Get Ready for Fall Bass Fishing

Enter fall season and the freshwater bass fish become active and move towards shallow waters. This move is essential for food for the fish, but it provides a good fishing opportunity for us. Fall bass fishing can give you a bountiful of fish if you know how to do it right, otherwise, you may be in for a disappointment as the wait can be long and unrewarding.

When to fish

Freshwater bass fishing can be done twice a year – early spring and during fall before winter begins. Fall bass fishing is especially good since the water is cooling down and in the process traps a lot of oxygen. Bass fish that normally move in groups become active as the weather turns from hot to warm and tend to take in any bait given to them during this period.

Know where to fish

The best place to throw the line for bass fish is in shallow lakes. The water there is warmer and the bass fish come for food especially in places where there are green weeds. Similarly, other shallow water bodies can also attract bass fish as it is protected from harsh winds and the water is also warm. Try and trace rocks and boulders on the northern shoreline. The bass fish is known to frequent these areas as the rocks and boulders heat up due to the sun rays warming up the water. Other places worth fishing for bass fish are creek channeled lakes. This is because the bass fish follows its food which migrates to these areas to spawn. Fishing in any of the above areas will give you better results when compared to other fishing spots.

 

Know what you need for fall bass fishing

You can use various types of lures for fall bass fishing. The right one actually depends on the type of lake. Essentially, for good fishing results, match the lures with the existing baitfish in the lake or area. For instance, if the lake you are fishing in has clear water with sandy drops try Texas critter with soft jerk baits. But if you are not that knowledgeable about the existing baitfish, use chrome / white colored lures for clear water bass fishing and orange/red / gold lures for mucky waters. In the fall season, the bass takes in any bait, the rule is it should look like the food they normally have. Other equipment that can help with freshwater bass fishing is poppers, tandem Terminator T-1 spinnerbaits, in-line spinners, buzz baits, Rat-L-Traps etc.

Other Equipment

Go well equipped for freshwater bass fishing. The main things you will need other than bait is fishing tackle, rods and reels, clean dry bags / boxes for storing the tackle and storage containers to take your catch home. Fishing rods come in various types – spinnerbait rod, worm rod, spinning rod etc. Also take some rubber worms in different colors and a selection of live baits to get a better catch. Since the equipment is pretty expensive you may want to take care of it properly for it to last as long possible. The rule of thumb is to clean them before storing after each fishing session.

Maine Kayaking Vacation Trips

A kayaking vacation in Maine is a great way to get to explore some of the most beautiful wilderness you will ever come across. Kayaking is the perfect way to get into places that are inaccessible by larger boards. Kayaking down a remote river, under the branches of overhanging trees is a feeling you will never forget. But that is not the only type of kayaking vacation you can experience in Maine. Check out the examples here. Every one of them will give you a different type of kayaking vacation. From a trip of a few hours to spending days in the wilderness, Maine has a kayaking vacation for just about anyone.
Maine Kayak gives you the choice of two types of kayak trips for your Maine vacation.

You can choose from a Maine sea kayaking vacation, either half, full or multi-day trips. Your vacation trip will take place in places like Muscongus Bay and Johns Bay. Their Lake kayaking vacation packages in Maine are either half or full day and are great for the whole family, As a rule, lake kayaking is a pretty calm. They also have classes available and they also have classes in whitewater kayaking.

Coastal Kayak Tours have some interesting trips, from the half day on up. You can take a half day trip through Acadia National Phave, or pack a picnic lunch and come for a full day trip and visit and island or two in between the paddling. You can just go for a short paddle around, about 2 ½ hours worth either in the morning or at sunset. This is a good one for someone not familiar with kayaking. For those with experience, you can take a solo kayak trip for about 5 hours. There is a special family tour, with a slower pace and children as young as 12 can participate and then there is the big one for those who want an entire kayaking vacation experience, the Multi-day island camping trips,

Maine Island Kayak is another one to consider for your kayaking vacation. They do not have the short trips, except for the introduction to sea kayaking, which gives you a quick tutorial before you set out on a long trip. Their kayak vacations include multi day trips for beginner to intermediate, Delights of Casco Bay and Paddling Towards Ecology.

Kayak Fishing Tips

One place where sea kayakers and kayak fishing enthusiasts can listen in on examples of vhf radio use is the USCG’s many public affairs websites, where audio recordings of vhf radio calls are uploaded regularly.

One vhf radio call sea kayaking and kayak fishing vhf radio users might want to listen to was posted about two years ago. The caller gives a fine example of how to make a mayday call. He gives his exact location, describes his situation, and provides a narrative of what is happening. Problem is that caller was making the call from his house, falsifying the location of a New Bedford, Ma. the fishing vessel he had worked on and which was in port.

The caller, Brian Feener, a Fairhaven, Massachusetts commercial fisherman, made the false mayday call to Coast Guard Woods Hole, Massachusetts a few years ago using a powerful land-based VHF radio. The audio was later was used as evidence in Feener’s indictment, finding and sentencing. He got a year and a half in prison and a hefty fine.

Feener sure knew what he was doing. His call was a successful canard because of its level of detail. Although he first gets the location of Great Round Shoals, off Nantucket, Massachusetts, incorrect, sounds drunker as the call continues, and finally, asks that the Coast Guard’s training tall ship Eagle be sent his way to effect his rescue, the Coast Guard was convinced.

The call shows how seriously the Coast Guard and the US attorney view hoax mayday calls. Using a variety of methods that Luke Pinneo, Public Affairs Petty Officer at Coast Guard Boston wouldn’t reveal, Brian was tracked down as the source of the hoax mayday call.

The call was first picked up on channel 16, and controlled, by a Coast Guard VHF radio watchstander at the Coast Guard Station Woods Hole, Massachusetts, overlooking Martha’s Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands, and Nantucket Sound. The fisherman’s father, Gary Feener, was murdered during a violent altercation with a fellow crewman on a swordfishing boat docked in Newfoundland several years previous.

Fall Run Striped Bass Fishing in New England

Maybe it’s the weather — hot-and-humid patterns followed by violent thunderstorms which blast the weather back into reasonableness, with the barometric pressure rising and falling like the stock-market index — but the northern Massachusetts fishing stinks these days, and it stinks pretty bad. It’s been so bad I’ve decided to lay off on the bluefin tuna story I planned to write. Next week perhaps, when my mood improves.
Here’s the long and short guide about fishing kayak. Bird flocks chasing feeding schoolie stripers have all but disappeared from Duxbury and Plymouth Bays. There’s no bait in the water off Marblehead. Anglers in Quincy Bay have been reading the newspaper in the cockpits of their cuddy-cruisers while their bobbers drift over fat chunks of bait on the bottom. All they’re catching is sunburn. Cow and bull bass have called it a season at the

All they’re catching is sunburn. Cow and bull bass have called it a season at the river mouths and dams near Ipswich, Saugus, Everertt and the western reaches of Salem Sound. The herring have gone long completed their annual migration to the spawning areas. Thing is slow, with the sporadic action mostly on Cape Cod’s outer National Seashore beaches, off Chatham, and down along the eastern shores of the Elizabeth Islands.

All they’re catching is sunburn. Cow and bull bass have called it a season at the river mouths and dams near Ipswich, Saugus, Everertt and the western reaches of Salem Sound. The herring have gone long completed their annual migration to the spawning areas. Thing are slow, with sporadic action mostly on Cape Cod’s outer National Seashore beaches, off Chatham, and down along the eastern shores of the Elizabeth Islands.

In one way maybe we should be relieved. Commercial striper season just ended: there weren’t many fish around for those guys either. Not to deny anyone their livelihood, but it’s time striped bass inside the three-mile federal limit were regulated by a consistent set of regulations along the entire coast of the Mid-Atlantic.

The irony is, busy striper anglers who hook dozens of bass in a season more often than not have to got to a fish market to see large striped bass in the flesh. And chances are those fillets the next state over will have come from fish the exact size of the undersized fish that very angler caught in his local waters all season. Every state has different bass regulations, which is ridiculous. Stripers MIGRATE. They don’t live in any particular state’s waters.

Here’s the highlights of what’s happening. I was out at Plum Island off Ipswich with a couple of kayak-anglers working the flats on the backside of the island at dead low water. The gentle pressure of our boats passing overhead, the swirls in the water made by our paddles, created just enough activity to provoke schoolie bass into making exploratory rises to the surface, like trout when a hatch is in.

Remarkable. We picked up many hits backcasting into these hopeful rises, but the bass we hooked were thin and underfed. Casting with longer sinkcounts, we picked up many skate also. Which should serve as a caveat to flounder fishermen heading out to the submerged sandplains off Crane Beach or Wingaersheek Beach : skate like bottom bait too. Reports are that flounder are milling around the North Channel in the harbor by the Massport Docks in Boston Harbor, so be ready for the skate factor.

Blues are hitting occasionally further north, but not in great numbers, as there aren’t many mackerel around for them. Nevertheless, the mouth of the Merrimack River has some blues to offer. Just be careful in the rip. The rip, as they say, rips. The Merrimack is a fat river: it empties into the bay like water jetted between the gap between your cousin’s two front teeth. The bluefish bite is on now and again over at mentioned North River in the Scituate area, also at Minot’s Ledge off Cohasset.

This is what I’d do, if I could: go to Wasque Point, Squibnocket and Lobsterville on Martha’s Vineyard. The fishing tips is usually good there even when it’s bad everywhere else. Getting to Martha’s Vineyard is the trick. You need a fast boat to get there. Either that or a friend who lives, summers, or rents there. A day trip to fish is a tough one unless you bring a surf road and a bicycle. Otherwise the cost of bringing your car over on the ferry will put a serious crimp in your wallet.

Oh well. Maybe next week things will improve. And then again there’s always next year.

Keywords for this story are striped bass fishing, striped bass fishing cape cod, Martha’s Vineyard striped bass, striped bass fishing cape cod.

Urban Kayaking in Steel City

I had always associated Pittsburgh, home to the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, with being a haven for spectator sports fans. But when I heard that National Geographic Magazine ranked Pittsburgh as a “Top Adventure Town in the USA,” I thought I’d check out the outdoor sports action.
Thanks to grassroots efforts and legislative initiative to combat the fallout caused by years of mining, I was actually able to launch a kayak in downtown Pittsburgh and paddle in the Allegany River. Urban landmarks such as PNC Park were interspersed with grassy banks and As I drifted under the Roberto Clemente Bridge, I was greeted by recreational and commercial watercraft as well as the occasional waterfowl.

Jon Lucadamo, Program Director, Venture Outdoors/Kayak Pittsburgh reflects on how the rivers proximity to downtown means adventure enthusiasts can walk from the office and be in a boat and paddling within the course of 15 minutes. The flat-waters were suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. The re-appearance of mayflies in 2000 after a 25 year absence represents a strong bio-indicator that the rivers have made an amazing comeback.

Kayak Pittsburgh , a project of Venture Outdoors, offers adventure enthusiasts the opportunity to paddle in downtown Pittsburgh under the 6th Street Bridge. The port of Pittsburg is one of the busiest ports in the nation, which means there is both barge and recreational boating traffic. However, the kayakers appear to stay on one side of the river with motorized vehicles completing for space on the other side. Since the area has one of the highest numbers of registered boaters, Joe relishes the novelty of using paddle versus a motor on this heavily trafficked river. Those desiring a slightly less urban adventure can trek to the slightly more secluded North Park Boathouse and paddle on a smaller but more tranquil lake.

Each trip begins with a short period of instruction, though more extensive lessons are available. Guided trips include beginner paddles, full moon paddles, and fireworks paddles. Seasonal solo and tandem kayak  guide and boat rentals are available every day during the Summer and Saturdays and Sundays only in May and October.

Also, Three Rivers Rowing (www.threeriversrowing.org) offer rentals, pre-scheduled lesson programs and tours. Their scenic kayak tours Tuesdays through Thursdays at 6pm and Sundays at 10am through the end of November (weather permitting). They operate out of Washington’s Landing Boathouse, which is located in the back channel of the Allegheny River.

For those who want to launch their own non-motorized canoe or kayak, the Friends of the Riverfront can direct interested parties to nine access sites. They are also the developers and stewards of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which consists of over 21 miles of walking and biking trails along the three rivers in the Pittsburgh region.

To sample a full smorgasbord of Pittsburgh area outdoor adventures can be found the annual Venture Outdoors Festival. This event, which takes place in late May draws over 7,000 people and 100+ outdoor organizations and exhibitors. This Festival is part of Pittsburgh’s Great Outdoors Week , a week-long fun-fest that offers area residents and visitors a myriad of opportunities to participate a wide range of activities sponsored by some of the region’s best outdoor recreation organizations.

Kayak Surfing: Everything You Need to Know

Surf kayaking is, in my eyes, the most dynamic and exhilarating discipline of kayaking, combining the sheer excitement of kayaking with the cool lifestyle of surfing. Give it a go; every time you get out on the water, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear.

best fishing kayak

As the name suggests, kayak surfing involves surfing in kayaks (I know, I know … you didn’t pay good money for this book so that the authors could state the blindingly obvious…). But these aren’t just any old kayaks -they’re specially designed to allow you to perform the same skilled maneuvers as a surfer.

In spite of the fact that kayak surfing has been undertaken to a high level in the U K for over fifteen years, with teams competing exceptionally well at world level and several Brits holding World Championship titles, kayak surfing has had a far lower profile than traditional surfing. Fortunately, this lack of publicity is set to change – kayak surfing is currently only second to the more sedate sea kayaking as the paddle sport with the fastest rate of uptake.

So, if you love the sea and are looking for a sport that offers you the exhilaration of tackling waves with the challenge of technical, high-performance moves, why not join the growing band of kayak surfers? After a few lessons, you’ll be leaping into your kayak, riding the waves and performing bottom turns, top turns, cut backs, round-house cut backs, tail slashes, lip turns and even ‘the Bouncer’. Once you’ve mastered these skills, all that will remain is for you to brace yourself to ignore the gags about kayak surfing being for surfers who can’t stand up.

Getting involved
You can expect to pick up the basics of kayak surfing in a few days, but to really master the sport will take a lifetime. That said, you’ll find that even as a shaky beginner you’ll have great fun, and experience a real buzz from the challenges the waves present and the tricks you try to master. While you are out for kayaking,choosing the best GPS for fishing is a must have & for that visit this guide.

Try an introductory weekend to the sport to see if it’s for you, but book early – the centers and clubs that run them are usually highly oversubscribed. Expect to pay in the region of £i50-£200, and any additional costs for accommodation if it is not included, for a weekend introductory course.

Once hooked, you’ll find that you can enter numerous competitions across the UK, with opportunities at a top level to be selected for National Teams.

Equipment needed
The equipment list for kayaking is brief and most clubs and schools will provide it for you. The most important piece of kit is the specially designed kayak, although as a beginner you’ll find a standard kayak or a playboat (anything less than 2.5 metres/8 feet in length) are better as they are less twitchy and easier to roll. To accompany the kayak, you’ll need paddles, spray deck (the important stretchy thing you have to squeeze yourself into and then fix

To accompany the kayak, you’ll need paddles, spray deck (the important stretchy thing you have to squeeze yourself into and then fix the hole where you sit so the water doesn’t get in the craft and sink it), buoyancy aid, helmet and wet suit. If you’re hooked to the point of wanting to purchase your own equipment, prices start at around £250 for a specially designed kayak plus all the gear.

Canoe or Kayak?

I was first introduced to a Canyak when I was in my early teens. Since that time, I have seen more and more of them on the waterways and bodies of water within the State of Iowa. There is a huge difference between the canoe and a kayak. An inventive young man, by the name of Jay Kurth, liked to do both canoeing and kayaking. As his family grew, he wanted to take his children out fishing but a regularly sized canoe was difficult to handle when he was the only adult. Since he was a fiberglass fabricator, he developed a new boat that was a cross between a canoe and a kayak. The name of the new boat was a Canak.

best fishing kayak reviews

The name of the new boat was a Canoe. Go to https://fishingpicks.com/best-recreational-kayak/ to view the different types of Canyak’s available.
Two designs were born in the 1970’s. These included a thirteen-foot single-man and a sixteen-four one-inch double man Canyak. The single-man Canyak is the shape of a kayak with the top of a regular canoe. This afforded the rider a place to store all their fishing gear or other items behind the seat in an easily accessible area. The Canyak was lightweight, under 45 pounds, and easy to carry. Children from the age of four and up that knew how to swim were viable individuals who could maneuver the Canyak with ease.

Since the 1970’s, several other designs have been developed. These designs include a Needle-Nose Canyak that rides higher in the water. This design can float on as little as ten inches of water. The Flat-Bottom Canyak is broad and has the capability of adding a trolling motor. This Canyak can be used for fishing and hunting. All the Canyak’s may be used for recreational boating.

I have personally used every design of the Canyak. Each one maneuvers easily within the water. They weigh from 40 to 95 pounds. All the boats can be moved and loaded by just one person. The fiberglass allows the Canyak to be lightweight but very strong in construction

Every Canyak is made using gun chopped fiberglass with no wood, plastic or metal parts. Because the entire boat is fiberglass, repairing any cracks or holes is easy. They are hand-rolled, trimmed and assembled by JK Incorporated employees. The Canyaks vary in color by using colored gel-coats. Custom colors may be ordered and created at an additional charge.

The Canyak is not a “sit-on-top” kayak or a normal canoe. It is a blend of the two. The bucket seats are form fitted making them comfortable to sit in for many hours. Every design of the Canyak is ideal for recreational boating, but the sportsman may also use it. Rivers, streams and small bodies of water are ideal locations to enjoy using the Canyak.

If you decide to purchase a Utility Canyak design, there are several accessories available to heighten your boating experience. They include a buddy seat, front and rear motor mounts, cargo seat, and side motor mounts. After using the buddy seat on a fishing trip, the Utility Canyak’s are larger and have more floor area for your catch.

If you don’t know whether to buy a canoe or a kayak, try buying a Canyak. To look at the eleven models of Canyaks, go to http://www.canyak.com.

Your Ultimate Fishing Tips

When fishing, never forget to approach the water quietly. Night fishing is quite popular for catfish. These days, lots of individuals are trying catfish fishing.

In case you decide to partake in this kind of fishing you are going to need a high-quality rod and reel. Naturally, the fly fishing secrets vary based on where you’re going fly fishing and that which you aspire to catch. When the majority of people consider fly fishing, they consider the movie A River Runs Through It. Bait fishing is additionally a popular way of catching trout at Chabot. Ice fishing boat has arrived ways recently. It is a sport that requires knowledge of the water area and the type of fish you are trying to catch. Spring fishing on those rivers, and the Sassafras specifically, offers some unbelievable action sometimes.

Know what fish you want to catch and what type of bait attracts them. After that, you can use this bait to increase your fishing skill in order to have a simpler time catching fish. The incorrect bait could indicate a very long fishing trip. These lures let me target trout and smallmouths simultaneously. There are a number of unique strategies and various lures for trolling. So you would need to use a different type of lure according to the sort of water you’re fishing in. Moving on, you have to cast out a swimmer lure with a longer tip if you prefer to catch a number of the striped bass that is available in the deeper waters.

The trick to catching fish now lies in having the ability to receive your bait to the base of the river. When at the lakes be sure to look for it cruising just below the surface near the shores or along the edge of the shallow shelf. When you find a fish with its tail from the water, you could become so nervous that you can’t place the lure where it should be. It doesn’t matter what fish you are attempting to bait because you’ll be able to receive the ideal fish with the optimal/optimally bait and that’s the saltwater fishing lures. In a nutshell, it’s necessary for you to think to outsmart the fish and have the joy of a great catch. If you’re prepared to catch more fish then you ought to begin below. It will allow you to determine some typical pier fish, and understand their habits.

Most anglers would tend to turn into excited especially supposing it’s their very first fly fishing experience. Fishermen are friendly individuals who adore the sport. The trick to turning into a very good fisherman is to try out a lot of unique things and fail fast. With a tiny bit of expertise, practice, and patience you’re on your way to turning into a seasoned fisherman that has many fine catches ahead.

Everybody knows that fishing is a favorite hobby of lots of people. This kind of fishing isn’t a quick sport. Fishing at any instance of the day is a significant aspect when catfish fishing.

Trout Fishing with Flies Using the “Fly & Bubble” Technique

In this article, I will outline how to go trout fishing using the “fly and bubble” technique. What is the “fly amp; bubble” technique you ask? Well, this trout fishing technique is the best way for traditional anglers to fish with an artificial fly. That’s right, by using this often overlooked trout fishing technique traditional spin fisherman can fish with a lightweight artificial fly effectively, something that has always seemed to be “off limits” to traditional anglers.
This trout fishing technique involves the use of some fairly simple pieces of terminal tackle. A casting bubble (sometimes called a fly fishing bubble) is obviously the “bubble” part of the technique. An artificial fly of your choice (the “fly” part of the fly and bubble technique), a six to the eight-foot leader, and a swivel to attach your leader to your fishing line. That’s it, that’s all that is needed to use this unique trout fishing technique.

The integral part of this technique is the “bubble” (usually called a casting or fly fishing bubble) itself that looks similar to a traditional bobber in many ways but is clear and has a ‘stopper’ in the center for letting water in and/or out of the bubble. By adding water to the bubble it adds weight to the rig, giving you the ability to cast and fish lightweight flies effectively.

To go trout fishing using the “fly and bubble” technique the rig is set up as follows: start by sliding the “bubble” onto your line and attaching a swivel to the end of your line. Now attach your leader to the opposite end of the swivel. An artificial fly of your choice is now tied to the other end of the leader. This is the “fly and bubble” rig, but at this point, you have one more step.

The “bubble” itself is submerged into the water while depressing the ‘stopper’ that runs through the middle of the bubble. This will allow water to enter the “bubble”. If you are fishing with a dry fly ( a fly that floats on the surface of the water) fill the bubble halfway full. If you are fishing with a wet fly (a fly that sinks or you want to fish under the water) fill the bubble completely full. When the desired amount of water is in the bubble, push the ‘stopper’ in the opposite direction to close it.

The fly and bubble rig is now cast into the water and retrieved in a slow steady motion. Jerking the rod tip can be added to give additional “action” to the fly if desired as well. This is how to use the fly and bubble technique to go trout fishing. Until you get the hang of fishing with this technique it is suggested that you use the technique when fishing a lake fishing scenarios. Once you are comfortable with fishing a “fly amp; bubble” you can begin trout fishing in river scenarios as well. The bottom line is that this is an excellent trout fishing technique that should be a part of any serious trout fisherman’s arsenal.

5 Fishing Benefits

There is no need to convince the thousands of anglers and avid outdoors men and women, who get excited by reeling in a 30-pound striper or seeing a beautiful brook trout rise to a fly, why they need to start making plans to head outside. But if for some reason, you need a little convincing, we have compiled a list of 10 good examples that might just offer you an excuse to call in sick to work or leave those “honey do’s” for another weekend so you too can spend a day fishing with those flashy fishing sunglasses, Buy Latest Branded Sunglasses in online from here. The following are the top 5 fishing benefits.

1. Supports Wildlife and Fisheries Management: Fishing is an important wildlife management tool. For more than 100 years anglers have helped to contribute to wildlife and fisheries management efforts by helping to set seasons and creel limits. Wildlife populations of most fish species remain stable and in some cases flourish, a far cry from ten years ago when many species suffered from over harvest and the ill effects of pollution. Anglers also have a vested interest in and support many efforts to preserve and protect all species and the environment all the while helping to increase biodiversity.
2. Contribute to Conservation: Anglers put their money where their mouth is and are passionate about the environment. By purchasing fishing licenses and paying special taxes that they themselves have agreed upon anglers have helped to fund many of the wildlife and conservation programs that exist in the United States and here in Virginia. They also contribute to non-game and education programs, and to the purchase of thousands of acres of public lands, where everyone is welcome to recreate year round. Anglers are also acutely aware of the importance of clean water and air and pride themselves on protecting and preserving our environment, natural communities, and valuable habitat.
3. Stress Relief: Ask most anglers why they enjoy spending time in the outdoors and you’re likely to hear the word “freedom.” Spending a day afield casting for trout on a cool mountain stream or bobber fishing for bluegills on a pond with those magnificent fishing glasses helps to release us from our highly stressful, everyday environment. Nothing brings on the sense of being alive and helps to rebuild our personal reserves like a day spent interacting with nature.
4. Health Benefits: More than fifty percent of Americans are overweight. Being outside and being active helps to make you feel better and encourages a healthier way of life. Driving to your local grocery store and fast food restaurant might be convenient, but fishing can also help you burn those unwanted calories, increase the quality of your lifestyle, and add years to your life.
5. Social Bonding: Sharing a fishing experience helps strengthen relationships with family and friends. It also offers a person the chance to give back to society through mentoring others in the pleasure and importance of being good stewards of our natural resources.