Gator

Wow, I leave you guys alone for a day or two and this is what happens! First, I want to address the issue of rubber toys. I think that's a suburban myth, propagated by outside forces who want to tear down my legacy. There's no proof of such items....crap, I need to get to the boat quick... Second, if anyone is going to kiss Tommy's ass, they're going to have to go through me. Grass stains on my knees and all. Third, if anyone wants to give me $100K for Nothing But Net, it's yours. Finally, I recall back in the day a fellow fisherman who owned a strip club and would show up at the dock with several of his employees. Yes, jaws hit the floor and there may or may not have been some drool issues...these days I can attribute that to age...but we were always respectful. So, just to be clear, let the record show that we are welcoming of families, children, and MILFs at Sandy Creek.

It sure sounds like a heck of an investment. My wife and I ran the numbers when Bruce was selling the place, thinking long term investment, and we simply couldn't make them work for us. But then again, neither of us have the experience to establish sweat equity in a marine venture, either. I am rooting for him. It would be nice to have a more vibrant culture on the Creek, and the on-site gas would be great, even if it means that our not-so-hidden gem is exposed. The size of the marina may be it's undoing though. IMHO, a modest operation with twenty or twenty five docks would be feasible, but I'm no expert and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We slipped there for fifteen years before the owner Bruce left for Florida and left most of us high and dry scrambling for dockage. It changed hands a few years ago; there seemed to be a push to renovate and re-open, but so far crickets. There may be a member here with better knowledge of the issues. As for the facility: there is a small launch. The channel to the Creek is narrow but navigable. Optimally, I'd want to know that the gas tank was completely drained, cleaned, and refilled before purchasing. But it would be nice to have gas on Sandy again.

Are you over at Frank's again or did you get a spot with Tommy this year?

It's great to have a product that works as advertised, and information is power, but the equation only holds if your intent is to catch as many fish as possible in as short a time as possible using every advantage at your disposal. And at what point does this detract from the simply joy of fishing? For me, fishing is an end not a means. I'm not exactly adverse to new technology and I have the means to acquire it. But we often run a spread with less than our legal limit of rods, and I sometimes take a chance on a hunch rather than sticking with the sure thing. There was an article recently in the latest New England edition of On the Water magazine where they discussed the difference between the most effective ways to fish versus the most enjoyable. Journey before destination. I guess it all depends on your goals, the extent to which you are driven by them, and whether you judge the juice to be worth the squeeze. Different strokes, right? Brian and I have spoken on this, and it's in no way me casting shade on his style of fishing. Although the word style should never be used in a sentence with either his or my name lol.

Same, we only cut up a couple, but even the ones we put back had tails hanging out of their mouths. Start packing on the pounds, my pretties!!!

Yes. Sandy Creeks rules say that you need to take one for me for every one you take for yourself. Drop off at East Fork.

Fifteen billion alewives invaded Sandy this morning, and the gulls were having a heyday. Our amazing fishing is about to take a dump for a few weeks, IMHO. Time will tell.

You are correct. Not a single individual has named their kid Harry in recent history. I have no answers on the rest of this, but I like the way you think and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Seriously though, it seems like chump change to me to fund some of these studies, particular in comparison to some of the more recent budget request for other stuff, but IMHO it's probably the money more-so than willpower that roadblocks research efforts. We are seeing 4 year projects shut down in year 3, with the data becoming a casualty of the system. Meliora...

If you let out the same amount of line but run the inside diver on a one setting and the outside diver on a three, my experience suggests that you will incur very few tangles even on turns. Of course, there's other setups that work equally well (ie, mag dipsey on the inside, regular on the outside), with the intended outcome that the outside diver be higher up in the water column and further to the side of the boat. That having been said, the two issues on our boat that have led to 99%+ of tangles are first, letting out the divers too fast. I like to let them out under drag tension, slow and steady. And second, running paddles that are too big for the divers, which can cause them to track strangely and even allow for tangles between port and starboard rigs.