Jar11591

I know in NY state, the legal limit of rods per person is 3, so I always take 3. I have more than 3, but I pick 3 to take based on where I'm fishing. Do any other states have a maximum rod law?

I catch the majority of my bass on soft plastics. Mostly senkos, brush hogs, worms and salamanders. But sometimes they wont touch the rubbers and they tear into the hardbaits. Most days for me it's the opposite, but sometimes its neither or both. But different presentations would help I'm sure. If you catch a bass on a crank, then throw a weightless senko or T-rigged brush hog right where you caught the crankbait bass. Chances are there are more bass around it, and soft plastics are a much more life-like presentation, in both appearance and texture.

1-2 fish for a whole day of fishing (8+ hours) would be kind of lousy for me, unless those fish were huge. But when i fish weekdays after work, if I catch 1-2 fish in a couple hours I'm happy. A "good" day for me is when i catch at least 4 or more for a whole day outing. 4 is a little on the low end. I think if you start using soft-plastics, you will see your catch rate skyrocket. If you open your options a little more, you can let the fish tell you what they will bite on. Of course i get skunked sometimes as well.That being said, if you're happy with catching 1-2 fish an outing, then who cares, right?

Today was the nicest day this year by far. But like you said the extended forecast is not looking good. The temperature goes up and down and up and down. The bad part is the nights are still in the teens and 20's. I think we might have been fishing by this time last year...

Most people are very unconvinced when I tell them this. Google is great isn't it? It can validate or disprove any claim in a matter of seconds.

Smallmouth are considered black bass as well. Black bass and true bass are one and the same. Black bass are: LM, SM, Spotted, Redeye, Shoal and all of their sub-species and they are all members of the sunfish family with bluegill, pumpkinseed etc.

As far as NY goes, you cant beat the Adirondack Mountain lakes and ponds. There are thousands of them, and you can find any fish you are looking for. And for boat rentals, all major lakes have marinas that you can rent a full-sized boat or a dingy. Smallmouth are definitely more prevalent in the Adirondacks, but largemouth can be found as well. For largies, i would say Brant Lake and Loon Lake are you best bets. Saratoga Lake isn't bad either, but the boat traffic is INSANE. I avoid that lake like the plague, but i hear about huge bass and pike being pulled from there a lot. If you are looking for smallmouth, Schroon, Sacandaga, and Lake George will be your best bets. Also out by Cooperstown there is Glimmerglass Lake State Park. Not sure about the fishing but I'm sure you can rent a boat there.

Peacock, striped, white, and sea bass are not bass. "True" bass are actually sunfish. When people say "bass fishing", they mean "true" bass that are in the sunfish family. Kind of like a Koala Bear isn't actually a bear even though it has bear in its name. It is actually a marsupial. You cant lump striped and peacock bass in with bass fishing because its not bass fishing.

If I'm wearing sunglasses I can usually see my line no problem, even when its cloudy. I usually fish with 6-8 lb line. I like to use low-vis line just because its one less reason for a fish to not bite. You could just use a low-vis leader, so that way the you wont have to worry about the fish seeing the line and you can still watch the line for the strike.

The Mohawk River has a very thin vein of open water running between the ice in some spots, but in other spots there are still huge ice jams. Lakes and ponds are still under 2 feet of snow and ice, and more snow is on the way this week. I feel like winter is slowly pushing me out of the northeast. I'm hoping for April 1st, but I think I'm being overly-optimistic.

Now it's time to fish fish fish!

I think there should be a separate award for best offensive player. Have the MVP, Cy Young, and BOP award so there is no confusion because i like the idea of having an award like MVP but i think there obviously should be an award for the best hitter. I also think the MVP shouldn't be so offensive oriented, like it should be given to pitchers more often. But you're right, everybody views the award different. Nothing i love more than a good baseball debate!

MVP stands for Most Valuable Player. The award is not called the BOP award. There is the Hank Aaron award which is given to the best hitter, but its fan voted. There should be a separate award for that, but there isn't. Homeruns have nothing to do with the MVP award, its about what you do for your team to help them win, which is in fact the point of the game. So im guessing you have no idea that Justin Verlander won the MVP award a few years back and guess how many homeruns he had? ZERO. He was the most valuable member to his team not based on his offensive numbers, but based on what the award stands for. And you are right, the Braves offense does suck, and Freeman got them into the playoffs with no help. I do believe there should be an award for BOP as well but there isn't. The MVP award is just that, given to the MVP and that certainly is not Goldschmidt. He wasnt valuable enough to help a mediocre pitching staff and a bleeding offense get to the playoffs like McCutchen and Freeman did.

If you're talking best offensive season then Goldschmidt had it hands down. But the MVP award isn't like the Cy Young award which is given to the best pitcher. The MVP award is supposed to be for the most important player to his team, not best offensive player. So I think whether or not a team makes the playoffs should be factored into this decision. I'm not downplaying the offensive season Goldschmidt had, I'm just saying I don't think he was as valuable or important to his team than some players who help their teams get into the post-season such as McCutchen and Freeman. Both of those guys did it with little to no help. Another factor is leadership. I don't watch too many Dbacks games so i can't really say anything about Goldschmidt's leadership role, but this is an area where Freeman, McCutchen and especially Molina really shine. Again I'm wasn't trying to downplay Goldschmidt's offensive numbers, because he had a great year. I just think the MVP award is too often mistaken for "best offensive season" award.

Not MVP numbers? He finished 4th in the MVP balloting, but got robbed in my opinion. He batted .319/23/109 and his average with runners in scoring position was approaching .500. He was the only consistent hitter on an offense full of free-swingers. The Braves offense was TERRIBLE except for Freddy. The pitching staff lacked a real "ace", and two of our big offensive names hit sub .200. And we still win 96 games! The braves would not have been a playoff team without Freddy. The fact that he finished behind Goldschmidt and Molina is a farce. Goldschmidt couldn't get the Dbacks to the playoffs and Molina, like always had a stacked lineup and pitching staff around him. It should have come down to McCutchen and Freeman IMO. Freeman ABSOLUTELY had an MVP type season last year. Remember MVP is the most valuable, not the best player.

Just got back from the Utica store yesterday. It was my first time there and it was definitely smaller than the Auburn store. But it was still a BPS. I went there with a few things in mind that had caught my eye from the catalog but I left the store without grabbing them. It was just a couple of new creature types from Zoom, or maybe Yum. Picked up a new depth finder while I was there. Not as many people were there as I thought would be on a Saturday during the Spring Classic.

The rocket fishing rod! Not so much a ploy but more of a kids toy. Even so, it's just so corny. They advertise it as being able to "cast 30 feet!" If i wanted my kid to get into fishing, I would never even consider buying that, I'd get him a "reel" set up. (Pun intended)

Drop-shot wacky rig? I never thought of it, but I definitely want to give it a shot.

In these winter months, it seems like I'm organizing and rearranging my gear every day. And I went to BPS yesterday so I have even more organizing to do

I know here in NYS, you can find topo-maps on the DEC website. They aren't very detailed, but they're pretty accurate. I print out maps of all the lakes I fish and keep them in a binder.

The rod trade-in starts Saturday the 8th I believe.

Perfect. I'm heading there Saturday so it looks like I'm getting a new reel!

Now this is not just because I am a Braves fan but, What do mean by "breakout year"? Do you think he can return to the MVP Ryan Howard? Or even just to 30HR 100RBI again? I'm not so sure. I definitely think he can be a valuable part of that offense (not necessarily due to lack of any other option), but the Phillies might need some changes. The stars are aging, and the farm system is almost void of prospects. But these aging stars are who dominated the NL a few years back. I wish the Braves would have the "win now" mentality more often. We do have a steady supply of farm talent and our current home grown players are really becoming stars, but I'm just sick of an NLDS exit every time.

Braves fan!! YEAH! Im one of the only Braves fans in NYS. I was so happy to see that we locked up all of our young talent. I think the 1-2-3 punch of Medlen, Minor and Teheran is going to be pretty tough to beat. And if Beachy can stay healthy then we have a very strong rotation, regardless of the 5th starter, whether its Floyd, Wood or Hale. If Chris Johnson and Freeman can repeat last season, and Fredi Gonzalez learns how to put together a lineup, then we should be able to win the NL east again. If i managed my lineup would look like this: 1. Heyward RF 2. Johnson 3B 3. J. Upton LF 4. Freeman 1B 5. Gattis C 6. Simmons SS 7. B. Upton CF (He cant possibly do any worse, and he is good at defense) 8. Uggla 2B (if he doesnt preform 100% better, then we need to replace him!) Rotation: 1. Medlen 2. Minor 3. Teheran 4. Beachy 5. Wood (I wasnt thrilled with the Gavin Floyd acquisition)