Valascus

Let's see...I got: Band of Brothers Collectors Edition Box Set. Could be the greatest show ever created. Some new boxer shorts Some gourmet dark chocolate...I love that stuff. A new hard drive for the puter since this one is close to being on it's last leg. A new Lexmark printer. Some AMC Theaters gift cards and some Buffulo Wild Wings Gift Cards. A Shimano Stella 2500FB and a St. Croix Legend Elite ES70MF rod to pair it with. I musta been a pretty good boy this year for Christmas.

Well...let's see. It is kinda hard to pick one. I voted a number three because it is generally my mindset when I am out, but I can be all of them in any given situation. I'll explain it a bit. I am a number one when I know the outting will be short. Like a short one hour outting or maybe 2 hours. I am just concerned with finding the fish and getting the hook in the water to see if they will bite it. When I haven't been out fishing in a while or the conditions are really, really tough (frontal conditions, turnover, etc.) I have a more of a number two mindset. Not so much a limit out mindset as it is a "I hope I just catch something" mindset. If it is big, great. If not, that's cool too. At least I caught some fish on a rough day conditions wise. I would say number three is my normal mindset on most trips. Most of the time when I go fishing I will go for an all day expedition...from dawn til dusk and sometimes into the night if location and conditions permit. When I am going to be spending time like that on the water, I know I can limit out catching fish of the 1 to 2 1/2 lb class and will get plenty of casts so I focus more on breaking the 5lb barrier that has stood in my way for so long. I am a number four when the there are certain conditions coming into play such as fluctuations in temperature, barometric pressure, water level, etc. I will not limit myself to one type of tackle per se, but to one style of retrieve or presentation that the conditions warrant. I will only limit my baits once I have caught a fish with them and can set up a pattern. Once I have caught one fish, I stop and review the situation...water temp, depth of hook-up, water clarity, cover or structure, sun positioning, wind direction, speed of retrieve, what lure and size of lure, and what kind of presentation with said lure. I am always a number five...I just like going out and fishing no matter what the circumstances. It is my way to relax and clear my head. I can just be outdoors surrounded by the beauty of nature, where I don't have to think about anything at all except me vs. fish. This was a very though provoking poll. It made me kinda stop and think about how I fish, and why I fish that way in certain conditions. Good post.

Half of my two rig attack is complete. I have finally found and purchased my St. Croix Legend Elite ES70MF along with the Shimano Stella 2500FB it will be paired with after much Ebay warfare. I think I did pretty well on it. All told for both rod and reel I spent a total of $634.00. It was $435.00 for the reel, which isn't a huge savings from normal price, but it was the best deal I could find, and $199.00 for the rod, which was pretty darn good considering it retails for $320.00. Both are brand new in original packaging. I can't wait for these to hit my doorstep so I can go test 'em out. Hopefully everything arrives in good shape. I can't wait to use these monsters!!! :) Even after all that, I still have $100.00 of my Christmas money left and the little critter is still tring to talk me into boosting my crankbait supply... :. Tenacious little sucker. Oh well. I'll probably just save the rest and put it towards the next combo.

Nice job GMAN! Looks like you did pretty well for late December. Those are some good looking fish. I need to get out and give it a shot in this unseasonably warm weather.

The whole point of buying a more expensive rod is the increased sensitivity. That increased sensitivity can be the difference between getting skunked and catching fish if the bite is very very light or if you are fishing way way deep. Not to mention the lighter weights and better balance of the rods which increases comfort and fishability. I used to fish with a crappy Zebco 33 (way back in the day). Now I fish with a rod that is 60 million modulus graphite. There is a WORLD of difference between the feeling of those rods. I was leaning towards the rods on the list first for a lot of the reasons that have been mentioned here. If the rod I'm using now is 60 mil mod graphite BPS Bionic Blade...and the rod I am targeting right now is a St. Croix Legend Elite ES70MF...then I can't imagine what kind of difference there will be in the sensitivity between those two rods. 8-)

I have been looking around at buying some new equipment and I am trying to decide what to buy first. What's more important to a rig...the rod or the reel? I am wondering what the opinions of some of the other folk around here are on the subject. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

This has been a topic that has been debated here before in past springs. What causes the spawn? A certain magical water temperature? In some part...I think that plays a factor. But as you have eluded to, I think photoperiod has much, much more to do with when fish will begin to spawn. I have found that around here I can find spawning bass anywhere between late March to as far as late May. Here are some threads that have been devoted to this debate in years past. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1141841858/14#14 http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1140509022/8#8

I just avoid the whole licensing issues and who constructs what reels and so on and so forth by fishing with nothing but Shimano reels. Good, high quality, affordable, reels.

I usually match the trailer and jig coloration. Though I must admit, the thought has come to my mind to maybe mix it up a it, but have rarely tried it. I could be missing out here for all I know. The few times I have it's because I run out of the jigs matching color trailers and usually go on to the next closest color I have.

Rocks definately hold heat and act as nature's little furnace for the fish. Heck when we get a few "warmer", sunny days in the winter time, one of the first places I hit is the rocks...usually with some measure of success.

Sorry Panamoka, but you can keep him. ;D I agree with you totally on the dead weight opinion. So the Sox finally got their man in Daisuke Matsuzaka. Hopefully he is everything that they think he is cracked up to be. I think they overpaid for him...by a huge amount. But...if he turns out to be instumental in winning Boston the AL pennant and a WS, the I suppose it's money well spent. Now...for a more important note. A great player has recently retired. Jeff Bagwell. In my opinion, Bags was a class act among athletes. His loyalty to his team was matched only by teammate Craig Biggio. I think Bags will be a HOF player one day...at least in my book he deserves to be. Well...it looks like the baseball wheeling and dealing is starting to slow down now...time to start going into baseball withdrawals. Can't wait 'til the season starts and fantasy baseball starts.

It never ends for us here in MO, most of the time. Occasionally we will get a good run of cold weather that will grind things to a halt (the ice storm a couple weeks ago). But the winters around here generally aren't quite cold enough to ice over local lakes and ponds. I keep trying in the winter time...not as often as I do in the other three seasons, but keep on trying nonetheless. I will say that I usually try to do my winter fishing during a warming period in the winter. I think it makes for slightly more aggressive fish. They are still really really lethargic, but the slightly warmer water, even if it's by a few degrees, helps.

I already posted my thoughts on the size issue in the link RW posted, but I will post it here as well. One trick I like to use with the smaller jigs is to try to get the best of both worlds...large profile and slower fall rate. What I mean is I us an oversized trailer for my smaller jigs sometimes, giving it the bulk of a larger one, but without the weight of the larger sizes. The large profile and slow fall rate can work well in the winter time. Good luck.

Ain't that the truth. It seems in winter time I get "rewarded for my perserverance" more often than not. Usually takes me forever to find and catch bass in the winter time since I fish from the bank. I can never seem to nail down a specific pattern in the winter time though. A lot of one or two average sized bass (2 lb class) days. As far as the larger or smaller bait debate goes, in the winter time I usually do the exact opposite of RW, starting out with the largest version of the bait I am fishing first and working my way back to the smallest. My three "go to" baits in the winter time are jig 'n' craws, hard jerkbaits, and tubes fished on an inserted jig head. If none of that works when fished at the absolute slowest retrieves possible, then it's time to search for the reaction bite. I'll tie on the cranks and traps and "burn" them past where bass may be hiding. Again, I'll start big and work backwards. On one of my latest outtings the bass decided they were in the mood for a good sized meal hitting my largest jerkbaits. I have had days in the past though when my smallest jigs (1/8 oz.) were necessary to get 'em to bite. One trick I like to use with the smaller jigs is to try to get the best of both worlds...large profile and slower fall rate. What I mean is I us an oversized trailer for my smaller jigs sometimes, giving it the bulk of a larger one, but without the weight of the larger sizes. Anyway, I guess my point is that just like in any other season, winter fishing takes trial and error. Bait size can seem to go either way, and just takes a lot of time, effort, and experimentation to find out what the bass in your area want to hit. Yep...makes ya think a lot don't it.

That's kinda what I have been thinking too. I have heard a great many things about his service. Some of the prices that I have seen on ebay are kinda hard to pass on. I am not quite ready for it yet, but when I am I think that just might be what I do. Makes good sense to me.

Thanks RM that's what I figured. I was considering bidding on a used reel, but I would really like to have my gear backed by the factory warranties for any of those "just in case" scenarios.

I have been scouring EBAY recently for deals on certian fishing equipment...namely reels. I have found a few good deals on some lightly used reels and was wondering if the warranties on these reels is transferable. They are both higher end Shimano reels. I doubt the warranties are transferable, but I am not 100% sure of that so I guess it doesn't hurt to ask. Maybe RW or ReelMech may know the answer to this one.

While the Rapala DT series cranks are great baits, they do not defelect off cover all that well...trust me...I know. I have gone through a pretty good amount of them. As mentioned above coffin billed baits are the best at deflecting off of cover. Round billed baits like the DT don't necessarily deflect, but run very close to the cover instead of bouncing off of it. Here is an excellent thread started by our very own crankbait guru, Chris. I believe this info is covered in their somewhere. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1165283062;start=all

I think I have caught bluegill, white crappie, a freshwater drum that may have been borderline, and a redear sunfish, I think, that could have qualified for the master angler. I have never come up with a bass that could come even close to it. :'( The bluegill was caught out of my grandparents farm pond when I was little and fishing with a worm and bobber. The crappie came on a summertime fishing trip on a trip down to the LOZ five or six years back on a jig head and white grub vertically jigged into crappie beds. The drum came over this summer on the Mississippi River close to where the Cuivre runs into the Mississippi on a Rapala DT-6 crank. The redear sunfish, at least that's what I think it was...I have a hard time identifying all the different panfish...all I see when I pull 'em up is bait...anyway, it was caught the same way as the bluegill fishing a creek off the Meramac. Yay...I am a bonafide panfisherman... . Oh well...at least the drum put up a decent fight just because of his shear size.

I think I am inclined to respectfully disagree with you here. Here is a link discussing the features of each snakehead species and the possible ecological impact they could have. http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/snakehead/overview.php I am not aware of how the aquatic food chain works in Maryland, so I am not aware of what the greatest aquatic predator in Maryland may be. I do know in Florida snakeheads would not be at the top of the aquatic foodchain. That belongs to the gators down there which can help control a snakehead population down there. There are also a huge variety of birds that feed heavily on fish in florida that could aslo help control a snakehead population. In Maryland their are no such predators that can effectively prey upon snakehead which will lead to the displacement of native fish species as well as increased competition for prey for native fish species. Snakeheads reproduce quickly laying as many as 100,000 eggs at a time. I am sure snakehead fry could fall prey to native predatory fish such as bass and the pike family of fish. The fact is that the ecosystem as it is today is self sustaining with the correct balance of predatory and prey fish. Add another large predatory fish with few natural enemies, can reproduce quickly, and puts a extra strain upon the prey base that spells disaster for a sustained ecosystem.

In colder water, and I mean water below 50 degrees, I use jig 'n' pigs, tubes, and suspending jerkbaits in may different sizes. If I can't get a fish to bite working thebait slowly, then I will change tactics and start trying for reaction strikes using craw patterned cranks and lipless cranks, or speed up my cadence on my jerkbaits.

I would go with a LC Sammy 100 in American Shad and a Gunfish 95 in American Shad. Both are very nice topwater baits. The Sammy is by far the easiest walk the dog bait on the market that I have found. The Gunfish is one of the best pop and splash baits on the market. I am just partial to the American Shad colors. Other good colors are Tennessee, Ghost Tennessee, and Chartreuse Shad, and Pearl Ayu. That's my .02 cents.

Cranks: More Rapala than anything else. Toss in a few Mann's, Norman, and Bandits. Hard Topwater: Heddon, Rapala, Arbogast, LC...again more Rapala than anything else. Buzzbaits/Spinnerbaits: Booyah, Terminator, or Strike King...more Booyah here. Jerkbaits: Rapala, Smithwick, LC (if I can afford it)...more Rapala here too. Jigs: Jig-X, Booyah, Eakins...starting to lean more towards Booyah here...knots on Jig-X can be a pain at times...especially when it's cold. Plastics: I use a little of everything here. probably have 10-15 different brands in my bag right now. ZOOM and YUM! outnumber most of then though. If I could afford to buy them more often I am sure LC would be added to any category they make lures in. I would love to have some of their cranks, jerkbaits, and more topwaters.

"The Cardinals have asked to view Carl Pavano's expansive medical records, according to a report in yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a sign that the Yankees might be able to get out from under that albatross of a contract. The Rockies previously expressed interest in the righthander, but talks broke down because they wanted the Yankees to eat most of the $22.95 million left in the final two years of his four-year, $39.95-million deal, a person familiar with the talks said." Oh boy...they are scrappin' the bottom of the barrell if they are looking at that dude. Carl Pavano is way too big a liability. Too many injuries, too much time on the DL, a massive contract, and worst of all, he is a liar that lied to the Yanks about his injuries. Hopefully they pass on him.

And the Cards lose out on yet ANOTHER free agent pitcher. There are reports coming in that the Cards are out of the running for Miguel Batista. Sources are saying that he is Seattle bound. I have also read somewhere that the Cards have interest in signing Josh Fogg. I have been looking at Fogg's career stats and they are not very impressive. The Cards seem to have taken themselves out of the bidding for Jeff Suppan as well. Starting to look like next year is going to be another year of starting pitching struggles to me. I am starting to wonder why the Cards just don't attract starting pitching. Are they just too cheap? Is it the fact that Saint Louis isn't a large market...they are close but not quite a large market...I would say upper mid range market. I just don't understand it. The club just won a WS and stands a decent chance of winning the division again and making the playoffs, but they can't attract quality starting pitching to save their lives.