Kirtley Howe

Well, I guess I won't go fishing around here for a while. The Susquehanna River is now up about 10-12 feet from where it was 2 days ago. We have had so much rain the past 3 days that it has been ridiculous. Local ponds are all running over their banks. Everything is muddied up and full of debris. The heavy winds we have had has caused a lot of tree branches to blow down, and it looks like most of them are in the river or the ponds. Small streams are now almost full blown rivers. Bummer.

I pay very little attention to barometric pressure, solar or lunar tables, wind direction, or frontal conditions. Other than checking to make sure it is reasonably safe to be out there (I don't fish in thunderstorms, and I don't take a boat out in dangerous weather), I go fishing when I can. WHILE fishing, I try to be aware of what the weather is and how it affects what the fish want for a presentation. I use that for future reference. Basically, I feel the best time to go fishing is WHEN YOU CAN go fishing. I do realize that it is different for competitive fishing, but I only compete with the fish and myself, so it just does not matter to me.

I live in a very rural area with lots of farms. I have asked several farmers what it mean when the cows are lying down out in the field. The answer has always been the same....."It means they are tired." Gotta' love farmers wisdom.

That is SO bad....I love it.

I am an optimist. But I am also a strong believer in Murphys Law.

Seems reasonable to me except for the "trade in the wife" part. Remember, if you trade in a 40 year old wife for a 20 year old, you have to take two 10 year olds to make up the difference.

Welcome from the Southern Tier of New York.

It's all a matter of what you learn or teach yourself. I am by nature a lefty. But my older brother (18 months older than I am) got a baseball glove a year before I did. He is a righty. So, I started using his glove, and learned to throw right handed and catch like a righty. I can bat either way, but have more power as a righty, more control as a lefty. I play ping pong lefty. I play tennis and golf righty. I write left handed, but can write right handed equally well, just more slowly. Everything else is a crap shoot...whatever feels good to me is how I do it. I fish primarily left handed, but can cast right handed if I choose to. I shoot a gun left handed, but, before I tore my left shoulder up in a car wreck, I used a bow right handed. Due to the shoulder damage, I can't use a bow either way anymore. Just do what feels good to you and don't worry about it.

In my defense, I was young and stupid. Now, I am old and stupid, just not THAT stupid.

?? Back in my younger days when I could endure freezing temperatures better than I can now, I used to ice fish the Susquehanna River in the winter. Dropping a thermometer down to the bottom showed water temps of 30-32F. Dropping meal worms or red wigglers (earth worms) down to the bottom would sometimes result in crawfish latching onto the bait. They would hold on all the way up to the surface. It did not happen often, but often enough that it was not a rare occurrence. So, at least in the river around here the crawfish were not in hibernation in cold water. The water I ice-fished was usually between 8 to 14 feet deep. On the few occasions I fished shallow water I never caught a crawfish in the winter.

I have had a President reel for 4 years. It is my go-to spinning reel. Other than the line roller getting worn and needing to be replaced, it has been great. No wobbles...still as smooth as it was when brand new. It is scared from use in adverse conditions, and from banging around in my truck, and it just keeps on ticking. I take it apart and clean and lube it once a year. Other than that, I just use it.

No matter what you do, you will not be able to stop a determined thief or thieves. As someone pointed out, all you can do is "outrun the other guy". If someone really wants your trailer or any part of it, you are SOL. I do get a kick out of people who put all kinds of locks on their spare wheel and tire, but don't even have a locking lug nut on any of the wheels on the trailer. Nothing like coming back to the launch and finding the trailer up on blocks with the wheels and tires missing...but the spare still "safely attached" to the trailer. I have seen that more than once. While I prefer to use launches that have minimal traffic (basically, I don't like crowds at any time, much less when fishing) there is the consideration that a busy launch has more "eyes", so there may be less chance of theft. On the other hand, a busy launch gives the thief more options, and sometimes there is the possibility that all the people and activity can cover up the actions of a thief. All in all, it is a crap shoot, and all you can do is make it more convenient for them to steal someone else's stuff.

My buddy and i got out on Thursday. He caught 4 and I caught 3, in 7 hours. Biggest was 14 inches, the others were 10-12 inches. I believe they were all males. We were fishing from shore, but in places that are generally a spawing areas this time of year. We threw lipless crankbaits, jerkbaits, squarebills, and topwaters with no luck. I also threw spinnerbaits, and dragged a jig, and tried a chatterbait. I tried wackie rigs, and weightless plastics (fluke, worm, paddletails) with no luck. The only thing we could get a bite on was a 1/8 or 1/4 oz ballhead jig head with a mister twister 3 inch grub tail in chartreuse or yellow. At least we were not skunked, but all in all a pretty slow day.

I carry a 20v impact wrench and a set of deep impact sockets that cover just about all lug nut sizes. That way I am sure I can change a tire on the trailer, or any trailer for that matter. I have helped a lot of people out at boat ramps, and on the road. Having the impact wrench is great and makes getting lug nuts off and on easier. I also carry a cheap Harbour Freight hydraulic jack and several wood block (to use if the trailer or truck sits to high for the max reach of the jack). This also does not take up much space, but makes it much easier to jack a trailer or truck up. As to them not providing a spare..you can always add it as an option (at extra cost of course,,,,gotta' maximize the profits you know), but it is often much cheaper to just buy a spare from some other source. Unless you are a stickler about your spare wheel being an exact match for the trailer, you can almost always get a wheel from a junk yard, or on Marketplace or Craigslist that will fit your trailer. And a good tire will usually be cheaper at a tire store than from a boat dealer.

Agreed. But I use a deep cycle starting battery for starting the motor and running lights and the like. And I use a deep cycle trolling motor for everything else (fish finder, trolling motor)

They do make deep cycle marine starting batteries, and dual purpose (starting and trolling motor) deep cycle marine batteries. I have had strong advice to stay away from the dual purpose batteries, but I have also had strong advice to use a deep cycle starting battery. Anyone have thoughts on that?

My problem with Dicks is that they are now "Dicks Clothing, Shoes, Golf, and oh yeah, we have some fishing stuff." I have yet to find anyone in the Fishing Department who knows anything about fishing. And a lot of times their ads show stuff that is not even available in the store, and is sold out online. I find that very sad, as the company was founded in Binghamton NY which is 25 miles from where I live. As a kid, one of my greatest joys was going to the original Dicks store and buying fishing gear. On another note, they are currently building what is touted to be the biggest Dicks store in the world in Binghamton. It will be interesting to see if they carry a better selection of fishing gear there.

I read an article years ago that claimed Gary Yamamoto was inspired by the shape of a Bic pen when he designed the Senko....who knows, it could be true.

I am almost in your backyard. I live in Owego

Some of my ancestors came over on the Mayflower....and some of my ancestors were here to greet them when they landed.

Thanks Glenn.

My computer bricked. As a result, I lost all my saved passwords. I can no longer access my old email (cbmma_19798@yahoo.com). I also cannot access my Facebook account, or my ebay account. Remind me to NEVER depend on "Save Password" again. Anyway, since I lost all my passwords, I cannot access my account on this site either. The site rules say that no one can have two accounts....but the only way I can think of to keep access to this site is to create a new account using my new email address. Is it possible for a moderator to merge the two accounts. or if necessary to remove my old account and activate the new one? Thanks for any help you can offer.

And when do you get out of the hospital?

Have you ever used a large Zara Spook? How about a size 13 Rapala? Or a 6" or 8" worm? If fish eat those, why would they not eat 6" or 8" Swimbait? Don't be afraid to use a large swimbait in Northern waters...