficulty. But we've been unable to "see" topo maps on the GPS itself. Anyone have any experience with these units? Any suggestions as to how to see the topos? Thanks.

Actually, I use WD-40 to spray away all the old grease. Then I run the open reel under warm water until it's all flushed out. Then I re-grease & oil, once everything is dry. Been doing this for a lot of years with a lot of reels.

I have been using a Garmin Legend CX for 3 years now and love it. Great maps available too. Probably a lot cheaper today than when I bought it!

For UL panfishing, it's hard to beat the oldest standby - Trilene XL (I like the green). On a crappie forum recently, I've been hearing some good things about Vicious Panfish line though. I may give that a whirl at some point. But I've been using XL for over 30 years, so it's going to be hard to switch for me!

As soon as the ponds freeze up, I'm done for the year. this should occur pretty soon, as our water temps are in the 40's right now and night time air temps are in the 20's. Suppose to be a warm up this coming week, so we may last another 2 - 3 weeks at best. Good time to clean fishing reels & rods and get tackle re-organized for the April thaw. I do *** you folks from warmer climes.

I'm definitely going to look into a generator. Supposedly, you do not need to directly hook it up to your electrical panel (from what I've been told); rather just run an extension cord to what you want to run off of it? I will investigate, for sure. If I can run just the furnace, fridge & stove, I'd be happy. This situation will NOT happen again - to me anyway!

Got hit hard a week ago today. 13" of heavy, wet snow. Knocked out the power to 90% of Western Ma. I just got my power back this morning! Six days of hell! House temps averaged 42 degrees. Could not stay there, although we tried for the first 2 nights. "Survived" in a run-down motel for 4 days, (only room left in 50 miles!) at an outrageous price - talk about being "gouged"! Top that off with having to trash a freezer and fridge full of food. In the 66 years I've lived in this neck of the woods, we never have lost power for more than a few hours, let alone 6 days! So this was an eye opening experience, to say the least. Will definitely be looking at a back-up generator now, for sure! If any of you are from New England, I feel your pain. It's been a very trying time for us all. God Bless you all.

Back in the '70's, snagged a lamprey eel in the Ct. River! One ugly s.o.b.!

One way that has helped me a lot with Texas rigged worms is the way Doug Hannon holds his rod and retrieves them. Each time you raise the rod (no matter how little or how much) to move your bait forward, KEEP it in the position it's raised to, for a few more seconds, before lowering it to retrieve slack. This keeps an optimal angle of the rod tip and maintains contact with your bait, allowing for a much more sensitive feel for what's happening down there. It has worked for me.

My Ruger SP101 .357 is always on my hip. I never leave home without it.

I truly love the action on the Live Magic Shad, but have stopped using them after casting the tails off two packages (3 baits per) of the 5.5" size. Used a lightly weighted swimbait hook (5/0) and I'd get maybe a dozen casts before the bait went in one direction and the tail another! Never got a fish off the 6 baits either. And I tried "soft" casting them, as best I could, but had to put more pressure on the cast in order to get the distance I wanted. Maybe it's just me?

The May, 2011 edition of the In'Fisherman mag has a good article entitled, "Spring Hair Days for Smallies".

His book entitled "Spoonplugging for Bass" is the most important fishing book to ever come down the pike. Should be manditory reading in grade school!

Buck Perry always wanted the fish to see his line! Said that it led the fish to his bait! As far as Nanofil goes, so far I'm using 10#, 12# and 2# tests on various rigs. I have no problem with their higher test lines, however I've given up on the 2# test for crappie. Seems like no matter how carefully I tie either an Alberto, Albright or double UNI knot to join a leader, the knot fails. And tying direct, I've lost more jigs to tiny fish than any other line I've used. Maybe the 4# test would work out better for me - I just don't know. But right now, I've switched all my UL rigs back to 2# test mono. No problems, no worries!

1) 5/0 EWG 2) 5/0 EWG 3) 5/0 EWG 4) 5/0 EWG 5) 3/0 EWG.

Interesting question. Here's a perspective worth considering. Back in the 70's, a great fisherman, by the name of Bill Binkleman, wrote a series of "Blue Books" on fishing. He was a jig fisherman, "par excellance". Bill, along with Al & Ron Lindner, wrote these detailed books (along with the "Big Book of Fishing"), for the walleye and bass angler. (I still have the entire collection!) Bill was a guy that payed attention to detail. (As a side note, he was the first US angler, to write about using a drop shot!) Extreme detail in some instances. His parade concerning torn baits went something like this: ....."Think about bait, real (or artificial, referring to plastics) as a hamburger. You order one while in a diner. Your buddy comes in and sits besides you. You get your burger and decide to share it with him. Do you think it would be more appetizing if you first took a bite out of it and then tore it in half? Or rather, if you took a sharp knife and cut it precisely in half, offering him a cleanly separated section?" Surely something to think about in these heavily pressured times.

I have to add, that I agree with the above - except - when you are fishing finesse presentations. Then, a 3" or 4" worm, on a drop shot rig, can make a big difference. If I'm using reaction type baits, then bigger is usually better.

Large 1/2 spinnerbaits would be my no. 1 choice. Big smallies love them! Soft & hard jerkbaits would be my second. If that doesn't turn anything, then a reverse rigged Fat Ika. One of these will definitely get their gander up!

I've been using Reaction Innovations "Skinny Dipper". I screw it onto a light 1/8 oz. weighted swimbait hook and it does just fine! Just use a light wire leader if there are any toothy critters in the waters you fish. They love this bait! I tried the Lake Fork "Live Magic Shad", but I just can't turn a fish with it, for whatever reason? Great looking bait in the water too. But, you have to be careful you don't cast it too hard. Last two I used I cast the tails off!

J Francho - what kind of worm is that?

I will only use the Gamakatsu Drop Shot/Split Shot hook, size #2. The reason is because of the point. If you look closely at most "octopus" type hooks, you'll see a curved point. The Gama hook has a straight point. Here's the Octopus style: Now here's the Gamakatsu style: With the octopus, when you set the hook, it goes in and immediately comes back out. What this does, in effect is to skin hook the top lip. This allows for more frequent "quick releases" before boating the bass! With the Gama, the hook goes in deep and stays there. This is just my opinion, which is also shared by RichZ, a renowned drop shot specialist (and fishing columnist), here on the east coast. Hope this is of some help.

X2 - Definitely a smallmouth bass.

If you can get your hands on the book, "Spoonplugging", by Elwood "Buck" Perry, you'll find out all about points, humps and structures of all kinds. No one else has defined it as perfectly as he does, with the whys and wherefores included.

Here's an oldie for ya! Right out of the "Big Book of Fishing". I still have some of these too!