Fish Chris

Thanks RW.... One things for sure, > If they are not there, they can't be caught ! < Peace, Fish

Ya' know, when I go to one of my trophy bass lakes, "I know" where the big bass hang. Sure, they may have backed off 50 feet after a weather front, or dropped down 10 feet deeper, but they will almost always still be within a casts distance. Totally unso in the Delta :-( {albeit Largemouth's might be a bit more stable, and stick to spots a bit tighter} But I don't fish the Delta for Largemouths. Contrary to what you will hear and read, I don't consider the Delta to be very much of a high percentage, trophy Largemouth fishery. But the thing is, for the fish I'm after in my parts of the Delta, the Sturgies or Stripers can be litterally stacked up in an area one day, and completely gone the next ! And I mean like "20-miles-away gone.... and without even having to swim" ! They simply get out in the current, let the tide take them 20 miles on a nice, fast, 6 hour tide, then pull over into an eddy, before it starts to come back in. And for whatever reasons unknown to me, this seems to be exactly what they did this week :-( Got my butt kicked 3 days in row. And it's not like they were there, but I just couldn't get them to bite either. I didn't see the Sturgeon jumping. I didn't graph any. I only had 1 or 2 runs from "little Stripers".... I really felt like I was fishing vacated water :-( Even my buddy with his super-duper $1500 graph kept telling me.... "I'm not seeing ANYTHING" ! Urggggg ! Put fish in front of me, and I'll stick a hook in one or two.... but give em' a straight shot to a 100K acre bay (which I can only fish on the flattest of days), with no swimming required... and when they disapeer, I'm just pretty much just b-*** out :-( Oh well. It beat the heck out of what I have to do today. I won't use foul, four letter words like this on the forum, but it starts with a W, and ends with a K...... Enough of my ranting.... Peace, Fish

I'm surprised I never thought to start a thread on these myself ! We are talking about the same thing here, aren't we ? Those rediculous little loops, or clips that you are supposed to attach a hook, or lure too ? I despise those freaking things ! Can't tell you how many times I have tried to slide my hand loosly down the blank, only to have that thing try to rip my hand open ! Don't remember if they ever actually drew blood, but they sure have tried too ! Add to that how my braid often trys to catch on them, before a cast. My solution; Take a pair of dikes and cut that stupid thing off as close to the blank as possible, then wrap a few layers of electrical tape around it, to cover the sharp ends. Who in the world ever figured that you needed an "additional place" to put a hook, or lure, that the brace of the rear guide (not through the ring of the guide itself.... you wouldn't want to risk scratching or damaging it) was not totally sufficient, as is ????? Urgggg.... Peace, Fish

I use almost nothing but spinning gear, for all but a few small exceptions like Sturgeon fishing, and even then, sometimes I still use spinning gear.... like that 71" Sturgeon last week on the micro-light spinning rod. I never tell people that I think spinning gear is better than baitcasting gear.... it's just better "for me", because I suck with a baitcaster.... and no amount of practice could ever fix that (long story). One thing I will say; I have heard some guys say that braided line doesn't work well on a baitcaster... leastwise, on a heavy baitcaster for swimbaits...... To which I would have to say, if you have to use spinning gear, to be able to use real line {braid} then yes, spinning gear is the only good option. Peace, Fish

this is how I find them; Say I'm starting on a new lake. I start hopping from one likely point, or hump, or layed down tree to the next. I throw an 8" Hud, or sometimes a loud, obnoxious wakebait (MS Slammer) maybe 3 to 8 times at each spot, always watching closely behind my lure as it comes into view. It doesn't matter if I stick one or not. If their is a big fish there, their is a good chance it will follow my lure, and give itself away in the process. That becomes "spot #1" on the map in my head. And I continue on. After making my way around a lot of the lake (or, if its a small lake, the whole lake) I will go back through my list of spots where I saw good fish, and fish them again. The next trip to that previously new lake, I will hit all of the spots I saw fish at before, plus try to hit less obvious spots that I might have missed, or bypassed before. After I have fished a lake several times, I get to where I only fish spots that I know have held big bass on previous trips, and I rarely waste time on spots that haven't shown me anything. This means I will often fish fewer spots, more times throughout the day. I've often said, just let me find a big bass, and the battle is 3/4's over. I will go back.... and back... and back.... until that fish slips up and makes a mistake ;-) Their is NO such thing as an uncatchable bass..... Their are just some highly conditioned bass which are MUCH tougher to catch than others.... and these are usually the largest ones :-) Peace, Fish PS, I just love the "hunting and stalking" aspect of trophy bass fishing :-)

I've seen very fat, small framed trout-eaters, which were 8 or 9 lbs, and would probably barely fit a hand in there mouth. I've also see big framed, but scrawny bodied bass that would only go 4 lbs, but which one kid easily fit a hand in there mouth. Point being, this is not a good indicator of bass weight. Nice fish though. I'd give it 6 to 7 lbs..... and I'd recommend picking up a digital scale, so you can say, this fish weighed X.X lbs.... Then people could just take it or leave it :-) Peace, Fish

nice to meet you :-) I don't guide. I just like to chase our big, Cali trout-eating giants. As I had said in my earlier post, there are lots of variables. If I'm fishing our big trophy Smallie lake (which only has Northern strain Largemouths), I probably average closer to 6 lbs. If I'm fishing Clear Lk. with tiny live dads, I might only average 3 lbs nowadays (5 lbs back in the day) But really.... honestly.... if I'm fishing one of our top trophy lakes with an 8" Hud, I get a few 5 to 9 lb'ers, but I get as many, or close to it, over 10 lbs, and sometimes, 13 lbs to 15 lbs, or bigger. Then, if I'm sight fishing, I really won't even slow down and fish for anything that doesn't look at least 8 lbs, and that's only because sometimes a fish might look 8 lbs, and in reality, it will be just over 10. If I "already knew" the fish was 9.9 lbs, I wouldn't stop for it either. Now, I do get skunked "a lot" ! But I'm totally okay with that. I fished for numbers of smaller fish for so many years, that that became not much of a challenge anymore.... to the point where if I went out nowadays, and caught 5 or 10, 1 to 3 lb'ers, I'd still feel skunked by the end of that trip. Afterall, nothing to raise the adrenalin... nothing to break out the camera for.... nothing to make me remember that trip 1 year from now... or 10 years from now. Anyway GolfCoursePondMan, as amazing as an 8 or 9 lb average might sound to you, "you could do it too, if you lived here, and put enough heart and soul into it". Peace, Fish

I'd say you should start looking for the guy(s) in your areas that "DO" get the big bites ! What are they doing ? When, where, and how are they fishing ? Sure, some of those guys are going to be pretty tight lipped.... but their has to be one or two of them who will appreciate your enthusiasm, and give you some valuable info. The fact is, if you can find even just 1 guy in your area who catches some good fish, like your dreaming of, this means "it's possible" ! If he can do it, you can too ! Also, talk to your local F&G. Heck, it doesn't even matter if the biologists you talk with are fishermen.... They still know where the most big ones are, through, studies, electroshocking, etc. One things for sure; "If what your doing right now is not producing the desired results, their is no sense in beating your head against the wall" ! It's time to switch it up, and approach it from a whole different angle. Ten years ago, I could have continued to fish exactly the way I used to, and by now, I might have caught "1" bass over 10 lbs.... or, I might not have. Instead, I changed everything, and caught my 83rd 2 months ago. Hope this helps, I know their are some big ones in your waters, just waiting for you to crack the code ;-) Peace, Fish

In some cases, yes, C&R is being overdone. In other cases, C&R is not being practiced enough ! The problem is, every single lake on the planet acts just a little bit differently from the next. The only reason each and every lake on the planet is not regulated on an individual basis, is that this would be impossible for the F&G to handle, with the resources they have available. Selective Harvest is usually the better practice, but the problem here, is that this requires anglers to actually "think". Suddenly the correct answer goes from "yes or no", to "fill in the blank". If you are concerned about "doing the right thing" on your local waters, contact your closest F&G Dept. Talk to a biologist and see which lakes near you are best suited for harvest, what size, and number of harvested fish would be best from those lakes, and which lakes should be C&R only. Peace, Fish

Your about as rough on Avid, as I am on guys who use monofilament !!! :-) Fish

Of course the nice thing is, on a fishing forum, you can get by with quite a bit when it comes to photos :-) It's funny.... I sometimes post photos of smaller fish, but in which the photo comes out spot on, on the photography forums I visit.... But then I have posted shots of trophy catches, in which the photo was not great, on fishing forums, but would not even think about posting those on the photograhy forums :-) Keep em' coming Avid :-) Peace, Fish

I've actually written a whole article, with several photos, on just the subject your asking about.... but Glenn doesn't really like us to send vistors off to other sites, without return links, so out of respect.... On the other hand, if Glenn wants to use that article here on Ultimate Bass, of course he is totally welcome. I think its one of my "funnest" articles :-) Anyway, in a nut-shell, you just hook em' and hang on until they get tired :-) Peace, Fish

as a matter of fact, their have been two serious injuries caused by jetskiers hitting Sturgeon, in the last two years, in our area ! I believe in the second incident, the guy almost died, and was in critical condition for quite a while ! Yikes ! Plus, I know of a friend of a friend, who had one come over the bow of his tri-hull fish and ski, at about 45 mph... about a 60 lb'er, which first smashed through his windshield, then, as he shot his arm up in front of his face to protect himself, it broke his forearm, and threw him completly down the length of his boat, and smashed him against the inside of the transome ! Had it knocked him out of the boat... by himself... in the middle of the bay... with a broken arm... "AND NO LIFE JACKET" he'd have been a goner ! I always wear my PFD, and I also keep my eyes peeled.... mostly for debris in the water, or other boats, but flying Sturgeon are something I do think about often ! Fish

Ahhh geeez guys. You better stop, before my head gets bigger than that Sturgeon :-) Any of you could do it to. All you do is just hook them, and hang on until the fish gets tired. And if you fish a lot, in places that have fish like this, it's just a matter of time before it happens. Thank you though, Fish PS, I know a lot of you don't have Sturgeon..... but many of you DO have Alligator Gars, Blue Cats, Flatheads, Muskies, etc. Of course I'm not suggesting that any of you ever leave our beloved Green and Brown Bass behind..... but in the downtime for those, and just to mix things up, I'd suggest you guys go chase some of the other monsters, in your neck of the woods ! :-)

Thank you guys. Hey Five pound, unfortunately, for two big reasons, line class records are pretty much out of the question. Here's why; First off, I was using a micro-braided line. 2 lb test diameter, but 10 lb test. Now, guys who normally use 10 lb mono might not consider 10 lb test to be micro-light, however, considering that micro-braid has zero stretch, I feel comfortable putting about as much pressure on a fish during a fight, as I would with say, 6 lb test mono. This is also why it is perfectly suited to a very soft, whippy rod, rated for 1 to 4 or 2 to 6 lb test. So for all of the above reasons, I call this micro-light line...... but the way that the IGFA sees it, in a lab, under ideal conditions (which are anything but "real world) this is 10 lb test.... which really shoots this catch, or others caught on micro-braid, into a completely different category. As I've said for a long time, the only way for the IGFA to be fair about it, would be to write a completely seperate book for braided line, which of course won't ever happen. Secondly, the current max size for Sturgeon is only 66", so there is no way to certify a fish as an IGFA record, and release it "immediatly" too. Either way, like I always say, the only guy I'm really out to do better than, is "Fish Chris" anyway :-) Peace, Fish

Yea' buddies ! :-) ......so I had fished with a 7" Split Tail for Stripers for about 3 hours without a touch. Didn't even see too many big Sturgies jumping today either, or I would have switched over to them instead. Finally, I call a buddy, who is also on the water, on our cell phones, and ask him about a spot out in the Suisun Bay. He tells me he was just thinking about heading out there anyway, and did I want to follow him ? Sure ! Not only was the bay looking pretty flat, but if I'm ever going to take my little boat out there, its good to have a friend in another (slightly bigger) boat out there for back up / safety. So we end up in some spot that really felt like "the middle of nowhere" ! I'm guessing the Suisun Bay is probably 75,000 acres, and we were a good 1000 feet offshore. So I just sit and watch my buddy for a bit, trying to decide between Stripers, or Sturgeon. Immediatly he catches a little dinky 12" Striper on his grass shrimp which he was throwing for Sturgeon. Freaking bait stealers ! Right away he catches a little 12" King Fish... another pesky little bait stealer ! That does it for me. No way am I going to feed these pesky little things my very expensive, and hard to come by Salmon Roe ! Stripers it is. I reach into my livewell and grab a little 7" Split Tail, and rig it on my micro-light.... and I mean, my lightest of micro-lights ! "Not" the 7ft bait casting micro-light I caught that 47 lb Sturgeon on a couple years ago, but rather, my 1 to 4 lb rated spinning micro-light. I lob it out as best I can, with a 3/4 oz egg sinker to drag it down. My graph showed 21 feet. I guess it was out there for about 10 minutes, when my Split Tail started really freaking out. All of the sudden it just stops, and my line starts to ease out. Huh ? For a second I thought the boat was just swinging or something, as Stripers sure don't hit like this. So as it gets tight, I go on and swing.... and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ I mean this fish just felt like it had no intentions of stopping ! ....like it fully intended to just head for the ocean ! Now I've hooked a few big fish.... But this fish felt REALLY big ! So big, that without even waiting for things to get any crazier, I immediatly threw my anchor rope with the float buoy off of the boat, and out of my way, and got straight on the t-motor. So now my buddy is asking, "Do you think its a really big fish ? ....or is it fighting like this just because of the crazy light gear ? I told him, "I think BOTH" ! Fifteen minutes into the battle, I was 95% sure that this "wasn't" my 40 plus Striper, both because of how it bit, and now because of the way it was fighting. But ever since I caught that 47 lb Sturgeon on the micro-light, I've said, "Just let me hook a bigger one, because I know I can land it" ! So here's my chance ! {then of course all the praying ! Lord please, please, please.... :-)} Cut forward 45 minutes. The fish had kind of slowed down, and was really trying to just lay down on the bottom. I was starting to feather some additional pressure on my spool to ease it up, (didn't want to touch the drag, as if I hadn't broke it off by now, the drag must be set pretty good) but I could only get it up 2 or 3 ft... then ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ right back to the bottom. At about 1 hour, it started to get kind of goofy, and purposely coming up off of the bottom, and cutting around like it was going to jump, but it never did. Instead, it let me get it right to the surface.... and holy @#$#@ ! It's not "just because of the gear" ! This is a BIG Sturgy ! But immediatly it peels back to the bottom and starts the bottom hugging routine again. At approximately 1 hr and 45 min into the battle, I got it to the surface again, and of course it peeled right back to the bottom..... but this time, it felt just a little easier to get it back off of it. At 2 hours, I got it to the boat once more..... but my buddy in his boat, was on the wrong side of me. So at this point, I envited him aboard. We knew my net was too small, but we were hoping that if we could get its head and shoulders in.... I mean, what else could we do ? BTW, did I mention I was using a barbless hook ??? At 2 hours and 10 minutes, for the 4rth and final time, I get its head up, and my buddy scoops..... it shoots straight into the net, but only about the front 3rd of the fish would fit ! (and to think Cabelas calls this its "big fish" model ! Yea right") .....and then it flips right back out ! But it really didn't run anywhere before my buddy scoops again.... two for two.... but it flips out again ! All I could do was keep my line tight in case it ran off again. So he scoops once more.... This time, it's tail kicks away, then back at our faces, and at that split second, my buddy pulls straight back on the net handle, while I'm jumping for its tail. Basically, my buddy, myself, and the Sturgeon all fall to the floor of my boat ! ......and only then, do I cut loose with the victory scream !!!! :-) Now up until last year, the size limit was 46" to 72". Then for a while, it went to very narrow slot of 46" to 56". More recently, it went back up to 46" to 66", but only 3 fish per year with tag system, like for deer, instead of 1 per day. But the fact of the matter is, I'd have released this fish no matter what size it was. I just think these fish are too valuable as sportfish, and take too long to grow, to be killing them indiscimanently. Nothing wrong with keeping 1 small 46" to 52" Sturgy a year for food. They are great eating. Oh.... so anyway, it ended up going 71 inches, and aprox 90 lbs. My new any species, micro-light PB :-) And BTW, 2 hrs and 10 min is my personal record for battling a fish as well. So there it is.... 1000 words... AND a picture :-) You can't tell I'm still pretty stoked, can you ? ;-) Great fishing to you guys, Fish PS, One of my buddies just told me yesterday, "Dude, your going to be out there screwing around with that dinky little micro-light, and that's when your going to hook your 40 lb Striper......." Well ya' know what ? After landing this 90 lb Sturgy on the same gear, I've only got one thing to say...... "Bring it on baby ! Bring it on" !!! :-)

I was not quite 3 years old, when my late uncle Elton placed a cane pole in my hand and told me to wait for the cork to pull down, then pick up...... Of course I don't think he, nor anybody else, realized how that experience was going to grab ahold of me, and so dramatically effect the rest of my life ! In a nutshell, I've been adicted to that pull on my line, ever since :-) Peace, Fish

Hey Steve IA, and Jeff H, like I always say, "Please don't mind me too much" :-) There are only a few things I feel so strongly about, as I do about backreeling, and braided line. I mean it's like, I want people to know I'd sooner give away my boat, than to have to use mono, or start backreeling..... But at the same time, I always say you should do whatever works for you. Plus, it's not like I don't want to associte with somebody if they backreel or use mono ! Half of my best fishing buddies use mono...... Pretty nice of them to give me the advantage like that, isn't it ? :-) LOL Stick a pig ! Fish

Again, even the best back-reeling angler on the planet will have lag time in between the surge of a fish, and his reaction to it. A good drag is litterally instantaneous..... and a good drag, used with braided line, is 10X's better because drag surge is reduced by 90+%. For me, it doesn't matter if I'm fishing for Crappie or 100 lb Sturgeon.... Bluegills, or Bat Rays.... or of course, double digit bass, the idea is always the same; When the fish is taking drag, I wait. But the "split second" it stops taking drag, its coming in ! If a person is ultimately concerned about controlling a fish, I sure hope they are not using a fishing line with 10% to 20% "uncontrollable stretch"..... Peace, Fish

Geez.... I'm so hesitant to even post an opinion on this..... I probably shouldn't..... but..... :-) I believe that maybe way back in the old days, when fishing gear, and most specifically, drag systems, were really poor, back reeling might have been a good way to bypass the shortfalls of the gear. By nowadays, I contend that the "very best, most skilled back-reeler on the entire planet" cannot possibly react as fast as a good drag system (most especially when used with braided line, which does not build up, then release a bunch of energy, in the stretch like mono does > drag surge) I've heard guys say this gives them "more control" over a fish...... but you can only put as much pressure on a fish as the line can take. Beyond this point, your line fails. It doesn't matter if your backreeling, or using a drag system. BTW, even with a properly set drag system, I can, and have, reached up during a run, and feathered additional pressure on the side of my spool, to slow a fish from getting me into trouble (brush, pilings, rocks, etc). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ya' know, I never really thought about these two subjects so much together, but the "other" subject with which I am the most overly opinionated person you will ever meet..... braided line :-) ....would probably be horrible with backreeling ! Why ? Because if your using a big rubber band for your line (mono) you can probably be pretty slow to react to surges and drag ripping runs of a big fish, and your big stretchy rubberband will protect you, but if your using "real fishing line" {braid} their is virtually no time to slack off. No back reeling, and no mono for me, thank you :-) Great fishing to you, Fish

Hey Five Pound and Avid, micro-light gear for Sturgeon ? Sure ! Why not ? :-) I found a rod a couple years ago which was the lightest baitcaster I had ever seen. It's 7ft long, but is rated for 1 to 6 lb mono, and was designed for Kokanee trout fishing. It reminds me of like a 1 or 2 wt fly rod. Anyway, I do use a micro-braided line on it, which is 2 lb diamter, 10 lb test.... but in case somebody reading this hasn't used braid, you should know that you can't treat 10 lb braid, like 10 lb mono, as with zero stretch, you will snap it right off. It actually works great on a rod rated for 1 to 6 lb. In a nutshell, I put about as much pressure on a fish during a fight, with 2/10 braid, as I might have used to, with 6 lb mono. Anyway, I got this 47.6 lb'er on this rod a couple years ago, and although it took 40 minutes, and a lot of boat chasing, I really think I could handle a 100 lb'er :-) I don't care if it takes a 2 hour fight :-) This shot shows the rod... about as thick as a pencil, at the butt end.... And this is a better shot of the fish.... Cool thing about this light of gear, is that even these super finicky, ultra-sensative fish have no clue they are about to get swung on ! With heavy gear, if you get a 2" pull down, you had better swing right now, or your chance is often long gone. Where as with this gear, they will often suck on it for a full minute or more, until you do decide to actually swing :-) Kind of funny when you actually hook them though..... Often it takes them several seconds to even realize their is a problem :-) Last year I eased a 48 incher all the way to the boat, before it even realized what was up..... of course then it went ballistic :-) ... but I landed it anyway. And I will be chasing them in less than 24 hours ! Whooo Hooo ! Thanks for twisting my arm guys :-) Will still be listening closely for reports of BIG Stripers though.... Peace, Fish

Hey LBH, actually the travel for this fishing isn't too bad. Only 6 miles from my driveway to the launch ramp.... then about 8 miles by boat.... Hey The Jake, this sounds all fine and good.... Unless I stick a big Sturgy during that 1 or 2 days, then I'm probably just flat ruined ! I mean, I have a hard time staying away from them "when I haven't stuck one for a year".... let alone sticking a good one the day before ! :-) I do actually have a Sturgeon goal too.... I want to stick a good one of like 75 to 100 lbs on my micro-light. My biggest so far on that gear was a 47 lb'er. That one took 40 minutes to land, and it was all about the boat chase :-) Anyway, depending on the weather (wind) this week, I think I might try fishing for both the Sturgies and the Stripers :-) Just two more days of this "work" garbage...... Peace, Fish

Okay now, I had said all Summer, that this Fall, I was not going to let those dino-fish (Sturgeon) distract me from the Stripers, as I REALLY want to stick a monster Striper.... 30's would be nice, but I have wanted a 40 plus SO bad, for SO long ! So, I spent 3 beautiful days on the water last week, and stuck a good handful of Stripers from 5 to 12 lbs, several of which were on my tiny little micro-light rod :-) That was fun. But the whole time while I was fishing on the shallow, shelf side of the slough, I was watching BIG Sturgeon jumping about 200 feet from me, over the channel on the other side ! I mean, a lot of those fish are surely 100 lbs or more ! Geez, I know I said, "No Sturgy fishing"..... but maybe just a little ??? .....just until some big Stripers start coming ? Am I wussing out ? Come on guys..... How can you just ignore 100 jumping Sturgeon per day, for 3 days straight, ranging from 40 to 100 plus lbs ??? Just going crazy over here.... Fish

I think Bluegill is very close. Of course there are so many variables... like the place, the lures I'm using, the technique, etc, etc. Plus, if I'm allowed to throw out that occasional 6" incher that grabs a crawler, or Huddlebug ;-) But yes.... I'd say, of the fish that count, probably 8 to 9 lb average. Course like I always say, anybody here who fished as much as I do, in the places I do, would surely do at least as well..... Peace, Fish

I've never thrown mine in the lake, or purposely submerged them, but they has been through several big rains, big splashes over the boat, and I even took a garden hose (with spray nozzle to them) to wash over the salt water, and they have never leaked a drop. You realize that they have a life time guarantee, right ? If I ever had one leak, I'd just send it back for a replacement. Love my Pelicans :-) Might just have to test mine soon..... Peace, Fish