I should update this since it's been over a decade.
Name: John Franchot
Age: 50
City/State: Rochester, NY
Occupation: Agile Coach/Scrum Master (A-CSM/CPO)/Sometimes Coder
Education: High School Diploma
Yrs Fishing: As far back as I can remember
Preferred Style (describe a typical, quality day):
These days, I'm looking to go super finesse with a drop shot, wacky rig, or wacky jig. Or, It's gonna be the opposite end of that spectrum using a some kind of punching bait with an ounce or more weight. I've really liked using my home made Jika rigs. If the bite is right, a spinnerbait or top water rules them all.
Personal
Fav food: Hamburgers
Fav movie: Tony Hawk documentary, "Until the Wheels Fall Off"
Fav quote: "Nice wax job, Rookie"
Fishing
Fav bait: Megabass Popmax in Python White
Fav set up (rod/reel):
Spinning: Avid 6'3" ML/XF, Shimano CI4 2500, 6 Lb. Invisx Tatsu
Baitcaster: This is gonna sound crazy, but I really like my St. Croix BassX BAC68MXF. Been using it for spinnerbaits, and it just feels right. I have an Okuma Helios SX spooled with 15# Tatsu for this.
Fav lake: Port Bay, Lake Ontario
Fav river: Genny or Salmon
10 Questions from Members input
1. How do you find the time to work, spend time with your family, go
fishing, and still be logged onto the website and patrol all the posts?
It's not the huge burden some make it to be. I'm usually on in short stints of 20 minutes or so. Do that several times a day, and the time adds up.
2. What is your fishing background/experience?
I grew up spending summers on Port Bay, off of Lake Ontario. By the time I was 12, I had a rowboat to explore the bay. By 16 I used the 16' "Woody" to chase smallies in the big lake. At 20, I used deep-V walleye boat to continue my chase.
I took a break when my oldest son was born, but that only lasted a few years, and got back into it pretty seriously, fishing in opens/partners tournaments, and eventually joining a club. I also fished for myself in a kayak. This led to an opportunity to teach and guide people interested in kayak fishing. I continue to teach this to both kayakers interested in learning to fish, and anglers wanting to learn how to fish from a kayak.
I recently purchased a proper tournament bass boat, and will be competing as a boater this year. I've owned boats before, but it's more complicated now, with all the electronics, modern livewells, ethanol treatments, oil injection etc. I'm slowly figuring it all out. I've since sold that boat, and two others. Currently using a pontoon to mothership my fishing kayaks and doing some preliminary shopping for my last boat, a bay boat.
3. What have been your best experiences when fishing?
When someone you're fishing with suddenly "gets it."
4. Give us a play by play of a typical, lets say, Tuesday for you?
What time do you get up? Work? Fishing? Family? How do you relax
at the end of a long day at work?
In summer, I'll get up around 6 AM, in work by 8:30 AM. Currently have an 8 year old stepson and a two year old toddler that occupy all my time after work. I carve out time here and there for short fishing trips, workouts at the gym, and sessions at the skate park.
Now do the same for a Saturday?
Saturday is my sleep in day. If I choose, I will get up very early and fish or head to the outdoor skatepark. That's a 50/50 game time decision. I'm usually home by 1 PM. Then it's what ever the kids and wife want to do.
5. What experience do you have fishing elsewhere other than home areas?
With the club, and in my own travels I've fished many places on the east coast - Lakes Winnipesaukee and Conway in NH, Santee Cooper chain in SC, SML in VA, Susky R. in PA and NY, Richmond Mill Lake in NC, Okeechobee and Kissimee in FL, and several smaller lakes I can't remember.
6. Is it still as much fun for you as it was in the beginning of your tenors?
Totally fun, maybe more so since it's hard to get out as often.
7. Do you guys get free stuff? Lures, line, rods, reels, etc...?
Not through this website, though I have saved a ton scouring the Flea Market over the years. Now, some of our sponsors sometimes send us new tackle or prototypes to be evaluated. Sometimes that equipment is for review. Other times it's for feedback. Most often, they just want us to be familiar with their products, so we can better pass that on to you guys. We have a great list of sponsors - most whose gear I already use - and I hope it keeps growing. This site is a special thing.
8. What part of being a Mod here do each of you enjoy most and least?
Most: I guess for it's a part of my teaching. the more ways you express yourself, the better you get at explaining how to do it.
Least: Spam. Drama. The impersonal nature of "The Web."
9. What is your favorite besides bass?
Steelhead. I still love my chromers, but northern pike have dominated my other species catches.
10. Do you guys rotate as to who needs to be on line at any
given time? Or does everyone just look in whenever they get
time.
It's kind a loose thing. I'm on the east coast, so I wouldn't expect Glenn to be on at 7 AM EST (though he has been, LOL). With guys spread out, and a genuine interest in what has been posted, scheduling is unnecessary.
Fav hobbies other than fishing:
Skating and music are mostly what I pursue. Spare time is very limited these with the toddler.
10 People you respect and/or admire:
My Wife (different wife now)
Mom
Papa (RIP)
Uncle Jeff
Father-in-law Stan (RIP)
Through 10. would be other guys and gals you'll never know, but made me who I am.
Turn ons:
Float down, tap, thump, tick, tug, feels like mush and anything else that says, "FISH ON!"
Turn offs:
Traffic.
Aspirations:
Share fishing with as many people as I can, and raise two four fine men.
Essay:
What are some of the major factors that have affected
your life. A brief history to help us understand the road
you traveled to become the person you are today. Please
include influences.
I guess one of the major influences in my life would be my grandfather, Papa. He was the son of German immigrants. He worked hard for very little for most of his life. From pushing a hot dog cart at the beach, to owning/running a chain of restaurants, his life is a success story - the American Dream. I always pay attention to the things he says, even the jokes, which very dry, cutting, and fast paced. "Do it right, or don't bother doing it at all!" was very common to hear from his mouth. "All I want to see are elbows and *******!" was another. He always wanted to be the best, and do everything right. Not in a perfectionist kind of way, though. If he or you made a mistake, that just fine, so long as you learned from it. Now you knew something that guys that never tried didn't. He worked hard, but after the Friday night dinner rush was over, he'd come to the cottage, on Port Bay. When I was very young, all I knew was that he worked constantly. I asked him once, "Are you going back to work on Saturday?" He said no. He went on to say that that was the problem with some guys. They never took a break, never relaxed as well as they should, and that made them miserable. He used laugh at our neighbors on the bay. He'd say, "Look at them, they take the day off to work!" But, come Monday morning he would be at the restaurant at 6 AM, getting ready for a week that wouldn't end until late Friday night.
Papa is 81 years old, and still works the grill, 5 days a week. The other two days are spent with his racehorses, watching SU basketball or Yankees games. "I'm still the best," he claims.
I'll never be as good as him, but I'll die trying.
Update, Papa passed in January, 2021 at 91 years old. He'd been making hot sauce at the restaurant until November, 2020.
That all still holds true, but I recently met my biological mother, after not seeing her since I was three. It has been profoundly life altering, and I'm still processing all of it. She is an amazing person that made a gigantic sacrifice so that I could have a better life. Lastly, she showed up here from VA with a roof racked pack canoe on top of her Porsche. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree... I'll leave it at that.
