Fish Chris

If the pond has a 30 lb Carp in it, then it's possible But people often "talk" about 30 lb Carp, the way they do about 3lb Sunfish, and 15lb Bass Personally, I've caught about 8 Carp over 23 lbs.... the biggest was 23.8 ! (I call it my 23 lb jinx but pretty much all of my big Carp are caught on micro-light gear. Come to think about, so have all of my latest 100 lb+ Sturgeon I LOVE micro-light fishing Fear no fish, Fish

The best way to handle a bass > "Is with common sense". IMPO, fat more bass die, because guys are not prepared with a livewell (an icebox full of freshwater is fine) and / or don't have a camera or scale ready. Consequentally, the bass is kept around, and sometimes (worst of all) out of water way longer than it should be. THIS is what kills most bass. Fish

Thanks guys But to be totally honest, this little psychological issue I have {OCD} makes something like this so easy, it's almost like cheating Same with catching a bunch of big fish. For me, the hardest part is, trying to pay just a little bit of attention to anything "other than" the one subject I have stuck in the front of my head ! Why couldn't I have gotten stuck on becoming a billionaire, surrounded with beautiful babes ? Too bad I can't pick and choose, huh ? Oh well Peace, Fish

Hey Shimmy, thanks for remembering Yes, I did go and get myself completely caught up in the whole health and fitness thing 30 months ago, and I guess you could look at how it has affected my fishing (and basically, every other part of my life) in two ways... On the one hand, I spend so much time lifting weights, hill climbing, and mountain biking nowadays, that I just don't have near as much time to fish anymore, as I used to. On the other hand, if I had continued on the self destructive path I was on, I'd almost surely have been dead in a few more years anyway > And THAT would definitely put a damper on my fishing ! So, less fishing now, but maybe a little more later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One thing I have to say though..... Weight loss has just been ridiculously easy, while gaining lean muscle mass, is the hardest thing I've ever undertook in my life ! I've lost 105 lbs of fat, and put on just over 30 lbs of lean muscle. Right now I'm 206@13% BF. My long term goal (by my 50th B-day... I'm 47 now) is to be up to 225@9% BF.... Peace, Fish Me in Oct. 09', with barely enough muscle to drag all that lard around... About 8 months ago.... I think I've made some really good gains since then..... But I'm so darn pale. Waiting for a good tan this Summer, to take some new, updated shots

Yes, this is a cool place. They will even let a whacko like me hang out here Fish

Hey new2BC, just a little note of experience..... I was obese for most of the last 20 years, with the exception of the last couple. After losing 80 lbs of fat, but not having any kind of muscle mass underneath it, I looked sickly ! But after working out as hard as this old man can, basically 7 days a week, between cardio and weight training, av. 1hr 30min a day, for going on 2 years now, I look, and feel, like a different person ! I mean, I'm still just as ugly as ever but now I have some real meat to cover my bones I think I'm looking night and day healthier because of my new muscle mass. Granted, most guys would probably be okay right where I'm at now.... while I feel like I'm about 10% of the way there ...but there goes my OCD again Peace, Fish PS, and a side note to the above, if you work out like this, you get (have?) to eat a lot too !

Of course I wasnt offended by your post. I just know a LOT of people would never give such a thing a thought, if it were not ever brought to their attention, so kind of on behalf of ADD people LOL But believe me, ADD is only one of my many issues OCD is a good one though. It can really help you to catch a bunch of big fish, or lose 105 lbs of fat, and put on 35 lbs of lean muscle... or whatever you get stuck on ! Peace, Fish

Redearth, like I said, I really wasn't offended at all. It just struck me funny to read.... "can't walk and chew gum at the same time" Doh ! That's me ! LOL Peace, Fish

Redearth Well, it's quite obvious that you haven't dealt with a lifetime of AADD (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder), because if you had, you would know that it is exactly like what you described. That said, I think I've had enough fishing successes to prove that AADD is not a deal-breaker.... at least with catching big fish. BTW, I think your post "could be taken" as a slam, to anybody with AADD. But I understand that people almost always look at things from their own personal perspective (human nature). To a "normal" person, AADD must seem totally weird, stupid, goofy, etc. I'm not offended though. I've spent a life time dealing with people who "just have no idea what it's like". Peace, Fish

Chuckles I'll tell you what I find funny about this, is that by removing all of the bass caught, you will end up with a smaller population of bass > but the bass that are left, will have more food and available habitat, only helping them to get bigger, and to be an even worse threat to those Brook trout ....and I'd be out there throwing a Hud in Brook trout pattern LOL Fish

Hey Brent, first off, In-Fishermen did a study which showed that medium to high frequency sounds "above the water" (such as talking, a radio, or even screaming) had little to no effect on the fish. Low frequency sounds had some effect. But the sounds that traveled underwater, and spooked fish the most, were bumps and bangs in the bottom of a boat. Which is why 1) I try really hard not to bump or bang my boat, and curse myself when I do, and 2) yet another reason why I always fish by myself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now personally, I LOVE music. I often like it loud, and I like a LOT of deep bass.... precisely the stuff that might scare fish. So, I crank the $#&% out of my 1500 watt stereo system all the way to the lake, and again, all the way home. But ANY music, at any volume.... even on a little rinky-dink radio, would absolutely drive me crazy when I'm fishing ! That's when I want peace and solitude. Then again, sometimes I will see / hear one of those big, awesome stereo systems on a ski boat, and to be quite honest, it's usually the drunk idiots screaming and hollering + the boat wakes, that bother me more than the stereo..... especially if it's a really nice stereo Peace, Fish

Just really sad. I hope the little guy pulls through with no permanent injuries. Thoughts and prayers sent. Fish

WRB, that's freaking awesome ! That must have been a blast ! I've heard stories about SoCal fishing in the 80's and early 90's.... Of course I know SoCal has gotten waaay tougher, just like NorCal has. But what are you going to do ? Fish smarter, right ? Peace, Fish

Deep, great post ! Whatever floats your boat, right ? Peace, Fish

......and you have a problem with this ? Regardless of my bait or lure, I can't really remember a time when I was catching "too many, or too big of fish" and this just ruined the whole trip LOL Fish

Of course you guys know where I stand. I just love catching fish. Big fish. Of whatever species. And to that end, I use whatever works. As long as it's legal, it's all good. I think a lot of people place so many restrictions / rules on their fishing, that they restrict themselves right out of catching the fish of a lifetime...... when it was right there within a casts distance how ever many times. What's funny (and I know I always say this, right ?) is in how many different fishing situations artificial lures make it easier to catch my fish. Uhhh... okay. Then that's what I'm going to use. Conversely, the Stripers right here in my immediate area, are pretty much live bait only... at least this year, so far. Those Huge Red Ear sunfish... forget jigs. I tried them. Those things wanted mini-crawlers ! So, if I didn't have a problem with these two types of live bait fishing, why the heck would I care if it were a bass instead ? A fish is a fish. Peace, Fish PS, I just saw this > .....and it made me think, "Hmmm. That's interesting. I fish live bait about as actively as I do artificials. Maybe that's been at least part of my success with live bait ?

Yea', Clear Lake is a really special lake for me. SOOO many nice 3 to 8 lb bass..... great catfishing.... the Crappie have been (at X's) unbelievable ! Only tough thing about Clear Lk. is that legit double digit bass are very rare. For a large # of reasons. Fish PS, I caught that 40.2 lb limit at a little lake called Coyote Res.

SirSnook, I think it was a few "failed" attempts by others trying to take fish photos for me, that made me decide to start working on my self taken fish shots in the first place Now I've gotten to the point where I have MUCH more confidence in my self-taken shots, than I do, when handing my camera to somebody else. I hate it, when you hand a camera to somebody for a fish shot, and the first thing they start doing is backing away from you. It's like HEY !!! Where the heck you going !?!? STOP right there, before I glue your darn shoes to the ground !!! LOL They just ALWAYS Try to capture the entire Western Hemisphere, instead of just the important part.... the fish ! Peace, Fish

I'm really not fishing for 5 big fish. So even though I always have a scale + a backup + a backup for my backup, it's really rare for me to catch 5 fish in one trip worth weighing. Once 9 years ago, I weighed five largemouths for 40.2 lbs. About 5 years ago I weighed 5 Smallies for 24 lbs. Of course I'd rather weigh just one 19 lb Largemouth, or one 9 lb Smallie.... Just saying... Peace, Fish

Any amount of time spent with Free Dominguez is never a waste Fish

But hey anyway Raider, just your mention of a chick that "growls" made me think of this one Not so much in this vid..... But this chick is cool Peace, Fish

Raider Nation, I'd like to see the vids your talking about, but your links are not to individual vids, but rather, entire pages of vids ? Fish

Hey Dan, of course I knew Stripers were a huge sportfishery on the East coast, but do they actually harvest a bunch for food purposes also ??? Curious, Fish

If you hate Nickelback, that's fine. Just turn the volume all the way off, and watch closely. Fact is, we all have a number counting down over our heads. We can't see it, and we don't know how much time it has left. But when it's gone, it's gone. No time for one more cast. Think about this the next time your watching the sunrise, as you head out across the lake. Peace, Fish

Hey RW, yes. It's totally critical to remove all of the red meat. Not only does that stuff taste terrible, but I've also heard this is where the bulk of any kind of toxins, heavy metals, etc, accumulate. Another thing that many probably already know, but just to reiterate > Smaller, younger fish, usually contain a lot less toxins and garbage, simply because they have not been around as long, to absorb this stuff. A nice 10 to 14 lb'er has plenty of meat on it. I'd way rather release anything bigger than this. Peace, Fish