Fishing Forum

Went to the Pine again and tried a different area.
First - the important stuff! For you tubers! Don't trust your tube skirt for measuerments! Caught a nice smallie and measured him on my skirt. He measured over 16 in. If I would have kept him I would have broken the law - 15 in. min. Didn't think my skirt was off that much but I was suspicious so I let him go. Would have been a good meal.[unimpressed] Yum. Anyway, when I got home I checked my skirt. 14 3/4 in!!! Lesson - carry your own tape (I left it home) or remark your skrt.
Now the fun part. Didn't catch many smallies but ---------. I tied into a medium smallie and started bringing him in. The line got real heavy [shocked]. Only had 8 # test with a reaper and #2 offset hook????? Well, I spent some time doing the tug-awar bit and when I got em up to where I could see (in my tube), I saw a tiger had my bass and now the battle was on. Back and forth, back and forth, got him in close several times and he took off again. Well, he finally let my bass go. Yep, he wasn't hooked, just wanted my bass. Brought my bass in and released him a little worse for wear. My guess - 30+ in. But it was fun seeing that guy by me carring the bass. They are beautiful fish up close in tne water, almost florescent.[] A lot of white in the mouth area - teeth, etc? Glad I didn't have to handle him in the final stages from my tube, I guess.[crazy]
Forgot to add - Of course Sparky was right there trying to help. That really added to the challenge, trying to keep the tiger from tangling with Sparky. A couple of times the tiger got close to the surface and Sparky would perk up his ears with the expression of ------ Woa! I wish I had a video of it.


Leaky

[cool][#0000ff]Sounds like another great adventure, Leaky. I would have loved to see Sparky checking out that toothy marauder.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have never trusted the rulers they paint on the fabric aprons on tubes. They are too subject to wrinkling and shrinkage. That can be a problem if you are fishing waters where there are size restrictions and you mistakenly rely on an incorrect measurement. Tickets are unnecessary and expensive.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have put up several posts in the past on my "modification" on our Fat Cats in the apron department. We did away with the wimpy stock aprons they provide and made our own rigid plastic aprons from Rubbermaid lids. As you can see in the picture below, I marked a ruler on the plastic with permanent marker and a yardstick. It is pretty close to being right on. I have to touch up the numbers once in awhile becasue they do wear off. I have been looking for a plastic ruler I could epoxy to the apron.[/#0000ff]
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Hey Dude, don't they have those plastic boat rulers in Cabela's that have an adhesive back on them?? I'd think you might be able to put that on your apron... well, on your rubber lid anyway....maybe aquaseal the back of it and stick it on... never come off that way. [cool] Yeah, i just found it. Its a plastic peel off adhesive ruler that measures up to 36 inches in Bass Pro Shops catalog. Its only 2.99 for one. That might fit what you are trying to do. I'm sure since its flexible, limp plastic that you could probably trim it to fit your apron. Its 3.99 for a 36 inch in Cabela's or 4.99 if you wanted a 60 inch one for some reason.
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the tip. I just looked it up and here is what they have in their online catalog:[/#0000ff]
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[url "http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.QFamily"][/url] Catch-and-Release Ruler

36" waterproof plastic ruler with peel-off adhesive and estimated weight chart.



[url "http://content.basspro.com/emailafriend/index.cfm?hvarTextId=44415"][/url] Order
Qty Our
Price Item
Number Description Size $2.99 38-421-249-00[red][/red] RULER 36"[font "arial"][red][size 2][/size][/red][/font]
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