Kirtley Howe

This from the person who drags a canoe through the forest/underbrush to get to a bog in the middle of nowhere in the dark? Compared to that, my "adventure" was a walk in the park. I did, however, feel like I should have gotten into a hyperbaric chamber when I got home. Missing part of a lung, having COPD and many allergies will leave you feeling "a bit winded" for sure.

I would beg to differ on that. I have noticed a distinct difference in taste in fish of the same species when taken from different water temperatures. The biggest difference I have noticed in taste is with catfish and bullhead. Colder water fish taste better to me. I am guessing, but I suspect that the difference is because the forage base is different in cold water (40-45F) than in warm water (65F and up).

Interesting....I always prefer a rod with the threads (screw part of the reel seat) in front of the reel. Most likely since I am predominately a left had caster and I tend to unscrew the reel locking nut just by the action of casting if it is behind the reel. I am trying to envision how you hold the rod so that your hand is resting right in front of the reel on a front threaded reel seat. Can you put up a picture of how that is? I must be dumb, but I just can't picture it in my mind.......

I consider myself to be barely capable when I am clean and sober. I don't think i could, or would want to, try to do anything stoned....and that includes just sitting on my couch. Hard pass for me.

read all his posts.....I really don't think a kayak is possible for him

my guess is he wants to clear out his old stock. not necessarily a bad thing if he is offering a good discount for the old model.

I have slept on several boat that were anchored. My biggest worry was the anchor pulling and the boat drifting into something. One boat I was on (19ft Raven Cutty Cabin) did actually slip anchor, but we were lucky. The boat just drifted around the lake until we got up. No problem, no damage.....but it COULD have been bad. I never had a problem in a river, as I always anchored in a very protected location and had really good anchor sets.

I have a 50-50 mix of silent vrs. rattling. Some days they want rattles, some days they want non-rattle. Some days it makes absolutely no difference. When possible, I buy each new crankbait in both rattle and not rattle. A lot of times I am sure the style (squarebill, flat-side, etc.) is far more important than if it rattles or not.

I consider anything over 8 ft to be deep cranking.....but I fish a relatively shallow river most of the time. Most people would probably consider 12-15 feet as the starting point of deep cranking, and 20+ feet truly deep cranking. As to the lightest crankbait you can toss with your set-up. It depends on your skill level. If you are reasonably proficient with it, you should be able to chuck a 1/4oz crank far enough to make it a viable presentation...but you will need 3/8oz, but more likely 1/2oz to really bomb a cast out there. In most cases, a bomb cast is not necessary. Concentrate on accuracy. If you watch any of the pros use a crankbait, with the exception of lipless cranks, they are usually making fairly short, but very accurate casts to some kind of cover or structure, and are not bombing a cast out there.

I don't punch often, but yes, I have used a tube as a punch bait. I have some very much oversized tubes (3 1/2" long, but 2 1/2 times bigger around than a standard tube...I can't remember the brand...) that work well for that.

I agree with Bankc, but I think boat makers are being short sighted. What about building a new customer base? It would seem to me that a boat builder would want to make a (reasonably) affordable entry level boat--even if they made very little money on those-- to introduce new customers to boat ownership with the idea being that they would then be more likely to 'move up" to a newer/fancier/more expensive boat at a later date. Sure, boat manufacturers are selling a lot of high end boats right now but their high end customer base is limited, and may soon max out. The manufacturers that can meet the needs of a wider customer base will be much better positioned in the long run. But, it has been my observation that a lot of companies, no matter what field they are in, are far more concerned with maximizing profits RIGHT NOW than they are with creating a stabile long term business. It is just so short sighted of them that I could scream.

You make a very valid point. First place payouts have gone down, but at least in MLF the payout for lower places and the total number of places receiving a check has increased, so over-all the total payout has increased, but is more spread out. I am not sure if Bassmaster followed that trend. Even if all the prizes paid out at higher levels, when you figure in inflation the prize money has indeed gone down.

Also, you may have to "train" yourself to reel slower. An 8 speed reel will work fine for what you plan on doing, but you will have a tendency to reel too fast if you don't concentrate on it. I sometimes use an 8.1 to 1 for squarebills and medium divers, but as mentioned above, you will find it does not work well for deep diving crankbaits and you will wear yourself out using for that purpose.

We have had several cold fronts move through over the last few days, complete with thunderstorms and lightning. Yesterday the weather settled down some, and we only had a couple of short showers, so I decided to go out early this morning. The river is up, with lots of floating weeds and grass, and some other debris, but was fishable. I got to the river at just about daybreak. I decided to fish and area I really like, but had not fished this year. To get to the spot, you have to drive down what looks like a goat path, and then maneuver your vehicle so it is parked near some railroad tracks but out of the way of the trains...a bit tricky to get my old longbed/extended cab truck in there, but I managed. Then I had to climb over the tracks, push through some dense brush/brambles/overgrowth for a couple of hundred yards, and climb down a steep, slippery clay bank. That is why I had not fished it yet this year..it is exhausting just getting there. But, I did get there.... I started with topwaters, trying to get the morning bite. I caught 3 bass. Two were 1 lb smallmouth, but the other was right at 3 lbs...also a smallie . The little ones came on a frog cast into a weed bed, but I could not get a decent one there. I then threw a Bass Pro Choppo in the 110 size, in a bone/black color scheme. That got me the 3 lb bass. As soon as the cloud cover burned off, the topwater bite was done. I switched to a green pumpkin tube bait on a 1/4 oz jig head. That was good for 5 more bass, between 1 1/2 and 2 lbs. I lost 4 rigs to snags, but I didn't mind, as they are cheap, and they were working. I moved downstream by a couple of hundred yards to where there were a couple of deeper channels in the river (the water I had been fishing was 3 to 5 ft deep) that were about 6 to 8 ft deep. I tried the tube, but no takers. I tossed an Original Rapala floating minnow in the F11 size. No love for that. I then switched to a squarebill crank in sexy shad. When I could successfully bounce it off tree branches in the water, I could get bites, but I only hooked one dink. Switched to a unknown brand medium diver crank in firetiger. and ground it into the bottom. That got a couple more dinks, but also my best fish of the day....a 3 1/2 lb largemouth. I played around with a bunch of other lures, but could not buy another bite. I fought my way back to my truck, and after resting for about 1/2 hour, I drove to another area. The new area was easy access. There is a boat launch, and the river in that area is 6 ft deep on average, but has some holes that go as deep as 10 ft if you know where to look. There is also a stream that feeds into the river that is not fished much, as there is not a lot of bank access. The river proper gave me 5 more smallmouth, all about 1 1/2 lbs. Three came on the tube bait again, and the other two came on a drop shot worked into the deeper holes. I then moved to the creek and managed 2 more largemouth, one was 1 1/2 lbs, and the other was 2 1/4 lbs. They both came on a swimbait. It was very difficult to work the creek, and as the day warmed up the bugs got really thick. I bailed on that area due to the difficulty of fishing it, and that fact that the bugs were not deterred by my 100% Deet bug repellent. I was getting eaten alive. On my way home, I stopped at one more spot where a large creek enters the Susquehanna River. I don't fish this spot much as it is very easy access and get beat to death by bank fishermen. But today I was the only one there....nice! I got one more 1 lb smallmouth on the Choppo, and had server more hits on crankbaits, but didn't land any of those. I got home about 1:30 pm. Very tired, but it was a good day.

In the snow.

I would agree that making good money as a pro bass fisherman has definitely gotten tougher. The top anglers make more than ever, but many are barely making it. Part of the problem is that both the quantity and quality of angler has increased greatly over the years. It used to be that a pro could master one or two techniques and be a very successful pro, but today you have to be really good at many techniques to even have a chance of placing in the top 50. Now days there are high school team, college teams, and many levels of pro fishing that are training the new generation of anglers to be so proficient that it is amazing. Then add in all the advancements in electronics that are used today that have opened up whole new fishing techniques and locations that fishermen never even knew about before.....Now, consider the costs involved. Pros used to spend $25,000 for a fully (and I do mean FULLY, for the time) equipped boat. Now days, that cost is much closer, if not over. $100,000 for a top of the line boat. Gas and hotel costs are up between 100% and 300%. Food costs on the road are up around 50%. Repair cost for the boat and their trucks are out of sight....and so on. Sure, payouts for winning have gone up a lot, but so have all the costs. Sponsors only cover so much, and the rest is out of pocket expense for the pro. Most pros these days make far more money working for their sponsors at shows, doing social media, getting endorsement deals and things like that then they make from actual winnings on the pro circuit. Sure, they have to be successful enough to be seen on tv during tournaments to attract those outside income sources, and the better they do the more they make from outside sources....but a top 100 pro could not even begin to live on just his winnings, but a top 10 pro could live on just his winnings, but would be stupid to just do that. Pros now days have to be far more than "just" a great fisherman. It is not an easy job, and you would really have to love it, and be willing to sacrifice so many other things in order to be successful. I used to think that I would have loved to be a pro fisherman for a living, and in the 60's 70's and 80's I think I would have. Today? Not so much.

Sacrificial anodes come stock on every outboard or inboard motor that I have ever seen. They are usually made from a zinc compound, and are located on the anti-cavitation plate, just above and directly behind the propeller. In freshwater they will last just about forever, but in salt or brackish water they corrode away fairly quickly and must be replaced when they show obvious degradation. They are inexpensive and easy to change. They are available at most marine shops (or can be ordered), and often from the motor manufacturer. They, as the name implies, sacrifice themselves to corrosion so other items on the motor don't corrode as quickly. DO NOT paint, wax, or coat the sacrificial anode with any product, or you will decrease its' effectiveness. A sacrificial anode is absolutely necessary when running a motor in saltwater, unless you want your lower unit to basically corrode away.

And...the Great White series of saltwater trolling motors seems to be discontinued. Motorguide lists only one available saltwater trolling motor.

Great to hear A-Jay. Give her our best wishes.

I examined the rod very carefully before purchase. The guides were straight and showed no signs of being "tweaked" or damaged. The rod itself was unmarked. The plastic was still on the reel seat and the cork handles. If there was/is any damage, it is well hidden. And for $31.00, I am not very worried about it. It will work for the use I bought it for. The rod, as many are these days, was made in China...no big surprise there. I did find one review on YouTube that pretty much agrees with what I thought, though he thought the rod was worth more $$ than I would have said.

I am not a rookie angler. I am an experienced angler with a rookie skill set. <G>

I rule the roost, my wife rules the rooster.

Nice one. I haven't caught a decent one like that in a while.

Old Boogie-Woogie music like Pine Tops Boogie-Woogie (google it).

Try these" Fishing for Beginners by John Watson. (1968) Freshwater Fishing by Dick Sternberg (1959) The Complete Book of Freshwater Fishing by P. Allen Parsons (1961) Good luck