Fish Chris

I just LOVE Yosemite ! As I said on the photography forum, when it comes to photography, this place makes me feel like I'm cheating.... > Like fishing in a trout hatchery ;-) LOL Anyway, the weather was awesome ! Warm, but not too hot... partly cloudy (great for photography). Waterfalls were at peak flow for the year ! :-) Oh but, I didn't even bring a pole. The trout they catch out of the Merced, look about like my Huds.... or maybe smaller ;-) Plus, having AADD like I do, I can't do general photography and fishing at the same time anyway. Hope you enjoy them :-) Peace, Fish

Well, not neccessarily "bass fishing" specifically, but multi-species fishing in general, has always been my absolute #1 passion. I'm also pretty heavy into photography (see my Yosemite thread in the "everything else" section) ..... and I'd like to be more into cars, trucks, and car audio.... if I wasn't a poor man, who fishes too much, and doesn't work enough. Peace, Fish

The same way you baitcasting guys do.... except with no fear of a backlash ;-) I really can't think of a technique that can be done with a baitcaster, and not with spinning. While I do know of a few things that can be done with spinning, and not with a baitcaster (super light stuff... skipping under docks, etc}. Fish

I have a Vector, about 3 years old. One size larger than the one you pictured though.... with probably the same amount of use as many guys would put on a charger in 10 or 20 years ! The fan is a little noisy, but it's in the garage, so that's not a problem. Keeps on going though. If it breaks, I'd probably get another of whatever Wally World is carrying in the "poor mans price range" :-) Fish

How many hours would this job be ? Parts should be pretty cheap, huh ? Less than $50 ? Outboard labor in my area is about $130 to $140 an hour though > ....and I have no choice but to pay it, to keep my warranty good. Anyway, my motor is 3 years old now. Impellar never changed... and I don't know if its just in my head, but when I first fire up the motor, it seems like the pisser is a little weak (moreso than normal) until after I start to get on it a little. BTW, I wonder if their is a way I can redirect the pisser (sorry, I don't know what else to call it ;-) upward, so I can more easily see that I'm pumping water, without having to lean back and to the right side of my motor "while I'm running" to see if it's still pumping..... Hmmmm, Fish

Ya' know Catt and Hammer, I really don't think KVD's boat would give him such a big advantage. IMPO, high performance bass boats are totally overhyped. KVD's awesome tournament success has SO much to do with his personal fishing abilities, and SO little to do with his boat. And if KVD himself told you anything else, he would just be 1) being modest, and 2) hyping his sponsors. A guy just doesn't need 250hp and a bunch of glitter to catch bass. Fish

Hey Catt Not 'only' the # 1 truck..... but in fact, the #1 motor vehicle on the road in the US today ! And I can see why. I LOVE mine :-) I've had zero problems. Not even any little bugs which you would expect with any new vehicle. Okay... I do have this rattle in the headliner.... But then it only happens when I crank up my 1400 watt stereo system, with some kind of techno bass track. Geeez, didn't Ford know that "everyone" was going to be installing a 1400 wt stereo system ? I think they should have planned and designed around this Peace, Fish

Well now, that totally depends.... Could I beat him in a tournament ? Ha ! Are you kidding ? I probably could not beat KVD's grandmother in a tournament ;-) LOL Could I beat him on a fun fishing trip for numbers of 'normal sized fish' ? Still extremely unlikely. Could I beat him by catching a 'bigger fish'..... on a lake which I know like the back of my hand.... which he's never fished in his life ? Maybe. Nothing like stacking the odds in ones favor ;-) No doubt the guy is a stick.... But his kind of bass fishing and mine, is about as different as racing and golf. Peace, Fish

I already knew my plan was the cheapest. Yep, it's the good ol' "Getro PCS" :-( In fact, the "only" good thing about it, is it's unlimited everything...... local and long distance, for $50 a month. Just their reception SUCKS. Heck, you can have full signal strength showing and get cut off :-( ....or, the "all circuits busy message". Oh, anyway, this website showed me 4 different plans that cost twice as much, and one plan that was almost 3X's the cost ! Those were unlimited everything too though. Fish

Pretty much zero "brand loyalty" here. I LOVE my Ford F150, but I would also love to buy a new Camaro.... Or a Challenger.... I think the Tundra would make one bad a$$ sport truck ! Lord knows they are faster than #### ! My dream car was always a Dodge Viper..... But if somebody wants to give me a new Ferrari, or Lamborgini (just because I'm such a cool guy ;-) I'll take / drive one of those too ! I've said it before, but I'll say it again; If "any" car company were as bad, as some of the guys with loyalty for "other" companies, say they are, that company would not even be in business today ! Pitting one modern car company against another, is splitting hairs, and it all really comes down to personal preferences, for which one a guy chooses. If I could have 10 new vehicles, they would probably be made by 8 or 9 different companies, some American, some foreign. Peace, Fish

Hey central_fl, Well sure. I'm totally aware of that. But the thing is, every reel I've ever owned was able to apply as much drag as I needed. And for the last 15 years that I've been using braid, I run my drag setting even lighter. I know their are situations where you need to horse fish away from cover and such (moreso in the Southern US than in CA) but as long as your fishing in open water, and from a boat, you don't even have to stop the fish within the distance, of the amount of line on your spool..... You simply chase them with the boat. I've done this many times with Bat Rays, and a few times with Sturgeon. In the case of that Sturgy I caught on my micro-light (above photo) it probably ran 15 or 20 X's the length of the line on my reel. Took me so far from where I hooked it, I had a hard time finding my anchor bouy..... and its a lime green 2 gallon detergent jug ! Maybe a 1 mile fight ? Anyway, my drag was never an issue. I landed that 90 lb fish with probably 2 lbs of drag. Peace, Fish

X2 Fish

The #1 thing I see people spend WAAAY too much money on, is high-per bass boats. I mean, yea', I can see all of the high technology materials, and R/D that goes into building one, and so therefore, I can see "why" they are so expensive. I just don't know why the average weekend angler thinks he needs one. And then to watch the commercials trying to sell those boats...... I always just sit their shaking my head. I mean, don't tell me how fast it is.... Don't show me how pretty it is.... You want to sell me one of those things, show me how it will help me to catch giant bass, and make it run all day on a couple gallons.... then drop the price to $10K or less... (oh, and put a camo paint job on it ;-) LOL.... and then I'll think about buying one..... in 10 years when my current boat is completely worn out, that is. Peace, Fish

Holy $#!+ ! That guys lucky to be alive. All the more reason I don't need a high-per bass boat. I risk my arse enough on the road every day. I go fishing to relax, have fun, and catch fish. And I've never caught a bass going more than 1 mph or so. Fish

But hey Harpoon, and all, PLEASE after you remove the old line from your reels, cut it into as many short pieces as you can, before disposing it. This will prevent animals from becoming entangled, choked, maimed, etc. The way I feel about it, even if its 'just' a Seagull at the landfill, it's still a living creature, which I wouldn't want to kill, unless I were going to eat it. And besides, looking out for nature brings good fishing karma ;-) Peace, Fish

Hey central, I hate to always fall back to the > braided line < rant, but it just pertains SOOO directly, to so many different aspects of fishing.... Hmmm. Okay. But then if a person is even 'remotely' concerned with a smooth drag, they had better be using braided line, and here's why; Monofilament, by nature of it's high % of stretch, will build up a ton of energy, then, when the drag system finally hits its breaking point, all that stretch energy will be released at once. Then the drag will stick, and the energy starts building up again, until it finally unsticks, and releases again.... over and over. This is called drag surge. It's totally the lamest thing on the planet, and heck yea', if your using mono, you had better have a drag which is as "unsticky" as is technologically possible. With braid on the other hand, because it has virtually zero stretch, you will have virtually zero drag surge as well..... even with a not so perfect drag..... although I still prefer as silky smooth a drag system as possible :-) Just some food for thought if anybody here is still using rubberband, for line (sorry, I mean mono :-) Peace, Fish

I guess if I had an Alligator, or an Alligator Gar on my arse, I'd swim pretty darn fast too ! ;D Fish

Man, that's some great fishing ! I had heard a long time ago that Choke Canyon was slam full of Alligator Gars ! Is that no longer the case ? Or can bass actually thrive that well in a lake with a bunch of big gator gars ??? To be honest, when I first saw your post title, I was thinking, "Why fish for bass when you could be chasing 200 + lb Alligator Gars" ? :-) ......but with bass fishing that good, it wouldn't be so bad :-) Congrats, Fish

I use nothing but braid, and have thrown Rattletraps quite a bit (mostly for Stripers). I'd suggest using a rod with a softer tip, as well as running a lighter drag. Works fine for me. If you wanted to buy a specific / different rod for the purpose, you could (as was mentioned above) go with a fiberglass rod, with is more forgiving. If I had to quit using braid..... OR quit throwing rattletraps, I choose the latter :-) But together they can be okay too. Fish

Hey LBH, I have a good buddy who fishes a lot of tournies. And he and I talk all kinds of garbage about some of the goofballs in his club, who will say, "Yea', I just fished swimbaits all day long" {because they think this will make them appear to be like the coolest guys on the water"} ......so then my buddy sees them out there throwing a 3" paddle tail :-) Dude ! That's not a freaking swimbait.... okay ! ;D ;D If this were the case, how about those 1" micro paddle tails they make for Crappie fishing ? "Yea' that's a fat basket of Crappie you got there. What did you get em' on" ??? Well, we just threw swimbaits all day ;D Peace, Fish Oh.... I use 50 lb braid for all of my swimbait fishing. Never broke it on a fish.

The answer is, no. Their is no big difference. I use spinning gear almost exclusively, but that is mainly because I am totally lame with a bait caster. It's a long story, but trust me.... I'm in a fairly unique situation, in which no amount of practice would have made me good with a baitcaster. Heck, I don't consider myself "great" with a spinning reel (and I've been practicing with those for 40 years).... but I get it out there in front of a big one every now and again, regardless ;-) But yes, as was mentioned above..... I always say a person should use whatever they feel the most comfortable with. That will always be the best choice. Not trying to wear this photo out, but I caught this 71", 90'ish lb Sturgeon on my micro-light spinning rod and reel. Granted, I use braid, but the braid I use on this combo is 2 lb diameter, and still only 10 lb test. Looks and feels about like sewing thread. Works great on my rod rated for 1 to 4 lb mono. Anyway, needless to say, after landing this fish on the micro-light, I feel pretty confident about landing any Largemouth, or Catfish, or Carp, etc, that I happen to hook on the same rod / reel combo. One other thing.... I always have to chuckle when people come up to me and say.... "So all you use is spinning.... Is that the secret" ??? Uhhhhh..... no. The secret (which I already told you guys) is that I suck with a baitcaster Peace, Fish

Thanks guys. Of course fish size is relative to the place in question. Seeing as I've only caught 4 from this lake over 10... and no 11's (yet :-)) so an 8.0 is a pretty good one. Peace, Fish

Heck yea' ! That is a BIG OL' bass right there ! I could imagine that fish being well over 12 pre-spawn ! People often 'mistakenly' assume that if a fish holds 1 lb of eggs, it will lose 1 lb from spawning. But in reality, spawning takes SOOO much energy output, at precisely the time when bass are eating the least.... or not at all ! It's more accurate to assume that if a fish loses 1lb in eggs, it will probably lose another 2 lbs in body mass. Anyway, good job buddy :-) Fish

I mention this from time to time, because I feel it's VERY important, but I haven't posted on this for a while, so here we go.... I tie PLENTY of crappy knots. But they NEVER, EVER fail on me. Why ? Because what I'm really good at, is being able to tell a good knot from a bad one, and the latter never sees the water ! Your knots should always cinch down smoothly, and cleanly. If your tag end turns out to be pointing in the wrong direction.... or, if the knot doesn't seem to want to cinch all the way down, like to where you are tempted to grab it with your nails to help it.... Forget it ! I'd rasther sit and retie 50 lame knots in a row, than to lose just one monster fish ! {although 50 in a row would be a very bad streak ;-) And if you didn't know already, even a lame knot will probably be okay with the dinks. It's that 1 monster that you have been fishing for all of your life, that will be most likely to cause a catastrophic failure of a lame knot. I typically use bloodknots, improve clinches, and palomars..... and I screw them up fairly often ;-) but again, the thing is > I ALWAYS LOOK CLOSELY at the knot I just tied ! If it's not pretty and clean, it won't ever see the water ! I retie it immediatly ! I work too hard for the big fish I hook. Re-tying a knot here or their is a small price to pay, to prevent big losses ! Just a friendly reminder, Peace, Fish

Hey about the lake level, it was kind of amazing..... Yesterday morning, the level was about 1ft from the spillway. But by last evening, it was right at the spillway ! I swear it came up 1ft in 8 hours ! Fish