Fish Chris

Rods: Whatever. Not picky. Reels: Used Okuma's for the last 8 years. They served me quite well. Looking around at all the options nowadays... haven't found a new favorite. Line: TUF-Line..... or, if not that, TUF-Line Hardbaits: What's a hard bait ? Plastics: Does a Hud count ? Storage: Cabela's Magnum heavy canvas soft bag. Fish

I've read this whole thread, and SirSnook's is the best answer... However, if you have some sort of a mental block, about the tag end of your line becoming frayed, you can always put a small drop of superglue on it, right after you cut it off. I do this sometimes, if I'm in a particularly nitpicky mood. But in reality, a frayed tag end causes no additional problems. Fish PS, Oh BTW, I use the little Fiskars spring loaded thread cutting type of scissors. And the key is, don't try to squeeze the handle to cut the line, but rather, hold the handles in one psition, and pull the line into the 'V'. Makes a pretty clean cut, but again, it will still eventually fray, and it's no big deal.

I own my dream boat ! No, seriously. Sure, I'd like to also own a 200 footer, that I could travel the worlds oceans in. And maybe 6 or 12, 40 foot houseboats, to be parked around at different lakes across the US... A nice big, 24ft inland saltwater boat would be great too. But as for a fresh water / bass fishing boat, mine is just all me ! I absolutely love my 14ft baby When I look at the high performance bass boats which you guys either already own, or wish you could, I see some really amazing pieces of machinery, technology, art, etc,..... and I do really appreciate them, for what they are..... Very much in the same way I see some of those amazing motorcycle builds on TV, and think to my self, That thing is bad-arse .....even though I don't / won't ever ride a motorcycle. Also, I have to say, if I could afford it, I'd own a stupid huge, fully customized F650 truck.... just because it would look cool, and be fun to drive. I know one company that makes them, and they start at $170K !!! The point being, I sure couldn't knock somebody who had this same attitude toward their bass boat. It's just for me, those boats are just too much boat and they would only get in my way, and slow me down (figuratively speaking, of course). Peace, Fish Isn't she purdy My kind of boat picture

Well honestly, probably not a trip goes by that I don't do some little stupid thing, and then curse myself for being a dum-bass I'm thinking a few of you might have done this one once or twice..... > Ever got your line wrapped in the t-motor blade ? ....and your rod just ripps down like you just hooked the lake record ! That will really get your heart pumping.... until you realize you are just a complete idiot LOL Then, while your trying to get your line unwrapped from the blade, your looking around, hoping nobody saw you do that ! Doh ! LOL Another really stupid thing I've done, was to try to take off without pulling up my anchor ! Thank God my boat prop has never caught my anchor rope ! But still, your wondering, "Why is my boat lagging like this" ? Oh.... now I get it ! It's because I'm a dum-bass that forgot to pull up the anchor ! {again, I'm looking around and hoping nobody saw that ! LOL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But hey now, here's a mistake I saw a poor old guy make, that really just hurt to watch.... About 10 years ago, I saw this old guy, launching the most immaculate, mint condition... I dunno, I'd say, 1970 or 1975 Ranger Bass boat (anybody know there first year ?) Obviously he had babied this thing. Anyway, he was launching it by himself, and had tied the slack end of the launch rope to a tree beside the ramp. He then backed in, until the boat drifted off the trailer, then proceeded to jump on the gas pretty hard, to pull the trailer out. Unfortunately, the slack rope got wrapped over a bar on the back of the trailer, and started doing like the block and tackle effect, as the guy just kept driving toward the parking area ! That fiberglass hull made the ugliest sound I've ever heard as it dragged completely up the ramp, on super rough, pea gravel concrete ! I was really wondering if the boat was going to catch all the way up to the trailer, and what would break next..... when finally the rope snapped. The poor old guy didn't even know anything had happened, until after he parked, and started to walk back down to the ramp ! Ouch ! Took like 8 of us to lift his boat straight up in the air, then set it back down on his trailer. His hull was so heavily damaged, he was afraid to even put it in the water Now that really sucked ! Fish

Ha ! I've never been on Facebook in my life, and never will. I've never tweeted, and I never will. I don't text, and never will. I have heard different companies say, "Like" us at...... and I thought to myself, "If I like you, or if I don't, I'll let you know it.... But I don't need no stinking button for that" Most of the time, I'd rather elaborate LOL Fish

Well they certainly look to be over 10 to me also Yea.... the Striped ones have been fun, but seeing pics like yours here, has me even more anxious to get after some green ones !!! Peace, Fish

Ha ! Yea, those birds are cool Looks like a bad hair day for sure Peace, Fish

Speedbead, that's awesome ! Big congrats to your wife.... I just wish I could see the photo Apparently, it's expired on that link or something. Any other way to post the shot here ? Peace, Fish

Wow ! Those are some really nice fish ! They are really thick / fat too ! To be honest, they look like Cali trout eaters Just curious, as it's so hard to tell from photos, about how many lbs would you guess these fish at ? Continued success to you Fish

Location is certainly VERY important...... But I think 99% to 1% everything else, is a bit skewed..... Unless you were using that loosely, just to make a point. BTW, I am NOT one of those guys that will just blindly fish down a bank, covering a ton of water. Instead, I have put together big fish routs, with several key spots, that I will put 95% of my fishing efforts into fishing. So, you don't even have to ask me if I think location is important Peace, Fish

......this year ? I'll tell you, it's going to hurt me pretty bad A couple of the places I fish take me about a half a tank in my truck, which will Equal $50 (@ $4 gallon) then, (only) another $10 or $15 in my boat.... Thank God it's not a high per bass boat ! {granted, I'd still say that if gas were only 50 cents a gallon LOL} Then a $12 to $20 day use / launch / fishing fee.... So, I'm looking at $75 to $90 per day of bass fishing That might not sound expensive to some of you, but I'm a poor guy.... And what's worse, I drive for a living, and my gas comes straight out of my profits. So, as the price of gas goes up, my pay goes down, at the same time ! Talk about a double whammy ! Granted, I could spend some of my Spring fishing time fishing in my back yard (so to speak) for Stripers and Sturgeon. That costs me about $5 gas in the truck, and maybe $5 to $15 in the boat. Or, my home lake Berryessa.... free launch, and maybe $35 in truck gas, $10 to $15 gas in the boat. And it has a few big bass..... they are just scattered throught 25,000 acres. I kinda' prefer a bunch of big bass, in a 100 acre pond + I'm now working 5 days a week, after working only 4 days a wk for the last 5 or 6 years ......and probably taking home less $ ! Don't that suck. All in all, it doesn't look real good this year Okay, enough of my whining. How about you ? Fish

Thanks again guys You know, these Striped ones have been a lot of fun this Winter, but I'm just about ready for some green ones now Peace, Fish

One might think my handle is just because I fish a lot. But I'm not sure how many people know, that I kept tropical, saltwater, and cold water native fish in aquariums for most of my life..... worked in 3 different tropical fish stores.... worked on a fish farm in Arkansas.... and have basically been studying fish my whole life. Not that it's really important (very often, anyway) but I can recite the first and last Latin names of probably 1000 species of fish ! Holy Stigmatagobius Sadanundio ! Oh, and BTW, 'Fish Chris' has been my nickname for about 30 years.... long before I ever visited Internet forums, or even owned a PC for that matter. Peace, Fish

Wow ! Those Browns are just beautiful ! Thanks for posting them .....and BTW, as far as I'm concerned, if it will bite my hook, and pull on my line, I'm always down for a fight Sure, bass are great, but so is just about every other species that swims Congrats on the great trip Fish

What a beautiful fish ! .....and lure Thats just a great shot all the way around Stay on em' ! Fish

Thanks guys Funny you guys should say, "skinny".... I was looking at that photo and thinking, > "Man, this shot makes me look like I still have a belly roll" Just my pants cutting in a bit, from squating down. I'll post a shot of myself later this Spring or Summer, after a workout, in a tank top, and hopefully, I'll look just a bit more buffed, rather than skinny LOL Seriously though, I'm not trying to lose much, if any more weight on the scale. I'm weighing about 202..... and heck, I want to weigh at least 225...... but at the same time, going from 15% body fat (currently) to about 9%. LONG ways to go.... Peace, Fish

At least it was calm, clear and warm In fact, for about 2 hours at mid day, I was down to a tank top ! Caught a couple nice ones too. One about 13'ish, and this 21.4 lb'er. Fought really hard too. I was really hoping it would be a BIG one...... but still, it wasn't a bad one Tomorrow the weather turns to rain, wind, and cold again though. That's okay... I have to work anyway Peace, Fish

Thanks guys. Hey Endless, nope. Can't even start to write with my left hand. The only thing that would tell you I was supposed to be left handed (besides my parents) is that the entire left side of my body has always been naturally stronger.... even though I do pretty much everything with my right hand. Fish

Eaxactly..... and I guess if I were throwing something small, like a jig, or a plastic worm, (which I basically never throw) I would probably make a bunch of casts too... But IMP experience, when throwing swimbaits, a big bass is either going to inhale it the first time it sees it, or it's not, and furthermore, if it does not inhale it on that first cast, I'd rather not even give that fish a chance to inspect my swimbait any closer.... > Because I'm telling you, after a short swipe and a miss, they will certainly follow it 2 or 3 more X's, eying it closely and really get a chance to see all of the fakeness which again, IMPO, will only decrease your odds of sticking that fish later on that day, or in the following days. 1 cast, and they will either eat it, or they won't in 100 ! .....at least with a swimbait. Fish PS, Even if you ever throw a swimbait 30 X's on one spot, before getting bit, I'd bet you my truck, that that fish was simply not there when you first started casting, but moved up after 29 casts, and bit it the first time they saw it, on your 30th cast !

Cheap rods are just fine. If a guy is worried about sensitivity, then I hope he's using braid. If not, he shouldn't even be allowed to talk about sensitivity Peace, Fish

If I'm throwing a Hud, or a nightcrawler, 1 cast. If I'm sight fishing, and it takes 900 casts to one spot, over a period of 6 hours, so be it. Fish PS, But to clarify about the Hud.... I say, "1 cast to a spot"..... but I mean, "to an exact spot". In reality, if I sneak up to a point, or hump, or some type of feeding area, I might make 5 to 10 casts, to fan across, and fish the whole area. But almost never will I bother to turn back around and make a cast to one exact spot in that area... unless maybe I had a hit and a miss...

For myself, I'd have to switch bodies to use a bait caster LOL Fish

But hey now, is their any of you who would argue with me, that that the most awesome high one can get, is sticking the hugest fish of your life, landing it, lipping it, and holding it up in front of you > While your heart just about pounds out of your chest ! And your skin just absolutely tingles with adrenalin ! Whooo Hooo ! And then it can last for days, with no harmful side effects + it's legal too ! The perfect high, right ? Peace, Fish

In my area, it almost is legal... Put it this way, for about $100, you can walk into a couple different places to see a so called "Doctor", tell him you have this ache or pain, and you think you need a prescription for marijuana. Bam. They give you a card, and you can then walk into any number of places and buy it, bring it home and smoke it legally. For me though, I just don't need it. If I could smoke a little here or there, at get togethers, or special occasions, that would be fine. But instead, if I smoke a little, I'll end up smoking it 3 X's a day.... spending money that I don't have to waste, and maybe even worse, wasting valuable time that could be spent fishing, working out, photography, etc. As I recently said on the health and fitness forum > I don't drink alcohol, because I despise that crap.... I don't smoke pot, because I like it "too much". Peace, Fish BTW, I believe pot is a gateway drug > A gateway, that is, to laziness, junk-food, cartoons, and video games. I say this only partly joking. I mean, while the above is true, and might be funny to some, it is also a great way to waste valuable time ! And the older I get, the more valuable I find every day of I life that I'm blessed with.

Hmmmm...... I'm not sure if any of us are on the same page.... except maybe Shad_Master's son..... If you can play basketball, you were 10 X's more coordinated than I ever was ! If you can play any instrument at all, you might be 50 X's more coordinated than me. If you are ambidextrous, that would be great too ! I guess I'm nondextrous. I don't have any dexterity with either hand ! No, seriously ! What I'm saying is, I believe I was meant to be a "strongly dominate lefty, all the way" but by forcing me to use my right hand, it just whacked me out so bad, you'd have to be me (I guess) to understand it ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I do have 1 interesting little story though. My work takes me around to a lot of private residences. One time I went up to a door and knocked. While I waited, I looked over and saw an old box full of trash. On the side, was printed, the word, "TAX PAPERS"....... In the most unique, odd ball, blocky, ALL CAPS handwriting > That looked so much like my own writing, I probably could not have told it apart from my own writing !!! So, when the guy came to the door, I couldn't help but mention this, and so the guy says, "Well, that's actually my oddball hand writing". I told him, I had never seen ANYBODY, with handwriting that looked exactly like mine..... and that I happened to be born left handed, but forced to be right handed..... And to my great surprise (and maybe his) he replied, "So was I" ! I still trip on that years later. Peace, Fish