CeeJay

Yeah I totally agree. This year wasn't as good as the previous years. The Mako and Seven Gill were my favorites as well.

I actually first learned about carp (and why they should be respected) from a bow-fisher years ago when I began fishing. He would stalk the carp much like someone sight fishing for them with a fly rod. LiftedSquare - In-Fisherman lists cherry tomatoes as an underrated bait for Grass Carp. http://www.in-fisherman.com/carp/carp-baits/

That's brutal.

I accidentally purchased offset circle hooks, I should have read the label closer ...I've read they aren't as good as the inline circles you mentioned.

Here we go again.... Nothing will change the views of common carp on either side of the love or hate debate. There are "facts" to back up either side, and no one wants to be confused by the facts I love them as sport fish and I'll continue to catch and release both Common and Grass Carp. Fortunately I've never encountered an Asian/Silver carp...but they are not the same and shouldn't be viewed as such. It's worth mentioning that in many park lakes I've fished it's illegal to kill stocked (sterilized) Grass Carp...that is my parting shot against those that wish to kill them for non-food use

Yeah I release Common Carp. And I'm glad you distinguished between the Common and Asian (aka Silver) Carp. There's also the Grass Carp which I treat the same way as the common. Awesome game fish. My PB Common was 20 pounds, and it swam off easily after a long battle. They are omnivorous as well, by the way...they will hit artificial lures. I've even caught Grass Carp that ate (rather than snagged) on nymphs, inline spinners and even a topwater popper. Common carp are also popular with fly anglers, Dave Whitlock advocates them as American sport fish. I have immense respect for carp.

Yeah Crappie can be difficult for sure. Most of the ones I've caught were while first blind casting from the bank. And then after locating them I would switch lures and see how many I could tempt before they moved on or shut down. Inline spinners were deadly for locating Crappie when fishing "blind", and my biggest was on a spinnerbait I switched to after finding them. Good times

I love to fish wacky rigged senkos under a float. Probably accounts for 50% of largemouths that I've caught on a senko. Not one of those red and white round bobbers, but a small Trout Magnet float. Balances perfectly. Deadly deadly deadly technique. Edit- Oops, didn't realize this was in the Smallmouth forum Still applies to smallies as well though.

You guys got me wanting to take up the fly rod again I lost my old rods, but I'll have to pick up a new one soon.

I love Shark Week and watch it religiously each summer

Yep, I've loved Legos since I was a kid. I'm 39 now haha. My brother and I accumulated a few huge boxes of them over the years. We break them out at parties when the house is crowded and it's still lots of fun. Accidentally stepping on them while barefoot is not much fun though...wow those things hurt

Yeah I have no problem with people eating the fish they catch, even bass. Not my thing at all, I'm a die hard catch and release angler, but I definitely wouldn't call someone out for eating their legally caught fish. But I think the OP implied that the particular lake was private and C&R only...so basically the "anglers" who caught those bass were poachers, which definitely isn't cool.

Hi C&G if that down mood persists or gets worse there is no shame in seeing your doctor. Depression is a very real illness and often starts at your age, being triggered by life changes, etc. Of course, I'm not saying you have clinical depression or anything like that. But definitely keep an eye on it and seek help if it gets worse. Best of luck to you. You'll be ok

Berkley Gulp baits are biodegradable. There was another one...Food Source Lures(?) or something like that. It is/was made of actual digestible food I believe.

Cool thanks for your list. Yeah if I had more experience with Pumkins', Greens, Redear and the like, I'd probably put them up close to Bluegill. I just haven't caught enough of them...yet I've been doing some fun but serious panfishing lately...new rods and baits, etc. By the way, those Gulp Maggots in a jar are amazing for Bluegill out here I discovered. A dozen caught on them early this morning.

Are you sure that's a smallmouth? Anyway Hula Poppers are great, love those classics.

I'm not really sure if I've caught a redbreast...it's possible though. They're apparently very good fighters especially in rivers, one of my books mentions catching river redbreast sunfish as lots of fun, especially on fly tackle and cane poles I'm currently working on a little paper to organize the non-bass sunfish by name, since it gets extremely confusing based on regional names for the many varieties.

I've only recently began wading, only shallow so far (wading boots). I use a 6' Shimano spinning rod w/Synergy Supreme reel with 2 spools. One has 4# mono and the other 6#. I keep my tackle in a backpack along with some water and a snack I plan to get a new vest though, my old one has somehow shrunk over the years A simple selection of lures. A couple each of: SK 1/8oz spinnerbaits, 1/8oz SK Bitsy Bug jigs, 3" Senkos, Berkley Power grubs w/ball jigs, and inline spinners up to 1/8oz. A Creme worm or two and a very small selection of hooks and weights rounds out my Smallie gear. Oh and usually a topwater such as a Rebel CrickPopper. It sounds like more than it is and they all fit into a plano tray stashed in my backpack.

I'd definitely put white bass and yellow perch in the panfish category. I'm not very strict with my terminology Yeah I've heard white bass hit pretty hard. I'd love to tangle with some...I'm assuming they can be found in the Potomac which isn't very far from where I live.

Hey there NoLuck. Welcome and enjoy the forums, tons of helpful information here. Great people here as well, I've made some good friends that I hope to do some fishing with some day.

I started a new log this year. I've always used just pencil and paper I have several pages of my logs from up to 12 years ago, unfortunately the rest are lost. It's kind of fun to read about my angling adventures from so long ago...good memories. I still have one entry where I was basically ranting to myself about forgetting to bring any weights for my t-rig that day haha. I remember seriously having considered tying on a little rock to the line that day

I could have sworn I read somewhere that they were bringing back the 3" Dinger....can't remember where I read that though. About ~8 years ago I stocked up on 3" Senkos after landing my PB largemouth on one. If that size Senko is discontinued I'll be heartbroken.

I've always planned to spend some time fishing in Florida. And some day, before I die, I'll somehow make it down there...and Shane I want you to hook me up with some of these fish Oh man you definitely should break out a UL. Bass are such great fish, I love them, but sometimes they don't cooperate and it's so much fun to catch the smaller but very hard fighting panfish.

I'm sure some crappie pro's could do it. Certainly not with 6 lb mono though. As for me? Nope I wouldn't even try

But that's what telescopic long poles are for