Low_Budget_Hooker

In RI, they have an education course about transporting vegetation. Takes 5 minutes to get educated and they give you a "weed educated" sticker. I had to do it just cause the sticker is right up my alley,lol Like Matt said, these actions are no joke. The fines for transporting weeds on your boat, motor or livewells is steep, even for a 1st offense. All it takes is 1 time to ruin the next lake you venture to. I, for one, am all for it.

3/0 for those 4" senkos like fatboy mentioned. HOOKSETS ARE FREE!! Puncture that girl in the head with a quick, powerful snapping hookset. As RW mentioned, pumping the rod is a bad idea unless you have a 100 lb sailfish on or a fish with a very boney mouth (gar,etc) However, 95% of the time, if you are using a repetitive, pumping hookset, you are merely widening the hole the hook has made giving it ample opportunity to come out. These are some soft plastics hooksets. (video)

I gave some bad info folks, my apologies. I very rarely keep fish. If I do, It's for sale. Stripers are sold "head on" and gutted. Tuna are sold bled and gutted,again, head on. Still no excuse, I hold a commercial fishing license and should have known better.

Yup,..nick too and I believe sfc-al as well.

Do whatever you have been doing to get you where you are, don't worry about interviews,proving yourself,etc. Those things will come along naturally as George mentioned. Remember, you don't have to catch to be respected as an angler. You may strike a chord with him on a different level like environmental management or your desire to spread the sport or how it's kept you off the streets, etc. It's not always about a 9 lbr but it IS always about angler ethics. Be yourself. -I believe Greg Harris is the member that was in the paper

C'mon man, they make laws for a reason. Read above. You could have doomed your pond. How do you know it was same bass? Tagged? I ask because it takes alot longer than a yr or 2 for a 2.5 to grow to 5.5 in New England.

Being teens and not "kiddies", if some of them really take to it you can always move them to a t-rigged senko, rubber worm, Fat Ika, or tube and let them take it to the next level. I think many of us can agree that even a rookie can catch with some of the plastics we have these days.

Well, for starters, I'm not better than anyone and if I were, I would constantly remind myelf that there are scores of guys that could quickly humble me. With that said, Yes, the water I fish 80% of the time has been a hog producer over the years but has had a setback in the last decade. In the last few years, it has been steadily producing larger and larger fish again. It is semi-private and many of the few people that fish it practice catch and release I have been learning this lake and it's inhabitants behaviors for 20+ yrs I met my buddy Eric and he got me in the direction of getting away from bank beating and showing me just how productive deeper water can be. He introduced me to the jig which revealed lots of good info as to where the bigger fish are and when. Then I started reading about why they were there and fishing was a whole new ball game now. It's a learning process and the best way to learn anything is to spend as much time as possible totally submersed in it. I dedicate an extremely large amount of my spare time to fishing and when I'm working, I'm planning my next fishing attack. Time on water is key. Look at alot of the big producers on the site and many of them you'll notice are out there an avg of 5 days a week. That's alot of hours learning. Add the fact that many of these folks have been doing it for 20,30 and 40 yrs....... And lastly and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the number 1 way to real success is not to obsess on the size or numbers in the pictures,...concentrate on the size of the grin. Observe and enjoy all around you,..not just the fish on the end of the line. This allows for a mindset that will keep the passion alive for years and years to come which brings us back to "time on water" Keep it simple.

Soothingly brush the forehead in smooth, continuous strokes till the fish is asleep. Gently slide the anesthesic mask over the gills...J/K Off with the head, out with the innards. A bigger issue on both a moral and freshness plane is "when"? I don't like to see live fish on stringers. It's like torture before death. If I plan to keep any fish, it's usually saltwater and the fish is gutted immediately. The key word was that I "planned" so there is ice available to keep the filets cool from the get go. On the negative end of things, letting the blood stay in a dead fish "burns" the meat. If not going to fully filet immediately, gut and behead at the gunnel, ice them down, and filet later. Remember when you're up in God's country that panfish and pickerel are much tastier than bass! Have fun with your family, be safe and lets fish when you get back.

I've never caught a tagged freshwater fish but have had lots of salt species come up tagged. Stripers, sailfish, marlin, squeteague

My PB is 9.2 caught back in '95. Our state record is 10.6,...thought I had it. The lake it came from has taken a downturn in the last decade but has been making a strong comeback in the last 3 yrs. If things stay on track as far as growth rates, pressure, etc, I hope to give that record a run in another 3-5 yrs. The fish are back in the high 6 to low 7lb range again and growing steadily. For all specie--1011 lbs-Giant Bluefin-Cape Cod bay.

Try using the same stuff you would use during the day, colors and all,..you may be surprised to learn that even at night, a fish is still just a fish,lol. As for the lights, the blacklights are only good for mono line. I don't use mono or lights personally so a recommendation isn't possible. You guys are gonna have a blast, have fun and keep us posted!

Charlie who??? :

JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE

Thanks Chris!! Looks like one heck of a lunker pic collection.

It's a monthly challenge. 1 per month, then the list is wiped out and we start anew for the next month.

Very nice Chris. I was lucky to be able to check out Lake Fork taxidermy when we were down tyhere in March. Cool place. Maybe they need to create a bigger bass mold and keep it in storage till you send your next set of photos,lol. They can call it "The Chris Fish",lol. Any chance you could click a pic of that whole wall?

ok guys and gals, I have lots of stills but ZERO video! How about all you guys with video clips, hook this up!!!

PM the person and let them know you are ready. This should help move it along. There will be some people that will be waiting and will never be challenged because the challenger is MIA at the moment or whatever. This will be another "growing pain" along the way. Perhaps if someone hasn't been challenged and has not gotten a reply from PM's, You could shoot a PM to a mod and one of us will challenge you? How's that sound? One more thanks to all the guys that are stepping up and getting these questions answered and who are helping iron this thing out. Great job!!!

80-90% of hits will come on the fall. I personally work the odds. Let it hit bottom. Dead stick it for a bit and give it a lift. If no hit, reel it in and throw again. The slowest form of "speed fishing" there is,lol.

Oh, we've just begun!! Great job guys!! Thanks!

That's the mindset I was shooting for...in a nutshell, thanks Cart.

sorry I took so long to reply,been fishin. As far as the order,.yes,you are correct. you can fish in that style for as long as you want, 1hr, 1 week,up to you. The idea is to keep it relaxed, if folks just plain don't want to fish a certain way then I guess they can state that but as keith said, it kinda defeats the idea. Rules are below Rules

The sign-up list is up. It's in the stickies here in "General"