Fish Chris

Hey Hillbilly, that's a really nice fish ! I think it could be bigger than these guys are giving it. You could have held it straight towards the camera, and a little further from your body..... but anyway, I'd give it 8 to high 9's. BTW, I fished Caney Lk. one time, while I was living in Louisiana. Didn't catch squat. I did see some giant Grass Carp though..... I mean like 50 lb'ers ! Too bad I couldn't have hooked one of those :-) They used to have this big aquarium in one of the marinas, with a couple 16 to 17 lb bass in it ! That was really impressive. Caney Lk. does have the state record still, doesn't it ??? Stick a pig ! :-) Fish

some of you guys might know that I'm not much of a baitcasting guy.... which is why most of my reels are spinning. Now I had been hearing lots of good things about the Okuma Guide Select Swimbait rods, but I have been throwing my swimbaits on a suitable Guide Select heavy action spinning rod. So anyway, last year I decided to get a Guide Select swimbait rod.... but not for swimbaits :-) Instead, I took it out and stuck a 72", 35" girth, Sturgeon (approx 150 lbs) and a medium build 82 incher (approx 165 lbs) Whooped em' both in just less than a 1 hour battle :-) Again, if those rods could handle fish like that, no Largemouth on the planet stands a chance :-) Fish

I think Bill Dance is a good ol' boy ! .......he just needs to quit messing around with all those little ol' 8 lb private pond bass, and come to Cali to catch some "BIG" ones ;-) Fish

I've used nothing but braided line, for close to 14 years now. I did snap one rod right after I started using braid, and I was still trying to treat it like mono. Set the hook into Northern California, with my drag too tight. Haven't had any problems since. You definately should run your drag a bit lighter, and learn to not swing for the fences on your hook sets. It's simply not needed. You can get the same pressure at the hook point, with 1/10th the swing that some guys do with mono. I typically use 2/10 braid on a rod rated for 1 to 4 lb mono. 8/30 on a rod rated for 8 to 15 lb mono. And 12/50 on a rod rated for 15 to 25 lb mono. Works great for me. Peace, Fish PS, As for voiding your warranty, to be quite honest, I don't think most reputable rod companies would even bother to ask you what type of line you were using....... Unless you started to break "lots" of rods, over and over. Therefore, you shouldn't have to lie about it.

Hey Mackkie, Yes ! I love my Okuma's :-) With my spinning reels (which is most of them) I typically use Inspira IA's. But if you want a little less expensive reel, which is almost as good, go with the Epixors. As it has been mentioned, Okumas have an absolutely awesome drag system ! Here's a little proof; Last year I was messing around with my micro-light and an Inspira IA 15, trying to catch a big Striper. Now granted, a 30 lb Striper on this gear would have been challenging enough, but little did I expect to hook into, and do battle with, a 6ft, 100 lb Sturgeon ! Anyway, after the most extreme 2 hr and 10 min workout of that tiny little drag system, I landed the fish :-) I'd have to say, that if Okuma's little micro-light reel could handle a fish like this, then slightly larger gear, for way smaller fish (Largemouth Bass) should never, ever be a problem :-) Peace, Fish

I love those big Bronzebacks ! Hope to be sticking some big ones myself in the next few days :-) Stay on em' ! Fish

{once again, I have no idea what section to post this in} Anyway, gas in Nor Cal right now is at about $3.50 a gallon, but I totally expect $4 by Summer ! Just rediculous ! But anyway..... My trophy Smallmouth trips (about 90 miles from my home) are costing me; $30 gas for truck $12 gas for boat $18.50 for parking + launch + fish rounded out to $60 a day. My trophy Largemouth trips (about 40 miles from home... but includes a fair amount of stop and go, through city driving) are costing me; $15 gas for truck $5 bridge toll $7 gas for boat $12 parking + launch + fish rounded to $40 a day. To any of you guys with high performance bass boats, this might sound really cheap..... But for a poor guy like myself, that doesn't work as much as he should, and tries to fish 140 days a year, these freaking gas prices are killing me ! I guess I'd have to say, gas has finally gotten high enough that it might start to affect how much I fish..... or at least, where, and for what..... Your thoughts ? Fish

I have a 55lb on my 14 ft aluminum, amd it works fine; Peace, Fish

just keep in mind, bigger boats cost a LOT more to operate. I dunno'..... maybe you have a lot more money than I do (which wouldn't be hard) but I can "barely" afford to fish all of my days off, in a 14 ft aluminum, with a 25hp motor ! Granted, its my truck that uses most of the gas, but it's only a 4 cylinder Toyota. If I had a big, heavy fiberglass bass boat, then I'd need a bigger truck too ! (at the very least, a stronger, newer one). Of course I really prefer a smaller, lighter boat anyway {my little 14ft'er is my "dream" trophy bass boat}. What I want is "bigger bass" :-) Anyway, if you can afford to operate a big, heavy, high-per bass boat, and still fish a LOT, more power to you. Just don't get yourself caught up in the hype and glamour of a big, pretty, fast, bass boat, and then find that you can't afford to fish with it. Peace, Fish PS, Gas will likely hit $4 a gallon before the year is over.... and maybe more than $5 a gallon within the next few !

Heck, I get skunked more often than just about anybody that visits this forum {didn't get a touch on my last two trips} ! Then every now and again, I just get lucky enough to stick a good one :-) Peace, Fish

you said > I'm going to take off for the tournament and look back and my outboard falls off. < Doh ! I hate it when that happens :-) LOL Peace, Fish

I use a fluorocarbon leader all the time.... but in conjuction with real line {braid}. IMPO their is not much difference between fluorocarbon, and regular monofilament (certainly not like the difference between mono and braid). If I was a mono guy, I'd either use straight mono to my hook / lure, or straight fluorocarbon to the hook / lure. But since I'm a braid guy, I use a bloodknot to connect my fluorocarbon or mono leader to my braided mainline. It NEVER slips or breaks. Don't get me wrong, I tie my share of lame knots, but the key is, always recognizing when you have tied a bad one (because it doesn't cinch down easily, cleanly, and completely) and retying it before it ever sees the water. And BTW, if you tie one like I just mentioned, don't even bother giving it the pull test (that might give you a false sense of security). Just hack it, and tie a new one immediatly. Peace, Fish

I wake myself up all the time while setting the hook ! :-) One time I had a really wierd one... Which is, I was sleeping, but I really was in my boat with a pole over the side (and a live live crawdad). So, I dreamed (I think) that my pole tip ripped down over the side of the boat. I lunged up, grabbed the pole, and set the hook.... Missed the fish. But afterwards, I honestly couldn't figure out if my pole really did rip down, and I saw it through squinted eyes, "OR" if I completely dreamed the whole thing. Guess I'll never be sure. But yea', I have had lots of 'almost' normal fishing dreams, where I caught anywhere from standard, to WR sized bass. Then there are the really whacko ones, like catching them through a hole in my bedroom floor :-) .....or, sitting in front of the mall on the edge of a concrete flower bed, turning around and pulling a double digit bass out from between the Ivy :-) What in the heck is that about ??? :-) LOL Fun thread BTW :-) Peace, Fish

Well for me, fishing is just a way of life. Sport, hobby, passion, past time, etc..... the label is just not important. Peace, Fish

they will both work fine. I'd say to use whichever you feel the most comfortable with, which for myself, would definately be spinning.... Peace, Fish

I wonder how far he could cast a swimbait ? .....next, I wonder how much farther that swimbait would go if he snapped it off on the swing ? :-) That's some crazy casting right there ! Fish

I'm telling you, "swimbaits will catch big fish in your waters too" ! Anyway, I picked "other" as swimbaits were not on the list. Specifically, a Hud #12, in natural, or holdover trout color (which will also work in lakes that have never seen a trout). Peace, Fish

SO much more logical ! To go somewhere and buy your fish dinner is: 1) So much cheaper, than the money we spend trying to catch them. 2) So much better for keeping our own fisheries good. 3) Guaranteed that you will have your fish dinner every time you choose to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personally speaking, I'm just so darn picky about the fish I eat. Most of the time I'd prefer a big booming fillet of fresh Salmon from Costco.... Or a Carls Juniors fish sandwich.... When I'm lucky enough to catch the Cali Halibut, I'll keep a few of those..... and maybe a few Crappie. But in general, I end up releasing about 98% of my catches for the year. Come to think about, that was 100% in 07'. Peace, Fish

When people so often ask such broad questions that its really hard to answer, it just strikes me funny that you should ask 8# or 10# fluorocarbon ? :-) Uuuuh..... well... I think 8# is too light... and 10# is too heavy... But I saw this German line manufacturer once that made like 8.7 lb test, and I think that's what you need ;-) LOL I just don't think anything else will work :-) Don't mind me... just being silly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seriously though, like Dodgeguy said > Seaguar ! That what I use for leaders with my braided line. Good stuff. Peace, Fish

their are lots of variables (air temp, water temp, stress level of the fish, general health of the fish in question, etc) but the best answer is, "The shorter the length of time you have to keep the bass out of water, the better". Preperation is SOOO important. I typically have my livewell (a 100qt icebox) ready with an inch of water in the bottom, so when I lay a fish in it, it won't be on a dry surface. I quckly put in a couple more full buckets of freshwater. Now I can take a few minutes to get out my camera, tripod, and scale. Next I take a test shot or two (without the fish) and turn the scale on. Finally, I pull the fish out for a few photos (mine will take as many shots as I want, consecutively, without having to reset the camera) then, straight back into the live well. Check the photos. If they are not spot on, I make a few minor camera adjustments, and take a few more. If they look good, I pull the fish out, weigh it, and quickly release it. So, from the time I hook the fish, to the time I release it, it has not been out of the water for a total time of much more than 1 minute.... and that's split into 3 or 4, 20 second intervels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whatever your doing with your fish, if by the time you release it, you have to hold it, and revive it for any length of time, your not doing it right. It's all about preperation, and practice. Peace, Fish PS, The whole operation can be almost as smooth while shore fishing "if" you remember to carry a stringer rope, so you can keep the fish in the water, while you get your camera and scale ready. PPS, IMPO, tournament caught fish are going to be subjected to a LOT of stress, which could possibly kill them, time out of the water completely asside. No, I'm not anti-tournament, just stating the facts.

you guys are obviously not fishing California trophy bass lakes then ! I probably get skunked 2 out of 3, of my bass fishing trips (at the hard-core trophy lakes anyway.... the ones with the biggest fish). Okay, granted, I could go to a "numbers of small fish" lake, and throw night crawlers (or a 4" straight tail plastic worm for that matter) and NEVER get skunked..... errr.... should I say, and always catch a fish or twenty.... but those would be small fish, and I'd still feel completely skunked. In fact, if I were catching small fish all day, but knowing my odds of sticking a trophy were slim to none, I'd feel like I was totally wasting my time..... But on the other hand, I can throw a swimbait all day, and never get a touch, but all the while knowing that any of those casts could produce a monster ! Now that's fishing time well spent ! In fact, it's time spent in the best possible way ! "Even on trips when I don't catch anything, I was only one bite away from the perfect trip" :-) Peace, Fish

no matter how you slice it, fluorcarbon is a "mono" or single filament line...... So as a mainline, it sucks. But like Dodge Guy was saying, Seaguar is an awesome fluorocarbon line. I use it for all of my leaders of 20 lbs or less. I might use it in 25 and 30 lb on my swimbait rods too.... if I could find / afford it. Peace, Fish

Why not use a totally visible (I often use white) braided line, with a fluorocarbon leader ? This allows me to see my end much better, and the fishes end is still as invisible as you can get. (for whatever that matters). Personally, I think its more important that my fluorocarbon or mono leader is more abasion resistent around rocks, or over a big basses teeth, and it gives me a bit of a shock absorber, when used in conjuction with an almost zero stretch braided mainline. Peace, Fish

TUF-Line XP and TUF-Plus I used to use Spiderwire. It worked okay, but is WAY overpriced. I tried a whole bunch of other brands between Spiderwire and TUF-Line, and I think they were ALL night and day better than any monofilament on the planet, but I settled on TUF-Line for the best line at the best price..... and then they started sponsoring me a few years later. So now I get the best line, at the "really" best price... free dollars and 0 cents ;-) I can't believe nobody has said anything about that "fused" garbage ! Come on you guys ! That stuff makes awesome dental floss ! :-) My buddies and I like to call it "Fired Line" :-) LOL Peace, Fish

> I'm sure that all of us have caught bedded bass that we haven't seen whether we like to catch them off te bed or not.JMHO. < Very good point ! In fact, I plan to do some "blind" sight-fishing here shortly, in an area that I know 15 to 17 lb'ers to spawn..... but in which the water is way too murky to actually see so much as a shadow of them :-) Wish me luck. Peace, Fish