RAMBLER

Monday I had another dozen "pre cancer" frozen off my face and right hand. Every six months I always have some frozen off. Have had a half dozen cancers cut out of my face, head, and arm. When I had hair it was blonde. Have blue eyes. When I was living on the farm we never took any care of our skin. We'd try not to get a severe sun burn, but otherwise just lived with it. Now it's a wide brim hat, long sleeve shirt, buff and sunscreen.

If you want plastics, go to Bitters. They make just about any plastic you can want and I've actually gotten next shipping.

I like the Mister Twister 4" double tail for a swim jig trailer.

There are a lot of people in this country who are making a ton of money pushing buttons and typing codes and don't really work hard for their money. So, the retailers are charging what they can get for a product, not what the product is worth.

I've had a bunch of those cancers cut out of my face, head and arm so I am more careful than I use to be. I bought a couple of those UV blocking shirts and I got really hot wearing them. They were like wearing a plastic bag. They did have vents in the armpits (well whoopee ding ding). I got sick enough one time that I ended up in the emergency room. An IV and air conditioning took care of that. Since then I went to a thrift store and found some long sleeve white dress shirts (some have blue pinstripes) for 50 cents a piece. That are a real tight weave and I have never gotten red or burned through them. They are mostly cotton and will wick away sweat and they are big and loose enough to be comfortable. The blocked the sun and kept me cooler than the expensive sun blocking shirts.

Are you taking about a trolling motor? If so, you've got the battery connections reversed.

I use the three pack of really little tubes of gel and they actually last quite a while. If one hardens, I haven't really lost much and just open a new tube.

I showed (not taught) a guy how to catch some fish, mostly pan fish. His wife was from China and had never seen so many fish bigger than her finger. They ended up with 2 of the biggest freezers they could find and filled them with fish. I found out later that there was a pond where trout were put in for kids to fish. He found out about it and would sit in the brush waiting for the fish to be dumped and then catch all he could carry. I never told him anymore about fishing nor did I ever take him fishing.

The one I get into the boat.

3.5

No more than about 5% of what I carry in the boat.

Bass Resource has been some help, as have other publications and web sites. The way all of that has helped me most is owning more tackle than I can put in my boat and far more than I will ever use. I am the prime example of the person that owns the most tackle and catches the fewest fish. My own imagination has caught more fish than anything else. Sometimes I use tackle differently that most people do and later on I find that there is a name for that rig. Didn't know before, that each rig needed to be named.

Since he will be fly fishing, were a wide brim hat.?

I had several of the 1/4 oz RES swell up. Contacted Strike King and they replaced them, plus. Had some more that swelled up a little bit, but could not make them track straight. I just give up on the 1/4 oz and use the 1/2 oz. Those didn't swell up for me. I did ask Strike King if the ones that swelled up were pregnant and going to hatch out Bitsy Minnows. They have no sense of humor.

Tried something new, for me, anyway. I fished wacky rigs and have trouble keeping the worm from being down into weeds, in shallow water. Don't like to have to keep jerking the worm through the water to keep it up out of the weeds. I put the rig under a bobber. In breezy weather, the wave action will keep the bobber moving, then the worm working. I rig it just deep enough to keep the worm above the weeds, or in deeper water, just in front of the weed wall. If the wind isn't blowing enough, a little drag and jerk action will work. Some results, but not the end all of fishing. A couple of bites I didn't let the fish have it long enough and a 5 pounder that slammed the worm.

Wal-Mart spinner baits (used to be $1.00) worked good for me.

That is interesting. Just a while ago I started a subject on silicone to use as line lube. The few answers I got did not really address that. They were more in line with this subject/question. Can you elaborate on how it hurts line and reels. WRB made the comment that reel magic is a reel repair man's friend, too.

Has anyone used 100% silicone spray on your fishing line?

I like fish and that includes bass. One of the ways I really like LMB is fillet it, leave the skin and scales on. Pat the meat dry, then sprinkle on a little olive oil, sprinkle with basil, put a few small strips of onion and tomato on the fillet. Don't cover the meat in onion and tomato, just that few strips fro some seasoning. Put them on the grill, skin side down (duh). Close the grill lid and let them cook until the center flakes, with a fork. The edges will be cooked dry and tight to the skin. The rest will just slide off the skin. Learned that from someone who said that was the only way to cook red snapper.

The one near me has a fairly good sized tackle shop, but, it's a mess. I found the same lure in three different places, aisles apart. They have several big RVs and at least a half dozen campers in the place. The first thing you see when you walk in the door is special order counter for camper/RV parts. It's out of the way and not really easy to find. There were very few people in the store the last time I went in there. I really don't much care one way or the other whether or not they survive. The last time I went there is probably the last time I will go there.

I got a kick out of the ad that said they were grizzly proof. That's real important here in Florida. A cheaper cooler is fine for me. I seldom need anything kept cool/cold longer than a day.

Didn't know I should have named it.

A sharp pocket knife.

It all depends on how you want the fish to taste.

Is this overthinking? To me it's simple. If you make ANY noise in the water or boat the fish hear it. Now, whether they are accustomed to that noise and find it frightening or not is up to the fish in the specific environment it lives in. I do know that I have found a school of crappie by fishing structure and then turned the depth finder on and the crappie left or just quit biting.