Tokyo Tony

Setting the hook on a dropshot fish is one of the best feelings in the world. This year I've come to rely on the technique a lot. It's awesome

As long as he's not in constant, serious pain, I don't think you have to put him down. It's probably best to take him to the vet and see what the vet says. I've had to put down two dogs I grew up with when I was younger. Definitely two of the saddest days of my life. We stayed in the room for one of them and left the room for the other right after the injection - they say you shouldn't stay with larger dogs when they're put down because a lot of times they twitch and convulse when they're dying. This was years ago and it still gets to me. Fortunately I have two awesome, young goldens now

Good luck Russ! I've tried to quit, half-assedly, a few times. Avid, I also tried Nicorette, and then I became addicted to Nicorette and cigarettes. I just kicked my Nicorette habit, fortunately...those new flavors are awesome though. Chantix sounds good though.

Hey all, so I'm headed up to NH tomorrow and will be fishing this pond on Saturday in my pontoon boat. I usually spend most of the time throwing topwaters, jerkbaits, and weightless plastics, but I'm thinking about trying out some new things on Saturday. What kind of crazy ideas can you all come up with? 8-)

Well if you're 190, that fish looks like it's about 1/10 your size, so I'd say 19 lbs ;D Beautiful fish there. If I had to guess, I'd say 4.75-5.25. Was that in CT?

Great story, great fish Can't imagine a bass trying to eat my 1.5 lber.

He was catching fish like that, and I was catching fish like these. Never before have I caught so many perch/bluegill/crappie that were so tiny on a jerkbait. I kept thinking I had weeds :-?

Went fishing with fishizzle yesterday, got poured on for about an hour right after he caught this fish. How much you think it weighs?

Gonna try them out tomorrow with fishizzle at his lake. I'll post a report.

I have a silver Capricorn baitcaster and an orange one. They were both good at first, but after about a year or so of use, they have become loose and the thumb bar release doesn't stay down half the time, often resulting in casts that make it about halfway out, grind to a halt, and scare the crap out of me ;D The drags and gears are fine though, so I still use them. Looking to upgrade as soon as I have the funds.

Check out my most recent purchase - for a total of about $18 including S&H... Anyone have luck with the LC LV-100's & G-Splash? Lookin' forward to trying out those LV-100's.

Susky I can go on forever as you can probably see We may not agree about ethics relating to bass, but I think (I can't remember exactly and don't fee like reading the book above) my original point when I responded to you was that there is virtually no difference between a novice fishkeeper killing a bass and a novice fisherman killing a bass. I think I at least showed that before I went of on a ridiculous (though related) tangent. Peace.

SuskyDude - that's a good point about stewardship, and your point partially explains our disagreement. I tend towards the school of thought that since we are the smartest beings on our planet, we have a certain privilege over the lesser animals. Since we're capable of much higher and more complex levels of pleasure/pain and of emotions (and because of the fact that we are rational beings capable of rational decisions - see my other post), our pleasure/pain and our emotions are more important than the those of other animals (assuming animals are capable of any level of emotions as we generally define them - I don't think bass are, but dogs seem to be). BUT along with that privilege comes a certain obligation - we can't abuse our "power", so to speak, and take advantage of helpless critters, no matter how base they are. Because of what I just explained, I think it's perfectly fine to fish (and inadvertently kill some bass), and it's perfectly fine to keep fish (and inadvertently kill some bass), as long as your intentions are noble. As I've said many times, the death of a bass as a result of fishing and of fishkeeping is virtually the same thing. If someone goes out, catches a little bass, takes it home to a little tank, it dies and the person doesn't give a crap, I think that's wrong. HOWEVER, I don't think it's wrong because the poor bass "suffered". I think it's wrong because that type of behavior is indicative of what type of person he is, and that type of behavior encourages, or at least increases the chances, that he will act in a similar way towards other people. THAT would be unethical, but the bass in itself doesn't have a right to be shielded from unethical behavior. Does that make sense? When you say a bass "lived the way it was supposed to," you presuppose the existence of a higher being that has mapped out how all creatures should live, and that's a whole other discussion. If it doesn't presuppose a higher being, it at least presupposes an objective truth. There is no objective truth in anything, (in my opinion, that is - many philosophers much smarter than any of us have written volumes on this subject), except maybe mathematics, and even that's debatable. I prefer to presuppose as little as possible. Even if you do presuppose the existence of this being, how can we be sure this bass wasn't "supposed" to die in our tank? We can't even really say with certainty that it's in a bass's best interests to live a "natural" life. We don't know, and we absolutely can't know, so it's better just to leave that alone and not think about it. You say you don't think someone who has zero fishkeeping experience doesn't have the right to try to keep a fish. I think that's almost right...I think even if someone has zero fishkeeping experience, it's ok for him to try as long as his intentions are good. However, the poor fishkeeper I outlined in the example above obviously doesn't fall into this category. I think we are nearing a consensus, and any disagreement we have at the end of it all could come down to a difference in our personal beliefs. Beliefs that result not only from our genetic makeup, but also from the environments in which we grew up. That's not to say that all personal beliefs are equal - they're not. However, no matter how different and seemingly outrageous someone's personal beliefs are, when it really really comes down to it, you'll find that you can't argue against them effectively because you're operating from a different conceptual scheme (that may be too strong) than the other person. For example, infanticide is widely accepted in India because of the population problems and because it has been in practice for generations and generations. Such a practice in the States is illegal and almost universally considered horrific. Scientifically, it's no different from a late term abortion except that the infant has left its mother's body. We can't really draw the line at being inside the mother's body or being outside the mother's body, because the infant is developmentally identical. As tyrius said about farm fish and wild fish, the distinction is arbitrary. However, because of how we grew up, and the beliefs we've gathered since childhood, it seems obvious that infanticide is a horrific practice. Try arguing that against a rural Indian - you'll find that you hit a ro*** that can't be passed. Sorry that was so long-winded, and that it jumped around a bit.

SuskyDude, thanks for taking the time to respond. Since you offered, you can consider my response below my official "holler back" ;D So your point was, "The ethics that encompass the two situations are different. I guess to put it simply: Kill a bass but learn from it: acceptable. Kill a bass (slowly and painfully) because you didn't want to learn about it: not acceptable." What if a novice fishkeeper kills a bass because of improper treatment, but he learns from his mistake and goes on to keep many fish until they die of old age? By what you said, that would be ethical, and who's to say the fishkeeper in question won't do this? What if a novice fisherman kills a bass and doesn't learn from it, continuing to deep-hook and kill many bass over the years? By what you said, that would be unethical. Your explanation of the difference between death by fisherman and death by fishkeeper isn't coherent. Further, who's to say a fish that dies in a tank suffers more than one who dies at the hands of a novice fisherman? A gill hooked fish can certainly suffocate slowly, or a hook in the gullet can prevent him from swallowing his food so that he slowly starves to death, or an infection in his mouth can prevent him from being able to catch his prey also resulting in a slow death by starvation. On the other hand, a bass in a tank can die quickly if the aerator craps out. You can probably think of better examples of a quick death in a tank than I can. Pain (also stress) is another topic altogether. Bass don't feel pain like we do, so we can't relate to what they "feel" in any way whatsoever. Even to speak of what it's like to be a bass is essentially talking jibberish. We can agree, however, that bass don't feel pain like we do, so it's wrong to think of a slowly dying bass in terms of how we would feel if we were slowly dying. That brings me back to one of my original points: that bass are outside the scope of ethics; therefore, no act against a bass can be considered unethical (unless it encourages similar, bad acts against humans). Regarding education: I admit I forgot he already went out and brought a bass back into a tank on a whim before asking about it. Regardless, even though he's on a bass fishing forum, he is now trying to educate himself, and he has gotten a lot of good information. Where better to ask about anything than BassResource.com? Also, tyrius brought up a good point: chichlids and other small aquarium fish are outside the scope of ethics but bass aren't? Where do you draw the line? I think my argument still stands: there is virtually no difference between unintentionally killing a bass from fishing and killing one from fishkeeping. P.S. I guess I got it wrong on the hater thing. I didn't mean it strongly, but more like: "Don't you think you've had enough to drink already?" "Aww, don't be a hater!" 8-)

My college buddy, a math major, wrote a 20 page paper trying to prove that 2+2=4

Great video man ;D

Mr. Machine, I am also a lover of the black/blue chatterbait. You asked if the trailer hook will mess with your hula grub trailer. It will unless you feel like re-rigging the trailer hook everytime you change your trailer, and checking the trailer after every cast to make sure it's not fouled. Removing the trailer and using a trailer hook should solve your problem. I almost never use trailers on my chatterbaits and do pretty well on them. By what you said though, that you had the bass on the hook but they were shaking off, it sounds like they're at least hooking themselves and not missing the bait altogether. Make sure the hook is sticky sharp and that you keep the pressure on him hard the whole time with the rod tip low. Like flippincrazy said, chatterbaits are head-heavy and can be thrown pretty easily, so you're almost better off horsing the fish in rather than playing her. By the way, I don't know if you're into night fishing, but if you are, this bait is primo ;D The Strike King Pure Poison is, IMO the best alternative to the original, but the action isn't as intense. For my $5 or $6, nothing beats the original Chatterbait. edit: Just reread your post and you said the hook was bent out a bit. That could be your only problem.

As long as we're allowed to make political comments...ehh, democrats..... : "You're not allowed to kill it, but I can because...well...it's different. I can't explain..." : Susky's point was that bassfisher11 should not try to keep a bass because he's a beginner, and to try to keep a bass would be unethical. Why do you think bassfisher started this thread? To EDUCATE himself, so that's exactly what he's doing, but people are still against it. By the way, I'm still waiting for an attempt to explain how a beginner fisherman is being ethical while a beginner fishkeeper is not...I'll take Suskydude's silence as a concession. For the record, I might sound angry, but I'm not at all. I just enjoy a good argument 8-)

Oh, last thing - please explain how a beginner fisherman is being ethical while a beginner fishkeeper is being unethical. If you can't, and hold to what you say - that he shouldn't keep a bass in a tank because he doesn't know what he's doing - then you're also saying that beginner fishermen shouldn't fish because they don't know what they're doing. Both are looking to have fun, and in doing so, both inadvertently kill bass :

In my opinion, fish and all other animals that lack reason are outside the scope of ethics and morality. The only way treating an animal poorly can be considered unethical is if the act in some way encourages similarly poor treatment towards humans. In this case since any possible mistreatment would be unintentional, his wanting to keep a little bass in a tank and enjoy watching it cannot be unethical. Granted, that philosophy is debatable, but notice the qualifier "In my opinion." Also, he will not be "literally torturing the fish to death," and he is not "without any knowledge of fishkeeping," even though it sounds like you know what you're talking about when it comes to fishkeeping. Whatever anyone says, it sounds like he's gonna go ahead with his plan. Be glad he's researching it at all. I applaud him, you don't, which is fine. Bass-Brat - when I used "haters" I meant it in the sense that rappers use it, which is not a strong one

For the haters - he said it's legal in his state. He's been researching it for a while. He wants a pet bass, and he seems to want to take good care of it. Worst case scenario: a baby bass dies. We've all killed bass unintentionally. I'm trying to understand why some of you guys are so adamantly against his trying this out. There is virtually no difference between killing a bass while fishing and killing one while trying to keep him in a tank. In both cases it's unintentional, and in both cases the bass die because we're out trying to have fun. If you're so afraid of a baby bass dying, maybe you should quit bass fishing and join PETA. IMO, a baby bass's life isn't worth as much as the fun he's gonna have trying this out. I say go for it, have fun, and post some pictures

PB LMB - Junebug Yamamoto Kreature doused with YUM Crawfish scent, deadsticking it from shore on Jan 7th 2007 (in CT) Also matched my PB twice this year, both times on the same T-1 3/8 oz spinnerbait. Clear/blue/red skirt. PB SM - black/blue chatterbait around 1 am late last summer

I love that name - Tatiana. I also love the names Francesca & Natalia. I've yet to meet a girl with one of those names that's not absolutely gorgeous

Or a barber. Sorry, that was terrible.

That's probably because you fish the Wal-Mart baits 99% of the time. In my experience (and when I started using spinnerbaits I bought a bunch of Wal-Mart ones), the 99 cent baits do not track straight, do not spin properly, and they have a strong latex scent that may or may not have an effect on the fish. Granted, they're only a dollar, but IMO, they do not work nearly as well as name-brand spinnerbaits. And unless you're fishing heavy stuff from shore, you won't lose many spinnerbaits anyway, so it's worth the investment