papajoe222

I only use snap swivels for bass, on presentations that are line twisters like in-line spinners, spoons and pre-rigged plastic worms. Cross lock/duo lock for me.

I'm not from VA, but that size fish was possibly well up in age. Sounds like there was more than one factor that contributed to that fish's demise. First, I never play a fish for any length of time, unless it's just a matter of her being a match for my equipment. I learned that from musky fishing and it's also one of the reasons tournament anglers bring their fish to the boat quickly. The second contributing factor has already been mentioned; too long out of the water. I add a step to CPR (catch, photo, release), I get a quick measurement. I have a tape measure decal on my gunnel and just prior to release, I get a quick measurement. Lastly, it's sad to say, more fish die from any of a number of circumstances after they are released than anglers are aware of. In this case, it happened much sooner.

I'll swap with you, Lake location for lake location. Heck I'll put you up for the week-end on my end if you'll do the same on yours.

I have two, left hand retrieve, Ambassadeur reels for sale. Both are Made in Sweden Abu Garcia 5601 C4 in like new condition. $190 TYD This reel has the gold tone frame and spool an is spooled with, what I believe to be 65lb. braid Abu Garcia Record No. 61 in excellent condition (a couple of minor knicks from sitting unprotected in a case with other reels) $175 TYD This reel model is a high capacity fresh/salt water reel touting the single, counterbalanced handle. Also spooled with 65lb. braid Both reels were taken off of muskie rods and were only used once according to the original owner and they appear to be so. Pics of these exact reels upon request These are for reference

I use the season and conditions for picking out what S/B to throw. I'll change up if I'm getting follows, only after I've tried different speeds. If they're showing little or no interest it the first one, I'm switching to a different style bait. I'm reduced to three hours or a little more time on the water. I want to make the most of that time. If building baits while on the water is part of your overall enjoyment of the sport, go for it. I'll build or modify at home.

That's fall fishing. Some days they're up shallow, sometimes up to the bank shallow. Other days you'll find them on deep structure. Some fish will stay shallow and never venture to deep water. Given a choice, I'll start deep and work shallow. It's easier to keep my jig in contact with the bottom as I use light, hair jigs with a trailer. Working down hill, it's difficult to keep contact and distinguish between the jig falling and a light pick-up by a fish.

I"m on my second telescoping retriever. I sold my first one (12ft.) to a guy that gave me more than I paid for it. This one is 18ft., I think, and this season alone it's saved me more than its purchase price. Liking the Mann's crank.

I had a buddy that is OCD about everything he owns. He takes his reels off the rods at the end of the day and stores them in a padded case. He doesn't put them back on the rods until he's on the water. You know where this is going, right? Brand new Lew's Speed Spool (Gen 1) went over the side of my boat as he was attempting to seat it on his rod. 40ft. of cold water. We drove an hour and a half back to his house and he got his diving gear. Drove back to the lake and he searched the area for two hours only stopping to surface and warm up. Never found it. He also never fished out of my boat again.

I keep a magnet on the shelf above my workbench. Found one of those micro washers in less than a minute.

It's our turn in July and August when we catch the big girls mid day while you're hiding out in your A/C home wishing you could be too.

I'm assuming your rod handle is EVA and not cork. Is it deteriorating, or does it just not feel right? I would give it a good cleaning with something like SimpleGreen to get rid of the dirt and grease. Don't know what to tell you about adding shrink tubing other than it does shrink lengthwise. I doubt it would improve your grip. If that's your goal, I'd wrap it with the stuff they use on baseball bats and tennis rackets. When that gets nasty, you can just peel it off and rewrap it.

If you're one of the may anglers that maintain their own reels, read on. One of the worst things that you can do when cleaning a reel is using the wrong solution to clean it. Use something that won't leave residue. There are products out there specifically for reel cleaning and there are common cleaners like SimpleGreen that do an excellent job of cleaning and everything can be rinsed with water and dried before lubing and reassembly. One other thing, Don't over lube. Excess grease and oil only attracts more dirt and if your equipment sits for any length of time that grease and dirt combination will cling to parts. The resulting mess is a mother to remove and clean. I just finished cleaning up a buddy's Shimano. It took me more than twice as long to get it clean before I began putting it back together. Every season he would just add more grease and oil. I was amazed that the thing still worked fairly well.

I've been doing this since I began using a baitcaster; cast, switch hands, then reel. The weird thing is with spinning gear my rod stays in my right hand. I was gifted a couple of Revos and they're left hand retrieve. I'm thinking of practicing with them over the winter, for no other reason than to give me something to do during the 'ice age.' I've attempted this more than once, but it was during fishing season and I would quickly put that rod away. For those that don't switch hands: Have you always done it that way, or did you learn it at some point?

Up here, the winter cold water period (for open water) is from 40 down to ice over. 55 is the start of late fall, which is right where the temperature was here on Monday. The 3/8oz, blade dropped down steeper banks worked early on and by late afternoon, a spinnerbait and follow up Fluke got the groupies and a couple of 4lb. girls. With the way things are cooling off here, by Friday I suspect to see 50 or below.

I'm wondering what others use for horizontal and vertical presentations in the fall. I have a couple that I always have tied on; A single Colorado blade short arm spinnerbait, a blade bait, tube jig, hair jig. The first two give me both options and will help me determine which presentation the fish prefer at any given time. Same goes for the hair jig. The colder the water gets, the more I rely on the blade and hair jig and when that temp gets below 40, I'll even try deadsticking them a time or two during my retrieve. So, what are your favorites?

The biggest difference that I can think of would be locating the fish if you don't have an idea of where they were during the day. Some will be roaming, following schools of baitfish and some will hold in an area where baitfish frequent, eg.creek arms. That can be a lot of water to cover in the dark, with your eyes on your electronics. When/if you do locate them, you'll be dealing in a neutral mood more often than not. Where noise and vibration are calling cards for summertime night fishing, they can be a turn off in colder water. If you can find and catch them during the day, those same techniques should work at night.

One last outing this coming week-end and then it's time for me to put the boat in storage for the winter. Actually, I wish I had someplace to store it, but for it's entire life, it's sat in my driveway with a winter cover and the trailer up on jack stands. I know many of you that live where the water never freezes, so this isn't a concern, but for those that deal with their fishing holes iced over, When do you put your boat up for the winter? I've been doing this for 50+years, so I don't think much of it, I just do it. I know there are first timers on here and I also know there was an article, or video on what you should do here, so I won't cover the basics, but if you'll be storing your boat outside, or inside there are a few things you may not think of that can cost you some big headaches when it's time to get her ready in the spring. The first is the water in your livewell pump and possibly the bilge pump. Run some RV antifreeze through the lines to eliminate the possibility of water freezing in the cartridge. Don't close your storage lockers, leave them cracked open to allow ventilation. You'll eliminate that nasty smell that comes from trapped moist air. Critter proof under that tarp. Chewed up seats are a minor repair compared to wiring insulation being chewed on and exposing bare wires. That problem may not come to light at first, but somewhere along the line, you'll hit some rough water and that bare wire will make itself known. Moth balls, or coyote urine will deter mice, and small animals and the odor won't last but a day or so once the cover is off in the spring.

4in. Storm WildEye Swim Shad https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/storm-wildeye-swim-shad They also offer a 9in. version.

I wouldn't consider either of those finesse, but they do have advantages over finessing deeper structure off shore. They all will get down and stay down allowing you to cover water faster, or just reed the bottom easier (for the jigs and C-rig. Speaking of a C-rig, one can be fished with any sized bait and a TRD on a light wire hook is a perfect example.

I don't believe that cooler weather will change/shrink brass gears (if that's what that reel has). I do know that some forms of grease will thicken before others under cold conditions. Some reel manufactures will use thick grease on their less expensive models to give them a smoother feel. I'm in that group that says it's the grease. If you'd like that feel all the time, you could switch to a higher viscosity grease, but I'd do just the opposite and just go with a light coat of something like Ardent or Lucas that are made for reels.

I'm a firm believer of showing them something different, new....not so much. I'm from the school of hard baits and although I got hooked on bassin' fishing a plastic worm, I soon transitioned to hard baits. Around that time, fat bodied crankbaits and spinnerbaits were the hard baits the fish saw the most and the ones the marketing gurus were pushing. Every serious basser was throwing them and the bite began dwindling after a few years. I started showing them something different, minnow shaped cranks and casting spoons. I'd add weight to a #9 or#13 Rapala to get them to run at a certain depth, or I'd remove the treble hook from a casting spoon and replace it with a single hook. That's when I started going against the grain and I believe it applies to soft plastic presentations as well. MIxing up my bait choices, presentations, and colors always works for me. Sometimes all I need is to speed things up. Try a Wacky Worm reeled fast with twitches and you may just agree.

Yes the gas has ethanol in it along with fuel stabilizer added. It’s a built in fuel tank on a Tracker. It really irks me because I topped off the tank with pure gas back in September and now I have to waste 15+ gal. The Mercury is oil injection so the gas shouldn’t have much color if irs still good.

Its a 3 cylinder oil injection, 2 stroke

I went to start my 50hp Mercury outboard over the week-end. It started and then shut do a few seconds later. I checked the bulb for firmness, it was fine, fuel gauge showed 3/4 and the cranking battery was fine. I gave the intake a shot of starting fluid, it started and shut down as soon as that fuel supply was exhausted. I have a clear fuel filter in-line and when I checked it, the gas was off color (very dark). It appeared that the fuel line was deteriorating, so I replaced all the fuel hoses and pumped the bulb until it was firm. It still wouldn’t start. The fuel in the filter looked okay, but when I checked it on Sunday, it was dark again. I’ve drained all the fuel from the engine and carbs, but I don’t want to push what could be bad gas back into it. is there a way to check the gas in the tank. I’m thinking of hooking up a portable tank with fresh fuel If it runs on fresh gas, I will know for sure the fuel is the problem. If so, should I replace the tank, or just drain it a partially fill to check things out? Thanks for any and all responses.

I went to start my 50hp Mercury outboard over the week-end. It started and then shut do a few seconds later. I checked the bulb for firmness, it was fine, fuel gauge showed 3/4 and the cranking battery was fine. I gave the intake a shot of starting fluid, it started and shut down as soon as that fuel supply was exhausted. I have a clear fuel filter in-line and when I checked it, the gas was off color (very dark). It appeared that the fuel line was deteriorating, so I replaced all the fuel hoses and pumped the bulb until it was firm. It still wouldn’t start. The fuel in the filter looked okay, but when I checked it on Sunday, it was dark again. I’ve drained all the fuel from the engine and carbs, but I don’t want to push what could be bad gas back into it. is there a way to check the gas in the tank. I’m thinking of hooking up a portable tank with fresh fuel If it runs on fresh gas, I will know for sure the fuel is the problem. If so, should I replace the tank, or just drain it a partially fill to check things out? Thanks for any and all responses.