J Francho

That was REALLY quick. There had to be some R&D going on long before he severed ties with e21. Time to market seems ridiculously fast.

Definitely tons to be thankful for this year. 4# line? I bet that was epic, LOL. Great fish, man!

Go to google, type in douchebags, and search images.

I didn't know that. I swear, I could sit and pick at your brain for hours, LOL. Right now though, I'm doing battle with a 2 year old that has figured out every child proof lock in the house, and is very determined to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed. Parenting is fun :

That makes sense, Paul. The photoperiod thing was just a guess. Funny, I think I use the same terms for them as well. Domestic is pictured above, whereas this SR fish would be a steelhead. I also always assumed that the domestics spent much more time in the tribs, than in the lake, and they fed more on bugs and worms. This would account for the lack of smoltification, if even a psuedosmotification, when going way out and eating alwewife.

"Chromers" are lake run rainbows, or what we also call steelhead. They've left the creeks to pursue a pelagic lifestyle, feeding on high protein fish, instead of bugs and worms. When they first enter the streams to spawn, they are bright silver. then they color up to spawning coloration. Fresh chromer:

Craw back in your hole! Don't return until Pitchers and Catchers report to spring training, LOL. Here's an old pic, complete with hat, from that incredible brown run a couple years ago:

Thanks Kent. Paul, we actually had a bit of rain last Thursday evening, maybe a half inch. I was actually fishing the mouth of Mills Cr. when water blew out mouth. As it got dark, we watched at least 20 browns and a many more chromers run in. This continued Friday morning. I fished the fast cut at the mouth, but even though there were a ton of chromers hiding in there, no bites. Let a friend in on my little secret, and he gets six fish in about a half hour, LOL. I've been in a real streak, huh? I suspect the DEC has been tinkering with reverse photo period for a bunch of the smolts, and dropping them in late summer/early fall, tricking them (imprinting) into spawning in fall with false urges, or backwards urges. I think this is the main reason for fall run of steel. Still waiting for the big push of browns I've seen the past few years. Haven't seen it this year. Last year, it was over in a day. Year before, we had a drought, and when the rains came, they really came. It took like five days for all the browns waiting to come in, actually get in from the lake. That year was awesome - creeks were wall to wall browns. That's the year my son got his 1st. Big Al, then 8, with a 9 lb. brownie.

Hit the ditches close to home to drift some float rigs for some chrome or brownies. My long time trout buddy, Kase, is leaving for SC next week for 6 months, and we wanted to get some time on the water together before he leaves. I got a few drifts in with spawn sacks, but didn't feel like I was getting the bait down, so I reversed the shot pattern, and first drift, and its float down! Stuck a nice colored up hen. Surprisingly, she was spawned out. Later, I noticed a nick in my leader, so I retied. I checked the knot (snell) but next time the float goes down, I set the hook, and I see BIG brown hen roll, and my rig comes fying back at me, sans hook. Grrrrrrrr......it was easy to see the knot came free. Kase got a few smolts, I went 1 for 2. Despite the low numbers, it was good to get out with my bud. A few pics: Kase with 13.5 centrepin rig, drifting the deep seam If this guy stops biting bright pink meatballs, he'll grow up big and strong. This big girl has done her job, creating the next gen., and eating my bait.

Zillion.

A reel has no torque. Torque is supplied by the user. All things equal, a higher ratio reel requires more torque to move a bait. Whether that is actually too much is a comfort/preference issue, as shown above. Either you like it or you don't.

But there are times when they are puking up crayfish, crayfish parts in the livewell, and no red lips. This usually when the water warms up. The fish we were catching last weekend weren't eating crayfish. They were on alewife.

Instead of round split shot, try Water Gremlin Bull Shot.

Like this.... This is actually a mirror carp, not a common.

My buddy has one on his 20' Pro Craft. I didn't like it, since it was difficult to turn and thrust at the same time, but we were maneuvering around docks and lay downs. A lot of "toe-tapping." Minute adjustments are possible. If I were trolling, or working current, I'd probably go with an electric steer. Easier to hold a course or position. Its just a different approach to boat handling.

I'd think you'd want a more powerful unit with infinitely adjustable speed control, in those circumstances. BTW, "back trolling" to be is with the transom into the wind, and motor in reverse, controlling your position over a spot.

Put that Annie on an Owner 6/0 weighted Beast hook, fish like a gigantic grub.

Its overrated. I use 5.8:1 reels with divers with no issue. I used to use 6.3:1. Long before that, I had 5:1 reels. I definitely do not like a burner reel, and the super slow reels, like Zillion Crazy Cranker are too slow for me.

The IGFA All Tackle Common Carp record is 75-11, from France.

Tank is too small, and will not support one goldfish, let alone a few. Ditch the goldfish, drain and clean the tank. Refill, let sit a day or two, and get a betta.

I'm wondering why others' opinion about something as personal as music would be of ANY value to you. I gave it a 3, LOL.

LMAO.... "Ain't got no gas in it!"

That's awesome. I gotta soft spot for cats.

I'm not going to pass judgment on someone that legally kept a fish, since they are well within their right. And as much an accomplishment catching a 23" fish is, it really isn't that big, in the grand scheme of things. I will offer this tidbit that I'm stealing from BR member paul. no offense taken. actually glad you brought this up. this gives us a golden opportunity to discuss the power of catch and release. yes i absolutely know that a lot of the fish i am catching are repeat customers and i've said that several times on here. i'm not going to go back and check the weights, but from memory, this fish was a little over 8 early pre-spawn. when i caught her post spawn, she was a little under 8. now, after a big fall feed, at 9-12, this is the biggest this fish has ever been and she demonstrates potential to be a 10+ by next spring if she continues to survive and eat well. the important point here is this. if this fish had been caught by someone, kept, and mounted at 8 then she would have never had a chance to be 9. if i would have kept this fish yesterday at 9-12, then she would have never had a chance to make it to 10. some people complain that they don't think they'll ever have a legitimate shot at a big bass where they live and sadly, for some people that is true. not because a trophy is not possible in their waters, but because other folks are just not gonna allow it to happen because they keep fish before they have a chance to reach their full potential. even sadder is that some of the very folks who complain about not having access to big fish have shot themselves in the foot out of ignorance because they are keeping the fish that have a shot at becoming giants. that is one of the big reasons we don't have more trophies available to us - angler impatience and the "bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" philosophy. people catch a 6 pounder and it's the biggest bass they've ever caught. " no way i'll ever catch one bigger than this!" they think. so off to the taxidermist the fish goes and with it goes any chance that the fish could have become a real monster. either that or the fish is mishandled for way too many pictures and shortly after it is finallly released, it dies anyway. once either scenario happens, the angler who caught it has no chance whatsoever of catching it again down the road when it weighs 2 pounds more. he has also deprived someone else of the chance of catching it. and probably worst of all, he has removed that bass' genetics from the system, making it much less likely that there will be any more quality fish produced in that particular system - particularly if the system is small to begin with. not that i have a problem with someone keeping a big fish. they caught it and it's theirs to do with as they choose. i'm just saying that folks shouldn't cry that they can't catch an 8 pounder out of a pond when they kept the 6 that would have become their 8. the reality is this. you can have a pond with one 6 pounder in it and 20 2-3 pounders. the 6 pounder has demonstrated some real growth potential whereas the others have not. if i had to bet on one of those 21 fish to reach 10 pounds, my money is on the 6. why? because it has already demonstrated some amazing growth potential and out-performed its competition. and if i want to ensure that fish the absolute best chance at becomming a giant, i am going to remove some of the 2-3 pounders to further eliminate competition for food. not every bass has a chance to become a legitimate trophy any more that every person has a shot at standing 6'5" or becoming a world champion body builder. genetics are far more important than most of us realize. it takes big ones to make big ones. so yes, i am catching a lot of the same fish. that's how i designed it from the beginning. sorry for the soapbox. hope it didn't sound too preachy. but to me, catch and release is our best shot at making sure that one day all of us catch the fish of our dreams. Makes sense, doesn't it? Congrats on a new PB.