NYWayfarer

The local groundhog up here knew. He saw his shadow.

I suffered from sleep apnea years ago. Mine was weight related. When I weighed over 210 pounds I would have stop breathing in my sleep. I dropped down to 190 lbs and have no more apnea. I have maintained that weight for over 3 years now. When I had my machine I made sure I had two kinds of masks. The one that just fits over your nose and the full face kind. The nose one was for normal sleeping nights. The full mask was for when I had congestion problems that prevented me from breathing through my nose. They have much better and smaller machines than I had now. They advertise one on the radio that fits in the palm of your hand. Mine was a ResMed. worked great and easy to clean. The filter was washable so I didn't have to spend money on disposable ones.

That sums up life in the Northeast right now. It did feel good to go out and actually cast into open water even if I got the skunk.

Great reel. I have the old model with the wooden handle knob. It is still going strong. My light action reels of choice last year was my Kastking Sharky II 1500 size reel. Spooled it with 6lb mono and it handled my dropshot, ned rigging and trout fishing action. I even caught a 3lb Channel Cat while using it. It's a great little workhorse reel and a lot of features for the price. Fat bail wire, carbon fiber drag, 10+1 bearing system, sealed body that is waterproof for up to a 3 minute dunk in the water.

High wind warnings here in the capital region of NY. gusts of 50-60mph with temps in the mid-50's today. The temps plummet tonight to the low 20's and we are expecting a wintery mix of snow, sleet and rain on Friday. Weekend temps will be in the 40's

The cheaper Daiwa rods usually fish well above their price points. I have seen this rod as low as $18 on sale at DSG and Cabelas during the holiday season.

Don't give up on the Plopper. This was an unfortunate incident but it is not the norm. I have caught quite a few fish on the WP and only 1 was a possible fatality. It was a small Pickerel that had managed to get both treble hooks in his mouth. They cut him up pretty badly but I got the hooks out and released him as fast as possible. If he didn't make it he would be food for the eagle that hangs out at my favorite fishing spot.

Berkley Fusion wacky weedless. Perfect balance of cost and quality.

That happens when there is too much line on the spool of the spinning reel. If you fill it all the way or to close to the lip of the spool the lines spills right off. The baitcaster problem you are having sounds like a high speed spool spin issue. I know you said you set up your baitcaster correctly, tension knob, magnetics,and centerfugal brakes but you might want to tighten the tension knob a bit more and see if that solves the issue. I have two reels with hyper speed spools that I have to use the tension knob to control

For a weeks vacation where I might be able to fish a few of those days I take 2 Baitcaster and 3 spinning set-ups. My son only uses spinning gear so one of those set-ups will be for him. I used to take more but most of it sat in the room while I was out bank fishing.

I took a hike along the upper Hudson River on Saturday. Air temps were in the mid-50's Wet my line at a few spots along the way. No luck. Wind was 15mph+ and the water was between 35-40 degrees. Sure was a pretty day though. It was nice to actually cast two of my new set-ups. I was able to practice my jerkbait technique.

I bought a pack to replace some rusted out stock hooks on old crankabaits I had laying around. They are decent hooks for the price i would go with the Berkley Fusion treble hooks in the future.

70’s as well. I have had many conversations about fish I have caught that ended with “You didn’t keep them?” Followed by all bewildered look. My answer was I don’t eat the ones I catch because I get the fish I am going to eat from where God intended me to get them...the supermarket.

It smells just like Pinaud clubman aftershave and powder my barber uses on my neck after a haircut. Got to remember the drink rule!

Something like that happened to me. It seems someone picked up a spool of Power Pro off the regular rack and dropped it in the clearance isle. My prediction was they were going to buy the pro but found cheaper line in the clearance isle so they left it there instead of returning it to the proper area.

I bought that myself. A-Jay tell me if I am imagining things but this stuff smells exactly like Pinaud aftershave?!

Same here. Takes way to long to do it right. To the OP try using Cremo shave crème makes the skin super slick which helps the razor glide better and less irritation.

I am going on my first fishing trip of the season this Saturday. Air temps 55 degrees Water temps high 30's to low 40's in the little open water there is around here. My prediction is the skunk. Hopefully I am wrong.

Z-Man Finesse TRD in green pumpkin on a mushroom jighead. A year ago it would have been a wacky rigged Yum Dinger.

NY is my homestate, Wayfarer are the RayBan sunglasses I have been wearing for decades.

Ditto. I still have reels I bought in the 80's. My oldest rod was probably purchased less than 10 years ago. To answer the OP's question, I try to match rods and reels of equal value. The difference between price is never more than $20

I buy my gear from the vendor who is selling it at the best price. Lately that seems to be DSG/Field and Stream as they have a price match policy.

Can't wait for my local pond to thaw out. First thing I throw before they stock it with Trout is a SK red eye shad or a Rat-L-Trap. I know the pond so well I know the spots where my lure can get snagged and avoid them.

Pack of Zman finesse TRD's Pack of Zman Shroomz jigheads Pack of Yum Dingers Pack of Finesse wide gap hooks for wacky rigging Pack of EWG worm hooks for weightless Texas rigging

Water while on the water. At home after a day on the water I like a Black Velvet and Coke Zero Sugar with a twist of lime. Sometimes instead I will have a Vodka and Tonic with a twist of lime or if I having a beer, Genesee Light.