Ratherbfishing

And, according to the oversized rat, SOMETHING is going to be biting.

As long as we're dreaming, I want a device which targets and fries mosquitoes, deer flies, and ticks BEFORE they can inflict any damage upon my person. I want an "umbrella" which hovers several feet over me (so as to not obstruct my casting), senses the suns position (relative to me) and then shades me comfortably. I want a water cooling machine which provides a nice cool (and pleasantly scented) mist of water over me on hot days. I want a very thin and comfortable electric body suit which not only makes me appear more muscular than I am but which also pulsates warmth on those nasty cold days. I want a trolling motor which reads my thoughts (even before I think them) and positions the boat perfectly for each and every cast. I want a battery which weighs less than 1 lb which will keep me trolling happily on an extended fishing trip AND provides enough power to grill numerous ham and cheese sandwiches. I want a fish finder which is so senstive and accurate that it will even do an ultrasound of the fish to see what they have been eating lately. I also want the images from the transducer to be displayed neatly on a heads up display on my sunglasses. I want a little remote control boat which can carry my baits quickly, quietly, and accurately under and/or around docks and overhanging trees, etc. I want little tazer device which I can use on my fishing partner when he (or she) is late at the dock, front boats me, or catches more fish than I do (especially if they have the poor discretion of broadcasting said discrepancy).

Doesn't that just feel GOOD?!

Tell me (us) about an occassion when you felt like you were on the top of your game and why. I guess one of my better performances was on a day when we were catching bass in stands of flooded cattails. The bass had been pretty consistently biting texas rigged creature baits and crawdad baits and my buddy and I were nearing probably 30 bass apiece. Maybe more. Some clouds began to move in and a light wind began to blow. As though a light bulb had gone out, the bass all but stopped biting. We considered moving on but it was obvious to me that the bass were still there. They had just become tight-lipped. I remembered (or had imagined) reading that sometimes, when the bass stop biting, it's best to downsize before quitting or moving on. So I got my spinning rod out, tied on a little 2/0 hook and 1/16 ounce bullet weight and switched to a little 2 inch creature bait (Power Hawg). I'm not going to say we picked up as many as before but it definitely improved again. I felt like I had finally and REALLY applied something that I had learned.

ACTUAL fishing or daydreaming about fishing? I don't fish anywhere near as much as I would like. I don't see myself going out every day but every other day would be pretty sweet. Apart from my trips to Canada, the most fishing I've ever done was when my g-friend was out of country. I fished 12 days in a row then.

Super flukes, like all baits, work great until they don't. There are too many factors (some predictable and some not) which determine if they will work.

You can come over to all our retention ponds if you like. I can hardly stand the dirty buggers. Candada geese make much better tourists than they do permanent residents.

Seems like it would be a good bait for punching through matted vegitation. I liked your illustration(s).

So, were they trolling trolls? jk

Outdoor shows are to shows what (most) 4th of july parades are to parades.

Got mine. It's already between the mattress and the box springs.

Glad you released her back into the gene pool.

With those inline spinners, you'll want something with a LOT of torque. The Toro Winch is a reel I've heard is optimized for big, high resistance baits. Can't speak on others.

Public Service Announcement: "Say No To Crack!"

Those figures seem awfully inflated. If I spent even half the amount you've described, I'd have to get a second (or third) job. It IS true that I spend more than I probably ought but compared to those figures, I'm an absolute pauper. I'm certainly NOT going to suggest someone else spend more, less, or the same as I do but I am happy to say I personally would never spend that much-even if I had it (or could get that line of credit). I still grieve the day I cracked my old Berkley Lightning rod under one of my boat cleats. Not because it was an expensive purchase but, rather, because it did the job well enough. Price (or "high dollar") doesn't impress me.

In reasonably shallow water (no more than 7 or 8 feet) and/or when there is a soft bottom, I'll often anchor. But only if it is windy or when i really want to pick an area apart. I seldom anchor if I'm looking for active fish. Depending upon the wind direction, a friend and I will often anchor in an expanse of flooded cattails, then drift down a ways, reanchor, and repeat the process. We can fish those flats really thoroughly and I can't tell you HOW many bass we've caught in this fashion.

What are "loads"?

Borrowed (and edited) lines from Office Space: "No. No, man. (heck), no, man. I believe you'd get your (hiney) kicked sayin' something like that, man."

I have to admit that if I were hungry enough, I'd at least consider it. We're just now half-way through January. Gonna be a loooooong winter.

Isn't that Chewbacca?

About the only reason I don't chase catfish more is that catfish are less likely to attack an artificial bait As this thread demonstrates, however, they will SOMETIMES, and it's an added bonus. They sure can fight hard! They're pretty tasty, too.

The modest little bluegill is the most likely culprit for me. It's hard to hold them without something pointy getting me. Next would be catfish-although not so much anymore: When I'm handling smallish channel cats and bullheads, I learned a method where, from underneath, you can place your thumb firmly against one pectoral fin and then surround the other fin with the next two fingers (index and middle). It works under the principle of keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer. It works wonders but you have to be careful when you release the fish that it still doesn't get you. You kind've have to "toss" the fish away. And don't attempt this with really large or small catfish-unless you have an absoute death grip on them, the small ones still seem to wiggle their fin enough to stick you in your palm.

Great version!

Many of my dreams have more to do with fishing tackle (lures) than they do with fishing itself. I once dreamt I had stumbled upon an old abandoned/forgotten bait store on the edge of a lake and there were aisles and aisles of great old baits. I was completely ecstatic as I filled a bag with lures. I told myself to stop and save some for others but then I kept going and going. In another dream there was a spillway which had drained dry and in the bottom were hundreds of baits of every description. Come to think of it, most of my fishing dreams wind up frustrating-like my boat motor won't start or I've snagged a carp. I seldom actually catch fish in my dreams. : (

When you place the bass in the livewell and it complains because the water is too warm, too cold, or over/under oxygenated, it is a female. If, on the other hand, you place it in the livewell and it swims around listlessly looking for the remote, it is a male.