Kirtley Howe

Thanks. We are getting better. I have pretty much recovered except for being tired all the time. Not much stamina but that seems to be improving. Mel has it worse. She lost her sense of taste and smell and has been coughing and still has the body aches and pains. She has gotten a bit better, but she is recovering more slowly than I did. Yesterday I did a grocery store run....just ordered what we had to have on-line and did the curbside pick-up at the local Price Chopper grocery store. I really prefer to pick out my own stuff but that service is nice when you feel like crap and may still be contagious. We are basically just going to act like hermits for another week or so. Biggest thing I miss is that the fall weather has finally arrived and fishing should be great right now, and I just can't deal with going fishing. Bummer.

I have no doubt you are more knowledgeable on this than I am and do not disagree with your statistics. But I really believe that alcohol plays a bigger role in boating accidents than is generally realized. I think it is often a contributing factor in accidents that are attributed to other causes. I often wonder how many accidents happen because that "just one beer" affected someone's reaction time by a tiny bit; or threw their balance off by a hair; or made them misjudge the clearance by an inch or two, etc. . In most cases around here, if someone falls out of a boat and drowns, an autopsy is not done, and unless they are found surrounded by empty beer cans, alcohol is not tested for. So many people do not realize how much being exposed to heat or cold, wind, sun, and exertion can amplify the effects of alcohol.

PDFs are great and everyone should wear one. Kill switches are great and have no doubt saved many lives. All the other safety features built into boats are wonderful and worthwhile. BUT----no safety feature, rule, or law will protect against stupidity, carelessness, or ignorance be it willful or not. The loss of a life is a terrible thing for both the person and the family of the person, and I do not mean to diminish that in any way, and I do not know if any of those things were involved in this accident. One of the major, if not THE major, causes of boating accidents among recreational boaters is alcohol consumption, and not just by the person operating the boat. An impaired passenger in a boat is a huge liability and increased the risk of accident. Do not drink and boat, period. Save it for when the trip is done. Sorry if I hijacked the thread. I will get off my soapbox now.

Thanks for all the well wishes. My symptoms have eased some, but Melody is still pretty sick. At this point I don't feel very sick (not that I feel good), but my energy is still pretty low, though it seems to be getting better. Mel is a trooper, and keeps wanting to "take care of me" even though I am less sick than she is. I keep having to tell her to take it easy and let me do the cooking and such. We will survive. If I have to be isolated to the house, I am glad it is with Melody.

Perfect fall fishing weather is here, and lovely wife Melody and I have both come down with Covid. So far it seems to be a mild case, but we both feel like crap. The biggest problem is the fatigue. It pretty much takes all our energy just to do the absolute necessities for the day. We are both on medication for it and hope the symptoms don't get much worse. It will be awhile before I can get back out there fishing. Right now my main priority is taking care of Mel. We had managed to avoid Covid up until now. I guess you can only dodge the bullet for so long.

Look into Venture Heat Mesn's Heated Vests. They are actually intended for motorcycle riders but work great for fishing. They are very durable, water resistant, and comfortable (at least for me) to wear. They will keep you warm and seen to have good battery life. Priced around $180, but worth it.

I have an acquaintance who guides for a living. He guides on Lake Ontario, the Salmon River in NY when the kings are running up to spawn, and for Steelhead, and also on the Niagra River. He also has done (does do?) some guiding on Lake Erie for Smallmouth. He nets about $70,000 a year. Sounds like a great gig, right? Not so much. He has no life outside guiding for 10 months a year. He also works an average of 12-14hrs a day between guiding, preparing to guide, maintaining equipment, handling his bookings, and doing paperwork. The other 2 months is taken up with bookkeeping, maintaining/upgrading his boats, and trying to do all the things he has no time for during his season. He is always under stress to produce for his clients. He must be pretty good, as he is booked out for 2-3 years in advance. Before he got into being a guide, he loved to fish, and we would often fish together. Now, he never fishes for fun....in fact the last thing he wants to do is go fishing for himself. I could not do what he does and would not want to. His plan at this point is to guide until he is 55 years old (yes, he is considerably younger than I am) and then retire....if he lasts that long. I almost never see him anymore....I hope he is happy, but I really don't think he is.

I wear UV screening shirts (long sleeve with hood), hat, sunglasses, sunscreen on hands, wrists, face, ears and neck. I always wear long pants. I reapply the sunscreen every couple of hours. My hands get a fresh coat of sunscreen any time they get wet. Of course, all that is only during daytime hours. Overkill? Maybe, but skin cancer is no joke. Better safe than sorry. I did enough damage to my skin when I was young. No need to add more......And don't forget that just because it is cloudy, does not mean you can skip the protection.

I love cast iron cookware. But my wife does most of the cooking, and has very bad wrists and cannot lift a cast iron pan. She has a whole set of ceramic coated pans with thick aluminum bottoms. They actually work very well, are non-stick, and don't shed teflon or other coating particles. They don'ty hold heat as well as cast iron, but they do heat very evenly. I usually cook Sunday breakfast, and for that I still use my 16" cast iron fry pan. It makes the best bacon, eggs and sausage. We have a propane gas stove in the house, and a propane gas grill. I often use the cast iron pan on the grill for vegetables and small things that would fall through the grill grates.

With a clean sandy bottom, I would try using a crankbait that digs into the bottom. For some reason that seems to be a forgotten technique by many anglers. It often produces for me, even fishing behind someone else.

I have only rebuilt 3 automotive carbs. I have probably rebuilt a hundred or so motorcycle carbs. And probably 20 or 25 outboard carbs. It is a skill with a pretty steep learning curve, but being broke is a great motivator, and I was broke a lot when I was younger. My current bike is a 1986 Suzuki Cavalcade Trike....it has 4 carbs. I have rebuilt them twice. Not a fun job, but rewarding. And to have a professional do the job is almost $300 plus parts, and I am way too cheap to pay that.

No, unfortunately. The only places I have been outside the US is Mexico and Canada. I have always wanted to get to Europe, New Zeeland and Australia, but time and finances have never permitted it.

Strickly from the bank. I hiked in to a new section of river and was totally unprepared for the number of snags there. If it had not been so much effort just to get there, I would have quit after loosing the chatterbaits.... As my mother used to say "From your Mouth to Gods' ear".

No, unfortunately. The only places I have been outside the US is Mexico and Canada. I have always wanted to get to Europe, New Zeeland and Australia, but time and finances have never permitted it.

I was fishing a new section of river that I had never tried before. I found every snag and rock in the river, I think. And I am far to stubborn (or stupid) to give up easily.

Got to the river at about 4pm today. Fished until 7:30pm. In that time, I caught NO fish. I did, however, loose both of my chatterbait lures, my best spinnerbait, one swimming jig, and one conventional jig. And 2 crankbaits. Kind of an expensive day with zero results. Gonna' have to save my pennies so I can stock up on lures again. Total bummer.....

Sorry for hijacking the thread....but our local movie theater uses a leaf blower to tidy up the floor between shows. They just use the blower to blow all the popcorn, drink cups, candy wrappers, etc. to the main aisles, then pick them up from there. Pretty cleaver idea if you ask me. Of course, they do a complete cleaning at the end of the night.

The sound of my line snapping while trying to get my $30.00 lure unsnagged. The sound of the prop on the boat as it hits that rock you didn't see. The clean snap of a rod that broke for no reason. The load splash as your fishing buddy falls into the water. The load groan as you feel the barbs of the hooks sinking into your hand. The sound of the jet ski as it zooms right through your fishing area. The sound of lightning as it hits the tree 25 feet from you.

Pretty much what I was thinking of. Thanks.

Thank you for all the responses. After much consideration, I am thinking of looking into a smaller collapsible net. It should be sufficient for bass and most Walleye. I think the advice to not net Pike and Musky is probably valid. And I don't target those, they are an accidental catch, so it is not going to be a regular occurrence. Again, thanks for the advice.

When I lived in Florida, it was common for many saltwater species to be considered "caught" when you touched the leader.

From New York State, USA. welcome to Bass Resource. I look forward to hearing of your fishing exploits in Sweden. Does Sweden have any Bass fishing? I know you have many cold water species.....

Ok Mr. Popeil. (for those of you who are old enough to remember that TV ad)

All the sounds mentioned are great to hear...but one of my favorites is the sound of a flock of geese returning to our area in the spring, and the sound of the flock of geese leaving our area in the fall. Both of those signal great fishing times for me. I also love the sound of a beaver slapping the water with its' tail either at first light in the morning or at dusk.... The "cooing" sounds of mourning doves along the river during early morning hours. It is a sweet and faintly sad sound, but also very soothing. The gentle sound or a light summer rain hitting the water. The soft hiss of canoe gliding through the water. The gurgling sound of shallow rapids on the river. The magical sound that a waterfall makes. The absolute dead silence of a fog shrouded morning on the river or lake in the middle of nowhere. The sound of a gentle breeze "sighing" through the trees on the riverbank. The sound of distant thunder on a warm summer night. The sound of a train in the distance. The croaking of a bullfrog. The sound of "peepers" on a warm night. And so many more sounds and smells that are part of being outdoors in the country.

Moderators: Not sure if this is in the right forum, so feel free to move it to the correct one if I have messed up. I am considering buying a new landing net. The one I have now is your typical string mesh net with a fixed handle. I am considering a rubber mesh net with an extendable handle. I know the big advantage to the rubber net is that hooks don't get caught in it as easily, and fish don't get tangled up in it as much. Those are the positive aspects. The negative things I can see is that the rubber mesh net is heavier, which is a consideration because I do a lot of walk-in shore fishing, and more expensive. I have also had some people tell me that the rubber nets actually do more damage to fish than the string nets, as they rub off more protective slime from the fish's body, although I have no proof that is true. So what are your opinions? Are there other things I have not thought of that could make or break my decision? Any other options for nets I have not considered? I should note that 90% of the time I will be using it for bass, and the other 10% will be for trashfish, pike or musky. A cradle type net is not an option as I am fishing from rocky shoreline most of the time and cannot get in a position to cradle a fish without risk to life and limb. Thanks......