RAMBLER

It's terminal. But remember that every hour you fish is added to your lifetime. You can't have too much tackle but you can sure have more than you can use. I know that for sure. Enjoy it while you can.

In 1967 I bought my first new car, a 1968 rambler station wagon. Used rambler as my handle on my CB and I've used every since. I do tend to ramble on, too.

Lots of good advice. Practicing in the yard is some of the best advice. But, a baitcaster has it's limitations. For light weight lures, you need a spinning reel. No matter how good you get, trying to cast a lure/worm that is quite light will be next to impossible. I started out with a baitcaster that had no drag or brake adjustments, 55 years ago. Back then my thumb was the only adjustment I had. Took a little while to be able to cast without a backlash but it can be done and is one of the best pieces of tackle you can use. Now, I'm going to light a fuze. You can get a good spinning outfit at Wal-Mart. Get a Mitchell 300 and a 6'6" medium or mediumlight Ugly Stick and put 8 or 10 lb mono on it. I've caught everything from little bluegill to muskie on that rig. One of the most versatile rigs you will ever use and it is affordable. I said I lit a fuze. Well, that is because an awful lot of people, on this forum, are going to tell you how bad the rig I described is. It isn't the best there is, but remember the word affordable and disregard the people that are so proud of their $150-$250 outfits. Good luck and tight lines.

North central Florida. My fishing does not include catching. The worst fishing I have ever had. The weather is hot and so is the water. Some places the weeds are dying and rotting. No oxygen in the water but a lot of methane. I've pulled into a cove and the water starts bubbling and stinks. Went out yesterday and there had been some small but strong storms the day before. The lake is shallow, 8' and churned up. Looked like chocolate milk. Didn't have a hit. The people fishing for bream did well.

I tried some real small snaps (don't know the brand). The wire was thin enough they cut the line, in the knot. I was using 8 lb test line. Don't have a problem tying a knot directly on the lure. Snaps are in the bottom of river.

I fished for a few years out of a small john boat. Don't remember if it was and 8 or 10 foot. I could put it in the back of my pickup. When I stood up and then sat down, the act of sitting would actually push the boat forward. I used a square, plastic milk crate to sit on. More stable than standing and more comfortable than sitting so low on the seat. As for flippin and pitching; Now I fish out of an old stumpknocker. It does not have a fishing deck so I stand lower than the water level and have the boat sides to contend with. I don't flip or pitch like everybody defines flipping or pitching. Mine is more of a toss that I learned to do. Also, for "tossing" I use a couple of old Abu Garcia 5 1/2 foot fiber glass medium and medium/heavy rods. (Found them years ago in a yard sale.) They work good, for me, in my boat. Or, for light "tossing" I use my spinning gear.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is presently working on revamping the bass fishing management plan for the state. You can stay up-dated and have some input by going to the FWC website. www.MyFWC.com, then across the top of the page you will see: ask FWC; boating; fishing;, etc. Click fishing and then the picture about the bass management plan.

I've caught fish with Cabella's stick baits (4") but hooks pull out and the lips break off. Cheaper to buy the same kind of lure from a known, reputable manufacture.

1st,One more cast with Shaw Grigsby 2nd, Hunt for Big Fish - Larry Dahlberg

Not bass fishing but still pretty bad. This is in northern Wisconsin. Investigation continues on panfish poaching of 2,238 fish over limit on Chippewa Flowage An investigation related to the May 21 arrest of 13 Milwaukee men for having 2,238 fish over their possession limit is continuing.

Vienna sausage, payday candy bar, gatorade and water.

Look at the humminbird RF35. http://store.humminbird.com/products/341324/RF35 I really like this. A note, though, take the battery out of the wrist unit when your not using it. It's easy to bump the on switch while stored and the battery runs down. Other wise it is really handy. I like to use it to find depths in places I can't put the boat or when I use a small boat with no depth finder mounted on it. Tie the green sending unit on a rod and reel and cast it to the spot you want to know the depth of. Reel it back slow and you can see the depth/fish all the way back to the boat or shore.

Put a different jig on it.

Look at that picture close. There's no shadow from the fish. He's not holding it. I did the same thing with a bluegill. Hung it from a tree with light mono line and gave my wife a rope and she backed up, away from the fish. I lined up the rope with the fish and took the picture (lost it when an old puter crashed). She weighs 230 pounds and the bluegill looked almost as big as she is.

Do you adjust the tension on your real before you cast? If you have it set just right, you can cast with very little "thumb". If you bought it new, the instruction book, that came with it, tells how to adjust it.

Take some advice from someone who grew up in Northern Wisconsin 68 years ago. That cold rain is miserable. Get a rubber rainsuit big enough to wear sweat shirts under it. You need a musky rod, too. There are some really big musky and northen pike up there. Fishing from the shore, you can't get out to where you might get snagged so you need something big to get out of the lilypads and weeds and blowdowns. If you need to, you can use a musky rod for bluegill and crappie, but you can't us a "crappie" outfit for northern pike or musky.

I just got my order. 440 pieces for $25.08 including shipping and state tax. 300 Fry Assassin and 140 Hogg Assassins. Really great service. Ordered them on the 3rd and they came, today, 8th. Good looking product. Got one bag of 70 Hogg Assassins for .99. They put in a laminated poster of suggested rigging (price on poster is $2.95) and a good catalog. Can you tell, I'm impressed. Guess who will get my business from now on. Although it will be a long time 'til I need some more of these.

I grew up in northern Wisconsin and lived in Michigan, before I moved south. In the Upper Peninsula we use to say we had 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad sledding. Now, I hear people from the north complain about how hot it gets here in Florida. You know, no matter how hot the sun gets, I have never, ever had to shovel one bit of it.

I'm a November '41 baby, too. Started fishing when I was about 14. Somebody, (an uncle probably) gave me one of those knuckle busters and a solid steel rod with 30 lb black dacron line. If I could save the pennies and nickles, I bout 30 or 40 lb steel leaders. Put "perch" hooks on the leader and caught a ton of bluegill and a few bass. Got a red and white daredevil and caught some northern pike. Casting that was when I learned to "thumb" a reel. It still just comes naturally without having to think about it. When the crappie started hitting the mayfly hatch, my brother and I got a couple of cane poles, put some of that 30 lb black dacron line on the pole, the length of the pole, a white popper and went "fly" fishing and caught a lot of crappie. My gosh, now I need a second boat to carry my tackle and don't catch near as many fish. Might have something to do with no one else fishing where we did.

3123+35=3158

Rem 870. I have three barrels, the one that came with it and a rifled slug barrel you can shoot accurately at 100 yds and an 18" smooth barrel (it's legal). That 18'" barrel, without any other dressings, makes it look BAD and is easy to handle in close quarters.

3" minnow - white blue back

Red and white daredevil