retiredbosn

I agree Sam, accidents do happen. Sometimes they can't be avoided. Bottom line what happened to the guy in your club was due to negligence, put a similar scenario into the auto world and he would have been ticketed for failure to maintain control minimally. He forgot his first priority of safe boat handling, looking back I'm sure he would have done differently. My point was that most ppl do not know navigation rules, areas that are navigable with commercial trade have well defined nav rules, that most recreational boaters have no idea about. Not to mention the person who has never been exposed to navigational aids, travel lanes, etc.? You take the average fisherman who has only been on a lake somewhere may or may not have any clue who has right away in given scenarios. Example you are on a lake no buoys, no defined traffic lanes and you have a boater crossing from your starboard to your port (from your right to left) unless someone changes speed or direction you will collide, who has the right away? Or you have ski boat crossing from port towing a skiier? The proper way to overtake and pass? Sailboats on lakes are not uncommon either who has the right away? These sort of things. I do not mean to sound elitist or snobby, its just that we as fishermen are the face of our sport. The anti-hunters also fund anti-fishing campaigns, but the anti's can't find traction regarding fishing. Since we are the face of fishing and other sports we should be the epitomy of courtesy and respect.

How in the world does any one skip lures like that??????

As a former Coast Guardsman I can tell you for a fact the vast majority of boaters do no have a clue on basic rules of the road, yes even lakes have navigation rules.

Go to Hornady's website, on the left there is a ballistics calculator and you can get more info than what I'm able to post. 50 bmg ballistic coefficient .992 / bullet weight 690 / muzzle velocity 2900fps .338 ballistic coefficient .67 / bullet weight 250 / muzzle velocity 2900fps quick and dirty black print is the 50bmg red print .338 250yd zero range velocity/energy trajectory muzzle 2900/12884 -1.5 muzzle 2900/4668 -1.5 100yds 2895/1268 +2.5 100yds 2761/4230 +2.6 200yds 2713/11276 +2 200yds 2626/3827 +2.1 500yds 2477/9171 -29.1 500yds 244/2796 -31.9 The 50BMG has tons of kinetic energy, but then again you would expect that out of a round that can pierce armor plating, lol.

What length barrel do you have on your bmg?? It matters, a gun with a 20inch barrel verses one with a 30 inch barrel will shoot almost 500 feet per second slower. Full metal jacketed round?

I hear ya, my father-in-law swears by his 220 swift, I have seen him take deer at close to 300yds with it, would never attempt it. But I love talking ballistics, and can bore you to tears with the ballistics of shotgun shells for example each pellet of #5 shot hits with 2ftlb of kinetic energy at 40yds assuming a 1 1/4 ounce load over 3 1/4 drams of powder!!! Yeah I used to be a big gun nut, lol, mainly shotguns due to my severe addiction to bird hunting. I actually put myself into the hospital at the end of a 5 day pheasant hunt in ND, I have some back problems and just would not quit to my detriment, that's why I quit bird hunting

Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Metalica, and to a lesser extent Cinderella, Poison, Rat, Quiet Riot

Any state that I lived in, if the stream or lake were stocked with trout you needed a trout stamp to fish that water period. I always purchased the permit because I trout fish and the lake that I liked to bass fish was stocked with trout during the winter and early spring, the bass in there were true hawgs.

Gonna depend on the category, if you are looking at terminal ballistics on living criters about the size of a deer then the .243 starts giving up ground and at about 350 yds lacks the punch to be reliable on deer. The .243 suffers from poor sectional density and doesn't penetrate sufficiently, I've shot deer at 100 yds with a 95 grain round from a .243 and the bullet didn't even make it half way through the deer, granted it was a quartering shot.

As you do your research what will really cook your noodle is when you find out the .260 remington will out penetrate the .300 win mag!!! All about sectional density, ballistic coefficient and velocity. I switched to ballistic tips for whitetail doin that allows the bullet to open quickly and drops all of the kinetic energy into the deer instead of having in wasted in the ground. I prefer the .260 or 6.5mm awesome round. A great site that will aid in your research is chuckhawks

Something else you can do to have easy access to a certified scale have your scale certified. There is a member here FishChris who gets his own hand held digital scaled certified every year, that way he can get the fish's weight on a certified scale the moment he takes it out of the water; now he can't submit weight only verified by himself. Every state is different some states do not require to have the weight observed by a conservation officer, and will allow weight to be certified by the angler and a couple of witnesses and pictures, the key is that the scale must be certified, and the fish must be kept for viewing by officials later. Other states allow you to have the fish weighed, measured and certified by a conservation officer and then you can release the fish. The steps for verification varies by state, if you think you may catch the next record, take the time to know the steps. There is a small public lake in my home state of WV that I feel the next state record will come from, I fished it regularly and I took the time to look up what had to be done to have a fish there certified, it was a pain because the lake is catch and release. Basically what I had to do was if I caught a fish that I thought broke the record was to call dnr, if noone was available I was to take it to the nearest certified scales, have it photographed, witnessed and then release the fish. I was told to keep it in the livewell unless it was being weighed or photographed. The conservation officer told me that I would have to have evidence that the fish was released or be fined. It all seemed a little to surreal for me.

How do you handle the recoil of the .338???? Depending on the weight of the gun the recoil is what around 50psi? I have always liked the ballistics of some of the magnums but the recoil has just been to much for me, I have too much metal in my neck to shoot those canons, lol. My earlier post I was thinking of sectional density of the bullets, an 180 grain 30 cal bullet doesn't open (mushroom) sufficiently in deer sized game, most of the energy of the bullet just passes through and is wasted on the ground on the other side. I grew up shooting deer with an 30-06 and found out the hard way that 150 grain out performs the 180 on deer. The .338 250 has a higher sectional density but it is offset by the hypervelocity of the round, the reason it is such a popular sniper round, the bullet opens up and causes massive damage. I hope you get to go on your bear hunt soon, going for grizzly or coastal browns in Alaska?

When I hunted (injuries have pushed me out of the game) Deer: Remington 760 (pump) in 30-06 Savage 10 in .243 varmits Savage 10 .243 and Savage bolt .17hmr Upland hunting my favorite Aya model 4 12ga Berreta Silver pigeon 4 20ga Arrizagabala sidelock 12ga Started with a remington 870 then 1100 16 and 12ga

Gotta ask, instead of just assuming. But I'm guess you are using 180grain rounds in the .308 , then in the .338 you are using 180 to 225 grain? Is this right?? If so it makes sense that they run off with the .308 and not the .338 and it has nothing to do with one being a magnum.

Welcome to the site

IGFA recognizes a seperate category for landlocked stripers.

I've been fortunate enough to live on or near world class fishing all of my life. The New River in WV for smallies, now I'm within an hour of Santee Cooper, Murray and Clarks Hill Resevoir, all of which are known for one specie or another, Cats in Santee, Stripers in Murray and Clarks Hill, LMB in all three. I think the previous poster is right, you can find good fishing no matter where you end up. Example although I lived on the New River I didn't fish it a lot, being local I knew other places that didn't get the pressure and had great fishin. I knew of a small local lake that routinely produced double digit lmb, and in a state where the record is 12lbs that is saying something. So I had the opportunity to catch some really big lmb in a state better known for smallies and native trout. The move here to SC has thrown off my catch rate, I don't know all the areas, but the challenge is learning and exploring all that is available now. Focus on what is most important to you, career or whatever move there, you will find good fishin where ever that may be. BTW I've lived in GA, SC, NC, VA, WV, PA and have found good fishing in all areas. Up north LMB just aren't as big as they are in Dixie, then again states like TN have good numbers and size of all freshwater bass. Then also the ice and winter up north curtails fishing for that period, I have never ice fished, just don't like the cold enough to go out on the ice drill a hole, put up a shelter and start a fire. I think instead of looking at what areas are best, look at what areas you can fish your strengths.

I know there are a few of us lurking here on this forum. Been thinking that we should do a day on a lake together. Thought it may be a good way to introduce ourselves to each other and get in some fishing too. I'm fairly new to SC, been here for about a 1 1/2 years this time, lived here before. Anyway if anyone is interested either drop me a pm or post here.

If I'm fishing a river I fish hard before, and right when it starts to rain. As soon as it slacks down or will keep fishing if it is a gentle rain, and right after have always been productive. I don't have enough lake experience to weigh in on that, but I would think that a cool rain would entice the bass especially during the summer. if bugs are flying and the bream are feeding you can bet the bass are to.

White ice fluke seems to works better if there isn't much sun.

Worm rods require a stiffer rod than the ugly stick you are looking at. I use a 7 MH Fast all graphite rod, the Abu rods at the walmart that are in the same price range as the ugly stick will give you better service I believe. I would guess that the hook up problem you are having is due to using a rod that isn't stiff enough. I like a 7 footer as it allows the ability to move more line than a shorter one will, just make sure you are using a quality hook and when setting the hook with a soft plastic try to cross the fish's eyes. Good luck

Deep cranking I would recommend a lower ipt, around 19-21 inches per turn. Most reels this equates to a 5.0 reel or so. I like my Curado e, you can readily find them on sale now. Good luck

Welcome to the site, lots of good ppl here and a wealth of information too.

Welcome, you will find several ppl here from SC, I'm in Aiken.

There is one here on bassresource, I think Glenn did the video, either look at the pinned articles at top of page or follow link