I've been with mine for 40 years September 9. She's wanting me to take her fishing but she can barely get up and down our five outside steps with two hand rails and is on a walker after that. I suppose that the brutes on the head boats would be more than capable of handling the situation but it scares me a bit because when she falls I am more and more incapable of getting her up. She is still a definite keeper. Mike

I don't use much brake at all but rather rely on my thumb and feel to control the spool. Heck, I do the same thing with a spinning rig. Mike

On the Outer banks of NC. in august any pier will be great. You couldn't pick a better month, maybe October, to pier fish on the Outer Banks. I live 80 miles north of there and the fishing from south of there north is fantastic that time of year.

The bait will be determined by what you target. You can find that out by talking to locals. You will find the people to be very friendly and helpful. Also the folks working the piers pretending to be a little holier than thou will gladly steer you in the right direction.

Google fishing the Outer Banks in August and you'll have a lot of fun figuring out what you want to do.

Good luck, tight lines and have a wonderful vacation. Watch and warn your family going to the beach about the rip currents. There are too many drowning of tourists because they don't know the ocean. Explain to your family that if they get caught in a rip tide which will take them out to sea, swim horizonal to the beach until you come out of it. You "CAN NOT" swim to shore directly! Under tow is another problem. Do your google research on these conditions before going to the Outer Banks.

Have a wonderful time. Mike

My pleasure. Good luck and tight lines. Mike

Fish on a moving tide. If fishing an inlet fish on the downstream side during running tide. Fish will be letting the bait flow to them. Mike

When you ice, shove them under the ice to cool quickly. You could even add a little salt and water to the ice. The salty slush will be colder than just ice. Mike

Dryer sheets work against ticks, chiggers and skeeters. Might have to reapply but they don't take up too much room. I keep them in a zip lock baggie. As stated above, you don't need white clothes but tan will allow you to see ticks crawling on your clothes. You can tuck you pants legs into your boots or use wire ties on your pant legs and shirt sleeves to keep ticks from getting under your clothes. Check yourself often for ticks on your clothes. Mike

Easy to clean and delicious. Mike

Fish tan just like we do though I haven't seen one that dark. Probably something to do with genes. Mike

Grasshoppers are hard to beat. They are a natural bait though those fish are used to being fed pellets that look like rabbit or Guinee Pig food. You might also try corn on a #12 gold hook. Both work well for the trout in Va. mtns. Mike

Anything moving and shiny helps. I use Hopkins a lot as the fish' teeth can't hurt it. I have a Va. Salt Water citation for a 19-6 bluefish. Mike

Or you can do it yourself. Use a hairdryer to heat up the eye and remove. Measure the diameter of the blank. Buy appropriate size tip from Wal-Mart or tackle shop and epoxy it on. Of course you are going to have a much stiffer rod. As one poster said, just use it as is. I have a couple like that and use them for up and down jigging for flounder. They work great. Mike

Not an alwife/ menhaden. Mike

Agree. Mike

Here in Va. we fish for perch in Jan. and Feb. We only have walleyes in a few bodies of water so it's not a big fishery. Mike