Tokyo Tony

I don't think anyone who has not caught a state record can say with certainty whether or not he would release a state record fish if he caught it. Now I say I would probably keep that bad girl, but I'm sitting at my desk at work. If I were on the water holding a 13 pound fish (Connecticut), I might have to let her go out of respect, or I might succomb to the promise of fame and keep her. Who knows? Hopefully I'll know soon ;D

3 wt fly fishing setup with a little dry fly.... then use whatever you catch as bait Some of the things I would try: 7" Lunker City Fin-S jerkbait on a 7/0 to 11/0 hook twitched just below the surface; 6 inch senko; big waking swimbaits (if I had any). Good luck!

You may have beat the baitmonkey, but you still lost. Those baits are awesome.

A couple golf tournaments, nothing too special. Just fish as much as possible. I have a little getaway planned at the end of this month: Taking Monday and Tuesday off of work, driving up to Hanover, NH Friday night to meet up with some friends. We're staying at our old frat house which will be empty because they're in between terms, and I'm taking my two dogs and my pontoon boat up. Drinkin' by night, catching tons of smallies by day on my favorite smallie pond...it's gonna be amazing ;D

WOW, imagine if we actually tapped into Bakken and there were anywhere close to 400 billion barrels. We'd have the largest oil field in the world on our own soil. That would be a beautiful time for us. I wish I had a couple million to invest :-/

Late summer/very early fall, 70 degree air, midnight, full moon, no clouds, not a breath of wind, so you can easily see and hear your Sammy zig-zagging over a prime shallow point or dropoff. Just waiting for those vicious smallie attacks on your helpless little lure ;D

Wow, that knot looks really cool, the slim beauty. I'm definitely going to give it a shot. Looks like no two are the same http://www.anglers-outlet.com/slim_beauty_knot.htm http://www.fishing-khaolak.com/knots/slim_beauty_steps.html http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/knots/slim_beauty.aspx http://www.adventurebound.com.au/reviews/gear/how_to_-_slim_beauty_leader_knot.html

Power Pro and Sufix seem to be the two most popular braids on this forum. I have tried both, and Power Pro is unarguably softer and quieter than Sufix. However, opinions differ, and some swear by Sufix. I'll never use Sufix again as I much prefer Power Pro. Either way you can't go wrong. Try them both out and see which one you like more.

This is crazy - Gary's article is almost exactly what I do, and those are a lot of the conclusions I've come to over the past year or two. I use 10 lb test yellow power pro on a M rod (sometimes 5 lb, 8 lb, 15 lb, or 40 for frogging and jigging), but just posted yesterday about finding a ML rod that I thought would be more fun to use. I almost always use a flouro leader, and usually start out with a long one that winds onto the spool, and as the day (or week) goes on, it gets smaller until I change it at about 3-4 feet. If fishing like Gary Yamamoto is wrong, I don't wanna be right! ;D RW - once you get used to braid the line will almost never get wrapped around the tip, and that should never happen while fighting a fish (it has never never happened to me). I definitely agree with you about river fishing - if you don't use a leader that could get dangerous. And when you get hung up, a lot of the time the weakest point is the leader knot so yeah, you'll probably have to tie a new leader if you get hung up. However, if you use the uni to uni leader knot, not only will you notice that you won't always break at the leader knot when getting unhung, but also that it only takes about one full minute to set up a new leader once you get used to it, and I cinch my leader knots down so expertly ;D that I barely feel the knot going through the guides. And lastly, fishing in the wind can be a pain, but that, you would also learn, can be overcome with some changes to your technique. I do like Ultrasoft more than any other non-braid I've used (still use it for some things), but for me, I seriously doubt I'll ever break off my relationship with Power Pro. We just get along so well and love each other very much. It has amazing qualities (sensitive, strong, etc.) that I don't thing I'll ever find in another woman...err, line. ;D

Very cool, thanks for the info. My father lives in Tokyo so next time he visits I might request a Bosco 8-) Choosing between the Crucial and the Avid might be tough...I'll let you guys what ends up happening. Has anyone used a rod with these specs? It seems like it will be fun...

hard jerkbait 8-)

I wonder if a spinning rod with these specs exists: ML or L power, F but preferably XF action, 7'. Quality-wise, something like a Shimano Crucial, give or take. Any ML or L power rods I find are either 5' or way too whippy - usually both. Has anyone heard of a rod with similar specs to what I mentioned? I think it would be a blast to catch river trout and smallmouth on a rod like this with a little 1000 sized reel and 8-10 lb test braid. Thanks

x2 The dropshot rod is a little soft for my taste for use with plastics (although I still use it for that sometimes), but for dropshotting, it's a real pleasure. It's also my go-to rod for fishing really light lures (small inline spinners, mini jerkbaits, and 1/16 to 1/8 oz jigheads with plastic minnows). Very sensitive, lightweight, and pretty sexy too.

I have 3... KVD, just to see how he'd approach some of my home lakes. I still can't believe how fast he works crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Jimmy Houston, backcountry fishing in the Everglades for Snook, Tarpon, Redfish, and trout. That would be an awesome awesome time. Al Lindner on his Northern lakes. That guy knows so much and is so incredibly good at finding fish, I just know I'd be twice as good at fishing after a couple outings with him. He seems like a great guy too.

Teria, I agree with everyone else - setting the hook when you're not sure if it's a fish or not will result in more landed fish over time. Something you might want to try that will help you out... try using braided line, at least for a while. It's more sensitive, therefore it's much easier to detect bites. Once you get the feel for it, if you want you can switch back to mono or flourocarbon and you'll have a better idea when to set the hook. A strike on mono or flouro just feels like a muffled bite when you get used to braid.

Since I've caught many trout since my last post in this thread, I'll add what has become my top producer: Lucky Craft Pointer 65, Ghost Minnow, American Shad, Aurora Black, and Chartreuse Minnow. You can use a bigger size, and I've caught good trout on the 78 size, but 65 is great. Caught my pb this past Saturday (4 lb brown - will post when pictures are developed) on this lure in Chart. Minnow, and I've stood side-by-side with live bait fisherman and outfished them 3-5 to 1. Don't use hard jerks, just little gentle twitches. It drives the trout crazy ;D

My two main spinning rigs for bass fishing are what I use for trout. One is a 7'2" Crucial dropshotting rod, M power fast action. This is my favorite for troutfishing, and it does great at it. Pretty soft tip, medium action (although it is probably a little closer to ML). I imagine a shakey head rod would be similar to a dropshotting rod. The other is a 6'6" IMX, M power fast action - a real pleasure to use for trout, but the Crucial is a little better suited to trout because the tip isn't as stiff as the Loomis. I think your shakey head rod would be great, and 7' is a good length

Aww, c'mon man, don't be a square! Everyone's doing it... Haha, just kidding ;D

Thanks for the info guys. I'm just waiting for the fraud packet to arrive so I can fill it out. I'm definitely going to keep a closer watch on my statements now. Whoever this piece of crap is that has my info, I just want to kick him in the throat. As Vincent said in Pulp Fiction, "It woulda been worth him doin it if I coulda caught him doin it." 8-)

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it turns out. As for now, I'm gonna go wade for some monster stripers to ease my mind ;D Tight lines this weekend!

I'm heading to the gas station after work, and I'm hoping that they have video recordings that go back a few days at least. That would prove it, and hopefully nail the f'er. It's just an unsettling feeling knowing someone has been spending your hard-earned money. I really hope to get at least a partial reimbursement, especially because I'm a good customer - I put everything on that card 8-)

Hey guys, I wonder if you have any advice for me... I just realized today that about two months ago some d-bag, somehow, got my credit card info (my Cabela's card) and has been buying gas with it. I know I'm a freakin' idiot for not realizing sooner, but I usually just just scan my credit card bills and when I see gas, it doesn't set off any alarm. And that's precisely why this person has only been buying gas. Big mistake on my part for not catching it sooner, but it's a lesson learned for sure. First of all, how the hell does someone steal my info? Do they have scanners that can make a copy of my card? You'd have to have an actual card to pay at the pump. I called customer service, cancelled my numbers, and they're sending me a fraud pamphlet that I have to fill out. After work I'm going to that gas station (I've never been there) to ask about their security videos. Hopefully they don't just do a 24 hour loop, although I'm not feeling optimistic about that - the d-bag probably scoped it all out beforehand. Have any of you experienced this, and what do you think my chances are of getting refunded? It was over $400 worth over two months. I noticed it because I filled up my tank (50 bucks) one day, and the next day there was gas, another 50 bucks on my statement, which I would not have been able to do unless I drove ~6 hours in between. One of the charges was May 10th, and I was in MA fishing Quabbin with cigarlover. Any advice? Thanks guys.

I've had the best success nightfishing with black/blue chatterbaits, the original brand. In my experience, these baits far outfish other baits at night, even on a large clear reservoir I've fished for smallies. Other good choices are topwaters (black walk-the-dog baits especially) and dark spinnerbaits with a single Colorado blade. If you feel like being patient, a dark jig with rattles (or without) would be great as well. Others say to use the same baits and fish the same spots, which may be good advice, but I've had different experiences myself. Color doesn't matter as long as it's dark. Don't use light-colored baits at night - I guarantee you'll catch fewer fish with light colors.

Nice post Micro, looks like it was all worth it aferall

If you do decide to confront someone, just make sure you have a weapon on you also. My weapon of choice is incredible ninja skills, but if you're not blessed with them, a gun works almost as well ;D Seriously though, I was fishing on of my favorite spots on my favorite trout/smallie river the other day and there was a guy walking along with a bucket (dead giveaway that he's keeping anything he catches). I happened to catch a fish right as he was walking up, and I didn't even know what it was. It looked like some kind of chub - definitely not something I'd consider eating. He saw me about to release it and yelled, "Hey mon you don't want that!!??" I said no, and that it didn't look like it was something he'd want to eat, at all. He said toss it in the bucket and he'd grill it up, so I obliged. He had a nice crappie and a perch in the bucket already. I didn't mind the encounter at all. However, a few minutes later I caught a little smallie, and there was no freakin' chance I was gonna sacrifice one of those beautiful little critters so he could grill it up. I unhooked it with my back to him and quickly threw her back 8-) The river has a tremendous population of fish and I didn't mind the guy keeping fish, even if they were a little undersized. Plus, he was not the most successful fisherman I've come across. However, if I saw any smallies in that bucket, my ninja instincts may have manifested themselves in a very dangerous way