flyfisher

Here is our rottie "puppy" biscuit....he was born on July 4th and turns four this year. The beware of the dog sign was already in place when we moved into our house this past April and i saw him on the fence and thought it was kind of funny...

Go buy one and fish it and then say why or if it is worth it. Also remember to be skeptical of pros who endorse rods...there may be rods on their deck that look like the box store ones but it is only in badging.

By design chatter baits are not going in a straight line. They travel in a vertical bouncing motion rather than a side to side motion. To answer your question though, i haven't seen one that does a side motion as is if it was hunting. My guess is that it is probably because it is a completely different motion than the chatterbait and to get it to hunt it would drastically change the original motion.

I rarely wear rain pants in the warmer months but i may occasionally go with my rain jacket which is an Arcteryx goretex pac light 3layer combination. What i will say is that if yo are in an area that is humid you will want the best breathability you can afford as it makes a huge difference. In a less humid area, breathability in the less expensive models will be fine. As far as cold weather goes, I prepare for immersion so I wear chest high breathable waders with the appropriate insulation underneath and then a rain jacket with my PFD over top of everything. I have tested it out and it keeps water out very well. Personally with a $200 budget i'd spend more on the jacket than the pants unless you plan on wearing them both pretty often. Keep an eye on sierra trading post as well as they have deals on gear all the time and it is easy to get a 25% off coupon as well.

What everyone else said but i will reiterate to find the baitfish and you will find the spots. I know one lake i fish here in central VA they don't seem to school up like many experience but when you do find them, you can catch them in all months of the year. Oh and there are no doubt spots larger than 5lbs around

Fishing wise I am not real sure what i want to do as far as a new years resolution other than continue truing to fish more offshore structure. Non-fishing wise, who knows. I would like to finish our garage and do a few other projects around here that are needed now that we have been in our house for a little over 7 months.

He already won. He got into your head and made you angry enough for violence all while he is probably laughing his butt off. if you want to go ahead and meet him do it but i sure wouldn't have posted up saying so because doesn't that sort of turn you into an "internet tough guy"?

I like braid for most topwater except baits that have an aggressive walk the dog action as it seems like i am always fouling up the first hook. Other than that, I am braid all the way for al the reasons stated above.

probably made just for walmart would be my guess. I have seen "great" prices on plastics there only to look and see they have less items per bag than normal.

I'll agree with SlonezP on this one. You need to go find a job at a major corporation and work your way up the ladder. Sounds like you don't want to own your own business or be in charge but want to do the minimal amount to get the maximum pay with no regard for the actual work being done. I left a job for a major bank as a process engineer where i worked my way up from a call center representative to a Sr. process manager in about ten years and more than doubled my salary in the process. You may be asking yourself, well why did you leave and the answer is because it was work and i wanted a career and something i cared about and enjoyed and while i enjoyed the work it wasn't what i wanted to do for my life. I became an elementary school teacher in one of if not the most difficult schools in the state and couldn't be happier. Sure it has it's issues and i took a very substantial pay cut but i'll take it. Ultimately, it doesn't sound like you know what you want to be when you "grow up" and until you figure that out, you will be asking yourself these same questions every few years when you get bored.

You have posted links with anecdotal information and i did some research myself and found studies that show the opposite. Correlation also does not equal causation. If you are this passionate about hydrilla maybe you should make it an actual study for a doctoral dissertation as it sounds like something you are passionate about and all these fisheries biologists are wrong, according to you at least, and this would be your opportunity to prove yourself as the one who is right. Then this information could be utilized to eradicate the grass carp that you are so against. As far as the lakes I am referring to they are the ones on AP hill.

Those are some big cats....nice job. I am always mad when they hit some crank bait and i think i have a pig on only to find out it is a catfish. Still a good fight though.

I did read the entire thread and your commentary which again is based on anecdotal evidence not actual facts. I also appreciate your ignorance to fly fishing as well, just goes to your lack of knowledge on subjects you are willing to talk about. A simple internet search for flyfishing and bass could clear this lack of knowledge up though. Oh and there are lakes that I fish that the fishing has been harmed but the introduction of Hydrilla and other aquatic vegetation and they stocked some grass carp and miraculously the fishing has improved. See, anecdotal evidence that goes against what you are preaching as fact.

Are you a fisheries biologist? I'd also venture a guess that the Fisheries biologist who is responsible for managing the lake knows a lot more than you do about the health of the lake. Everything you posted is anecdotal "evidence" at best and using tournament results isn't always the most scientific approach to answering a problem. I also noticed that the article you quoted mentioned aquatic vegetation, not specifically hydrilla.

great post and very informative, thank you for posting.

I like it and if i was in the market for that style of boat i would give it a long look for sure

You also have to remember that florida strain bass are notoriously more difficult to catch on artificial when they get larger and that may also be impacting the perceived large bass decline as well. Spawning bass are more accessible grass or not so i find that argument to be invalid form my anecdotal experience.

Each year they shock up big bass at briery so I am not sure that the stocking of grass carp has made that much of an impact on the fishery. My anecdotal evidence hasn't seen any difference in my catching since carp were stocked. I want to say that last year or the year before they shocked up a state record sized fish. lakes go through cycles and it was hit pretty hard by the LMBV (according to reports i have read). Sandy is another great fishery too that seems to be on the upswing. I do also wonder if the big bass got rarer or they are harder to catch and become more wary with fewer places to hide.

Stradic is an outstanding reel and is all i own for spinning reels at this point.

Zoom swimmers or whatever they are called have a lot of action on the drop as well.

That's impossible...everyone knows KVD is the first one to ever fish a square bill!!!!

That sucks, hopefully they find him and everything is ok with the truck. How did he start it and get into it so easily would be my question.

That sounds like mild onset hypothermia to me....good choice of bailing for the day.

Noon- you got started late lol The three times i have went we got there as the sun came up and started drinking. I cooked breakfast for everyone on the flat top grill and then the drinking, eating and cooking continued all day...i did slow down around 11pm though lol

that is how Virginia peeps party....just go to the NASCAR Race here in richmond and you will see lol