desmobob

How do you know I'm not employed as a male stripper? Holy crap... that's a scary thought. But seriously, work is the only place I won't break the rules. I'm too close to retirement and plan to do a lot of fishing! Tight lines, Bob

bigbill, did you happen to be you looking up, with your mouth wide open, when they dropped them? Tight lines, Bob

I kept forgetting to pull a couple of big Swedish Pimples out of my ice fishing box to try them on bass this fall. I'm done bass fishing for this season, but I'll try them next year. They're killer on everything I ice fish for, so I'm thinking they'll work great on cold water bass. That lure has been around for a long time and is outstanding for vertical jigging. I bet they'll work well fished like a blade. And with the single hook, they may not get hung up as much. Tight lines, Bob

The auto-correct on my Mac's e-mail and Safari browser is so aggressive, I think it causes me more errors than it corrects. I'm tempted to disable it sometimes.... But anyway, we all knew what you meant. Tight lines, Bob

I'll take your word for it! Tight lines, Bob

NY attracts a LOT of fishing tourism for fisheries like Lake Ontario trout and salmon, L. Ontario tributaries for steelhead, Catskills and Adirondacks for fly fishing/remote pond fishing, and Long Island for inshore fishing. I remember seeing the numbers for the Lake Ontario segment and it was very impressive. Tight lines, Bob

I love that kind of statistical stuff! Thanks for posting it! Tight lines, Bob

The opening page has the same menu duplicated in the horizontal shaded section and the left vertical section. Maybe leave the horizontal section for the guys who know what they want and will look for it by name, and change the left side vertical menu to a breakdown of the jigs by category/use instead of by your product names? This way, new visitors who are looking for a skipping jig or a football jig will know where to find the selection without having to keep trying the different names until they find it. Also, the suggested specific use or jig's strong points might be farther up in the description. This might also help the descriptions from sounding so similar when one first starts reading them. Tight lines, Bob

You're right. I did a bunch of reading on the subject and it seems there are a few engines that have the tell-tale circuit downstream of the thermostat. Mine is upstream and has always shown water immediately on starting. Tight lines, Bob

Thanks! Sometimes, things are so slow late in the fall I'm worried I'm going to get skunked. Luckily, it seems there are always a few gullible bass out there somewhere... Thanks. I hope you get out on the weekend. Don't catch any monsters that will strain your back! ;-) We're only forecasted to receive a small amount of precipitation this week (up here in NY, anyway). Tight lines, Bob

You're welcome. If you ever spot a broken rod laying around, snap off the tip and bring it home. Hold the tip-top over a lighter briefly, slide it off, and toss it in your tackle box for a spare. A stick of hot-melt glue is very inexpensive. You usually have to buy a package of several. Ask around to see if anyone you know uses a hot-melt glue gun for crafts, projects, etc. and have them give you even just a 1/2" of a stick. It only takes a little dab to attach a tip-top. Some companies sell packages of three different size tip guides and a stick of glue for less than five bucks.... Here's an old pro, showing how it's done: Tight lines, Bob

GIANT bluegill and pumpkinseed bait! Tight lines, Bob

Good question! Can you imagine how hard it would be to cut into an insect that large to field dress it? I think you'd need a pretty stout, serrated knife... Come to think of it, I have eaten crickets, but not grasshoppers. I bought a small box of them at a nature museum gift shop. The crickets were fried, and salt-and-vinegar flavored. They were light as a feather, so I guess all the liquids cook out of them in the deep frier. They tasted like... salt and vinegar. Nothing else. Tight lines, Bob

I fish in a buddy's Panga Marine nineteen- or 20-foot boat every spring at Cape Cod. It's a customized center console and it's one of my all-time favorite boats. I'd love to have one just like it. We fish two or three guys out of it with no difficulties. I guess the only drawback I might find is lack of fully-enclosed rod storage. I don't think I'd feel restricted in any way if it was my only boat. What it lacks in traditional bass boat conveniences it more than makes up for in big water and inshore versatility. Tight lines, Bob

New tip-top. Very easy to replace. Contact your rod manufacturer to find the exact replacement type. They will probably be able to send you one (and if you're lucky and they're good, a free one!). Always keep a pack of assorted tip-tops around for emergencies! They go on and off easily with hot-melt glue. I just got a new one from Kistler after I "shortened" my new KLX UL spinning rod and somehow lost the little section that broke off. In the mean time, I had an emergency back-up in place. It didn't match at all and looked awful. I'm glad the proper one came quickly Tight lines, Bob

I think I will adopt this procedure in the future! Better safe than sorry! I think the important part is to leave it down, long-term. If the water pump is working, water squirts from the tell-tale at all times, whether or not the thermostat is open yet. Think about it... if it didn't, you'd never see any water coming from it until your engine was warmed up enough for the thermostat to open. But, it seems that it might not be unusual for the tell-tale circuit to freeze up... From the Alaska Native Knowledge Network: On the side of most motors there is a small hole that emits a stream of water. This is only an indicator that the water pump is working. Most of the water that comes from the cylinders is exhausted through the lower unit. During cold weather, the indicator might freeze even though the pump is working well. Tight lines, Bob

I generally like speyside Scotches the best, but lately, have become enamored with good ol' George Dickel rye. I had never been a rye drinker, but after seeing Dickel finish very high in rye reviews (against some pretty high-dollar stuff, at that), I decided to try some. I love it! Tight lines, Bob

In the late fall here in upstate NY, we routinely deal with sub-freezing temperatures. When I pull the boat out from a day of fishing this time of year, I tilt the outboard all the way down and let it drain while I'm putting away my gear, attaching the transom straps, etc. When I'm ready to leave the launch, I tilt it back up and attach my transom saver. The boat is parked at home in this condition. Yesterday, I got to the launch after a 20* night. I launched the boat and fired her up. While I was arranging gear and letting the motor warm up, I started thinking something just didn't sound quite right. It took a moment before I noticed what it was: there was no water squirting from the outboard's tell-tale hole! I shut it down and tilted it up. There were no weeds plugging the intakes and plenty of water drained out. The motor is in its second year and has been faultless (Mercury 40HP Four-stroke EFI). I lowered it back down and let it sit for a while, thinking the cold temperatures might have had something to do with it. After a couple of minutes, I fired it up again. There was a nice, strong stream of water this time. Phew! Apparently, the impeller wasn't damaged. I think something up higher was plugged by ice, but the impeller was spinning in water, as normal. I went fishing and enjoyed the day, but watched the motor carefully, worried I might have done some damage. It was fine. When I got back to the launch, I did the same lower-the-motor-and-let-it-drain thing, then tilted it up and attached the transom saver. When I got home, I was curious about water still in the motor so I took off the transom saver and lowered it. About a cup or more of water came out! I consider myself lucky that the little freeze up I had didn't do any damage. I'll be sure to keep the motor in the down position when I get home from late fall fishing trips! Do you guys in the North do anything special or take any special precautions to deal with potential freeze-up between trips? Tight lines, Bob

I don't think I've ever fished a dropshot rig vertically.... Cast, shake, drag, shake, drag is my usually method. Tight lines, Bob

I loved that publication! I always thought about subscribing but by the time I figured I would, they folded (2007). It was the "professional wrestling" of newspapers... a few thought it was real; others enjoyed it as humor. There were even T-shirts available showing some of their best cover stories, including the "farmer shoots 23-pound grasshopper" thing in my post. Good stuff! Tight lines, Bob

I'm not allowed to carry at work. (And, that might be a good thing...) Tight lines, Bob

TackleTour's reviewers say "no," but it seems that a lot of folks here say "yes." I bought the standard versions and are very happy with them. The Type R's slightly lighter spool could give you a tiny advantage when casting lighter baits. It's also available in a higher gear ratio, IIRC. Tight lines, Bob

We have posts on Bigfoot, giant spiders, sea monsters, ghosts... no batboy stories yet, though. But anyway, did I tell you guys about the 23 pound grasshopper I shot? Tight lines, Bob

I think you nailed it... Thanks Jeff. I'll be wishing for the best for Dwight and his family. Tight lines, Bob

Every Downeaster I ever knew was from Maine! Amtrak has a Downeaster, but I don't think it stops in NC... Tight lines, Bob