Skinny water cranking tips, Slip-bobber breakdown vid, Fish can be druggies?

By (mostly Brett)

Posted on July 9, 2021

Had to do a double-take at that post from Gibson Tilley on Insta, who’s injecting some yum-yum juice (Gulp! Alive! Recharge Liquid) into that Berkley PowerBait Hollow Belly Swimbait. 💡 Fish-heads LOVE to tinker!

Was just talking about this kind of thing with my buddy Christian Hoffman the other day. Not about injecting baits with scent, but just how half the fun in fishing (and 3/4 of the time 😂) is the prep work: rigging shenanigans, gear tweaks, studying lake data, you name it. And all of it to just try and fool a critter with a pea-sized brain LOL.

But wouldn’t have it any other way. #obsessed

From here:

> “…after being used by humans, methamphetamine enters waterways through sewage systems and discharges from wastewater treatment plants….

> “Meth pollutes rivers all over the world, with concentrations of the drug ranging from a few nanograms to dozens of micrograms per liter of water….”

Soooo apparently “researchers placed 60 trout in a drug-free holding tank and another 60 in a tank laced with 1 microgram of meth per liter of water.”

> “The researchers had the latter group of fish soak in the meth-tainted water for 2 months – a step meant to simulate the effects of persistent drug exposure that might occur in a polluted river. The researchers then transferred the drugged fish into a clean tank for 10 days….

> “To test for withdrawal symptoms, the team devised an experiment where fish could choose between swimming in clean water or water with trace amounts of meth…the tank is designed such that the 2 streams of water don’t mix but the fish can still swim between them. When previously exposed fish showed a preference for the meth-tainted water in the experiment, that was taken as a sign of addiction to the drug….

> “The team ran select fish through this experiment on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th days after they’d been moved to the drug-free tank…they also ran drug-free fish through the same experiment…. They found that, in the first 4 days after the tank swap, the meth-exposed fish showed a stronger preference for drugged water, compared with the fish that had not been exposed to meth. This difference waned the more time the exposed fish spent in the drug-free tank.

> “The researchers also noted that, in general, the meth-exposed fish became somewhat sedentary in these first 4 days of withdrawal, while the drug-free fish swam about as usual. This lack of movement hinted that the fish were stressed out due to their meth withdrawal….”

There’s lots of videos on the interwebz showing ’em in action. Makes loading and unloading the boat a breeze. Absolutely no walking in the water…or hanging upside down trying to reach the latch…or dang near breaking your hand when the handle gets away from you. Things are legit.

My favorite response anytime someone asks me if it’s worth the money: Have you ever seen a used one for sale…? Lol nope! Roller trailer or bunk, once you have one on your rig there’s no going back.

2. Academy donated $150K in neck gaiters to youth groups.

👏👏👏

3. US boat exports are down over 23%.

> …exports of recreational boats regressed to 1999 levels with 65,162 boats shipped internationally in 2020, reflecting a 23.4% decrease in the total number of boats shipped to 3 top trading partners: Canada, the European Union and Mexico.

Few other details from the Boat and Engine Exports and Imports section of NMMA’s 2020 U.S. Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract:

> The value of U.S. exports of recreational boats and marine engines totaled $1.7 bil in 2020, down 19.1% compared to 2019.

> U.S. consumption of recreational boats imported from abroad continued to rise in 2020, and boat imports reached a new record value of $2.1 billion, up 2.1% compared to 2019.

> Outboard boat imports led growth, up 35.5% compared to 2019.

4. Any nominees for the Marine Manufacturers Hall of Fame?

Hit the link ^ if so. That page also lists the folks already honored since National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMAA) Hall of Fame was established in ’88.

5. MN: H2H PWS is coming to Mississippi River Pool 2.

Happening live July 12-16.

6. MN: Free youth learn to fish seminar July 12 and 14.

7. ND requires a boating course for 12-15 yr olds.

Youth who want to operate a boat or personal watercraft by themselves with at least a 10-hp motor.

8. Did you know Lund boats come with a snack dispenser?

Well, it’s actually a phone holder…but Andy Petterson has bigger plans:

Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye He was discovered in Brainerd, MN after years of wondering how in the heck people break into the fishing biz. He’s in it now, but still can’t answer that question…. Brett is one of those guys who majored in marketing, only because there was no such thing as a “fishing degree” at the time…. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com