senile1

I have no trouble believing reasonable fishing stories without proof. I guess I believe people are innocent until proven guilty. It's the stories that border on incredible that I might question. I think anytime you're going to post a catch that is considered a hawg for your area, it's not a bad idea to post a picture to protect your integrity. Hey, I know we're not here to impress others (at least most of us) but if you are going to participate in the forum on a consistent basis this is the only way to earn the trust of others. I haven't posted any great pictures. Why? Because I haven't caught any great fish since March when I started posting. I've only reported one or two fish over five lbs, a couple of skunks, some dinky catches, and a few trips with fish in the three to four lb range. I assume people believe these because they are not unreasonable reports. When I catch a bass in the six or seven plus range I think it is only fair to post a picture. FishChris could claim a 14 lb'er and I'd believe him without a picture, because he has already proven himself. He has earned that trust.

Darn, I missed all the fun and games on this thread because it started this weekend. Oh well, great thread and excellent arguments on both sides of the equation. I use braid, copolymers, and mono for different situations. For the guys who don't like braid on spinning outfits, I've been running 10 lb braid on one of my spinning rods since Spring. I really like it, but about once an outing, it'll tangle around my rod tip if I'm not careful. Different strokes for different folks.

That's a pretty wild statement from your friend. Many people use spinning gear for crankbaits. Some people prefer spinning gear when throwing very light crankbaits because there is no chance of backlash. I use both. As RW stated, there is no functional reason why either one won't do the job.

Hair??? I thought that was pine tar.

The Niekro brothers . . . . . man, if the knuckle ball wasn't such a difficult pitch to control those guys would have been unbeatable. Joe wasn't quite the pitcher that brother Phil was but he still won over 200 games. I was just reading up on Phil. Bobby Murcer made the following quote about Phil Niekro: "Trying to hit him is like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks."

Syfer420, what is your water temperatures in the lakes you're fishing in New Jersey? I'll bet most of your problems are the locations you're choosing to fish in your lakes. While the fall can pull some fish up into feeder creeks and shallow flats to feed, when the water temps drop into the 50s a good solid cold front can push fish back onto channel ledges, and even send some scurrying closer to winter homes. Those that stay in shallow water will be holding very tightly to cover. I've had a couple of bad days in the last two weeks under these circumstances, where I stayed on the feeder creek pattern too long when I should have moved out to the channel ledges and secondary/main lake points near deeper water.

I generally am comfortable with down to about 15 - 20 feet but I am trying to become more adept at fishing deeper. The lake I fish most often has depths down to 45 or 50 feet near the dam, but the average depth is much less. The thermocline at this lake tends to form at no more than 20 feet. I fished Table Rock this summer and I found that if I'm going to catch any fish in a deep clear reservoir I'm going to have to fish much deeper.

Wow, Bassmasta7. Those pictures say a lot. You know they posted stats for Rogers last night stating that he gave up around 20 runs in his first 20 or so innings of playoff pitching. His last 23 innings he hasn't given up any. That's a big turnaround and is possible, but these pictures surely do raise doubts. This is definitely not dirt. And who knows if he wasn't able to store his substance somewhere else after the umpire was notified of it. I don't mind losing fair and square and the Cardinals may lose this thing fair and square. I'm just tired of all the cheating that goes on in sports today.

In addition to what has been said, when it's really cold you want a spinnerbait with shorter arms and colorado blades. When you cast it close to cover and structure let it drop and helicopter down on top of where you think the bass are located. Once you hit bottom, you have some choices depending on the circumstances and cover: hop it like a jig, slow roll it, etc.

Everytime that 25.1 has been caught at Dixon it has become that much smarter. They may not catch her again. If they do, I would bet that it'll be during the spawn and no other time. I believe California is the state but I have my doubts about next year. I think Roger is correct about Cuba being too far South.

JB, were you fishing Beaver Lake? For any of the deep, clear lakes on the White River, you need to learn how to drop shot, even when there isn't a cold front. From post-spawn through early October, all of the fishing reports for Table Rock stated that the bass were deep, all the way down to 40 feet. I only fished the lake once this year but the reports proved to be true. I assume Beaver is going to fish similar to Table Rock. If you're going to catch fish on these lakes consistently, carolina rigging and drop shotting is the way to go. I'm not a big drop shot fanatic either, but I realize I better become one for these lakes.

Kenny Rogers was lucky. : The Cardinals hit quite a few balls very hard but they were all right at someone. And what was the deal with the stuff on his hand in the first inning. (Read below if you didn't watch the game.) http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/gamecenter/recap/MLB_20061022_STL@DET Kenny Rogers says his idol is Sandy Koufax, but I'm wondering if he might be influenced by Gaylord Perry. : Muddy_Man and Riskkid, you know what I'm talking about.

I woke up Saturday to rain and 48 degree temperatures. The rain was supposed to increase throughout the day and a cold front was coming through later in the day. I traveled to my favorite small lake and as I got there the rain began to fall harder. I put on my rain suit but I had forgotten my rain pants. So I said to h#@$ with it and went fishing anyway. I thought the fish might be hitting before the front so I started with a chartreuse and white spinnerbait with one Colorado and one willow leaf blade. Within 15 minutes I had boated 5 bass, none more than 17 inches long. Two hours later I had caught 14 bass and about half of them were in the three to four and a half pound range. It rained the whole time, and at approximately 10:00 AM the wind turned directly from the North and was laying the cattails over. By then the water was almost ankle deep in the bottom of the aluminum boat, my fingers were stiff, and I was getting cold. The temperature had dropped to 40 degrees by the time I got back to my truck. I had a camera but it was so cold and wet that I didn't take any pictures. Besides, I didn't catch anything that would be a personal best, but I sure had a lot of fun. The head cold was worth it.

He pitched better in previous games in these playoffs, but of course this game was pressure unlike any he has encountered. He went to full counts on Valentin and Chavez and gave up hits to both with no outs. The pitches that were balls were almost all above the strike zone. Wainwright tends to keep them lower and then when he throws his curve the bottom drops out of it when it crosses the plate. However, you don't see too many pitchers give up hits to the 7th and 8th hitters in a lineup, with no outs, and then escape from the top of the lineup unscathed. Wainwright showed some guts for a 25 year old pitching in arguably the most important game of his career so far. It was one hell of an exciting inning wasn't it? Too bad for your Mets, Muddy. They had a great year.

This is a hard one. For one thing, I don't think any streak I have is impressive compared to some of those already mentioned. I've had some 100 fish days and some days where my five bass limit was around 20 lbs but those are things that many people have surpassed if they've fished awhile. There is one day that I think stands out for me. I don't remember the exact details because it occurred when I was 18. My Dad and I were fishing in the middle of January. Air temperatures were in the low 20s. We caught over 20 bass in 3 or 4 hours between us. These fish were mostly 2 - 3 lb'ers but we caught a few over 5 lbs and two of these broke 6 lbs. We could hardly feel our fingers and we were very shocked that the fish were biting like they were. I haven't had a winter fishing day like that ever again.

Bucketmouthangler13, Even if this doesn't work, I think it's great that you're thinking. If one thing doesn't work, the mind always seems to find another that will. It's a matter of having the determination to stick with it. All great inventions usually evolve from many, many failures.

As avid stated, I have carried a scale for years, but only in the last year have I made it a habit to carry a camera. Most of the people who know me, know that I'll tell them the truth about the numbers and size of fish that I catch. The people who don't know me didn't really matter until I joined this site. But when I joined this site, I realized I should carry a camera because you all will only know me by my posts. Integrity is everything. However, I generally don't take a picture unless a fish appears to be close to my personal best. I haven't been close in the last year, so I haven't posted any pictures.

Why bass? I think, at least in America, it is related to our addiction to things with big mouths. I mean, look at how fascinated we are with celebrities? And how about the WWF?

That was a great game 7. Wainwright scared me senseless. He didn't have his best stuff and kept placing the pitches up high in the strike zone. But then he turned around and pitched Beltran perfectly. What an exciting ending to a great NLCS series.

Captain Cali, It's funny how sometimes you get an idea about someone just by how they look. (Although more often than not, you can be wrong.) I figured you for a motocross racer. I guess that's somewhat similar to PWC racing.

I"ve read this before. I may be thinking of something else but I think they are talking about using a particular type of light that they lower into water which attracts baitfish food, then baitfish, and then eventually bass and other fish.

Hence, the name, muddy_man. I wondered if that was your reasoning behind your name. I also wondered if you were just a dirty fellow and never bathed.

Senile1 is a name I used to sell my music under a few years back. If you google senile1 my old website still comes up first in the listings, though it is no longer in service. I hosted the site on my Linux server at my house but eventually I ran out of time to devote to administering the site, recording, and selling my music. It took up all of my spare time. I either had to give it up or give up fishing. Fishing won. I still play my guitar, but I don't have time for the rest of the stuff.

Your description of that misguided crook reminds me of the thief who entered my house in Sayreville, NJ. Obviously a youngster, he broke into my den through the sliding glass door and passed by a treasure trove of unlocked rifles, shotguns and bows. Instead, he grabbed two 6-packs of beer from my garage, but left one 6-pack on my ping-pong table so he could ****** a handful of arrows from my quiver. I can picture him running across my backyard in the darkness of night with a handful of razor-sharp broadheads!!! Roger Yeah, and then if he fell on the broadheads, he would sue you for being injured on your property. And I'll bet he'd have a decent chance of winning the suit. Many laws have been turned upside down. Many have forgotten that laws should be created in the service of justice, not to serve some lawyer's pocketbook.