Fish Chris

Well I'm a spinning guy all the way. But I'm the first one to tell you, if your good with a baitcaster, go for it ! I absolutely suck with a baitcasster, and no amount of practice could ever change that. I was born left handed, and forced to be right handed.... completely screwed up my hand eye coordination to the point that even after a lifetime of using spinning gear, I'm still only a decent caster, on a good day ! Same reason I was the worst person ever at any ball sport, and why I despise that garbage now. So there you are I say, use whatever suites you best. Peace, fish

Hey Flippin, that's kind of trippy to hear.... I have only caught a few small Steelead, and that was by accident. I'd love to get into some big ones some time though ! Anyway, I have heard guys say that Steehead are SOOO spastic when hooked, that non-stretch braided line can be very detrimental to ones success. Of course not having any experience with Steelhead, I thought to myself.... Well that would suck, if it were true. As I won't use stretchy, kinky, coily mono for anything. Heck, I'd sooner skip the Steelhead fishing. Nice to hear that it can actually work for Steelhead too Peace, Fish

What the bait represents, or even the color, are often of very little importance to the fish. I do often like to use something white or chartreuse, so that I can more easily see my bait, to get it exactly where I want it, and also so if the fish eats it, I can see it disappear. But IMPO, the most important aspect of a bed fishing bait, is that the hook should be wide open, like these...... BTW, these are old shots... I do have, and use, white and chartreuse huddle-bugs, as well as chartreuse basstrix bluegills. When I hook a fish on these, it's extremely rare that I will lose them.... Peace, Fish PS, I'm sorry, but I just have to tell you about this When I was doing my spell check, it got to Basstrix, and asked, "Are you sure you don't mean > Asstrix ? Uhhhh.... Yes. I'm sure. I think that would be for a different website LOL

X2..... Except, I rig mine 'Fish Chris' style Pretty close to Butch Brown style.... except I leave out the wire and crimps. I know Butch catches more bigger bass than I do.... But he still needs to take lessons from my rigging LOL Peace, Fish PS, About that 3:16 wake jr, it's a beautiful bait. I've had several hits on mine, a few hooks up, but landed even fewer of those, and none over about 4 lbs. On the other hand, I can throw a big, ugly, 9" piece of broomstick with hooks on it (otherwise known as the MS Slammer ) and get twice the action + more hook ups, and fish in the boat ! Still, my biggest fish on the MS, or any topwater for that matter, was only a 9.7 lb'er. Okay, so they are fun, but the biggest fish almost always come on sub surface swimbaits.... often dragged right on the bottom.

I use the Palomar about 80% of the time, to attach my fluorocarbon leaders to a hook or lure. I never break off on fish. Sure, you need to wet it before cinching, and make sure you don't get any twists involved..... but then this holds true for ANY monofilament (yes, fluorocarbon is still just a monofilament.... and it's only good for leaders Just my personal opinion of course. I feel compelled to say this any time I speak of knots > I tie plenty of crappy knots.... but what I'm great at, is knowing when I've tied a crappy knot, and retying it as many X's as I have to, until it's perfect ! This is why I NEVER break off fish. Look at the knot as it cinches. It should be easy to cinch down fully, and the knot should be clean, and symetrical.... regardless of what knot your tying. If it doesn't cinch down clean and pretty, chop that sucker, and try again ! ....or maybe lose the biggest fish of your life !!! It's your choice. Peace, Fish

Hey Bilge, Only this one would be close..... but it's a 2 piece, so I wouldn't even consider it. Just a mental block, ya' know. But I want my micro light to start out, and end up, as a 1 piece rod, when I sometimes fish for Sturgeon with them Peace, Fish

I've used nothing but Tufline Plus and Tufline XP, for about 8 years now. To be totally honest, I think all braided spectra lines are great, but Tufline is also a great value. I also like that it comes available in white, which is much easier to see at your end. Then, since I always use a mono or fluoro leader anyway, I'm not concerned with visibility to the fish. Sure, I could use a different brand of braided spectra... but why ? I've had nothing but excellent success using Tufline, and the price is right (okay... so I'm sponsored by them too Peace, Fish

Great shots I love Pelicans. They always remind me of cartoon characters ! Tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor LOL Peace, Fish Oh hey, BTW, what camera / lens were you using ?

Very nice ! Continued success to you Fish

Senile1, for many fishermen, I totally agree. But with my AADD, I'd get so totally sidetracked with my electronics, that I'd forget to fish ! I guess it's just a personal issue. Peace, Fish

I used to be a hard-core Fenwick guy. Still love my Fenwicks. The only problem I have with them, is that don't make a micro-light which suits my purposes, nor a heavy action spinning rod which can handle my swimbaits..... So that leaves me with only my medium weight rods, which will probably last me 20+ years ! Fish

Well yes, and no. All the advancements in tackle and equipment are great..... However, none of this can compare to this one tool.... The Internet ! In the old days, a guy would have had to spend years and years on the water, picking up valuable pieces of info through personal experience, or those rare chance encounters, with guys who had already been catching the fish they were looking for, for many years. Now, a total newby can come to a place like this, and get all kinds of info, specific to his intentions, in no time at all ! On the other hand, directly because of this, big fish have become more wary than ever ! As fishermen evolve, so do the fish ! It's a two edged sword. Peace, Fish

Well I said a bobber just to explain the principal... and I have used them. But I've also used pieces of stick, or a branch, etc. to be stealthy .....not with the fish, but rather, the fishermen ! Oh, and one other thing I might not have made totally clear > By marking the bed, and staying way away from it when you come back to fish it again, you don't have to be, and should not be able to see the bed ! If you can see the bed, big momma' can certainly see you, and you have alrerady killed your advantage. I know I can typically fish from 3 to 4 X's farther away, as long as I already know exactly where the bed is, without actually having to see it. Water glare is such a PITA ! BTW, Here's one that I found at about 11am, and she acted SOOO interested ! I must have gotten her to nip at the tail of my Basstrix Bluegill 6 or 8 X's.... but she just wouldn't eat it So, after messing with this 1 fish for like 5 hours, I finally marked the bed at about 4pm. Left for a couple hours until right before dark. This time when I came back to it, I actually beached my boat about 150 feet away, and even around a corner. (she had no clue I was back .....and preceeded to fish for her from the shore. Took all of about 5 minutes, and POW ! Fish on ! Whooo Hooo ! She went 12.4 and fought REALLY hard ! Peace, Fish

Butch Brown is just a big bass stud ! + he's in the best place in the world to catch the biggest bass that swim ! Fish

Excellent post Senile1. Lots of food for thought. Like I say, I would LOVE to look like Zack Kahn, but I know I never will. Don't really want to fill my body up with chemicals, and I think an even bigger thing is, I just don't have the genetics he does. In fact, I think only 1 in millions do. Thanks again for your response, Fish

Hey, one thing I want to add though..... Guys typically use graphs to find nice looking structure, underwater humps, baitfish, etc. The problem with this is, LOTS of nice looking structure, underwater humps, baitfish, for whatever reason, just don't attract fish ! Conversely, I have found big fish spots that a graph would not give any indication of being a good spot to fish. Why ? I have know Idea. And as far as a graph showing you the fish themselves how likely is it that it's big bass that your seeing ? In the lakes I fish, big catfish and carp are often more common than big bass. But if I see a big bass with my own two eyes, their is nothing to second guess ! I'll go back again and again, until I stick those fish ! Peace, Fish

Actually guys, Intrepid pretty much hit the nail on the head, > sight fishing ! But not neccessarily bed-fishing. I have sighted big fish first, then stuck them later, about 10 months out of the year, and obviously, they don't spawn for 10 months. One of my favorite things to do, to find big fish, is just to get out on a lake, and fish all of the obvious spots.... main lake points, humps (which are hopefully marked... most shallow ones will be, and deeper ones are often not as good anyway) ususally throwing a 9" MS Slammer > Loud and obnoxious, and even if they don't eat it, they just have to come look at it.... And once I see them, the battle is 90% won ! (always wear polarized glasses) Senile1 If the lake in question has a decent number of 14-19 lb'ers in it, yes, I think within a few weeks or months, I would see enough big fish with my own two eyes to put together a solid rout. And once I had done that, I'd start sticking them regularly. BTW, I often see guys fishing some "secret" off shore humps, or ledges or whatever..... and these are certainly spots that don't get fished too often at all.... so they should stick some good ones, right ? I almost never see it though. On the other hand, I consistently stick big ones, at the same spots that get hammered by everybody and their grandmother every day. The biggest reason for their failure... or my success, depending on how you want to look at it, is that 1) they are usually throwing little fish / numbers types of baits, and 2) they pull up to a point, or hump, and park their boat, right where the big fish were hanging out ! By the time they make the first cast, those fish have locked their mouths tight, and are swimming away. Heck, I will either come up right beside the point and cast out past the point of it.... even acrossed it sometimes, or even, beach my boat, and fish from the point itself ! How many guys in a flashy $50K bass boat are willing to run it up on the gravel, and hop out ? Yet I've caught many of my biggest fish this way. Just another reason a high performance bass boat would be detrimental to my success.... unless maybe it was a beater, and I just didn't care about scratching it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But hey now, don't get me wrong, I do believe electronics could be a big help for me if I knew how to use them. I also know their are a handful of guys who know everything I know about trophy bass fishing (and more) + they are fantastic with electronics, and I know these guys will consistently kick my but ! Jerry Rago, and Mike Long to name a couple of them. But seeing as I'm the least competitive guy on the planet, it doesn't bother me a bit to say so Peace, Fish

Hey Travis, right on, I love bed fishing too I'd say the first thing is, you have to find a big female glued to a bed ! I know it's hard sometimes to pass right by beds with catchable fish, but if you want a big one, don't let yourself get sidetracked for anything smaller. I find that the bigger fish often spawn a bit deeper than the smaller ones, especially in clear water. As far as the actual lure, or color of lure, it's not usually that important. The big thing is to be persistent. I really don't try to hook the little male if I can help it, and won't purposely set the hook on him, if I see he has got my lure, but instead, I let him carry it out of the nest, and spit it, then I quickly reel in and get it right back in the nest ASAP ! Sometimes the female will get fed up with the little male which doesn't seem to be doing his job, and she will step in to show him what's up ! Oh, and here's a really juicy tip for you If you find a big female glued to a bed, but just can't get her to bite, then take a length of fishing line, and tie a weight to one end, and put a bobber on the other to make a marker. Take it out a few feet past the nest, from a direction which you will remember, and drop the weight to the bottom. Now, slide all the slack out of the line, so that the bobber just barely makes it to the surface, but can't drift off one direction or the other. Now, completely leave the area and let the fish rest in peace. Sneak back up several hours later..... or best of all, right before dark, when direct light is off the water. Stop a long casts distance from your marker, and start fishing Not only should she have dropped her guard, but she will be way less spooky as the light gets low anyway. This works SOOOO well I promise Again, the hardest thing is finding a giant in the first place. Hope this helps, Fish

I almost never use electronics. In fact, all I have is a little portable graph.... which I sometimes use for Sturgeon fishing. Actually, I do believe a good graph can help, but I'm so clueless with using one, it would only serve as a distraction for myself. Do you guys think if I started using more electronics (and learned how to use them better), I might finally start catching some big ones ? Fish

It just doesn't get any worse than this I won't even pretend to imagine what the parents must be feeling Prayers sent. Fish

Hey FishinDaddy, that is a really nice one ! The price doesn't even sound too bad for what looks like really great construction ! Probably more than I really need for my 14ft aluminum, but that looks pretty cool ! Fish

Hey JF, I just wanted to thank you for recommending the Carbontex drag washers. I did call and talk to Dawn. She sent me a carbontex drag washer, which I just put in my Sahara 1000. And let me put it this way, simply by hand testing it, I can already tell the problem is fixed. Now I just need to go stick something big on it, to give it the real test ......or, is that the reel test I would have just PM'd you JF, but these drag washers might be something that would help a lot of others as well. Peace, Fish PS, I'm going to try it dry, to start out with, as Carbontex says they can be used wet, or dry. Depending on how it handles big fish / long fights, I might try a "very little bit" of some of the drag grease that Carbontex recommends on their site, later on.

It's kind of funny, I just looked through every boat in this thread, and all of the sweetest boats (in my book) or should I say, the ones that make me wonder if I might like them even better than mine, the owners all say something like > It's not much, but.... Nothing fancy, but.... Those kinds of statements make me want to grab them, shake them around, and say, "Dude ! WTH are you talking about !?!? That 15 or 16ft deep-V aluminum with that olive green paint is freaking sweeeet ! That 40 to 60 hp motor might be a little more than one needs... But dude ! You have plenty of boat there to catch any LMB that swims" ! Seriously, I have to admit, sometimes I catch myself thinking, well a little bigger boat, or a little more HP might help with this or that..... But wait a minute ! No it wouldn't ! It would just be more to haul, more to store, and more to take care of. My boat was, and still really is, my dream boat. I love the size, the light weight, and the V hull. The power trim, and electric start are really nice too. I guess that might be the difference between myself, and most of the other owners of small aluminums. A lot of guys fish out of boats like mine, because they can't afford a high performance bass boat. I fish out of a small aluminum because I totally prefer it. Sure, if I hit the lotto, I'd buy something I could take on the ocean.... and maybe 6 or 12 houseboats, to be kept on a bunch of different lakes.... But I'd continue to do my freshwater fishing out of my 14ft aluminum.... or one of my other 10, 14 ft aluminums BTW, I do understand the reasoning for $50K+ bass boats..... With a lot of stuff, I'd like to go totally extreme myself. I could easily spend $200K+ on a truck, and if I had tons of money, I would. But as for my fishing boat, all of that size, weight, and prettiness would just get in the way of what's really important > my fishing ! That's just me though. Fish

Hey George, my boat is light enough, and if I back the trailer in deep enough, I can pretty much pull my boat into position with the bow rope...... But of course it's a good thing to "keep your boat attached" to the trailer, when your towing it down the freeway as well I guess a heavy bass boat probably wouldn't exactly blow off of the trailer anyway.... But I'd be concerned about my light aluminum, pulling it into a head wind, or side wind at 60 mph.... Peace, Fish

Seaguar Invis-X and Carbon Pro makes great leaders, used in conjuction with braided line. But other than that, I'd no sooner use it as a main line, than I would use any other monofilament. {people seem to forget, that fluorocarbon is still a mono, or single filament line} Fish