Fish Chris

Okay, for starters, the Ca DFG, does less for our fish and game, with more money spent, than any other Dept of F/G that I know of ! They are constantly shutting down programs, but continue to make even more laws that they can't enforce, which only makes it harder for the honest fishermen But here's the latest; Since Striped Bass were imported from the East coast 130 years ago, they have become one of the most prized sportfish on the West coast. The size and possession limit has been two, at 18" or more, forever, and that was fine. But now, after all this time, the Ca DFG has decided that Stripers are a problem, to some little endangered Delta Smelt + Salmon and Steelhead. Well, here's the thing > I don't doubt that the Delta Smelt + the Salmonids are hurting, but nearly all the evidence points to other causes for their decline, mostly, the fact that we send so much of our freshwater down to So Cal The Ca DFG's answer ? The Striped Bass eradication plan ! Yes, you read this correctly. The Ca DFG is currently working on measures to reduce current Striper populations in both size and number. Their first plan of attack is to change the possession limit from 2 to 10, and the size from 18" to 12" ! IMPO, this is absolutely ridiculous. My biggest hope, is that this plan, will be an even bigger FAIL than many / most of the other plans the CA DFG has taken on. Heck, we already have LOTS of poachers taking 50, 10" fish per day as it is, then you have the guys like me, who regardless of size and possession limits, still wouldn't keep more than 1 or 2, 10 to 15 lb'ers anyway. Their have been countless studies done to show the effectiveness (or often, non-effectiveness) of F/G regs, when people don't choose to follow them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You know, it's one thing when your DFG does little or nothing, to protect your fishing resources, but it's quite another when they launch an all out direct assault on them !!!! This REALLY makes it hard for me to buy a license. Urggggg.... Fish Ca DFG = EPIC FAIL !

Hey man, I have been taken to school, by a good buddy of mine, fishing soft plastic creature baits (that he poured) and outfishing me 7 or 10, to my one ! He would even let me take the front of the boat at times... or ask me to, and still whacked them ! Same lures, same weight, same depth, etc. He always said that everybody gets nearly as many hits, but many are so incredibly light, that many / most anglers never notice.... Like myself on those night trips, I guess. But he noticed the bites ! But it's all good I probably need to get my arse kicked once in a while, to keep me in line LOL Peace, Fish PS, It's probably good to be humbled, because no matter how great of an angler you are, theirs always Mike Long LOL

Hey Marty, yea, I hear you. I didn't always have that problem. I did have it more with some cameras, less with others. But now, as I was saying, I preset a manual focus distance.... a little longer for Stripers, and longer yet, for Sturgeon Peace, Fish

But WAIT !!! Just so you know, bass fishing can be extremely addicting ! Welcome aboard I could go on and on with info for a new bass angler, but just to keep it short and simple, always remember this; Keep an open mind. Don't try to force the fish to do it "your way" but rather, try to figure out how "they want it", then act accordingly Ask a lot of questions. Look for the guys that are catching the numbers, or the size of fish you'd like to catch. Follow their lead. Then tweak those ideas to suit your own style.... or should I say, "while developing your own personal style". Finally, If I can do it, then anybody with hard core OCD / AADD can do it too Great fishing to you, Fish PS, You have came to the best place on the net for bass fishing info, and camaraderie.

Hey JF, yes, Sterlingtek ! I've gotten several batts from them, all at least as good as the OEM, if not better..... But that's not my issue with proprietary batts for fish photo cameras. This is; So your camera may have gone months without you using it (hopefully not but sometimes, right ? Then you stick the biggest fish of your life, and the darn battery is dead ! But here's an even bigger problem > Sure, you can have a spare battery, or heck 6 of them ! But if the battery in your camera has went dead just due to sitting, so are all of your back up batts liable to be in the same condition. Not so with AA's. I carry two of my Canon A6XX series cameras with me. Each has a set of NiMH rechargable AA's in it, + 1 spare set. However, I also carry a set of old school alkalines with a 10 to 15 year shelf life ! Who cares if alkalines only take 50 shots before their dead. 50 shots will always be enough for a fantastic trip, or the fish of a life time. Long term insurance, baby Just got to have spare batteries, spare cameras, spare scales, etc....... Peace, Fish

Well, I pretty much "only" fish by myself, and take nearly ALL of my fish photos by myself. Yes, a tripod and a camera with a timer is nice..... But you might run into a problem, that I have in the past... So, you have set up the tripod and camera, and set the timer {man.... I'm in the middle of workout, and my arms are so pumped, its hard to bend them for the key pad !} oh... anyway... You catch a big fish, you lean forward to hit the button, and "beep beep" it chirps (most digital cams do, anyway, if the beeper is not turned off) and this tells you, it just focused.... Problem is, you were not sitting back in position, but rather, standing right in front of the camera, pressing the shutter button So your focus is all wrong You might ask, "Why would they make cameras like this ? Well, because typically, the timer is used for group portraits, where the photographer can focus on a group, hit the shutter, then have a few seconds to go squeeze in with the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solution ? Well, I LOVE my Canon A6XX series (I have 3 of them) because I can set everything up ahead of time, including a manual focus at a predetermined distance. Unfortunately, Canon quit making these cameras, and did not come out with a direct replacement. I think like the G11, and G12's ($500-$600 cameras... mine were $130 to $200, each) can do this..... but they use expensive, hard find proprietary batteries, whereas my A6XX series use rechargeable AA's. Anyway, I know I took some pretty nice self taken shots in the past, without any special features like this.... So try it. But if you have focus issues, the above is probably the problem. Just a heads up. Peace, Fish Here's a couple of my favorite self taken shots from earlier this year

Son ! {said with a Roland Martin drawl } LOL Hey man, at least you made it back safe. Theirs always another day, and another fish Peace, Fish

Thanks again guys Oh.... and you remember I've been pulling my boat with my little Hyundai, right ? LOL No problems whatsoever though, pulling, braking, and even launching. JF, I hear you. And yes, I know I'm spoiled only having to drive about 3 or 7 miles (depending on which ramp) to get to gimungous Sturgeon, and a lot of nice Stripers EdBass, I really don't eat much Striper myself. Tastes too fishy for me But I bring a few home for all my roomies, let them clean them, and B-B-Q them..... and when all is said and done, I might grab a piece of fresh grilled Striper It kills them..... but like yesterday I told them, "Sorry guys.... They were all too big to keep". Ahhhh man. What a drag huh ? NOT !!! LOL That's a problem I wish I had ALL the time Peace, Fish

But first.... yesterday was a wash. I fished hard all day in my "original" hotspot, for only two hit's and drops ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So today, I had a few tricks up my sleeve... Long story short, I figured that if I got one, it would be early...... not. I fished for 3 1/2 hours for 1 darn bite...... But that 1 bite turned into a beauty of a fish, with this 29.8 lb'er After that, I felt like I could just try anything crazy, and if I didn't catch another fish, so what, I'd have been good with just the fish above. So I bounce around, first fishing an old spot (nothing in 2 hours) then I stopped on a new spot. Didn't even have my portable graph..... but it just looked good > a small creek full of tulles (loaded with split tails) joining the main river, on an outgoing tide. So, I get both my baits out there, and after about 15 minutes, I get blasted so hard, it tries to make my spinning reel (with bait runner set) go into a backlash ! But then didn't just go on and eat it ? Then another like that..... Then I stuck this healthy, strong 19.2 lb'er, which immediately went for thew surface, and just went bazerk ! But I landed her after a strong battle, I know.... looks little after that 29.8, right ? So, I had just taken photos of the 19.2, and was in the middle of weighing it, when.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ! There goes my other rod ! It ended up being nearly a twin to this one.... 19.7 lbs. no photos of it. Had a couple more blasted hits and runs, that ended up dropping the bait..... but all in all, two just shy of 20, and 1 shy of 30, is a really good day for me ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh and hey, check these two shots out. These were taken right after I got on the water. Notice the giant windmills in the middle left..... Now, I swear to you guys ! NO PHOTOSHOP here !!! Now you tell me those clouds don't look like they are wrapped all the way around the sun !!! In fact, I don't think it's much of a stretch to see "Saturn" in this photo Yes, that is a bird in the upper left center

Yea' buddy ! That's a good one ! Continued success to you. Peace, Fish

Right on That is a cool little rig you have there What I love to see, is guys in little micro-light rigs like yours, holding up some big ol' hogs Then, you can look over to any of those flashy $50K rigs, and tell them, "Nice boat" ! :lol: Don't mind me. I'm just having fun Peace, Fish

Oh.... no... believe it or not, the Split Tails are amazingly tough, and usually survive (barely) a Striper catch, or two. And even after they are dead (fresh dead, is better than frozen) they can still work quite well. It's more fun to be able to watch your line jumping from the bait though, then right before it gets blasted, it starts really freaking out (like Ohhhh $#!^&& ! ) which totally gives you a heads up.... On the other hand, when your fishing with a dead bait, and your line jumps, it's pretty obvious your getting a hit too Either way, I just love sticking these big, bad-**** Stripers Can't wait for next week already Peace, Fish

Well, Monday pretty much sucked. Couldn't catch any Split Tails to save my life ! Finally had one right to the side of the boat, but it fell off So, then the Striper fishing (with frozen Split Tails) sucked too. Had a couple small hits, but they wouldn't commit.... Now, I'd like to think that "if I had had live Split Tails" I'd have whacked the Striper's...... However, I have this sneaking suspicion, that the same thing that had the Split Tails turned off {POST frontal} probably had the Stripers turned off too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So, yesterday morning, I started out 1 hour earlier +, with the tide being 40 minutes later, it gave me almost 2 more hours of good water movement, for my bait fishing... and Bam ! Stuck several Split Tails in about 45 minutes. Culled the best 2 (possession limit is 2) and went fishing Stuck the first Striper in about 30 minutes. Then, caught them here and there for the rest of the day. Ended up catching 6 Stripers, four of them were in the 10-13 lb range... 1 about 7-8, and I weighed the biggest one at 17.2 lbs. Not a bad trip Can't wait for next week. So far, the weather report is showing nothing major coming up. Plus, a much better tide next week too. So I'm hoping the Stripers (especially the big females) will be in full swing by then Whooo Hooo ! Peace, Fish PS, That 17.2 lb'er actually chased my Split Tail to the surface (heck, it's only about 2-3ft deep on a low tide) and blasted it like a "live" top water lure Fought like a freight train too !

Yea' man, I love those kinds of boats ! I hear you on the HP's though My boat has the max 25hp motor on it..... but if ever I was to buy a brand new motor for it, I'd probably go with a 40hp myself. Not that I really need it, but just because Peace, Fish

Wow ! Heck yea' ! I don't want to mess with any lightening like that ! Fish

Wow ! Those are some GREAT catches there ! Congrats. Nice Lake Trout too. I always wanted to catch one of those. Do you keep the trout to eat ? Continued success to you Fish

Hey CFFF, I didn't actually buy the car, to pull the boat. I've had the car for more than 4 years. Just put the hitch on it last week. Oh but hey, I love your rig ! That thing would be fantastic out here in our Delta waters for Striper and Sturgeon. Of course it would be great for anything freshwater too. Please don't come back and tell me "you wish you had a bigger, more powerful boat". That boat is totally all you need Peace, Fish

Well, I listen to pretty much everything, as far as genres go > Which is why I wanted a system which can play all frequencies well, and balanced. Lately though, I have been listening to a lot of Dubstep (which IMPO is just techno / electronic of the 2010's) A lot of these recording are just awesome, lots of sub, mids, highs, great seperation, interesting beats, etc. Peace, Fish

LOL Apparently a lot of them, as honestly, I get more comps on my little car, than I do my truck.... granted, it's usually from females, who call my car "cute" ! Doh ! But seriously, what kind of guy ? Probably a guy that 1) is not worried about what the next guy thinks, and 2) is not trying desperately to fit in with the pack, and 3) needed decent gas mileage My truck is my baby though, which I drive any chance I can. My car is just for gas mileage, and was the cheapest car on the market in 07'.... like $9800 window sticker, brand new, with a 100K mile drivetrain warranty. Brushhoggin, I just mean $9,800 vs. $25,000 (+ everything added later) Peace, Fish PS,

Yea..... and the thing is, I drive my little Hyundai for my work, so I really don't drive it unless I have to. But in this case, I really feel like I have to. I just don't have the time or money to redo everything I've put into the truck ! Oh but hey, for those of you into nice car stereo's, mine is sounding better than it ever has I'm now running four tweets, four mids, four 8" mid-bass drivers, and two 15" subs, all with about 1500 wts RMS (need to bump that to about 4Kwts, but it's okay for now). Anyway, of course it will play loud bass, but it will also play "any kind of music" loud enough to cover all road noise, at 70mph with all the windows down. It's just really balanced and musical Lotsa' fun Peace, Fish

Hey guys, yea', my hitch... or reciever, is a Draw Tight brand. I take the actual hitch off, when not in use (just held by a pin, with a large cotter key) to keep from bashing my shins on it. Funny thing though...... although my car has to work a LOT harder than my truck, to pull the boat, its actually easier to back up and launch, because I can see the boat / trailer behind the car, whereas the truck is so much bigger, it blocks a lot of my rear viewing.... But the best part is, while I'm out on the water, I don't have to sit there worrying about my truck ! Peace, Fish

Hey guys. Yes, I am alive Just been really sidetracked with all kinds of stuff.... the truck stereo build, weight lifting, mountain biking, etc. However, I predict that I will be shoving a bunch of good Stripers (and maybe a Sturgeon or two) out at ya' in the next several weeks Anyway, that's me... here today, gone tomorrow Never know when or whewre I might show up Peace, Fish PS, Thanks for your concern.

Right on. Thanks guys That's why I love this forum. You can be gone for however long, then just pop in, out of the blue, and it is just like old times, with lots of the same regulars Anyway, yesterday was great for many reasons, but maybe the biggest is, that this trip greatly improves the odds of this being another great year for Stripers Come on 40+ ! Peace, Fish

Oh and hey, check out this cool dude He tried to land on my bald head today. I joked with myself that it probably looked like a landing pad, from half way across the bay Of course it got the quick brush off, but it landed in the boat, then just walked around and hung out for about 2 hours, before it finally flew off I like these guys.... You ? Fish

Thank you A-Jay Fish