Marty

I started 40 years ago and am very far from a pro. As to how often, my answer is not often enough. There are some waters I fish that at certain times 5+ is expected and other times and places I feel lucky to avoid my little friend:

The 65 teams in the NCAA are not the 65 best in the nation because of automatic bids. You could make an argument that the 34 at-large bids are the best 34 teams remaining.

I've used them and they certainly can and do attract fish. The paddle can get screwed up if vegetation gets in there. I don't use them any more, preferring buzzbaits and various weedless topwaters but that doesn't mean they're not effective.

Line jumping off a spinning reel spool can also be caused by using a line that's too stiff to be used on spinning reels.

You can test your drag setting by attaching a scale to the end of the line and pulling out line while reading the scale. After a while you'll just know where you want it just by pulling a little out. And that should be done before every outing because you never know what can happen.

I've been a long-time advocate of using flash on sunny days, to reduce shadows, illuminate backlit subjects and the like. I usually remove my sunglasses as well to avoid that light spot from the flash.

Gamakatsu is on local shelves, so I use them in 2/0. Not that I know anything about proper sizes, but 2/0 seems like a good size, not too big and not too small, although I doubt there'd be a problem with one size up or down. I use trailer hooks on all spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and Chatterbait-style.

I certainly would recommend no-load funds. Last I knew there was nothing that indicated load funds outperformed no-loads. Those loads and management fees can cost you big-time over the course of many years. I know nothing about American Funds, but if you planned to stay in the funds you already own, then the load obviously is no longer a factor since it's already been paid. I'd be willing to switch for lower annual fees with the proviso that you feel a high degree of confidence that the replacement funds will perform as well from here on out. Also, I agree with the recommendation of consulting a fee-only CFP if you feel you could benefit from some professional advice. Good luck, there's nothing easy about this stuff.

Hard to compare because there are so many crankbaits that can do well, but the Speed Trap is definitely one of them.

That has to be a myth. We've had complete ice out and last night it got down to 20° or so with more of the same expected tonight.

Arinze Onuaku hurt his quadricep/knee in Syracuse's loss to Georgetown in the Big East tournament. I really feel bad for the kid. He's a senior, a good kid, a good student and he has to end his career on the bench like that. He had a towel over his face in the locker room after the game but everyone knows he was shedding tears beneath that towel.

I use a so-called stream thermometer, generally available in catalogs and stores in with the fly fishing stuff. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0011337310804a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=thermometer&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0

My predictions are useless but I root for Syracuse since they're the nearest big-time D-1 school. But I doubt they can go all the way without their big guy. If SU doesn't make it, i wouldn't mind seeing your Vols take it, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

I bought one three years ago, but my needs were probably very different from yours. My needs were it had to be lightweight so I (well into my senior citizen years) could haul it around and hoist it up on the car rack and it had to be wide and stable so it would be less tip-prone, plus be able to store all my junk conveniently. There are tradeoffs with canoes. Perhaps the biggest one is that wider means less efficient paddling. The loss in efficiency doesn't bother me because where I fish I don't have to go further than about 1/2 mile from the launch. There's a big choice out there with respect to length, width, weight and other characteristics. You need to define what you want your boat to do before going into buying mode. Good luck.

I don't like it. You shouldn't have to spend money on a manufacturing defect. But if that's their policy and it was made available to you prior to purchase, I guess you don't have much choice, but I hope they will make an exception when you talk to them. Only you can decide if $40 shipping is worth not having to look at that guide every time. Let us know how you make out.

I use backing on my reels in an amount such that 50-60 yards of good line can be added to it. After a while you get a feel for how much. As far as knowing how much line you have on--you can get a very rough approximation by knowing how many inches your reel takes in per turn of the handle, then count the turns while spooling and convert to yards.

The obvious thing is to ask around, including tackle dealers. On the other hand, if this is a little-known pond, you could be attracting attention to it. Unless this is a well-known pond, I'd bide my time and start fishing it when the season opens.

Why not contact Pradco? http://www.lurenet.com/contactus/default

I generally will use the spinnerbait over the crankbait when the weeds won't permit efficient crankbait use. But really, there's no set answer, it's largely trial and error. There are numerous situations when a variety of baits can be used. You can try different ones or just make an arbitrary decision. Fishing is much more art than science and there are no hard and fast rules that be relied on.

You're right, it was designed to indicate which color is seen the best under the conditions at the time. Which is not the same as saying it's the color that the fish will hit the best, which the inventor readily admitted. Years ago my partner had one and after a while he stopped bringing it along. We never saw any evidence that it helped us catch as much as one additional fish.

There are two Speed Worms, the paddle tail and the Ultra-Vibe. I use the latter in a variety of ways, including your way, but I see no reason why the paddle tail wouldn't do well too.

I agree with the previous poster that you should add spinnerbaits. Also, it may be just my personal preference, but I'd consider topwaters a necessity. But just because you fish from the shore doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a good lure assortment. Lures that work from boats work from shore as well. You should match your lures to the conditions you face. Just one obvious example would be if you fish heavily weeded waters, then lighten up on the crankbaits and get more stuff that can be weedless, like soft plastics and topwaters. Good luck. I've caught some of my best bass while on the bank.

May I suggest you narrow that down somewhat. By some definitions, "Upstate NY" can be the whole state other than NYC and Westchester County.

In that situation of large pike, no net and treble hooks, I think your best bet would be a lip gripper. I have a couple of these cheap ones from Cabela's. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0012971013780a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=grip+holder&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0

It's a great lure, but some may not consider it underrated because it hasn't dropped off the radar like most of the other lures mentioned. It's highly rated in my book!