warmer

id rather be denny brauer, delgado packs a mean punch: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/nov/27/me-friends-spat-sparks-bachelorettes-blow/

the through the gill thing is good... you can do essentially the same thing through the front of the mouth with a long set of fingers. if you wedge the tip of your pointer finger in the bend of the hook and push down on the shaft of the hook till it is pointing toward the fishes gut you can pull the hook free. but as many have said: i have caught lots of fish with hooks in there gut, that had been there a long time, and the fish were doing fine.

yo frogtog, i think im the only voice of dissent on this thread. so i have to pipe in a response to this. there is no reason to hate yourself for this. it is highly unlikely this guy will lose his job that he loves over one incident. especially if he is a well respected td of 25 years. your complaint is legitimate. what i was inviting you to consider was... is it really worth it? and did i lodge my complaint to him with him in the appropriate way? and when i say appropriate i dont mean, did it follow the rules. i mean it in a more political sense. as in... if your complaint or challenge were public, on something he had already ruled on then you now have pulled his ego into the mix. and if you want a rational result, you never involve the male ego. so to lodge the complaint, you humbly, subtly ask if he could step to the side and ask him to clear something up for you. then you say, "i thought the rules said... explain to me how this works..." etc. then if you are unsatisfied, you can say... "listen, no hard feelings, but this is not how i understand the rules, and after i look them over again, i may file a protest. but i want you to know it isnt personal and i think you are generally speaking the greatest td to walk the earth." the value of this is that you leave him in charge, which leaves his giant ego in tact, and at the same time you get your grievance voiced and have warned that you will further pursue it.

i agree with this if you find that they are hitting it on the way down, but if they are picking it up off of the bottom go ahead and get it down there.

miniskirt? or turboset?

and... the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

are you sure you have the sequence right? because this is an amazing event... i mean who has the wherewithal to be standing on the other side of the boat w/ the landing net at the ready? this guy has some serious poise. are you sure the fish didnt swim under the boat, jump, come unbuttoned and land in the net? that would strike me as more of a gray area if that were the case. in any case, i understand you are bummed. but for my taste it would depend on the type of tournament. if its a kick back local or club tournament, id pat him on the back and say, "great story, great catch!" if it is a larger tournament, maybe i would have pursued it. we have a local tournament, and there is a jerk who stands near the scale every week and calls for a measure on any fish that is remotely close. i mean this is a small time, fun 25-35 boat tournament. its hot, peoples livewells are hot, and the fish stress and shrink up from time to time. i personally think, no biggy, if they measured 14 and lost an 1/8 of an inch. take a drop and swing away, no biggy. but there he is shouting short week in and week out. let me boil it down: 1: get the straight dirt on what happened. 2: dont be "that guy" (upholding the rules is not being "that guy," but delivery is everything.) on a side note, i did have a crisis of conscience for a brief moment the other day when i was shy of a limit and a 14" fish literally jumped into my boat. i have no idea what he was chasing, maybe the reflection off the side of the boat, but i turned around and there he was. oh, it was mighty painful to drop him in the water.

ill pm you my address so you can send those cards my way!

a private lake, yeah. i read up on the fines for "somewhere else"

will fresh cut oak slash of decent size stay put, or do i have to tie a block to it? the branches are about 4 inches in diameter and 15 feet long. i have done a few in the past and had them stay in the same area, but someone said if i dont put a block on them, theyll move. true or false? thanks.

i am amending my earlier 3lb guess, and putting this fish at just over 15oz's. 2lbs 1oz were lost on style points, as you failed to capitalize on the #1 rule of fish and pictures: FORESHORTENING. the effect is there for you. use it.

id go 3lbs or a little over.

i am going over to kissimmee pond later this afternoon

looks like the responses on this thread might keep that mojo down from the sound of it.

best line: LOL!

a zoom trick worm, or a zoom trick worm

in central florida a lot of our man-made "ponds" are reclaimed phosphate ponds from strip mining. you dig a hole in florida and it fills with water. they have steep banks and are easy to fish from shore, and they are all over the place. after the mines were through they were required to "reclaim" them (plant a little vegetation and stock them). many went untouched for years, and they are crazy little bass factories because they generally have good forage and great depth. it is not for lack of option that a lot of people fish them around here, it is that they are a better option. ever watched a bill dance show? there are still plenty of private ponds around here where you would be disappointed if you didnt catch 50+ a day. and up until recently there was a club or two with access to multiple pits/ponds. natural ponds around here are general shallow remnants of smaller sinkholes.

nothing wrong w/ watching the line! that's all i did fishing for catfish. if you are fishing weightless it is harder to feel the bite, so watching the line. if you have weight on there you shouldnt have trouble... like daviscw says, youll get used to it. soak that worm.

thanks man.

it looks very good for punching mats

nice fish. right during a major feed on a full moon! go figure.

or your frog spooked some bait, and you gave the bass a meal! ive seen that quite a bit w/ the frog.

thats hilarious! i had the exact same thing happen a couple of years ago, but in the reverse. i switched from owner to gami to save some $$$, and i lost fish because the knot slipped through. i think it was a bad batch because i pinched a few down with pliers, and forgot about it after that, and havent had a prob since w/ owner or gami.

in no particular order: 2 months ago i took the kids out to give my wife the day off: took a friend out this afternoon after i slayed them on sat. and sunday. over 40lb limit on saturday without a camera, so i had to share some of the joy, and take somebody along. here are some of the nice ones: notice his clothes are wet. he had to go in after his pole when the fish jerked it out of his hands...

what id like to know is: of those who are having problems how many are fishing tackle that is too light?! pont, 7'6 HEAVY for leverage and punch, and zero stretch line and WHACK EM! i dont adjust the hook at all and have marvelous hookup ratios. If you dont break 2 toad rods a season, you arent hitting them hard enough!