Fish Chris

In my area, it almost is legal... Put it this way, for about $100, you can walk into a couple different places to see a so called "Doctor", tell him you have this ache or pain, and you think you need a prescription for marijuana. Bam. They give you a card, and you can then walk into any number of places and buy it, bring it home and smoke it legally. For me though, I just don't need it. If I could smoke a little here or there, at get togethers, or special occasions, that would be fine. But instead, if I smoke a little, I'll end up smoking it 3 X's a day.... spending money that I don't have to waste, and maybe even worse, wasting valuable time that could be spent fishing, working out, photography, etc. As I recently said on the health and fitness forum > I don't drink alcohol, because I despise that crap.... I don't smoke pot, because I like it "too much". Peace, Fish BTW, I believe pot is a gateway drug > A gateway, that is, to laziness, junk-food, cartoons, and video games. I say this only partly joking. I mean, while the above is true, and might be funny to some, it is also a great way to waste valuable time ! And the older I get, the more valuable I find every day of I life that I'm blessed with.

Hmmmm...... I'm not sure if any of us are on the same page.... except maybe Shad_Master's son..... If you can play basketball, you were 10 X's more coordinated than I ever was ! If you can play any instrument at all, you might be 50 X's more coordinated than me. If you are ambidextrous, that would be great too ! I guess I'm nondextrous. I don't have any dexterity with either hand ! No, seriously ! What I'm saying is, I believe I was meant to be a "strongly dominate lefty, all the way" but by forcing me to use my right hand, it just whacked me out so bad, you'd have to be me (I guess) to understand it ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I do have 1 interesting little story though. My work takes me around to a lot of private residences. One time I went up to a door and knocked. While I waited, I looked over and saw an old box full of trash. On the side, was printed, the word, "TAX PAPERS"....... In the most unique, odd ball, blocky, ALL CAPS handwriting > That looked so much like my own writing, I probably could not have told it apart from my own writing !!! So, when the guy came to the door, I couldn't help but mention this, and so the guy says, "Well, that's actually my oddball hand writing". I told him, I had never seen ANYBODY, with handwriting that looked exactly like mine..... and that I happened to be born left handed, but forced to be right handed..... And to my great surprise (and maybe his) he replied, "So was I" ! I still trip on that years later. Peace, Fish

Well since you asked, sure, I have a thought..... Alcohol sucks. I'd sooner smoke pot..... But I don't do that either. Fish

When my lure isn't producing, 95% of the time, I won't blame it on the lure, and because of this, I'll change everything else, before I change the lure. If I'm throwing swimbaits, I'm only throwing the Hud, #5. color, not critical, but I'll start out with the one I feel comfortable with, and then just leave it tied on. I'll try different spots, different depths, different retrieves..... every different thing I can think of, but never even worry about, or consider changing lures. If I'm sight fishing, I might switch up from say a brown lure, to a flourescent one, just so I can see it better.... or from a dad type of soft plastic, to a bluegill type, but it almost never matters much anyway. The fish will either be receptive, or it won't. And again, I'll try all kinds of things... marking the nest... coming back later... long casts, etc, etc, before I'll bother to change lures. If I'm fishing crawlers, sure, I'll change from an old, half dead, waterlogged one, to a lively fresh one Generally speaking, I believe the vast majority of anglers put WAY TOO MUCH emphasis on the lure they are throwing, instead of all the other stuff, which IMPO is almost always SOOO much more important. This is probably the #2 mistake I constantly see..... right behind the number 1# mistake > pulling up to a great spot, and parking on top of the fishes heads ! Doh ! Peace, Fish

Okay, so I was born left handed, but forced to be right handed, by old school parents, who thought life would be easier for a right hander > Not understanding that your brain is wired to your body in a specific way, for VERY specific reasons ! What did it cause ? Well, my handwriting is just atrocious. My cursive is just about illegible to anybody but myself. My printing looks like it was done by a second grader.... fairly easy to read, but all caps, and very blocky (deliberate looking) which it is, because I have to think / try really hard when I write. I literally cannot sign my name without thinking really hard.... and even so, if I sign my name 20 X's, it will look different every time ! Writing more than 2 or 3 sentences will make my hand and forearm cramp painfully. My typing ? 1 finger pecking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And here's a fun one..... Sports ! Growing up, I was absolutely the worst ball thrower, catcher, or hitter, out of anybody I ever met ! I was SOOO horrible at it, that in school, if they mentioned, baseball, or soccer, or anything like that, I would literally just cringe, because it meant instant humiliation, every time. And you know kids are cruel. I got to where I would not even participate. They would call my parents in for conferences, to try to get me to play, and I would just flat out refuse. Restriction, nor anything else would work, to make me participate. The whole thing was really traumatic for me. In fact, I'm quite sure that this is why I have ZERO competitive nature in me now. To this day, just the thought of competition, makes me uncomfortable. And I despise any sort of competitive ball sports. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So, I turned to fishing. And became pretty good at it. Yet to even think about tournaments or fishing contests, (competing) gives me that same, negative, sick feeling in my stomach, that sports always have. Oh, and while most experienced fishermen will use a bait casting {revolving spool} reel, for at least certain applications, I could never cast with one to save my life ! Hence the reason I use spinning reels for everything, even stuff they were not designed for. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Art. I absolutely LOVE artwork of almost every kind ! I can blend colors to come up with different colors, in my mind, in an instant, and be almost spot on, every time ! I know how lines work with, and against each other. I know how shading helps and hurts...... All of this > Yet I can't draw a freaking stick man ! I'm telling you, I was supposed to be like Picasso ;D LOL Instead, I found photography, where my eye sees it, and the camera paints it for me ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So anyway, I still love my parents They just didn't have a clue, about how far reaching this one, seemingly little decision, would go. And all of this is just 1 of the many whacked out aspects that make up "Fish Chris" ! Throw in hard-core AADD, and OCD, and their you have it Peace, Fish

Hmmmm. 50 to 75 yards is probably considered a reasonable space. But how far would I prefer ? Oh.... about 2 or 3 miles, and I'm good Fish

MMan16, true, true..... Like I say, I've met a lot of really freindly pit bulls. However, as it has been pointed out, they have been bred for fighting, just like labs have been bred for swimming. I have to believe that "even" a properly raised pit bull, could potentially snap for no obvious reason, and do harm to strangers, or even their owners. Granted, I think this is rare.... But it's obviously a bigger problem than say, your pomeranian snapping, at which point you could simply drop kick him to the other side of the street CanalStalkin, I was (and kind of still am) so waiting for somebody to tell me, "Your crazy ! We love our Chow ! He's really freindly ! Yada, yada..... But hey, I've only known a few people that owned them.... and out of those few, two of them attacked family members, and other family pets, and were taken to the shelter to be put down. Ban Chows ! As for Pit Bulls....... My room mate suggested that they should ban "stupid people" from owning Pit Bulls Seriously though.... prior convictions... you can't own a Pit. You live in a ghetto... you can't own a Pit. You wear your pants half way down your ar$e, you can't own a pit (because if it got away, they could never run fast enough like that, to catch it Peace, Fish

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.................................... I really love dogs of almost every breed. I've even met a lot of really freindly pit bulls. They certainly do have the physical properties needed, to be extremely dangerous / deadly. But yes, it is almost always the fault of a clueless owner, when they attack people. Ban them ? Geeez, for being one of the most opinionated guys on this forum (anybody disagree ? LOL) I am really not sure. I know their are a lot of really sweet, freindly pit bulls.... But I bet if a pit bull had just about killed your wife (like the member earlier in this thread) or maybe say, had ripped your two your old childs throat out, you might feel a little differently, huh ? Oh, and remember when I said, I like "just about every breed of dog" ? Okay, I'll tell you one that I really can't stand.... (and I'm sorry if you own one... hope you don't have it around kids) and IMPO is a lot more likely than a Pit Bull, to just snap, out of the blue, and do serious damage to anybody, or any other animal around it > A freaking Chow ! And on top of being unpredictable, they look like a big furry piece of $#!+ too ! So again, not sure about banning pits.... but if your going to ban pits, please start with Chows ! Peace, Fish

Thanks again guys But Nibbles, I don't have a scroll wheel on my mouse ! Love my mouse though. Can't hardly use a mouse unless it's a rollerball Tin, he didn't. He finally gave up, and dropped it. Might have felt a spine, and revaluated the situation Peace, Fish

Well, not everyone I don't even know what KVD was throwing.... Wait.... i think he won the Bass Master this year, right ? Anyway, I can just imagine that whatever he was throwing, everybody and their grandmother will be throwing it this year. So, I should probably look into this, just to make sure I don't throw anything like it Fish

Thanks again guys Hey, once again, I always get concerned with how somebody is viewing these (monitor settings) as they look crappy when stretched above 100%. Smaller than 100% is fine. Then again, unless you have a HD monitor like I do, it's likely that you are viewing at 100%, and they are still too big.... You know you can simply hold the ctrl button (bottom left of keyboard) down, and then hit the '-' button (top center of keyboard) to quickly shrink your photo down to fit the screen without scrolling, right ? To go larger again, just hold ctrl, and hit the '+' button Peace, Fish

Thanks guys Yea.... even after the Merganser dropped that Cat, it didn't look like it was doing too well. Don't know how long the Merganser was trying to eat it, before I came along.... Peace, Fish

Yesterday was just one of those days when I got SOO many chances at awesome stuff.... but for one reason or another, mostly poor lighting angles, it ended up just being a "decent" photo trip.... Anyway, here are a few of the ones I'd call keepers. This was a heavy crop, and somewhat back-lit, but a Great Horned Owl, in day light How cool is he ? Killdeer I couldn't believe this Merganser was trying to eat a good sized Mud cat ! He did eventually give up and drop it though.... Might have felt a spine and thought twice about actually swallowing it ! Pair of Shovelers in-flight Cinnamon Teal Avocet at Sunset Hope you enjoy them, Peace, Fish

You guys are WAY too fancy for me Bilge, caffeine is not too bad, as long as you don't overdo it. I just have it in the morning to get me going, but almost never during the rest of the day. I'm usually busy enough / moving enough to keep my metabolism up pretty well as it is Fish

Hmmmmm. I only drink 1 cup of coffee every morning. Granted, it's a 20 ounce mug of triple strength coffee I've tried several "upper end" coffee's, and some are okay (if I make it myself.... because again, it needs to be triple strength). But anyway, I stick to Folgers Gourmet Supreme.... which is about the strongest stuff they make. Oh, and I don't use a coffee pot. I just use a 20 ounce mug, and put enough grounds in the machine for medium sized pot Touch of International blends creamer, and a couple of Splenda's.... Bam ! I'm good to go Fish

Hey Zero, that is a 6" Huddleston trout. Great sight fishing bait for big Smallies, or Largemouths too, for that matter ! Fish

That fish is so perfect, it look mounted Congrats, and continued success to you Fish

In my area (Nor Cal) if you look around a little bit, you can just about find somebody willing to "give" you a 12ft aluminum, if you will just come and unbury it from the side of their house and drag it away for them ......but as soon as you jump to 14ft, your options drop off by 90% Nice thing is, aluminum doesn't rust, and even small leaks can be sealed.... but you might run across some pretty rusted / shot out trailers ! If I were you, I'd look for a decent little 12ft giveaway, and invest a few hundred into a new, build it yourself trailer, and maybe a nice new T-motor. If you could find a 14..... or maaaybe a 16ft.... but an 18 is just way too big and cumbersome for bass fishing, and simply not needed. Don't start falling into the bigger is better trap. The only thing that's true with is "bigger fish" are better, and they couldn't care less about your boat Peace, Fish

Just out of curiosity, do Spincast reels even have a drag system ? As I said, I've never owned one.... But I have been handed one on a couple of occasions, and I remember the first thing I did (which is always the first thing I do, whenever anyone hands me any rod / reel combo) was to grab the line in front of the reel and pull.... I remember 1 or 2 not slipping at all, and another 1 or 2 feeling like I was stripping the gears ! Doh ! {I don't think this is going to land a Sturgeon there buddy LOL} Fish

Dyneema is not bad stuff. I used Cabela's Rip Cord for a little bit, and it was really thin, super strong, super sensitive, etc. I seemed to get a few more tangles and knots with it, but still, it was night and day better than any mono ever thought about being. Fish

I don't believe Scorcher ever said if he was using braid, or mono ? If braid, he doesn't need anything more sensitive, if mono, then sensitivity just went right out the window anyway. The sensitivity of a rod is about 5% or maybe less, of the rod / line combo. The sensitivity of the line is about 95% or a little more. And this is not just my personal opinion. This is the scientific fact of the matter. Fish

I don't think Crawdads "spawn" in the early Spring, but rather, make babies all the way from late Spring, until Fall. As has been mentioned, their are many species of Crawdads, all across the country, each with varying colors. They will also vary between male and females, or freshly molted, or with an old shell, which is about to be molted. For the common species in my area, this is my favorite color (small to medium female, with smaller claws and thinner shell) Well, that one might be a little darker than perfect.... Or say, about like this Huddlebug.... Peace, Fish

Hey Endless, I like it And hey BTW, while 12ft'ers seem to be everywhere (read; dime a dozen) as soon as you jump to 14ft, the number available seems to drop by 80%, and the price goes WAY up ! The difference in space is surprisingly big too ! Take care of that thing, and will give you many good years, and a TON of fine catches from it Fish

Spincasters..... Wow. I have no idea. I've never owned one. Spinning reels.... braided spectra. I prefer Tuf-Line XP. But just as long as it's braid, it's all good. Rubberband (mono) is for newspapers and golf balls Fish

My best advice on buying a rod is, even if you don't buy it locally, you should go to a local tackle place, even traveling a little ways if neccessary, and check out a bunch of different rod / reel combos, until you find one that just feels right in your hand. Personally, I'd tie a lure on of the typical weight I plan on using it with too. I'm actually not too hard to please with any medium light, to medium action, 7ft spinning rod. My problem is, trying to find 7 1/2ft to 8ft, 1 piece, heavy action spinning rods that can handle 5 ounce swimbaits ......or 6 to 6 1/2ft, 1 piece, micro lights...... and finding either of these rods in something that isn't considered "upper range" (read: high priced). Fish