Not a problem, new myself. The guys here seem to be real nice, but I have found that most fishermen are. Granted there are some "Dummies" that you can't help. ran into some of them. ; )

"A bad day fishing beats a good day at work." Or doing "Honey Do's. LOL

I didn't go take a close look at them(like in the water). They were all 6-8 feet long, Blues maybe, or small Makos. When we were tied up to a buoy 3 miles off key West did see an 18 foot Mako/Great White when it hit a piece of floating steak. He did hit the "Short Line" about 150 feet long and the bait pulled out of his mouth the UB cable held but the life line post bent a little from it. The Long UB cable line was wrapped around the Boat winch. LOL But he never hit that one. We had permission to shoot any that we caught that were to big to safely bring on board, per say. We didn't shot any though.

Next time you want to chum for sharks use a big bottle/jar of ketchup. I know it sounds weird, but when we had a DASH Helo crash of Flordia, when we went to retrieve it there were LOTS of Sharks there. The First Class Boats told the captain that he could move them all to the other side of the ship so they could lower the Skiff and go get the drone. "You will have to tell the cooks to give me what I want!" The Capt was thinking cases of steaks. He came back up with 4 1 gallon cans of Ketchup! He poked holes on both ends and threw them in one at a time on the off side. It defused just like blood in the water and the sharks came right to the cloud of Ketchup. When one hit the can and opened it up, they went into a feeding frenzy. He used 3 of them total for the boat going out and coming bank to the ship. If I hadn't seen it, I would not have believed it, but it worked great!

Just turned 74 years young. LOL So 2 more years and I'll have been feeding fish for 60 years. I still seem to feed them more than catch them. lol Now fish bite when they are hungry or mad. If you take a rattle trap and work a quadrant 3 times as fast as you can bring it in with the rod tip down. Jerking and cranking it. If nothing then move down a ways and do it again. Your trying to make them mad then. Don't worry about keeping it away from them, it has to be 8 feet in the air for that. LOL Bass are not as fast as Pike. but they are fast when they want to be.

If you put them in a big wash tube and fill it with water from the hose, after 2-3 hours they will clean themselves. I learned when fishing for cats if you don't like the taste of the wter, you won't like the taste of the catfish. That is if they are still alive when you get home of course.

Hint for the skiters, spray either Cutters or Rapell on your long sleeve shirt and socks and bottoms of the pants. Then put them on. The stuff is in the cloth. No matter how much you sweat, it doesn't sweat off. Socks and bottoms of the pants is good for Chiggers and ticks also. Only thing for the snakes is the ellectic mole spikes that you put in the ground to vibrate, won't guarenty them though haven't tried them for snakes. Putting moth balls around also works for snakes and other 4 legged critters.

Don't need soda, just an empty that is thick, like a Coke bottle. Don't think I would trust a Beer bottle as much, thinner bottles. Just put it in the boat and leave it there.

Those are the expensive ones. The snap on ones are better for fishing as you don't have to unscrew it to open it to take the rod/reel off the D Ring. Dollar Store for a buck. LOL

Yes just one per reel. and 1/8 inch braided Nylon for the rope to attach it to the D Ring and the pier/boat.

Trying to paste it. Not working. D Ring is what people use to hang keys ect from their pants loops. Better ones were for using climbing but not the aluminum ones.

I wish. LOL Up in Maryland, now retired and don't have enough for boat and maint for it. Just years of loving to fish. If you ever go toward Pensacola, stop at Navare Beach and go out on the pier. 1500 feet long about 100-150 feet from the Gulf Stream. When my son was stationed near there he got a 20 LB flounder, Black fin tuna and lots of King Mackerel from the end of the pier. Well worth the pier fee. IMO

Trick learned from a First Mate on a head boat catching Blues, take a soda bottle and stick it in their mouth. Let them chew on that while you remove the hook. Much safer than getting nailed getting the hook out.

Boats yes, bank i use schedule 40 PVC for ground and sand spikes. I buy a 5 foot section and slant cut it in half and now have 2 rod holders for shore fishing and you can use a 3 LB hammer to drive them into the ground, use the flat side of the hammer and you can't break the PVC. For use as Sand spikes, drill a hole about 1 foot down and use a Lag Bolt with a wing nut as a handle stopped so the bottom of the rod doesn't get wet.

Also if you are on a lake, try and get a lake map. It will show the drop offs for you to go to and fish from the deep side back towards the shallower/shore as the Fish will hang just below the drop off to come up and hit your bait/lure.