Fish Chris

when I worked in the tropical fish stores, we had SOOOO many people who had exactly the same kind of totally negative experiences you mentioned, with any, and every type of fish they tried to keep. They put in WAY more time and effort than they really had to, and still had nothing but problems, and it was ALL because they had no clue what they were doing, and / or they didn't wan't to spend the money needed for proper equipment, and / or they didn't know how to follow instructions. Aquariums are like trigonometry..... They are easy, if you know how. They are next to impossible if you don't. A successful aquarium doesn't happen by accident, and rarely by luck of the draw. Again, bass are no different (well, in some cases, easier) than other large aquarium fish. Peace, Fish

Yes, actually guys I must admit, I had the oven rack so full (cured 180 jigs in 1 shot) that some ended up right above the ports, and it was only the ones directly in front of those ports that melted. It's a gas oven, and like luckyin ky said, the temp above that port, while it was heating up, might have been like 600 plus degrees, to get the rest of the oven up to 325 quickly. I think the lead was pretty much pure. Peace, Fish

Hey Avid, I'm glad to hear your back is doing much better :-) Cool boat too ! You shouldn't have any problem landing the biggest bass in your waters from that :-) Continued healing, and fishing success to you, Fish

"With common sense". It seems almost funny to me that some people would need to be told, that torqing a fishes jaw, with one hand, to try to force the fish into a vertical postion, might be damaging to the fish.... This reminds me of the label on catfish stinkbait, that says, "Not for human consumption" ..... No ! Really ? Darn..... so now what the heck am I having for dinner :-) LOL Now, at the same time, I think that a lot of guys have taken the whole "holding a bass with one hand" thing, way too far. Try landing a big bass, while fishing by yourself, supporting the fish with two hands the entire time, between the landing, weighing, photos, and release. Think that through for a few seconds. Nearly impossible. But obviously not critical either. I've caught enough big bass that were temporarily handled with one hand before the release, only to re-catch them a week, a month, or a year later. When you do have to hang one vertically, just be as easy on the jaw as possible.... but don't drop the fish either. Maybe even more importantly, don't "hold the fish out of water for too long" whether you use 1, 2, or 9 hands to do it. Just be smooth, easy, and fast. Get her back in the lake and swimming ASAP. The two most important things here are, having your scale, camera, and livewell ready ahead of time...... and practice with the handling of big fish. Peace, Fish

I know how you feel. Now, I'm assuming that your old bass boat has a little more monetary value than my old 12 ft aluminum Seaking..... But that was my baby ! {I mean like I talked to it every day, patted it, and rubbed it :-)....which I also bought in 97'. Cool thing was, I gave it to a young fishing buddy, under the stipulation that I could still use it whenever I wanted to (in case I had any problems with my new boat, OR if I was fishing a place that didn't allow gas outboards) and I actually have used it a few times since I got my new super-duper-big bass catching 14 1/2 ft aluminum 2 years ago :-) What's funny is that on many occasions while Sturgeon fishing, my buddy has been anchored in my old boat, within 100 yards of me, fishing from my new one :-) Anyway yea', when you spend many thousands of hours.... with many of those, the best hours of your life, in a boat, it's hard not to become attached to it. Peace, Fish PS, But anyway, just like the end of any relationship, it's hard to believe you could love another even more...... But my "new baby" is all that and a family sized bag of Doritos ! :-)

I've kept just about every freshwater North American sportfish (including Spotted Gar, Chain Pickeral, and yes Bass), along with all kinds of tropical freshwater, and saltwater fish.... even an Octopus, a Stingray, Mudskippers, you name it ! If I haven't kept them at my own house, I've kept them in one of the tropical fish stores, or the fish farm that I worked at. Bass make as good a pet, as any Oscar, Pacu, Koi, whatever. As far as fish go, Bass have tons of personality. They can be trained to eat just about anything. Mine ate strips of 98% fat free ham..... which was easy to aquire, and to store, but it was fun to feed him feeder goldfish, crawdads, worms, etc as well. With proper tank cleaning techniques, the right equipment, and a tank which is properly balanced, keeping a bass should be fun, easy, and educational. The biggest problem I saw, over and over, when working in fish stores, was with people who didn't undersatand how 'cycling' a tank worked, and who therefore tried to just keep cleaning and cleaning to "force the water to be clear" causing themselves nothing but problems until they finally gave up. This is true for any fish, but even more so with large fish, that eat a lot, and put off a lot of waste. As for the legalities, let me put it this way, of course I can't recommend that you go transport a live gamefish to your house, and keep it as a pet...... However, I would bet that 95% of the F&G Biologists, and whole bunch of the other F&G workers, including Wardens, {and basically just about anyone else who has been into fish as much as I have, for their entire lives} have kept a bass or Bluegill as a pet themselves, at some point when growing up. I agree with any of you who said, "A bass is just a fish" ......albeit, a very cool fish, which makes a great sport for one guy, a great dinner for the next, and a great pet for yet another :-) Just my .09 cents, Fish PS, I wouldn't release a "sick fish" back into a lake..... But then I almost never had sick fish.

What the heck happened ?!?! So I had all 180 of my custom football heads powder coated in white, chartreuse, and brown. I thought they came out pretty good too. I first talked with a lady at Pro-Tec, and she insisted that they should be cured at 370 for 20 minutes, and said 250 for any length of time just wasn't hot enough. I settled for 350. She also said this wouldn't put off too much odor. Then at least she did tell me one important thing.... Line the bottom of the oven with foil. So my landlord is out of town... Time to begin ;-) I get them all hanging from the rack, crank it up to 350, then go back in my room and start watching the clock. Took about 5 minutes to get up to 350, and then the oven beeps. I give it about 13 to 15 minutes, and then I decide to just go check the progress.... and thank God ! As I walk into the kitchen, I see a light blue smoke coming from the oven, and the smell is like that of a full blown chemical refinery ! I quickly open the oven to see that several of the jigs were dripping off (sure glad I used the foil) but worse yet, about 10 of the jigs had the lead melted completely off, creating pools of lead on the foil ! What the heck ? I thought lead melted at like 600 degrees ? Of course I killed the oven immediatly, but here's the kicker..... I forgot to say, the landlord is having an open house today ! ...... and the place smells like a freaking crack house ! My mind was racing ! Fortunately, it aired out pretty quick, but none the less, I left on the central fan, and all of the windows and back dorr open ALL night long, just to be sure. In the end, besides the jigs that got wasted, I guess they cured okay.... as busting out some of the eyes that had "re-sealed" themselves, was a total pain in the arse ! Most of them also ended up with a bump, (demple... whatever you want to call it) where they hade tried to drip off. At least its centered, so they still look symetrical.... Lessons learned were; Next time, use the cheap oven toaster "outside" like some of you mentioned.... Bake at 200 to 250 for an hour.... regardless of what the pro-tec lady said. I've got a buddy who told me last night "after the fact" that this will work just fine. Oh.... one more "fun" thing; The foil in the over cooled pretty quick, so I pull it out, and go to crumple it up....... except those freaking blobs of lead were still only about 5 degrees cooler than the surface of the sun ! Burnt the crap out of the middle of my left palm ! All in all, not much fun....... Fish PS, I remember a while back thinking > Wow ! I'll have like 180 custom jigs, for a really good price, and not much labor" < Huh ! Yea' right ! Looking back at the cost of the mold $50 (then having it modified) the hooks $50, the powder coat $15..... the labor of all the steps (about 12 hours.... and I'm used to getting at least $20 an hour) so $240 worth of labor..... $355 total ? So, with the wasted ones, more than $2 per jig ? Knowing what I know now, I'd gladly pay a $1 each for them, already finished..... except for one thing.... The whole reason I did all of this in the first place is, jigs exactly like this are just not available anywhere.

I think "how many hours a week" would be more telling. I only fish 3 days a week, but usually anywhere from 30 to 36 hours. In the Summer, with longer sunlight hours, sometimes more. As a matter of fact, I just got done with 36 hours on the water, in the last 3 days.... But now that I'm back to work, I can catch back up on my rest :-) Fish

Yes, and they can be fast and strong too ! I really haven't had too many do the big jumps yet, but I have heard of big ones jumping 2 or 3 feet clear of the water, so we are talking about there heads being 9 feet or more, out of the water ! Yea' buddy :-) Lake Sturgeon are a different species, but I'd like to catch one, just so I could say I had. Peace, Fish PS, And the coolest thing is, I'm going to be sitting right in the middle of them in only a couple more hours ! :-) :-) :-) .....and my confidence is through the roof !!!

Caught two 44 inchers today :-) They fought like 60 inchers though ! Really hot fish ! First 6 hours tommorrow for Sturgies..... second six hours for Stripers :-) Whooo Hooo ! Fish

Hey LBH, for a 50 incher, this one is actually medium thick. Probably a young female. As with almost all fish species, they often get fatter (especially the females) as they get older / bigger. I saw a photo of a 69 incher the other day that was probably 110 lbs. Typically a fat 72 incher will weigh about 100 lbs. But a skinnier 72" male will often only weigh 75 or 80 lbs. Well AnglerNFuego, because I was using heavier gear (50 lb braid) and a swimbait rod, this one only took about 5 or 7 minutes to land. Hey Jeff H, I get mine anywhere from 18 feet to 60 feet, but they have been caught from 2 ft, to over 100 feet. This one was in 24 feet. Hey Boett, seeing as they are basically just big scavengers, they will bite all kinds of stuff.... worms, clams, shrimp, small baitfish, etc..... But one of the hottest baits, is Salmon roe.... presumably because it milks off in the water and creates one heck of a scent trail ! Awesome sportfish though ! If you guys ever get a chance to fish for them, I suggest you jump for it ! Peace, Fish

I was Striper fishing a couple weeks ago, anchored about 20 feet from the shore, and this idiot comes down the shoreline, and trolls "between" me and the bank ! I was more amazed at his cluellessness, than I was mad ! I just kind of stared at him with a I don&#39;t understand look..... About an hour later I saw him coming down the bank again....so I bumped my trolling motor to swing over even closer. He got the message..... but went down the bank about 150 more feet "and thought" he was going to go between my buddies boat and the shore... Well, those 3 buddies {about 1000 lbs between the 3 of them} straight told him, "Dude, there's not enough space here... you need to go around us".... at which point the guy got all stuttery, and acted like he didn't realize...... Honestly, I can't imagine somebody could be born this stupid..... Ignorance at this level surely takes many years to perfect ! Fish

I don't fish tournies, but even aside from those, I don't catch many big five bass limits, as I'm always targeting one big fish. My biggest five fish limit 'not' in a tourney was only 40.5. I have buddy who caught five for 51.2, if I remember correctly. This same buddy actually does fish tournies, and I believe he and his partner brought in a 45 lb sack, 2 years ago.... Pretty amazing when a guy can mix trophy hunting, and tournament fishing on the same day :-) Peace, Fish

It went 50", and about 25 or 30 lbs. Legal keeper size is 46" to 66"...... but even as good as they are to eat, I think they are better left alive. Anyway, I stuck it in the first 15 minutes of the trip...... then fished 12 more hours without landing another fish ! Oh well. Sturgeon fishing SO totatally reminds me of trophy bass fishing. Some guys go years without catching one.... or at least, a keeper. One things for sure, it was all about the incoming tide, which means tomorrows trip is either going to only be for 6 hours.... or, I'm going to switch to Stripers for the outgoing..... Peace, Fish

Off season ? What's that ? :-) Bass March through June... sometimes later. Saltwater stuff (Halibut, Leopard Sharks, Bat Rays, etc) June through August. Stripers and Sturgeon August through March. For me these are all subject to shifting around, overlapping, squeezing in other species, etc.... But basically in Nor Cal, there is never a time when you don't have a chance at finding something to yank on your string :-) Peace, Fish

One fish "commonly" wins tournies in some Cali lakes. You see, we have some lakes (like my home Lk. Berryessa) where 1 to 2 lb'ers are easy to catxh all day long, but 4 lb'ers seem to be darn near as rare as 10's ! So basically, most guys get a limit for like 10 lbs, no problem. Then, a guy throwing a swimbait gets a 10 plus lb'er, and even if he had scratched out a dinky 10 lb limit to start off with, he wins the tourney without even needing any of them ! Really common at several Nor Cal lakes. Peace, Fish

Lets see..... That's a tough one..... Can you give me just a minute to think about this ? :-) LOL Let me just put it this way, catching a bunch of dinks would leave me feeling as "skunked" as I could have gotten, in the first place. Fish

I tie "lots" of lousy knots, probably every 3rd or 4th one, but the key is, I never tie a bad knot, and not recognize it as such right away ! And those are the ones that never get wet ! Instead, I just tie another one... and another, if neccessary, until I get one that cinches down, clean, pretty, easily, and fully. And when they do come out like this, they just flat out won't ever break on a fish. This goes for all of my knots. Improved clinches, palomars, and bloodknots make up 99% of them. Peace, Fish

I hate shopping. Shopping for fishing gear is only a little better, but I rarely buy anything exciting anyway. Maybe a few hooks or swivels or something. Of course most of my lures, rods, reels, line, etc. is just sent to me. But often times, even if I have to pay for it, I mail / internet order it anyway. I've often said, if I ever hit the lottery, I'll give one of "my people" a list of the stuff I want to be at the house, by the time I get home from fishing :-) That would include cloths, groceries, fishing tackle, new cars, trucks, and anything else I might need. Ahhh, but I'm dreaming again :-) Fish

Strange indeed, but just a birth defect. No different than a two headed snake or turtle. I caught a Bluegill once that had a permanently open, round hole in the front of its face, instead of a mouth. But it was one of the largest ones I caught that day, so apparently it had adapted well. Hmmm. Peace, Fish

my boat cover has a couple of vents sewn into it already, not to mention, it is the type that has the big opening in front of the motor.... although I actually hate that, as it lets more water in than anything else (when covered I mean)..... Then, to make matters worse, my truck is just a bit too low, so that any water that gets into the back of my boat there runs all the way down to the bow and just pools there :-( Of course I can always disconnect it from the truck, and jack it up..... but then I might not have a boat the next morning :-( Like I said, I just HATE rain, and not having covered storage :-( Oh well..... Hey LBH, only in the Winter, when its already cold and damp, and nothing wants to dry out....... I think I just need to go stick a big Striper to make everything "all better" :-) Peace, Fish

I actually took a semester of college metalurgy. Don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember that the tempuring properties of metals happns at a significantly lower temp than the melting point. I also remember that slow cooling is what tends to maske metals softer / weaker, where fast cooling / quinching is what makes them stronger, but also more brittle (break before they bend). 350 still just seems a little warm.... but if I learn that the tempering is not bothered below 900 degrees or something, I'll be okay with this. I just need to know some actual numbers to be confident. Thank you for that link... I will go check on it now. Peace, Fish

Hey Basspro, their have been times in my life when I felt like that too..... But up here in Nor Cal, along with almost every front, comes WIND ! Often BIG WIND which when it confronts a big tide head on, can make things flat dangerous, let alone miserable to try to fish in. Throw in the fact that my boat is carpeted.... So I get it soaked, and it stays soaked until we have some more warm, sunny weather to dry it out ! Sure, I have a boat cover, but that holds moisture in as well as it keeps it out ! Totally sucks not having covered boat storage :-( And finally, at least for our Stripers and Stugeon, I haven't seen any improvement in the bite, due to bad weather. Peace, Fish

Wow ! 350 degrees seems pretty sizzling to me ! I might do it..... But I want to talk to Owner first. 250 for a full hour won't do it ? I know.... I'm probably worrying for nothing.... just like checking my drag and my hook points, every other cast, all day long.... Thanks again, Fish

Geeez, I swear, the weather for today and the last two, has been absolutely gorgeous ! Low 70's, hardly a cloud, no WIND ! Just as nice as it gets. So my days off are Mon, Tues, and Weds...... I checked the weather just now, and it calls for 20 to 40% chance of rain, mostly cloudy, and winds increasing, for Mon, Tues, and Weds :-( ........ but go figure, its supposed to be getting nice again by Thursday, my first day back to work :-( :-( :-( Time to break out the Frog Toggs I guess. Anyway, as long as I can stick a pig, I guess it won't be so bad ;-) Peace, Fish