D4u2s0t

I like to think I don't have a big ego, and would be happy just knowing I caught it. I don't think I would want everything that comes along with a record catch, and in all honesty, i'd probably feel bad about killing the fish, and would put it back. Hard to say, because I've never been in that situation. Plus, I fish private lakes that are not pressured, on a busy day you may see 3 or 4 boats out. Once people found out a record came, the lake would be swarming with everyone under the sun. No thanks. I'd probably have a replica made, tell friends and family, and enjoy the memories that came with the fish everytime I look at the mount on the wall. If I actually caught a record, all this may go to the wind, so who knows lol. Can't really say until i'm put in that situation.

looks like a 2-3 pounder, depending on the size of those forceps. The 2nd set of pics is prob. less than a pound.

you didn't start anything, and many people here share the same view on this topic. there's loads of people that won't target bedding fish.

Exactly why I won't purposely fish for bedding bass... Taking a bass off a bed and moving on, and especially taking both the male and female in my opinion shows nothing but total disregard for continuation of the species, and a lack of respect for both the sport and for the fish... just my opinion. I don't care if other people do it, I mean I wouldn't say something to someone on the lake or anything like that, but you won't find me doing it.

I go for panfish mostly when the bass are not biting, early in the season, late in the season, or on that day where I just can't find the bass. If you have an ultra lite pole, with small line, panfish can be just as fun as bigger fish. Having a fish hammer your bait like panfish do, and then the rod bending in half, and pulling drag while bringing it in. I caught a 1 1/2 lb perch last week, biggest i've ever seen in my life. Nearly yanked the rod out of my hands, and gave me more of a fight on my ul than most bass do on a medium or higher pole.

nice smallies!! must have put up a helluva fight

I heard that. I lived 50 years in New Jersey where any bass over 3 pounds was a dandy. Come on down Roger beautiful, and agreed! Anything over 3lbs is a great fish up this way, last year hitting the lake 3-4 times a week, best I got was just under 5... boooo But great fish, i'll take em like that anyday!

you can use the fish calculator in the tacklebox section for pretty good estimates, which you can get close here since it's pretty easy to figure out how long a shoe is... if your shoe is about 11 inches long, puts that fish around 6# and change. Still a great fish, and a pb is the best!

no prob. Small spinners are good too, 0 or #1 or 2 mepps... Kastmaster spoons are good as well. But I always do best with a pack of nightcrawlers. Of course make sure you use an ultra lite pole with light line, makes catching these lil fish alot of fun! When a big perch or 'gill starts pulling out drag, and your rod is bent in half, can be just as much fun (or more) as pulling in a big bass! If you're using anything heaver than lite, or even medium, it won't be anywhere near the same. I love perch fishing because like I said, once you find the school, you can catch them near every cast. Good times, with the right setup. Before the bass start biting, I'll be out there with the ul catching panfish.

I have the haynes for my car, you still kinda have to know what you're doing, because like you said it's still tough for someone that is a beginner to do much. What kind of car do you have?

seems kinda hypocritical to look down on people for keeping bass, and then wondering how you can catch fish to eat... just saying. Panfish are simple. Can't go wrong with nightcrawlers and a #8 hook, if the fish are there, they will bite, no doubt. Since you're looking for larger (I would assume, since you're going to eat them) you're going to want to look for the deeper structure, and areas that are hard for anglers to get to. You will find tons of small fish under docks, around rocks, etc. But the big ones will be in the hard to reach places, so work on your casting. I went out with my bro for perch last week, we were fishing the same bait, same spot, but I was consistently pulling in bigger fish. The reason was I was able to cast to spots that he wasn't. The big one of the day, which was my pb perch at 1 1/2 lbs, was caught throwing my worm under an overhang that was surrounded by stumps... basically had less than a foot of clearance to get under. And that's where the big ones were. Like many fish, your best bet will be around drop offs, points with access to deeper water, and usually around dams are a good spot. Around islands, humps, etc. Perch (which imo are the best panfish to eat) are school fish, and this time of year when you find them, you'll pull in tons of them. After a while, you won't want the small ones, you'll want the bigger meaty ones. One big mistake I see people doing all the time is fishing too shallow, regardless of species. Immediately after ice out on my lake, the bank beaters came out, and of course like you would expect, there's nothing to be found that shallow. So depending on the water temp, adjust to fish more shallow or more deep. Perch start their spawning movements on many lakes before the ice has even melted, and spawn shortly after ice out. So they can def. be found shallow still depending on the conditions. But like I said, you won't get the big ones dropping a hook off the dock.

Me and my buddy decided to try out luck at some walleye yesterday, we both hooked one and lost it at the boat lol. sucked. I've never caught a walleye in the states, so was pretty pumped. We both got them till about 2 feet from the boat, just enough to be able to see and confirm it was a walleye. Hard to tell how big they were, so i'm not even going to guess. We ended up getting a crapload of perch though, so still a good time.

I plan on watching it, and am a big fan of the original. Do they keep the story line the same, just with updated graphics? or is it totally different than the original.

If you're going to use a fluke, maybe try it on a jig head as well. That way you can get it to fall right in any holes in the grass.

I buy a 1200 yard spool for 8 dollars at walmart, how much cheaper are you looking?

mr. senko lol

It's a little different here than anywhere else in the country for the most part. Once you get out of this area, it's all significantly cheaper.

You're living in the past. The tradition of the bride's father/family paying for the wedding is becoming a thing of the past. Because weddings have become more elaborate and expensive, it is fairly common for parents of the bride and groom to share the cost. Hate to burst your bubble, but there it is. My company owns a wedding center, and the trend in my area in the last 3 or so years is more and more brides and grooms are paying for most of the wedding themselves. Between the old school parents, who had their whole wedding for 5,000, many of them can't believe that a nice wedding these days can cost anywhere from 30-75,000 and up. wow whats the matter with people? No wonder they get so peed when they divorce ;D seriously only a millionare should pay for that amount. Thats crazy. But its America ya can do it if ya want :-X In new jersey and new york, the weddings are intense. There's many places that are $2-$300 per person and up. A "cheap" place that's still nice will usually run at least $150 per person or so. And that's just for the hall. Majority of the good photographers are anywhere from 4-7 thousand for a decent package, video is anywhere from 1-3k depending on package, and dj is anywhere from 1-5k. So just those few things can really add up. The funny thing is, (well, not funny) so many people have this big fancy wedding they can't afford, just to try to impress their guests. Seems stupid to me.

that was going to be my suggestion, try ripping a crankbait through the grass, you may be surprised at the results. Just make sure you have heavy enough line and rod to pull it out. You want to really rip it out, so the grass falls off the bait. A fish won't nail a clump of swimming grass so much lol. If it's just too thick to try that, like already said, go over the top, and try to hit any holes that are there. Or, you can try a weedless plastic and try to get it through. I love the money minnow, which has already been suggested, if you rig it weightless and put the hook point in the back a little bit, it will be easy to pull it through some nasty cover.

I made a good one last year, so not when I was learning, but worth it to tell. Man, was I heated!! Some may remember my post last fall about a fish that did not move for days, and just pecked at my bait. Everyone said 'gill, perch, or rock lol. But I knew that wasn't hte case. Finally I ticked the fish off enough to bite, set the hook, and said to myself Must have a stump... won't budge! couldn't move the line, couldn't work it free, so I walked down the dock and started to walk along the shore. When I got on the beach, all of a sudden my line took off for the dock!! I ran back to the dock as i'm reeling in the line, but it was too late, fish spit it. I continued reeling in, in complete shock, and the fish came back for a 2nd hit as I was pulling the bait from the water. It was a muskie, and would have been my first. Right at the dock he pulled a 180, and made a big commotion in the water. Didn't get to see how big it was, just caught enough of a glimpse to know it was a muskie. So why was I so upset? Because afterwards, I realized i was fishing in the swimming lanes, and there's zero stumps, sticks, rocks, basically nothing possible to get caught up on... Man was I ticked to lose my first muskie...

You're living in the past. The tradition of the bride's father/family paying for the wedding is becoming a thing of the past. Because weddings have become more elaborate and expensive, it is fairly common for parents of the bride and groom to share the cost. Hate to burst your bubble, but there it is. My company owns a wedding center, and the trend in my area in the last 3 or so years is more and more brides and grooms are paying for most of the wedding themselves. Between the old school parents, who had their whole wedding for 5,000, many of them can't believe that a nice wedding these days can cost anywhere from 30-75,000 and up.

the rage website shows tips and tells you the best ways to rig all of their baits... and the little paper that comes in the bag is handy too. If you still have it, take a look. Otherwise the rigging instructions are on rage's website.

x2. I don't have any crazy cover, so for the vast majority of my lake 12# mono is enough to pull a lure free if I hang up. Light line around the rocks, if i'm fishing from shore, sometimes i'll get hung up but can usually work it out. Did the slingshot (or bow and arrow) technique today, got my #2 mepps out from a rock.

Like said, I fish both... but I regularly outfish people using live bait, while i'm using artificials. If people are getting outfished because someone used live bait, maybe they need to work on their presentation, instead of blaming the bait lol. Someone said it well in this thread, if you simply think using live bait is guaranteed to catch more fish, try it some more.

your line constantly breaks at the spool??? weird... what kind of line, and what strength do you use? Do you have a knick in your spool or something? or have the drag set wrong?