J Francho

There's no legal precedent for kids over 4 (probably because no one would sue a kid), so the suit must proceed. Seems like they would go for the parents' homeowners/renters insurance, not the kids - kids have no recoverable assets! I wonder what the estate argues are damages. It said she died three months later, and I do know that a broken hip is very serious for the elderly. Sounds like the estate is seeking a scape goat for the blame game, in order to recover more money for her heirs.

Keep in mind, we're splitting hairs about performance. While I may not like them, DBS reels are certainly fishable. I still prefer SHimanos bare bones centrifugals and Daiwas Mag V/Z systems.

Lucky Craft uses Daiichi sharpened VMC hooks. They aren't the same as the VMC replacement hooks you find in most retailers. You can get Lucky Craft replacements, though. VMC Vanadium Inlines are plenty sharp enough, though. Those and ST-36's are what I use.

Works fine for me?

Oh brother, all this for not getting the proper license to fish? get the stamp, otherwise you're poaching. Period. This one is GONE!!!!!!

Back when I actually fished for panfish, I used Trilene 2# or 4#. If I were to do it all again, I'd be looking a lot closer at the fused superlines. Silly fine diameters, and high break strengths.

If its hair algae, then drop shot rig, unweighted or wacky jig stickworm, and any horizontal, mid water column bait will work, like spinnerbaits, shallow cranks, wakers, traps, hard jerk baits, etc. If its coontail moss, then jigs, heavy pegged t-rigs, tossed with a powerful rod and braid are a must. With deep coontail, penetration is usually key, as the bass are down under the crowns.

So you've got boat positioning and locations down, understand selling the bait, and have won several tournaments based on a dialed in color pattern. The BBZ-1 Jr. comes in four colors. I'm sure you can find one that would work. Personally, I've only fished SML a few times, in spring. That doesn't really matter though, because I'd be throwing Rainbow Trout or Blue Herring, where ever I was fishing. A better question might be about sink rate.

Looks like a big old Am. Shad to me.

I'm curious what gives you this opinion. I've never seen a dual braking system because I don't own any dual braking reels. What have you seen in them that is suggestive of poor engineering? Its WAYYY too much unsprung weight for something that is masking issues from too much weight. Cracks me up---add weight to solve weight issue. Then add creative marketing to make them sound better, LOL. Two is not always better than one.

I wish we had a trout stamp here. Then there would be accountability of those that actually fish for trout. As it is, the DEC wastes its money on fin clipping machines for hatchery trout, at the expense of closing boat launches early. Bass/pike/panfish anglers outnumber trout anglers 10 to 1, yet the trout fishery receives all the glory. Get your trout stamp, and be done with it. Its hard enough for econ officers and game wardens, being understaffed and underpaid, to enforce the laws. Don't complicate their jobs, you'll lose. Instead of being an adversary to those agencies that protect our waters and forests, be a partner. Be the eyes and ears they cannot have everywhere. I'm on a first name basis with most of the local guys here, and they appreciate any info about the waters I fish, whether its some illegal activity or just chatting about bad fishing, LOL. Bottom line, its easier to be squeaky clean and help the cause than it is to walk the line, looking over your shoulder and waiting for fight.

Funny, my job is teaching the offshore India team how to do my job. I love it, those guys simply can't cope with ingenuity. But the people that emigrate here from India to work in IT are some of the best I've ever worked with. Solid skills. Friendlier, too.

Get a loan like the rest of us, LMAO. (Actually, I'm a three time college dropout, but don't tell IBM that )

Sounds like fakes. Never had bad hooks on LC. Had a pointer that sunk, but no bad hooks. Hooks are usually good for a season or less, then I change them out for Stingers, as needed.

U of R, dude. We can fish every weekend, LOL.

As a guy tat really needs to quit smoking, I'm rooting for you too. I've failed four times in the last two years, but I'll keep trying. Many successful quitters tell me it can take several attempts. Sounds stupid, but the big thing they did, was never touch the stuff again. Sounds too simple... Good luck, bro.

Yeah, I had a set of polarized/blue mirrors that were great on Ontario and Erie. I have a waypoint somewhere on Erie where they sit in about 32 FOW, LOL. Get some croakies or something to keep them on, if you spend the dough on good eyewear!

Baits that give off UV light have been pretty well known for salmonoids for some time now. I'm not sure they'd make any difference for bass.

Yep, as long as it can be set to completely loose Wayne's right though, for most, getting the spool tension set for the weight of the bait is most critical. Then adjust the brakes to the conditions or your preference.

I don't think you can simply lump it into two categories, cent/mag. Some magnetic brakes are simply little magnetic buttons that are moved in and out from the spool. Others have a shield blocks/unblocks the magnets. Daiwa uses a centrifugally activated inducer ring, with pops out at high spool speeds, and is affected by two cylinder magnets, that can be adjusted in and out of polarity. My personal take? Dual brakes are a gimmick that masks poor design. Pick one or the other, and engineer them well, like the Shimano or the Daiwa system. Bottom line, if you want the best performance in any conditions, with any braking system train your thumb. If there's wind, 90% of my casts will be directly into the wind.

No way its a 5+. Calculator gives you a max of 4.51 lbs., and that's probably closer to the truth. True, it has a big belly, but it doesn't have the shoulders to be a five. This fish was 4 lbs. 9 oz. probably about the same size as yours: Nice fish man, but its time you got an accurate scale. If its 19 X 15, then you got a four-and-a-half.

That's least to most, left to right. The <><> are just used as arrows, not GT/LT. :

My friend Rich took this one of me, shortly before taking the "express route" to the bottom. Note the girl getting her senior portrait done at the bottom of the frame.

That's my call, too.

thanks guys. complications from massive growth? well yeah, there are a few. broken lines, straightened hooks, and excessive wear and tear on equipment are the main ones that come to mind. ;D seriously, i don't think about it too much J. i just do the best i can with the limited resources i have, hope for the best, and let the chips fall where they may. i've been doing this for a while kinda as a hobby, but i'm starting to get real serious with it. perhaps if i knew exactly what type of complications you were talking about, i'd be able to answer better. actually i am very interested in your "complications" because i'd much rather avoid making mistakes than to have to try to fix them. that said, i am confident enough in what i am doing and what i have learned through trial and error that i honestly believe that i could start from scratch over and over and duplicate these results time and time again. i guess you could say i have a "system" in place now. you are exactly right though J. in my efforts to grow these fish i have made plenty of mistakes, but i have tried very hard to learn from those. success comes with a price sometimes, particlularly when you are trying to push the envelope beyond reasonable limits. basically what i am trying to do is to take very "normal" fish and turn them into abnormally large fish. i guess you could say i'm trying to overcome natural genetic limitations with management strategy (and a poor man's management strategy at that ;D). as you found out with your hatchery, that's not always an easy thing to do because mother nature tends to resist being tinkered with sometimes. you learn quickly that you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. no matter how you try to spin it, it's a blood sport and some fish are just not gonna make it. the way i see it, with my plan the fish that have what it takes to become special will become special. those that don't will fall by the wayside. i hate it when things don't work out, but i still accept it as part of the process. the fish of the future will benefit from the failures of the past. fortunately to this point, there have not been any major setbacks. maybe i'm just lucky. either way, i'm "all in" now and enjoying every minute of it. Very cool stuff Paul. By complications, I guess I wasn't really sure what I was asking for, though bent hooks and broken lines sounds perfectly uncomplicated, lol. I was wondering if there was any analogy to my smaller, closed system hatchery and growout tanks. Granted, comparing a couple thousand gallons of water to a lake probably doesn't shake out fairly. I ran into some things, like excessive nitrates, which despite fat bellies, stunted growth, and a few bone deformities, probably a result from depletion of minerals in the water. Those issues were easily fixed, but I was just wondering if you encountered any similar failures. Like you said, learn from your failures, and it looks like you have success right now. Anyway, I'm wandering, LOL. Beautiful fish, keep us updated. I want to see a 25x25" fish next year!