Prior to heading to the Derby, calibrate all measuring instruments and be advised that old cloth tape measures can shrink that all important 1/4" over time. My teammate, Renegade6 may wish to elaborate.

On a somewhat related note, setting your drag for albie fishing as if you are trying to muscle a cow out of a boulder field is a recipe for disaster.

Lastly, air mattresses, no matter how new, do not play well with crippled herring.

I should write a book........

We could collaborate on a book of Vineyard and Block trip miscues.

We could collaborate on a book of Vineyard and Block trip miscues.

I often shake my head and think "Did that really just happen??"

Some people claim that there's an Albie to blame, but I know, it's my own damn fault.....

Rick,
Had a similar problem a few years back. I generally back off my drag knob after each outing so as not to compress the washers. This is fine as long as you remember to reset/tighten drag washers before next use - well I forgot. My first take casting live eels and I set hard enough to cross the basses eyes - about half my line came off my spool in the worst backlash I ever had with a spinning reel.

Rick,
Had a similar problem a few years back. I generally back off my drag knob after each outing so as not to compress the washers. This is fine as long as you remember to reset/tighten drag washers before next use - well I forgot. My first take casting live eels and I set hard enough to cross the basses eyes - about half my line came off my spool in the worst backlash I ever had with a spinning reel.

lol, good stuff DZ. A lot of my friends who don't fish think I'm a "wicked good fisher". I just shake my head and think "If you only knew..."

Hahaha

Dennis- your drag issue resulted in a missed take. The bonehead move Rick describes me making this weekend resulted in the opposite: after not backing off from bass-level drag, I had a solid hookup on an albie, then zzzzzzzzzzzz-PING!

The agony of (self imposed) defeat
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

And later that day he lost what was certainly a derby winning Bone when some knucklehead who will remain nameless cast over his line.

nah, couldn't have been. Must just have been another albie. That grew some teeth.

59752

nah, couldn't have been. Must just have been another albie. That grew some teeth.

59752

Nice pic - find your camera?