Ratherbfishing

Looks cool but I'd rather people SEE my tail/brake lights.

I've been away for awhile, sorry. Man I wish I could catch more big crappie. Ironically, every crappie I've caught on that particular body of water was pretty big and caught on "traditional" bass baits. I've never caught one when I was specifically targeting them. Says something about my abilities, I guess.

The answer to this is going to vary greatly depending upon where you are from. Around Central Illinois, a trophy bass (too me) is anything over 5 lbs. Actually, a 4 lber is nothing to sneeze at either. I've fished a lot of years now and still have only one 7 lber and one 6 lber under my belt. The growing season just isn't long enough.

Rots o' ruck!

I was approached in Carbondale one time by a guy who said he'd run out of gas and needed to get to some neighboring town. I said I would help him if he showed me his car and could demonstate that it was empty. He said his car was several blocks away and I said, That's alright, I have the time." He walked away in a hurry while I smiled deeply with satisfaction. The benches on the corner from where I work are so often occupied with "homeless" people that you cannot sit down without being mistaken for (or accosted by) one of them. While it isn't all that spacious anyway, I haven't any room in my heart for freeloaders.

Ditto. I still don't understand why someone would deliberately choose to control the rod with their weaker hand and arm. I used to use a "right-handed" reel (handle on the right) because...well, that's "how it was done" but I'm so much happier since I switched over.

A couple of weeks ago I caught a 14.5 inch crappie (on a 3 inch Chigger Craw). I know it's not a world or state record but I was wondering how common it is to catch a fella this size?

My bittersweet heartbreak came when I was fishing the middle fork river for smallies. I was wading the river and had cast a Rebel crawdad into a falldown and hooked what I was sure was a giant smally. It pulled and took a lot of drag and I knew that if I caught it, I was going to be in the paper posing with a record-size smally. Turned out to be a 30 inch musky that must've washed over the Lake Mingo Dam and into the river. In retrospect, it was the perfect location to hold a musky but there are very few in the river (first I'd ever seen). I was both disappointed and elated.

It depends on a lot of things. As Webertime said, if it's the best available cover, they may very well be in the cattails. But time of year, water temperature (and oxygen), proximity to deeper water, etc. will influence a bass' proclivity to "hang out" in cattails. In one favorite lake of mine, In the spring, in 4 feet flats, we find a lot of bass in the cattails. Don't know if they are there in the summer because the surface mat makes it difficult to fish them (or even navigate to them with the boat). They are there in the fall, too.

The question is, what makes a good fishing buddy. So, in my opinion, lists are okay. But generally speaking, I find that lists usually only come out when a person begins violating most of the things that might appear on a list. No one is perfect (especially me) so it's difficult to find someone who fits every category to a "T" but you generally know rather quickly who you like to fish with and who you don't.

If you can see the fish clearly, than they can probably see you. My experience is that "free roaming" bass typically aren't in a biting mood. It sounds odd but try fishing for the bass you can't see. By that, I mean weed edges and cover and shady areas- anywhere where a bass might hole up to ambush prey. I don't know what time of day you go out but your best bet is when the sun is low. Try small, subtle baits and thin line. If you insist upon using braided line, tie on a leader of mono or flourocarbon-especially if the water is really clear and particularly if you're using soft plastics. If the water is clear, use natural colors such as white, silver, brown. That's all I have.

I use gulp worms a fair amount and the perch/bluegill love them. If I were to set the hook on each "peck peck peck", I'd go through a half dozen bags of baits (or at least their tails) in no time flat. I dunno. After awhile, you get a sense for when it's a sunfish. The tap tap tap is usually hurried and the line doesn't straighten out comletely. When you pull the line, sometimes they'll hold on but you can usually pull them through the water. A bass will often carry the bait away from where it was and then you know to set the hook. Especially if it's in or near rip rap, the bluegill will drive you crazy.

He wanted that spot. Playing the devil's advocate, maybe he only gets out once a week (or less) and he sees you camped in his favorite spot everytime he goes there. I can see how that would chaff me a little. Nevertheless, it doesn't justify his behavior nor will it get him what he wants. It would be much better of him to be friendly and make a friend rather than behave like a jerk and make an instant enemy.

Don't be afraid to try new things.

I don't know if I really get excited over the dinks but I will say that if a bass is smaller than my lure, I almost always take a picture and send it to someone. Any fish that takes me out of "skunked" status is worthy of celebration.

Are you sure you don't have "ghost drag"? This is where the entire "spool" of braided line loosens on the spool and turns freely. It's very deceptive and unless you know better, you think the reel spool isn't turning.

You didn't specify why you don't like it in the wind but personally, I hate it in the wind because it acts like a sail and it's tough to keep a soft plastic where I want it.

heidi klum

Some roostertails are fine. Others stink-they don't seem to ever want to spin. I never have that problem with mepps or panther martins.

Mark Knopfler hands down.

How long can a fish stay out of water? I think it depends on how long you fought them and stressed them and also on the weather conditions. I don't have any imperical evidence to back this up but I'd lay $ money that a bass caught on a cool rainy day can stay out of the water a lot longer than on a sunny, extremely hot day. A couple of years a ago I was fishing a pond with scattered lily pads. I knew better but I cast a floating rapala lure using only 6 lb (thin) line. Sure enough, a bass took my bait, wrapped the line around some pads, and broke off. I mourned the loss, learned my lesson, and commenced to fishing. A few minutes later, I saw a bass swimming up to the bank. I noticed it was the one which had broken me off because it still had my lure in it's mouth. About this time, it came to the surface, shook his head vigorously, and tossed the lure only a few feet from the shore where I could easily reach it with my rod. Obviously the fish felt sorry for me and wanted me to have the lure back. Why do I tell you this story? First, it's because I look for any excuse to tell it. Second, the last sentence of that paragraph is a great example of anthropomorphizing. Fish undoubtedly experience some degree of pain but I do not believe they have the capacity to "understand" or suffer emotionally like (most) humans. They do, to a greater or lesser degree, learn to avoid "unpleasant" experiences but you won't find any bass lying on a therapist's couch crying about how much it scarred them emotionally. Not at the going rate of a good therapist, anyway.

Agreed. The rig was a clever solution to a problem however I doubt too many DNR folks would properly interpret your intentions if they happened upon you. They would not know you weren't attempting to snag a fish. As you described it, I don't think it's any more unethical than any other method a fisherman uses to dupe a fish however, just like the member who got fined for using a small silver casting spoon to fish for bass without a trout stamp, it'd be difficult to convince a "game warden" or a judge that your intentions were honorable. Not worth it.

Well, it wasn't long ago that I had a spongebob hanging from my rear view mirror. I still labor under the illusion that I'm 25. I'm almost twice that. : (

When I was very young, my dad took me and my siblings trout fishing in a pay lake not too distant from my house. When I was about 14, I bought an Abu Garcia promotional magazine/catalog from the local IGA. It had such beautiful glossy illustrations and I even though few, if any, of the featured species were found any closer than 500 miles from my house, this was my inspirational handbook (my eyes would have absolutely boggled had there been such a thing as a Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas catalog). My eyes were glued to Virgil Ward as he fished those exotic North country lakes and I was mesmerized when he'd demonstate some jigging technique in the aquarium at the end of the show. Back then I mostly fished for bullheads or whatever I could catch from the muddy river near my house. Getting my drivers license opened things up a little and a high school friend introduced me to smallmouth bass. But access to the river was somewhat scarce then. In college, while other guys were hitting the bars on Friday nights, I was out at the lake behind my dormitory-admitedly it was also during the week when I should have been studying. And so it goes. I guess you could say I learned a lot of things and had to unlearn a lot of other things. But mostly it was by myself.

"That stupid fish that completely ignored my bait!"