Fish Chris

Hey John Boat, if you could post a photo or two, of the typical 4 to 6 lb'er from your pond, I could tell you at a glance whether you should be keeping any of those fish or not. The Crappie ? Sure... a meal or two here and there. Even so, I'd keep 1 to 1 1/2lb'ers, letting the 2's go, to try and produce a 3 ;-) And back to the bass... You asked, Should you keep a few bigger ones ? Never ! "If" any bass need to be removed, remove the smaller, better eating ones, and let the big ones get even bigger ;-) Peace, Fish

The only thing I was "born with" is a love for fishing. As for talent (whatever small amount of it I have that pertains to fishing) all 100% of it has been learned, just from time on the water (and the internet ;-) But hey, when Mitchisfishing said > No dude..... It's not just 'possible'....... that is absolutely, positively the whole answer in a nutshell ! People who "just don't get it" are completely out of touch with why humans are, who and what they are. It's the same thing that makes dogs great pets...... Because they evolved as pack animals. Yea', your dog loves you (and you him) because your the pack leader. Pretty amazing that after hundreds of years of domestication, that dogs still retain the pack mentality. And on the same note, we are still hunter-gatherers. Some things never change :-) Peace, Fish

That is "the best" trophy bass photo I have seen in a LONG time :-) Hey, I've spent a lot of time on the photography forums, and often, those guys get SO caught up in the technical aspects of a photo, that they forget what the photo itself is all about in the first place ! This is definately a prime example of where the photo content, trumps all aspects of technical photo quality :-) Hat's off to Gavin with his outstanding trophy bass catch !!! I see MANY giants in this young anglers future :-) Peace, Fish

Interesting thread. I haven't personally had a PETA person try to stop me from fishing, although like many here, I have has people who "mistakenkly believed" they owned certain parts of water around their docks, etc, try to stop me.... and that has led to some interesting situations. But anyway, I've seen it mentioned throughout this thread, about different states protecting a fishermans rights. Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the fact that your holding a fishing license "in any of the 50 states" make it illegal for anyone to interfere with your fishing ??? So, what would I do ? Well "IF" I were not sitting on top of a giant fish at that moment..... and "IF" I was thinking clearly, I'd first put down my pole. Next, I'd be REALLY friendly. I'd "ACT" like this person was really making a lot of sense. I'd try to get as much info about this person and his / her agenda..... Most importantly, their name and location they could be contacted. Heck, I'd even try to get them to believe I wanted to join them : Then I'd contact authorities > Which is when my ranting and raving would start ! As I'd absolutely demand that this person be arrested for interfering with my legal rights ! IF the officer(s) tried to be lazy.... or give me some crap that they "warned them".... I'd then get on the cell phone to an official or two (good acquaintences of mine) at the highest level of the Ca DFG, so that they could have a word with each other. I'd make it clear that this PETA member "WAS" going to be arrested, or it would be the officers A-$$. (I'd try to do that in a smooth, tactful way of course All in all, I think the whole thing would make for a very interesting day :-) Otherwise, PETA members can just stay the heck away from me, and their won't be any problems ;-) Peace, Fish

If 1) Bluegill were a great bait, and 2) They were a legal bait in my waters, I'd do it in a split second. One of the keys to sticking big bass is, always keeping an open mind. Peace, Fish

Yea' buddy ! :) That is a really nice looking fish ! Nothing like a new PB to make for a great trip ! Heck... a great bass fishing year ! Continued success to you, Fish

Thanks guys. Hey Izzy, he wanted them specifically from the 'trophy pond'..... As they already have a good idea of the typical age and growth rates from other places.... But the $10K question is, "WHY do they get so big in this place" ??? Are they growing really fast ? (probably). Are they living longer ? (maybe). Like I said.... Alright ! Alright ! I'll do it. But it can't be "a fish that I know" Peace, Fish

Okay, so I have a buddy who is a fisheries biologist. He's getting ready to do some biological testing of a group of Smallmouths and Largemouths for age and growth testing. He's asked me if I could please get him a nice (preferably 5lb +) Smallmouth, and a 6 to 8lb Northern strain Largemouth. Ahhhh...... The logical, scientific side of me says this would possibly be a "benefit" to the bass population as a whole (all bad for that one individual fish, of course) and would probably be the right thing to do. But ouch ! That is going to be a painful thing to actually carry through with. So then, I think about it for a little bit, and I tell him > "Well it can't be a fish that I 'know' ! (remember my "old friends" post ?) To which he chuckles and says, "Dude, you have officially lost it" ;D How would you feel about a situation like this ??? Just curious, Fish PS, Not to mention how the knowledge gained from these fish could be a benefit to the fishery as a whole, but from a personal standpoint, I'd really love to see how old (or young) a 5lb Smallie and a nice Northern strain bass, from my trophy pond really were. It would certainly help to calculate what kind of top end potential they had.....

Ya' know, In-Fisherman did studies to see which types of "fish meals" a Bass prefers, and they determined that Bluegill were typically very low on the list. They showed that if given any choice, of Shiners, Shad, and other longer, thinner, less spiny, baitfish, bass would almost never eat a spiny, wider, harder to swallow, Bluegill. Even if they are legal in your waters, I think their would be better live bait choices. JMPO, Fish

Nice fish T-Rage ! I bet that fish is 15 years old, or more ! Still looking quite healthy though. Peace, Fish

with as many clueless, tactless, unscrupolous idiots as we have in society nowadays, unfortunately, I think the answer is probably > Yes. We do need laws for just about everything, as some people just could not be stopped any other way. Comedian Robert Schimmel was talking about this same thing, and he mentioned that their was actually a law which made it illagal to have sex with dead animals ! I mean come on ! Did we really "need" a law for this ? So then he goes on to do a little 3rd person impersonation, and he says, "Honest your honor, I thought the cat was still alive when I was ####### it ! I wouldn't #### a dead cat ! That would be sick ! {I sensored that myself BTW} Anyway, Fish

but this old farmer is at it again, and I just don't think this is called for > Alright, so here's the scoop; Right before I get to my trophy Smallmouth lake, their is some farmland beside the roadway, with a barbed wire fence dividing one section from another. So, this is not "right" beside the road, but maybe 40ft from it.... This guy is killing Coyotes, tying their feet together, and hanging them from the top of the barbed wire fence posts, to rot, in plain view of passing motorists > Now look, I'm not against hunting. I'm not even against pest control. And last year, I had it explained to me that this is "one possible way" of keeping other Coyotes away from the area. {not sure how true this is, but anyway} But in any case, although the guy is probably not breaking any laws (IMPO this should at least be a misdemeanor for indecency) wouldn't these dead Coyotes be "just as effective" for scaring off the other Coyotes, if left on the ground, and maybe 200 feet from the road, instead of 40ft ? I'm sure the other Coyotes would smell them from 1/4 mile or more, anyway. Anyway, I'm sure this farmer would tell you or I, or anyone that said anything, "It's my right.... and you can't stop me.... and I don't care what you think.... yada, yada...."..... But with all of the growing sentiment from anti-hunting, and anti-fishing groups, why add fuel to the fire ? I mean sure, I could go out and catch a bunch of Carp, cut their bellies open, and display them hanging from tree limbs in my front yard.... I caught em' right ? I can do anything I want with them. But the question is, why would I want to do this ? Come on man, these were living creatures, and they already paid the ultimate price for bothering this farmer. Shouldn't that be enough ? IMPO, that farmer needs to get a freaking clue > Okay, I'm better now. Kind of. Fish

Yes, as Crestliner said, this is very common this time of year. I saw an 8 lb'er sunbathing yesterday. Couldn't even get her to play with me, with a tail-hooked, fly-lined crawler..... But with about 1 out of maybe 10, I can. I don't know of anything else that's even that effective. In other words, getting a 'sun-bather' in cold water to play with you is a daunting task, at the very least. In fact, if you can get a bait in front of it without spooking it off, you have already done something pretty impressive.... and you still have to get it to eat. Peace, Fish PS, BTW T-Rage, is that an NY bass your holding in your avatar ? That would be a nice one from "anywhere" but an absolute hawg from NY ! Can you post a bigger picture of that fish here ?

I think this is often true..... But then I have watched bass following live trout around too, but not really making any hard-core attempts to eat one. Maybe they are looking for a weaker / easier to catch one..... Maybe they are full, but still can't help "looking in the fridge" (I know I'm guilty of this one sometimes too ;-) Or, as was mentioned, maybe just purely out of curiosity. So, kind of along the same lines; Why will a 12" bass slam a 12" trout, even though their is no possible way it could eat it ? I think its just an instinctive thing... Like, I'm a bass, that's a trout, and I think I'm supposed to slam it :-) Just born bullies :-) LOL Peace, Fish

Hey Hammer Why the heck not ? ;-) Actually, I threw a few live crawlers yesterday.... but both of the two fish I caught, were on artificials. Go figure :-) Peace, Fish

Hey Paul, chuckles :-) I smile a lot in person too :-) .....yes... especially on lakes like the one I'm fishing, where the level has been spot on the same, each of the 4 years I've been fishing it. Will post some photos soon. Peace, Fish

Fly-line a crawler on my micro-light. It might not be a keeper.... heck, it might not even be a bass ! Anything will eat a crawler..... Which is fine, as I'll play with any fish that wants to play with me :-) Peace, Fish

That's AWESOME !!! :-) I met Mark Davis (one of the absolutely friendliest, down to earth guys on the planet), Jay Yellas, Zell Rowland, and Kevin Van Dam (all really nice guys actually) at Clear Lk. CA, about 5 years ago. They were having some big tournament over there. And my dum-bass forgot to get some photos of myself with them :-( Doh ! Anyway, that's really cool you actually got to fish with Mark Davis :-) Peace, Fish

Went to my trophy Smallie / Northern strain lake today, and I saw a big, long Smallie that I'd estimate to be at least 7 lbs, but maybe a little over 8. But here's the thing.... I've caught two 7.5 lb Smallmouths on that exact spot, almost exactly 1 year ago. Wanna' bet the fish I saw today is one of those two 7.5's I caught last year ??? So then, I go to my "secret spot" and the big green girls were up :-) Not spawning yet..... but that's cool. I never seem to catch the big Northern Largemouths out of this lake sightfishing anyway. I always stick those on swimbaits. But anyway, here's the thing about this spot; I stumbled onto it 2 years ago, and I saw 4 bass... 3 about 8'ish, and one that looked to be close to 10 lbs. In the first two casts, I stuck two that went 8 and change. On the next trip I stuck another 8. Never got the big one that year. So, last year I see 4 good bass in the same exact spot. {I'm totally convinced they were the same fish}. I stick one of the 8's on one trip, and a 10.3 lb'er on another trip :-) (Whoo Hoo ! Only my second double digit Northern at that time) So, here we are a year later, and today I sight 3 good bass in the same exact spot (hope the 4rth is still okay, but still just hanging low. None of them were up two days ago). One of the 8's followed my Hud towards the boat.... but the water is still only 56 degrees or so, and she wasn't very fired up today..... But I bet she will be in the next week or two ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyway, it's just a trip when you go back to the same spots year after year, and see the same exact fish ! I mean, I'm not really surprised...... and from what I have learned and experienced in the last several years, I'm 90% confident {without even catching them {yet ;-)} this year, that these are the same fish. I know a lot of guys would find this almost unbelievable. So just for those guys, I'll show them side by side photos when I catch them again in the next few weeks ;-) Peace, Fish PS, Almost forgot.... Yes, I did get a couple Smallies. Sight fished one nice 4lb'er {believe it or not, that was the male ! The female was fatter, but shorter, and probably still only about 4 lbs. Oh, and I stuck a 3 1/2lb'er on the Hud :-) Pretty amazing that I was able to hook it, with my 8" Hud rigging. Actually, it managed to get one of the hooks right across the nose bridge, right above it's lip. Only my second Smallie on a Hud, and coincidentally, the other one was a 3 1/2 lb'er, in the same exact spot 2 years ago :-) Same fish ? Ahhh.... not so sure about that one. Their are tons of 3 1/2 lb'ers in this lake, and I don't think they are quite so territorial as the big ones.

Hey Cable guy Chuckles :-) .....of course any dummy can get lucky and catch a big one, but I've caught a few other big ones too ;-) One thing I wanted to add about the color thing..... If I'm really grasping for straws, and can't get a big one to come in the boat with me, and I have finally gotten to the point that I'd actually bother changing colors of my lure, I wouldn't bother going from a black worm to a purple one, or a blue one. I'd change it completely, to like a chartreuse, or bubblegum, or white worm. Peace, Fish

Hey Cableguy, my best advice is to stop worrying about the color so much. My Huddleston trout swimbaits are > Trout colored. My Huddlebug soft plastic crawdads are.... uh, crawdad colored. And (most of) my Basstrix Blugills are Bluegill colored. I think when guys get all caught up on the color thing, they are wasting valuable time and energy. There are just SOOO many things which are vastly more important than color. The first of those things is location, and presentation. Put me in front of a big, receptive fish, and I bet I could get it to eat a lure which was chartreuse, to hot pink, to charcoal. On the other hand, if that fish doesn't want to play, the color won't matter one bit. Peace, Fish PS, Not saying that color doesn't ever matter..... Just saying, it's almost never "the most important thing".

I used to carry more tackle than I do now. Over the years I've just narrowed it down to maybe 2 to 4 rods (which would be 1 to 3 different weights, and maybe a back up. Even for a hard-core, long range trip where I didn't know what I might encounter, I'd still only bring 5 or 6 rods, and I'd leave 2 or 3 of those under the bedcover of my truck, while out on the boat. Then, one good sized tackle bag, and I have all the tackle I need. I mean, what do I need anyway ? A box of Huds. A box of Huddlebugs and Basstrix Bluegills. A small box of hooks, splitshots, etc. The crawlers go in my lunchbox. Cameras have their own Pelican case. If it were up to me, the bait monkey would starve. Peace, Fish

Hmmmm. I don't watch very much fishing on TV in the first place. Sometimes I'll stop on a fishing program, then use it for background noise while I surf the net. But the couple times I tried that with the Charlie Moore show, I had to change the channel, as I could not even listen to the guy talk. Anyway... Fish

Whooo Hooo ! That sounds like my kind of lake :-) I'd start by finding the big ones. Should be pretty easy to do in a 200 acre, clear water lake. Ofen you will hear me mention a 9" MS Slammer, as big bass just can hardly help but come up to investigate that loud, obnoxious thing, whether they eat it or not. Oh, don't forget your polarized glasses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So anyway, as I always say, once you know where the big ones hang out, the battle is 3/4's won ;-) You could keep going back to those big fish spots 100 times, until you hit them at just the right time..... throwing that same 9" MS Slammer.... Or a jig.... Or a big plastic worm.... Maybe night fishing..... Whatever works. But you just "have to know" where the big girls hang out, or else you might just be spinning your wheels. Peace, Fish

Around these parts, by the time the post spawn is here, these fish are totally shell shocked ! They have seen pretty much every lure on the shelf, and the ones that were going to be caught, pretty much already have been. So, I'm not sure how well this would work in Florida.... Or, how open minded you are about trying "anything" legal.... But if I find big fish that won't even look at a swimbait, I'll fly-line a live crawler (or even a wad of them) at it. I have found fish in the post spawn that would not even look at an artificial, but have caught a good number of those (up to 14.1 lbs) on crawlers. Still not the giveaway that live bait bashers might have you believe, but at the right time and place, this can work. Peace, Fish