Fish Chris

Lamprey Eel and / or Salmon Roe. Sturgeon are pretty much bottom feeding scavengers, however they can sometimes be very selective with what they are eating in a particular place and time. I like to use Salmon Roe early in the season (October November) when the Salmon are up here spawning, and dumping roe, and Eel later on (Jan through Feb). Grass, Ghost, and Mud Shrimp are the old standbys, and will always get a few Sturgies here and there. Oh, and Pile worms can be great too. Peace, Fish

Bass "always" swallow crawdads tail first.... even if it's a small dad and a big bass. This is precisely why it is best to rig a live dad, by hooking it through the spine in the nose. This keeps the hook pointing in the right direction (forward) and gives a really good top lip, or roof of the mouth hook up. Hooking a dad in the tail will not only greatly reduce your odds of hooking a bass in the first place, but of the fish that you do hook, a large percentage will be deeply (gut) hooked, which of course is unacceptable..... unless you plan to eat them. If I were designing crawdad lures, I'd figure out a way to have the hook pointing foward, in the same way, as if it were a live dad. Peace, Fish

It's been quite some time since I went out chasing the dino-fish..... which is kind of dumb of me, considering they are practically in my backyard, here in the California Delta.... 6 miles from my driveway to the launch ramp, and then only 1 mile by boat, to my hot spot, a 40 ft hole on a narrow, tight bend in the river. Anyway, this was just a little guy, at 44" and about 20 lbs (the legal slot limit is 46" tp 72"), but it was all good as 1) I would have released it even if it had been of legal size, and 2) Since I caught it on my micro-light Kokanee trout rod, it put up a great, 15 minute battle :-) Had 4 more Sturgeon bites after this one, of which two dropped it before I swung, and I missed the other two on the swing. All in all, it was a fun trip though, and I got a little "fish fix" :-) Peace, Fish Rained out tomorrow though :-( :-( :-(

The 8" Huddleston trout..... usually the ROF #12, but some times the #5, in regular trout color. And in the Spring for bed fishing, a Basstrix Bluegill, rigged on a 1/4 oz Owner jig hook. I guess nowadays, I use the Hud about 70% of the time, the Basstrix Bluegill about 20% of the time, and live bait (50/50 between dads and crawlers) the remaining 10%. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, admittedly, my kind of bass fishing has become very specific to big, trout-eating bass, and so my techniques and lure choices have become very specific as well..... However, IMPO, the vast majority of anglers have become way too caught up in a bazilion different lure choices (colors, sizes, weights, etc) and I believe this hurts them, much more often, than it helps. "EVEN IF" I were fishing for numbers of small to medium fish, and / or fishing tournaments, I'd whittle my lure choices down to only a few. Maybe a crank or two, in one or two basic colors. Then maybe a chartreuse spinner bait. A few 6" worms in maybe a dark solid, and a lighter broken color. Instead of worrying about my lure, I'd put the vast majority of my attention towards the time, the place, and the presentation. But maybe that's just me. Peace, Fish

In the 2 1/2 years I have been throwing the Hud, I have lost 1..... and that was not to a snag, but rather, I got all loaded up for a long cast, let er' rip, and the stinking line got around my reel handle, and I sent it sailing ! Doh ! Granted, that ol' Hud was so shredded, it was probably more super glue than soft plastic. Sure, it probably needed to be "buried at sea" anyway....... But I had stuck several double digit bass on it, and it was kind of a sentimental thing :-( With my Basstrix Bluegills, I hardly ever lose them, but I do have a lot of them shredded by bass teeth, or I jack up the jig hook on rocks. If the Bluegill is still in fairly good shape, I'll reglue it to a new jig head. Once in a while I might find a bed with a big log across it, and lose 3 or 4 Bluegills to it, while trying to get big momma' to go..... but when the game is all over (whether or not I stuck her), I will sometimes be able to go get my Bluegills back. Peace, Fish

but in 06' I finally made the switch over to using "nothing but Owners". I feel that Gamakatsu's quality control has fallen way off in the last few years. The sharpness had become inconsistent, and the tempering seemed to vary from one hook to the next. Weak points too. Owner ST-36's are absolutely SICK for larger swimbaits ! If you use a smaller lure (that requires a smaller treble) but on fairly stout gear, you might go with the thicker wired Owner ST-41's. IMPO, Owners are the best hooks made at the time being, by anyone, at any price....... But no loyalty here..... As soon as somebody starts making a better hook, I'll switch straight to it, and I won't ever look back. Peace, Fish

Well, first off, I have been getting rid of a bunch (most) of the old lures, for the last few years, so I don't really have much left from my old "bait monkey" days. I have a handful of collectors swimbaits laying around. And few crank baits and jigs that I use for Stripers. In a nutshell, I probably have less lures than any of you guys, and whittling them down to less and less, all the time. But now, how many lures do I have, "that I use" ? Right now, I have about 30 Huddleston Trout, mostly #12's in regular trout pattern. And about 30 Basstrix Bluegills, in regular Bluegill pattern. That's all I need. I'll get me some more when these start to run low :-) Fish

just to reiterate, I think we all should really look deeper into what exactly it means to "adversely affect" the bass fishery. As I have pointed out, reducing the levels of bass recruitement can be a GOOD thing.... especially out here in Cali. And I DON'T mean to say that "once in a while" it's a good thing..... I mean "more often than not" ! We have FAR more places, out here in Cali, with "too many" small bass..... than we do, places with not enough bass to begin with (of course for us, that has a lot to do with the introduction of Spotted bass, but that's a whole other can of worms).... and "reverse Selective Harvest" too..... But I digress.... Fish

Hey RW, in the first part of your response, I was thinking you really did agree with Matt's post.... But in the second half, I sense a bit of sarcasm ? Yes Matt, I remember a couple of occasions when I was on one of my favorite trophy lakes at the same time as a couple of the "meat hunters" you mentioned. I remember finding a big fish locked on, then feeling additional pressure to C/R that fish, to greatly decrease the chances of the meat hunter catching and killing her, right behind me. Anyway, I'm sure their are at least a few big bass swimming around out there right now, that had I not C/R'd her from a bed, would have been caught and killed later ! No doubt about it.... once they have been stuck, they get WAY, WAY tougher to catch again ! There has been a lot of speculation as to how good a fishes memory is, but at the very least, being caught and released just once from a bed, makes a big momma bass way tougher to catch (way more cautious) for the rest of that Spring spawning season ! Peace, Fish

but now I want to see Ike's ink..... I love art of all kinds. Skin art is not an exception. Oh hey BTW, a little while ago, Joe Rogan did a segment on Spike TV for UFC fighters and their tattoos..... but then, at the end of the segment, he pulled up one of his own long sleeves, and he had one arm completely sleeved in full, blazing color ! I wish they would have shown more of it, up closer. Looked cool though. Peace, Fish

Yea, but were his tattoos as cool as mine ??? ;-) Peace, Fish

out here on the left coast, it's FAR more common to have lakes with too many small fish, and not very many big ones. Apparently "over-recruitment" is much more of a problem than not enough recruitment. From this standpoint, it should be obvious that sight fishing is not impacting recruitment "as much as it needs to be" to create a higher quality fishery. Oh sure, their are lots of other factors involved, with another one of the big ones being "Selective harvest of smaller fish" and the strict C/R of the big ones. Interestingly, we have lakes which get sight fished so heavily it's crazy..... yet still have really big numbers (probably too many in some situations) and we have a few lakes that because of low visibility, get little sight fishing pressure whatsoever..... and those lakes don't seem to hold any higher numbers of fish, than the clear water lakes ??? And another odd thing..... the lake near me with the "lowest" recruitement (San Pablo Dam Res) is also typically so murky, it gets practically no sight fishing pressure either. Again, I sure love the places with fewer, but larger bass :-) Peace, Fish PS, Hey LBH, last year when that big one spewed all of those eggs, while you were stressing about it, you might have actually helped to keep the recruitment a tiny bit lower, and the quality a tiny bit better ! Most importantly, because you released her, you might catch her again this year when she is even bigger ! :-)

This has certainly been a "hot button" topic in the past, and I suspect it always will be. Personally speaking, I LOVE sight fishing...... not just "bed fishing" either. I sight fish 8 months out of the year, and once I see them, I've already won half the battle. Nothing better than seeing a big bass in an area with your own two eyes ! But back to "bed fishing"..... Yes, I always point back to the scientific studies done by In-Fisherman. They have done numerous studies which give straight up, hard-core evidence to support the fact, that bass populations are rarely, seriously impacted by sightfishing, especially in the warmer states with longer spawning periods. And in states that they might be, their are already regulations against fishing for bass during the spawn. So no worries mate. Then, from a personal standpoint, I'd usually prefer fewer offspring to survive anyway..... too many fish can often = small, stunted fish. I'd WAY rather fish in a place that doesn't have very high recruitment, but does have a good number (relatively speaking) of true giants ! That's my kind of lake :-) Peace, Fish PS, I just wish I could find a big one on a bed ! I haven't caught a double digit bass on a bed in going on two years now :-( Also, only 1 of my last 14 double digit bass has been on live bait. Don't you find it interesting that the two techniques that guys will slam most often, for being too easy, unsporting, no skill, yada, yada (sight fishing and live bait) have done practically nothing for me, while the "respected" purists-only methods have stuck 13 of my last 14 DD's ? Believe me, I don't care what the purists think though...... I'll be the first one to tell you, I always take the "easiest" path to big bass. It just so happens that artificial lures for fish which were not spawning has been the "easiest" method for me, for the last couple years.

Good question..... I used to have a permanent camera stand on my old boat, which swiveled up from the front side of my front bench. That setup had the benefit of putting the camera in the same spot, every time, which did make self-photos somewhat easier. But the downside was, when trying to take photos of much bigger / longer fish (catfish, Stripers, Sturgeon, etc) it put the camera too close. With my new boat, I just carry a tripod in my side compartment. Then, with the fish patiently waiting in a net beside the boat (for bigger species), or in my livewell (for Largemouths), I set up the tripod to the aproximate height and distance, then take a quick test shot (without the fish in my hands).... not only to get the camera in the right position, but also to check the focus, and exposure of the camera. I can almost always get everything dialed in with two test shots, and within 3 to 5 minutes. Then a couple of "real" fish shots. Then I get the fish back in the net or livewell. A quick viewing to make sure the shots look good, no tail chop, etc.... and then sometimes a shot or two more, before a quick release. The whole thing should take 10 minutes or less, but even more importantly, the fish should never be out of the water for much more than 1 minute at a time. Like anything, it gets easy with practice. Peace, Fish

for starters, if you 'do' hold the fish out towards the camera, you will always have those that say, "Yea, but your holding it out towards the camera to try to make it look bigger than it really did"..... But then if you 'do not' hold it out towards the camera, you yourself will be completely bummed out / deflated later, when you see the pictures and say to yourself, and others, "But I swear it looked much bigger in real life ! Honestly ! It really did. I don't know what happened" ! I say, hold it out towards the camera, but in a relaxed, comfortable position with your elbows somewhat bent.... In other words, a happy medium. Anyway, what I always tell people is, "No, I'm not holding it out to make it look bigger than it did, I'm holding it out to make it look as big as it really did". Ever hold a 15lb bass ? Believe me, they look pretty darn big :-) Yes, have the light shining directly at the angler holding the fish (behind the camera) "if possible", but still try to take at least a few of your shots using fill in flash. This will eliminate any shadows, and help to light the anglers face under the bill of his fishing cap. {if you have a camera which allows for totally manual shots, try purposely setting the exposure too low, then using flash. Talk about great colors, and blue skies !} Multiple photos are great, but don't keep the fish out of the water for more than a couple at a time. Using a digital camera can be a huge plus, as it allows you to view the photos before you actually release the fish.... this way if they are too bright or dark, chopped tail, out of focus, etc, these things can be corrected in the next couple shots before the fish is released. Finally, don't forget the tripod, and the self-timing camera if you ever fish by yourself. Since I almost always fish alone, I don't have any choice. Here's a few of my best photos of 06', which some of you might remember; 12.4 lbs 22.0 California Halibut (tasted great ! ;-) Took this one of myself, holding this beautiful 23.8 lb Striper, while fishing by myself. Just remember, when it comes to the C/R of big fish, photos are worth "more than" a thousand words :-) Peace, Fish

I know I am a bit deranged, when it comes to fishing..... but on the other hand, I can never be rated accurately on a 'typical scale'. I only scored a 7. Peace, Fish

I can only imagine that if someday, someone were to tell your son, yourself, or your father, that they were no longer allowed to hunt or fish, "hardly anything would matter to you more". Fish

Of course for many anglers who have to fight the crowds, at some places, while targeting specific species, such as Largemouth's, it's really easy to think to oneself, "Good ! Let everyone else quit fishing" ! Then I will have all kinds of prime water to myself" ! .....but what everyone must stop to consider, is that as the popularity of fishing declines, it will be easier and easier for special rights groups, to chop away at fishermans rights. First remind yourself of the "actual percentage of the US citezens who fish right now". Again, it comes back to that thought that for most of us, "it feels like EVERYBODY is a fisherman". But in reality, fewer than 20% of the US, are anglers right now. IMPO, it's amazing that we have as many rights as we do today ! But as the percentage of anglers in the US falls even lower, we will continue to lose more of our angling rights, and have fewer places left to fish. This will lead to even fewer people going through the trouble to fish. This problem will only continue to snowball. So then, is there anybody here who thinks that their could ever possibly exist, only 5% of todays anglers, and then they will have all kinds of great water to themself, and all the angling rights they ever did ? Ha ! Think again. I truly believe that at some point, in maybe say, 30 or 40 years, there will be a critical breaking point, at which SO few people are anglers, that they simply won't have enough power left between them, to stop fishing from being outlawed altogether. Again, please, you have to look further than what you see right in front of you. I know its a lot easier for a guy to "see what he wants to see" {believe me, I'd love to believe that fishing was going to be around forever} but at some point a guy just has to face the unpleasant facts ! Fish

And what I found amusing was, 90% or so of the posters disagreed with me..... But the difference in those opinions and mine were, those were based on "how things felt or seemed to those posters" (BTW, every women I have ever been with based their opinions the same way ;-)) while my post was based on hard core fact, and I even posted this link: http://www.fishingnj.org/netusa27.html ......to which many people skipped right over to say, "Well I think........" But wait ! You don't have to think ! All you have to do, is to be able to read. I said this before, but I'll say it again; When a guy surrounds himself with other anglers, it might, at times, feel like everyone is a fisherman ! It certainly feels this way to me sometimes. But aside from articles like the one I posted the link for, I have heard from lots of big names who believe that fishing will be gone in a matter of decades. Burying ones head in the sand will do nothing to change the facts. Fish

not that I believe you were speaking to me in particular..... But I do feel compelled to tell you, that although I would call myself a trophy bass hunter, nowadays, you must remember that I fished for "numbers" of smaller fish for many years, on every different class of lures, as well as live bait, in many different waters, from deep clear Cali lakes, to flooded timber lakes in Louisiana and Arkansas. The fact is, I find numbers of smaller fish to be much easier, and after a certain point, somewhat boring, compared to giant bass. I had basically gotten to a point where I could go out and catch a bunch of small bass, "and still feel skunked". Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that if I did fish tournies, I would be a national champion or something crazy like that, but I do believe that if I had put the same amount of time and effort into tournies as I have chasing big bass, I would be at least as successful at tournies, as I have been at trophy hunting....... However successful that is. In any case, I'm the guy who will fish for anything that bites my hook ! 29 Crappie today for about 50 lbs. Sturgeon, Stripers, Catfish, Halibut, Lepard Sharks, Bat Rays, Bluegill, etc, etc, etc. A one trick pony I am most definately NOT ! Peace, Fish

I'll start it. Even though it has been quite some time since I caught a teener, I really expect to stick a 16 to 17 plus this year. Every year my home lake Berryessa kicks out 2 to 5, 16 to 17lb plus fish, yet my PB from this lake is only a 12.4. All of my really big bass have come from little trout ponds. I just feel like I'm due to get a giant from my 22,000 acre home lake. Also, I hope / expect to get my first double digit Northern strainer. Got three 9's last year. And finally, I hope / expect to get a 7 plus Smallie. Almost embarrasing that my current PB is only a 5.7...... But I really expect to just skip right past the 6's :-) Who's next ? Peace, Fish

Nile Perch are awesome too ! I'd love to stick some of those ! Oh, and have you guys heard of a New Gunea Black Bass ? In-Fishermen rated them #8 on the top 10 toughest freshwater fish on the planet, even though they were the smallest species on the list. This is a 40 lb'er: Peace, Fish

Yes, Pacu's are very popular aquarium fish. The Stienheart Aquariium in San Francisco had several of them from 40 to 50 lbs ! Just look at those flat, wide bodies ! Can you imagine fighting a 40 to 50 lb Bluegill ?!?! :-) Peace, Fish

if I'm not mistaken, they caught two fish over 20 lbs. I wouldn't care if I caught "fewer" fish, as long as I got some big ones, that included at least one 20 plus ! Speaking of which, how big is that one in your avatar ??? Awesome catch regardless ! Congrats. Did you have a replica made ? I sure would have ! Those things are just beautiful ! Peace, Fish

South America / Amazon River Sure, a 20 lb Peacock Bass would be great..... But I couldn't leave without sticking a 40 plus Pacu, or a 100 plus South American Catfish (of one species or another). Plus, what an awesome place for some great photography, even aside from fish photos. Fish