SuskyDude

A good whack between the eyes with a blunt object, like a heavy pair of pliers or a beer bottle, does the trick! Keep the "keepers", throw back the big breeders!

Really? Lesnar's stand-up is anything but crisp, and his chin hasn't been tested yet. I seriously doubt Lesnar will be defending his belt for very long, especially if a certain "russian cyborg" comes to town. (rumor going around that Fedor is talking with the UFC this summer!)

Checked out the "big sale" last week at my local GM. Not impressed.

I heard that Mid Warts were dicontinued, and I can't find them anywhere but e-bay. Say it ain't so! :'( I bought dozens years ago and I'm down to my last 6 or so. > Anyone else heard about this or feel me my pain? Perhaps know where I can get my hands on some in phantom green/brown crawfish?

My thoughts exactly. The removal of an apex predator like that can't be good. Removal of an apex predator is never a good thing.

Awesome!

Yes it is popssible to catch smallies this time of year! Slooowwly dragging a tube through slack water areas of the river, like backwashes, large coves, and deep shoreline eddies - the more wood cover, the better- is a good way to start. Hair jigs are also a good bet. They're most likely still wintering there, so don't expect to set the world on fire. But if you find a wintering hole and are patient, you can catch some Bronze no problem!

Bailey's Eddie The Candy Jar The Hallowed Popping Grounds The Narrows The Island Chutes Murphy's Island Matty's Bar

They'll probably blow it all on non-native stocker trout and say "habitat-restore-what?"

Live had a few ice rod/reels get dragged in at 30$ a pop. Thats the most I've lost at one time, I think. I did lose a LC Pointer, on the first cast once. I vowed to never do that again. >

I like to lip them, unless they're tiny, like one pound or less. Then I'll just lift them out, then lip. I'm not in it for the blood. No need to man-handle them when you intend to put them back. When I feel like pointless blood...I can go to a bar and pick a fight...

Tributaries, be it a river that feeds a lake or a smaller stream that feeds a river, are great places to look for the big girls during early spring.

Waaay over the top. I think he's a tool and wouldn't let him on my boat no matter how good of a fisherman he is. Besides, the first time he screamed and hollered over a 1-pounder I'd kick him overboard! Showing some emotion is one thing. Yelling and sceaming and breaking stuff is childish. If you want the sport to start having a "WWE feel" to it...then Ike's your man. : Plus he's really rough on the fish he catches, bouncin' em off the deck of the boat, holding them horizontally by the jaw w/o supporting the belly, etc. I can only watch a "professional" do that so much. A little respect for the resource that makes him rich would be nice to see.

I pack a gun in my undies... It's so dangerous, NY makes me carry a permit.

I live in NY, heres a few general things I've learned since I started fishing for winter bass four years ago: Fish slow. MUCH slower than you would in summer. Jerkbaits and jigs are a good start, but anything will catch them if you can keep it in front of their face for long enough (although I wouldn't bother with topwater). Find a warm water discharge or be prepared to fish for maybe a few bites all day. Try to find the "perfect" gloves. Then again don't bother, as far as I'm concerned they don't exist. Wear a coat.

I'm not sure it was intended to imitate a certain species of fish, but rather to be a bright, flashy, easily seen color. Many darters (bottom dwelling fish) are brightly colored, but none that I know of have this particular color scheme.

Binghamton! I fish what's about a 30 mile stretch of the Susquehanna between Bingo and Nichols. I love them smallies! I also chase greenies on occasion in the local ponds. I used to fish Erieville Reservoir quite alot, which is close to Cazenovia.

Looks like a wiper.

This is very true, and I hate that fact that the majority of my liscense money goes to the stocking of salmonids that don't even belong here while native game fish get little to no attention. I'm not into snagging trout and salmon, and I don't want to pay for others who do. The State of NY feels otherwise though...oh well.

No. Bass and pike were not introduced from Europe, they are native to North America. The introduction of the common carp has long been regarded as on of the biggest mistakes in our fisheries management history.

My prefernces in line are alot like yours. I use 10 lb. mono for cranks, topwater, spinners, etc. I use 6 lb copolymer for jigs and plastics (p-line cxx, which is more like 8 lb in most nylon monos). I agree his choice of line seems a little heavy, but everyone has their prefrences. Some thoughts on the rest: I think anything on a jighead is a jig. So as far as I'm concerned, a grub on a jig is a jig, and probably the best for swim jigging. So in essence I think when you're "fishing a grub" you are "swimming a jig." Swimming jigs is something I really started to play around with last spring, and something I plan to do more of this spring. I was dragging my usual jig of choice one morning, a tube, and wasn't getting great results. A misfired cast had me quickly retrieving my tube to try again, when a smallie instantly hooked up. No big deal, I thought. I've had this happen before, and I too used to think it was more of a fluke than a pattern. But when I tried it again, just for craps and giggles, and hit another fish, and another, and another, I said.....hmmmmm... Then the crankbait bite took off a few days later, and I put down the jig. I will be experimenting with it agian though, not just with the tube, but with grubs and hair jigs as well. Obviuosly swimming a grub catches smallies (though its a technique I don't use much), but I think swimming other types of jigs might be a viable technique as well. I think the power in swimm jigging may be that it's a mid-water coulmn, moving bait presentation with a different "look." Something subtle, not as in your face as a crank or jerbait.I hope to find out in a few months.

So all of you should step up and volunteer. Show them how its done. That's what my old man used to say to unruly parents who stood up in the stands and complained while he reffed little league football games. Funny, every single one of those people shut up and sat right back down. :

My girlfriend is watching the Grammys right know, so Ive been watching. Sounds like an open mic night at the local tavern! Not impressed. Stevie was pretty good though. To bad he had a bunch of teenage brats ruining it for him.

What about a digital scale? Twenty bucks, and you won't have to estimate.

Psst....here's a little secret......the "purity" has been gone for a long time.