cyclops2

Frost King makes FANTASTIC open & closed cell foam gasket TAPE. The big center floor locker on my bowrider is now air tight when the lid is down. VERY thin adhesive backed ,closed cell foam tape, Super soft rated. The lid closes FLAT with the floor. NOT a tripping hazard. I used the narrowest & thinnest tape. I called Frost King & asked for Tech Support. Got the right #. Hardware store special ordered a roll. I also used some on all the tackle boxes that got damp & rusted lures & hooks.

I crush the correct size split shot onto a hanging treble. Belly one.

You still trying to net those Great Whites ?

I fish in the rain. BBUUTT I then leave it uncovered on the first good day. Includes getting on plane & bow high up. Pull the drain plug To drain most of the water. Put plug BACK IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Before slowing down. The get the mop ready for bow up again to remove the last bit down there. Worth it Rainy weeks . Go a little longer before mopping.

I am a authorized Rebel & Rapala Plastic Surgeon !! I have modified them until they do what I want them to do. I am a Meany !!

All good boat covers HAVE plastic Clam Shells sewn into the covers at the highest area of the cover. That allows air to be drawn in at lowest points. It will cause a slight air movement upward on warm / sunny days. If you boat in stagnant areas. Very little natural breeze ? You are out of luck. HUMID areas ? Need to have everything sTORED in air tight GASKETED lockers. DO you ever have standing water in the bottom of the hull ? HUGE ....MOISTURE generator CONSTANTLY. If you do ? Get a gasketed seal for your rod lockers. NEVER ever let someone LIE TO YOU about it is O K to have water in the bottom of the boat. Crappy boats & drivers have water in the bottom. If you BLAST ALONG ? taking in water ? You now know your choices. None of my covered boats ever had water in the bottom. Found where it came in & had a canvas guy repair a factory screwup. Water in the bottom / bilge ? RUSTS & JAMS starters.

With 4 # test braid & mono. Swivels do very little to prevent twisted lines. Fishing from a boat allows for untangling those twists. Standing in a stream will do the same thing to straighten twisted line. I have also done it in a long open field / lawn. After August Just the line to a split ring on the lure.

All the pike that I catch & release ? Become cautious followers in bright light days. I also have them arrive if I am catching a lot of perch in 1 spot. Most perch stop except for a few. They really learn how to hold their breath in the pikes mouth. The pike is not overly excited as I slowly reel him to the edge of the boat. He just stays calm as we look at each other. 2 to 5 seconds of gentile pulls & he opens his mouth. The perch is motionless. Pike moves off slowly. I used a 14" perch to see how big a pike lived along side a rock wall on the edge of the freighter channel. I live lined the perch . Perch starts zipping and stops. I slowly reel up the big perch I see him coming up very horizontally. ODD Then I see the HUGE jaw holding the perch. My hairs stand up in several places. I am thinking Muskie that big. Almost the spread of my hand. He has the perch from just past the gills to almost the tail. I stop reeling as I see his little belly fins paddling rapidly. Later he releases the perch and slides backward & straight down. Almost forgot 60# braid & 18" black wire leader. I sent the perch down again. Same result. 3rd time the perch was not bothered. 4th time I unhooked the perch and released the perch. 4' down the pike does a non focusable high speed up & down. Oh well I came back several more times to try to catch him again for a picture. Too smart

My best reel for casting very light lures. Is my old light duty salt water reel. With 4 # Braid or 4# mono I can easily cast far enough to not spook the fish. I have 2 spools loaded. Took forever to remember my old Mitchel. It is on a 2 piece 8' stiff action. Re guided with lightweight large diameter spinning guides. The top section is medium stiff. Bottom is stiff. I experimented & found tip speed is all important. Reason for the stiffer tip................ I do cast a lot farther if the wind is at my back.

That is why we see so many videos of many experts catching so many big female spawning fish. Our Gobies LOVE spawning bed fishing !! As you play macho man for the camera . 25 Gobies dart in to the bed and eat eggs or newly hatched. Thank you say the Gobies. New York does a good job of adjusting the Spawning Bed closed time as needed. Most of us do not play stupid to a change of the closing and opening dates.

The SLOT size logic was the result of finding out which SIZE FEMALE laid the eggs that hatched out the MOST SURVIVABLE juveniles. Just like in any animal & plant. There is a peak period when survival is highest of the group.

The pollution levels around the start of the St. Lawrence at Lake Ontario are so bad. Eating 0 fish is highly recommended if you want to create a child. There are loads of WAR TIME chemicals along the shore and feeder streams. C & R is safest way.............BUUTT.............Where & how do you get TRULY none contaminated meats and vegetables ?

Shimano Are you most concerned about casting distance upstream and into breezes ?What is causing the doubts ? I find trout to be self hook setters. They can be very fast hard strikes that easily drag a rod into the water. Been there more than once.

Since I only do catch & release of all bass. I have crushed down completely all barbs. Zero painful pulling hooks out of fishing kids & adults. 0 trips to E R & waiting long times. Kids & adults waiting too long to set the hook ? I have 2 of those red plastic tools with different sized SLOTTED balls on each one. Everybody quickly does their own removals with barbless hooks AND wearing a pair of magnifying glasses. Pike are the only fish I always do. The massive set of teeth are just too dangerous for most people. I put them as dangerous to most people as small harmless looking Bluefish. Watched a father put his finger into a 12" Blues mouth to remove the hook. I know the Blue bit his finger to the bone 5 times in 1 second. Sounded just like a jackhammer . He changed colors by the time I got to him & his son. His & my hand kerchiefs slowed the bleeding enough to where he felt safe enough to drive to a E R for stitches.

The T V shows showing.......... Catch Weigh and Release ........done as soon as the fish is unhooked. WITH ...............That data sent to other competing fisherman is OUTSTANDING. To USE the fish to make money & advertise the bass boats & motors being used. That SHOULD BE the goal of the contest. ..........not............ I do not have any time to keep these money making fish alive. Not my job or the law. ...........BUZZ off of me.

I have to say most non contest fisherman now fully understand the rapid destruction of so many areas where contests are held. The Weigh In on land each day guys are all about being on tv. Holding up all the biggest & best FEMALE breeding bass. SMB & LMB. Contest fishing is TOTALLY based on removing the largest fish from their LIFETIME feeding area & dumping MOST OF THEM in a 1/2 mile area. OR OR tossing each days catch in a plastic bag and tossing that into the nearest big dumpster. Then drive off to the next contest site. Their catches are LEGALLY THEIR FISH !! They can do what ever they want to with them at any time. More regulations are needed. It will affect ALL THE PROS equally. No problem then. It is all about MONEY. Nothing else.

Lake Ontario Black Bass deaths of hundreds of fish awaiting weigh in proved the problems are with EVENT CONTROL people not being trained how to handle hundreds of fish in LAND BASED HOLDING TANKS. They dumped LOADS of ICE CUBES into the tank with the fish. How was the Oxygen & temperature maintained correctly ? Did the staff have any correct training ? Result was a DUMPSTER loaded with dead HUGE FEMALE bass. Not to worry. Lake Ontario has tons more of huge Black Bass. Bass contests generate loads of money to every business in the area. Clayton, N Y can not book enough contests every SHORT summer. Our cold winters prevent the year around growth rates of Florida. All boaters race out to Lake Ontario Catch the biggest each day. Dump them after weigh in. 150 boats 2 guys with 6 each is 12 per boat each day X 3 days = only 36 fish. x 135 boats = 3,800 give or take for conditions at EACH contest. Still think special size limits ARE NOT NEEDED ? Catch weigh & release at catch site is not good enough. Ask the sponsors. Correct bass transported & dumped at weigh in areas. Edit A few Canadian friends who go to the favorite contest spots said the number of big females is going down now.

Volunteering is a endless joy. Once you start doing it. For anything you want to see become better. Famous quotation from Cyclops.

My fishing friend, Victor restricts what sizes I can bring in for food. No breeders. No too small. I am sure he has told me no females before or during spawn. I have 2 stringers with metal clips. I usually bring in both filled with 6 perch each. I do catch and release if I am catching ones just big enough to keep. BUUTT I am fishing in shallow waters. So as I swap out small ones for larger ones. NONE ever die due To THERMAL SHOCK as the dive to the deeper water bottom. They also are not OVER or UNDER Oxygenated by livewells. Their is 1 fish that is not good for catch and a DELAYED RELEASE. Pike are usually floating belly up about a 1/2 hour after being caught & kept on a stringer. They just FREAK OUT being restrained to the boat. A explanation I had read about is linked to the Lactic Acid build up in them. I place some belief to that theory. I have had almost every pike get frantic and start doing Death Rolls while attached to a stringer next to the boat. I would unwind the twisted up pike. rattles & thumps he is wound up tight again. Victor has requested no more pike because they are dead & have a off flavor from struggle to death on a stringer. Pike NEED to be killed instantly with a club and a layer of ice with the ice floating in water. Then their distinct flavor is preserved.

40 years ago the camps had a cleaning table 10' from the waters edge. Clean and toss the unwanted parts into the water. NEVER a scrap the next morning. All the fish, snapping turtles & land animals cleaned up every bit...................... WITHOUT those DUMPSTER bags & stink. Progress my foot.

I have long ago ALWAYS required a split ring or a snap and swivel on all lures. Rebel & Rapala always put on excellent split rings. I am happy. I some times tie on a separate snap & barrel swivel to speed up changes.

No Victor restricts what sizes I can bring in for food. No breeders. No too small. I am sure he has told me no females before or during spawn. I will ask him to do 1 big huge female your way.

I enjoy all the posters on this site. We overlook any spelling or grammar errors. WE really do our best to help each other. I really need the help at my age. Started those 1 second hesitations while speaking.

Anyone else notice if a perch loses a lot of that sweet aroma. If they die or are killed and left dead. For the morning fish trip? My Italian Fish Monger begs me to keep them alive to his cottage. We get that request done. Fresh caught & killed & filleted they smell SWEET. That aroma largely disappears in 15 to 30 minutes. Why he brings the golf cart & waits at the dock for me and the stringers of live fish. I would put his 88 years & electric knife against any other pike carver

Canadians & some USA Fish & Game officers want POSITIVE pieces of skin on every piece of meat. Way to make friends with a warden. Ask him if any kids fish under the dock there. If yes. I unload my perch limit / count next to the dock on Thursday at noon. He looks at me & smiles.