JohnF

Good point. He says he ate the evidence (HE ATE A CATFISH!!!! BLEHHHH!). I may have to buy him a camera to end these baseless claims. Right after I get me one that doesn't die at inopportune moments, of course. JF

I know some divers who do that with their expensive gear. JF

My experience is that the rules have all changed in recent years. Any time I'm flying and carrying rec gear (golf or scuba gear) I contact the airline ahead of time and ask what their rules are. I see folks carrying beach rods onto the planes going to Mexico and Florida all the time. It appears that some airlines let you actually carry it onto the plane if it will fit in the overhead compartments. But it may be cheaper to carry yer reels and buy a rod there. You might even be able to sell it when yer done, or give it to the guide who was most helpful. I've found that no matter where yer going, it's usually possible to get in touch with someone there about gear. Ask around. JF

Well, whatever you get out of it, there's not many better ways to spend some private quality time, even if yer with friends or family. JF

Isn't it though? To be honest it doesn't happen there, at least not for me. I've stood out there till after dark on perfect night tossing poppers and jitterbugs, spinners and spoons. I've twitched and popped my heart out to no avail. Rob, my buddy, has passable luck with a slowly twitched rapala minnow most evenings, but I have the best luck with plastic worms. However I have had great topwater hits with worms. The fish seem to be able to eye them up coming in and hit 'em as they hit the water. That's pretty cool. I was thinking this morning that I should have had some topwater stuff with me. There was a nice big sounding fish jumping, I assume for bugs. I couldn't see him but he sounded husky. There's a better spot for evening topwater nearby. It's deeper and seems to hold some decent bass. I'm not sure why we don't go there more often. I guess it's because Rob doesn't like the aesthetics of the place. It's a royal pita to fish with an artist sometimes. I want to get out there Lew-early some morning by myself and try some topwater. JF

But what about the bass and the walleye? Sheesh. Catfish and I don't mix. They make me all squirmy and I act like a little girl who's seen a snake. There was a huge one used to lay in wait for me on a sunken schoolbus in Gilboa Quarry in Ohio, just so it could pop out when I swam by and make me go "Eek" underwater. It always had a nasty grin under it's twitchy little whiskers. I'm counting on a Grand run in yer boat before the ice comes. JF

I was thinking about this earlier today as I stood up to my knees in the Thames. My camera was working so I took a few shots. No secrets given away here. Anyone who can identify these spots already knows 'em anyway and from the cobwebs that had been woven across my entrance point no one has bothered with that spot since I caught the big one yesterday. This is a shot downriver. The PB Smallmouth hit a worm just in front of the green stuff that sticks out on the right about as far down in the light green as you can see here. I was standing mid-river well below the rock you can see, casting over some deeper water towards the weeds. The bottom here is pretty flat with the rocks spread out so fairly easy wading and gets to chest deep down where the big curve starts to the right. You can hear cars going by on the gravel road but the shore growth blocks a view of the road from the water. This is a shot upriver from where the Avon meets the Thames. There's a pool up there about 100 yds but I think someone forgot to tell the fish. It's a miserable wade with the bottom covered with baseball and softball size stones that roll under your feet, compounded by an excess of silt so when you're coming back downriver it's hard to see the bottom. Finally, here's a random shot I took in the same area. Today I saw two sizeable family groups of wild turkeys out foraging, a large painted turtle, one very large sucker that swam right by my feet, and not one other fisherman to disrupt the solitude. There were fish jumping near me but they didn't seem interested in feeding. A few played with my worm but wouldn't take the hook in their mouths. I got this little guy and brought him to my feet. I wondered if I could snap a pic of him while still in the water. Here's the result. As soon as I snapped the pic and took the rod in hand again to unhook him, he spit the hook and swam away. Fine with me. So despite catching no fish it's a great way to spend a sunny holiday morning. The scenery is great and there's no one nagging me to get any chores done. JF

Funny, I was getting the same thing yesterday with my new spinning reel. It's got lighter braid than the other reel has. I was trying to toss a plastic worm a long way on a 7' rod. Today I had the same reel and line and lure on a 5 1/2 footer and had no problem at all. JF

Will it fit down the bib of my waders? JF

In that very same spot I had a spinner hit hard and broken off on the hit last summer. I'm sure it wasn't a pike up above the dam so I have to assume it was a big bass. Now I know there are bass big enuf to do that. This reel has braid. Last summer's reel probably had 4# mono on it, so if I screwed up and had the drag too tight ..... . Today's fish hit hard and then turned and ran straight at me. If he'd gone away and I had light mono with a tight drag he'd have been gonzo too. Are you talking about a spot near a golf course by any chance? JF

I will never doubt yer wisdom again, oh Revered BassMaster. You said "Let it sink." and I did. JF

Does it need batteries? JF

Gotta thank you and the kids for inspiring me to finally catch a decent SMB today. As much as I covet that really cool purple spincaster, I doubt that the slab I had on today would have let hisself be hauled in on that. braid or no. I may still get a Dora rod for my everyday fishing, but for manly fish I guess I'll stick with my $19.95 Dick's Sports Shakespeare trigger spincaster and 4 1/2' rod with no backbone combo. If that doesn't pan out, I may have to spend more. Whatcha think? JF

Seems likely the carpet is an acrylic or some other manmade thingy so it'll probably resist the bleach effect for longer than most mould. I would spray a concentrated chlorine/water mix on the offending spot, wait a minute or two, brush like hell, then rinse thoroughly. I know from my pool maintenance how fast most moulds react to strong chlorine bleach but there are forms of black and red moulds that we get sometimes that respond to nothing short of dynamite. I've gone down with my scuba tanks, a squirt bottle of really high concentration bleach and a stiff brush and can't remove some of it without abrading the pool liner. JF

I'm not even sure I believe it now. It never occurred to me there were bass that big in my river. I might even take two cameras next time I go just in case. I was gonna go tonight but I decided to wait for morning. If I can catch that same one again I want my buddy Rob to see it and he's away today, losing my floating rapalas that he borrowed probably. He hasn't caught one like that here either, and he has no faith in plastic worms, even though he's seen me catch lotsa smaller smallies with 'em. He figgers the raps are the only way to go. BTW. I really like the o-ring idea. It allows the worm to scoot up the line away from the thrashing fishy and leaves it intact for later. JF

Thanks. I knew I'd get razzed about the lack of pics. I'm going back out shortly so I'll be sure to put fresh batteries in and be ready. JF

I wish I'd been a little better organized and got a good measurement. I have a 9" handspan and I couldn't quite get 1/2 way around his belly. He appeared to be almost 3 hands long but he wasn't cooperating and I was having trouble keeping my rod tucked up under my arm and hold him up out of the water to measure at the same time with the free hand. If I dropped him low enuf for his tail to hit the water he started flailing. It was fun. JF

The water's clear, and running just a smidge high. Lotsa bottom silt so you have to plan your route in the water. Weeds aren't bad yet. It's pretty obvious a lot of folks have given up on the Thames above St.Marys. The paths to the water are overgrown and you can see where people have made new paths down to the water, in the wrong places. Glad I went back for one more try. I'll probably go back tonight, but with a working camera, and a shorter rod. It's fun knowing there are fish like that in the water we frequent, and even better having an idea of what they will strike. I just finished fitting o-rings to a bunch more worms of different colours. I also have to get the flyrod out now that I know the bass are back. JF

Got up bright and early (O-Lew-Thirty), performed the morning ablutions, brewed some tea, loaded up the car and headed out. I figgered it had been a while since I let the Thames humiliate me so it was time. Got to the first used-to-be-dependable spot and kitted up. Waded under the bridge and upriver to the first pool. Kept to the afternoon side of the pool so no shadows and cast across to the shadows of the trees. Tried a #3 Mepps (shiny brass w/ yellow dressing) and got nothing. Covered the pond thoroughly, then switched to a floating minnow in Firetiger (because my buddy cleaned out my old faithful Rapala minnows for a trip he was on) and again nada. Gave up on that spot, waded back to the Pilot and headed down to the spot behind the Satellite surveillance area (for those of you who know the St.Marys area). The path to the water was overgrown which wasn't exactly an encouraging sign, but I clawed my way down and through the brush to the water. Headed directly downriver to the good pool and went to work with the floating minnow, to no avail. Switched back to the Mepps, again with no luck except for one very acrobatic little Rock Bass who tried to smash it as it landed and put on the best aerials show I've ever seen from a WGSF. I was pretty well ready to call it a day and decided to try the worms once. I had a 5" pink with an o-ring already in place so I stuck him on (wacky style) and flung him out across the deeper water to the very edge of the weeds growing out of the water along shore. I've pulled some decent ones out of there in the past. I let the worm flutter down as per my mentor's instructions and just about the time it should have grounded out my line tightened up and the drag began to sing. WOW! This is very cool. The line immediately went slack so I started reeling and this monster erupts from the water. This is biggest damned SMB I've ever seen in the Thames. I'm now pumped. I kept thinking I have to set the hook but I couldn't get line in fast enough to get rid of the slack as he swam right past me, a couple of times. I finally caught up to him and as I was about to give a good hookset he took off, line screaming. By this time a hookset seemed irrelevant so I concentrated on getting more drag. Fortunately this reel has a rear drag wheel so I kept winding it on. I couldn't believe how strong this fish was. I gotta be honest. This was the biggest fish I've ever caught in my 3 summers of fishing. I don't remember anything this big as a kid, but that was so many years ago, too many years ago. So there I am, up to my waist in water, with this behemoth bass rippin' and snortin' towards me, then away, ripping out line whenever he felt like it. I dialed in a little more drag, I'm sure more than I've ever had to use before, and still the reel would slip. It was fun!!!!!!!! I finally got him calmed down and up close enough to grab. Then I looked in his mouth and saw what looked like a woodrasp for a bottom lip. This is not how the little bitty bass I catch here are equipped normally. Had to give myself a little mental slap "You know what it is, and you've seen other guys in pics holding fish at least this big, so it's not like yer gonna lose a digit or anything." So I grabbed him. He started squirming. He felt really heavy, like 6# so probably 4. He was hooked pretty good in the corner of the mouth and it took a bit to get the hook out. I had to hold him up so high to keep his tail from flapping in the water that it was awkward work, compounded by the 7' rod that I'm not used to, and having cranked in too much line. I usually can strip off a little line by hand but I'd cranked down the drag so hard there was no give, so I had a good bend in the rod, water to my waist, a thumb being ground bare in his mouth, and a pair of hemostats in my hand trying to remove the hook. He had one huge yap on him and a tongue like a cod. I'm just not used to seeing big fish this up-close and personal. I was actually talking to him. he didn't answer but he calmed down. I dunked him a couple of times just in case he was in need of a breath. When I did that it relieved the strain on his jaw I guess, cuz it allowed him to chomp down with his upper jaw, but it didn't hurt. Well, I got the hook out and measured him with handspans. I reckoned him to be 24" so let's say 22", huge by my standards. I pulled out my camera and of course I couldn't get it to light up. Dead batteries? I was out of hands and the fish was running out of time so I let him go. He took off with no hesitation so I'm sure he was fine. Man. I wish I had pics. Next cast I nailed a normal anti-climactic one pounder. I'd had enough. The skunk was gone. I waded out and drove home. Feels good. Going back tonite. Sorry about the pics - very very sorry about the pics. JF

So, just supposin' I got one of these rods, do ya think it would handle 35# Superbraid? It would be nice if the little holey thingy where the line falls out on the front had a ceramic liner. JF

Obviously she doesn't use braid. JF

Good. I like to horse 'em. JF

Drag is good. I can learn to use that. JF

Crap. They catch bigger fish than I do. I'm going out to buy one of those Snoopy rods, or is it Barby? JF

Villeneuve came close. Tough luck wiping out that close to the call. JF