Ratherbfishing

At least here in Illinois it's "You guys".

A friend caught one last week in Wisconsin that was somewhere between 15 and 20 lb. He had never fished before and was using a medium action rod with 6 lb line and a DT crankbait. Well, I say he caught it because he hooked it and he used the net to bring it aboard but it was pulling so hard and going so fast under the boat and I instinctively/reflexively took the rod from him so it wouldn't break off. I apologized profusely afterwards for "stealing his thunder" but he was okay with it as it was as big as and fought like a "hoss!" Since I mostly practice catch and release anyway and since they don't seem to be taking over most of the lakes I know of, I'd be happy to catch them frequently. This one was only the third I've seen or caught.

If my heart rate had been monitored while fishing a few days ago, they'd have thought I'd "flat-lined" and pronounced me dead. I think I was brain-dead too.

You can only claim HALF a record.

Going commando might chafe your naughty bits. I recommend wearing captain marvel underwear.

Just about the time you mount that fish, you will catch a larger one. So....GO FOR IT!!!!!

I almost got spooled while trolling and I snagged and I could not get the boat operator to stop immediately. But on a fish? Never even close.

true.

I suspect this collection is daddy's (or grandpa's) collection-like when you let your child reel in your fish.

I still stand by the spontaneous generation theory. But really, there HAD to be something in your box to attract flies. Maggots are gross.

They should make a larger version and call it "Not the Mama." (Re: Dinosaurs TV series. Google it).

I have a fairly clean record on this site so I'd better not start now....

Yeah, it couldn't be ALL of them as there are hundreds, if not thousands, of patterns. He must have mowed a LOT of lawns! Where did you find this pic?

You might tie on a length of heavier "leader"material. For instance, go from 12 lb mono to a 2 foot section of 20 lb mono or fluorocarbon. It won't stop all the bite offs but it'll help.

I realized after I posted that an opossum isn't another fish species. Just another species. I'd move it if I could but anyhow...those pics look like me the day after a bender-especially the second one.

An opossum has been hanging around our back deck lately and has been sitting on one of the rails. My girlfriend wants to run it off because she believes it's scaring the cat away but I think it is adorable. It hasn't dug into any of the flower pots (yet) so I don't mind it being there. Am I the only one who thinks opossums are cute? And am I the only one who feels compelled to put an apostrophe after the letter "O"?

Well, more power to you then! February is a good time to get away.

You hadn't, I don't think, mentioned time of day. During low light, I get a lot more misses. I don't always use a trailer hook because I don't like how they foul up in vegetation so I just chalk the misses up as necessary evils.

It's telling you that you need to fish for panfish. More proof that maggots arise spontaneously. And the earth is flat.

Sounds like it could have been MUCH worse. The rod tip wasn't broken, you saved the guide, and you even managed to find the lure you (almost) lost. When I lose a lure, it is usually completely, totally, and utterly lost (at least for me).

Bob. It's name is Bob.

I'm corn-fuzed about the transducer mount. I've not yet met a magnet that sticks to aluminum. Do you put an iron plate on the "dry" side of the boat?

Didn't you, a short while ago, say that you were in between jobs and wanted advice about paying credit cards? Just sayin'....

I generally neither measure or weigh. I just hold it up, proclaim it a "nice fish" and let it go. OCCASIONALLY, I will hold my rod against it, make a mental note of where, on the rod, the fishes mouth stops, and then measure that distance later. But this is rare because I don't catch that many giants.

Since my job is...(how can I say this politely?)..."not particularly interesting", a fair amount of my identity has gone into fishing. Consequently, when the fishing is poor and/or the weather is too uncomfortable to fish, it does cause me to wonder if I have my priorities straight and, perhaps, I oughta just find a good book to read instead. Different strokes for different folks but I could never see tournament fishing as anything but an invitation for stress and frustration. If I lose a fish now (or don't hook it in the first place), it is simply an "oh well." I prefer to keep it that way.