J Francho

They are also big in the aquarium trade because of their "tough" reputation. So you get a bunch of mouthbreathing morons who buy them, not realizing that that 3 inch baby you got is going to grow, and grow big enough to eventually break your tank. So instead of doing the responsible thing, they just toss them into the rivers/lakes/ponds. Since snakeheads have no natural predators here, they take quickly over the body of water. d**n things are worse than locusts. EDIT: Even worse, is because they can actually survive on land for 3 days and use their fins to walk, they can spread to other bodies of water in the area even without being directly connected. I believe Maryland killed every living thing in one lake that had an infestation of them simply to prevent them from spreading to other lakes in the area and completely destroying the local ecosystem. The snakeheads in the Potomac are Northern Snakeheads, Channa argus and to my knowledge were never imported for the aquarium trade. These are hardy fish, obviously capable of surviving some pretty cool winters. The spp. I'm aware of being imported (having actually imported maybe thousands) are Redlined, or so called Giant Snakeheads Channa micropeltes, Dwarf Snakehead Channa orientalis, and one other I can't think of. It is unlikely that any of these would survive a winter north of the Mason Dixon line. Southern states, well that is another matter altogether. Snakeheads, all spp. are illegal to import into the country, and are no longer available in pet shops. And yes, any exotic species introduced into domestic waters is illegal. Some of the sources of these invasives were traced back to Asian roots, both as an ill advised source for cheap food, and as some spiritual meaning from home. There was a bust made where hundreds of large, live Northern Snakeheads were intercepted before release. I can only imagine how many made it through outside of that bust, given our success with the "war on drugs."

Not only is casting such a light bait better with a spinning rod, its a lot easier to get that "unencumbered fall" of the jig. just be sure to watch your line. Light weight jig fishing isn't really anything like fishing a big, heavy cover jig or football jig.

Little original floaters? Small inline spinners < 1/4 oz.? Not likely. There are rods designed to work with those lures, but they come with a price tag. I haven't cast an Accurist with anything below 3/8 oz., but I'd wager you'd be fine with some thumb training. As far as rods for superlight stuff, I have a St. Croix Avid AVC70MM that I pair up with a Daiwa Sol loaded with 6 or 8# Suffix for fishing tiny spoons, spinners, floaters, and float/drift rigs for browns and steelhead. It throws the light stuff well, and handles some pretty big fish, much bigger than bass I've caught, LOL. Its a great tight quarters rig for small stream fishing. For bass fishing, it serves as my light crankbait rod, throws peanut size baits a mile. There are two other rods in the Avid series, which I think offers the biggest bang for the buck, without going truly overboard price wise, AVC66MLF and AVC69MLXF. I've use the latter, and its quite the stick. I'm sure others will chime in about other rods, but those are the ones I know 1st hand.

Ditch the seats, carpet the floor and benches, add some rod holders, install your TM and graph, and fish like crazy!

Small pickerel strikes.

Just slather your frog with Megastrike. When froggy goes bye-bye, and feel a fish, set the hook. It isn't that complicated.

I don't think you can compare the EVA grips from the 70s and 80s to the newer, lightweight Hypalon grips found on newer, high end rods. They're both foam, but the similarity ends there. I still like plain old cork.

Rod < MH + toads in cover = fail. I use a flipping stick for frogs and toads in heavy cover.

I'd go with a permanent installation. The manual shows you how. No need for the bracket, unless you leave your boat on the shore, or fish from rentals.

Me too. I don't blame you, man. Its not as bad up here, but when it comes to winter trout fishing, spot burn can be really bad. you post a pic on the web, and the next day you see a bunch of out of state plates in the parking lot, LOL. Its impossible to "unedit" a JPEG. Once the change is made and the image file is saved, the changes are permanent. Anyway, nice fish, I can't get enough of those Cali slobs - keep posting them up.

Really great job, man! Your report is great as well, love the play by play. Its good to see you progress in this game as well. The team format is a lot of fun, and a great way to learn new waters.

Out of those, the Ribbit is my favorite, but lately my favorite bait to use like this is a Space Monkey.

Happy Birthday!

Rebranded Revo/Flooger/Whatever else Pure Fishing is making.

That is a smallmouth.

That would make a nice dock skipping/tight quarters rod for small unweighted worms, flukes, or light split shot rigs. I personally prefer a heavier rod for this, but my buddy uses a similar style rod with great success.

Yeah, it would look better with a Daiwa Goldcast on it.

Power is usually rated in terms like Light, Medium, Medium Heavy, Ultra Light. Action, which actually refers to the taper is rated in terms of speed, like Fast, Moderate, X-Fast. What you are probably looking for is a Medium or Medium-Light power rod with a Fast action.

The term is "internet fisherman."

90% of the time, Jig. Here's why: The other 10%, well that would be for the spawn....

The foam on the Steez rods feels like very high grade cork. Its very firm. Same for the Zillions.

I leave an inch to an inch and a half after trimming. "Walking" is a gentle, yet quick cadence to your snaps. Keep playing with it, it'll come to you.

They are all part of Pure Fishing Inc.: http://www.purefishing.com/

http://lmgtfy.com/ http://www.secretweaponlures.com/ I have several minikits. A buddy of mine is on their pro staff, they are a great company with a great product. its my understanding that the pro pack is for pro staffers, and they get that at a highly discounted rate. I'd order a few minikits first, to see if they are for you.

Find the thermocline and the baitfish, and the trout will not be far behind.