Fish Chris

Grundle LOL Thanks man. Actually, my boss, an Italian stud who's been married 3 X's since I've known him, tell's me all the time how good looking / sexy I am (granted, he used to say that when I was obese too) So I just reply, "Well you know... it comes naturally" LOL Hey, I see buffed, ripped guys all the time that I wish I could look like.... But I certainly enjoy looking pretty girls much more ! Still trying to decide if I actually want one.... But not tomorrow ! Fish On ALL day ! Peace, Fish

Hmmmm. If the pond is loaded with 1-2 lb bass, it probably wouldn't be a bad thing to just rip that hook out, and throw the fish in a bucket, so you could do as your screen name implies, and "FRY" them up Wouldn't you rather be fishing in a pond with a medium number, of 3-5 lb bass ? Peace, Fish

Darnit ! I was going to guess 6-7 ! BTW, if you want to take fish photos where the fish looks as big as it did in real life, you don't need to show that much space over your head, and you don't need to show your feet at all, let alone space in front of them. Also, on vertical shots, if you hold the fish up higher (closer to your chin) you can crop the shot even more, without chopping the fishes tail. Another thing, on horizontal shots, the camera should be held horizontally. Finally, even though you were holding the fish, and somebody else was taking the shot (I'm assuming) you can still direct the shot ! Tell them, "NO ! You are not close enough ! All you need to see in that viewfinder, is the top of my head, and the bottom of the fishes tail" ! {people ALWAYS try to back away.... urggggg !} You can even tell them, "Don't move" ! Then you get as close as you know you should be to the camera. Most of the time, this is when the fish is about 3 to 4 feet away from it. In any case, nice catch ! Congrats Peace, Fish

Bass ?!?! Why not practice catching something bigger, and stronger, like Catfish, or Carp ? (Sturgeon work well for this purpose too ) I grew up catching Carp on my micro-lights with 4 lb mono, so nowadays, catching any bass, on any gear, feels like a piece of cake Seriously though, when I catch a big bass, the thrill and the challenge, is all due to the rarity of a big bass in the first place. As for the gear..... ehhhh.... even a giant bass, is relatively small, and weak, compared to many other species of sportfish. Peace, Fish PS, When Mattlures said, "to have a plan ahead of time".... I thought about how when I pull up to one of my big fish spots, before I make my first cast, I will get my net out in an open spot on my boat, and unhung from anything it has tried to snag in transport, as I need to be able to grab, and use that one-handed, spur of the moment... Because you know nets are only good for 2 things, right ? 1) netting fish, and 2) snagging and tangling on anything you could possibly imagine, if they get within 3 feet of said object ! Freaking Murphy ! That dude must have been a real idiot !

Wow ! What a bummer ! I can hardly imagine.... A few times in the past, I've heard of entire lakes draining over night... a couple X's from broken dam's, but once from a giant sink hole ! Either way, their are many things that can make the fishing turn tough on your favorite body of water > But I guess nothing else quite compares to "your lake disappeared" ! BTW, just out of curiosity, most all ponds have drainage creeks, which often lead to other bodies of water. Any chance that some (most ?) of those fish might have survived, and just ended up in a different body(ies) of water, farther down stream ? Anyway, sorry to hear about this Fish

Excellent info WRB ! All spot on. Read this again Tex, and soak it up ! Fish

Thier are a whole bunch of fishing aspects that I suck at.... and a bunch more where I am probably just average.... But the one thing I am really good at, is playing big fish ! I don't mean to over simplify this, and this is not always as easy as it might sound, but the whole idea is to always (as SirSnook said) keep a tight line, and maintain constant, even pressure. Holding your rod tip down low sometimes helps, but this will not guarantee that the fish won't still jump.... and besides, a big, crazy jump sure adds to the memories If a fish is ripping drag, all you can (should) do is hang on, but the split second it stops pulling, it's your turn ! NEVER let yourself and the fish get into a standoff, where neither you nor the fish are gaining. It should always be one way or the other. So anyway, no matter what you do, you will lose a fish here and there. Just part of fishing, but keeping very even, constant pressure will cut way down on your losses. This is another one of those things that just takes practice. Stay after them Fish

Much thanks again guys Rand, I really appreciate that. Just don't mention ball sports, alcohol, or the human population to me (my hot buttons ) and I promise to stay cool LOL But anyway, hey, one thing we ALL agree on > Fishing is the greatest sport ever ! Peace, Fish

Very nice. Cool fish too ! Fish

Hey Hookingem, yea.... You know how some people blame their poor metabolism for their obesity ??? Well, that was certainly not my problem ! I have a great metabolism. I had to work really hard at becoming obese > Like eating 6000 to 8000 cals a day, of pure fat, sugar, slimy, fast / junk food garbage, for nearly 20 years ! I should have weighed 500+ lbs... or been dead already ! So yea', now I can pretty much hold stable at 4800 cals a day or so. But I've been alternating every month or two between 4000, for cutting, and 5500 or so, while bulking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brushhoggin, I actually do wear sunscreen pretty religiously > on my head, and shoulders... but my forearms got a little burnt the day before, when it was too cool to take off my shirt or hat, so I didn't bother with sunscreen, which I know is still not good, but at least on my arms or face, any burn pretty much turns brown by the next day or two, without ever peeling. My bald head and shoulders though, are a different story ! Here by next week, it will be warm enough, that I will be caking on the sunscreen at the start of every trip. Fish

Thanks again guys... CaDelta, yea', their has been a lot of talk about the smallies in this place possibly being hybrids. I personally don't think so. I think it has more to do with their diet. And BTW, when a fisheries biologist is doing a study on a fish.... especially, a bass species, one of the very last, least important factors he considers, is color, as this is just so variable from fish to fish, and even day to day. A cartoon character ? Uhhhh..... I don't know if that would be a good thing ! LOL Fish

Much thanks guys As for the new me the time line is like this: Oct. 09, I weighed 272, BP av. 150/102, Body fat somewhere around 45% ! Yikes ! Aug. 10' I was down to 191 lbs, BP av. 110/60, Body fat still 23% (they call this skinny-fat, on the health and fitness forums). Apr 11' I'm now weighing 210 lbs > but here's the kicker with 16% body fat. This works out to about 28 lbs of lean muscle mass gain in the last year. I know I don't look that buffed.... which only shows how little lean muscle I had before, when I was obese ! My goal for the next 3 years is to gain 15 more lbs, and at the same time, get down to about 9% BF. That would be pretty good for an old white guy I think Oh, my secret ? Eating like a health food freak.... and a LOT ! Like 5000 cals a day. And working out like a mad man, pretty much 6-7 days a week, both weight training, and cardio. On an alternating schedule of course. When I look in the mirror, the only thing I'm impressed with, is how far I have come. On the other hand, I have SOOOO much farther to go... I just need to look in the mirror less, and work out even harder / smarter. Peace, Fish

Ended up catching 4 Largemouths in the 4 to 7 lb range.... The biggest on the Hud, the other 3 on crawlers and the micro-light. I had another fisg blast the Hud too, but no hook up. But the two "photo fish" of the trip, were 5.0 and a 5.2 lb Smallies :-) Those fought tremendously on the ML :-) I caught the 5.0 blind fishing, in deep water... just a spot that I know often holds some good ones. The 5.2, on the other hand, I really had to work for ! Probably 1 1/2 hours for the first bite. She was hanging around a bed... but very loosely. She would nose right up to my crawler, but just wouldn't eat it. One time, I snagged a rock, or something, and when the hooked finally popped loose, I left my crawler there. (Is this chumming ? LOL) Now, I didn't see her eat that crawler... But I have to assume she did > because the very next time I cast out a fresh crawler, she nailed it immediately ! I thought I let her take it plenty long, but I set the hook into nothing but water That's okay. I'm sure that one tasted really good to her + it did not bite back I put on another crawler. She immediately eats it again. I let her take it a bit longer yet... set the hook.... fish on ! ...... Pop. It comes unbuttoned Urggggg ! I basically just sat back and thought, "Their goes my chance". She will never eat another one, after being stung.... Wrong ! It took a few casts, and maybe 5 more minutes, but she finally bit yet again, and I put her in the boat That was fun, and challenging too. Then I had to try for some shots of the Osprey Saw a Bald Eagle too, but too far away, and didn't stick around for long either. Anyway, what a fun trip ! Weather was gorgeous too ! About 73, and just a slight breeze, here and there Peace, Fish

If I thought about for just a while, I'm sure I could come up with some seriously (costly) screwups ! Here's one that fortunately didn't break anything.... But I don't know why not ! Recently, I pulled into the bank parking lot, towing my boat. It was early, so nobody was in the parking lot. I park sideways, taking up like 7 slots. When I pulled in, I could clearly see I had an island (with about an 8" curb) sticking out in front of me.... But I figured as long as I cut hard right as I was leaving, I would be fine. Problem is, when I hopped back in my truck, I was too close to the island to see it... and being a dum-bass, I forgot all about it ! Doh ! So, being in a hurry to go fishing, I fire up the wagon, and gun it ! SLAM !!! Just about threw me out of my seat ! Boat was all slamming and surging against my bumper ! Ouch ! And worst yet, another guy was just pulling in, and he was looking at me like, "What a dum-bass" ! Of course I was thinking, "Yep ! That's me ! I'm a retard" ! So their was no way my small trailer tires would have went over that curb... Meaning I had to reverse back over the island (more slamming) with my truck to get out of there ! Urggggg ! I hope that will be the stupidest thing I do this year.... But it probably won't be ! Fish

Now that's a sensitive rod. But in all seriousness, when it comes to sensitivity; rod = 10% line = 90% Personally, I think the sensitivity of a setup is overrated. I just happen to like super sensitive line for lots of other reasons too. Fish

Man, I have chewed through about 9 million pieces of monofilament in my life. Heck, I'd still be doing it today..... But about 2 years ago I had some dental work > on my rear teeth (molars). So then, the next time I went to bite through some fishing line, the sharp spot I always used, would not close quite tight enough to cut the darn line ! I was ticked ! Heck, I'd still be cutting line with my teeth today ! Actually, I still try, but I really have to gnaw on it, and take a couple of tries at it.... Whereas before, I could cut 30 lb mono in a split second, first try, every time > faster than you could grab the nail clippers around your neck. Freaking dentist screwed up my line cutters Fish

Hey Midnight, as a matter of fact, the last 3 pairs of shoes I bought were Merell's. I have to say, they were very comfortable right out of the box, but interestingly, I wore the rest of the shoes out, and yet the treads have like 80% left ? One could say, those are great treads.... OR, those uppers should have lasted longer. Only about 1 year.... but I'm hard on shoes. I never really have any boots or shoes that last longer than 18 months anyway. Oh, and I paid $80-$90 for my Merell's.... a little more than I wanted to pay this time. I will check E-Bay now.... Fish

Hey ghoti, absolutely, whatever works for you ! Interestingly (to me anyway) for the first 3 or 4 years I used braid, I used to tie my braid straight to my lure or hook. I caught plenty of fish, but always in the back of my mind, was the thought > but how do I know I might not be catching more fish, if I were using mono, or at least a mono leader ? So I started using a regular mono, and then later, a fluorocarbon leader. Even used quite long ones sometimes > but I saw absolutely no difference in my number of bites ! In fact, after much testing, I ended up staying with a mono or fluoro leader, but only because it gives me better abrasion resistence around rocks, or over the teeth of a big bass + it gives me just a few feet of a shock absorber. {if a 3ft mono leader stretches 6", that's all the stretch I need } IMPO, anglers put too much emphasis on fish seeing the line. I mean, sure, they see it.... (braid, or mono) but often, they are still dumb enough to eat whatever is attached to it And on the other hand, I think anglers put too little emphasis on how a big, floating, foreign object (like a BOAT !) will turn fish off, and give them lock jaw. {hey BTW, the most sure fire way to make your boat go from a "threat" to just another lump of harmless shore matter, is to beach it, and cast out to the fish. ....but how many guys in glitter rockets will do this ? LOL} Peace, Fish

Well, I immediately went and did a search on Grigio Antares, and the first several shots I saw, looked both a lighter shade of grey (they call it titanium) and it looked metallic.... Not like the one I saw. But then I saw another shot of the Grgio, and it looked darker, and non-metallic, like the one I saw. Hmmmmm. Maybe it's a lighting thing..... Fish PS, I like pretty much every super car made > except Porsches. I know they are very well built, handle great, fast, etc. I just never cared for the looks of them. Any of them. But Ferraris are awesome. So are Bugatti Veyrons. Ultimate Aero's. Dodge Viper's.

Thanks guys. I might come up a little bit in $ if I have too.... but certainly not $100.... not that I haven't spent more than that on shoes in the past. Just can't afford that right now. Will go back and look into some of the other brands mentionbed here, now. Thanks again, Fish

Geeez, do I need some shoes ! Of course it's like... Do I fill my tank, or get some shoes ? ...er, do I buy some groceries, or get some shoes..... But anyway. Just wondering what you guys buy / wear ? I need something light, comfortable, and in the $40 to $60 range. Any suggestions ? Fish

Man, I love supercars Hey I saw a Murcielago in my town (well, on the freeway) last week. It was a very different color than I've ever seen on a car.... Dark, glossy, grey. No metallic... just dark grey. With all black parts, and wheels, and limo black glass. Looked very military, and extremely mean ! Fish

Ya' know ghoti, I can totally understand / relate to anybody who has tried braid, and just couldn't get used to it. Even after all the years I've used braid now (more than 15 ?) I can still remember how it felt SOOO darn different than any mono I had ever used, that it was almost like learning how to fish all over again. I still remember how it completely threw me off, for months.... if not a year or two. I'm just glad I stuck with it. As looking back at it now, no other change in my fishing, has made such a huge, positive difference in my success ! Fish

Thanks guys. A few things I should add... For one, the guy fighting that huge Halibut, with the lame drag system, did actually land the fish, and it was some sort of record (maybe for Dutch Harbor ? BTW, does that place ring a bell ? Deadliest Catch I'd love to fish out of there, and meet those guys in person, but anyway) JF, not to side track my own thread, but since you guys already have quagga / zebra mussels, do they hassle the living $#%% out of you with inspections / fees, at every boat ramp, on every place you try to fish ? They do here, and it's just getting ridiculous ! Sometimes I wish the darn things would just hurry up and invade everywhere, so they would leave us fishermen the heck alone ! WRB, absolutely the importance of a good smooth drag (read: carbontex ) cannot be overlooked. I'm just saying that whether you have a lame drag, or a nice smooth one, either way, braid will make that system perform just that much smoother. Peace, Fish

Heck yea ! That sounds like a fun trip ! Big congrats on the new PB ! And continued success to you. Fish