tnhiker44

Probably some two year old kid that tags along with Dad (see Tiger Woods). If the many years I have lived have taught me anything, it is... if you think you have seen everything, just wait, you ain't seen nothing yet (BTO). It really depends on how you define best. If you define 'best' by the ability to catch fish on all kinds of water in all different kinds of conditions then I would guess that guy would come from the second tier of pro bass fishermen. Some one who has not quite broke on to the scene yet. The best pro is a hungry pro. Because of this hunger factor, I would pick an older fisherman, like Clunn, Nixon, Martin and the like. But if you define 'best' with records and stats, well, the stats are out there for interpretation. Some people define best by the size of the fan base. KVD draws more attention from a 14th place finish than any other pro finishing second.

My guess is that little fish get caught often. Big fish, not so much.

... and then, after some time, the warmer water will be in the lower column. And that will be were you find the majority of the fish.

I catch 80% of my fluke fish on pearl white. Arkansas shad works well as does watermelon seed. The way I work a fluke I doubt color makes a big difference. I use pearl white so I can see the bait disappear during those brief moments when there is slack in the line.

While in Rome, do as the Romans do.

I have always wondered this. If it only (only??!!) takes $100,000 to fish a year in the Elites, why does every fisherman have sponsor patches plastered to every possible place on their shirts, boat and truck wraps, etc.? Why are there not a few guys out there in plain shirts with plain 'ole boats and trucks? Why not? It really seems to me that the love of competitive fishing has taken a backseat to money these days. One big tournament win would finance next years trail. Two wins and you just made four times the average American household income. Four top tens and you have pretty much tripled the average individual income in the U.S.. I always wondered why there were not more 'anti-establishment' guys out there. But what we have are guys who rack their brains trying to remember every sponsor and running out of breath trying to thank them all.

I think I have recently corresponded with a couple of members on here who I am pretty sure do not stand up to pee... so I imagine it is pretty easy for them to pee in the lake.

Without a doubt it hurts participation. For this reason a marina on Lake Weiss has started a series of open "pot" tournaments with a no guide/no pro rule. It is their decision as to who is a guide and who is a pro. Participation went up from around 15 boats to well over 70. Because of the larger turn out they have went from a two place payout to a seven place payout... and your average weekend angler now actually has a chance to get a check. The cream of the crop will still always rise to the top, but this rule has gotten the local "weekend" fishermen in the area more active. 200 to 350 boat 'open' tournaments are not for me. Parking, flights, traffic, weigh-ins... yuk. I would rather have a root canal without Novocaine....

Oh, I would hardly call the participation of these two members sarcasm. Trying to stay within the board guidelines I will call it childish antics. Deliberately joining into a thread to simply stir the pot is at the very least childish. They are now labeled Beavis and Butthead in my book and if I can find the ignore function on this board I will place them there. I can just picture these guys out in a boat.... "Hey, pull my finger" or "Ha ha, you just said wood". Real giants among men I say.....

Muddy, I understand what you are saying, however, some of us are rather busy in our lives and cannot afford to make 12 plus posts a day on a fishing message board. We pop in, take a look around, kick the tires and move on with our lives. We are not afforded the luxury of establishing a personal re pore with fellow message board members. You know this, as does Mike. Some people are rather good at disguising sarcasm. You know this also and yet you defend this particular sarcasm... like it is everyone elses duty to know Mike for the man he is. You acknowledged the sarcasm but get defensive when someone does not see it as sarcasm. That is BS and you know it. Back on topic... throwing cigarette butts in the water is bogus. I do not care how many generators you have.....

Muddy, I will tell you what I think. Based on this thread alone you are defending a member who arrogantly offers to provide GPS coordinates for others to pick up HIS trash. Again, based on this thread alone, I do not care if Long Mike walks on water and cures cancer... by his post he comes off as the very worst type of sportsman. Until you defended him I pretty much assumed he was being sarcastic in his cigarette butt post. But now, with your defensive counter post, I am no longer sure. Perhaps you tolerate his littering because of his 'high character', but that is your choice, not mine. In the event he was being sarcastic (which I hope to be true), you have to realize that vague sarcasm will solicit responses like mine and Desultory's. Long Mike very well may be a stand up guy, but in this thread he comes off anything but....

Not that it is any of my business... but just how big is your porch? I took some liberties (*) with the numbers I could find: 26.2 million men in the U.S. smoke, if just one percent of that number fish and throw ten butts in the water, the butts would fill up a warehouse that is 42 ft wide by 42 ft long by 12 ft tall. Thats some front porch you got there Long Mike. You must be rich. (That is just one trips worth, by the way.) *(assuming 10 butts equal 1 cubic inch [1.25x0.5x1.5]... it has been along time since I have really tested my math skills) *(assuming 262,000 cubic inches, or 21,833 cubic feet) *(assuming 1% of the male smokers in the U.S. fish and throw ten butts in the water)

As a smoker I was not sure of the actual make up of a butt, but it is pretty obvious that they do not decompose rapidly... just look around. I always have a can in my boat for butts. And every time out I try to pick up at least one piece of trash that some other soul was kind enough to leave for me to find. Next time you are out on the water just pick up one piece of trash... chances are you will not have to go out of your way to find it. I live in the cotton belt here in Georgia and I can tell you first hand that cotton does not decompose rapidly any way. There are ruminants from last years crop still laying around along the roadside.

Although I never fished any of them... I have seen several tournaments where they combined both of these 'modes'. During the summer on Dale Hollow they have overnight tourneys for just one fish... largest fish takes all. 20, 30 even 40 boats out all night for one large smallie. Considering that at the time the minimum size limit was 18 inches, I have seen some beautiful fish at the weigh ins. And although it would be difficult to break the 3/5/7 fish limit mentality, I would like to see more of these style tournaments. And I say this right in the middle of a large fish funk... I have not even come close to big fish honors this year in any tournament I have fished.

grimlin, Just one line in your last post totally sums up my point. You see... despite the fact that that beer is allowed on a lake you are going to say something, just not 'much'. That is a classic example of you attempting to instill your morals on another person. If you ever see anyone in my boat "stealing my stuff" please leave them alone... it is probably just a buddy of mine removing his stuff. I am not so sure I want you making the determination of who is or who is not a thief. Seriously. Thanx in advance.

I agree with ya on this post. But I do find it interesting how intolerable some are on here. I think it is a little pretentious for some to play morality police on this subject, as if it is their way or no way. It comes down to free will, be it right or wrong it is still an individuals choice. Far be it for me to attempt to alter your choice in any decision you make. That is called toleration... more people should try that option.

This is probably just a normal cycle for this pond. As fishermen we want good fishing all the time but sometimes Mother Nature has different plans. Some years are good to the bluegill, some years are good to the bass and then sometimes the bait fish flourish. Some times the conditions exist that provide an algae bloom at the worst possible time for the fish and a fish kill occurs. I think these things happen not only because of us but despite us as well. Despite our best intentions I do not think we are as smart as Mother Nature (or God, if you prefer). We should try and fix things we know we are responsible for and let the other events take care of themselves. As the old commercial went..."Its not nice to fool Mother Nature".

Thanks for the info. Jackson sounds like a small version of Oconee. Or perhaps Sinclair. Work is so busy now... in order for me to go during the week either I will have to come down with the 24 hour flu or take one of my famous extra long lunch breaks. I have four jobs going on right now, from Statesboro to Valdosta... all of 'em needed to be done last week. If I am gonna get the 24 hour bug I want to plan it for a day when the weather and conditions are good.

We are launching out of Martins... I am told that is near the dam. I have a month to get out and see this lake before the tourney... depending on the honey do list I will get out there a couple of times before then. Are the channels marked well? Any standing timber or rocks or other stuff I need to look out for? I have looked at the lake on Google Earth and see very few shallow, long tapering points or humps (that are visible from space). Are the boat docks floaters or rigid? What do you guess to be the average depth? I am sure I can find fish ... it took me three outings on Oconee to find keepers though. Thanx for any help you can provide.

Hey Dink, When you say "deep", what depth is deep? I ask because of your location.

I share your frustration, Simp. My guess as to why it is harder to catch big fish in the summer is that the bait fish population is so active that it is harder to trick the big guys into biting. I look down on my fish finder and see these huge balls of bait fish... then I see floating bait fish that got smacked but not eaten... then I usually downsize my bait nearer the size of the bait fish I see. Instead of using a large lizard on my Carolina rig I will use a tube for instance. Or a smaller lizard. I know this goes against the 'larger bait for larger fish' mentality, but it sometimes works for me.

That is not always true. I have personally seen "floating islands' move from week to week on Kissimmee and West Lake Toho. I am quite sure it happens elsewhere too. http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/node/183

Surface temperature 83 to 88. Water clarity 6 inches to 5 feet. Fished a club tourney today on Oconee. This is back to back tourneys on this lake and we, as a club, did worse today than we did last month. It did not even take a double digit weight to win. The water was down somewhere near 2 feet and I have yet to see any water movement on this lake. The word is that this is a great lake when there is current but in four outings on this lake I have yet to see the slightest bit of current. Big fish has been around five pounds and the winning weight has been right at ten pounds (both club tourneys). I got skunked last month, as I was only able to catch 13 1/2" fish all day long (14" minimum size limit). Today I fared a little bit better and took second with three fish. Although this is a beautiful lake, I am glad we are done with this lake for the year. Up next, Lake Jackson... from what I am told it is yet another central Georgia jewel. Like Oconnee, I have never fished this lake before. Any Jackson pro's out there want to give me a heads up? Thanx in advance.

The hydrilla that I have fished is either just short, water level 'stalks' or the stuff on steroids... the kind of stuff that grows in very very long strands. I think this is the stuff that creates mats (first) or floating islands (second). From what I have seen, when it is the short stuff it is generally pretty thick and I found the thinner areas (holes, pockets, edges) to fish. When it starts to mat or float away from shore I then 'punched' through to the darker (and cooler) water underneath. I never bothered with any rattles or other noise makers... those fish are in ambush mode under there. I am gonna say that again... those fish are in ambush mode under there... stay focused between strikes (sometimes the strikes are few and far between) or you will miss fish or lose equipment! Some of the most violent strikes I ever had came from fish under hydrilla mats.

Fishkiller83, Firstly, I made no mention of drunk driver fatalities, sorry if I hit a sore spot with you. The census bureau says your fine state has 8% of the population and 10% of the traffic fatalities. I was in no way trying to defend boating or driving while drunk. Its just that you guys out there, as a whole, are worse drivers than pretty much the rest of us. I am nearly sure that you have at least the same rules, if not tougher, than us folks here in the east... and yet a higher percentage of you guys die in car crashes. Which was my point all along... making something illegal does not make it go away. People like to drink and some of them drive. It will never change. Same holds true for illegal drugs. If there is a demand there will be a supply. Secondly, less than 25% of your traffic fatalities involve drunk drivers. That means that 75 out of a hundred are straight up sober when they die in a car crash. Drunk drivers are a problem... but it seems as if you guys have a driver problem. Sorry to hear about your uncle.