Goose52

You would have to consult your state Fish & Game agency if you are talking about tagging in public waters. I would imagine that it's NOT generally legal in most places, or might only be legal with a state permit or whatever. In my case, our 11 lakes are controlled by a homeowner's association, and we can mostly do what we want regarding tagging, stocking, etc. as long as we don't violate any Tennessee statewide regulations that apply to our waters.

I am actually very good at "splelling" ... I am not as good at spelling ... Record keeping is something I have always done personally, and was a part of my professional life as well. That record keeping aptitude (as well as the ability to catch a couple bass now and again) is what got me "drafted" into the tagging program. It's interesting stuff...

We seem to have a run on regurgitated worms ! I backed off on my theory that the worm was in my fish for 9 months however. STILL, a whopping 4 worms in your fish...I wonder how long they were in there ???

A hungry fish for sure...

I haven't. I do occasionally revisit spots to see if they have "re-loaded" but I've never re-caught a tagged fish on the same trip. For untagged bass, I think I've possibly re-caught the same fish within an hour (based on photograph comparison). But generally, I think that most fish aren't gong to "re-bite" until a considerable amount of time has passed, perhaps until the next day... I selected two bass and looked up the baits: Bass #004 - caught 5 times - baits used: Speed Craw, Fat Albert grub, Super Speed Craw, Speed Craw, Gander Mountain grub Bass # 010 - caught 4 times - baits used: Speed Craw, Speed Craw, Speed Craw, Super Speed Craw

I read a study that reported that while bass often become conditioned to hard baits, with bite rates declining after repetitive exposure, they are much less likely to be conditioned to soft baits. I would have to check my data, but off-hand I would say that many of my recaptures were with the same bait, and in a few cases were caught on consecutive days.

Primarily for monitoring LMB growth rates as part of an ongoing study assessing the quality/fertility of our local lakes. We have 11 main lakes in our community, totaling about 530 acres. I have been measuring and weighing thousands of bass for the last 7 years. My data is provided to our Lakes Consultant, who also receives data from our local bass club. He uses those thousands of data points as part of his assessment of the health/quality of the fishery. He also uses seining techniques to assess annual recruitment, measures water chemistry, and uses other factors as part of his overall review. The lakes are generally of low fertility, with less than optimum reproduction of forage fish, and are low-yield regarding catch rates. Our bass are generally thin - averaging about 75-85% of national average weights. Some of the low fertility relates to the geology of the lakes - I guess they would be classified as highland reservoirs, with a rock substrate, and in many places a rock or muck bottom. There is little emergent vegetation, but some of the lakes do have significant sub-surface vegetation at certain times of the year. Corrective measures have included lake fertilization which was effective but opposed by the majority of residents due to the extreme staining of the water. Hundreds of fish structures (concrete & pvc pipe "porcupines") have been constructed and placed at strategic places in the lakes and those are effective in providing an area for algae growth (on the pvc) - attracting both forage fish and bass (I caught 3 bass off a field of those structures just this morning). Tilapia have been stocked due to their rapid growth and reproductive rates in an effort to provide additional forage. So, knowing that the lakes are low fertility/low yield, the next step was to assess actual growth rates of known fish. A pilot program was started in one lake and that gave some good data so I was drafted to tag bass in 3 other lakes (totaling 65 acres). I'm in the second season now and have tagged about 630 bass so far and have many recaptures. As mentioned earlier, the data is showing poor growth rates, with little to no growth in some fish over the course of a year. In some cases, we have negative weight changes after a year. It's looking like we could have 10" bass that might be 3 or 4 years old! If the data trend of slow growth continues next year, I am going to recommend to the Lakes Consultant that we take some scale samples to determine the actual age of some of these fish. At the end of the day, there is a limit to what can be done to improve the fishery. There is only so much budget for forage fish stocking and habitat improvement, most residents are not anglers and like the lakes to look like swimming pools (clear water and no cover), and in general we are fighting mother nature in the geology of the lakes. So, that's the story!

Sure - no way to tell for SURE that it was the same worm...but I still think it's likely. Judging from the amount of algae on the ID tag, it's likely that no one has caught that bass since my 9-23-2015 capture (people tend to get curious about the tags and scrape algae off to see what it says). On the 9-23 recapture, I caught it with a crankbait so no worm introduction then. The lake doesn't see that much fishing pressure and of those that do fish there - they are mostly "beat the bank with a stickbait" type angers. I caught this fish 3 times - all at depths below 12 feet or so. Lastly - whether it was one of my own worms that had been tossed in the last few hours or days and swallowed by this fish. Nope - the worm was too deteriorated for that...AND, I haven't fished a Culprit worm in that lake since last year. The bass was caught yesterday on a BPS 10" Squirmin' Worm - the only worm I have fished in that lake this year... Regardless. like flyfisher said, the tagging program is interesting and you don't have to guess whether you recaught a fish, you know for sure you did. I have several fish that I have now caught 5 times, and many others with 4, 3. and 2 captures. The data is depressing however, confirming what we have always suspected, very slow growth rates of the bass in these lakes - with some fish showing essentially no growth over a one year period. The next few years will be eye-opening I'm sure...

Back in the 1960s, my Dad ran his airboat out of the club on Tamiami Trail. We fished for bass out of his airboat but back then most folks only had one or two rods so we didn't have much of a storage problem. We'd fish until dark, then we'd gig frogs. 50 years ago...where has the time gone... Sounds like you have your boat rigged really well for fishing...

I normally don't comment in this thread anymore unless I see a bass in the photos but you sure have put together some VERY nice rigs... NOW - time to slime them up....

I'm in the second season of working a bass tagging program in several of my local lakes and had an interesting observation on a recaptured bass today. I caught and tagged LMB #120 on 9-11-2015 and at that time it was 369mm (14.5") long and weighed 1.41 lb. I recaptured that bass 12 days later, on 9-23-2015, and it was essentially the same length and weight. In neither capture did I observe anything protruding from the throat of the bass (I would have pulled it out if I had). Today, I recaptured #120 again. It was 376mm (14.8") long and weighed 1.60 lb. The fish was a scrappy fighter, healthy looking, and was nice and plump for it's length. HOWEVER, this time, when I brought the bass into the boat, it spit up a plastic worm. Hmmmm, I look at the worm and identify it as most likely a Culprit ribbontail, in red shad color. I get home, check the spreadsheet, and I initially caught LMB #120 on a.....wait for it.....10" Culprit ribbontail in the only color I use for that bait - red shad. I don't know what is typical for most cases, but here's at least one case of a fish having a soft plastic in it's body for more than 9 months with no indication of ill effects. The data on this fish does indicate a slow growth rate over these 9 months, but my recapture data is showing that this slow growth rate is typical of many of my recaptured bass Otherwise, the fish was healthy in all other respects. This tagging program is providing some pretty nifty observations and growth data in only the first 18 months of the program. It will be interesting to see how things look in the years down the road... EDIT: I just spent some time in the garage trying to fold that worm remnant into a ball and visualizing how it could stay in a 14" bass while still allowing normal digestion. I guess I can't picture it working either. SO, I will VOID my original conclusion and go with the preponderance of opinion of the board members. As close as I can come to a theory now is that due the deteriorated condition of the worm fragment, it was probably adrift in the lake for quite a while...perhaps even since last year, and this bass just swallowed it at some point in the relatively recent past. The fact that the worm is the same type/color as what caught the fish 9 months ago is just happenstance. Ah, it was a good story for a while...

A coincidence that I was fishing a 3/8 oz Dredge jig yesterday and had about a 2 - 3 pound LMB toss the jig on the second jump. I can't say with the limited time that I've fished them so far that they keep the fish buttoned-up any better than other hook styles...but it DOES seem like I initially stick the bass better with this hook style. Other board members have given the Dredge good reviews in earlier threads. A couple days ago - a 4.4 on a 3/8 oz Dredge in Bama Craw:

Kayaks are indeed usually easier to paddle/faster, are more stable, and a SOT is self-bailing - good for salt and white water. However, for a lake of 500 acres, and one of your options is a canoe with a TM, for me it's an easy decision (assuming the canoe you select to motor is stable enough - correctable with outriggers if necessary). Why paddle around a lake of 500 acres when you can motor around and fish on the move. Plus, when you DO have winds, you'll find you can hold in the wind with the TM, while still fishing, and not have to either continually anchor, or paddle, to hold position. My lakes run from 1.5 to 200 acres and the only time I paddle is when the weeds get so thick that you have to raise the TM to clear the slop.

As many on the board might know, I have long supported the efficacy of "value-priced" equipment for bass fishing........but this is a bit more "value" than I have ever promoted... BTW - the Florida state record flathead catfish (63.8 lbs) was just reeled in with a................wait for it...............Zebco 33 !!

Now THAT'S how to slime-up a reel ! Congrats on the new U.S. PB and the HUGE "sack-O-bass" !!!!

Not much you NEED to do with a Calcutta 200B. A drag upgrade is good bang-for-the-buck. You could upgrade the spool bearings and super-tune if you want to spend the bucks. Handles? Lots of them will fit. You might want to install a longer handle if you think you need the additional leverage. The Hawgtech handle works well and looks good on Calcuttas (see photo). If you decide to super-tune and/or upgrade bearings, our board sponsor Mike at Delaware Valley Tackle could handle that for you. Have fun - Calcuttas are nice reels...

A most excellent mobile fishing platform !!!!

You and me both. It's "only" 90 outside right now...but I knew it was going to be warm enough today that I blew off having a " boat day"... Bank fished this morning, got a little bass, mission complete. A bass a day keeps the doctor away...

I hadn't thought of the light from the sonar - good tip. Like A-Jay said earlier about his night-ops in his canoe, in all likelihood I would also be the ONLY one on the water at night in my little lakes so I guess my "nav light" would be a flashlight as well. Or perhaps I could "legal-up" and get a mast light intended for kayaks and run that under the rule applying to vessels under 7 meters in length... Now, to work on forging my wife's signature on a "permission slip"

A question Andy. I know a lot of your "night-ops" were in your canoe. Were you running nav lights or at least a white mast/all-round/anchor light ??

Sigh - I wish I could fish at night...my wife won't let me...she thinks I'll drown or the boogeyman will get me... Maybe one of these days I'll get a "permission slip" to give it a try ! Great post Andy !

FIRST - Buy and ALWAYS wear a PFD. If you haven't yet, give some thought to how you are going to transport it, store it, and use it. How much weight can you handle? How many people in the boat? Solo only? How much stability do you need? Do you want to stand and fish? Search this forum for topics related to canoes. There have been many discussions this year alone and things to look for and considerations specifically related to fishing. Regarding canoe vs. kayak - there have also been several discussions about the pros and cons of that. Find those threads and read up. Here's a post I made in one of the treads that are linked below: How do you plan on using your canoe? Solo or more than one person? (to determine the length of the canoe - for two anglers you want at least 14', 15' would be better) Do you want to stand and fish? (to determine how much stability you will need - you can get stability with factors like hull design, beam, weight, and length; you can add stability with outriggers) How much gear do you want to take with you? (another factor in length of canoe) John mentioned weight. Weight can go both ways. A heavier canoe may tend to be more stable, but that brings with it penalties on ease of transportation and potential portaging. Light weight canoes are easier to transport and manhandle...but may not be as stable. Something to think about. How will you transport it? Car-top, truck bed, back of SUV/van, trailer? (affects how heavy a canoe you can handle) Do you plan to ONLY paddle the canoe, or are you thinking about motoring it? (If you are only paddling, ease of paddling is a major factor. AND, some of the factors that give you stability for standing might negatively affect ease of paddling [like a wide beam]) Those are a few things to thing about. Here's some reading to get you started:

Guys, I think the OP was specifically inquiring about reel seats like those in the photo below...not modern reel seats having "pistol grips"... And, another recent photo of the type of reel seat under discussion:

I've had my Radisson on the water about 375 times over the last 6 seasons. VERY thin gauge aluminum, lots of dents in the bottom on the hull. BUT, no leaks. Seems like the 'ole gal has quite a few more seasons of service left. A Sportspal, with thicker gauge aluminum, and better construction than a Radisson, should outlast my boat. I think you will be enjoying your boat for a LONG time.....but do stay away from those big rocks...

You already have lots of recommendations on the reel... CONGRATS ON THE STATE RECORD BASS !!!