The other day, Joe Cermele did a post about turning his new truck into a fishing machine, which got me thinking about what might be the ultimate fish car.

That might mean fastest, of course, and the Bugatti Veyron as the world’s fastest production car might qualify. Or it would have until I saw this online video of a new $2 million Bugatti being hauled out of a shallow lagoon in Texas a couple of day ago.

Seems the driver swerved to avoid a low-flying pelican. What a tragedy! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this, but I do know that my ultimate fish car--whatever it is--would (a) have been able to simply drive free of this predicament, and (b) wouldn’t cost $2 million in the first place. So a Bugatti is out.

But how about a ...

... special Field & Stream edition Lincoln Town Car. I mean take your basic cushy Lincoln and give it camo paint plus a 6-inch lift and big tires. Then add something like a Quigley 4WD conversion and electronically locking differentials (front and rear). Add surf-rod racks to the top, and I’d be good to go in high style.

Or for those on a budget, we could modify a little clapped-out Ford Escort station wagon, a P.O.S. car I once owned back in the day. We could add a snorkel-type intake for traversing shallow water--given a fast enough start. Suitably rusted, it would be almost invisible when parked along the river. I could use its extra spark plugs for sinkers. The tattered gray carpeting, meanwhile, might offer a perfect dubbing material for the bodies of Adams dry flies.

Dream on, buddy. Like most people who fantasize about exotic cars once in a while, I eventually confront this reality: The ultimate fish car is whatever I happen to be driving at the time.

Every baitcaster gets a backlash once in while. Untangling the line can be a real pain, and many resort to a knife or scissors to cut away the tangle in frustration. No more. This quick video tip for clearing backlash snarls will help.

Reeling forward slightly while pressing on the tangled line with your thumb smooths the snarl and pushes those overlapping line loops free. It’s not a new idea. I first heard of this in an article by bass pro Shaw Grigsby maybe 10 years ago. But the video here by Maryland bass-blogger Kevin Scarselli is the first live demonstration I’ve seen.

Yes, it works. At least it works most of the time. The main thing in clearing a backlash by this or any other method is ... ... patience. If you get angry and frustrated and start yanking on the line willy-nilly, you’ll just be making things worse.

If things are so bad that you do have to resort to cutting the line to clear a tangle, then be careful of this one thing: Make sure after cutting the tangle free that the remaining line is not wound under itself on the spool. Sometimes the newly cleared line end gets tucked under a slack coil on the reel. If this happens--and it can be hard to notice--line won’t pay freely off the reel, and you might be creating another tangle worse than the one you had in the first place.

Big day on Saturday. I tie the knot. So first and foremost, I just wanted to let everyone know not to expect to hear from me for a while. As of Tuesday, I'll be in Turks & Caicos for my honeymoon. I really look forward to romantic sunset strolls, frosty pina coladas, snorkeling, and...let me see...what else? Oh yeah. Bonefish. Lots and lots of bonefish.

That's my fiance Christen in the photo above during what remains my proudest moment in our relationship (so far). Armed with a pink rod and green rain boots, she chucked metals like a pro during her first surf-fishing outing a few years ago and beached bluefish after bluefish on her own. Has she since become a die-hard angler? Not even a little. But she will lay on the beach for hours and I will fish on the beach for hours, so we've got a good thing going. Sit her on a beach connected to a bonefish flat, and we're both happy campers.

We're at that point of scrambling to tie up last-minute loose ends before the show starts. There is much to do. But last night, I shirked all wedding-related chores and did what I do best. I went fishing (with Christen's blessing, no lie). I went all alone to the same spot where that bluefish was caught. I just needed a final night of quiet reflection. Not because I'm nervous to get married, but starting tonight, tuxes need picking up, out of town relatives will begin to arrive and the chaos of which guest ordered chicken but got steak will begin.

I even got into some good striper action, which made the night that much sweeter. They should be right where I left them when I get back. So I'll report on all happenings upon my return. And you can bet I've worked some fish-related fun into my reception, but I'll keep you guessing until I've got the pictures. Catch you in two weeks. - JC

Do you tweet? I’m laughing as I write this, provoked by the ridiculous mental image of a guy in waders saying “tweet, tweet!” under his breath while casting in a river. But as it turns out, a lot of people do tweet to the extent that they are fans of Twitter--the latest micro- blogging Internet phenomenon.

I asked my kids, who are of course up on all the latest, if there was any reason why I should try Twitter or get involved in Facebook or anything else resembling social media. The question was related to fishing in that I wanted to know what the angling point of all that might be.

Fortunately, they said no, and I thus won’t have to further waste time that I don’t have to begin with. Having looked at various tweets and Facebook pages online, it does indeed seem like an insubstantial waste. Hey, I’ve got real fish to catch and real wood to cut, not to mention flesh-and-blood friends to speak with over coffee down at the general store. That doesn’t mean that I think some technology is bad as it relates to fishing. Far from it.

A cell phone is or would be handy if my truck or boat breaks down, and it allows a buddy to call me with news of a hot bite on a distant beach. And I get lots of current fishing news off the Internet. And years back I used to read three daily newspapers every morning-- national, state, and local--that I now read electronically instead, which is easier and less expensive.

I can’t help but think that like most mass-social concoctions, on-line social media have grown beyond all reason. What might have started as a useful information exchange wound up blossoming much larger as a way for teenagers to gossip. It’s quite true that this and some other websites are useful angling tools in terms of the information exchanged. But tweet? I’ll be damned if I will....