Crow Horse

Are you a mainstream bass fisherperson or do you spin away from the generally accepted practices and methods to experiment? I would say that my approach to bass fishing is fringe. Certainly the generally accepted methods carry serious weight but from time to time I'll spin away to experiment with an idea. Sometimes it pays of and other times it bites me in the arse. I'll also stick with one lure type and fish it hard even when conditions might dictate using another method will be more productive. When that occurs, I'll fish what I'm using even harder. I believe in doing this helps me to discover & utilize the subtle nuances of the lure. I'd like to think that you sometimes can fit a square peg into a round hole if you are creative.

Yes. Their 131 is even better but I don't believe it's available in hi viz colors. It's also about twice the price.

I'm really happy with 832. I'm using the neon green and might try the yellow.

The NRS Chinook for the win! I don't know if it's the best, but I've had mine for 10 years and love it. I would buy another one if I needed to.

I do the same. Whenever I move from one spot to another I'll drag a lure behind me. That lure might not be best suited for trolling but it's a bait in the water and it has paid off. When I'm retrieving a lure I try to be aware of everything. My radar is always sweeping the bait, the waters around it, the surrounding land and even the air. I'll vary my vision from "wide angle vision" to a more focused vision. I try to keep my head on a swivel (but probably look more like a bobblehead). I try to be as stealthy as possible, keeping movements to a minimum and paddling quietly. I want to blend in with everything and not broadcast my presence.

I picked up a couple and I'm looking forward to tossing them. Can't wait for the full line to be released.

That was an area of concern when I first got my yak. The original "seat" was token and horrible. I tried several modifications and even tried different types of seat. It took a while till I found one that met my expectations and allowed me to fish all day in comfort. Now I can fish nonstop (7-8 hours) in comfort and not be a cripple when I beach. I'm a flyweight, maybe 165 on a good day so weight capacity isn't a problem but it's an important consideration.

So true. I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum using a budget sit in kayak.My entire life fishing I was always shore bound. I was thrilled to be able to get out on the water and have the mobility that the yak provided. In the 10 years that I've owned it, the yak has gone through many modifications. Much of it's evolution was driven by me learning new and more efficient ways to fish and discovering better components. Whenever I added a modification, I always tried to think ahead about a possible change, be it making additional adjustments to it or having the option to remove it entirely. I've often thought about getting a better quality sit in yak but this one does everything I need it to do. My only regret does not even apply to the yak itself. I'm using a Gullwing paddle and wish that I had bought spare blades while they were still in business. The ones I have now are fine but I always like to have backup components.

You can add a storage box. I have a discontinued Malone trailer (it was the smallest of their line at the time) and used brackets (from Malone) to mount the storage box and then fabbed up mounts for a Harbor Freight cargo basket. The storage box is a Plano Sportman's Box. It has limitations but it serves it's purpose.

If heat is a concern while wearing a PFD, there are ways to mitigate the heat while still wearing one. I suffer in the heat but I'll never not wear a PFD. I've found that on extreme days using a cooling towel draped around my neck works a charm. Keeping hydrated is also very important. Proper clothing is also important.

Dead wrong. Not wearing a PFD does affect others. Consider the recovery divers who are charged with recovering a lifeless body. They put themselves in an environment of hardship & hazard. Valuable resources LE and environmental officers will be required for a situation that is preventable to some degree. Consider the anguish of the family members of a former co-worker when it took 5 hours to locate and recover his body. Not wearing one affects a lot of people.

Military APECS (All Purpose Environmental Clothing). Waterproof (Gore Tex) and built like a tank.

Finally finished the camera arm. The aluminum rod was bent and I ran a length of vinyl coated #80 stranded stainless steel wire under the sheathing to the camera to act as a tether/leash in the event that I strike an underwater object and break a component of the camera mount. This will probably require some tweaking once I get it in the water and see what adjustments are necessary. I will need to see how the arm will park when not deployed but for now version 1.0 is complete.

This is a valuable lesson that should be repeatedly heard. A distant second consideration (distant cannot be overstated) is leashing all valuable gear to the vessel. This can become a double edged sword. Leashes will make gear recovery easy but at the cost of the possibility of getting tangled up by the leashes while in the water. Remember Ahab? Everything on my yak is leashed and on the shoulder strap of my PFD is a blunt tipped dive knife so that if the worst happens, I have the ability to cut free of a tangle.

A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. As stated above, my routine fits that definition. On the trail leading to the launch point I leave a tobacco offering, a feather, and say a short silent prayer of gratitude. Immediately after launching I'll present another tobacco offering to the 4 directions and another silent prayer of gratitude asking only for safe passage and that any fish I catch will be released unharmed. I don't consider my routine superstitious. It's just my SOP. My fishing buddies accept (or tolerate) my eccentricity.....

My point is that with careful and proper handling we can reduce or eliminate one stressor in the fishing process. "Proper" is left up to the individual to define. I'd have to take issue with the "dominion" concept unless it's definition included, stewardship, guardianship, and protector.

Dr. Emoto might disagree with your approach......😁

I don't believe that is a valid comparison. We don't ski and swim in the water 24/7 and certainly don't drink from it untreated. Our skin is the first line of defense and that can be compared to a fish's slime coat. If we had a wound in our skin and stayed in the water 24/7, there's a very good chance that the could become infected. I believe that the same possibility exists for fish with damaged slime coats. To be clear, my method of handling fish is not practical to do from a boat. I'm in a yak and much closer to the water than one in a boat.

It might be something similar to slime coat syndrome, but I'm not sure how that would apply to LMB.

From a NYS DEC fisheries biologist that I'm in communication with..... ".........any fish that loses its slime layer (for whatever reason) it is susceptible to infection."

Like the title says, do you handle the fish you've caught? I don't. I net (rubberized) them and then secure them with a fish grip and they remain in the water while unhooking. My reasoning is that I want to avoid disturbing or compromising it's mucous or slime coat. The slime coat is their first line of defense against infections and parasites. The slime coat has a difficult job considering they live in a bath of fungi, bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Once unhooked they are released. It might sound like it's a bit over the top, but factor in the stress of the fight and it becomes something to consider.

Normal is subjective. Based on my experience, my "normal" is what most people would consider the "lunatic fringe" (I'm being charitable on my own behalf). 😃

It's tough keeping tackle dry when it rains....

For rust prevention you might consider the Zerust Plastabs. They are VCI's (vapor corrosion inhibitors). They work well. I use them in my Edge & Stowaway boxes as well as all my tool chests/boxes. They work and take up no room if that matters.

I agree 100%.