Swaping Skirts

Here’s a great & simple modification to the Hula Popper. During a tournament my boater was filling the boat with a black Spro Bronzeye Popper. The closest thing I had to it was a Hula Popper. But by the time I put it on, the bite had died. Although I didn’t catch anything, the Hula Popper had better action than the Spro Popper. The Hula made splashing bubble noises while the Bronzeye just merely splashed. To my surprise the treble hooks didn't get all fouled up when in the grass. I just merely tugged the popper free of the grass and the treble hooks came out clean most of the time. To make it look more like the Bronzeye I replaced the stock skirt with a black silicone jig skirt. It actually looks great in the water.





Modified Hula Popper (top) compared to the Spro Bronzeye Popper

I pulled the stock skirt off first.  Then I moved the band to one end of the skirt by lubricating half the skirt with soap and sliding the band to the end.  The skirt will stretch while doing this but don’t worry about it.  Rinse the soap off the skirt.  Using a pair of needle nose pliers, shove the point into the band and spread the band by opening the pliers.  Press the band and skirt onto the popper and make sure the skirt is spread evenly.  Then trim the excess around the band and the other end of the skirt.

The Forgotten Spinnerbait

I’m amazed at how many seasoned bass anglers turn their noses up at the black spinnerbait.  When I first started using black, a lot of anglers rolled their eyes.  When I was observing for the Mr. Bass Championship, I threw the “Midnight Special” spinnerbait.  I caught 3 bass within 10 minutes before my boater told me not to fish anymore, since I was only an observer.  I told him what I was using and he said,
“Bass must be hitting at anything”.  Meanwhile, he hadn’t caught a fish yet and ignored my suggestion.  Yet another angler asked “Aren’t you embarrassed throwing that?”

The general theory behind using black is it makes a better silhouette in dark conditions, and it stands out more in stained, murky water.  In short, any condition where it is difficult for bass to see/find your lure.  I strongly favor black spinnerbaits armed with Colorado blades, which create a lot of vibration.  The Strike King “Midnight Special” sports a single Colorado blade with an additional rattle. 

In my location, stained water has a light color; white and chartreuse spinnerbaits blend in with the suspended silt.  Black in this situation is seen by bass as a shadow, which is more visible than the lighter colors which are camouflaged.  So the strategy is to attract bass with vibration, close enough for her to see the silhouette, and finally the kill.

Here’s another viewpoint; what is a spinnerbait?  To me it looks like a jig with spinners.  Remember when you used to fish with beetlespins to catch crappie and bluegill?  Black bass are in the same family.  So if you use a trailer with a heavy black spinnerbait and a small single blade you’ve essentially have a beetlespin for bass.  This is called slow rolling. 

Keep a black spinnerbait in your box.  You may be surprised.

Silence of the Cranks

I've been reading how the pro anglers have been silencing their crankbait rattle by drilling a hole and using silicone as an adhesive to keep the rattles still.  I've been searching for detailed instructions on how to do this but have come up empty.  I actually cannot believe no one has written something about it since this seems common.  The procedures seems simple enough but I wanted details on where to drill the hole.  Anyway, here is how I did it.  If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve on it please do.

I selected an old crankbait that I almost never use.  This is a Matzuo crankbait which dives to about 8-10 feet.  When I get this procedure down and tested, I'm going to have a rattle and a silent version of the same crank bait so I could switch back and forth.  Silent cranks are often effective on highly pressured fish.  Lots of pro anglers switch between rattle and quiet cranks when the other stops working. 

1) I took the treble hooks off the crankbait and located where the chamber is by shaking the lure and feeling where the most vibration is occurring.  In this case, it seemed to come a little less than half way between the front and trailer hook eyes.  Mark the drill point with a Sharpie.

2) I put the lure in a small vise.  I put a block of wood in the bottom of the vise to keep the lure body from falling through.  The vise is actually clamping down on the wood block rather than the lure body.  The lure body is actually held in place by the wood wedges that I had handy.  I just slid these wedges on either side until it held the lure firmly with no play.

2) I selected a 7/64" drill bit.  I took the drill bit and put a dimple where I wanted to drill.  I did this by pressing the drill bit into the spot I wanted to drill and then turning the bit with my other hand.  Since in this case the plastic underneath the paint appears to be clear.  I chucked the drill bit in a hand drill and drilled the hole.

3) I took the lure body out of the vise to see if I could see the BB's.  The BB's could be seen if held a certain way.  Then I re-secured the lure body in the vise.

4) The pros say they used heated silicone on their silenced lures.  So I used standard kitchen and bathroom silicone and warmed it up in a hot water bath.  The reason for heating the silicone is to soften it so it would flow more easily.  I used hot water from the tap, which is about 110 degF.  If I were to do it again, I would put the water on a stove and heat the water to about 150 degF.  The silicone did seem to flow easier, but I think if it were heated more it would flow a lot better.

5) I then squeezed a small amount of silicone (about the size of a pea) into the hole and worked it in with a tooth pick.  I took the lure out of the vise and shook it to disperse the silicone and get the BBs coated.  I heard the rattling decrease to a mere muffle.

6) I then whacked the lure against the workbench to seat the BBs on the bottom of the rattle chamber.  I gently shook the lure and it was silent. 

7) I filled the hole up with some more silicone and set the lure back on the vise right side up, to keep the BBs on the bottom of the rattle chamber, and let the silicone set overnight.  I used silicone instead of epoxy because it was handy, its supposed to be waterproof, it matches the lures underbelly, and I was too lazy to mix up some epoxy.

UPDATE:  The hole really has to be filled with epoxy, or something durable.  The hooks from other lures poked a hole right through the silicone.  To minimize the mess of smearing epoxy all over your bait, I would advise to tape the lure before drilling the hole.  This way, the silicone and epoxy will stick where it needs to and not stick to the outside of the bait.  After the epoxy has firmed up some, remove the tape.  The thickness of the tape may also help with the epoxy "shrinking" into the hole.  I got a divit in the epoxy and I think this was caused either by the air cooling off inside the rattle chamber after I had handled the crankbait, or the walls of the bait relaxing after being pinched.  The epoxy sagged into the hole.  I followed up by putting on gap filling cyanoacrylate.

About Treble Hooks

I found out the hard way that the treble hooks that come with your lures aren’t really good enough to hold a fish.  A good way to test the hook’s ability to hook and keep a fish is to run your finger down all sides of the lure and see the hooks catch your finger.  If you want the best chance to boat/land fish you’ll have to replace the stock treble hooks with better ones.  But what makes a good hook?

One could improve hooking ability by merely using a bigger treble hook.  By using a larger hook size the gap between the point and shank is wider and increases the hooking probability.  Longer shanks also improve the hook up by decreasing the angle of the hook when it rolls away.  The straighter the point is, the easier it will penetrate.   The disadvantage of a long shank is when it is used in tandem on the short body of a crankbait.  The front and trailer treble hooks will come in contact and become entangled during the cast, or being retrieved.   A short shank model will prevent this fouling from happening.  For longer stickbaits, Zara Spooks, etc., a long shank treble hook can be used to hook fish which slap at the bait.

There are different shapes of hooks.  Probably the most used shape is the Round Bend treble hook.  These hooks tend to roll away when applying pressure at the point, making the hook point end up going in at an angle, requiring more force to drive the hook in.  These hooks need to be very sharp to hook in to fish.   Also, since this angle will also promote bending the hook, the hook must be strong as well.  Since a weaker hook bends, the bending action will increase the point angle preventing further penetration.

Another hook shape is the Wide Gap which has the points turned inward to maintain its hook size designation.  These hook shapes are found in the Mustad Triple Grip, Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap (EWG), and the Bill Lewis Set-Lok line of treble hooks.  At first glance, it would seem the points would not catch as much as a Round Bend hook since they are turned inwards.  However, these hooks minimize the point angle when pressure is applied to the point.  As the hook rolls itself away from your finger the hook point is set up making it easier for the hook to penetrate.  The hook point is going in straighter, minimizing the required force to drive the hook and bending.

VMC Sure-Set treble hooks have one long hook which acts as a stinger hook.  These hooks are stock hooks on some Rapala lures.  That said, this variety of hook could really only be used as a trailer hook on a crankbait unless it has a long bill.  This hook can be very effective on short striking fish.

Hook strength plays a large part in how well a treble hook works.  Basically, the stronger the hook, the stiffer it is, the deeper the point goes.  If the hook flexes at all, that means the point is not driving itself deeper.  The penetration angle also changes.  With this angle becoming larger, this makes it even harder to drive the hook point.

So, what does this all mean?  Well, on the market there are several choices.  I'll talk about my top 3 choices.

1)      Mustad KVD Elite Series – I really like this hook!  This treble combines all the advantages that a crankbait treble hook should have; the extra wide triple grip design, extra short shank, and 1x strong.  The shank length is ideal to use on short body crankbaits.  This allows using a larger hook size to increase the likelihood to hook up.  The point geometry favors a straighter penetration.  The wire the hook is made from is thicker making it stiffer to drive the hook point.  This is a great hook to use on crankbaits.  Because of its shortness, it probably would not be the optimum choice for poppers, jerk baits, or longer bodied hard baits.  I would probably opt for a standard length shank to increase the probability of hooking up on a fish which slaps at the bait.

2)      Mustad Triple Grip / Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap – These are the hooks I would use for top water baits, and hardbaits with a long body to prevent hook tangling.  These hooks feature the geometric advantage of having the points turned inward which positively affects the penetration potential.  These come in the standard shank length enabling these hooks to “reach out” at slashing fish.

3)      Gamakatsu Short Shank – This treble features the Round Bend design and the patented Magic Eye.  The wedged top of the Magic Eye makes it easier to install the hooks on split rings by pushing it between the split rings.  No pliers needed.  The shank is not as short as the Mustad KVD, however the strength is there and Gamakatsu is renowned for its sharp hooks.  This is the hook I would use if I couldn’t get the KVD.

Honorable mention: The VMC SureSet treble hooks have a great concept of combining the advantages of a worm hook with a treble hook.  However, since its use is limited, these would be great as trailer hooks to snag short striking fish. 

Gary and I were fun fishing during the Spring River Ratz Open Tournament. We stopped at Furnace Bay first and things were kinda slow. We heard last week that 25# were pulled in this bay which won the tnx. I wouldn't have believed this since we only pulled 2 fish. Gary scored his first bass on a blue-purple T-rigged worm off a laydown. Then we went into this shallow area that didn't seem to be underwater in normal conditions. I caught a 2.5# bass on a white/chartreuse spinnerbait. This lure was modified with a #5 hammered nickel willow blade. This fish came off a fallen semi-sunken tree. We tried one more area in the bay and there wasn't anything happening. Then we went to the mouth of the Suskie by the railroad bridge with the sunken pilings. Right off I had a bass on the line with the Rebel craw crankbait, but it got off. I was cussing. The treble hooks have got to be changed out. Gary caught 2 more from the same general area on the Rebel craw. He had Gamakatsu trebles on his crankbait. I realized that I could've scored at least 5 more pounds in the Conowingo tnx if I had good trebles. I thought it was all about technique that I lost the 2-3 fish I had on. But after some research I realized it must be the hooks. I brushed my finger on the crankbait with the old hooks and my finger just slid by. I got a whole host of trebles from Dick's including the Gammies, Mustad KVD, and SureSet. For one thing, just increasing the treble one size up made a huge difference. With just a plain set of Eagle Claw #4 my finger was being stuck about half the time. Gammies and KVD faired better, but the KVD seemed the most consistent.

At the weigh-in the winners of the Open were fishing in Furnace Bay and pulled 25#. They said that they were using spinnerbaits and they pulled their limit by 7:30 and culled the rest of the time. Gary admitted there was one place we didn't try in the Bay.

A couple weeks ago I was fishing with Gary in the Conowingo tournament with the River Ratz. I learned a lot from this one tournament. Gary was using Spike-it to tip his plastics. He probably caught 6 good sized bass within half an hour. He also replaced his hooks on his Rebel craw crankbait. Bass were killing the cranks all day long. It was so good that one time we both caught a bass at the same time. I caught 3 bass before I started to lose them. I'm thinking it may have started when I lost one bass by trying to turn the bass into the net. It probably did something to the hook or the bait. I brought another to the boat only to lose that one too. There was yet another that I lost early in the fight. So I lost at least 2 fish and another that neither of us saw. That was a potential 9 pounds, or 6 pounds according to the paper.

I went out again with Tom later in the day since the fishing was so good. We went over to where Gary and I were fishing and Tom was slaying them! He caught a 19" bass before we left for Broad Creek where he caught his double limit to win the tnx. I only managed to catch a baby smallie and what looked like a 2# largemouth which got off. At Broad Creek, Tom caught some more. Within 2 hours, he caught about 7 bass.

Dan and I went fishing on the Bush on the friday afterwards. Right from the start, Dan's overheat alarm on his engine kept sounding off. He took off the weed guard and somehow the engine was working better. We went over to the boat works and there I caught a 3-4 bass on a watermelon jig with a Zoom watermelon Fat Albert 2 tail trailer. I was eating sunflower seeds and probably wasn't paying attention to the line. This bass ate the jig! There was a lot of blood coming out and I ended up cutting the line and letting her go. She seemed to be OK and would probably survive. then we went further into the Bush and fished this small cove with a dock. I caught one 2-8 bass on a tree stump with a BPS Tournament 4" Mag tube in Roadkill (greenpumpkin/red flake) rigged on a 3/8 oz jighead. An hour later I had another bass on a 5" green pumpkin/black flk wacky rig. This bass got off but we both saw it and had the potential of being a 4# bass. It caught me by surprise and I didn't give a hard enough hook set. All the fish I caught that day I used Chartreuse Spike-it Garlic Extra Salty.

I shot my first PA Steel fun match at SLCFSA in awhile with Tom, and his friend Tim. It was really good to get back out and do some shooting.

I went night fishing for the very first time on Friday night. We agreed to fish from 8pm until 5am. We had 3 boats from the club go out; it was me and Chris, Tom and Mark, and Billy and his uncle, JT. I caught the only bass that night early on. She came on my 3rd or 4th cast with a BP frog. It was pretty dead after that. Billy and JT quit early about midnight. Tom called me at about 2:30am and called it quits. I won $30 for lunker. I think next time we'll make it a $50 pot minimum. I definitely had fun despite the bass were turned off. I think that Chris and Mark would be into going again. Tom on the other hand told me to "never invite him night fishing ever again!" lol

I think next month, it'll be Gary and I, Mark and Chris, and Billy and JT.

Since Billy fishes the lake at night all the time, and the fact he left early, the action normally is much more livelier than that night... or he just fishes untill midnight all the time. Just a guess. Hopefully next month will be better.

Right before Tennessee, we had the pleasure of having 2 major branches of our pear tree fall right in front of our cars. All I had was a handsaw and loppers. I tried borrowing my neighbor's chainsaw from across the street but they wouldn't answer the door. I got it cleared out about 2 to 3 hours later. The tree has got to go. The branches didn't break because of the storm; it broke because it is infested with carpenter ants.

The fishing in TN is getting better and better every year. I took the canoe down this year and tried different lures which all caught, or at least got the attention, of bass. I got some action each and every day on Senkos, frogs, skirted jigs, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. I found a fallen tree in the lake and it held a lot of bass. I had a huge bass one a chartreuse spinnerbait. When it jumped and shook the hook off it looked like it could've been 2 ft long. Not only that this fish mangled my spinnerbait; it bent the spinner wire forward. The one I'm holding tied my personal best; 20 inches, caught on a black buzz bait when it was still dark out.


After we came back I went fishing on post and at the pond. No luck on post, but I caught what possibly could've broken my personal record. This fish took my green pumpkin seed Bass Pro Tnx Series Humpin' Frog to the bottom of the pond and tried to tangle my line on something. I had to move to get the fish free and finally I got it to surface. I landed the bass and tried to take a picture of it next to my rod with my cellphone. I thought I saved the picture, but I lost the file. I guestimate that this bass would've between 21" and 23". I've got to get a good scale and start recording this shit. There is this online tournament that I'm thinking of entering. This would actually get me serious about taking down these numbers.

This will be the last time I'll fish 2 days in a row with a late nite wedding in between. I got up at 6:30am to go fishing with Mark over at an undisclosed pond. This pond was small, but had some unbelieveable bass in it.
At about 9:45am, Mark and I went to Bass Pro to shop the Father's Day sales. I picked up a rod, a few lures, and ultra cheap clothes. Can't beat $4 t-shirts.

Went to shoot the wedding which ended at midnight in Chase, MD. Tom calls me during the wedding and leaves a message to meet up at 5am. Reception ended on time. Got home and started downloading/uploading pics. I was in bed by about 1:30am.

I set my radio alarm to 4:30am, but didn't wake up until about 5:10am. I met Tom at the Otter Pt. ramp and we went fishing. I was TIRED. We spent a lot of time at the canal. Tom caught a short and a 2.5# bass. I didn't get anything. Had 2 strikes but didn't hook up. We ended the day at 12:30pm.

Tom and I went fishing out of Joppatowne on Sunday, May 16. Cheryl and the boys were coming back from the annual visit to Erie and wouldn't be home till at least 6pm. I couldn't go anyway since I had a wedding to do on Sat; which ended late and didn't get to sleep till 1:30am. So, with 4 hours sleep, I woke up about 5:30am to meet Tom to go fishing.

It was a good day out on the water. We weren't catching anything until we went into the quarry. There I caught 2 shorts and 2 good sized bass. Tom caught 2 nice sized ones. He was complaining that I out fished him. I was a happy camper. I didn't think Tom intended to be out the whole day. He didn't pack a lunch, but luckily, I made 2 humongous sandwiches. Tom said there must've been a pound of meat in them. Afterwards while we were getting out of the quarry to the launch, some self-centered idiot decided to block the channel by idling his way to his next stop in the middle of the channel. Tom did his best to get his attention for him to get out of the way but the guy just ignored us. Tom stopped by the guy's boat to ask why he didn't drive to the side to wave him by. Soon a shouting match started up. Got kinda ugly. Nothing happened; just both boaters going to the MD Bass Federation to state their case.

Yesterday was the River Ratz Open Tournament. I went out with Gary to fun fish while waiting for the tournament to end. I caught an 18" bass with a belly. This fish would probably qualify as a HAWG. I wish I had a camera. It probably would've weighed in at least 4lbs. Gary kept on catching catfish all day. 5 catfish in all. One of them bent a hook. I cannot believe the power of these fish!

At the weigh-in for the Open, most of the competitors came in with 6 fish... SIX BIG FISH. I started to wonder where do they go? All of us didn't have much luck in bites in the Suskie. The lunker was a 6lb bass. Unbelieveable!

2nd Place

I had a great day! I caught 3 bass today and came in 2nd place under Tom. We had the 2nd RiverRatz tnx at the Potomac today. It didn't rain, but the wind was gusting to 40 mph. The water was rough and was beginning to swamp Gary's boat. I caught my first keeper with a green watermelon, blk fleck Senko. Since the wind was kicking up, I had to use heavier sinkers, which gave me the idea to use a Carolina rig. I put on this worm I got from Bass Pro's bargain table. I only paid about $1 for an 8 pack, but the Potomac bass seem to like it. It's called Biffle's Baffle Worm. I caught 2 more bass, plus a few shorts. I was psyched!!! The action died down, then Gary and I went several other places but neither of us caught anything.

I went and saw a chiropractor and he fixed me up. I still have pain, but it isn't constant and I could manage it. I may have to pay him another visit sometime.

I tried shooting 5-stand at Oxford on the first tuesday in April. It was not what I expected. The targets were out much further than the sporting clays course and I think I brought the wrong shells. All I brought were my skeet loads, which were 7/8 oz #9. I shot twice and scored a 5/25 on both. I was watching others and there was a distinct time lapse between the bang and the bust. I'm like, "Damn, that's far!!!" I don't know if I would do another tuesday nite at Oxford anytime soon. As for skeet, I really like the Wednesday nites at Oxford. I have the option of 2 games, skeet or wobble trap. The difference between Oxford wobble and anyplace else is the traps are right under the shooters and you could use your skeet loads to shoot. I think its more fun, but probably not realistic to the wingshooter.

I'm actually itching to start fishing again. I really hate it that I have weddings the same day as the bass tournaments. I'm thinking that Tom is leaving me for dead as a RiverRat since I've sold my boat. The RiverRatz membership is really in trouble. We lost a whole bunch at the turn of the year and there's been a lack of participation for various reasons. The pre-tnx meetings have been moved to Wed nites, which suits Gary and I fine since trap nite is on Thurs. I'll just have to sacrifice Oxford skeet every now and then.

Maybe I'll start up going to APG. Since the weather is warming up and it is getting dark later on, perhaps they'll stay out longer than 6:30pm. The people at APG are weird though; bitching and making excuses for their bad shooting.

In addition to the PA steel shoots, there are steel challenges at Delta. The difference is the PA steel is on the same saturdays as the bass tnx, and the Delta shoots are on Sunday. I was going to go to the Delta shoot this sunday but it's calling for rain and Cheryl now has to work at noon.

Geez, it's been awhile! Since my last posting I've gotten addicted to clay shooting, and most recently, shooting steel.

Tom, Gary, his daughter Autumn, and I went shooting on Nov 7, with pretty much everything; pistols, rifles, and shotguns. It was the first time I took out my shotgun other than shooting a box of shells at the indoor range. I'd never shot clays. Gary brought his clay thrower and we went shooting. I had a blast!!! Ever since then I'd been hooked on shooting clays. I normally shoot trap at Cedar's every thurs nite and skeet either on tuesdays and wednesdays depending on my mood and how far I want to travel. APG skeet is close, but the people who shoot there are not, shall we say, hardcore. They'll shoot a couple rounds and then call it a nite by 6:30pm. Most of them don't believe in shooting under the lights. Oxford is another story. It'll take about 45 mins to get to, but a lot of the shooters there will shoot at least 4 rounds of skeet and wobble trap.

Back in December, Tom shot my chronograph, as in he hit it with a bullet. He was trying to test some loads but the chrony kept giving Err1. Tom was getting frustrated, which sort of struck me funny. We moved the chrono back and forth to see if it would help. I was trying to hold back from LOL but I couldn't anymore. We just sat down after moving the chrono and then I started LMAO. After I got it under control, Tom's next shot went thru my chrono. He just bearly hit the top of the chrono. It was coincidence that he hit the chrono after I couldn't control myself. I started apologizing, but he got me a new chronograph that works great! We got the extension rods to make a bigger shoot thru area on the chrono which helped a lot. Tom was shooting his AR15 with the scope mounted high on the handle. This caused a problem up close to where the bullet was actually travelling. Tom was looking thru the scope to the middle of the shoot thru area, but in reality, the bullet was shooting low and just clearing the top of the chrony, which caused the Err1.

In February, Tom, Gary and I shot our first PA Steel fun match at SLCFSA. We had a blast! I am definitely hooked on this. Starting at the surrender position and hearing "shooter ready?... standby... BEEP!" really took me back to the days when I was shooting IPSC/USPSA. Tom was only 6 seconds behind me using the low ready instead of drawing from the holster like I was doing. Yesterday, he had me worried. I was rushing the first 2 stages and not doing well at all while he was shooting steadily and making great time. I slowed myself down and put the pressure on Tom. He missed a few on the 3rd stage but not as many as I did on the first stage. All in all, I think Tom is going to prevail. We had a record turnout yesterday with 18 shooters, versus the usual 12 to 13. Tom and I were approached by Jeff and asked if we would RO in future matches. Too bad we have bass tournaments thru most of these shoots, otherwise we would've took him up on it. We would probably shoot more at the Delta Steel Challenges since it fits our schedules better. The only thing me back is Cheryl's ever changing work schedule.

This pinched nerve is killing me. I was nursing it all yesterday during the Steel event and was probably why I did so bad at trap on Thurs. Tom scored 20 and 21, his personal bests. Gary did average about 17, and I was bearly making double digits. Hopefully, I could get an appointment soon and get my neck back to the way it was.

Sorry about not posting lately. I had my appendix taken out the Tuesday after the Gunpowder tournament.

I was feeling queezy at about 2pm during a meeting at work on Tuesday. I thought it was the meeting that was nauseating me, but when I got home the pain set in in the middle of my stomach. The pain moved down to my lower right region by dinnertime. I went to lay down with a heat pad on my stomach, but that made it worse. Everytime I touched my lower right it hurt like hell. Cheryl did a search on appendicitis and learned that I wasn't supposed to put heat on it because it would cause it to burst! I really started to feel nauseous and diarrhea set in. I went to the emergency room by myself since I wasn't sure what I had. It wasn't worth waking up my kids for my wife to take me to the hospital. I was admitted at 9pm and at around midnight they confirmed it was my appendix. They did a Cat Scan to make sure at about 3am and I was in the operating room at 5am. I woke up at 6:30am in the recovery room and in my hospital room by 7am. What a crazy 12 hours!

I learned later on that Cheryl's aunt Patty had an emergency appendectomy at about the same time I was having mine; what a coincidence!

Anyway, I owe you what happened at the Gunpowder tourney on 10/17. Well, it rained... and it was cold. I could handle one or the other but this was a double whammy! The day before, I was stressing out about the forecast and went on a shopping spree. Thank god I did because it rained the whole time we were out. I probably could've stayed a whole 8 hour tnx but we all agreed to fish 5 hours. I didn't get a single bite... but at least I got to test my gear and what I bought. Most everything did pretty well considering. The neoprene gloves I got kinda sucked. Advertized as waterproof, but they were anything but! They kinda absorbed the rain and the water pooled in my fingers. Everytime I raised my hand it poured water in my sleeve.

This past tnx at Conowingo was tough. I was feeling pretty exhausted by all the yanking I did to unsnag lures. Again, it rained for about half the tourney, but at least it wasn't cold. I think I really need to invest in a good rainsuit, or at least get good pair of bibs. I've been using athletic warmup pants which happened to repel water. These don't do a good job when the material is stretched while kneeling and sitting. Anyway, a lot of people got skunked. I'm thinking getting the boat fixed and going to the power plant during the winter.

Redemption

"Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning. Red skies at night, sailors delight".

Despite that morning's omen, I finally caught a keeper at the Suskie tournament! Thank God I'm not going to end the season a complete ZERO!

Mike and I were up at North East in the rip-n-rap. When Mike told me "rip-n-rap" I thought he meant to throw a Rat-L-Trap. I tied on a sexy shad crankbait and started fishing. I looked over and Mike was still tossing a texas rig. I'm thinking "hmmmm... why is Mike still on a worm"? I got hung up and Mike moved the boat close. I freed the crankbait and then all the sudden I see this bass on the end of my line. I'm like WTF!?!?! I just stood there dumfounded for a second before I snapped out of it and pulled the fish on board. The best I could figure is it was a reactionary strike when I freed the lure off the rocks . Since I was so close, the bass bit my crank right at the boat and I pulled him up without feeling the bite. I was ESTATIC!!! I was sooooo happy I was finally on the scoreboard! I would've liked a fight, but ya know what? I don't care!

After that Mike wanted to see what I had on my line. He tied on something similar and shortly he caught his first bass on a crankbait. After that the bite died. We stayed for another hour then we left.

At the weigh in, it felt so weird because I wasn't used to bringing a fish to the scale. I can't believe there is a number next to my name, instead of "0".

Well, yesterday's bass tournament was a bust. Half of us didn't catch anything, not even a bite! I think I've got some bad mojo about bass fishing. I can't catch bass even if the damn fish was in a tank. Something weird is definately going on. Last time I fished was out on Tom's boat with Mark. I was fishing between them and using the exact same frog that they were using. I only got one blow up. Meanwhile, they were getting hits all over the place. Yesterday, Billy even gave me the exact same rig he was using. I cast to where he was casting and followed his instructions. Dave and I are the only ones in the club who hasn't caught a legal fish yet.

Shoot!

Well, I decided to put a new deck on my boat and now the front is all torn out. Found some ACX at Lowe's and decided to try painting the wood with exterior paint. I don't understand why people say that's a bad idea. They're recommending I epoxy coat the plywood. I think it's overkill.
I think I'm transitioning back to shooting. I spent one morning with Tom handing out flyers for the September Open Tourney and we got to talking about guns and reloading. I pulled out my Dillon reloader to sell it to Tom but then I changed my mind. I just had too much fun with it to let it go. Then I stumbled onto MDShooters.com and it was all over! I can't seem to stop thinking about reloading and shooting. This is probably not a good idea at this point in my life. I mean, I've got 2 young kids, and a mortgage that I'm barely making payments on. I can't really spend money on anything. But I'm just hooked on the MDShooters forum. I'm looking at what the IDPA competitions are like. I'm being sucked into a money pit and I can't seem to look away! HELP ME!!!

Launch

I finally launched my boat this morning. It was calling for rain later on and I took the opportunity to get the boat in the water. I just couldn't stand another weekend with the boat sitting idle in my driveway.
I'll tell ya, I was a bunch of nerves. With all that's happened to me in the past, with the trailer flying off the hitch, and almost being run over by my own boat in my own driveway; I was thinking "what's next?!?!?"
I ended up launching at Flying Pt since all the parking spaces were full at Otter Pt. I launched the boat with some minor hiccups. After I got the boat in the water the motor wouldn't start right away. I guess not running it a few weeks made it harder to crank. I pulled the cord without much luck, then I turned the key and started right up. Whew! I found out later that the motor will not go in reverse. It probably would've came in handy loading the boat back on the trailer. The other thing I found that didn't work is the livewells. The well on the starboard side fills up but the other one doesn't. In addition, I found that the wells don't automatically fill. The only way to get water in them is to use the aerator pump. If the pump stops, the well drains. I guess I would have to plug up the drain, but then if I keep the aerator going it is going to overflow. Hmmmm.... I'm probably going to have to redesign this. As it is, the livewells are too small for largemouth anyway. So I had been thinking of getting another livewell from Fishmate Pro. This is probably the way to go.
Anyway, I rode around the Bush for about an hour and got to a blistering 25 mph at wide open throttle. The motor was pulsing like there wasn't enough fuel getting to it, but it seemed to get less and less as the motor was running. But it was a blast riding on the water!
I've got to figure out how to load the boat better. I missed the rollers on the trailer. Because I couldn't back up I couldn't have another go at it. Thankfully, the boaters behind me helped out. I'm going to try to get the reverse fixed on the motor. I know it worked before when I first tested the motor, so I hope it isn't something too complicated to fix. Sorry, no pics. As I said, I was too nervous.

The boat is just standing by to launch. I'm beginning to realize that this boat may not get any use. I've been trying to find 3 to 4 hours to launch and enjoy the boat. I just don't have the time to devote to boating. I do weddings on the weekends, wife works weekends, bass tournaments once a month, the weather has to agree, etc. Also considering to use the boat primarily for crabbing. But I'm thinking that maybe I should sell the boat since it would probably be used only a few times a year.

I think I really hurt myself while working on the boat. I was trying to install boat cleats to tie off the boat. I had to make like a contortionist to put the nuts and washers on inside the boat. I had to lay sideways with my ribs on a ledge. Now my side hurts real bad. I don't think I fractured any ribs, but I probably bruised the muscle pretty bad. I hurts like hell when I cough, or take a deep breath.


My computer died after 6 years of hard use. This economy is killing me. I can't seem to get a loan, refinance, or get credit for anything. I settled on a Compaq from Best Buy since they were at least offering 6 month financing. I tried to get a sweet deal from HP, but they wouldn't give me financing since I've got too much debt.

A good part of my time now is thinking about the River Ratz website. I had worked out some ideas to make it easier to add stuff and navigate, but now its pretty much gone unless I could put the hard drive in another computer. I tried to trade the drive on the Compaq but it has proprietary connections. I should be able to recreate what I lost without too much time.

We had our July River Ratz tournament on the Bush yesterday. I have GOT to learn how to pitch/flip...WELL! Every tournament I've done the boater was fishing the docks and under trees. Yesterday, the only fish caught on the boat that I was on was caught by flipping. I was just outside with my spinning rod and I think I figured it out. I can't seem to figure out how to flip with a baitcaster effectively. There is just too much resistance on the spool for the lure to go very far. But people do it.