Scott F

The Humminbird 398ci SI can be had for less than $500. It's got side/down imaging and GPS. It doesn't look like it has 2D sonar and the screen is 3.5 inches. I have no idea how long it's going to last. There are almost no currently sold units that have been out more than a year so who can tell how long it will work.

Pike and pickerel are going to slice through light (under 60 lb) test line like butter. Doesn't matter if its FC, mono or braid. Buy some steel leaders.

I don't set any goals. I try and do the best that I can, and try and learn something every time I go out, but I fish for fun and refuse to put any added pressure on myself to try and obtain any self imposed goals. I have a pretty short memory and soon forget how many or what size fish I caught yesterday. I don't even remember exactly how long my personal best bass was. I never weigh fish anyway because it really doesn't matter to me or anyone else.

How to never get poison ivy rash.

For me, I can't fish that way. It's just way to boring. I have to be casting.

My entire house is decorated in a Northwoods outdoor theme including a smallmouth replica, a hand carved wooded smallmouth, and 4 Al Agnew smallmouth prints. There are also a variety of ducks, geese, eagles, loons, other birds, moose, deer and bears. All of this is with my wife's support and approval. She likes it all as much as I do.

Electrical currents like to flow over surfaces, so most of the current from the lightning flows over the surface of the water. Since fish usually swim below the surface they should be fairly safe from the effects of lightning.

Depends on the time of year. I'll fish 10 to 12 hours a day for 2 weeks straight in the spring fishing for schooling, prespawn smallmouth. The average for those times is 10 fish per hour. Most of my fishing the rest of the year are river float trips that last 5 to 8 hours where the average runs closer to 2 to 5 fish per hour.

This does not seem like exactly the same thing you are describing but it may be close. It's a Ropeller.

If it's a catch and release lake, isn't it illegal to keep fish? Even if it died, you aren't allowed to keep it or give it away. If it isn't against the law, you did the right thing giving it to someone who can use it.

They are a lot of fun on light spinning tackle. They tend to school up so once you find them, you can often catch them on every cast. Like has already been said, blade baits, smallish crankbaits, spinners or a jig and white twister tail will all catch them. Where I catch them, they are feeding on small shad. Lots of fun!

It sounds like you feel guilty about feeling the way you do. Fishing isn't your job is it? It's supposed to be a fun and enjoyable pastime. If you don't feel like going out, don't. Take a break for a while. Don't feel bad about it. When you get the urge to go again, go have fun. When it stops being fun, go play golf.

The guide's job is to do everything he can to make sure each guest has a good time. If that means he doesn't fish at all with some, or fishes all the time with others, whatever it takes. If I'm paying, the guide doesn't touch a rod. When you are paying, he should do what you want.

I'm curious as to where and how you guys fish a drop shot. I'm NOT talking about which bait, which rod or what lines you choose, but in what conditions you fish it. Do you make long casts and work it back to the boat slowly, do you cast it out and barely move it or what? How deep or how shallow do you use it?

Instead of beginning as a funded club, why don't you start an informal one where you solicit potential members who will share the burden of setting up the "official" club. Meet with interested fellow students to judge how popular the club might be. Work to build the foundation before trying to fund it. No sense going through a lot of work if there aren't enough other students to make a go of it. You never know, there might be others who have the connections you need.

Still seeing optimism?

For smallies in rivers, in fall, pretty much everything that worked all summer still works. Jerkbaits gets better. When the water gets very cold, the float and fly and hair jigs work well.

I think the only issue you may have is that the wood handle will make the rod very heavy compared to cork handles.

In use nothing but braid on my spinning reels for smallies and have never found a need for a leader. Besides, I HATE the 'tick' sound when the leader is cast out of the end of the rod.

I'm a flatlander from Illinois. I headed up to the Minocqua area tonight (right after the Bears beat the Bills) for a week of bass and muskies.

I just used Sam's Club as an example of the 80-20 principle. Trust me, people get bumped by business all the time. You just won't hear them tell you you got bumped for a better offer. Usually you hear "It's going to take a little longer to get you car fixed" Or, "Our guys are running a little behind, the service man will get there as soon as he can." Or, "Your table will be ready soon", Or "Your doctor is running late" while you sit in a waiting room an hour past your appointment time. You got bumped by a better customer and just didn't know it.

What part of the state are you from?

My fishing club regularly has an event called "Cast and Compare" It's set up mostly for fly fishermen but we work with a couple of fly shops and their suppliers who bring an assortment of fly rods, reels and fly line to the event for our members to, cast and compare. It gives guys who could not spend one or two thousand dollars on a fly rod a chance to see and feel what top end equipment feels like. Or it gives them the opportunity to try out a particular rod they've seen and are interested in buying. Members will also bring equipment for others to share. We do a similar event we call "float your boat" so guys can try out canoes and kayaks, some provided by a local dealer, some that belong to other members.

The guide who says he would bump a client for a higher paying one is telling it like it is for a number of business'. I work for a Fortune 500 company. It is actually near the top 50 of all business' in the US. They have a philosophy called 80-20. 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. 80% of your sales come from 20% of your product line. Sam's Club is a good example. Their selection of merchandise is limited. They carry the 20% of the items a normal store carries that make up 80% of sales. These companies don't refuse business from the 80%, but they certainly cater to the 20 percenters who are their best customers. If 2 customers ask for a service to be done at the same time, the better customer, who provides a lot more business, will get preferential treatment every time. Those of us not in that 20% club don't like it, but that's the way things are done. The big difference here is that the guide, who may or not really be booked, actually said it out loud.

One other option, I don't know if this would work for you, is a foot switch like the Big Foot trolling motor switch. You can use it as a momentary switch where it only works when you have your foot on it. Take your foot off, like if you fell out, and the motor shuts off.