Fish Chris

I do before every trip. They ususally start with something like, "Lord please let me have a safe, happy trip. No mechanical problems...... and no wind" ! But then they always end with, ".....and please let me catch just ONE big one" ! :-) So here's the funny thing....... On the way home from the lake last Monday, I said, "Lord, thanks SO much for that 12.0..... I mean, it would have been nice to have landed that second big one, but...... Wait a minute ! I did actually pray for "Just one big one" ! And that was exactly what I got ! Doh ! :-)Remember that old saying, "Careful what you ask for, because you just might get it" ? :-) LOL Oh well. It would be pretty hard for me to doubt my blessings, either way :-) Peace, Fish

That's awesome ! :-) I still don't understand how some people could read stories like this, and not see the logic ? It just doesn't get any more obvious than this ! Congrats on the great catch KU.... again :-) Peace, Fish

Wow ! Thank you for all the replies. I was primarily talking about "Cali bass". Obviously in states where 10 plus bass are rare, or non-existent, the catches of 10 plus bass, will also be rare, or non-existent. I just find it interesting that even in a state where 10 plus bass are relatively plentiful, there are a large majority of serious bass fishermen, who still haven't caught one...... but then like I said, I was in that same boat myself for a lot of years, until I finally cracked it. Obviously these fish are catchable, but then they are not ususally catchable using standard numbers / small fish techniques. As a matter of fact, I talked to a guy yesterday, who puts in the time..... on the right lakes.... and fishes specifically for bass.... and doesn't fish tournies.... "BUT, who doesn't fish swimbaits". He said that he once caught a 10 lb'er, back in the day when it was hot {this is the place that I caught the 14.40 at a couple weeks ago}. Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the first guy he has seen throwing swimbaits..... But he just kind of brushed it off, saying something like, "They are just too heavy, and too much work.... no fun...." Okay. To each there own. But then he went on to say that he knows their are still some big ones in there, and he'd sure like to catch one.................. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the trout fishing at that place.... Geeeez ! You should see the size of the trout they been dumping in that place ! They look like small Salmon ! A whole bunch of them are like 5 to 8 lbs ! So of course, guys are catching a whole bunch of 5 to 8 lb'ers. (That would have been a tough prediction, huh ;-) And ya' know, although I would not feel as if I had accomplshed anything to catch a few of these, I think it would still be somewhat fun :-) .....more fun than work anyway :-) Peace, Fish

Of course I understand that "all" of you fish for bass, while some of you (like myself) will fish for anything that swims..... But does it surprise you that here in Nor Cal, there will be at least 2 hatchery trout fishermen, for each bass fishermen.... and sometimes, even 10 or 20 trout fishermen, for each bass guy ! These guys have some of the biggest "wild" trophy bass swimming all around them, yet they choose to chase fish that were raised in a swimming pool, and dumped in yesterday, to be pulled out today ? To me it's just mind boggling ! And you should see some of these guys equipment, and boats ! I'm telling you, I have seen trout guys in 24ft, 80K boats ! Downriggers, super-duper electronics, and on and on ! I guess this doesn't surprise me anymore, but it still just trips me out..... Now with this next one, I can certainly understand how / why this is.... But it might surprise some of you. You guys see Super Matt, Fourbizzle, myself, and a few other Cali guys posting these big bass shots, and might assume that any serious bass angler out here would have at least caught a few double digit bass. Well, I fished from the time I was old enough to stand up, and hold a pole, until I was 33 years old (9 years ago) and never caught a single double digit bass ! But it wasn't until I just threw everything I ever learned about bass fishing, completely out of the window, and started fishing specifically for big bass, that I started sticking them. Thirty years without a single double digit bass, then 76 of them in the last 9 years. I think this proves that a guy can first "decide to do it" then go out and make it happen. If I had to guess (and its hard to get a real idea, because their are a lot of guys in 40K bass boats out here, even ones who don't normally blow too much smoke, that just can't bring themselves to tell you they have never caught a legit, 10 plus bass) I'd say that maybe 1 in 4 "serious and / or tournament bass anglers" have caught 1 bass over 10 lbs. Curious what SuperMatt would guess ? Now, with all of this said, I do believe that 39 out of 40 guys out here that have never caught a DD bass, could catch 10, 20, or heck, 100 DD bass if they did like I did..... Threw everything out of the window and started from scratch. But I understand that different people have different goals. The thing that always gets me though, is to hear guys out here talk about "how they would love to stick a giant".... Yet they go out using numbers / small fish techniques" ??? If I would love to win a marathon, I wouldn't be filling my pockets with lead..... The biggest secret to my success, has been by stacking all of the odds in my favor. Your thoughts ? Peace, Fish

Hey Rolo, you are correct. But the "major" difference between a DSLR, like the D70, and a point and shoot, like my Fuji S7000, is that DSLR's have a very shallow depth of field, making focus very critical, and easy to screw up..... where as point and shoots have a very deep DOF, and are a lot easier to get a good focus with. In fact, depending on your settings, if you give just about a foot more space between the camera and the fish (than I sometimes do :-)), you can sometimes even get both yourself, and the fish, razor sharp with a point and shoot, while this is very difficult with a DSLR. Peace, Fish

Welcome :-) Those are some nice big Kitties you got there ! Looks like you had a really fun trip. You might find a few guys here that only fish for bass.... But I'm not one of those guys. If it will bite me hook and rip drag, I'm always down with it ! :-) I've been thinking about trying for a monster cat myself lately. Continued success to you :-) Fish Chris

Hey Ozarkie, it had a 22" length, and a 20" girth. Thank you for checking, Peace, Fish

Don't get me wrong, I agree with Catt and t-bone too. The best time to go fishing, is every time time you get the chance. But the question was, "Does the barometer make a difference" ? ....and yes, I think it often does..... but do I let it decide whether I will go fishing or not ? Are you kidding me ? :-) LOL Peace, Fish

I think it can have a big effect. I love fishing on the front side of a front. Some of my most memorable trips have lined up that way. So to address the question more specifically, the barometer is typically falling on the front of a front. Now, there are few things that are worse for fishing that a rising barometer.... typically, the back side of a front. The other lousy thing about a front blowing out, is just that.... it ususally "blows" ! As a matter of fact, we just had a pretty major storm here in Nor Cal. Some local places got nearly two inches of rain ! It's not too windy yet today, but then theirs still some clouds and a little rain in the area. I hope it gets it's blowing done before tomorrow (and the barometer levels back out). Actually, the weather says it will..... But I wouldn't bet my life on it ! Here's a fun little story. It was 3/6/02. The weather had been unseasonably warm and stable for the two weeks prior. The fish were coming up to spawn all over the place ! A buddy and I had planned a trip (his first live dad trip). Of course, wouldn't you know it, as our day arrived, so did a big, slamming storm front :-( We almost canceled..... but I had all those great looking dads..... and heck, I have rain gear :-) So we get on the water, rain pouring off and on, wind swirling every direction. We pull up to the first spot..... a rocky ledge out on the edge of a big spawning flat (text book pre-staging spot). My first cast, I stuck the most awesome 13.2 lb'er I had ever seen ! My buddies first cast (ever with a live dad) he stuck an 11.1 ! To make a long story short, we ended up sticking 3 bass over 10 lbs, and 7 bass over 8 lbs "all on that one spot" ! Our best five went 52.2 lbs ! At the end of the trip my buddy asks, "So what were you going to do with the rest of those dads" ? (hint, hint :-)) I told him, "well I have to work tomorrow, but your welcome to them if your going to go back out. Well, he did go out the next day (on the back side of the front, barometer climbing back up) and guess what he caught ? A record size skunk ! Imagine that..... his first and second trips ever fishing with live dads, were both his best, and his worst ! But that's fishing, right ? 13.2 11.1 10.4 Peace, Fish

Didn't even bother with taking a picture of the fish. It would have had to be a lot bigger, and / or a lot prettier. Don't worry, I'll photograph it's grandmother soon ;-) Peace, Fish

This crawdad, judging by the size of the claws, might have been 5" or 6", and yes, even smaller bass can eat a pretty big dad. Although when I am fishing for bass with live dads, I really prefer the small-clawed, thin-shelled females in the 2" to 3 1/2" range. One time though, I was on the one trophy bass lake I know of up here in Nor Cal, where the big ones really like dads..... and I was down to the last few dads, which were WAY bigger than I prefer. So I put on this Lobster looking dad, and flip it out. The line does the tick, tick, tick, as the dad swims down.... Then WHACK ! A fish nails it before it even hits the bottom ! (kind of uncommon) Turns out to be a 12-6 trophy bass ! I was thinking about live Maine Lobsters for the next trip ! Just kidding :-) Peace, Fish

I caught a long, skinny, spawned out 4 lb'er yesterday, while throwing the Hud. While unhooking it, I noticed it was spitting some stuff up ? So, I turn it downward and give it a little shake..... Crawdad claws.... Okay. And then I guess soft plastic brush hawgs are also an important food source in this lake :-) LOL Not the first time I have seen bass spit up soft plastics, but not real common either. Peace, Fish

Hmmmm.... I certainly love bass fishing, but pretty much every other species is a close second. I caught a 19.2 lb Carp the day before yesterday (while fishing specifically for them) and it was awesome ! Then at the end of that trip, back at the ramp, I gave it a shot for Crappie (wanted a few for dinner) but ended up only catching one "lowly" Spotted bass.... and had KFC for dinner instead :-) Yesterday, I was thinking about catfishing again..... {or more specifically, the lake record at one of my trophy bass ponds :-)} And geez, I sure hope the Halibut come into Bodega Bay this Summer ! ....but if not, we still have the Leopard Sharks and the Bat Rays :-) So anyway, IMPO, Bass are great ! But not so much greater than anything else that will bite my hook and rip drag ! ;-) Peace, Fish

The one that gets me, is when people will occasionally ask, "Do you mind if we use this photo for this add, article, cover, etc" ? Uhhhhh....... Well ya' see, I'm pretty secretive about my big catches..... and I really don't want the recognition.... Doh ! :-) Heck yes you can use my photo !..... But here, check these out too ! Take your pick ! Please use them all ! :-) LOL Peace, Fish

Hey Jay, I hear ya.... but we both know that if your ever going to take bad shots, its probably going to happen on that super giant fish, that has you completely whacked out.... which is, of course, the one that matters most ! That's why its best to play around and get your photography, {or most often in my case, my 'self-photography'} dialed in before the fact. Nothing on the replicas.... but haven't dug too much yet. On vacation... too much playing... no time for business :-) Hey Mike, nah.... I promise :-) The only "really fat" fish I have caught this year was that 8.5 lb Smallmouth, and it was actually a bit fatter yet, when the kid caught her 10 days earlier. Then, with that 14.40 I caught, it was long enough, and deep enough (from back to belly) that even in real life it looked 16 1/2 to 17 lbs...... but I knew from the empty belly, and narrowness of the back it, that it wouldn't weigh that much. I'm sure I could have said so..... But no BS here :-) Peace, Fish

wasn't sure where to post this.... as the "everything else" section says non-fishing related, but anyway..... A buddy of mine took notice of some of my recent fish photos, and asked how I was taking them. Good question. Now I don't know how many of you have cameras with the features that mine does. Mine is "only" a point and shoot (not a DSLR) and it's 3 years old, so it's somewhat of a dinosuar..... but it was (IMPO) about the best point and shoot available, 3 years ago. It cost $450 back then. So here's my secrets; I'm setting the camera to "full manual". Then, I'm purposely adjusting my exposure down to just below what would be required with the natural sunlight available. {on my camera this is usally about 1/1600th, at F5, ISO 200..... but this will vary from camera to camera} Next, I use my fill-flash. This is also adjustable on my camera, and so I usually use anywhere from -3, to 0. Finally, my camera has a setting called "chrome", which is actually just a color saturation booster, but I think it looks more natural, than boosting the color later, in Photoshop. If your camera is capable of some of this stuff, you might want to play around with it...... and remember, you don't have to wait until you stick a big fish to figure this stuff out. You can hold anything for test shots :-) When you get it dialed in, make a short "cheat sheet" of the settings, and keep it with your camera. Then, when you stick a pig, and your head is spinning with adrenalin, you won't have to think very much :-) Peace, Fish PS, And one important thing with photo shop; Of course we have to size our photos way down for posting on the internet, right ? Well, have you ever noticed how sizing them way down, tends to make them lose there sharpness ? Okay, here's what you do.... Size them down part of the way. With my large file size photos, this is about an 80% decrease, but you will have to experiement to see how far to downsize...... Then use the "sharpen", or better yet, the "sharpen edges" feature, in Photoshop. Then go on and size down the rest of the way. If you size them all the way down first, then sharpen, they will often become "over-sharpened" and rough on the eyes. This will really help to keep your photos as sharp on the internet, as the full size printed files would be :-)

Like this: Or this: Typically though, I just use my trusty old Berkely 50 lb digital, which I have sharpened the hook on, and I puncture a small hole right behind the tip of the bottom jaw, off to one side or the other (there is quite a bit of connective tissue right in the center that you don't want to damage). I really only drag out my certified scale (the one in the top photo) for really big, or otherwise special catches. Peace, Fish

I mean, comparing to a skunked trip, I guess I'd have to say it was a "great" trip. I've just gotten so spoiled with this place lately. I was / have been kind of bummed at how little action I have been getting on the Hud lately :-( I'd like to think this was because a lot of the bigger Largemouths are down deeper, on, or near beds, and thinking about making babies, instead of chasing trout. But anyway, I caught 6 Smallies and 1 small Largemouth, 50/50 between sight-fishing with a Basstrix Bluegill, and fly-lining crawlers. I weighed 3 of the Smallies at 3.8, 4.0, and 5.5 lbs. The 5.5 fought really good ! Just didn't want to give up ! Can you believe I almost didn't bother to take photos of the 5 1/2 ? Glad I did though, as I think they came out pretty good. Hey, check out the water dropletts falling from the fishes belly.... and even, the shadow from those dropletts on my shirt :-) Pretty cool, huh ? Blown out today :-( I HATE WIND !!!!! Peace, Fish

That is just "off the scale" awesome ! That fish has the hugest, most bugged out eyes I think I have ever seen on a bass ! And 31" ? I'm telling you right now, that is one VERY old bass ! I wouldn't be surprised if that fish were 14 or 15 years old ! Just an incredible catch ! Whooo Hoooo ! Huge congrats to you, on a truly amazing catch !!!!!!! Continued success to you ! Fish

Hmmmm. If you mean "fish tournaments for a living", no. Heck, I don't even want to fish tournaments "for fun". Next posibility would be guiding..... and it's a definite 'no' there either. Now, I'm already in pretty unique situation to be sponsored by several great companies, just because I catch big fish, and the coolest thing about this, is that I'd be out there chasing big fish whether anybody gave me anything for it or not. This is just what I love to do. So would I like to "fish for a living" ??? Well, if it were completely on my own terms.... or in other words, if I could fish exactly like I do now, except Monday through Friday, instead of just Monday though Weds.... Heck yes I'd like to fish for a living ! They would not even have to pay me much ;-) They'd just need to start with a "gas card".... next is my rent, which is not too bad.... and a few hundred for my small bills and groceries :-) ......then if they could just get out of my way and let me fish, I'll talk with em' each Saturday, with reports and photos :-) Sounds great to me :-) Peace, Fish

Going strictly by the numbers, nobody in the history of bass fishing has ever come close to the number of bass over 15 lbs that Mike Long has caught {something like the high 40's..... but hey, I've caught 4 ;-)}. Detractors will point to his inside connections.... his few days on closed water.... Or whatever. But this is the way I see it; You have guys out there like myself who just absolutely love to fish, and are blessed to be able do it a bunch, in great places, that hold a lot of big bass, and because of this, they {I} end up doing relatively well. Then you have the one guy who really was born with a special, big-fish gift, Mike Long. It's a lot like Motzart on the piano, or Michealangelo with painting. Not to say that these guys didn't put an extraordinary amount of their lifes energies into their passions.... But I am saying that 99.9999% of the populous could play a piano, paint, or fish for trophy bass, their entire lives {and even be completely passionate about it}, and still never get close to the accomplishments that these guys have achieved. Oh hey Matt, I know this is not normal, but I'm really not out to do better than anybody, except "Fish Chris". For myself, the competition is strictly between me and the fish. My goal now is to catch 100 fish over 10 lbs.... and of course to stick a new PB :-) .....and it would be nice to stick a few more 15's in the mean time. But as you see, these goals have nothing to do with anyone else. Peace, Fish

Yea' buddy ! :-) Good job. Those are some nice fish you got there ! Continued success to you, Fish

Pickeral, Trout, Catfish.... Heck I don't mind ! I love those bonus fish :-) Peace, Fish

Thank you guys :-) And to answer the question about our weather, as a matter of fact, today we are getting the first rain we have had in nearly a month... and 15 degrees cooler too. After a trip like yesterday, I'd be tempted to "not go out today"...... But I keep remembering a day which was exactly like this one, and it happened on the place I'm planning for today; A month of great weather, the fish were finishing up with the spawn, and in came this 1 day rain in mid-April. And Bam ! The fish went on a crazy feed ! Back then, with the lure I was throwing, I missed so freaking many of them, including a 12 and a 13 plus (still remember that 13 looking at me as she shook off beside the boat and swam away). But at least I got 1 DD :-) Plus, already got my old boat lined up to borrow from my buddy.... No gas motors at todays lake. So, I'm grabbing the rain gear, and here we go ! Come on 15 ! :-) Peace, Fish

Yea' buddies ! What a day, what a day :-) Been a long time since I got one like this ! :-) The day started with me having a really hard time getting moving. Long day yesterday, and the place I was contemplating for today (an old favorite) had become such a disgusting mud hole the last few years, that it was only fun "when you stuck a big one" otherwise, it was miserable. Anyway, I finally drag myself to the lake at about 11 am, and as I get my first glimpse of the lake, I was like OMG ! It's clear ! Well, not like gin clear, but nice ! Like 3 to 8 feet, with a very cool, emerald green color ! Just like the old days !!! I hadn't even got on the lake yet, and I was already stoked ! :-) So, I'm on the water for about 10 minutes.... and there's a long fish, on a bed. First cast with a Basstrix, and she is completely fired up ! Only problem is, the little male is beating her to the punch. That happened about 3 casts in a row, so I decide to try a lure too big for the dink male... The Hud :-) First cast, I'm reeling it over the bed and the female comes up and just inhales it ! Fish on ! ....but she turns out to be long and skinny. Completely spawned out, and kind of beat up. Only about 7 lbs, so no photos. After that, I started seeing lots of 5 to 7's on beds, but I was just so sure I would find a hog, that I didn't want to spin my wheels on smaller fish, so I kept on. Finally, I'm cruising down a steep, deep shoreline, about 15 feet out, and "Holy #$@& ! I find one that look just HUGE ! I never touch the trolling motor, but instead, just keep heading right on down the shore. looking back to get a marker point on the shoreline..... Right off of that rock ;-) I then make a really big circle, and beach the boat 40 feet before the spot I had seen her. I get out, and carry with me both rods... One with a Basstrix Gill, and one with a Hud. I slowly walk to my "rock" on the shoreline, then just stand still like a statue. Theres a barely visable light spot on the bottom... and there's a dinky male..... and slowly but surely, here comes a big, black shadow. After a few minutes, she dips in. So, I threw the Hud way out past her and started reeling. As it came past her, she spun around, and kicked towards it..... but she had so little space before the shoreline, that she stopped just shy, and went back down to her bed. But now she was looking irritated, and kind of spinning around, thinking, "Where the heck did that trout come from" ??? I make the second cast. This time, as my lure aproaches, I stop reeling and let it sink about 6 feet behind the nest. As soon as it hits bottom, I start a slow, bottom bumping retrieve. Just as it moves into the bed, big momma spins, tilts down, and WHACK ! Buddies, when I set the hook, she instantly came out of the water with her mouth looking like a coffee can, and I swear she looked 18 lbs ! ......and like 8 feet from my face ! Talk about a heart-in-the-throat moment ! She jumped twice, but couldn't really run with her mouth open {she had really inhaled the Hud} and I beached her within 20 seconds. Right away I could see that she was totally spawned out. I know her belly looks semi-fat.... But that was just from sag. Her back was a bit thin too. But anyway, I shot over to the concession area to weigh her in front of a few witnesses. They offered to drag her up to there scale, to which I replied, "Thanks, but I happen to have a certified scale right here" :-) She ended up going 14.40 lbs (scale bounced between 14.40 and 14.60). A hog to be sure, but geez I'd have loved to have caught her 2 or 3 weeks ago..... back when I was playing with the big Smallies.... but then I certainly don't regret that either. She really had a frame that could easily hold 17 lbs. Anyway, been over 2 years since I caught one this big. .......now, good luck trying to sleep, so I can get up at 4 am and go do it again...... and a different lake which I also have not been to in almost a year..... Peace, Fish