gobig

I always try to go 50/50 with whom ever I fish with. I have been on both sides of the fence. Just because you have a boat does not mean that you are rich. Sometimes other people are needed just to afford the trip(not so much anymore but in the past). I would tell them up front so there are no surprises. If you feel like others should pay make an agreement don't harbor ill feelings if they don't offer, be clear. Most understand this and don't mind paying.

to funny ;D Did you have more fun with the fish or the pic.

congrats

I drop shot a lot. I have two spinning rods set up just for this. One is 6ft med action and I use this in around docks and cover. I find that I can make more accurate casts with the shorter rod. The other is 7ft. I use this in open water it is also med action. I use a 6lb diameter braid with a 6ft florocarbon leader ranging from 6-12lb test(p-line). The braided line helps with line twist. #2 gamakatsu spit shot/drop shot hook and mojo dropshot weight 3/16-3/8oz unless its real windy then I go heavier.The pencil style weight seems to hang up less in the rocks. As for setting it up the illustration in the link islandbass provided is how I do it. I will vary the distance between the hook and the weight depending on weeds, rocks ect... pay close attention to your line for bites they can be real subtle. I don't really set the hook hard either I more or less just crank down. A good portion of the lakes I fish are real clear so I make long casts. Work the bait real slow. Cast and let it settle on the bottom and twitch it in place a few times,drag it abought 12in and repeat. You dont want the weight to leave the bottom. Sometimes I vary the retrieve but this method seems to work the best. Get ready to catch a lot of fish however you will have to weed through the dinks. I hope this helps.

They are still biting good up here in Nor Cal. Me and a friend caught a bought 30 a few days ago. I would try drop shotting always seems to produce when the bite is slow.

I was walking along the shore and saw a guy catch a few fish and I asked him what are you using? He said lips and a-hole's I got a friend who's a mortician. ;D

In my mind its a toss up between Clunn and KVD but I went with KVD because of what he has done in such a short time.

welcome

Out here in Cali there are alot of lakes like this. But the home prices might shock you(the prices have been dropping fast if you want in now may be the time or the near future). I am in realestate out here but these are not areas I work,however I can point you in the right direction.Heres a few off the top of my head. Barryessa,Clear Lake, Oroville, Comanche, New Malones, Don Pedro and of course the delta. All of these are close to upland hunting and have decent fishing. There is a lot of public land out here but sometimes you got to fight for a spot so to speak. In these areas you will find Turkey, Quail, Dove and Pheasant. Might I add lots of Turkeys. I have had no trouble finding them at all. The Pheasant hunting is spotty now, its good on the opener and dies off through out the season unless you pay($150 for season is abought normal unless you hunt a club where you pay per bird $25-$30ea) for use of private land. Quail hunting is good and the dove hunting can be exceptional. If you come out this way and dont hunt water foul you may start. The central and sac valley are unreal for ducks and geese.

Heres a few places. One left off the list is Guns Fishing And Other Stuff in Vacaville./www.xtools.us/pages/dealerlist_pages/california.html

cool site paragon. I think I should log the moon phases to.

Well said WRB

Does any one here keep a fishing log? What do you keep in it? I recently started. I have started with date, location, outside temp, water temp, windy, cloudy or clear, time of day, what lure and presentation. I used to do this when fly fishing. I could literally almost time hatches to the day. I want to know what your experiences are. Its all a bought getting better. 8-)

This sounds like most of Nor Cal. I would drop shot or use a spider jig. Make long casts. Use 8-12lb floro carbon, the lighter the line the better. 4lb diameter braid can help to, just add 6-8ft floro leader. Dont be afraid to use a heavier weight either. Sometimes I will go as heavy as 1/2oz. and if its really bad I would go heavier.Kevin Van Dam recently did a interview talking a bought how most people dont use heavy enough weight while drop shotting. You just need to be heavy enough to feel that you are on the bottom. The bite can be difficult to detect. Try to find places that break the wind also. Experiment with what works for you. If you learn to fish conditions like this you can out produce most of the competition. Dont get frustrated this is where we grow as anglers. I welcome these situations. I think you did the right thing having a child with you. Their experiences need to be positive with out frustration in the air.

I couldnt agree more. One thing I would like to add is... say your fishing a wind fall,stump ect... I fish it throughly and if I draw a strike and miss the fish I will go right back at it with a slight change. Say you draw the strike on a shaky head...I will pitch a finesse jig right back to the same spot and get that fish to bite again. This has worked well for me. Hope someone benefits from this.

I hear there doing them at Comanche to.

My strength is going with my gut feeling, intuition, inter voice or what ever you want to call it. I believe this is the foundation for thinking outside the box. Sometimes it seems wrong or illogical but it pays off many times.

Hey everyone, I am new here and I would like to introduce myself. My name is Aaron and I am from Nor Cal.

I am a new member to the forums. I have been reading articals here for a few months now. I have enjoyed reading some of the posts also. You guys have some good info and stories. I have caught 3 over 10lbs. I caught a 12 even, 11.3 (yesterday!!!) and a 10.9