Tony L.

Would a released tropical fish like that actually be able to survive the upcoming Illinois winter? Major environmental implications if those things are weathering the cold months and, God forbid, breeding.

I always set my drag to let my line loose right before it breaks. Saves my butt on the occasions that I inadvertently hook into a catfish.

Even if you don't care about burning bridges with this guy and have no intent to use him as a future reference, I'd still give him a fair two weeks. Most jobs you take in the future will want to call and verify the standing of your previous employment with places you've worked before. Even if they don't talk to your boss as a character reference, they still may contact him, and you don't want that kind of thing to follow you. Sorry he's a jerk, but at least you only have to deal with him for a couple more weeks---in the context of an entire lifetime, that's not very long at all

My grandfather, whom i credit for starting me into this beautiful addiction known as fishing, once told me that the some of "house brand" reels sold at gander mountain stores are actually manufactured by pflueger. I am not sure if this is true or if he was just joking around. I live nowhere near a gander mountain store, and I have never taken the time to research this, but I still remember him telling me that several years ago, and it has always stuck out in my mind.

Sounds like you already have your mind made up, and I think you are making the right choice with the prowler. Nothing against the kayaks, they are an excellent way to fish -- maybe just not the perfect fit for what you are wanting to do at the moment. Good luck on your purchase

Never heard of it, but I'm intrigued...

There are a lot of kayaks that claim to have enough stability to ˝stand in", but most of the time that only holds true if you are on glass calm water and standing perfectly still. So a bunch of them make a claim that just isn't realistic. I have heard, however, that there are some truly stable ones out there if you do your research right. Unfortunately, I don't know which ones those are because that's a different type of fishing from what I am used to, but I was able to find this link which looks like an excellent way to modify most any kayak into what looks like an extremely stable little craft that I would stand in without hesitation. Check it out, and if anyone else has heard of this thing, or owns one, I would be really curious to know what your thoughts are. It looks like it could make a rock solid platform out of even the narrowest of kayaks. Not sure what the price is though. http://standnfish.com/snf_home/index.html

You, your uncle, and the rest of your family and friends will be in my thoughts. Pancreatic cancer is not easy, and I will be praying that each of you will have the strength that you need to get through whatever the future may hold.

Good work sir! And thanks for the update on the release portion as well. You would certainly been well within your rights to keep such a fine specimen, but we all appreciate you letting someone else have a chance at catching that fish (or its future offspring) on down the road. Welcome to the sport, and best of luck in the future.

Hello All! I am a lifelong fisherman (and student it seems), but I am now fresh out of grad school and looking to start my first "big boy" job. I might be getting a bit ahead of myself here, but I am already shopping for a fishing boat as well, as I have grown tired of mooching. I have my choices narrowed down to the Lund 1600 Fury SS and the Alumacraft Fisherman 160CS. These boats have all of the features that I am looking for, plus they are within my price point. I am looking for an aluminum boat that I can take onto local lakes and rivers. I don't want to go above 25 hp because some waterways have horsepower restrictions, I want to keep fuel costs down (and don't want to bother with a large tank, especially if i don't use it frequently), i don't go out on to enormous bodies of water, and I really am just not in much of a hurry. I am also looking for versatility- I am a multi-species fisherman and like to target bass, crappie, catfish, stripers, and walleye/pike on rare occasions. These boats have the aluminum hull, console steering, rod and tackle storage, casting platforms, motor size, and all around general features that I am looking for, they can be easily towed by a small truck, and they are at the price that I have limited myself to. My question to you all is this... Do any of you have any firsthand experience with either the Lund 1600 Fury SS or the Alumacraft Fisherman 160CS, and can you offer your impressions of either one? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for another versatile, full-featured, aluminum boat that fits the same price point of ~$10,000 or less? I have included links to both The Lund website shows a picture of the Tiller package, but the layout/floorplan of the Console Steered SS model is on the right side of the page http://www.lundboats.com/boats/2013-aluminum/fury-new And here is the Alumacraft: http://www.alumacraft.com/fisherman-160-cs.php Thank you all in advance!

I am not sure what your typical fishing day looks like (what type of water/cover you fish, what species you target, and what types of baits/lures you use), but I feel that 4-6 lb mono would be a good "all around" choice for most situations with your particular setup. Mono may not be as sensitive, but in my opinion, is certainly more versatile for lightweight rigs. I wonder if ultralight braid, because of its small diameter, would dig into itself from time to time and cause a nasty snarl on your enclosed spool. I also think about fighting fish. Regardless of line, its easy enough to bully bluegill, crappie, and bullheads out of the water without playing them much--- but to hook onto something bigger, I would prefer a line that is somewhat forgiving. Mono has some stretch to it, so I feel that it can absorb the impact if a larger fish makes a sudden run or takes to the sky. In heavier applications, braid could pretty commandingly horse a larger fish into your landing net, but on ultralight line and tackle, you are at higher risk for a thrown hook, tear-off, or snapped line if you don't bring your A-game. Did you purchase these reels as part of paired rod/reel combos? If so, it might be helpful to look and see if the manufacturer of the rod printed a suggested line weight on the blank between the reel seat and the first line guide. People don't always follow those suggestions, especially if they have a very specific use in mind for the rod/reel, but I have found that it is a very useful place to start.

I can understand how it would be difficult to achieve strength and sensitivity on something like that. But even if you can't meet the specifications of a tournament quality rod, you still have something that would appeal to a LOT of weekend campers/anglers, survivalists, and outfitters. Keep in mind that while hardcore anglers have really strong/sensitive rods and reels, the overwhelming majority of the public are anglers who happily use economical spincast combos from their local mega-mart chain. Even a piece of line tied to the end of a stick can catch fish of some sort, and that's fine for a lot of people. Great idea, and good luck with the project. Keep us posted

Now those are some incredibly ambitious little fish! Nice to see that they are spawning well and sustaining the species where you are fishing.

That is something that I just can't justify, no matter how much I love fishing. Maybe if I fished tournaments for a living, but I don't. I guess that someone could argue that I don't catch as many by using "inferior" lures, but that is fine by me since my livelihood doesn't depend on what's in my livewell. If I reel in 1 fish instead of 2, 5 instead of 6, 8 instead of 10, or no fish at all---- that is fine by me, I have still had a great day out of the office doing what I love.

I agree with a few of the other responses here, you are likely to lose out on sensitivity by adding a swivel to your rig. At the same time, it may also alter the action of your bait in a new way that the fish in your area might not have seen before. As you well know, it is testing different setups and and techniques that sets new trends and keeps this field evolving, and it's up to you to weigh that out against the potential drawbacks that have been mentioned. One thing that you did say, though, is that you currently get some bites on your rig as you presently fish it. You also said that you are using a 1/0 octopus hook to thread a 7 inch worm. It seems that the bass are interested, but I'm guessing that either the large worm is filling up too much of the hook gap to get a good hookset, or the bass are not getting ahold of enough of it to ingest the actual hook part. Whichever the case may be, you might consider scaling up to a slightly larger hook with a somewhat longer shank. Maybe try a specifically designed worm hook near the 4/0 range. The extra space in the hook gap gives enough clearance to drive the point through both the worm AND the fish's mouth. Also, the added overall length (compared to an octopus hook) would place the barb further back on the body of your bait, giving you a better chance at nabbing those fish that initially strike just a bit short. I'm new to the forum, and so I hope that someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but my general rule of thumb for soft plastics has always been: 4 inches = 1/0-2/0 hook 6 inches = 2/0-3/0 hook 8 inches = 4/0-5/0 hook 10 inches = 5/0-6/0 hook