jbmaine

Auto-- one less thing to worry about.

I keep varying the retrieve until I see what works.

Shane, Searchers, Tombstone, Hondo

Leon, Glad to hear you are well enough for some fishing. In my opinion if snaps help you fish, then use them. They probably will work better for hard body baits, but could work for everything where the hook eye isn't buried. Most of us of a certain age started fishing with garden worms and a snap of some kind was always used. We caught fish. Jim

I've spent a lot of time on the salt water in this area, and I think you should look at the coves, back channels for less boat traffic. Further up river also has less boat traffic. Great Bay has some good fishing. As for safety, I would swing over to New Castle and stop by the Coast Guard station, they are the experts on this area, and can give you the best advice. It goes with out saying , always wear your PFD, let someone know the area your fishing, and be alert to your surrounding's. There are several launches to use to get you in the water close to less traffic areas. Jim

I was adopted. I was just under 5 months old at the time. My parents told me as soon as I was old enough to understand, and we celebrated it every year, just like a birthday. I will always be so grateful and feel so blessed that my parents adopted me, and gave me such a good life. For those of you that are thinking of adopting, you can change a child's life forever. For those of you who have adopted, thank you. For those of you who have been adopted, please take a moment and thank your parents for doing such a wonderful thing. Jim

Saw the article about that. Driver of the cabin cruiser was sitting down, couldn't see over the console and was on his cell phone. Situational awareness at all times is key to safety. Thank god they weren't hurt or killed. Please be safe everyone. Jim

I have used Yo Zuri hybrid ultra soft in #6 pound test for yrs. on my spinning rods. Love it, no complaints. However it doesn't seem to be available any more. I have enough to last for a long time, but will be trying out McCoy's mean green line this yr. as a replacement. Jim

I really don't think of myself as good, bad, or otherwise. I think more of a good day, if we caught fish, if it was just a good day on the water,or just a good day together, my wife and I. As far as a scale, If we see a spot we think should hold fish, and we caught some, we did good. If we catch fish when no one else seems to be , we did good. If we see fish on the fish finder, and then catch them, we did good. We love catching fish, but at the end of the day,( at least for us ) it's the company, being on the water, and having fun. Jim

I agree with everything that is being said. I think a lot of us ( myself included ) use more effort then necessary when casting because when we started we had no one to show us different. Once we develop bad habits their hard to break, (for me any way.) When I took up fly fishing in the 60's I was self taught, all out of a book, and later on I had an awful time improving, breaking bad habits. Everyone has different ideas of perfection, for me it's someone really good with a fly rod. A perfect fly cast is grace and beauty in motion, a wonderful thing to watch. I couldn't do it very often, but when I did, I knew it, and was amazed how little effort it took. With conventional fishing, same thing. Rods today have actions and materials that can make casting so much easier, with so much less effort. The hard part ( again, for me any ways ) is knowing how to utilize this to the fullest, to get the maximum results with the least effort. Jim

Thanks everyone, Just the kinda info I am looking for. Dwight, that fish is beyond words. Jim

Hi all, I fish a couple of lakes here in Maine that are supposed to have togue. I was thinking this year I might try for some, and was wondering what might work for trolling, jigging? Jim

swimming just about since I could walk, but still wear a PFD.

It's not so much the temp. as the windchill. -17 today. -23 tonight and tomorrow.

I guess my family has always liked fishing. I was doing research on my family history, and came across this picture. I have identified it as my great grand father Rosco. I know he was a carpenter by trade, so I can only guess that him posing with what looks like a pretty big shark, he must have somehow caught it. The picture was taken around 1900.

We have caught more big fish on a senko than anything else, but my favorite way to catch fish is anything top water. If I could only pick one I'd go old school and pick a Jitter bug. Some 50 odd years ago I caught my first top water bass on one ( I still have it), and to this day every time I use one, that particular gurgle, gurgle, gurgle of a Jitter bug brings back so many wonderful memories. Jim

For 25yrs. I was strictly a fly fisherman. I caught anything from pan fish to stripers on a fly rod. 15 yrs ago when I started taking my wife fishing with me I switched back to spinning rods. It was easier for the two of us, fishing together in a small boat. I'm hoping to take it up again this year, ( we'll have a bigger boat this year.) Jim

Every $ we spend on fishing is spent to make the experience more pleasurable and satisfying to us. Out side of a stick, a piece of string, a hook, and a can of worms, everything we buy is an option, a luxury, to make it more fun. My wife and I are middle of the road. We have low to middle of the road gear because that's all we feel we can afford. It works well for us and we have fun. That being said, if we ever won the lottery we would have the top end of everything. Would it make us better fishermen, who knows? But if we could afford it, Why not have it. Jim

Thanks everyone, It seems from the response most lure retrievers will work most of the time.

OK I'll bite. one sign no one pays attention to one guy who shouldn't be fishing naked one thing worse than jet skies

Yes I am Jim

I'm going to be trying to get into crank baits this spring, and I'm thinking a lure retriever is something I should be getting. In looking at the ones available ( store bought or home made) what if anything makes one better than the others? Or other than the color is there really any difference? I'm talking about the ones that slide down the line. Thanks Jim

All the fish I caught were over 10+ until I noticed my scale was set to grams.