Traveler2586

With today's equipment it's not much of a contest any longer. Friday, 10/5, I had a blast bottom fishing (drop-shotting) for Striper's on 6 lb test and a small purple Berkley power worm; I had the drag set light on my open-faced spinning reel and used my finger to control the spool until the rod tip hit 12:00 high, then I move my finger and reel like H to get the rod tip back down to about 9:00, then do it all again. I could feel every jerk of the Striper's head, and when he decided he didn't like the looks of my boat and put the power on I gave him a little time to settle down. We (the fish & I) had fun, and I thanked him before his release. (no - I don't kiss fish)

Where do you live, a swamp??? LOL I thought Cape Cod was saltwater country

Are you coming to Pickwick??

True on both counts; but on the first count, it appears neither is the Striped Bass native to the Pacific, and the Salmon is only native to the N.W., and Rainbow Trout is only native to N. Calf., so are we going to throw them on the bank also. Point is, man can only introduce a fish to a body of water, it is then up to the fish to survive (a form of natural selection; and not all make it in their new home). For that matter, we are not native to this land, so should we leave?? It appears probable that the federal government sanctioned and funded the "placement of the fish for the good of the people" as a food and sport fish; so are we saying the federal government doesn't know what's best for our nation In fact, I wounder, is the native fish in question a true Columbia river native, or were they placed there by the F&WS in the 1800's???? We now have the Northern Snakehead in my home waters, am I going to whine about it - no - there is nothing we can do about it now,,, am I going to take advantage of the opportunity to catch them - you bet

Here's a little interesting history on fish expansion in the US.When early pioneers began migrating to the western United States, there were no catch limits on fish and no laws preventing people from modifying fish habitats to meet human needs for water, food, and safety. As settlement progressed, abundant fish populations began to decline. By 1870, growing concern for such declines prompted fishery studies, which spurred the establishment of fish spawning stations for collecting and hatching fish eggs and stocking small fish back into waters with declining fisheries. Many of these early spawning stations later became fish hatcheries, marking the beginning of the Fisheries Program and the NFHS.President Ulysses S. Grant is chiefly responsible for the first official government action to conserve U.S. fishery resources for future generations. President Grant established the U.S. Fish Commission in 1871. The Commission was the forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Fisheries Program.In 1872, the first Federal fish hatchery, known as the Baird Hatcher, was established on the McCloud River in California. The NFHS has since grown into a large complex system devoted to conserving U.S. fishery resources.Originally Spencer Fullerton Baird was chosen by President Ulysses S. Grant to manage the fisheries in the country. He was named "Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries". In 1871 Baird took office but his work was still in effect. The people were now understanding the importance of the fisheries, for sport and food. With much pressure from organizations such as; American Fish Cultural Association and American Fisheries Society, Congress reserved $15,000 for the fisheries.The man that was chosen to essentially take Baird's position was Livingston Stone. With a group of scientists his job was to find the location of salmon spawning areas and develop a salmon hatchery so that the eggs could be managed and shipped around the country so that the salmon could be available for all. [EDIT: Question: Why was Salmon chosen?] Stone and his team located this area and started shipping eggs as soon as possible. A few miles from where they had originally found the salmon eggs, rainbow trout eggs were also found. Now rainbow trout eggs and salmon eggs were being shipped across the world. Essentially every rainbow trout's native water is northern California. The Baird Hatchery was formed from Stone and today the hatchery still manages fish as they did back in the 1800s. <http://nctc.fws.gov/...iesHistory.html> Question: has the NFHS ever stocked Bass in the Columbia River? If so, then it could be a nationally sanctioned fish in that waterway.

IMHO, this sounds like a workable situation,,, Team up with as many local Washington Bass clubs, Washington's BASS Federation, B.A.S.S., etc as possible; then start talking to retailers like BASS Pro, Dicks, REI, BR sponsors, etc and get their backing. Once you muster you forces, start a campaign of media information and visits to elected officials (as this is an election year you should wait for the dust to settle) Lastly, have you elected officials put pressure on the DNR. This would be the same game plan to get the Bass named as the National Freshwater Sports Fish, but on the local level. My question is, would it be better to name the Black Bass as a family, or the LMB as a single fish?

I'm only a half an hour from my home water, but I would drive up to two hours each way for a good day on another body of water; if I want to make a long weekend of it I'll go up to four hours each way.

No, that wouldn't be good, I just don't winch them in at high speed, or make em go airborne any longer; I give them a fighting chance to spit the hook back at me.

Just a Freudant slip (parapraxis), interesting the only difference is a "P". "Come on down!" as Bob Barker used to say, we can do the Potomac with my boat.

I'm ready, I went out today and ran up to the W.W. bridge and found some Strippers on a Drop-Shot (bottom rig). Why wait til spring? BTW, you can make it from Bedford PA to Waldorf in an hour?

It would probably be difficult, and require two boats, but it would be nice if someone made a video on Bass Boat Basics, hint, hint,

Has anyone ever seen these tactics covered in print before? With all the years I've been getting Bass Master & Bass times, and other off the shelf bass fishing mag's, I can't recall ever seeing a article on how to attack waves, or boat handling; true I may have missed something, but you just don't see much on boating safety in Bass Mag's; I see more on using E-10 fuel than waves. BTW, Last Tuesday night I had an occasion of having a CT scan at the local ER; while I was at it I asked if they would check on the progress of my L-1 compression fracture I received in Oct 2010 when I took a wave wrong, they came back with a new diagnoses of "chronic L-1 fracture"; I asked what that meant and was told "sometimes the vertebrae don't refuse". Point is, I would rather see articles on boat handling & safety, and maintenance, than why a square-billed shallow crank bait is so great. But, as everyone knows, I'm strange

I've just started doing some research on our states, their fish, their symbols, links to their Dept. of fisheries, etc When I get my ducks in a row I'll shoot off some emails to my states elected officials, it would be helpful if we could get other members to pass on these emails to their states officials as well.

Just ran across this news item, it too bad there not one way tickets http://www.wtop.com/...gruntled-voters If'n I don't win a seat, I wounder just how far off shore my Ranger will take me on 40 gal of E-10; with my luck the wind would blow me back.

OMG, LMAO

LOL, that's a smile all right, and a NICE fish too. Sam, your a hoot

I think the best way I can describe the difference is weeds are usually more spiky, rising off the bottom in clumps, rocks give a solid return and look like bumps on the bottom. In my home waters I deal mostly with weeds and muck; I'm looking for transitions between muck and sand & gravel bottoms, or muck and hard clay bottoms. I don't see much in the way of rock formations, but we do have some "ballast" rock piles from old ships that dumped their ballast overboard while taking on cargo. At times, I've found what I thought was a large rock, but they turn out to be old engines left behind after the wood boat rotted away. Look for transitions of any kind. As for the suction cup, get red of it and opt for a more stable mounting; pull the cup off and use the rest of the bracket to mount to something, a board if you have to, clamp that to the transom of the boat. That's how I started with my first flasher, I mounted the transducer to a 1X3 and clamped it to the transom of my Jon-boat with two "C" clamps.

OK, I'm with you Al. This is basically what I've been doing. If there's a "chop" (from mild winds or boat traffic) I run bow down (with just a some trim so I'm on plane and not plowing the water) But in heaver waves I move like I'm doing a hole shot in very slow motion and never really come on plane. I've learned that wave hopping is not good for me or my boat. My biggest failing is taking wakes from other boats while running WOT, I some times wish I had air ride seats and a five point harness to keep me in place; that would have saved my back one day.

Time on the water.....

100% A favorite expression of the guy that got me into Bass fishin' was "that's the way the pro's do it" He told me to "lock my drag", "don't give a Bass a chance", "cross his eyes and get him on the boat", "that's the way the pro's do it" Then I found another way, a fun way, play the fish; I learned to use my reel and rod tip to control a ticked off fish; and yes I fail from time to time, but isn't that all part of the game?

Thanks for the info Al, and X2 on the red text, but I may be learning something here In 2009 I got my first glass boat, a Ranger 185VS; before that I had a Tracker Tournament TX which didn't handle waves well at all. When I got the Ranger I asked the owner to teach me how to operate the boat; he told me to run the chop and waves with the bow down using the keel to cut the water like a knife. That made since to me at the time and I've been doing that ever since; but the down side is I get water over the bow and a unpleasant ride. I'm interested in what your saying about putting the bow up in heavy water and would like to know more before I try it on the Potomac River. Maybe it will help me work the water rather than avoid it like I did at Gunterville during the 2012 Road Trip; we had 40+ MPH winds that kept me off the main lake for days. Question: how high is high?

I've started a little research, and with some help, found that Black Bass are found in 49 of the 50 states, and several hold the LMB as their state fish. I also discovered there are categories available. i.e. State Fish, State Fresh Water Sports Fish, State Salt Water Sports Fish, etc. In one state all it took to name a State Fish was a letter from a class room of school kids and their teacher. I think we could do this, and yes, even get the Bass on the back of a quarter. Did you know the USPS has issued a LMB stamp, and the place of first issue was Seattle Washington! Fishing, LARGE MOUTH BASS, Collectible Postal Cover Condition New Price $21.95 Shipping $6.00 In Stock 1 On March 21, 1986, the USPS issued a set of five stamps commemorating five different fish. Shown here is a genuine First Day Cover for the Large Mouth Bass. A First Day Cover is an envelope with the new stamp cancelled from the city of issue (Seattle) on the first day of issue captioned above. In short, it's the 'birthday' of the stamp - a collectible, historic piece of postal, as well as fishing memorabilia. The cachet (artwork on the envelope) features bass, but the real artwork is the stamp itself. Probably the most popular sporting fish in America, the Large Mouth Bass First Day Cover is worth snagging. Double matted in green and white, it's sized to fit a standard 8 x 10 picture frame. ***CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY INCLUDED***

X2 For the price, I found his nine (9) volumes and five (yes 5) sample baits well worth the $60.00. Yes, winter is coming, and when it's too cold to play outside I'll dust off Bucks books again for a refresher; weather, water, structure, migration routs, it's all there, all you have to do is read.

Boy, that's before my time Bass fishing wise that is..... Don't think we could tell you without a ton of pic's, and even then it would only be an assumption, but for $150. it's something you can play with and who knows you may have a keeper there.