senile1

I wouldn't say the male's aggressive behavior on the nest is because of stupidity. I would say it is because of instinct. The male role is to protect the nest at all costs, at least until a couple of weeks after the eggs hatch. The female's role is to carry eggs and deposit them. If she wears herself out chasing predators from the nest, she will be less likely to deposit healthy eggs.

New 2 Bass, that is a beautiful fish. Dude, so you didn't weigh it, but did you get some measurements? You don't want to catch a PB and, at least, have some idea of what it weighed. Awesome outing. I'll bet your son is wound up and ready to fish.

What a head on that fish!! And what a monster she will be when she fattens up some. What a sweet lake and you obviously know what you're doing. I think you post a DD just about every week or two.

On Minn Kotas the drive pin which fits through the slot on the shaft, and drives the prop, will get bent and this will cause vibration at higher speeds. I don't know if MotorGuide uses the same thing, but if they do, it is an easy fix, and very cheap, to replace the drive pin. Check your manual to see if it uses a pin or something similar to drive the prop. If so, remove the prop and check to see if the pin is bent. Since the motor is new the dealer should replace it free of charge. That is, if you don't want to return it.

I think the 5's and 6's are quite high. Compare the mouth of that bass to the hand. I guess the angle of the picture could be fooling me but that is a 2 to 3 lb mouth, guys.

Since 1984, I have grown a beard every winter except for two. For a long time I wore a goatee, but the last three years I have gone "nude" in the warmer months. Quote from tipptruck1: Tipptruck, starting in November, grow a beard and then shave it off in mid-January when the temperatures are very cold. You will notice a big difference. A beard definitely helps if you like the outdoors in the winter.

Avid, I'd use a very light braid. I've used 10 lb PowerPro on spinning tackle for awhile and have no problems whatsoever with it. And of course, there is no memory, period. I like Yo-Zuri hybrid Ultra Soft, also, but it does have a little memory.

Berkley, in addition to the other suggestions, in Louisiana, the water should be warm enough that a slow rolled spinnerbait would work at times, also.

I fish Zoom much more than Berkley. The few Berkley products I have purchased did not compare well with the Zoom products in fish-catching ability. That's not to say that Berkley is bad. I doubt if I have given Berkley a fair shake because I don't fish them as often as Zoom.

2 lb 8 oz

I've often wondered who might actually be participating on this site. When you google for bass fishing sites this is always one of the top choices so it obviously receives more hits than most. It makes sense that some big names in bass fishing would be checking it out.

Yep, get ready to chop holes or call it a day.

Cold means different things to different people. If you're in southern California or Florida cold might be 50 degree water. I live in Northwest Missouri and the water temps get down in the 30s and there is ice in the winter. We have quite a few days in the 0 - 20 degree range for air temperatures and occasionally will have sub-zero weather. I think the coldest it ever gets is -25 or so and that is rare. When the air temperatures are like that the water is ridiculously cold and there is a lot of ice. Further north, it gets much worse. On days like these bass tend to not bite as much, obviously. However, there are days when you'll hook 'em good, though the slow days are much more common in the cold. Bass still need to eat but their metabolism has slowed so much, they eat quite a bit less.

I read some things after I read your post, Raul. I know you're a veterinarian and you have studied a lot of this but are you quoting the classifications from when you went to school or are you quoting the way they are now. It seems there are a couple of different methods of classification used now, and there is some disagreement about the classification of sharks as well as other creatures. I know little about this since I haven't studied scientific classification since college (about 25 years ago.) For instance, I found this: Chondrichthyes are fish with the following characteristics: a skeleton made of cartilage, jaws, paired fins, and paired nostrils. Chondrichthyes are further divided into two subclasses: Holocephaii and Elasmobranchii. 1. The subclass Holocephaii includes fishes known as chimaeras. They are characterized by the fusion of the upper jaw and cranium (the part of the skull that encloses the brain), one pair of external gill openings, and no scales. 2. The subclass Elasmobranchii includes sharks and batoids. Elasmobranchs are characterized by cylindrical or flattened bodies, five to seven pairs of gill slits, an upper jaw not fused to the cranium, and placoid scales. According to the wording of this, sharks are fish. I found other information that opposed this view.

I've always liked St Croix, however, I bought a rod from Powell this summer and it has blown me away. The Powell Max 683c is now my favorite baitcasting rod. Without consideration for price, I would choose G.Loomis but this Powell rod lists for only $170. I got a deal on it for $159, but if feels like an upper $200 - $300 rod. Since I haven't tried other Powell rods I can't pick them as the best, but if their other rods are this good they are a force to be reckoned with.

Welcome to THE FORUM, Cigarlover.

It can only be one of three things: (1) Flooding as suggested by Flechero, (2) Someone placed those fish in that body of water, and (3) Aliens abducted those fish and brought them back to the wrong body of water. LBH, you didn't happen to notice if the vegetation around this lake was pressed down into nice geometric shapes, did you?

If your boat floats you should take it on the water. A 528 acre lake is still fairly small. Even when the boat traffic is bad you should be able to find some coves to fish with your 12 foot aluminum boat.

3 lb 10 oz on the bass Whoops, sorry. Someone else already guessed this weight. Ok, 3 lb 11 oz is my guess then.

It appears your questions have been answered. The only thing I can add is that I have noticed very little digging in with braid on spinning reels.

The Rapala, mentioned above, is a perfect lure to start out on topwater. Although I've fished it the way Roger suggests above, I've also fished it at a moderate retrieve with intermittent twitches distributed throughout the retrieve. And I've mixed the retrieve that Roger describes above with the more moderate retrieve. I've grown to love a number of topwater lures, but the Rapala original floater was the first that I mastered. Just remember, if you want to learn to catch fish and build confidence with a lure you need to spend time with that lure. Late Fall is usually not the best time to concentrate on learning topwater. . . . . and welcome to the forum, Bionicman. (Or is it Steve Austin?)

How cold and muddy is your water? Extremely muddy water that is cold can be very tough to fish. Under these conditions, I would use a jig, as stated by jomatty. If the water is upper forties to low 50s and fairly clear, a silver x-rap fished slowly is one good choice.

2 lbs 11 oz

;D Yeah, CyBasser, we have those ugly catfish in Missouri too. I wonder what the Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana girls think about those ugly gators.

Pond Hopper stated: Pond Hopper, so you're saying that size does matter. :