gitnby

Obviously, I'm kidding about the valet service, but it seems that every year, you hear about some guy who thinks he's giving his keys to a valet outside of a restaurant, and then finds out later that they don't have valet parking?

I am thinking of starting a free valet boat launching service? But, I need a partner! Pretty sure we could make over $100,000 in the first day! I would offer to sit in a nice $50,000 bass boat while the owner backs it in. Then, while he's pulling the empty trailer back up the ramp, I would speed off to another ramp where I would meet up with my partner who offered to park the other guy's $50,000 truck after the boat owner took off to go fishing. My partner backs the new truck and trailer down, we load up our newly acquired boat, and head off into the sunset. It would probably only work once, but might be worth a try?

I don't have one of those beer rods? But, I definitely think I need to get one? How many ounces do they hold?

May need to check my storage locker in the boat? might be another 1 or 2 hiding in there? Oh, and I keep a small spinning outfit on the pontoon boat for emergencies.

Oops, I forgot about the ones I have on a display rack in the rec room! Add 6 more to my total.

Bass Pro is having their rod/reel trade in deal starting next week, and I have some gift cards, so I thought I would pick up an extra reel. It got me to counting my rigs, and including the rods I keep on the dock for guests, I now have 26 working outfits, and a few extra rods with no reels. And, I don't even fish that much?

Agree on the casting method! When I can, I try to throw it side-arm and then thumb it right before the splash. Actually, I think your added leader helps keep it straight because the additional weight on the back end allows the rig to swing around tail first. The original A-rigs I had where so heavy on the head that unless you threw it on a perfectly tight line it was tangle city!

"It’s primarily a spotted bass endeavor, but smallmouth and largemouth bass are occasionally inveigled." inveigled? that's a real word? in·vei·gle inˈvāɡəl/ verb past tense: inveigled; past participle: inveigled persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery. "we cannot inveigle him into putting pen to paper" synonyms: entice, tempt, lure, seduce, beguile; We always called it getting "Ozarked"! "I wanted to get a good deal on that boat, but I think I got "Ozarked"?

New Boat Launching Idea

Funny, I never even thought about that? But, yeah, that's pretty unusual for none of them to have even a tail curled up? Maybe he uses Xanax in his livewell? Or maybe they're velcro'd to the carpet?

Went down to the dock this morning and found a couple of those stoppers in the tackle box. Put it on ahead of the straw and gave it a few heaves. Seemed to work? You were right! It is just about the right size. I tried putting another stopper right in front of the line tie in addition to the one behind it, which I put about 1/2 " up from the front of the straw to give it a little play. Water is pretty murky still, but it looks like the straw kinda 'rolls' or spins a bit with that set-up. Can't see why that would be a bad thing? Maybe that candy-stripe straw I mentioned would look like a friggin barber pole coming through the water? I'll play around with it some more, but I only had one tangle in all of the casts I made and I think that was because the trajectory was bad and the bait rolled over.

Don't know about the center box, but it's pretty obvious to me that those fish are all 15". The 2 in the middle are probably right on it, and the 2 on the outside appear to be 17"+/-. My best guess is the 6 add up to right about 15-16, best 5 probably 14? I agree about the carpet thing, though. Not a good way to handle em!

Good Call! I'll make some custom A-Rig straws and you can make the stoppers, We can call it the A.S.S (Alabama Straw Stopper) and we'll sell it as a kit for $6.99!

I say be careful with the Loctite Gel, though. My experience is that most fishing line doesn't like any kind of glue. I guess you could put a barrel swivel in front of the straw and accomplish the same thing? what's another 1/64 oz on a rig that weighs 6 pounds? I think I might experiment with these colorful straws? Might take some patience to run the line through them, though?

I guess plastic tubing will work, but I found that the straw is just the right length, and has enough stiffness to keep that first 6-8" of line straight and away from the arms or baits. On the rig I use (forget brand?), the straw just snugs right down on the line tie and I'll put a drop of Loctite Gel on it to keep it in place. I also think it keeps you off of some hang-ups where your line is coming over a branch. I guess you could use one of those candy-stripe color straws or even go crazy with whatever color you want?

Bill's hint about 'pumping' the bait as opposed to a steady retrieve was something I had forgotten since I last used the A-Rig. Threw the A-Rig a bit today and caught one nice one on a bluff end and he hit it after the 'pump'. Another little trick I came up with is putting a straw, swizzle stick or plastic tubing on the line ahead of the line tie. Forgot to do it this morning, but I was quickly reminded after a few casts into the wind. I use a full regular clear plastic straw. It helps keep the line away from the arms during the cast and/or when it hits the water, and you don't get tangled and screw up your retrieve! I also think it helps create a small 'jetstream' of water passing through the bait and really makes the blades spin better?

didn't go out Saturday. Had a project at the house to get done, and it was cold, so decided to wait and go today. Was out from 11-3. Got one on the A-RIg, no other bites

Are you referring to the infamous "Killer B's" ?

Think I might toss the Float n fly a bit,too? It seems to work best when nothing else is?

Typically, I'll be 5 miles either side of KC bridge.

Will probably go out this weekend for a bit. Saturday & Sunday look to be bearable temps, and the lake level has stabilized some. Thinkin crankbaits, jerkbaits early and then A-rig, spoon + grub on some deeper stuff later in the day. May try some up in the bushes, but haven't heard of any action by anyone doing that.

Okay, Dave, that HAS to be the first time that word (cataclysmic) has been used on this forum? I assume that is some kind of pharmaceutical terminology? "Take 2 cataclysmics and call me in the morning"? Possibly, it's a new thing that Richard Gere is doing, substituting a cat for a gerbil. (only a few of you sickos will get that one?) Or, maybe it's a new version of the NED, exclusively for catching catfish?

"nothing fits right when I layer" As long as she doesn't complain, I wouldn't worry about it!

Under Armour Infrared is good stuff. I have the top and the bottom. I wear an old wool sweater over the UA and then an insulated wind jacket over that. On bottom, I wear the UA under fleece sweat pants or jeans and then rainsuit bottom over that. This setup has kept me warm in temps down to mid to high teens. Any colder than that, you won't see me out there on the water!