Fish Chris

Hey Dwight, that is one heck of a nice brown bass you got there ! Congrats, and continued success to you Fish

{besides just flat out break, and lose the fish for you, of course.... which actually, this problem could lead to that too !} So I was watching an episode of "Hooked" on the Nat Geo channel a little while ago, and this older guy hooks a monster Halibut ! So, he's leaning back and applying all the torque his tackle, and himself could generate, when suddenly > ZZZRRRPP ! His rod rips straight up from like the 7 o'clock position, to the 11 o'clock position, in 1/20 of a second, then jolts to an instant stop ! It was such a hard, unexpected surge, the poor old guy just about lost his balance ! Now, you know what happened there..... right ??? Hey SirSnook, I'm sure you can back me up on this one... Remember back in the old days when we used that lame arse monofilament ? Well, because of all of the stretch, you have this tremendous build up of energy, then, when the drag finally breaks free, it shoots out in a micro-second, then sticks again, and the energy build up starts again ! I'm telling you, this is just the ugliest, funkiest, lamest thing your setup can do ! And it's 98% because of lame monofilament line ! Even a not so great drag system will surge far less, when used with non-stretch braided line. Man, I had almost forgot about this happening to me all those years ago, when I used to use mono.... But after watching this guys rod surging so bad, it was almost whacking him in the forehead, I was thinking, "Thank God I use nothing but braid now days". Just another great thing about braid, which is not often brought up.... Peace, Fish

Well hey Glenn, if it makes any difference to you, the new forum does not make much difference for me.... but if anything, I say it's a slightly positive one. It seems to open a little faster + I like the "find all of my content" link. Makes it easy to go back to any / all of my stuff for replies. The photo viewer is the best yet, also. Thank you for "still, the best bass fishing site on the internet". Peace, Fish

Well, yea'.... work just sucks for getting into the way of anything fun But what are you going to do ? Hitting the lotto would be nice, huh ? One thing I am VERY lucky about, is that at least my two days off, are weekdays ! For about 8 years straight, it used to be 3 days a week off ! But the crappy economy killed that for me I'll tell you guys what, if I had a job that was Monday through Friday, I'd do anything I could to quit that job, and find something that gave me 2 (or 3 ) weekdays off instead ! That, or just quit fishing altogether. For me, fishing among crowds is not as enjoyable as sitting at home and watching TV. Put it this way, I'm NEVER off weekends... but my business is closed today for Easter Sunday. I was bummed when I found out about this... No money today + anywhere I might think about fishing, would look like a stinking zoo ! People freaking everywhere ! No thanks. So instead, I just plan to take care of a bunch of chores and errands + a good, hard early workout + some cardio.... then plenty of rest, for my two days of fishing > Mon Tues. Peace, Fish

Slowpoke, yes, I counterbalance "all" of my spinning rods like this... and BTW, if the cap itself does not weigh quite enough for the balance you prefer, quarters fit perfectly inside of 1" diam caps. You can also use a dab of clear silicone caulking to hold it on permanently, once you get the balance just right. Only one thing though.... Yours is not a straight handled rod ? What type is it ? Not a pistol grip ? Because that might not work / look very good, trying to shove a round but cap over it. Hmmm.... Fish

But Chris, it's not always so simple... I use "nothing but" wild crawdads (when I'm using crawdads that is), which almost always freak the heck out when a bass comes up and noses down toward them, and sure, this usually "at least" tends to make the bass get twitchy, and kick their tail a time or two to keep up with the dad which will always dart away backwards.... but even after catching up to it, they inspect it a little more, them swim away ? Maybe like JF says, they noticed the hook.... or my mono leader.... OR, the big factor that always plays on my mind, is that they are spooky because of the presence of my boat.... So even if their are no red flags from the bait itself, they might have become conditioned to knowing that "eating anything" in the presence of a boat (a large, floating, foreign item) will often lead to a negative end result ? BTW, I'm not much of a shiner fisherman. Nothing against it of course. It just has not been so effective for me with these West coast bass as it apparently is in Florida. One things for sure though, "IF" I were in Florida, I'd be finding a way tyo catch "wild" Shiners for my bait, not only because they would likely be much more effective, but also because I doubt I could afford to buy as many Shiners as I'd go through Peace, Fish

Interestingly, as I was leaving work today, one of the girls I work with, was showing off her new tongue piercing. Apparently she's doing okay though LOL Fish

Thank you JF. I hear you tiptruck, but in this case, the tiny hook practically fell right out, and their was no visible damage ? On even rarer occasions, I've hooked a fish in the roof of the mouth, or the lip, and had it bleed from the gills ? Maybe the hook ripped past the gills, and nicked or cut them, before lodging in the lip ? Either way, when I see a fish is bleeding, I try to get it back in the water that much faster. Also, it might make me decide a photo isn't worth it.... Hmmm... Fish

Don't you hate it when this happens ? Pretty common with crank baits. This subject is fresh in my mind, as the 1 fish I might have otherwise took photos of, on my last trip, was a beautiful 5 lb'ish Smallmouth, that I gill hooked, and it was bleeding gallons It was a tiny hook too, which came right out, quickly, and easily, with no further damage > a size 4 (not a 4/0) which I often use for live lining crawlers. Anyway, I released it immediately to give it the max chance for survival. Now, you might be thinking (and had you seen it, you would definitely be thinking) that fish has zero chance after losing all that blood anyway. I know I might tend to think so myself. But here's a weird and interesting story; About 10 years ago, a buddy and I were fishing for bass at Clear Lk. Ca. I was using live crawdads (which I almost never injure bass with) and my buddy was using a plastic lizard. So he hooks this nice 5 lb'ish bass. Not a deep hook up... but rather, the dreaded gill hooking. It bled stupid amounts.... like more blood than you would think it had in it ! So, he quickly releases it, and as it swims away, we could just see this billowing red trail behind it My buddy felt terrible about it. Oh well. ##it happens, right ? So, about 1 week later, my same buddy and I are back at Clear Lk. fishing in the exact same spot, when my buddy sticks a very nice 5 lb'ish bass {right in the top lip too, BTW}. As he lips it, he's like, "Dude ! Look at the chunk out of this fishes fin... and it's general coloration... and size.... This is that same fish that I gill hooked, that bled 5 gallons" !!! No freaking way ! Neither of us could believe it had survived... I mean with "no blood left" ? How does that happen ? So, he goes to release it, and it starts trying to go belly up. So we are thinking, come on now, it didn't lose a drop of blood this time... a quick landing, and gentle release... what could be easier ? But I'll be darned if, in spite of my buddies best efforts to revive it, that thing didn't flat belly up and die ! Okay, so losing 3/4's of its blood a week earlier probably had weakened it.... But the $10K question is; "Would that fish have survived long term, if he had not stuck it again a week later" ? Hmmmmm. I've always tripped on that. But anyway, I guess my final thought is, a seriously injured fish which is released does have some chance for survival, vs. a fish which is kept, and obviously has zero chance for survival. Your thoughts ? Peace, Fish

So hey then Chris, what would you say about a bass that swims up and inspects an actual live bait (like the ones I've thrown a million X's in the last 40 years) inspects it closely, then swims away ? Artificial purists always have such a hard time imagining this .....while I see it SOOOO often, I'm not even a little bit surprised when it happens. Anyway, Peace, Fish

I've actually been thinking about an ice machine myself. I use quite a bit of ice. 365 days a year, I use at least 3 or 4 lbs a day, in my 1 gallon water jug. In the Winter, our fridge machine makes plenty for me. But I'm afraid that when it starts to get hot, the rest of the people in this house will start hammering on it, and I won't have enough. Not to mention, I'm liable to go through 2 gallons of ice water, and 6 to 8 lbs of ice, not including extra ice I might use on a fishing trip. I wasn't really thinking commercial but rather, a good sized home unit ? I'm thinking, a machine that can make 8 to 10 lbs a day, with a 10 to 15 lb resovoir.... Slonezp ? Anybody ? Fish

Geez, I must have read this post title 100 X's, but I've had such a hard time deciding. Of course I like it all, but I guess what I like best is the landing, especially if it's a monster ! The picture is just icing Fish

I believe Bass, or most fish in general, have a type of memory > it's just not at all like ours. They certainly do remember the exact place they have spawned..... but apparently they don't remember that I stuck them there, on the same lure or bait last year, and the year before {which IMPO is pretty stupid ! LOL} Bass certainly do become conditioned by certain positive or negative factors though. I think the answer to this question is the same one for, "Do fish feel pain" ? Sure..... but it's just not the same as we do. Fish

I've always loved that place. It does have a ton of nice 5 to 8 lb'ers in it ! Legit 10+ fish are really tough there though. For that reason, I don't go there with any really big hopes for a 10 to 13 lb monster.... But instead, I'll go there sometimes in the Spring with crawlers, or tiny live dads, and the micro-light gear, and just stick nice, chunky 3 to 8 lb'ers all freaking day long. Just a ton of fun In 2001, I fished there right at 90 days. I caught more than 1000 bass, with 28 of those being over 8 lbs (weighed). But the biggest fish of that whole year was..... drumroll please.... 9.8 lbs. (most of those fish were on live bait.... but more than half of the 8+ fish were on swimbaits) Then, in 2002, I started fishing the little trout-fed ponds up here in Nor Cal. My numbers probably dropped from 1000+ fish in 01', to 100 or 150 in 02'...... but out of those 100 or 150 fish, 28 of them were over 10 lbs, and the biggest was 16.5. It all just depends on what your goals are. Clear Lk. has also had some amazing Crappie and Catfish bites, but they are extremely cyclic. Peace, Fish

Well, fortunately, my boat tank is only 6 gallons, and I typically might only use 2-3 gallons in a trip. But I filled my truck yesterday, just to get to the lake today and tommorow, and that cost me $112 ! So that's what I'd be spending $100 on for my fishing.... pretty much every week now for a while Fish

Well hey SirSnook, on the one hand, looks are very important to me..... but on the other hand, my taste is a little bit out of the norm. For one thing, I like them thinner than most guys do. Don't care for large breasts either. B cups are perfect I see girls all the time that I know most guys would find really attractive... but I often just kind of brush those off as commonly attractive. I'm not looking for a girl that everyone else thinks is beautiful > but she does have to look really good to me ! Of course their are lots of other important aspects also.... sweet... quiet, etc. Peace, Fish

A lot of the time, yes. It is simply overkill. But the thing is, with mono, you can have a whole spool of perfectly great, like new line, but have 1 tiny nick, that reduces the lbs of pull you can put on a fish without breakage, from like 20 lbs, to 5 lbs (just throwing out numbers for an example). The reason is because mono suffers from the "tear factor"... or in other words, once their is a tiny nick, it can go on and tear all the way through from that point. With braid, on the other hand (again, just using random numbers to explain the point) lets say you have 50 lb test, which is made up of 50 individual fibers. You could have a nick, which cuts through 10 of those fibers, but you still have 40 lb test to work with. Zero tear factor. So in a nutshell, even worn out, beat up braid, is a safer bet, than mono which is anything but brand spanking new ! But again, like SirSnook said, mono is ancient history for me. Peace, fish

Well, I would never say never. I actually work with a cute, young Mexican girl, who just yesterday swore she would never have kids. With her, she has to basically raise her much younger brother and sister, who apparently are absolute terrors, and she hates it. But I think their are all different reasons, for some girls not having kids. A good handful can't have kids of their own. Anyway, from the tone of your reply, I might think, that you believe young girls are having more kids than ever.... But from what I hear, and read, I hear it's finally swinging the other way. Hmmmm. Either way, I know what I want, and not going to settle for less. Heck, I'm pretty happy as it is. Why do anything that would hurt that, instead of help it ? Peace, Fish

I thought it was a well known fact, that all gorgeous babes have some kind of mental issues. No ? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1377748/You-dont-celebrity-bipolar--boy-does-help.html?ito=feeds-newsxml ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speaking of gorgeous babes, I was watching an interview with Courtney Cox the other day, and I don't think she has ever looked finer ! .....and you have to consider, that she is old like me, too ! http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/courtney-cox-arquette-1.jpg Come to think about it, both of these women are old, and really white... two things I'm not usually into to. {I really like Mexican / dark skinned Latin girls} But what the hey, I think I could make an exception LOL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh, so hey, while I'm on a ramble, check this out.... With my work, I deal with this one, very cute, petite, super friendly, dark skinned girl. I always assumed she was just a really good looking young black girl. So then one day, a while back, I saw her father.... and to my surprise, he had straight black hair ! Turns out she is Indian. Hmmm. Okay. Not that this would make any difference to me anyway. Fine, is fine. Anyway, she is probably about 30 years old, which I think is perfect. {I'm 46} So, feeling a LOT more confident in myself, after losing all that fat, and gaining a little muscle... and with the new "shiny" hair cut and all..... LOL I had been extra friendly to her.... but what's really cool is, she had been extra friendly to me ! So then..... drum-roll please.... I find out she has two kids :( Somebody please just shoot me. All my friends keep telling me I need a girlfriend. I agree. Just like the one above... but without two kids !!! In the mean time, I'd settle for a good fish-catching fix Hopefully Mon-Tues. Peace, Fish

120 grit is for wimps.... 60 grit FTW ! LOL Fish

I've had fishing dreams... too many to remember, for as long as I can remember. All species, in all the goofiest places... in flower beds... through the house floor opening... in the street in an open man hole cover.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But here's one I still trip on; I was actually fishing for catfish, from my boat, on Clear Lk. several years ago. I was really tired, and the fishing was slow, so, with two rods over the rail, I laid back on the floor, and pulled my hat over my face. For a little while, I'd crack my eyes to look at my rod tips, and all was still. At some point later, one of my rod tips ripps down over the side of the boat, and I jump up, grab it, and set the hook ! Nothing. But the crazy thing was, as I tried to regain my senses, I just could not figure out for the life of me, if my pole really did get ripped down..... Or, was I just dreaming it ? To this day, I still have no idea ? My bait was gone, but that could have been from setting the hook ??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And finally, whether or not you want to call these dreams, would be up to you. Day dreams anyway.... Twice in my life, both times right after getting onto San Pablo d**n Res, I had really vivid, detailed day dreams.... Once, about pulling up to a main lake point, and sticking a monster bass.... So I pulled up to that point I was dreaming about, and Pow ! First cast, I stick a 14.6 ! The thing is though, all of the fine details were exactly the same... the way the lure popped out of its mouth, and the fish fell into the net.... The guys that were at the dock when I got there to weigh it, and take some pics... It was all just spot on ! Then another time, I day dreamed about pulling up to an off shore buoy marker, making one cast with the Castaic trout, and sticking a monster cat... but furthermore, pulling the fish into the boat, then heading over to the shore to show it off to some trout fishermen, weigh it, etc.... But here's the crazy thing, at that point, I had NEVER caught a big cat on a swimbait ? So why I would dream this..... and then pull right up to that buoy, and with one cast, Pow ! Stick a 21.2 Channel cat on the Castaic trout lure, go show it off to the trout guys.... all just like I had dreamed it ??? Just REALLY strange ! Hmmmm, Peace, Fish PS, Of course I've woke myself up from a dead sleep, too many X's to count, by setting the hook Q: What's worse than setting the hook and missing the fish ? A: Setting the hook, and then figuring out that you are not even on the lake fishing.... but at home sleeping... and worse yet, you have to be at work in a few hours ! Doh ! Life can be so cruel !

In my area, a very small fraction of boaters wear PFD's. Even when traveling in high performance boats, going 50+ MPH. This is just ludicrous to me. I always wear my auto inflatable PFD. It's so light and comfortable, I put it on, and forget about it. Often times at the end of the day, I'll be walking up to get my truck, then look down and realize I still have it on ! The only thing I can think of, is that some people might think that wearing a PFD is not cool. IMPO, not wearing a PFD makes a person look like a dum-bass, while wearing my PFD makes me feel like one of the very few intelligent guys out there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In any case, the loss of this angler is just tragic. Condolences to his family and friends, Fish PS, One thing should be mentioned; No where in the article did it mention that Chris Hill's death was the result of not wearing a PFD. Still, I stand behind always wearing a PFD at any time while on the water.

But grundle, first off, I didn't suggest, nor would I, that somebody should spend $400 on a fancy camera and underwater housing. I spent maybe $200 on that combo, and "still" in retrospect, I wouldn't suggest it. I don't quite understand your reference to DSLR's, but I certainly don't recommend those for fish photos either... especially, self taken ones. Bottom line is, the fish photos I post here, which seem to get a lot of compliments, were all taken with point-and-shoot cameras, which, when I bought them, were anywhere from $125 to $189 each. Definately nothing fancy. One thing I have to say though > The OP did not ask about doing video.... and while I don't believe one needs some super high mega pixel camera, to take good, sharp shots, I do believe the photo quality of a still shot taken with a video camera, will not be as good, as a still shot taken with a regular digital camera. It might not be as apparent, with a small file size posted on the internet, but I think it would show in a print... especially, say an 8" x 10". You want great video, get a video camera. You want great photos, get a regular digital camera. Granted, most do both nowadays, but a regular camera still takes better photos, and a video camera still does better video. Peace, Fish

Need you ask ? I can go out and catch small fish all day, yet feel like I've done nothing. But if I catch just one big fish... one worth taking photos of, then it was a good trip. I've heard that the normal progression for most anglers is 1) to catch a fish, 2) to catch a bunch of fish, and finally 3) to catch a giant fish ! This has certainly been true for me. Size matters ! Fish Occasionally ??? How about, all the time ! Doesn't bother me very much at all though. I call it, paying the dues

Thanks Catt. I guess I only find it strange for these two places. It just seems to me that in the past, maybe one of these places was was spawning wide open, and the other was just starting, or finishing.... But this year, it seems like the time difference is twice as much, with one completely finished, and the other not even having started ? Hmmm. Peace, Fish