kajun

I am a smoker also JD and I wouldn't worry about it. I think the gloves are a little much. If you are worried about the smell just use a artificial scent to cover it up. Thats all I do. I would think the talcum powder would be more offensive to the fish than the smoke.

What concerns me the most is that the guy is suing not only Evers sponsors but the sponsors of B.A.S.S and the sponsors of the classic. ESPN, B.P.S and others. If this guy wins alot of money through this suit it might deter some sponsors, IMO.

Has anyone been following the lawsuit that was filed against him by a man who rode with him on his boat as an observer during the 2003 Classic. This may be old news for some of you but I just heard about it on a replay this morning of Basscenter. Not only is this guy seeking damages from Evers but also from all of his sponsors and from the sponsors of the classic. Supossedly this guy was injured to the point where he had to have a lower back operation. I was just wondering what everyones thoughts were on the subject. Do you think any adverse affects will come about from this?

Thats kind of what I was thinkig JD except for the fact that the people that told him this were the people that were selling him the Florida LM strain. There's an article in this site about that same subject, about how you just can't tell by looking you have to have a genetic test done to really find out. If maybe we just noticed them not spawning that would be the case but the salesmen told him this. I know what ya'll are thinking and I wouldn't have stocked a fish that wouldn't spawn either. He has catfish in this lake also.

My wifes uncle has a small farm pond(2 ac) on his property. A couple of years ago he had it stocked with a Florida-strain LM. When they stocked it they told him that these bass would not spawn. Does anyone know why or if this is true. Is it maybe because of the size of the lake? Thanx Kajun

I just got done reading it also. Very good article JT. I want to start fishing tounaments but I know nothing about them so learning the unwritten rules is probably just as important. Thanks

I watched it this morning. I liked it quite a bit. I really liked Schooled by Denny Brauer, I have never seen it before. Basscenter was good. They talked about a couple of things that was new to me like that snakehead thing or whatever that was, never heard of that. Like skipper I could also do without Byron Velvick. All in all it was pretty good though.

And as far as trailers go I use them 90% of the time because most of the waters I fish are muddy with very low visability so I try to attract all the attention I can. I usually use pork or rattlesnake twin tails.

Most of the time I use the cheap Wal-Mart spinnerbaits. I've used the name brand spinnerbaits like Terminator and others but I just don't think that it matters. I've fished them both on the same day before and one brand has never proved itself to be suppieor to the other and the cheap Wal-Mart ones(the ones that don't even come in a package) only cost me a dollar. The only thing I usually do is sharpen the hooks.

Most of the time when I fish I'm either using a jig or some type of soft plastics or spinnerbaits. I rarely use crankbaits. Thanks, Kajun

I am going to be honest with everyone here. I have never in my life given a crap about the type of rod I purchased. I never cared about the action, size, or anything except for price. By reading different articles and post on this site and others I now realize that I am missing a very important piece to the successful fishing puzzel(so to speak). In my readings I have come to the assumption that a good starting point would be a medium heavy rod 6'6" to 7'0". At some point I hope to expand my collection to include a rod and reel set-up for every application but, I have to crawl before I can walk. So is this rod a good starting point?

I snagged a muscrat one time. Also like mike I've wounded myself flyfishing. I pierced my uncle's ear when I was 8.

My year started off pretty slow. I was working two jobs most of spring and summer so I was lucky if I got on the water twice a month. By mid summer I was down to one job so I got to do more fishing. My goals this summer was to put everything that I had learned from this website and others to the test and see if they could work for me. One of my goals was to learn how to fish a carolina rig. I did catch my fist bass this summer on one so I was satisfied; and it was a carolina rigged lizard which was also a first for me. Another goal was to get better at crankbaits, which so far I am still no good at but I'm working at it. :-/ I also wanted to stop just fshing and actually go after some big fish this fall and so far I've been havig a really good fall catching alot of 4lbs+ fish which is good for the areas I fish. So for the year as a whole I would have to say it has been a really good year for me, although I didn't get on the water as much as I would have liked I did learn alot this year and I think I made myself a better fisherman. This January I will be moving to Kentucky and I am hoping that with all the things I've learned in the past year I can enter some local bass tounaments on Rough River and maybe some on Kentucky Lake just to get a feel for tounament fishing(also something I've never done). My New Year's resolution this year is going to be to improve my overall fishing everything from equipment to attitude. If I can do that I think come next year this time I should be able to answer some questions on this site instead of just asking them.

Hey JT, I would be interested in something like this, but it would obviously depend on the membership fee. For a recreational fisherman like myself the fee would probably have to be under fourty dollars annually for it to be worth it. In a typical year I generally only make 8-10 trips to an actual tackle shop. So I don't spend a whole lot of money on tackle. I am starting to build my own lures and soft plastics so if I could get some pieces in bulk at wholesale then it would probably be worth it. Just my opinion though. Kajun

As far as a bad trip when I actually made it to the water. I was floating a creek in a small canoe in western Kentucky one time and obviously since it was a bad trip I wasn't catching any fish and I was having a bad casting day and was losing lures in the trees and brush at a rapid pace. Not only that but I made the mistake of listening to the weather man who said the chance for rain was slim to none. Well he was wrong the chance of rain was good because it started to thunderstorm and I had no choice but to ride it out because I had to float the creek until I made it to my truck. After two more hours of floating the creek in the rain I finally made it back to my truck just to find out that I had had my drivers side window busted out and my 7mm and my TC .50 cal stolen along with my CD player and CD's. Anyway that trip is one I definately wish I had not gone on.

I had one fishing trip in Alaska where someone told me about a lake that was supposed to be really good so they gave me directions and i went to drive there made it about 500 yards down a dirt road and got hung up in some muscag(not sure if that is correct spelling). Needles to say once you get hung up in that stuff you are not getting out by youself.

I was just kind of womdering what everyone's worst fishing trip was. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has had trips where it seemed like everything that could go wrong did.

This was an eye opening link for me. Kajun

Could someone please explain this technique to me. I read about it in an article today and they said it was in the book written by Bill Murphy but I've never seen or read this book. Thanks Kajun

I think the definition of success varies depending on each fishing trip. Alot of variables are involved like who you are fishing with, what you are fishing for(recreational or tounament) and skill level. For me, since I'm still learning, every trip on the water is successful because I'm either learning what I should or should not be doing. Catching fish is just an added bonus. I can honestly say that I've learned just as much if not more on days that I didn't catch anything compared to days that I couldn't keep my lure in the water. As my skill level goes up my definition of success will change. Kajun

I agree with spinnerbaits. Just yesterday I was fishing some flooded timbers and at first I started using a jig-n-pig which was getting bites but I was in a place where I had no leverage or room to set the hook so I switched to pitching a spinnerbait with two colorado blades and a chartreause skirt. I could only pitch it about 5 to 7ft at a time but the water was about 4 to 6ft deep all aroud me. Needless to say the spinnerbait worked great for me. Half the time the fish set the hook themselves so I didn't have to worry about lack of room. The spinner bait, in my opinion, is the most verstile lure there is. You can fish it whenever, regardless of water temp, color, fishing pressure and if there is fish around you should be able to catch one or two with a spinnerbait. You may not catch the quality of fish you can with other baits but as far as quantity goes, you can't beat it. Thanks Kajun

Seen some of these today at the local taclke shop. They looked pretty handy but were three times the cost of regular bullet weights. They seem like they would protect the wear and tear of the line. Has anyone used them? Are they worth the money(2.59 for 5)?

Could anyone give me a good recomendation for a fish finder under 150 dollars. Just something for a beginner. Thanks Kajun

I'm with Rich on this one. Nothing to me can beat salmon or catfish. Although I have found that salmon isn't exactly the easiest of species to cook. Over a grill is my favorite. Bass I usually don't keep. Not because I think it's wrong I just would rather keep a bluegill or catfish if I was getting something for dinner.

My favorite is also a small pond. Except mine is only about 5 acres. It's a small cattle farm pond on a friends property. I like it because 99% of the time I catch bass(read SKUNKED to find out about the other 1%). I go there to try out new lures i bought or some techniques that I am not completely comfortable with. I also like this spot because I can take my three year old daughter with me and she can catch some bluegill or some small mudcats and she has the time of her life. After all that's what it's all about; Friends and Family. Kajun