Hellbenderman

Thank God for cameras or we would be driving past the house of everyone we know, honking the horn, and shaking some dead fish at our friends.

Go away for a day or two and they re-decorate...sheeeesh!

I can't believe you can't find someone there at the college you can hook up with...hook up for fishing that is. Isn't there a cyber bulletin board you can post to at UMBC?

Brian and I gave the tubes a shot on Wed. We were shot down.

The last time I checked it has never been open to fishing...except one night in June, 1973 when my brothers and I made a commando run, and sneaked in. We caught quite a few, but almost got caught. They found us outside the fence, at daylight, after we were finished. They thought we were about to go in, not just coming out. Cops told us if we were caught on the other side of the fence, we would be going to jail...hehehe.

When they start to get too close, I develop a pronounced tick in one shoulder, tilt my head to one side, and make loud slurping sucking noises followed by drooling, and then I start start whooping and cursing ala Tourette's Syndrome. Then I winkle in their direction. I generally have all the casting room I warrant.

Whatever they are, and I assumed they were shad, they are gone compared to the numbers there in 2009.

I had a decent year on BH, but not as good as fantastic 09. I did get one over 8, but like you I caught noticeably fewer fish in the 3 to 7 range than I did in 09, although, after a mid summer adjustment in tactics, I did better. There was something else very noticeably missing...shad. The summer of 09, if you were on the water in the evening the shad would explode to the surface; they were everywhere. Last summer, I saw only a few shad schools. That concerns me. I am not a wildlife biologist, but something happened. Is there any possibility that the handful of cormorants out there could have anything to do with this? I know they can wreak havoc on a lake, and many states have programs to control them. I'll see about Maryland, but some states are really serious about controlling them. Look at this from Wisconsin: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/MidwestBird/documents/WIeaFinal.pdf

Sean...you know, until I stumbled onto you and Brian, I was content to drift into old age gracefully, and just putter about BH being lazy, throwing nothing more taxing than a senko, and catching a few good fish....but noooooo....now I go to the gym three times a week, now I gotta get serious, and play big time, and go back to spinnerbaits, and heavy jigs, and hours instead of minutes with crankbaits, punchin weeds with one ounce tungsten weights, chasing nakid wemins at post tournament BBQs, endless casting of big swimbaits, the mindless drone of buzzbaits...my wrist already hurts, nakid wemins chasing me at post tournament BBQs...I'll have to fish and sleep with strangers...I hope to God, none of them try to touch me in a priestly fashion....sheeeesh...thanks a lot guys. I've already got the jig rig out. I sit in my man den, and practice by pitching into a small trash can...it's my neighbors trash can...in their spare bathroom...up stairs on the opposite side of their house...I am soooo good. ;D

They were talking about that problem at the meeting...just make sure you have signed up for the national saltwater registry and have a DC license, because that's all you can get for now. I guess DC hasn't done anything yet, but you'll find out when they give you a ticket...hehehe.

OK. If someone doesn't say something we may drop to page 2, and I'll move to New Jersey before I allow Maryland to fall to page 2. If you plan to fish the tidal Potomac, which includes the Potomac below Chain Bridge, or any other "salt water", there are new federal regulations that require you to register in each state or jurisdiction and / or the National Saltwater Registry. Don't try and play dumb. Expect to be inspected for proper paper work. Find what you need to do for VA, MD, DC. http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/FIP http://dnr.maryland.gov/swregistry.asp. To fish in DCeveryone needs a DC license and must register with NOAA, https://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov/register/ paying the $15 fee (?). Good luck sorting this one out!

Sheeeeesh...kids. My 1981 Ambassadeur 5500C, updated with ceramic bearings everywhere.

The only advantage I see to fishing up the river, say the "S" curves, and the first 10 miles past the 122 bridge, and I think it is a big advantage, is that the river is fairly narrow there, and it is easier to focus on the abundant nearby structure without running all over the lake. You will spend more time fishing and less time running around. I stay at the West Lake Inn, on the "s" curves and I have never had the need to run 30 miles down the lake to some cove Skeet Reese fished. The weather really dictates conditions at SML, and at the time you are going, the weather could change in a heart beat.

As to smart, hard to catch fish and dumb, easy to catch fish. There have been at least two studies on the subject I know of, one done at Auburn University when I was teaching there back in the 70s, and I just saw where someone else did the same study with the same results, recently...University of Oklahoma? They stocked ponds with bass. I don't know where the bass came from, but they were not screened in any way. They waited a while and then started fishing. Every fish they caught, they threw into a second pond. After a while, they ended up with one pond filled with fish that were easy to catch, and the original pond filled with difficult to catch fish. When the fish in the two ponds spawned, their progeny behaved just like their parents, easy to catch or hard to catch. I relate that to bass intelligence, which is probably wrong at their level, it is most likely a strong genetic marker some fish get, and others don't.

Well, you haven't mentioned anything environmental, or any fish kills. How is it that the water became clear? Had it always been stained or dirty before? Did you keep the fish you caught? Is it highly pressured? Where do you live? Try this...no body really fished this pond for a while, until you came along? You've caught all the fish that are going to be easy to catch. There are easy to catch fish, and not so easy to catch fish. Sometimes, especially in a small pond, the only fish left are of the smart, hard to catch variety, and they produce more hard to catch fish. A pond can get filled with very hard to catch fish, if more stupid fish are not introduced from the outside. Can you get a jon boat with a fish finder on it into the pond?

Someone makes a punch weight that has a clip on the back of it for a hook or has the hook permanently but freely attached to the weight. I can't remember who. Any help?

There is one thing I really hate. I hate it because it shows that bass are really stupid, and not the intellectual giants of the pond we make them out to be, and thus it lessens any accolades we may heap on ourselves for catching such a non-cunning foe. It makes us stupid, too. I speak of the @#&^% buzz bait. I feel stupid every time my partner catches a bass on a buzz bait....just hate those things. That's why I only have six or seven.

I have both a CBR843 and a CBR89, and a few others. I have never had any problem with any G Loomis rod. The 843 is best suited for smaller cranks, shallow and mid depth, Bagley Fat Cats, Bandits, etc., and while it may seem whimpy, it has plenty of back bone. The 896 is for deeper diving cranks and anything that offers a lot of resistance. I love both rods and wouldn't trade them for any other, but they are different rods, and you should figure out what you really want one for, lighter stuff, the 843, heavier the 896...or just by both! You will anyway! Can't go wrong with either one IMHO.

He was probably just customizing it. Perhaps it made his skirt ride out funny or something. Or, maybe he like the taste of plastic.

I went ice fishing in my drive way today. The ice was thin and the concrete was very hard. I used a jig...mostly. Nothing was biting, so I went over to my neighbors drive way and fished there a while. I didn't catch anything there either, but I hung a jig on a bush and lost it.

GLXs have "recoil" guides, they don't bend or break. I have a bunch of GLoomis and I'm sure you will like it...though not sure I'd spend the extra bucks to get recoil guides myself.

I haven't replaced my braided lines in a couple years. Anything new out there I should look at? My primary use of braided line is on spinning reels, so I'm looking for limp.

Senkos by far. 12 inch Culprits second. Thank the Lord for Mendi-it!

Well, I have to admit that my "evil senko" syndrome was somewhat brought on by age. At 64, I succumbed to the effortlessness of the senko. It's tiring cranking a spinnerbait for a couple hours, versus the weightless senko. Oh no...It's worse than I thought! This is an assault on old people! The senko is a premeditated attempt to seduce old people into giving up stuff in their tackle boxes...the shame. Unfortunately, they work very well in my lake which can have 8 feet of weeds in twenty feet of water. They just kind of flutter down on top of those weeds, and you can drag it across the weed tops, and with a little action sometimes you can get one to drop point down into the weeds, and penetrate a couple feet...perhaps I've stopped using the other things because at my home lake senkos just work better. Perhaps they are not evil at all!

In reviewing my tackle needs for the coming of the annual spring mayhem, I made a remarkable discovery...I didn't throw a spinnerbait all last year, or a fluke, or a minnow stick bait...or any top water at all...or any...hey...if I'm not throwing those things...then what am I throwing that is catching all those bass...egads!...SENKOS! I have been sucked into SENKOTOPIA! I sense I'm not alone from the numbers they sell. Fair warning to those of you who are considering taking up the senko...something else will suffer neglect. So, what did techniques did you used to do that you don't use much anymore, and why have they slipped aside? Perhaps you might consider returning to one?