Fish Chris

too many people will choose not to read, or simply ignore, articles like the one I posted the link to, because it will then be easier to bury one's head in the sand. I notice that many of you mention tournaments, but you must stop to remember, if the popularity of fishing in general faulters, tournament organizations will not be far behind. I also know of some VERY big names in this sport (that out of respect for those individuals, I will not mention them here), who's best advice is to "enjoy it now" because NOTHING lasts forever. The first state to go will be Cali, then probably New York, or some of the other Eastern states. Why ? Several reasons, of which I won't pretend to know them all, but anyway, here are a few: 1) Money. Water is just worth so much more, to more powerful groups, than to anglers. So far these big power groups have just kind of shrugged us off as a minor nuisance, but as water gets more scarce (and with an ever increasing population, it certainly will), the little guys (anglers) will increasingly feel the pinch ! 2) National security. Did you guys know that their are already a WHOLE bunch of places back East, where fishing in a man made resovoir is strictly against the law ? I was talking to one guy from the right coast who was quite surprised that MOST of the fishing in Cali, is in resovoirs..... to which he replied, "And they actually let you fish in them" ? Well I sure hope so ! Where else ? Saltwater I guess. 3) Fragmentation of angling forces. Lets just start with bass fishermen, who won't stand up and fight for ocean sportfishermen. Why, they ask ? They have never fished salt in their life ! Then the ocean fishermen who won't stand up for the mountain fly fishermen. Again, why should they ? What could be less related ? Next, who's going to support the hatchery trout guys ? And so on. My point is, it's easy for special interest groups to pick on "any one small facet of sportfishermen".... in fact, the smaller, the easier. Meanwhile, the whole rest of the angling world stands by saying, "That doesn't affect me. Oh that doesn't mess with my fishing. Oh... no worries for what I do"...... So these special interest groups just keep chipping away at the fishing tree, until one day, the whole thing comes down ! That WILL certainly affect everybody who ever thought of picking up a fishing pole ! ..... and they never even saw it coming ! Anyway, personally speaking, the best I can hope for, is that I'll be able to fish a good chunk of the same waters that I do now, for another 20 or 25 years. Then it will be over for me anyway. If there was something I could do to help the younger fishing generation, I certainly would...... But then, maybe an eye opening post like this one, is the best way to start !!!! Sincerely, Fish Chris

just based on some of the stuff I have already known. However, a quick search turned up this long, but quite informative article, written to try to cut through the BS. http://www.fishingnj.org/netusa27.html Please read the whole thing if you have the time, but if not, at least scroll down to the first graph, titled: "Participation in recreational fishing" Fish

We have a few places that you can only fish with an anual pass. These places can be great, for good numbers of nice sized fish..... but because they are managed for numbers, and are almost 100% C/R, they really don't produce the monsters. 10 lb'ers in these places are rare, and 15 plus fish are unheard of. Peace, Fish

finally got around to getting my Cali license today, and it was more than I had heard.... $54.65 to be exact, (total for license, plus enhancement stamps). I believe this might be the most expensive fishing license in the US, huh ? None the less, as I said before, it's still the best money I spend all year. Peace, Fish

I haven't..... but will get it today. I think their might be a few states in which your license are good for 1 year from the date of purchse, huh ? Here in Cali though, it's Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st. Meaning, if you buy your license on Dec. 15th, it's only good for 2 weeks ! Speaking of fishing license, how much do your states charge ? Here in Cali, if you buy the main license, plus the enhancement stamps (two rod and bay delta) it's like $45....... which is a lot for somebody who only fishes a few times a year. But for me, it's an absolute steal of a deal ! The best money I spend all year :-) Works out to like .30 cents a trip :-) Peace, Fish PS, Just don't let it get past you ! A no license ticket in Cali will cost $400 to $600 !!!

Huh, LBH :-) Hey RW, I didn't remember that you were a big Al Lindner fan ! He's been one of my fishing idols forever ! The guy just thinks like a fish ! Anyway, when I read the title of this post, I imediatly started thinking..... Uh... Mike Long ? Bob Crupi ? Bill Murphy ? ...... but alas, it comes back to everyones different perspectives. As far as tournament bass anglers go, KVD would be hard to argue though. Fish

Excellent book. And to think, people have asked me why I don't want to fish So Cal. I can so totally imagine having my truck tires slashed, sugar in my gas tanks, holes in my boat, etc. .........But they do have a few lbs on us, with the top end size of their bass, compared to our bass up here in Nor Cal. But it's all good. I really don't think much about beating George W. Perry's best catch. I'd be plenty happy to top Fish Chris' PB :-) Peace, Fish

There is a TON of truth to the old saying that people tend see things through their own eyes. I know I'm in a VERY small minority of people, who just has never had the urge to do better than the next guy. I also know that this is VERY hard for most guys to relate to. Yes, I do keep very close account of the big fish I have caught, and from where, and on what..... but only because I want to top these personal records. One thing is for sure; Although I am certainly proud of the big ones I have caught, I have never felt like this makes me even a little bit better of a person. I always tell people that "if I can do it, ANYBODY can" ! I've just been really blessed to be able to fish as much as I do, in the places I do. In a nutshell, fishing is just a very personal thing for me. And I can honestly say, that any time a guy catches a bigger one than me, I'll be genuinely happy for him. Everyone can go on and catch their 20 lb'ers now. I'll still be happy with a 19 ;-) Peace, Fish PS, Hey Cart7, yes, I love my JVC 46" 1080p LCD :-) ...... and yes, I do prefer LCD's over Plasma's..... But believe it or not, I find the disparencies between braided line and mono, to be about 500 X's as great, as the disparencies between LCD and Plasma :-)

Honestly, I was surprised that nobody made me answer to my statement over on the 'Using a net' post, "That the tournament guys rarely catch anything big enough to use a net on"........ because I have to admit, that later that same day, the thought crossed my mind, that a 3 lb fish that "wins the tourney" is probably even more valuable (depending on how you look at it) than a 13 lb'er that does nothing but add another notch to a trophy hunters belt, or photo to his album. That said, I'm sorry if that statement came across to anyone as arrogant, or cocky. It's all a matter of perspective I guess. But yes, honestly, even among trophy hunters, I'm not trying to do better than anybody but Fish Chris. Peace, Fish

Thank you Needemp, for the thought provoking post. Although Supermatt, Mattlures, and others have already said as much, I'd just like to reiterate, that "Trophy Bass fishing and Tournament Bass angling" are simply two completely different things. Many of my closest friends are hard-core tournament anglers, and I am thrilled for them when they win a tourney, just as they are for me, when I stick a pig. Don't believe that trophy hunters are a just a small group of guys from Cali either. Running my own trophy bass website for nearly 10 years, I have met anglers from all over the country (even outside of the country) who fish specifically for the biggest bass in their waters. I consider these guys to be "trophy hunters" in every sense of the word. I do have to admit though, I have often been in the middle of a post, talking about the giant Cali. bass that I am fishing for, when I suddenly stop to ask myself...... "How much is this post going to help anyone" ? ...or, "Who really cares" ? But then my next thoughts often are, "Personally, I love to read about guys fishing for giant Muskies.... Or Flathead cats.... Or Alligator gars..... even though we don't have them here" !!! Not to mention the overwhelming number of positive responses I have gotten, with my trophy bass posts, on this site and others. Speaking only from a personal standpoint, I do consider myself to be as much of "an all around fisherman" as anyone..... fresh, and saltwater too. Obviously I love to stick big bass, but I have, and will continue to fish for any species that will bite my hook and rip drag ! Last week, my buddy and I had a blast sticking 120 Crappie for very close to 200 lbs ! Heck, do you think I'm concerned what the next guy thinks about my fishing ??? Have you seen my trophy Carp catches ? Those are some awesome sportfish right there ! :-) Also, you have to remember that I'm an old guy (42 :-) who has been fishing for most of my life. I have fished for numbers of smaller bass for many years..... and on occasion, depending on my circumstances, I still do ! Granted, catching smaller fish is not going to give me the "through the roof" adrenalin rush that I get when I stick a monster..... but even small bass are a LOT more fun that just about anything else I can think of..... most especially, "work" ! ;-) Finally, to be good at tournament angling, I think you need to be competitive, right ? Sorry. I just don't have an ounce of competitive nature anywhere in me. Never have had. I've never had any interest in playing (or watching) ANY competitive sports, so why would I apply competition to my fishing ? Bottom line; I do what I love to do, and I share it with whoever is interested. Great fishing to all, Fish

No offense taken here :-) BTW, I'm jellous of your Northern Pike and Muskies up there ! Peace, Fish

...the original point of the post. I totally agree cart7. Fish

Yes, actually I am from Cali, and yes, it is the best place on the entire planet for giant bass. But what you must rember is, we have some GREAT tournament bass anglers who have grown up, lived, and fished, right here in Cali, "and who also have not caught very many big bass". {if even 1 over 10 lbs} Sure, the region matters, but my point simply is, tournament angling and trophy bass fishing is two completely different things. Regardless of where KVD grew up, I'm sure that he is in the position now, that "if he wanted to" he could fish Cali, Mexico, Cuba, etc, specifically for big bass...... and, I'm sure he would catch some of them. But again, that isn't his game. BTW Cabela10, you might find it interesting (or just not believe it) but although we have litterally millions (I believe I have read 2 million) bass fishermen in Cali, probably fewer than 10% have caught even 1 legitimate Largemouth Bass over 10 lbs. Yes, we have LOTS of big bass..... but they aren't exactly jumping into guys boats either :-) Peace, Fish

Not kidding whatsoever. The fact of the matter is, tournament fishing and trophy hunting are two completely different sports. In fact, it's darn near like fishing for two completely different species. Please understand that I'm not putting down the top tournament pro's in any way, shape, or form. Those guys are AWESOME at what they do ! While the guys I mentioned, like Mike Long, Jerry Rago, Bill Semintel (and a good handful more) are great at what they do. Sure, if tournament pros were to put the same kind of time and effort into trophy bass fishing, as they do towards total sack weights {while competing against other "very competitive" anglers}, they would certainly catch a LOT more giant bass. And likewise, if the top trophy guys spent as much time and effort fishing tournies, as they do chasing giants, they would win a few tournies too. But typically speaking, the top tournament anglers don't have time to chase "one giant bass". BTW, I met KVD in person, at Clear Lk. Ca. a few years back (and Jay Yellas, Zell Roland, and Mark Davis too) All super nice guys ! Great represenitives for the sport. And obviously GREAT tournament anglers. At that time, KVD had caught one bass over 10 lbs in his life. Since then he has caught one more; the 11 during that tourney last year. I have caught 73 bass over 10 lbs. Although I'm the first to admit, that it wouldn't take pro's at their level to kick my bAss in a tourney ! On the contrary, put me up against 15 guys from your local bass club, and I'd likely come in 16th :-) LOL Tournies are just not my game. But I do okay for the big ones. Peace, Fish

as I always say, the best way to handle a fish {if you intend to release it} is "with common sense". Fish PS, I'm not against tournament fishing...... however, it always seems kind of contradictory to me to hear tournament guys talking about how to take the best care of C/R'd fish.... As no matter how they handle them during a tourney, those fish will NEVER be as well off as the ones I C/P/R, all in a matter of a few minutes, by myself even. Dragging a fish all around the lake, all day long, then weighing, then releasing it, is never going to be a good thing for the fish. It's just fortunate that tourney guys catch as few really big fish as they do, else wise, we would have 10 X's fewer trophy bass swimming around, as we do now !!!

Come on ! Your talking to a guy who; 1) has been a huge fan of the whole In-Fisherman team for most of my life.... 2) who's whole life has to do with fish / fishing.... 3) who is seriously into photography.... especially of fish ! So what do I think ? Simply BOMBASTIC stuff ! Off-the-scale GREAT work ! Fish

If you mean the guys from BASS or FLW, it's probably because they so rarely catch anything big enough to bother using a net with anyway ;-) Now with trophy bass pro's like Jerry Rago, Mike Long, Bill Semintel, etc, "they usually DO use a net"...... especially if the fish appears to be like a 15 to 20 lb'er (in other words, if it appears to be one that's worth using a net on :-) I remember a quote from big bass guru Danny Kodota.... "If it only apears to be a 10 to 15 lb'er, then it's not really a big deal either way...... But if it's a really big one, "USE A NET" !!! Personally speaking though, I'll still even use a net on "little ol' 10 or 12 lb'ers" :-) Of course all these numbers are relative to so many things. If a 5 lb'er is a BIG one for you, or your neck of the woods, a net will increase your odds of landing it. Peace, Fish

Mine is a Cabelas brand, and it's even camo'd :-) I think it cost about $109 plus S+H. IMPO, everybody who spends any time on the water, should have / wear an auto inflating PFD.... unless they can stand to wear one of those bulky, old-school PFD's (all day) instead. Peace, Fish PS, Their might be a few anglers on the planet, of whom I wouldn't care if they dropped a deep cycle battery on their foot, but I don't want ANYBODY to drowned !!!

well if you mean Largemouth Bass, I have lost 3 or 4 that were in the 15 to 18 lb range. One of those was a fish that was actually landed by two different friends (long story, but lots of solid back ground evidence on that fish) It weighed 18.0 when my first buddy caught it, and 17.2 for the second buddy. Weighed on a certified scale both times. However, with that said, I landed my PB of 18.4....... So I think I can honestly say, that I have never lost one bigger than I have actually caught. Now, as far as "biggest fish lost" of any species..... well, check this out; Two years ago I caught an 82", 165 lb Sturgeon, and a 100" 300 lb Sturgeon about 3 weeks apart. (so I know what fish like this feel like). However, between those two catches, I hooked one that swam around for half an hour with "me attached to it", and I could never get it to come up a foot off of the bottom in 45 ft of water ! It litterally pulled my little aluminum boat backwards, against current, until it actually started dragging my 15 lb anchor up river ! If you were wondering how the fish was able to put SOOO much pressure on me, I was using 80 lb braided main line, with a rediculously tight drag. After half an hour, the hook ripped out :-( My guess ? 300 to 500 lbs. Anyway, I still think I'd have landed it, if it hadn't come unbuttoned ! Fear NO fish ! :-) Peace, Fish

I put on an auto-inflatable PFD as soon as I get on the water, and it never comes off until I get off of the water at the end of the trip. The VERY cool thing about auto-inlatable PFD's is, they are so light and comfortable, you forget you have one on. Half the time I'll be walking up to the parking lot to get the truck, and "Doh" ! Forgot to take off my PFD :-) Better than forgetting to put it on I guess. Peace, Fish

Hmmmm. If anything, maybe stitching 12" to 15" plastic worms, like the late, great Bill Murphy. Fish

we have some good ones over here on the left coast too ! :-) Our best fishery for them, by far, is at Clear Lk. In fact, I have been starting to chase them a bit. Haven't caught my 3.0 or better yet, but I did get a 2.3 and a 2.4 lb'er last week. I know of two 3-14's that have been caught this Fall already, and the Ca. state reord of 4lb 8 oz came from Clear Lk. also. Around here, a 3.0 will be 17 to 18 inches. A 4 might be 18" to 19". Peace, Fish

the funny part of this whole thing, is that its MUCH more likely for a true giant to come from heavily fished, public waters. Private ponds don't get 1) enough fishing pressure to keep the numbers down nice and low, so that the few fish left will have unlimited food and space, and 2) Hatchery trout ! It cracks me up to hear about kids sneaking onto private farm ponds to catch 4 to 8 lb bass, when I can go to totally legal, public waters, and stick 10 to 18's ! Doh ! In Cali anyway, the grass is almost never greener on the other side of the fence. BTW, Got Bass, is that you in the avatar ??? If so, how you been ? My e-mail is broken right now, but I hope to get it fixed in a couple days. Shoot me one then. Peace, Fish Chris

for myself, whether I run and gun, or sit on one spot for 8 hours straight, all depends on "how I'm fishing for them". I used to sit on a single rock pile all day long, stitching a live dad. Nowadays, I will run up to a spot, make 4 to 8 casts with a swimbait, followed by very slow, steady retrieves. This might only take me 10 or 15 minutes, but that's usually enough. When swimbait fishing, a big bass will either hammer it the first time it sees it, or it won't hit it at all, no matter how many more times it sees it. Honestly, if its not going to eat it right then, I'd rather it not be able to study it any more, anyway..... as I will likely come back around and give it another chance later. So, I run and gun, but my presentation is still usually very slow, and steady. Peace, Fish

Ya' know, as much as I love the Hud, size has so much less to do with it, as honestly, I think it's quite a bit too small, at only 8". I'd way prefer a 10" to 12" Hud. However, I'd rather use a Hud which is smaller than I prefer, than a 10" to 12" of any other brand. In other words, while I feel the size is important, I think it's of secondary importance, compared to the design of the lure in the first place. Just my .02 cents, Peace, Fish