You may want to consider using a left-hand retrieve reel for your 2nd outfit (if your current outfit is right-handed). My hands and arms appreciate a break when I switch from an XXH throwing a magnum bulldog with a right-hand retrieve reel to anything else on a rod with a left-hand retrieve reel. The reel change alone keeps me throwing longer and with more accuracy.

The Toyota Sienna is the only AWD van still being made.

I have better luck cutting the bottom bouncer arm (with the snap) off and using the rest as a sliding sinker with a ball bearing swivel as the stopper. The curled up leech problem at least doesn’t twist your line past the swivel. You’ll also gain a lot of sensitivity.

Absorbine jr for the gnats. Zinc Oxide sunscreen – doesn’t repel the fish the way almost all other products do. A compact sharpening kit. Walkie talkies if you have more than one boat. A water purifying filter. Good luck!

Drop shot here also. But, instead of 1 hook, I tie a leader on with a double UNI knot and use the strand that sticks up from the knot to tie on a light wire hook. Then, tie another piece of leader to the longest strand, and tie on a second hook. If you tie the hooks on so they hang about 2 inches from the knot, they stick out away from the line and the fish seem to be able to inhale the bait more easily. Don’t wait to set the hook or the fish will be hooked too deeply.

It looks like water/grease from your lower unit. The mixture turns milky like that when water leaks thru the seal It’s simple to check and may save you some serious trouble.

If you are new to using the remote control, pushing any button turns it on but you have to push the prop icon to activate it AND hit the speed increase button until you get the speed you want.

You should see the looks I get with the 6′ 9″ two piece line-thru-the-rod pole I built to use in water over 8 feet deep to about 12′. Desoto Bay was just too deep for my 5 footer, I had to hand-over-hand to land a fish.

You should see the looks I get with the 6′ 9″ two piece line-thru-the-rod pole I built to use in water over 8 feet deep to about 12′. Desoto Bay was just too deep for my 5 footer, I had to hand-over-hand to land a fish.

I used a 24 gallon ice chest with a 12 volt aerator pump to keep bait alive. If it’s hot out, we took lots of ice cubes and put in a few every hour or so.

Fluorocarbon is less visible and stands up to abrasion better than mono. It seems to have less stretch than most monos also. I’ve used my camera to watch my jigs dancing in front of fish. I can’t see the line but I can see the jig. There are a couple jigs that work better on a softer line but just keep one reel set up for those.

While they’re doing that, shrink the plastic carrier so that it will fit in a 5 gallon bucket for safe transport for long walks to get away from the crowd. I’d gladly give up the red cover to help out.

So, how do you keep live bait on the hook long enough to catch a fish? Are we thus going to no live bait?

Had a small hawk ambush a bird below our feeders. Reached for the phone camera but the movement flushed the hawk with his prey firmly secured in his talons.

In shallow water with clear water, I set it up about 3 feet out to the side. That way you only watch one line of sight but see both jigs. A friend happened to drill in the same line of sight about 10 ft. from my tent one day and I could tell him what he had biting before he even knew there was a bite.

After reading several posts about problems with the charger, I just put it away and use one that I have for my other 12 volt gel cells.

The new Laser hand augers are weak where the blades attach -I have a 5 and a 6 that both bent the bottom flight. Bent them back but wait till next time. I just started using a Nils 6″ and love how easy it drills – since both hands provide power, it seems easier to turn. At $70 for replacement Nils blades I’m being extra careful with it. _ The flight on the Nils is smaller than the blade diameter so it does leave a lot of slush in the hole.

Be sure the battery has warmed up from your trip. A cold battery will cause the flashing “NO CHARGE POSSIBLE” light. Try it again after the battery reaches room temperature. My drill batteries do the flashing red whenever they’re cold.

Fished a community hole in the backwaters today that was about 4 to 6 feet deep where we caught fish. Caught 8 crappies on a gill pill with 2 red spikes on it, one on a jig with a piece of white plastic, and 1 on a copper slender spoon with a piece of orange plastic. A fishing friend visited the holes for 20 minutes and caught 6 crappies on a Little Mic. We both got some nice gills too. Most of the crappies hit within a few inches of the ice. Even the bigger gills were well off the bottom.

I use the copper/orange spoon with 1 spike on the point to the inside of the treble. It usually catches the bigger gills compared to the people around me. My buddy caught about 75 crappies (kept 25 of the ones that took it too deep or were the larger ones) last Sunday on the same color with a plastic trailer hooked to hang straight down) while I went through several colors and only got 3.

BE SURE TO PULL THE PICKS APART ONCE IN A WHILE – MINE ARE SEVERAL YEARS OLD AND THEY WERE TOO TIGHT TO PULL APART UNTIL I CLEANED THEM AT THE BEGINNING OF LAST ICE SEASON.

Make or get a pair that are tied together. If they are in your pocket or bucket you may not be able to get to them. When I took a swim last year , the bucket was out of arms reach along with my coat and the hole I made would have kept me from getting them out of my bib pockets. Fortunately I had the picks hanging around my neck so they pulled me out just fine. My flotation bibs kept me from getting wet above my armpits, so that $300 for the combo was well spent too.

Mine wouldn’t beep either. I got on their website and followed their directions to send it in and got it back fairly quickly. Great service – no charge!

If you put the tube in yourself, be sure to inflate the tire, then let the air out before putting in the valve core and inflating to the correct psi. Letting the air out the first time gives the tube a chance to get rid of wrinkles from sitting in a package. Before tubeless tires this was sop.

Do you start with a few inches of mono on the spool? With heavier braid, the whole batch will slide on the spool since there is no stretch to cinch against the spool.

I have a Marcum that I use when it is too windy/cold to stand outside – about twice a year. I also bought a micro that I have in my pocket and use every time (about 75 to 100 days a year)I go out to check what the blips on the LX-7 are. My only regret is getting the lower price unit. The next step up has a folding lid that protects the screen from scratches in my pocket. The 16 LB. test cable is light but I usually fish in water less than 12 ft. deep.

The first time my merc acted like that I learned to loosen the cap on the tank. After 55 years with Evinrudes and Johnsons, it only cost me $30 at the repair shop to find out about mercs.

No plates for trailers in Wisconsin and cheap fishing licenses for us old guys.

Gas cap too tight?

Try Avon’s Skin So Soft mixed 50/50 with Absorbine Jr. The boys at the Wyoming (Iowa) golf course used that mix to keep the mosquitos off and the gnats from landing.