Kirtley Howe

Snap swivels work fine on in line spinners (NOT spinnerbaits though) and on some spoons. I have found that using them on jerk baits and crankbaits seems to negatively affect the action of the bait, and often causes the lures hooks to get caught up on the swivel when casting. I have not found that to be a problem when using a snap, most likely because the snap by itself is shorter than a snap swivel of the same strength.

What is really cool about them is that they can raise and lower any/all sides--including bow or transom to almost any angle. That is kind of necessary to load one of the unlimited boats onto those canted trailers. I have also seen one trailer that had hydraulics built in so that the boat could be stationed over the trailer then the trailer would come up to the angle needed to keep the boat in place. I always thought that it would take a real pro to get/keep it perfectly in place while the trailer came up. I know someone commented on how they used to race these boats. I would be curious to know how they loaded their boat......

They use a crane, or a special boat "donkey:" which is a large motorized lift that can move boats around.

I drink their Bold brew. That has flavor.

Stopped off for a coffee and a donut at Dunkin' today. Coffee was good, donut was ok. I got to thinking abought the donuts that I remember from 20 years ago. In my area of the country we had a few local shops (some good some bad), Dunkin' Donuts, and Mr. Donut. Both Dunkin' and Mr. Donut made their donuts right in the store that sold them, and they discounted them by 30% or more if they were over 4 hours old. Any left over at the end of the day could be bought for next to nothing. They made fresh donuts all day long and had their standard donuts that they made every day, plus some "special" donuts that they made each day, but were different each day. Now days Mr. Donut is out of business. Dunkin' Donut stores do not make the donuts from scratch at each store now. The donuts are shipped to the store already made and frozen, and the store basically just thaws them out. The donuts are still pretty good, but nothing like they used to be...which seems to be the case with many things these days. Sure wish we had a Krispy Cream around here.

He made a bunch of money playing B-Ball. Then he was smart enough to take his coaches advice and got a good financial planner, a good law firm, and an agent/investment firm. They have guided/invested/protected him. He is not a genius businessman but he was smart enough to hire people who were. Of course, it is a whole lot easier to become a billionaire when you already have a few million to play with.

I am confused by part of this. Chest waders when full of water are neutrally buoyant while you are in the water, so in most cases they do not make it harder to move. The problem comes when you try to get OUT of the water, as then the weight of the water becomes evident. But as long as you are in the water, chest waders full of water are not much of a problem unless you are in cold water (which is a problem with or without waders), or heavy current. In heavy current the BULK---rather than the weight---- of waders full of water can make things difficult indeed.

My wife regularly threatens to divorce me when I tell this kind of joke. Fortunately, she doesn't really mean it (I hope).

Two explorers were traveling throught the jungle, accompanied by a few natives. They saw a very strange looking bird perched in a tree. They asked the natives what kind of bird it was. The natives replied that it was a Foo bird. The explorers had never heard of a Foo bird, so they moved under the tree to get a better look at it. As they were studying the bird, it S#@t directly on their heads. One of the explorers wiped it off at once, and immediately fell dead. The other one the s@#t on his helmet, and was unharmed. The moral of the story is "If Foo s@#ts, wear it. Please don't hate me for this joke....<G>

I won't hijack this thread....but I am posting an old joke about this in the EveryThing Else thread.

Years ago I had a lure that looked similar to this, but it had a metal weed guard like a Johnsons Silver Minnow. I don't remember the brand, and cannot find an example of it anywhere....but it was called (as I recall) The Weedless Wedge. I have never seen another one like it, and wish I had not lost the one I had.

I put a cotton jersey glove (those cheap brown ones that you can 3 pairs for @$2.00) on and hold the line tightly as I wind it back on the reel. The glove gives me the ability to keep good tension on the line without hurting either the line or my hand....I also keep one of the gloves in my tackle bag to use if I need to break off a hook or lure when using braid.

When fishing from shore, I will try a wide variety of lures and colors and presentations. I do that because I have a small number of places I can fish in one day and need to try as many options as possible. When fishing from a boat, which gives me many more places available to fish, I usually try at most 6 options. 2 topwater (maybe different styles, or just different colors), 2 mid depth, and 2 bottom. Of course, if fishing shallow water (18" or less), the total number of choices are more limited, so different colors are more prevalent than different depth lures. Often my lure choices are determined by weather conditions....cold water/weather conditions would mean more slow moving presentations, while warmer water/weather would mean more faster moving presentations. But those are just starting points, as sometimes a slow presentation works better in warm water (wacky rigged worm comes to mind), and a fast presentation (think of lures like lipless crankbaits) works better in cold water. So I guess that the answer to your question is "it depends".

Maybe it is just me, but I have found that with Smallmouth, if you hold them belly up, they pretty much hold still. I have not found that to work so well with largemouth. And neither hold still when I lip them.

I believe that Lucky Strike lures, and Luck-E-Strike lures are 2 different companies.

I guess I am the odd ball here....My preferred foot ware for wading, walking a shore line, or being in a boat is "jungle" type combat boots....the ones with the nylon mesh sides. They offer great protection from rocks, good traction when I wade, and great support for my feet and ankles. They give me pretty good traction on the boat, and I can stand all day (well, at least as long as the rest of my body holds up) without hurting my feet or ankles. They have drain holes in the sides of the boots near the sole, so they let water out quickly and dry out reasonably fast. They are not terribly heavy so they are not a problem if I end up going in the water by accident. In warm weather I wear cotton socks, but in cooler or cold weather I wear Murino wool socks which keep your feet warm even if they are wet.

Just a note on this topic. In New York State, you have to wear a lifejacket AT ALL TIMES while boating from November 1 to May 1. The rest of the time it is up to you whether or not you wear one. Children age 10 or under must wear a lifejacket at ALL times.

I still use spinning reels a lot also, for the reasons you mentioned. I am a lefty, and the very first spinning reel I ever got was a gift from my mother. It was a HySpin brand that actually came in a left hand set up...back then there was no such thing as a convertible type spinning reel. I loved that thing. By todays standards it was a piece of crap. It had a wire bail. No line roller. I eventually wore right through the bail wire. I doubt that it had any ball bearings. I am sure that comparatively speaking, my mother paid a lot for it. My second spinning reel was an Abu Garcia 301, that I bought with my paper route money. I think I paid about $20.00 for it. A small fortune for kid back then. I eventually wore that out completely out. Good memories.

A few months ago, in Bassmaster Magazines' Day On The Lake article, they featured a pro fisherman who uses nothing but Ugly Sticks. I can't remember his name. He is not a top tier pro, but he isn't a novice either. So....at least one pro thinks Ugly Sticks are worthwhile rods. I have several...I don't use them all the time, but they do get some use.

If you don't have the $100, it is the same as $1000 more....<G>

"only about $100 more" is not in my vocabulary.

First I will say I could easily be wrong....but I thought the DQ was because he fished in water that BASS considered to outside the allowed area. Keith believes the area he fished behind the dam IS part of the allowed area, but BASS says it is not. Their call as it is their tournament. To my knowledge he was not disqualified for going over the dam...just for fishing "forbidden" water.

I live on Flonase, sinus meds, and decongestants. What makes it worse for me is I had lung cancer a few years back and they took out 1/3 of my right lung. They got the cancer, and all is good there, but the lung gets irritated very easily ever since the surgery, and that creates even more problems. I have a prescription inhaler that I have to use when things get really bad. All in all though I am just glad to be breathing at all.

You can go to an auto parts store and get the split plastic wire cover they sell. Some places have it in bulk, but most sell it in prepackaged set lengths (3ft, 5ft, 10ft, etc.). It is available in several color, and even "chrome" if you want to get fancy. Slip it around the cable, then put some plastic cable ties every few inches, and you will be good. If the wires are partly exposed, you can coat them with liquid rubber like what is used to dip tool handles in, or even use FlexCoat. Let it dry before putting the plastic around the wires, or you will never get the plastic back off (don't ask how I know that).

For frogs, I use a dark bottom on dark days, and a light bottom on bright days. The top of the frog is a color that contrasts with the cover I am fishing, just because it is easier for me to see. The fish only see the shape and the bottom color.