Paul Roberts

Gosh that's fun! Creek smallie fishing is one of my all time favorites. I do miss it. Thanks for the post.

Excellent post, Glenn. Wow, 600 videos! That's a lot of work. Hats off to you.

Well, it's far from a "cash grab". The nature of the beast requires nearly constant uploading of "content". That is a time investment few people have, or can keep up. Considering how many fishing channels are out there now, one would need special content, a special personality (w/good content), stunts or other hooks, and keep it up, to build such an audience. Once/if you are able to build a large audience (doesn't happen overnight), then you may attract sponsors. Then your time must compete with added "unboxings" and advertisements shoe-horned into your "content". If you hang in there, and continue to build an audience, you may be able to create a wider business -maybe creating your own bait company? It's a "be careful what you wish for" scenario.

Thanks, CJ. Ach... My son likes to fish, but... it's low on the priority list. He's pretty steeped in the tech world. And, he'd rather do things with his friends, than his dad. His considerable tech knowledge is valuable. But... easy entertainment is mighty stiff competition. What my son has been able to discover, throughout his life, is the real satisfaction "easy" just doesn't reach.

To clarify my above post: Agreed that, really good anglers can often make better, or wider, use of individual baits than less experienced anglers can. But, to me, "versatility" refers to the ability to make good use of a wide range of baits; Baits that each shine in certain places, conditions, and circumstances.

To me, versatility is about being able to deal with a diversity of water types, and conditions & circumstances.

Two different animals in my mind. Big water and adequate time and $ budget: bass boat. Smaller water, or range needed to cover, less $ and hassle: kayak, but... properly set up to fish. Minimal hassle: kayak out of the box and a fishing pole.

"I fish ALONE... Yeah!... With nobody else... You know, when I fish alone, I prefer to be by myself." -Paul and the Fish Destroyers (Ach! I see Brian beat me to it. Luckily Brian fishes in IN. I can only imagine the trouble if he appeared on the other side of MY pond! :)) ) I do enjoy fishing with others, and do, on occasion. But, I am really focused on my fishing. Socializing and fishing don't always mix well for me. And, I often get distracted -or what some may consider distracted- while "fishing". As my brother once put it: "Don't follow Paul in the woods. You'll be all scratched up by day's end, and have no idea why." Then there's the rare individual who works seamlessly. (I was never one to throw pebbles at someone's bedroom window at 3am. Be there or be square.) I've had fishing buddies whom I wouldn't hesitate to call, are a real pleasure to spend fishing time with. Most I've met on the water, and we just click. Now that I'm shooting video while fishing, I'd rather not have anyone along. It feels intrusive on their own time on the water. Shooting video though means my viewers and I are fishing together. I have someone looking over my shoulder. That's kind of fun. But it took me a few trips to get used to there being "someone else there". I found I'd mumble, as if to myself, which was unintelligible on tape. I've since learned to... complete thoughts and sentences. Problem is though, when I put a video fishing journal together, I have to decide which distractions to share. Explaining a day of fishing could take almost as long as... that day of fishing. Now... as I get older, I like buddies who will throw pebbles at my bedroom window at 5am. :))

One of the reasons I asked about conditions vs. something inherent. Guess floridanus chasers have a double whammy going. When I fished for them in the Philippines, in a deep clear res, the guide said, rather bluntly, "One r-r-r-r-rule! "WORMS!" I thought, "No way. Bass can be caught lots of ways." I eventually did catch some on a crankbait, but that was on a different Pinoy lake, with some turbidity and grass cover. Go easy with those FL bass? Sneak around like Doug Hannon? Thanks, all.

LOL, I thought that was Dr. Ronald F Dobson, Ph.D.. I think Glenn just pops you in when he needs some distinguished looking silver hair in there. :)) Hey, that water looks like it could be one of my prairie lakes out here. Flat land, flat bottom lakes and ponds.

There's quite a lot that can factor in. Beyond water body factors, "personality" is a known one. senile1's article from Dr. Mike Allen mentions this. I've had similar experiences with trout too. It's amazing to see the difference. Same has been shown for bass too. Not sure FL waters are fished any more than N-strain waters though. Thanks, Ed. There had to be some work out there that has looked into this. This article is a perfect jumping off point. ?

Many F&W agencies are under-funded. That was the case with NYS, when I lived there. It's certainly the case here in CO, where I now live; At least for the warmwater program.

Are FL harder to catch than N? FL LM's (floridanus) are often reported to be tougher to catch, "pickier", compared with N's (salmoides). Is this be a real species character trait? Or an artifact of the waters floridanus inhabit: generally shallow, clear waters. Interestingly, perhaps, is that bass in FL phosphate mine pits, with green water, have been touted as easier to catch. Up here, salmoides are generally easier to dupe in reduced visibility conditions, and much tougher in higher visibility conditions, esp in mid-summer, when the sun is high in the sky up here. Add shallow water and things get even tougher. I also wonder if this is true for smaller FL bass too. Are people just talking about large fish? Would love to hear the take of some CA folks, too, as they may have both floridanus and salmoides. And lakes with similar conditions (water clarity, depth, ...). Bottom line: Are FL harder to catch than N?

I'm going to guess less he was avoiding the large flakes. I did, bc too many flakes stiffened those baits. Then I discovered boiling. ^^ Like others say above, there's plenty of devil in the details. It's great when the fish do much of the work; Meet us half way, or better. AOK if you are happy with random catches. There's just too much real estate out there, in terms of time, space, and mood. There's just a lot to know. Aquatic systems are complicated. The trick is recognizing what's important, when. That's a lot of the game. Otherwise, it's chuck-n-wind, and rummaging through the tackle box (and tackle shops) looking for "what the fish want". Those that tout K.I.S.S. have already done a lot of work to get there. As to the videos and articles out there... When an author starts to explain something, then trails off with... "depending on conditions", it got so I'd shout out loud, "What conditions!!" Yeah, it is complicated -a lot of variables. But, that's the good stuff. The stuff that underlies the "what the fish want".

I just read it. Yeah... hmmmmm. Two thoughts came to mind: -Ned was asked to write this lure up for IF, and... was at a loss, having not fished it. (I would not be surprised if he never does fish it). IF tends to offer heavy doses of advertising within their articles. Nature of the business I guess. -Ned might be a bit on the spectrum? (As in ASD/OCD). I feel I can suggest this, as it runs in my family too. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but for some it can go a bit too far on detail. My guess is, as far as the fish are concerned, the realistic features so accurately described, will not be noticed. How does it swim? (Better than any other paddle-tail out there?) Is it any more weedless than other paddle-tail riggings out there. My issue in looking at them (a buddy bought a couple) was how heavy they are. When Ned said the 1/4oz was about the same weight as a salt-laden Ned grub with a 1/16 oz head, I could picture him up late grasping for something to say. Might be true for casting, but... not in the water. Ned would know this. Overall, I respect Ned for his contributions. As my mom once put it: "There's nothing like a good fanatic when you want to get something figured out." I'm happy to give him a pass on this one.

Don't think I've had a bass do that. But I did have a steelhead do that. I did have a bass bolt into a muskrat hole along the bank of a pond once. I could see the end of his tail sticking out, and he was too deep to reach. I was using 4lb line and he wouldn't budge. I now know that one can wait em out, until they relax and swim out. But I broke him off.

Well done. Great explanations throughout: Where your fish are, and why. And good coverage on worming.

Congrats!

I thought that too, until I went to install one. My triangle ring is on the lower line, so that ring has to be free to run bow to stern. Of course I could add two pad eyes, a foot back from the end ones, as per the original instructions. As it is, it's not a big issue.

That's a nice, clean looking trolley, John. I'm using the Yak Gear trolley. It works. The only liberties I took with the instructions was to place my pulleys way out as far toward the tip of the bow and stern as possible, being concerned about positioning the boat. After being on the water, I'm not all that sure that tip to tip placement is all that important, although it may help keep that snaking to and fro in check, when in wind. What this did, though, was allow the lower line to slip under the hull a bit. It's turned out to be a minor inconvenience.

Having had a habit of exercise sure helps. Great to hear, Ed. Sounds like you'll be back in business soon.

Wow. So sorry to hear. We don't get enough fishing time in as it is. A buddy of mine has been dealing with Keinbock's too, and last year had surgery and PT. He's beginning to cook along pretty well now. I've also had epicondylitis to deal with on and off over the years. It required that I begin fishing lefty; That was weird, frustrating at first, but I figured it out. It's sucks getting "old". More can go wrong, and it takes longer to heal. You'll get there though. Go easy. Maybe practice up switch-hitting with finesse gear. Hey, we'd be happy to hear about some crappie fishing! Hang in there. -Paul Wow, that's quite extensive. Don't rush things.

All good advice here. From both sides of the cost/quality debate. I am fishing out of a Lifetime Tamarack, too. At 10ft and 48lbs (base) -and $300- it suits my current needs: small waters, sometimes some walking involved, and fishing by myself. I'm 6', 150, and fit is fine. As to handling: It's a stable little boat, but not for standing and fishing. Standing up to survey water -fine. It tracks and maneuvers well. Is plenty fast for my waters (under 100acres). Is no work at all to "make tracks" by paddling. Quality/Durability: Being a blow-molded PE kayak, it is at some risk of puncture or cracking, esp in cold weather. I'm careful with it, esp when transporting, so I am OK with the risk. It's also light enough I can handle it alone, even when tired, so it won't likely be falling off the truck roof while loading/unloading. If I were running rocky rapids in cold weather... I probably wouldn't with this boat. Fishability: AOK, but... I expect more out of my craft. So, I probably spent as much on mods for fishability as I did the basic boat. The need to upgrade?: Upgrading would involve being able to stand and fish, and handle larger rougher waters. Both require larger boats, so portability gets more involved here. As things stand, no need to upgrade.

Hey, just noticed... Those shoreline trees could act as objects/cover too.

Yes! That'll sure be fun. Years ago, a buddy and I carried his little car-topper back into a deep quarry. We had a flasher unit back then, but it gave us depths, substrate hardness, and marked suspended fish -lots of them. Turned out to be so little vegetative cover that much of the food chain was pelagic -produced in the water column via plankton. And there were rubble-topped humps and bars out there that held good fish. I caught my then PB largemouth off one (and my buddy caught it the following year on the same week on a similar crankbait). I also caught a 36" pike, many good smallies, found 12"-14" crappies spawning on them, and caught a few good brown trout off those humps too. Sure is fun mapping waters.