VekolBass

I fish on water with tournament fishermen all the time. I'm probably lucky, but except for having them pull up a little closer than I care for occasionally, their presence doesn't bother me at all. Hardly notice their wakes, as compared to the cabin cruisers and water skiers, and when I'm dumb enought to get on the wrong part of the river, 150' commercial barges and things that look like the Queen Mary. I think it is really a matter of expectations. If you fish a body of water big enough to host tournaments, expect to deal with them and get over it. Concentrate on your fishing, and you generally won't notice them, or much of anything else.

After doing a bit of research, I'll have to concur with APHIS's decision, although I believe that there likely will need to be some adjustments in the order to take into account the concerns of state fisheries managers and those states that have watersheds separate from that of the Great Lakes. I'm also sure that politics and self interest have something to do with the position of the aquaculture industry as regards VHSV, in this case self-interest coincides largely with the public interest. A couple of pertinent items: According to Lane's original post, this is a new strain of the virus. As a different strain from either the Northern Pacific or European it may have different characteristics from either. It is best to understand what these characteristics are before we loosen the regulatory regime dicated by the APHIS order. The virus may be carried and made apparent by its effects in host fish, but it resides in the water. Because of this, probably nothing will stop the virus from infecting the entire Great Lakes, and any waters connected to it. Hopefully, the strain will allow some measure of immunity acquisition as does the Northern Pacific strain. As an aside. there is one recorded instance of VHSV in LMB. Ultimately, the best practice is to restrict the sale of baitfish to those waters where they were caught. In the case of farm raised baitfish the water needs to be tested for not only VHSV, but other diseases as well. If that hurts the bait industry, so be it. Dead bait can also transmit the virus, so similar rules should apply. Restrictions on tournaments is not an issue. The APHIS order only applies to live fish, and to my knowledge, all tournaments release their fish into the same waters where they were caught. There is some risk that regulations may be considered regarding cleansing of boats/livewells that have been exposed to VHSV infected water. I recommend we all wait for that to happen, and judge the regulations on their actual wording and likely effects on sportfishing before we get hysterical. Frankly, from what I've read this evening, particulary research done by the Australian government when considering their own fish importation restrictions, I highly doubt that such regulations will be considered. or should be. Besides, they are probably not enforceable. www.marlab.ac.uk/FRS.Web/Uploads/Documents/AAAH06MarineVHSV.pdf www.affa.gov.au/corporate_docs/publications/pdf/market_access/biosecurity/animal/2003/2003-15a.pdf www.enaca.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=805 www.nwrc.usgs.gov/world/content/plants3.html (Most, but not all of it)

Do you also need to take into consideration the specie you are fishing for and the amount of stretch inherent in the line to mitigate the possibility of the hook tearing out of the fish's mouth? For instance wouldn't 20lb or greater braid on a stiff rod increase the likelyhood of the fish pulling off, particularly as the distance to the end of the rod decreases?

Best wishes, and heal up fast.

You know if something is a scam when one of the hook lines is "been kept a secret for X years." Nothing can be kept secret. The Pentagon can not keep a secret, and lure manufacturers no sooner put out a bait than 20 other operators put out a knock-off. If something works in the fishing industry, it will be in the pages of BPS or Cabelas within 90 days. If something doesn't work, but attracts gullible fishermen, it will be out in 60. Thus spaketh the Bait Monkey.

That's interesting. I wonder who ESPN will try to blame for running that goldmine into the ground.

Vekol is a Tohono O'odham (Indian Tribe) word that means "thunder." If you drive west on Interstate 8 west of Casa Grande you will cross "Vekol" wash (a dry creek bed). I was driving past there at sunset on a September afternoon about 22 years ago, and something about that precise moment stuck in my mind--I still remember it today. Didn't have any idea what it meant till several years afterword when I got my first computer, on-line account, and needed a nic. Been using it ever since. The picture was taken earlier this year by my son. It came out very nicely, I thought, so it'll serve for my Avatar (and my screen background) till I get tired of it, or find something better.

Scam

I seriously considered not renewing my membership with BASS due to the Citgo relationship. Then I started to think about it. Citgo is paying BASS money to sponser their tournaments. Every dollar that Chavez sends to BASS is one less dollar he has to fund mischief in Latin America and elsewhere in the world. Frankly, I think it's too bad that BASS cancelled their relationship.

I've got some spinnerbaits that have missing blades. I would like to try and replace them, but I can't find any components for sale from my usual outlets (BPS and Cabela's). Where do you guys buy your spinnerbait components from?

If the bass don't eat them the catfish will. Live goldfish are prime bait for big catfish in many parts of the country.

Looks like it was a fantastic event. Way to go LBH!

Congratulations, beautiful boat. It will be money well spent.

This is the technique I learned this summer as a result of a challenge on the Member Challenge contest. My 18 year old son taught me how to do it. I started trying it on a small, clear stream near my house--and was amazed at how the bass reacted to the bait. I found out quickly that, at least under those conditions, they would immediately charge to within inches of the bait. Sometimes they would grab it and take off, sometimes they would inhale it, and move off slowly. The one constant is that if you set the hook and missed, that particular fish would not attempt to eat it again. Completely disinterested. I can attest, you do what RW says and you will catch bass. I have not tried Fat Ika's yet, but I think that's coming.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I'll opt for a inexpensive disposable camera for the boat, and perhaps an Olympus for non-fishing/hunting activities. I've had too many bad experiences with electronics around water to want to risk another $300. Did I mention the cell phone that wound up in the bottom of a Porta-Jon

This has not been my weekend. 5am Saturday morning I'm lying in bed and I hear and feel a loud thud outside the house, a large limb came off a tree in my back yard courtesy of tropical storm Ernesto and takes out a section of my fence. Then my digital camera dies. Then I discover that the clutch is going out in my truck. To cap it off, I went fishing this morning and this happens. I am using my trolling motor to get back to the dock at a local lake so I can drop my son off on the shore because he needs to drive back to Norfolk, VA where he goes to college. I pause to throw a spinnerbait at a fish that swirled on the surface, and my son says to me "dad, you're smoking." I was about to tell him that I was not smoking, I was chewing "as usual," when I noticed smoke coming from underneath the trolling motor mount. I immediately take my foot off the on switch of the foot pedal, but the smoke gets worse, and within 15 seconds there is sizzling and smoke is pouring out of the compartment where the TM battery is stored. We get the battery out of the compartment finally and disconnect it. The wiring from the battery to the plastic connector that hooks the TM receptacle is completely burned off--bare charred copper. The battery terminals were practically welded on. No visible damage from the connector through the receptacle to the trolling motor--although I have not tried to power it. Battery looks fine, I put it on the charger briefly, and it looks like it is completely drained--but somehow I don't have a good feeling about it. What happened here. Obviously it was a short of some kind--but how? I felt around underneath the mount and did not feel any sharp objects that could have cut the insulation. I had been running the TM for about 10-15 minutes straight prior to the fire. Any ideas so that I can avoid this in the future? P.S. Yes, I will install a circuit breaker this time. :-[

I received my monthly challenge via PM last night, and got my stuff ready to go fishing today. I checked my digital camera to make sure the batteries were OK, and the thing is dead. It won't power on. It was working last week when I took it to the beach. In the event that it is beyond repair, what recommendations do you guys have on digitial cameras for fishing? Since this is likely to be the second $300 camera that I've went through in the past four years, I think I need something durable.

OK, the color of bass is dependent on their exposure to light, which depends on season, water clarity, depth frequented, etc. The next question is how long does it take for a bass' coloration to change to adapt to a changed environment. Are they like chameleons that can do it in a few moments, or are they more like people that take a few days to get a good tan?

I don't use fluorocarbon but I have noticed the same thing. Little bass will hit the line where it enters the water. This happens all the time. Probably what the fish see is the dimple created by the line breaking/interrupting the surface tension of the water. Likely has a similar look to them as the dimple created by the weight of a surface insect. I'm sure bass can see the line, probably even flouorocarbon, but I'm not sure on that one. Just because they see it doesn't mean they understand what it is and what the consequences will be if they get their mouths around that thing the line is attached to.

No, I don't have one yet, but thanks for reminding LBH of something that I have to get. Fishing an aluminum on a windy day can really be a pain without something to control drift speed. Constantly fooling around with the TM is a distraction.

I would run spinnerbaits on the outside edge of weedbeds that are close to deep water. If that didn't work I would use a crankbait to probe the rockpiles--hopefully banging the bait off the rocks. That bridge/stickbed/rockpile combo near the middle of the lake would be my first stop. Don't stay in any one place too long--30 minutes tops if you don't get a hook-up. If you catch a fish with the crankbait or spinnerbait you can then switch to a plastic worm and see if that will catch more--if soft plastics are your thing.

At least once a week during the spring/summer/fall. I've fished three days in a row this weekend though. It's been a great weekend.

I just turned 45. My dad and I fished a lot together when he was still alive. However, he was into salt water fishing, so we did a lot of that down in Mexico back in the late 70's and early 80's. I really didn't even fish fresh water at all until I was a senior in college. I didn't fish specifically for bass until I was in my late 20s--around 1990.

Could be a shallow area with weeds at or just beneath the surface.

Fishinaz, From your profile I noticed that you live in Cochise county. I lived in Tucson most of my life (30 years.) So I would guess from the description of the lake you are talking about Parker Canyon. I also know that getting to decent fishing in southeastern AZ is difficult--there is really not much to choose from. (One of the good things about moving to Virginia.) If you can get the money together for gas you might want to try Pena Blanca lake northwest of Nogales. Since the mercury advisory there it hasn't had a lot of fishing pressure during the summer, and when I was there the bass fishing was good. There is considerable shoreline access with a foot trail that I think pretty much goes around the lake. If you can get a small boat on the water (maybe even a float tube) I think you could do pretty well. The only potential problem is that it gets pretty weedy as the summer progresses. If you're interested in going there, PM me and I'll tell you about a spot that consistently produced bass, as well as crappie and panfish. Just be careful about night fishing--too much narcotics trafficking/illegals/Border Patrol activity in that area. Patagonia is also an option, it does have rental boats (at least it did when I was there), but the navigation and fishing can be pretty difficult on the weekends with all the pleasure boaters going in circles at wide open throttle. Recommend the northern arm of the lake which is no-wake. I never really had much luck bass fishing at Patagonia though. Not too far from Safford are the ponds on Cluff Ranch. Shoreline access to these can be somewhat difficult as well due to weeds, and they are rather small. There are bass in these ponds. The few times I was there we were mainly concentrating on panfish though. I seem to remember fishing a topwater and getting a decent size bass to bust up at the lure (a black Hula Popper I believe), but that was almost 20 years ago. Things might have changed.