Crabcakes

In saltwater when you're jigging a spoon that can weigh a whole lot the free swinging hooks supposedly really do help keep fish on as they can't use the weight of the jig to throw the hooks. I don't know why you'd need it for small 1/2-1oz bass spoons though. I agree seems like it wouldn't help much.

Good sweet watermelon. All summer long I would eat watermelon every day for lunch after fishing in the morning. I'd come in all sweaty and thirsty. Just a big hunk of watermelon all by itself. I'm also a fan of seafood and Italian food.

Interesting question. I'd say a combination of stages but if I had to pick one.....I'm still learning alot about bass fishing but theres certainly alot more method to my fishing than wetting a line so I'd say I'm in the limiting out stage. Overall, when I go out no the water I'm concerned with learning something and catching at least a few keepers with the occasional big bass though I don't specifically target them ( I mean at certain times I do but it's not the focus of every trip).

These are the rods I would purchase if buying an off the rack rod at various pricing points. Truthfully many companies provides a fine product when you spend this much money. To a certain degree it comes down to personal preference. At the sub 100 dollar level: Airrus Co Matrix Sub 200: Powell Max (I currently use and like this rod very much at this pricing point) sub 300: Airrus Puls-r GL sub 400: G-Loomis GLX 400 or more If you plan to spend this much you shouldn't have to need my advice Some other advice: If they're on sale the bps rods are good or if ou need a reel the combos basically give you the rod so always check out what they have. I don't say this list is the "best" but it's what I would purchase with my money.

Black Horny Toad BPS floating lizard Popper

Howdy

Not trying to hijack the thread but the quality of anouncers is terrible. So many are just plain bad. Vermeil and Ron Jaworski were great. Chris Collinsworth Chris Mortensen and Ron Jaworski have actually improved my knowledge of the game but sadly you don't see them much calling games. Jaws and Collinsworth especially really know their stuff. ESPN usually brings pretty good quality but they have alot of room to improve. Lately they've been bringing on a new crop of anouncers and analysts and some of them have yet to hit their stride (or they're just plain bad but i'll give them the benefit of the doubt).

The best part is when he goes "How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?" To be somewhat fair to him he does always give 110% on the court for 82 games with a ridiculously high number of minutes and has been historically surrounded by a cast of reject players that do almost nothing to help him. He got most of the flack for his rant about practice and his flippant attitude, not actually missing the practice. He of course still has a responsiblity to attend practice because he is paid to do so and he owes it to his fans and teammates.

Thats a really nice fish for that body of water. I never fished there much but the little opening of that creek channel that goes around the back side of the island always worked for me.

Joan Osbourne is a favorite of mine. St. Teresa is one of my favorite songs. P.J. Harvey is good too.

This is a shame: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005844811 I once saw a documentary on them. Very cool animals.

Some favorites not a dozen but these come to mind: Vocals- Jeff Buckley, Layne Staley (Alice in Chains) bass- Cliff Burton (Metallica) , flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) guitar- Fred "Sonic" Smith (MC5), Jeff Beck piano- I have an irrational personal hatred for the piano.... odd I know Drums- Leon Mobley (Ben Harper's Djembe guy)

That is a nice looking handpour. I have to say I oftentimes prefer bank fishing. It's less stressful and it brings it's own set of challenges and rewards.

I'm also not a spinnerbait person I guess but when I do buy them I look at swivel quality, blade configuration and weight mostly. I do my best to ascertain paint quality but thats hard to tell sometimes. I also look at head design as I like a bait with an eye. I'm sure it matters less to the fish than me but the realism gives me confidence in the bait. Most of my luck with spinnerbaits has come in muddy water. My most thrown is a 3/8 oz firetiger with gold tandem blades. I also throw an all red 3/8 oz with a single colorado blade.

I never liked the shape of the bend in the shank and the angle of the point. I can't say it affected performance but i found them annoying to rig and I didn't have confidence in the bend design.

A shark is a fish.- Isn't it?

edbassmaster is definitely right on track. Follow his advice. With all the physical activity wrestling necessitates and with you being a young guy watching calories is not the most important thing. It's what you eat. Avoid "white" foods white bread white rice white pasta etc. Eat lean meats. Keep protein high. Watch salt. Spacing out your food throughout the day keeps metabolism high.

I'm a cynical guy and I was looking for some kind of gimmick or catch to that show (seemed like one of those "too good to be true" things) but it has become apparent that they really are just filming a kind act and people are in fact watching it. Good job to all those involved in the show and to NEbassman especially.

I like to fish for all different species. I've caught 46 different species at 18 and I'm shooting for 150 in my life. The things on the most wanted list would be 1. Roosterfish- a rooster fish in the surf on baja would be my most wanted fish/method/ place scenario 2. Tanguigue- They're like kingfish but larger and meaner 3.Sheepshead-Tthe east coast bait stealing kind not one of the other local names. This is only because the few times I have been sheepshead fishing I've been skunked and I know it was from missing strikes. I don't like that. 4. Yellowtail-also because on the one trip I took targeting them I failed to catch one 5. Sailfish- Once again failed to catch one when I had the chance (only one chance missed though)

This might sound unimpressive but after thinking about it really is more interesting than it sounds. One time while fishing in North Carolina I was sitting out with about 5 family members. You can often see the international space station streaking across the sky as a point of light (like a small distant star). We saw one such point of light moving across the sky and pointed it out as the space station. All of a sudden this thing started going the other way. It didn't turn or loop it just started moving in reverse. It didn't turn or bank it just started backing up as fast as it was going forward. It did so instantly. Things don't orbit in different directionsin a split second, and jets can't make 360 degree turns without making some kind of maneuver (it didn't look like a jet anyway). This thing was far away and moving very fast. It's no dramatic flying saucer but I couldn't explain it. It didn't abduct us or fire laser cannons it was just a little unspectacular glowing thing. Afterwards we all didn't say anything at first but then we realized that our presumed space station showed some impossibly agilemoves.

NC has such strict limits because the redfish use the sounds as a major spawning area. The populations got decimated a few years back as they did in many places. They banned coastal gill netting in alot of places not sure about NC. The commercial interests are pretty powerful there as someone mentioned.

My Grandfather served in the 295th Jasco and was responsible for establishing radio lines and other communications equipment. He was in over 15 landings including Saipan Tinian Tarawa and Enewetok. Their unit had incredibly high casualty rates. His brother served on a supply ship in the Mediterranean that was sunk. He was a skinny guy so he was able to swim out through a porthole and was rescued at sea. He was sent to the pacific after that. By a freak chance they met each other when their units passed through the same island. They had no idea the otherwas their and I can only imagine their surprise. His stories were unbelievable. He'd tell me about hearing the bullets bouncing off the metal door of the landing craft. I never learned much more than that as my Grandpa became very ill.

My friend Joe and I are fishing partners. I rarely fish without him. We went to high school together and now college. In my area it's very hard to find a young person that fishes so we stuck together quick. We do all types of fishing together. We spend so much time together that our friends make jokes about it. ("heterosexual man partner" and such)

I call dolphin dolphin. Fish names are funny- they vary so much with region that miscommunication is very common. I call them red drum most people say redfish. I call them rockfish if they're in chesapeake bay and bass if i caught them surf fishing. I only say stripers so everyone knows what i'm talking about. I call them blackfish some say tautog some say tog. A kingfish to me is a small fish that lives in the wash in the surf. A king mackerel is the big toothy kind. Etc. etc. And everyone else has their own way of naming fish. It's really quite confusing. (Didn't mean to hijack your thread I thought it was a natural extension)

I think there are a few reasons bass fishing is so popular: Bass are everywhere. Almost anywhere in the U.S. there's a species of bass for you to fish for. They offer the right balance of challenge. Easy enough to catch but difficult to master entirely. Harder than bluegill less diffficult than permit. The equipment for bass fishing can be very cheap, though we prefer to make it more expensive. It's for both the casual and avid angler. If you want to fish for tuna its plain expensive whether you like it or not. You don't find too many casual tuna fisherman. Being so common and prolific, we are able to study bass very closely and determine all the best ways to catch them at different times of the year and how to catch them. Leading to it becoming an industry based on tackle sales not meat sales. hence we protect bass not eat them (for the most part) Because your daddy fished for bass and so did his. A snook whats that? Cobia? Bass were good enough for grandpa so the love of bass has rubbed off. It's a cultural thing. They're "America's Fish" I think it's accessibility first and foremost. It's become like golfing for the non country club set. A social activity men do when they get a little old for contact sports. It reminds us of our youth. It's challenging and allows you to be outdoors without breaking your bones. Granted these are generalizations but I think they ring true in most cases. For me I fish for bass because I am able to do so multiple times a week as opposed to saltwater/ trout fishing that I can only do once every month or two.