Fish Chris

Raider, one thing to keep in mind, even though you don't burn, your still catching a lot of harrmful UV rays, so it would still be a good idea to wear sunscreen. Peace, Fish

See there ! I'm getting support from SirSnook ! So now what, the rest of you guys? LOL Hey speaking of sunscreen, I've been using this stuff > Coppertone spf 30, spray on, and I swear, its like shellac ! It absolutely stays on, doesn't run into, and sting your eyes. I just wish they made it in semi-gloss ! LOL Peace, Fish OH ! And that thing about sunscreen causing cancer ? Oh sure.... # of deaths caused by using sunscreen: 3, number of deaths due to skin cancer from repeatedly burning ones self for many years.... 30,000 Uhhhh... lets see. Which way are my odds better ? Hmmmmm ? The numbers are just to make the point. It's like > life jacket, or no life jacket...... Just a no brainer.

I used to always cover myself up...... not because of sun exposure, but to hide my hideous, fat arse ! Now, nothing but a tank top. 100+ degrees, with a UV index of 10 > bring it freaking on ! I do always wear sunscreen, to keep from getting burnt. Might I get skin cancer ? Sure. Of course I might also get hit by a bus.... bitten by a poisonous snake.... shot.... brain anurism.... etc, etc, etc. When your numbers up, I don't care how much sun you have gotten ! I'm not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of "not living" while I'm here. I freaking LOVE the sun, beating off of my pretty bald head Fish PS, I also NEVER wore shorts, and swore I never would...... but as soon as I get some tan on my legs, I won't ever wear pants again either... in the Summer, anyway.

Show me some BIG bass ! Heck, even the 5 to 8 lb'ers Bill Dance catches at the private stock ponds are not "real trophys".... well, for a lot of other states maybe, but most of the time, I wouldn't even break out a camera for fish that size, unless their was something cool about the catch, to offset the "not so huge" size. I can probably count on two hands, the number of actual DD bass I have seen on TV fishing programs...... Have Butch Brown, Mike Long, Bill Sementiel, etc, do a show, where they don't even bother showing you the ones under 13 lbs And then throw in a 90lb Blue Cat for the bonus fish ^ That, would be a fishing show worth watching. Peace, Fish X's 2 Those Bassmaster shows, catching 2 to 5 lb fish just bore me to death.

They seem to be doing that in the wrong place. They need to try this in So Cal Fish

Clear Lake ??? Good luck with that. Don't get me wrong, I love Clear Lake for a lot of reasons, but a trophy (legit double digits) bass lake, it is NOT ! That lake is loaded with 5 to 8 lb'ers, maybe only second to the CA Delta. But the numbers start dropping way off between 8 and 9 lbs, and by the time you get to legit 10+ fish, they are VERY few and far between. There are several little trout fed ponds only slightly South of Clear Lk. that would give you a WAY better shot at a DD bass. Granted, anywhere in CA is a long ways West, of the OP..... Peace, Fish PS, You know why you hear about so many DD bass from Clear Lk. ? Because so many guys fish without a scale

Love my TUF-Line From 3/10, on the micro lights, to 8/30 on my medium lights, to 50lb on my swimbait rods... I even have some 80 spooled up on heavy rods for Sturgeon.... but then I turn around and fish for the Sturgeon with my micro lights anyway LOL Oh, I'm pretty much a spinning reel only guy....... Fish

No osborn, it's typical But how many did you see who said > live lining a crawler ? If you fish like everyone else, you will catch the kind of fish, that everyone else catches. If that's good enough for you, then by all means. Personally speaking, I've had my best successes, doing what everyone else is not...... Peace, Fish

Private ponds, cheating ? Ha ! That's funny ! I'll tell you what, you can fish ANY private pond in the country, and I'll fish hammered on public waters. Keeps the populations down, and allows for a much bigger top end size..... Throw in a good supply of hatchery trout {which I've never heard of in a private pond} and its on ! Okay, so you can have a shot at a 15-18 lb'er (around these parts) in the public waters, OR if you have some really awesome connections, you might get to fish some private place that's loaded with 5 to 9 lb'ers that just eat everything you throw at them. Ton of fun right, the first few X's.... But they are not real trophys. {again, around these parts} Helps the trophy status if they are Northern strains I love my North Strain LMB But the kind of fish that really get me going, are pretty much only found in public waters. From a trophy fishing standpoint, I'd be cheating myself to fish private waters ! Fish PS, I did see a reply or two that mentioned "not having anything to brag about if caught from private waters"... Yea', huh.... I could see myself talking to a fishing buddy.... "So we went to that private place and stuck all those nice ones, that was a kick.... But dude ! What about this 15.6 I just caught from ***** Res. !!! Whooo Hooo ! Now I'm braggin' baby ! LOL

Glad you could be here with us {btw, I usually abrev. screen names, but I would even know how to do that with yours ?} Well hey, it wouldn't matter so much the weight of the gear, or even the size of the fish, as there is always a drag setting. That said, my favorite rods just happen to be my little G Loomis micro lights, and a 1000 series reel loaded with 3/10 braid. I probably run about 2 lbs of drag pressure most of the time..... maybe 4 when I'm fishing for Sturgeon with this gear < that's pretty crazy, but so doable. Once many years ago, I broke my right hand. The Dr. put a cast on it, but I went straight home and cut it off ! {it was Spring, and that made it totally hard to hold a rod} Mom was p'd ! So my hand clicked and popped for about a month. Felt pretty wonderful too ! Nothing but the micro lights, but I still caught a bunch of fish Go light, and the fishing will be the best medicine Peace, Fish

Well not "every" lake... but if its a lake fairly well known for big bass, usually. Peace, Fish

That's a biggun' Fish

Awesome catch ! That's a pig right there BTW, if you just back up against anything... a tree, or bush, the side of a steep hill, etc, it will totally hide your spot without all the weird looking photoshopping later. Stay on em' ! Fish

Havn't throw them. Have you ? Anybody ? What's the scoop on 68's ? Fish

Hi Salinity, I use both 5's and 12's..... but most of the time, 12's, reason being, I can fish a 12 high enough, if I try, but I can barely fish a 5 deep enough, without slowing to a crawl. Oh, as for reels, I'm the goof ball that uses spinning gear for swimbaits But yes, I believe they are 5:1... or 4.8:1 ? Peace, Fish

Thank you A-Jay Lord knows I'm trying Took this shot this morning after my workout > LOOONNGG ways to go.... but on the other hand, I've come a long ways in the last 30 months Peace, Fish

Thank you Al. Shampoo ? Oh yea..... I remember that stuff ~~~~~~ Oh, when I was going to LA to visit my parents, my Mom said, "You don't need soap, bath towels, or "shampoo" I had to laugh about that last one I mean, unless I miraculously woke up with a full head of hair, right ? LOL Peace, Fish

That was a trip that you will remember forever ! Just awesome Whoo Hoo ! Stay on em' Fish

Okay, so my charger has a setting called "reconditioning". I've used it a few X's before on other batteries, but didn't notice much difference. What does this setting really do, and it it worth the time ? Takes about 24 hours.... Thanks, Fish

Thanks guys It was certainly nice to get the skunk off the boat. Not to mention, I can't imagine it getting any worse, before it gets better North Ga, although I usually don't worry about color very much, I likle throwing this color at this lake, as this place is slam full of Kokanee. Read > trout, without spots. Peace, Fish

Fishing was still brutal tough on my favorite lake. Only caught 2 fish all day. The first was a nice 3 lb Smallie, on the micro-light and a crawler. Fight was fantastic Anyway, check this out.... Right after I get on the water, I approach one of my hot spots, and about 75ft down past my spot, were two shore / trout fishermen. All of the sudden, I hear the one guy tell the other, "Its got your whole trout in its mouth" ! Instantly I'm all ears So the one guy is telling the other one, "You got it hooked... just pull it in"..... But I'm thinking, "Uhhhh, no. That bass is going to see you, and spit that trout in your face ! The hook is not in the bass, its in the trout ! A few seconds later, "Ahhhhh... it spit it out" So of course I'm thinking, I'd sure like to chuck a Hud over there right now ! But I figure, I'll just wait until the trout guys are gone. But darn ! Those guys were pretty hard core. They fished until 4pm. So I slip in at about 5pm Made one long diagonal cast with my boat practically beached . Started a steady retrieve..... when all of the sudden........mushhhhh.... Just felt like the biggest blob of weeds So I drop my rod tip and start cranking, and the blob of weeds yanks back ! WTH ?!?! Ends up being a very healthy 7.3 Northern Largemouth > almost certainly the one that tried to eat that guys trout. Oh, of course I threw the Hud 15 more X's.... not a hit or a follow. Peace, Fish

Just to add to Sam's reply (good reply BTW) You have to find the big ones, before you can put them in the boat. So, after choosing a lake which has proven itself by producing lots of big fish.... Always wear polarized glasses, and physically "look" for big fish cruising, hanging out, followers, etc. Like I always say > Finding them is 3/4's of the battle. Just let me "find" 1 or 2 big ones, and I bet you I'll mess around until I end up holding that big girl for photos Learn how to best fly line a live crawler. This could be the most productive technique you ever learn.... not just for big Smallies, but darn near every freshwater fish that swims ! And please understand that their is at least as much (maybe more) to know about fishing a crawler to its fullest effect, than their is about fishing an artificial. < Artificials are for beginners... okay, and some pro's too LOL Peace, Fish

Well, what technique I use, doesn't really make that much difference to me, as long as I'm sticking some good ones But I guess if I had to pick, I'd say, live lining crawlers. Mainly because they lend themselves so well to micro-light gear.... and nothing is more fun than a BIG Smallie, on ML gear Peace, Fish

Great looking fish ! Congrats Stay on em' ! Fish

Thanks again guys ! All cool catches Chris at Tech, that Tarpon is SO cool I would just love to catch one of those 100lb + Minnows Don't they look just like a bait store Shiner ? ....except about a million X's bigger. I really want to catch the bass that can eat a Shiner like that one in your avatar LOL Peace, Fish