Chaz Hickcox

There is a way, live where it doesn't get cold. Unfortunately for most of us, that's not an option right now. Therefore, we're screwed.

LOL TROUT! Here's the record "trout" Jay... Back to topic at hand, that is a massive muskie! Hey that is a real picture, those trout live in Mongolia and are HUGE. They're called Taimen and can grow to be 2m and about 90-95kg.

I have to agree with you on that, when I was a kid we used to fish the farm ponds on my cousins' land in Eastern Kansas. It was awesome for awhile catching 4-5 Four pounders in an hour, but after about a month of that, we were done fishing. That was a great summer, 16 yrs ago now. How time flies.

I know that. But considering the fact that it has been in the US for over 150 years, the Brown Trout that are fished for now are in their "natural" habitat. Trout fishing has a big following in lots of areas. It might not be popular in Virginia Beach, (no trout there) but head over to the Appalachians or any other mountain range and you will realize how popular it is. Hey man, the trout comment was a joke there buddy. I have plenty of friends from Montana, Wyoming and Colorado who swear by their monster rainbows. And look at my icon under my screen name, do you think I am actually from VA? Let's just say the hills I'm from make the appalachians look like a group of mounds.

My misfortune with it probably has to do with only throwing it a few times.

Have one of the suspenders in shad, but have yet to get hit on it.

All my casting reels are 6.3:1 or more, all you have to do is slow down your retreive. My spinning rigs are all 5.1:1 but I use them with live bait or when downsizing only. As far as swimbaits are concerned I have found that slow rolling a light castaic is the bomb. For durability issues in the swamps around here all I use is braid, and my forte is swimbaits. Braid is good stuff. Just don't be jumpy with the hooksets.

Do you use spinners? It's the same concept, looking to attract fish to what they see as multiple baitfish. When have you ever just seen one minnow by itself? Great idea, I just would be weary about BPS brand quality. Finatic, what are your thoughts on the lure's quality? You gonna get another one? And I agree, if its not a senko then most of these guys wouldn't know what to do. Fin@tic was talking about the reviews on BPS, I don't think he bought one. ;D my mistake

Good point, thanks for the heads up. Most of our slips out here aren't that steep, but I can see where that would be an issue.

Do you use spinners? It's the same concept, looking to attract fish to what they see as multiple baitfish. When have you ever just seen one minnow by itself? Great idea, I just would be weary about BPS brand quality. Finatic, what are your thoughts on the lure's quality? You gonna get another one? And I agree, if its not a senko then most of these guys wouldn't know what to do.

So I replaced all of the bunk boards on my trailer today. Broke 2 drill bits and the battery died on my power drill. Fun. Overall I just put the boat in the water and had a buddy help me out with all the drilling. I was going to countersink the bolts and replace the retarded wood screws but the bolts I bought did not fit through the holes on the brakets. Instead of normal carpeting, I used the new hard plastic covers instead. They work well and the boat slides on and off very easy. When all was said and done I needed to adjust the bunks and I found a pretty easy way to do it. I put the boat on the trailer, then I took a 2 1/5 ton floor jack and placed it under the brackets. Then I jacked up the boat until the bunks were straight. then I went to the side ones and lifted them until they were maintaining some of the weight. It was time consuming, but the boat had never sat so sturdy on the trailer since I have owned it.

I disagree. I feel like I've accomplished something more when I catch a 18" wild Brown Trout, in its natural habitat, than when I catch some genetically mutated 5 lb. Rainbow trout in a stocked pond. And trust me, the wild Brown Trout is much more challenging. I do agree that in bass fishing bigger is always better, but that isn't the case with every species. You do realize that brown trout come from europe and are not indiginous right? So that natural habitat thing does not fly buddy. All that bein said, who fishes for trout anyways? Unless your from the deep south huntin down the green trout (AKA LM BASS for those of you who don't know cajun).

What ever happened to just fishing because you enjoy it? Bigger is a better story, but overall fish are fish and the challenge of putting them in the boat is all the fun. I will say that I don't fish for white perch, brim or crappie because they're too easy. However, when my little girl caught her first bluegill last spring, too easy is a load of crap. She had a ball with that, and so did I. I guess in the end, if your not in a tournament then what does it matter?

I'm fairly certain that the saying is: "Desperate times call for desperate measures." And yes, I have to completely agree with all of yall. I hate the cold, and won't go on the water in 30 Degree weather. We need a heat wave!

When I was a kid my pops knew a guy who owned a man made pond in downtown Phoenix. Now this pond is not open to the public, and was stocked with FLA Strain. It's about an acre in a teardrop shape. One of the walls of the pond was also a 50ft Levy wall for the Salt River. This pond is right across the river from Sky Harbor and maybe 400yds away from the I-10, but if you didn't know it was there then you would never guess it. There's an industrial park right in the vicinity of it. Anyways, we would go out there, and this is where I fell in love with Castaic Swimbaits. There were times they would out perform the live waterdogs. Regardless, it was a great time. I think we only went out there five or six times, but they were a lot of fun. BIG BIG fish, I think the small ones were about three pounds. We never had a scale with us. My favorite memory of that was when my dad and his friends were getting the tracker ready for the water, I was out on the little dock and saw a bedding bass. I ran over and grabbed my rod with my little Castaic Hard Headed Shad. My dad's friends were laughing because they saw her too and were telling me there was no way I would catch her. I decided to prove them wrong. I cast the shad about 10ft past the bass and reeled in the shad. Once I got within a foot or so of the nest I let it sink and drug it right into the bed. Thanks to parental skills of the bass I brought in what was probably a 4-5lb bass. That was the first time that day I proved them wrong. Later in the day, it was probably around 110 degrees or so, and I had a Castaic Baby Crappie that floated. The same guys were telling me it was way too hot. So I cast next to a mosquite tree that was dipping into the water. As soon as that baby crappie started swimming I got nailed. Again this one was only about four pounds but still a blast. There's a giant Flathead or something in there because there were many times we would get a fish on (I know it was fish on because the line would be moving in somewhat of a figure eight) it would be far too heavy and strong for any of us to get up. This is all on live waterdogs from Waterdog Willie's in N Phx. Great times. Then there's the time I got stuck in my truck while hunting bass, but that's another story all together. Funny, it doesn't seem like that was 14 years ago.

You clearly did not read my last post.

I got a 7' MH Lighting Shock and I love that rod. It is light and durable. I know it's meant for just freshwater, but I have been using it in the bays around here too and it is holding up better than my old salt rod.

I'm looking for a line that is abbrasion resistant and will hold up. Mostly I fish Spiderwire, but I want to find something that is not braided to throw on one of my rods. I had the Berkley invisaline but it's crap. Has anyone tried the Stren 100% Flouro? Also, has anyone tried the Spiderwire 100% Flouro?

The ol' boy who works on my boat was catchin' 7-10 lbers in July on a buzzbait off the points in the middle of the day. Rules are more like guidelines.

I got one, I like the action, but I think that I got mine too late in the season. I do like the gliding action.

So how many real fish have you seen swim by just moving their tails? Paddle Tails are just a different technique of soft plastics, not real swimbaits. Heck the Rage Tail Eeliminator is a better swimbait than any paddle tail I've ever used. who cares?!? they catch fish and have won tournaments! I knew someone was going to say something like that. You do realize I never said they are bad, heck I have a bunch of Money Minnows for that reason. I just don't figure them as swim baits, their more of a soft plastic. As for winning tournaments, I am sure that you can find just as many tournaments won by almost any lure. Winning tournaments is the angler, not so much the bait.

the platnium i am looking at is at my dicks sporting goods on sale right now for 5.97 do you all think that they are worth that?? Sure, I'd get it. But then again, you can just continue to take other peoples' word for things and not learn for yourself. I tell you what, try it, if you hate it, then you know not to pay 25 for one. If you like it, then you got a great bait for inexpensive pricing. What's this fishing tackle section for then if you can't ask for advice on the value of lure? True, but then again one should still remain objective. I could say that soft plastics are the worst fishing lures ever. Everyone would then get mad and go crazy. Truth is, I don't like em. So in that case everyone here would be wrong, for my style of fishing. All I was saying is when you are getting mixed results like this then why not try it for yourself rather than just put something to the wayside because people say so.

the platnium i am looking at is at my dicks sporting goods on sale right now for 5.97 do you all think that they are worth that?? Sure, I'd get it. But then again, you can just continue to take other peoples' word for things and not learn for yourself. I tell you what, try it, if you hate it, then you know not to pay 25 for one. If you like it, then you got a great bait for inexpensive pricing.

So how many real fish have you seen swim by just moving their tails? Paddle Tails are just a different technique of soft plastics, not real swimbaits. Heck the Rage Tail Eeliminator is a better swimbait than any paddle tail I've ever used.

Durability is not so great. I really like Castaics, but seriously I have had too many of their soft series getting torn up by Gar. I would say use the Rock Hard Series if at all possible, or if your looking for more affordability the Hard Headed Originals are the bomb. For 14 bucks a pop they are great. I have had the same threadfin shad for 10 years and have caught countless fish with it. They fish jsut like shallow cranks and I have had shad school with 'em on a regular basis. I have a 4in rainbow trout in the rock hard series and it is better than the softies becuase when burned it naturally clacks. Works for me, even in water that has no trout. But, yeah as four bizz said the platinum's durability sucks. The Catch 22s are good, but if you have a possibility of toothy fish it will get torn up by teeth as well, just not as bad as the platinum.