The dude posing in the picture above doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. I try to avoid drinking coffee before heading out, for obvious reasons. Particularly when I’m on small, open boats. Problem: Being on the water on the margins of the day, especially over consecutive days, can make a person bone tired. Something’s got to give.

I’ve tried Vivarin. It’s like mainlining espresso straight into your veins. You’re uber-edgy and the same issues with coffee arise. An anecdotal aside: I tried a few to stay up on New Year’s one time. It worked but the next day I temporarily lost the ability to sweat. Verdict: Avoid on boats.

I’ve tried Mountain Dew. It has less caffeine than coffee, but the pure sugar content usually provides a quick boost, without the edginess. But, for me anyhow, the weaker caffeine crash is partially offset by the sugar crash. Plus, a 12-ounce can has 170 empty calories. The 20-ounce diet Code Red is pretty awesome, but I found it only once in a gas station mini-mart in South Carolina. Verdict: Maybe.

I bring energy bars. I eat them and like them and want them aboard, but that early in the morning I’m trying to stave off delirium, not run an exercise circuit. Not enough juice. Verdict: Maybe.

Lately, Five-hour Energy’s have been getting it done. I’ve taken them on fishing trips and felt alert and sharp, but usually for only around three hours. For me, at least, it starts to fade at that point but there’s no crash as with coffee, and none of coffee’s unwanted side effects, even though it contains caffeine. I’m not convinced taking 8,000 percent of your recommended B12 is a healthy thing in the long haul, but until someone tells me otherwise, I’m sticking with it. Just not every day.

Lazzara posted this cool video of someone wake surfing behind a 75 today.

Great way to get some wave action when there are no real waves.

Here’s a video background:

And here’s the bad and the ugly all in one:

A welded-aluminum john boat may just be the perfect small-boat light tackle fishing platform. They are multi-faceted.

The reasons in favor:

1. The are lightweight and hard to break.

2. At slow speeds they bounce off rocks.

3. The engine and fuel tank are removable by hand.

4. Little kicker engines seem to require no maintenance.

5. If a kicker does fail, you can row home.

6. Should you choose to do so, a johnboat is easy to clean and maintain.

7. Should you choose not to do so, a johnboat seldom looks worse for the wear with dings and dirt.

8. They are easy to paint.

9. They are stable fishing platforms.

10. They float in inches of water and can be poled.

11. You can beach it.

12. Load it up with driftwood for a bonfire and it won’t get all scratched up.

13. Load it up with decoys in the fall.

14. You can trailer it with a mountain bike, practically.

The cons:

1. Lightning

This report from CNN puts my footwear of choice in a bad light. But I am going to ignore all evidence to the contrary and continue to believe the flop is the perfect shoe.

Takemefishing.org has put out a free Boat Ramps iPhone app. Notice the “free” is not capitalized. The app itself is free, rather than an app that lists where there are “free boat ramps.”

I downloaded the app and checked it out. You can search for nearby ramps based on your current location, by zip code, or by city. There’s a “marina” setting where you can look for marinas as well.

The flaw in the app, if I were in charge of future updates, is that it doesn’t tell you if the ramp in question is a public ramp, if you need a town permit, or if there is a launch fee. It just tells you it’s there.

Most of the time you have a plan where you are launching well before you hitch up the trailer, but it could be a good aid in travel planning to new locations and cities, or if there’s a better ramp in your normal boating area you just haven’t heard about.

To download it, search for “Boat Ramps” in your iTunes account.

The MoGo app as it appears on my iPhone.

You can file your own “citizen scientist” reports on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster and contribute  information about what’s really happening down there. All you have to do is download the free iPhone app called “MoGo,” short for Mobile Gulf Observatory, from scientists at UMass Amherst.

If you live in or are visiting the Gulf region and see affected wildlife or habitat, or any of the oil slick or tarballs, open the App and snap a picture in the appropriate category.

According to the Mogo website:

“Once you upload your photo, the locations of oiled and injured wildlife are pin-pointed with a GPS code generated by your iPhone™. You are then immediately connected to the Wildlife Hotline to report your observations so trained responders can be deployed to rescue oiled and injured animals, and to mobilize efforts to protect and restore vital habitats for fish and wildlife.”

In case you missed the link above, search for “Mogo” in the App store or click here for more information.

Why rely on the understated reports from the BP, the company responsible for this catastrophe? If you see something with your own eyes, you can help.

(Thanks to the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust for publicizing the MoGo app.)

The sunglass maker Costa Del Mar has started a new blog called The Watery Rave. As part of the company’s mission to protect fish habitats, the blog’s focus will be on fishing adventures and conservation stories. A quick read-through shows posts about Chris Fischer’s shark show on the  National Geographic Channel, among other things, including a good interview with Dr. Aaron Adams of the Bonefish Tarpon Trust about permit.

Insane video of a bass boat crash on YouTube.

The guide, who turned out to be one of the top tarpon chasers in the Keys, eased off the throttle and looked around at the scenery. He had an idea of where to run for the fish, but needed to get his bearings. He reached down under the console and pulled out…a restaurant placemat. It had a map on it that provided a rough illustration of the surrounding waters.

“I don’t care for electronics,” he said. Sure enough he pointed the boat to the area where he knew we’d find fish. And we did.

Sometimes all the technology in the world doesn’t stack up to local knowledge.

A new study from the University of Miami shows that flip flops are bacteria factories. They can harbor up to 18,000 different  bacteria, including e coli and deadly strains of staph.

This does not bode well for my summer.