-Drums-

Largemouth: Mexico Smallies: One of those really remote (fly-in) Canadian shield lakes Stripers: Any one of the east Tennessee TVA lakes or the Tennessee River itself. Salt: Louisiana for the reds (and good jazz in New Orleans).

Well, this is quite the timely thread--mine was yesterday (Sunday) ;D and it was a muskie! There's a lake here in northern Virginia that happens to be one of the few bodies of water in VA that the state game & fish dept. manages for trophy muskies. Well I wasn't musky hunting, I was bass fishing. I'd been throwing a 1/2 oz. black/blue jig-n-chunk for about 2 hours without a nibble. I finally felt a hit (a nice one too) and set the hook into what felt like a whale. After about 35 seconds of drag (and boat) pulling, and no sign of the fish, I was beginning to really wonder just what was on the end of my line. At about the minute mark, this thing finally came up, about 5 feet from the boat. Right then my jig simply slipped out of its mouth. I have no idea how to estimate the weight of a muskie, but it looked like somewhere around the 40" range or so in length. By far the biggest fish I've ever had on hook.

C'mon, please do! It's good reading...

LBH - But Anyway? I'm psyched to see what Blues Traveler tune you picked. 5BL - I hear ya on Orion...what a great song!

This one's really gonna shock you guys. Steady yourselves....grab a seat. I play the drums. ;D I so wish I had a cool story for this, but I just don't.

> Paca Baby Craw or Paca Chunk > Zoom chunk

I agree, a season DVD would be cool. Or, at the very least, they should release episodes of Bassmaster (with the option to buy the full season) on the "TV Shows" section of the iTunes Store. ESPN already has some entries there--The Contender, X Games, World Series of Poker--so I don't see why they wouldn't do the same for B.A.S.S stuff.

This is pretty nuts. From an article in the Washington Post (here in the DC area): The rest of the article is here. Kind of adds a whole new meaning to the spawn, eh? :-?

Ok, just my opinion too, but if we're talking "mean" here, let's be brutally honest with ourselves. Our beloved sport involves driving sharp hooks into the mouths of bass, and then violently pulling them out of their watery locale -- to be measured, admired, photographed, and released back into the water to someday experience it all again... DISCLAIMER: I hate PETA. I REALLY hate PETA terrorists who jump all over bass fishing as if it's this horrible thing. I LOVE bass fishing. I'm completely obsessed with it, and would do it all day, every day if I could. That said, and all legal questions aside, I think that keeping a bass in captivity pales in comparison, on the "mean" scale...but that's just me. Either way it doesn't bother me. I'm ok with my position in the food chain. I get to fish for bass!

For me I'd say: 2 - 3 lbs. = pretty good fish 5 - 7 lbs. = really, really good fish 7+ lbs. = great fish I say this having never caught one over 6, and I live in northern Virginia.

PM sent.

I haven't seen it, but I've heard the KVD video--Pitchin' to Heavy Hitters--is supposed to be really good. Bass Pro has it for $9.95. I've been meaning to get it. I plan to whenever I do my next BPS ordering spree.

L M A O !!!!

Add another for vote for Mexico. El Salto, Baccarac, whatever one is producing the most fun ;D Like Fish Chris said, the marketing/advertising for those waters is probably over-hyped in terms of DD bass, but hey, "lots of 6-9's" is fine by me!!!

For me, it's crankbaits. I pretty much never fish them, mainly because I mostly fish from the bank and I'm not so willing to take the risk of losing them. From a boat, it's easier to go after it if you get hung up. So, since I never fish 'em, I have no confidence in them. I'd like to change that this year.

Good thread Jolicious... Yup - I've fished with both flippin4it and alhuff a number of times, and I met them through these boards. In fact, I fish with flippin at least once a week now, and alhuff and I talk several times a week over IM. I'd definitely consider them both my new fishing buddies. Pretty cool, this site is great!

Yeah, I noticed the other day that you too were an "ex-member". Ambushed? What happened?

I've already been able to fish with both flippin4it and alhuff, and both are great guys. Like others have said already, this is an awesome community, so I'd love to fish with anyone here; but for the purposes of this thread, I'll pick my next top 3: RoLo - pretty much self-explanatory He was really the initial reason I stuck around on this site when I first discovered it back in January when searching for some Orlando bassin' info. I'd love to spend a day on the water with him. LBH - obviously a seriously skilled angler, and looks like a lot of fun. If he turned the radio up, I guarantee I'd dig whatever the tunes were. Roadwarrior - oh man, those KILLER smallies! Show me the light! ;D

Clever! What a great idea - thanks for the tip!

Junebug Red Shad Watermelon (various flake colors)

NICE! I'm so psyched someone actually got that...

This one might be pretty tough... Now and ever bound to labor On the sea and in the sky Every man and beast appeared A friend as real as I...

Hey Jeep, Like LBH said, the sticky c-rig topic is an excellent resource. My $.02: You might consider checking out some "Carolina Keepers"; Bass Pro has 'em. They're these cool little clear (or red) cylinder-type jobs that you squeeze with pliers then slide up your line. They allow you to easily adjust your leader size throughout the day, and they save you two knots. In my experience, you need 2 of them to reliably make your weight & bead stay put. Starting with the rod tip and working your way out to the tag end of the line, here's what I do: 1. 1/2 - 3/4oz. brass bullet weight (or egg sinker) 2. Glass bead 3. Variable length leader (whatever the fish tell me is working) 4. Hook I personally really like Zoom baby brush hogs...green pumpkin/red flake. Good times.

Jim/RoLo - AWESOME posts! Excellent info. Thanks!

Ratt - Round and Round (nice - what a blast from the past!) "And the men who hold high places Must be the ones to start..."