Red Bear

yeah that, or he will turn into a perrenial probowler or something...

ok, i was just wondering what experiences you had with the EC hooks. i understand about everyone having their preferences, and thats fine, sometimes i just wonder why though. ive had some hooks rust, but not many. i never bent one though unless it was an abeerdeen hook which are thin wired hooks anyways. btw, never caught a fish with a gammy, just have zero luck with them when i tried them, not as in missed hooksets, but as in no bites whatsoever

just throw what you feel comfortable with or what you normally throw would be my best advice. infact you already named the one thing i do everywhere, thats slow rolling soft plastics, that would be the first thing i tried, t-rigged...

i think its just the line itself. i have the exact same 12lb XL Trilene line on one of my spinning rods and i notice the same thing with it easily fraying and i havent casted it in the grass any. i dont think its rod tips or guides either. its just how the line is, but it hasnt been an issue for me either, ive had 0 breakoffs with it. i would however suggest checking your line after a few fish to see if you need to retie...

i dont think its neccesarily your equipment, unless its dull hooks. it could also be your drag is set too loose as someone mentioned. no offense to anyone, but some people here are rod/reel/tackle snobs and will have you thinking you need a $400 rod and reel combo to catch and land nice fish, which is completely false. Perhaps youre waiting too long to set the hook or just not setting it hard enough... Gangley, a lot of people have complained about those Trokar hooks breaking, they dont sound too good to me if thats the case. Also, there is NOTHING wrong with Eagle Claw. I've used mostly EC hooks my entire life and they are plenty sharp and plenty strong and i've never had a problem out of them. i'd like to know what you have against them

I like both of those lines, but if i had to chose im going with the big game...

im hoping to get back down there this weekend. it all depends on if i can get atleast half a day off work friday, trying to get the whole day though. whats holding me up is my boss and his son who works here are also taking off friday to go camping and fishing. my bosses wife may not want to let me have off because freaks out over stuff like that. it all depends on how the work week shapes up and if i can get everything done with nothing important looming around...

-baby bass colored kinami flash t-rigged on EWG 4/0 hook -white spinnerbaits -7in berkley shakey worm in red shad color

fishing regulations are about more than size limits and keeping fish though

like burley would say, ignorance of the law is no excuse. its your duty to educate yourself on them if you dont know them all give me a break. maybe I should have been more specific, but show me one person that knows every law there is, I doubt you can find one. I'm probably one of the most honest, law abiding people you've never met. (in the last 10 years at least lol. used to be a trouble maker) In regards to keeping a fish that's under the limit, I would never keep one, doesn't matter how close it was. your history of honesty isnt gonna cause the game warden to give you a break, but a ticket instead. i didnt mean to sound as if i were saying you were ignorant, but if you dont know all the laws for where you fish then you need to research them. its YOUR responsibilty to know them. doing something illegal on accident doesnt mean its all of a sudden legal just because you didnt know.

top water will work all summer pretty much, though there are those days when it seems nothing will work

like burley would say, ignorance of the law is no excuse. its your duty to educate yourself on them if you dont know them all

i use mono for everything just fine, havent found a situation where i felt i would 'need' to use braid...

The Riverkeepers can't be everywhere which is why the pictures are important. Dead fish of 2-3 days ago would be long gone by now if I went out there today. or there could be more and more popping up dead its a like a 15 minute drive for you to get there if youre that concerned

or you could tell them to go out to Algonkian Park on the Potomac and have a look, in which they could also collect a water sample or fish sample to study. youre not far from there yourself either

just about everyone is going to name something different, my advice would be to throw what youre comfortable and confident throwing

if it was up to you using anything but a cane pole and red wigglers would be illegal in tournaments

ive never had much luck with gamakatsu hooks myself. are they your regular hooks that you typically use?

thanks guys. Sean, thanks for letting me know that, i usually hook up a light on the dock to shine in the water right there and draw up bait fish. the alewives were in that night, probably a big reason why the striper was in there, the alewives werent in there the night before though. Sam, i rarely if ever keep fish as i dont eat them, usually just if some family or a close friend wants them to eat. i do throw all largemouth back along with most every fish i catch. Also, if stripers could reproduce on SML i wouldve thrown her back after a couple quick pictures, measurement, and weighing. Also, i always try to be prepared before i start fishing, makes things much smoother. Ive lost a couple fish i regret losing because i didnt have the net near by and forgot it up in the garage or something. i specifically took the net out of the boat and laid it on the dock near the side where i bring in any of the bigger fish i catch out there.

you mean stuff like rebel crickhoppers? i havent fished at algonkian since i was a kid and our family had reunions there, im going to get out there this summer and try it out. not to thread hijack, but has anyone ever fished out of Bles Park? I've got cicada look a like lures that do very well! white/clear curly tail grubs on small jig heads too! thanks, i might hit that up soon, i got some white curly tailed grubs and some in chartruese, i think i need smaller jig heads though. i imagine my crickhoppers would work, along with a couple other things i have too...

you mean stuff like rebel crickhoppers? i havent fished at algonkian since i was a kid and our family had reunions there, im going to get out there this summer and try it out. not to thread hijack, but has anyone ever fished out of Bles Park?

haha, i was just about to comment on that hat too...

they should be tearing the crickets up, perhaps you just need to try a different place. then again i was at smith mountain lake this weekend and decided to catch a small bluegill under the light on the dock using night crawlers so i could throw it out on a bigger hook and hope for a big catfish or bass to take it, and them little bluegill wouldnt bite or even look at my nightcrawler, yet earlier they were chasin around a 5in senko. and normally they would be all over that nightcrawler.

i wasnt aware about eating the eggs, but then again i dont even eat fish. i gave it to some family to enjoy.