Hyrule Bass

red shad

the direction the fish is swimming and the depth do not determine the direction i set the hook at all. i find if i have to think about that much after i feel the bite, then the fish is gone before i ever make my mind up. soon as i feel the bite, im tightening my line up and swinging in whatever direction my rod position dictates while also factoring in if someone is beside me or not. basically, you just need to practice swinging left, try to make it a habit of swinging left even when you dont have to...and practice in real water while fishing and/or atleast tie your line off to something. that way you can feel the resistance to simulate hooking a fish, rather than just yanking a practice plug through the grass

try shakey heads and t-rigged craws and/or creature baits...

those electric shavers seem like they leave too much stubble, never was a fan of them. I usually just let my beard grow and grow and then shave it on impulse when i get tired of it. i use small trimmers/clippers and shave the bulk of the hair off, then go back and hit with a razor so its smooth and clean. Before i shaved last week and got a hair cut last weekend i was looking like a 'sasquatch lol i never ever ever shaved my mustache off though, just trimmed it a little here and there....im afraid of what id look like without it =[

I agree, enjoy it. I always wish i still had a summer vacation... as for me, i work in printing and bulk mailing. We print envelopes, letters, and such to be mailed. I handle all the mailing lists and prepare them to address the envelopes or laser print letters and such. i also run said laser printers and help out on the inkjet printers for addressing envelopes if one of the normal operators is having problems. we do a lot of political mailings, non-profit orgs., self mailers, and the likes.

some nice fish there, that striper is huge too. someone caught a 40+ lber there not long ago. I cannot wait to get down there memorial day weekend and get some fishing in...

23 straight days, but it was at Wendys when i was attending classes at a local community college. some days were 8 hours, some were 9 hours, a lot were 5 hour days though. wasnt too tough, i took two weeks vacation afterwards though lol

i agree that someone had the right to put those lines there, and it probabaly is wrong to cut them. but if someone is clearly neglecting them as in the case of a giant dead flathead, then thats just as wrong. in the case described it seemed like neglect

even then, sounds like someone was neglectful in checking their lines. food fisherman or not, everyone needs to be respectful and mindful of our natural resources and try their best not to waste them

there are some big flatheads in smith mountain lake. probably 6 years ago i was fishing off a dock with an old zebco 33 before i got heavily into fishing and hooked into one that had to go 40+ lbs. i got it to the surface, it went into a death roll and snapped my 8lb line lol... it could have also been a big musky that tried to eat that bass, theyre in there, i caught a fingerling once...

WRONG!!! an ugly stik is plenty sensitive. why pay a bunch more money for minimal difference?

get rid of the shimano rods and get an ugly stik. Shimano might be decent, but on this board its severely overrated and overhyped...

i have to say, one of the most satisfying things is helping kids catch fish, even if it keeps me from seriously fishing. i got two little nieces that just love to fish, they're like 3 and 6 i think. the oldest always gets mad at me saying i catch all the big fish so she cant catch any. so sometimes if i hook a bass i will let her fight it and reel it in, same with a catfish. just the smile on her face when she reels up that "big" bass or "big" catfish is priceless. the youngest is just happy dropping her night crawler off the side of the dock and feeding and sometimes catching the bluegill that are hanging around...

here lately, 0 days a week. between moving a month ago and work being swamped i havent had much time to do anything. now i got family coming in town this weekend. maybe, just maybe, i can sneak off with my brother in law and hit up the river for some smallies or something...

watching the caps blow the last game made me literally sick. hopefully they can pull off the win tonite

i'll be laughing if a 50lb flattie or blue breaks your st croix

Wild Turkey Rare Breed...

gotta have something to help with the hangover the next day, right?

same one i use on occasion

i have an 8ft MH ugly stik catfish spinning rod and it works great for me. its paired with a Penn Captiva CV2 6000. To say you cant feel the bites is mind boggling because i have no problem detecting a bite on it. catfish give good solid yanks on it, i usually just prop mine up on something or have it in a rod holder. perhaps youre just not getting any bites. also the rod has nothing to do with catching turtles or catfish. in fact, i see that as maybe your number one problem right there. if youre fishing an area loaded with turtles, you might as well move on to another spot because the fish arent there most times, and if they are, the turtles are beating them to your bait. ive even seen this in large lakes like Smith Mountain Lake in VA. one time night fishing with my brother in law, nothing was biting but this big monster turtle, poor guy had like 8 hooks in his mouth by the end of the night. i was not about to try and get my hooks out of the mouth of this thing, especially with it ticked off and hissing at us. we had night crawlers for bait, and a bunch of 2-4 inch bluegill we caught in the cast night trying to get some alewives or shad. turtle bit on both of them and no fish were biting. next night he was gone and the fish were on...try a new location... catfishing isnt bass fishing, i wouldnt even worry about sensitivity and weight when catfishing. i prefer heavier gear to drive the hooks home when i get a bite, plus when you got the chance for a really big fish it helps to be prepared. although you can land huge cats on lightweight gear, id prefer not to...

All mono all the time for everything except for one baitcaster that has 17# fluorocarbon for the mono its big game, stren, and trilene XL and/or XT...various sizes...

stuck at work today and have to miss game 4 of caps-rangers...and the Nationals-Phillies too...damnit may have to pull up a live stream online...

try switching up baits to give them something theyre not used to. one pond i fish changes every year for what works great. its always something in never offered them much either. one year it was red shad worms, the next it was a white spinner bait, then a pink floating worm, the next they went gaga for rage tail craws and lizards....

i got the same text last week. never gave my phone number to any walmart or entered into anything. figured it was a scam and ignored it...

haha i agree. one time at the lake with my uncle we were leaving to go out on the boat. instead of him starting the boat and idling out of his boat dock, he likes to push off then start the boat. at the time he had no trolling motor and no paddles on the boat. so he pushes off, goes to start the boat, and the battery is dead. being a pontoon boat, i had to open the gate/door, get on my knees, and paddle us back to the dock with throw cushion float