Ratherbfishing

A B- in the Spring, a D+ in the summer, and an A or A- in the fall. overall, I'd say a B-. I did NOT get to go to Lake of the Woods Canada this year but last year was a bust anyway and I heard this year wasn't much better (no shallow weeds). One of the normally good lakes I go to is on the decline and I pulled few decent fish from it. Some of my last days out were spectacular, however, and I caught, on the very last trip, a 35 inch musky (which scared the living daylights out of me as it leaped out of the water to grab my spinnerbait). Ice fishing will probably not happen this year BUT I am alive, relatively healthy and I made another friend (through this forum) with whom I've fished 3 or 4 times. I look forward to what this coming year brings.

If you are going to make some "reel changes", I hear Shimano's are good.

Night crawlers were always too fast and/or only halfway out their holes by the time I got to them. Most of the time, if I got a hold of one, an epic tug of war would ensue which would,ultimately, result in either a damaged worm (which later died) or half a worm. OCCASIONALLY I would emerge victorious (or the worm would emerge vanquished) but not often. One reason why I moved to artificials.

It is primarily semantics (and also I'm just in one of those "moods") but how can you bring something BACK that wasn't there before? Or was it? Anyway, I dunno. Arizona has rather limited water resources already. Can it support another fishery?

Sorry for the delay. Hard baits-usually.

Causality aside, which locker room will they be required to use?

I believe I'm remaining consistent when I say a traditional floating Rapala in chrome or chartreuse. It doesn't alway catch the largest or the most fish in the lake but you can almost bank on it catching something.

If I was given a dollar for every non-venomous snake which was misidentified as a copperhead or water moccasin, I'm pretty sure I'd be a very wealthy man. I don't much care for snakes either (they give me the eebie jeebies) but they have to eat something and rats and mice are high on their menu so I generally leave them alone. If, on the other hand, I had a nest of TRUE venomous snakes under my deck, I'd probably do something about it but not otherwise.

Every now and then I'll discover that the paint on a lure has gotten soft and mushy due to a chemical reaction with rogue soft plastic. When i separate them, the paint remains soft. Is there a way to "fix" this? I don't intend to (or hope not to) sand and repaint the lure. I would just like to harden the mushy paint. is there a "fixative" that will usually work?

Making comparisons is precisely why I don't fish tourneys so, while others do enjoy this sort of thing, I'll abstain.

Nope. Not EVEN close. There was probably more ice on my car windshield this a.m. than there is on any of the local lakes.

GENERALLY speaking, I have everything pretty well organized before a trip. If, during the day, I think I'm going to use something again, I'll place it in a corner of the deck for quick/ready access. Otherwise I may just plunk it into the bottom of the box until after the trip when I have more time to reorganize things. I don't get hung up on trying to organize things WHILE I'm fishing. My fishing time is too valuable for that. A friend of mine has the philosophy that organizing means placing everything in matching walmart bags. He makes me a little crazy.

Chrome SEEMS to work best for me when the water is clear(ish) and the sun is shining-especially in spring. But I always say-let the fish tell you what they want.

I have dabbled some in fly fishing though any serious trout flyfisherman would likely laugh him/herself to death if they watched me lay down a fly. Fortunately, bass and bluegill seem to prefer a loud "splat" on the surface film (for which I am quite adept). Flyfishing tends to take a backseat most of the time but I hope to remedy that if/when I retire-God willing.

Bet you couldn't do that again in a million years-even if you were trying to.

You mean like "micropterus horribilus" (more commonly known as the grizzly bass)?

Most challenging? It is sustaining the enthusiasm to justify the time, psychic and physical energy, and expense I've poured into the sport. When things are going well-the fish are biting okay, the weather isn't too uncooperative, etc., it's easy to feel good about the money I've poured into the boat, the SUV (for pulling the boat), the equipment, the early mornings and the too often long drives, etc. but sometimes (usually in the heat of summer and during the too loooooong winters), I find myself asking "Is it really worth it?" And then I'll have a respectable trip and I answer yes... Until another long dry spell. Sigh. Most exciting? When I hit the "mother load" and I have to get behind a tree just to bait the hook.

It's my belief that bass hold a "town meeting" every morning at around 3:30 to decide where they are going to be and what baits they are going to bite (if any). There can be no other explanation.

To all who replied: Yes, it looks like a SSS. Thanks! Never knew they existed until yesterday.

My friend recently acquired some .22 rounds which came with a revolver he purchased. When he described them to me he said the lead rounds were nearly if not actually as long as the casings themselves. At first I thought they might be .22 shorts but no, these appear to be Long Rifle (LR) rounds. Only, just as he said, the lead bullet is equal in length to the casing. I have never seen .22 rounds like this. I can only guess they are optimized for home defense where mass is more important than range. Is this correct? Are these rounds rare?

This will probably get moved to the "Everything Else" section so don't be surprised if/when it does. I suggest you contact various museum curators. This sort of thing almost HAS to come up for them every now and again. My one thought: most lines, over time, will deteriorate so if you plan this to be a permanent display, consider this. I'd hate to see such beautiful works get destroyed if they, ultimately, crash to the floor. (Plus I'd hate to see anyone get hurt).

popcorn, pretzels, and toast

My "new" boat is a 17 footer aluminum. It will never in a million years get on plane with a 9.5 but it seems the little motor revs more than it does "push" (if that makes any sense). I don't know of any formulas but it SEEMS like a little larger prop might make better use of the available horsepower. Or is my logic flawed?

Had a similar but different problem last year. My brother's old pickup tranny went out and he scrapped it. My mid-size pickup wasn't ideal for me and he needed transportation so I sold it to him. In SEPTEMBER. SEPTEMBER!!!! What was I thinking?!!! Now I didn't have a vehicle to pull my boat! What a dummy I was! Oh well. I survived. Hang in there bro'. You'll get through it, too.

I held onto an older Johnson 9.9 horse motor when I "upgraded" to a larger boat because occassionally I fish lakes restricted to that size motor. From my understanding, most stock props (I'm sure this is what mine is) are optimized for certain speeds and/or certain sized craft. Would it likely be better to locate and install a different prop (different pitch and diameter) for this heavier boat? Or should I just live with what I have?