cyclops2

Split shot is all I use now.

Best by Wednesday night. But could do Very early Friday morning. Weather decides if I motor to dock or do a trailer with a even older guy. Best inboard mechanic in the world. David Nagel. ?

Please Mr. Custer. I do not want to go.

Always carry a plastic coated depth map. And flashlight if you are out in dark days or night.. The GPS system has to many steps to always be correct or reliable. Human memory is far more accurate. Until you age like me.

Excellent point Columbia Craw. We have deep rocky bays along the main channel. I have raced around for over 15 minutes looking for schools of big fish. These fish are USED TO constant swimming to locate food. So I do it their way. Run around to find them. Then relocate them as the school moves to the next stop. Sudden school break ups occur for no visible reason. I blame those break ups to chemical blobs from tankers & freighters as they clean out any tanks. Some SMB are docile. Others are a well over 5 to 10 minute contest in OPEN water. Weeds or snags ? Why I use crushed barbs on all hooks. Finding & a hook up are what I enjoy. The rest is not that important to me. I still think I can catch a fish where there are none !!

Spinners & worms with no barbs on the hook. I need to catch some fish. The fish are on the finder & in the weeds. Oh well C & R with meat. Leave the river on Thursday, late morning. Back to dry land and yard work.

I watched a otter catch & eat fish CONSTANTLY in December in the Delaware river in N J. He was at the BEST food spot for all fish.

Week ago I watched a young Osprey dive & clutch a big SMB on a shoal. Fish too heavy. So the small Osprey SWAM to a large flat rock just above the water. It flapped & struggled to get the bass on the rock. MUNCH MUNCH. I left after a while.

You are right about a roosting area problem. Different tactics are required. Usually a federal permit is then required. Helped out with geese on golf courses. Was allowed 50 per day in a bad location.

That may be sewage to us.............. But..............That is food for all the weeds & keeping the fish food chain active.

Why do they need to poop on grass lands people use ? We then walk in their droppings and spread it in vehicles & inside your house as kids play on the floor. I can train any animal. I just have the patience to convince the animal.

Are we going to get into a, animals have more rights, than humans forum ? I thought we were supposed to be posting about humans fishing.

Just remembered a father & son fishing off a dock in a park. 3' tall child holding a 3' rod & reel. Father kneels down & lifts up a 2' carp. Hook was a open Safety Pin. Had used Niblett's corn. About 50 years ago. Have we improved since then ?

After a lifetime and fully retired. I only find that casting into a breeze with 1.5 " long floating Rapalas is useless & wind tangles even with spinning gear and 4# test Mono or braided. USE ONLY in down wind casting areas / trips. Switch to longer STIFFER rods. Rod TIP SPEED IS ALL IMPORTANT in wind. I now use 4# mono on a 7 1/2' stiff rod only. Or the 60# braided rod setup. which is really a super LIGHT WEIGHT saltwater rod. For huge lures and big fish. Good topic. As I am donating all other fish rods & gear to a local Thrift Shop. Some happy kids & adults. Remember NO fishing gear alone catches fish. Only ......YOU.....can catch the fish. With any gear. ?

I had a Seagull decide my black Chaparral was a nice warm up spot. I chased him off. Flew up and crapped on the boat. Borrowed a friends pellet gun. No more gulls. Geese walking & crapping around. Few stones bounced off of several young & old geese did the trick. Had to do it to ALL 5 DIFFERENT flocks of them. Every couple of years. They still fly into the bay at night to sleep. No problem with that.

I say HELLO 2 times a day . I am VERY polite to the LARGE WHITE Mute Swans. They drive out ALL Canada Geese. Mutes are FEARED by all water birds. I love them. ?

I come into any area at 1/2 throttle. Then increase to WOT as Cormorants pop up. I drive over to say hello. In less than a week I have no Cormorants waiting for me.

I like catching Yellow Perch for a 87 year old buddy. Then I am free to go after bass on lures only. My bay is full of C & R bass . VERY LURE wise. A real challenge. Keeps my interest very high.

Anchored boats " Collect fish under it. " I get that all the time. But some are just resting in the shade. May go out to check out your offering. A different line angle is always a pickup. A slow dropping bait is usually attacked. Problem is detecting the hits. from a suspended fish. I find they take it back UP to the suspending height. Usually a very slow line change.

Look how big the eyes are compared to he fish !!

My bay is having RCORD numbers of that size of ALL types of fish. But there are very few small & medium Gobies around. All fish raid any nests for eggs and new hatches. Also fish finder showing MASSIVE schools of very small baitfish. Maybe the green slimes on the bottom are providing cover ? I also am finding a daytime greyish Plankton haze to the water.

My bass are a VERY bleached out greenish grey in early May. Then get very darker green as green weeds fill in the bay.

I guess bass like short fat smooth cigars. Kind of I like breakfast sausage links. ?

I read ALL of the posts on this Thread of reaction bites. Will give you my take on REACTION bite. Almost every fish of ALL TYPES this spring / summer / fall in upstate N Y are............. REACTION ....... bites. Why can I make such a BOLD statement about every fish ? Simple ALL are ONLY hooked in the 1/8" of the outer upper & lower lips. I and others have done Catch & Release on these fish for DECADES. That has been imprinted into their GENES about how to bite anything. BITE VERY CAREFULLY. ALL THE TIME. The whole lure is outside the mouth every time. Or other hooks around the outside of the mouth. Even 3" fish on the 1.5" Rapala have just the tail treble in their WIDE OPEN MOUT. The hook points are just in the lip ring. Catch & Release has WORKED WITH RAPALS style lures at all depths. Reason why the 4# test Mono has such low hook ups. Plenty of bites. Barely felt. The big SMB can and do CLAMP DOWN TIGHTLY for a while. Then Laugh at us by quickly opening their mouths and MOST TIMES there is no hookup............. I catch MANY MORE FISH with the 40 & 60 pound BRAIDED lines. Almost forgot the proof of all the above information. I have NOT HAD a FULL ON SIDE ATTACK on a lure with it .....SIDEWAYS...... in a fish mouth. At least 5 years.

River SMB & even Channel Cats will chase & bite anything going up or down. Their first job is to catch it. Mouth it. Then decide what to do with it.