the reel ess

A man is only as good as his word. I've known a lot of people who excuse their actions by saying "That's not the real me". What you do and say is the real you. Glad it all worked out.

What if it's a bowl shape?

The only place where I feel boats have the clear advantage is in running big waters and hand-free operation...more casts. There are kayaks that operate by foot action, but they have depth restrictions and cost almost as much as entry level boats. I'm going fishing in a tiny place this evening. It's either kayak or jon boat. Advantage: kayak.

Is it really that bad? You are always hearing horror stories about it, but only anecdotal evidence. Or you'll hear that studies suggest problems but not that they prove anything. That said, I quit drinking them entirely about a month ago. I don't feel any better or worse. I continue to drink coffee in the morning and replaced one pack of splenda with one tsp of sugar. I'm already on something for mild hypertension and cholesterol. I figured it couldn't hurt to drop a habit. The only thing I really have noticed is fewer twitching nerves and maybe whiter teeth. I always drank Diet Coke.

Yeah. Nugent says the locals eat that meat. But I've always felt like that about hunting. If you won't eat it, you shouldn't shoot it. The locals would probably prefer he shot something with hooves if he's going to give it away.

If the pics weren't posted in social media we would never have heard of this. How often are deer lured from one place to another with food plots or even corn on the ground to be killed?

I almost never hunt. But I have no moral issues with it and I'm not trying to disparage it. I'm just not into it. What are some opinions of the hunters on this board regarding the dentist who shot the lion in Zimbabwe? Was it legal-I know he paid for the privilege. If so, do you think it's moral? Is it necessary to thin the lion population? Do natives eat the meat? Do you have a problem with people killing the king of the jungle? Just curious what hunters think of the issue.

Fishing from a boat is better because: 1. I love getting up before the crack of dawn, towing a boat that I hooked up the night before, waiting in line to launch, getting out to my favorite fishing location and sharing it with two boaters that apparently spent the night there. 2. Maintaining an outboard rocks! 3. Depreciatation!!! 4. Keeping electronics in good working order. 5. Buying gas. 6. Taking care to protect from ethanol. 7. Competing for small fish in a big lake. I'll use my kayak anywhere I can to avoid competition, make travel and loading/unloading easier, sneak up on bigger, wary fish and more of them and keep costs low enough to ease my conscience.

Well, I went to Academy. They didn't have ANY Moaners, They were out of the Gamakatsu. So I bought a card of 4 VMC 1/8 oz Drop Dead hooks. If I don't like them, I only have 4 to lose.

I need a break from breaks from fishing.

Is your local BPS in Concord? I go there a couple times a year. Let us know when you'll be there so I can come up and listen to your seminar speech.

I voted for BC/other. But really, I can't limit myself to only 5 lures in one 2-hour session. Then I take another box with several other options in the kayak with me. You just never know.

I like the evening because I have to work mornings. And if I go fishing early, I get up so early to beat sunrise that I'm dog-tired all day. But I'm awake every evening the last 2 hours before dark. The drawback is that dark descends and there's no more light to fish by. If you go early you can fish longer. On an ideal day, I'd go early and late.

What weight hooks do you prefer for craw Rage rigs?

I don't know about the fish, but pretty sure it's the same guy.

EEEEWWWW!!! Bass cooties! I don't know the cause, but I've caught a lot like that on public lakes. Always assumed it was caused by pollution, outboards, jet skis and stress. I don't see it in ponds I fish now. I do see some chewed up tail fins during spawn. But those look like lesions.

I rigged my Johnson Silver Minnow with a grub on the hook. But I should probably use a trailer hook and rig it with the grub.

Are you saying you T-rig the spoon? I'm having trouble picturing this. Can you show a pic?

It has been my experience (and I'm only speaking for myself here) that it's difficult for me to get a bite on a frog when there are bluebird skies. That's why I didn't buy white ones. I suppose that's because I'm not usually fishing really thick vegetation with a frog. More like sporadic lilies and a few floating mats.

Congrats! And when you fish, you may be empty-handed but not a failure.

I only have natural colors and one black. Doesn't seem to me that fish are that picky as long as they can find it. Some people who claim to be in the know say black and white are the only two you need.

Early in the season, I got good numbers, small size. Now when I go late I'm getting a handful of good fish. I got three 5 pounders and one over 6 lb in one week. I'm only catching maybe 3 or 4 a trip, but size more than makes up for low numbers. I'd rather catch one 5 pounder than twenty 1 pounders. Topwaters just before dark seems to be the ticket right now. My guess is that should last through the dog days.

After looking through the possible species of my area, I can see why they'll bite any color.

I used a Johnson minnow at the beach to catch a couple flounder. So I thought it might be good to try at the local pond since it's weedy. I managed one bite from a dink. I was using a 3" grub as a trailer. Cool thing about the Johnson Silver Minnow is it wobbles, but won't twist your line if you don't reel it too fast. That's sort of a guide for how to use it. It would probably do well in real slop with a craw or frog trailer to keep it on top. Where I fish, they don't seem to be under the slop, but rather around it or in open water. There's submerged grass too and that seems to hold them until the low light periods when they'll chase bait near the surface.

If I was still a kid, I'd ask for a job on the grounds crew as a way to get into the good graces of the pro and the management. Then I'd ask for permission to fish there. If I wasn't granted permission, I wouldn't show up for work again. But, alas, I'm not a kid.