Fish Chris

I don't remember if it's illegal to use in Cali, or just illegal to "chum" (bait an area) with it. In any case, I once had a small pond in my back yard, in which I kept all kinds of fish (pretty much everything but trout) and I fed them corn a couple times, and basically, it just passed through there digestive system without being entirely digested. Now, not to get sick here, but corn basically does the same thing in our digestive system, and not only does this not hurt us, but it actually helps us to digest other foods, as well as provide some nutrients itself. Now (kind of gross, but funny) I actually took 3 semesters of waste water treatment in college. During a field trip of a waste water plant, we got to one section of screening, that had collected a whole bunch of corn...... At which time, one very bright (not really) young lady asked the instructor, "Did this water come from a farm" ? Uhhh...... Well....... Doh ! :-) LOL Peace, Fish

I wouldn't say bass are completely colorblind...... Rather, I would just say, typically speaking, they don't really care what color a lure is. There's an easy answer though, to the question, "Why so many colors" ? > Marketing. Fish

Anybody who hasn't kept a bass as a pet, has missed out on a lot...... and, they will always point out the legalities of doing it now. But the fact is, probably 95% of all the F&G Wardens (and 100% of the F&G biologists) in the country, as well as most anybody else who has been heavily into both keeping aquariums, and into fishing, has kept Bass in an aquarium at one time or another. Bass do fine in aquariums, and it is no "meaner, nor less ethical" than keeping any other aquarium fish. They can also be easily trained to eat practically anything..... Even out of your fingers. Fish food pellets are well balanced, and relatively cheap. But worms, crawdads, and minnows are cool too. "Drums" was also spot on, when he said > let's be brutally honest with ourselves. Our beloved sport involves driving sharp hooks into the mouths of bass < Absolutely, and it doesn't hurt my feelings one bit, to drive a hook into a fishes mouth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All of this said, it is against the law to keep a bass in an aquarium...... just as it is against the law to drive 56 mph, in a 55 mph zone. Probably the bigger infraction, is transporting it alive, to your house. But anyway, if you do keep a bass in a tank, it's probably a good idea not to release it back into a lake or pond later, as this can spread diseases (very slim chance, but none the less) that the fish might have picked up while in captivity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh, and one whole other thing comes to mind..... You can buy South American Peacock Bass at most tropical fish stores in Cali (not sure what other states..... Heck, I'd think they might pose more of a threat in So Cal, than in most other states ???). But anyway, these act very similar to Largemouth bass, and make good pets also. Except two things..... They are a lot more colorful, AND since they are legal, you won't catch near so much grief when you post photos of them in your tank, on the internet ;-) Definately don't release these into your local waters when they get too big..... Kind of ironic, huh ? They are legal to keep, but probably a bigger threat to your local waters ? Okay, that's my rant for Largemouths in aquariums. Peace, Fish

I'm proud to be the odd man out ;-) Fish

I'm already fishing out of my "dream boat" since I hooked up with G3 Yamaha. I have all the rods and reels a guy could need, thanks to Okuma. My lures and line are all taken care of....... And $5000 won't buy me a new truck...... So, I would almost certainly buy a 50" LCD TV, an HD-DVD player, and nice surround sound system :-) The bait monkey would starve, if he had to depend on me ;-) I already have everything I need to catch the fish I'm after. Peace, Fish

This is a quote from my website; >This site is dedicated in loving memory, to my late uncle Elton Wise, who placed a cane pole in my hand at the age of three, and showed me the sport which would become my life's passion.< Often when I stick a big one, I can't help but feel that my Uncle Elton is smiling down on me, with pride :-) My dad didn't fish, and was often gone (he flew a lot in the USAF). Mom used to take me to the local park duck pond sometimes. I still remember one time when I was about 5, she took me over there with a cane pole and Shiners, and I caught 3 bass from 10 to 12 ! .....Oh... Inches, I mean... 10 to 12 inches :-) But isn't it funny that I remember those bass as well as I do many of my 10 plus lb'ers.... even though those fish were caught 30 years before ? Peace, Fish

Of course their are a lot of variables. If I'm fishing a place where 10 plus lb fish are rare, I might take a photo of an 8 lb'er.... especially if its an 8 lb Northern strainer oir something. On the other hand, I caught 3 or 4, 9 plus lb'ers last year that I didn't even bother to break out the camera for. So generally speaking, I consider anything over 10 lbs to be a "good bass" because it adds to the list, and I will probably remember that fish a year from now. On the other hand, for me to get all excited and jittery like a kid, it helps if its over 13. And then, anything over 15 really whacks me out ! Geez, its been a while :-) Peace, Fish PS, With all of this said, I certainly view 5 and 6 lb bass from other parts of the country, and even 3 or 4 lb'ers from guys who have not been doing it for very long, as "darn good bass" !

netting big fish, that you might otherwise lose.... and snagging everything that gets with 40 ft of them ! I hate nets.... But I use them on every bass that I think might possibly go 10 plus lbs, as well as trophy size fish of other species. I have to say, I have had a good handful of bass come unbuttoned at the last second, which then fell square into a waiting net..... and if this happens even once, then IMPO, it makes all the hassling with a net, well worth it. Peace, Fish PS, "Little nets" crack me up..... I mean, who cares if you lose a little fish anyway. Better to have a net which is bigger than you might ever need, than to have a little net, when you finally needed a big one !

and since we are here, I'll even take it one step farther.... A little breeze is okay if 109 degrees, but nothing drives me crazier than even a slight 1 to 3 mph breeze, in the Spring when I'm trying to sight fish ! Waters clear... big fish are up.... waters like glass..... until right when I pull up to my spot.... then, here comes this slight little breeze, and along with it, an instant ripple which drops my visibility by 95% :-( Oh yea..... and some say sight fishing is a giveaway ! Where do those people live that the wind never blows ??? Urggg..... Oh.... so I move around to other spots... throw a swimbait for a bit... Look back across the lake, and, "Cool ! It's flat again" ! Pull up the t-motor.. run back over there.... ease up to my spot.... and here comes the breeze again ! I'm telling you guys, it's stalking me ! Deep sighhhhhh...... Fish

does it kill your trips ? Either to where you get out there and have a lousy, short day, "or" you just know that you might as well go back to bed ? Well, today is another one of those for me :-( :-( :-( I had originally wanted to go back to the ocean today, but I already knew yesterday that that was going to be a blowout. However, my online weather showed the wind at one of my trophy bass lakes, to only be 5 mph for today ? Hmmmm. So I get up (at 4 am), check it again, and it still says 5 mph. I get all the gear ready, eat breakfast, pack the lunch...... and then I hear the weather on the TV behind me... "breezy" they say.... which usually means hurricane force winds :-( So I go back to the online weather "which still says 5 mph for today".... But WAIT ! The current conditions are 18 mph, with 22 mph gusts ! Urggggg ! Oh yea' ! 5 mph today my arse ! BTW, I know some of you might *** our giant bass, and multi-species fishing here in Nor Cal..... but just so you don't think its all peaches and cream, did you guys know that I live right smack in trhe middle of whats known as the "Carquinez wind tunnel" ? Any little weather change sucks wind right through the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, and right down through the Carquinez straights, and into Suisun (my home). I guess the only good thing is, my home itself is often the windiest place..... but then if I drive 30 minutes or more, away from here, its often really nice. Spent many days on flat calm water, only to come home to a hurricane. All of this means, that I can never just look out the window, and know what the wind will do at my lake of choice. And just try relying on internet weather :-( Anyway, I just hate wind with a passion :-( Fish

Hmmmm. Well, the big one for me is setting the hook too early, or too late..... but then on that note, who is really to say ? If I set the hook really fast, and miss the fish, I'll probably think I set too early, and if I wait a while, then miss the fish, I will probably feel like I waited to long. But then I have to stop and remind myself, that at least with "some fish", they might not have ever taken it completely into their mouths, whether I had set to hook in .2 milli secoconds, or if I had waited until next year. Drag settings are almost never a problem for me, as 1) my Okumas have the silkiest drags on the planet, and 2) I am am obsessive with checking my drag.... litterally like every other cast, all day, every day. .....that, and I check my hook points a hundred times a day too. Come to think about it, I'm pretty obsessive with all aspects of my gear. Oh, here's one of my novice moves though; My casting accuracy is at best "inconsistent", and it kills me when I come up to a good spot, wing out my Hud, and put it right over an overhanging limb, or a boulder on a rocky point, etc, then have to move right into my hot spot to unsnag my lure :-( Doh ! I always cuss myself for those stupid moves. Probably has cost me a big fish here and there. Of course after 35 years of casting practice, I can't imagine it will ever get much better. Oh well. Peace, Fish

Trophy bass angler. Whatever it takes, I just do it. Peace, Fish (when I am bass fishing anyway :-) Otherwise trophy sized fish, of what ever other species I happen to be casting at !

for 10 years, I fished out of a little ol' 12 ft Montgomery Wards Seaking. I think its about a 1978 model :-) That old worn out thing helped me to catch so many thousands of great fish, I just cannot emphasize how huge a part of my life that little ol' dime a dozen aluminum was !!! But finally, early this year.... after searching high and low, I picked out my "dreamboat". Being a poor guy, I wasn't so sure how I was going to afford it, but because of a few buddies who kept pushing me, I finally got off of my butt and started bugging G3 Yamaha for a sponsorship.... and it worked :-) I still own my old 12 ft Seaking, which I use in that nasty, corrosive saltwater, but I just can't tell you how much I love my new 14 1/2 ft G3 !!!! :-) It has the max size motor... 25hp four stroker, with electric start, and power trim and tilt. I put in a front upper fishing deck, bow mounted trolling motor, and pedastal seat mounts front and back. So anyway, what I love about my new boat the most is, its nothing but fishing space from the front to the back ! Notice "NO BENCHES" to get in the way.... and no steering console either ! I can honestly say that if I hit the lottery for $500 million, I might buy a 40 ft offshore racer, with four 300 hp outboards (or one gas turbine :-) and then maybe an 80 ft'er that I could live on...... but I would still bass fish out of my 14 ft G3 aluminum. I have nothing against high performance bass boats. Many of my buddies own them. But they would be of no useful importance for me. Just not my style. (Oh.... plus I'll take my camo paint over glitter anyday ;-) Peace, Fish PS, Yes.... I have started to talk to my new boat now :-)

Reading your post really brought back some memories ! I used to have a Corydoras collection of 23 different species in one 100 gallon tank, at one time ! Along with 180 Cardinal Tetras :-) (Paracheirodon Axelrodii) My most rare and treasured Cory's were C. Atropersonatus, and C. Narcissis. Anyway, I too had introduced an oddball fish (some strange kind of Tetra) that flat wiped out ALL of my 180 Cardinals, and many of my Corys in less than a week :-( I even had a UV sterilizor.... but unknown to me, the bulb had previously gone out :-( Of course I replaced it right away, but once the bacteria had made it from the one sick fish, to the rest, it was already too late. Fish

As stated, it's illegal in Cali. Not sure about other states. However (and I think this is important to understand) In-Fisherman did a study which showed that a high percentage of large bass, which had been removed from certain lakes, tagged with radio transmitters, and released in other lakes, died within a few weeks, to a few months. I don't think they knew exactly why this was, but the theory was, that for a bass to get huge (very few do) they have to fit perfectly into there environment..... like a piece in a puzzle. Moving them to an unfamiliar lake just kind of leaves them not able to fit in, and the bigger and older they are, the harder it is for them to adjust. All of this said, I once caught a bass which was tagged by the Ca DFG nearly 5 years earlier. It weighed 5 lbs and had been obtained from another lake, then transplanted to Clear Lk. When I caught her, she then weighed 11-7..... so apparently, she handled the move just fine.... but then she was probably pretty young when they moved her. Peace, Fish

an 11-8 from Santee Cooper is a really great catch..... But a 3-8 crappie ! Whoo Hooo ! That's an absolute monster ! I'm still looking for my 3.0 plus ! :-) Peace, Fish

of course you guys all know what I voted for. But ya' know, it's like I said in one of my articles, the vast majority of the anglers will say they want to catch a big one.... but they continue to use small fish / numbers techniques. Of course I fully understand that most of the country does not have the option of fishing for monster trout-eaters.... but even here, where we do, so many guys will still fish a little crankbait or spinner bait, or a 4" plastic worm, or a Senko..... and each time somebody catches a big fish on one of those lures, this reinforces the idea in a lot of guys heads, that, "If I just keep throwing this thing long enough, and be patient enough, someday I will get a big one" ! ...... Hmmmmm. Maybe. Or maybe not. I fished with small fish lures, and even a lot of live bait for many years (close to 30), but yet, I never caught my first DD bass until I just threw everything out the window, and started from scratch, "Fishing specifically for big bass" ! By that of course, I mean throwing swimbaits a lot..... Sight fishing (but only stopping to make a cast, if the fish looks at least 8 to 9 lbs... because some of these can be deceiving, and might actually go 10 plus) and when I do throw a live bait, it's because I have either seen a big one in the immediate vicinity, or I have strong reason to believe there is a big one there which I can't see. Finally, if I stick a few small ones (by accident) this only has the effect of making me want to leave, so I can find a spot the big ones are using.... instead of staying, to catch how ever many more small ones that I will hardly remember by the end of the trip anyway. Fishing specifically for big bass, in other states, is probably not so clear cut and dry as it is in Cali, but I still have to believe if a guy ignored small fish / numbers, and threw big baits, in the places close enough to him, that held the biggest bass in his neck of the woods, he would eventually start catching some big bass...... "big" being relative to that area of the country, of course. Hmmmm. Fish

That was definately a yellow spagetti tag. You don't "have to" remove the tag (unless its a money tag) you can always just record the numbers off of it, for the CFG, then release it. But don't worry, you will get another one. I did some quick figuring, and I guess I catch about 1 tagged fish for about every 2000 hours of fishing. Peace, Fish

of course we are pretty much on the same page anyway, so it's not my intent to preach to the quior here... But ya' know honestly, my primary reason for releasing the biggest fish "used to be" to keep the genetics of that fish in the lake.... and for that fish to make as many babies as possible, etc. However, while I still believe this to be one important aspect, I have really shifted my focus to "that exact big fish in question" ! Oh sure, it may, or may not produce one, or several offspring which get as big as it has..... But that one giant fish "has already beat the odds". A guy doesn't have to wait 15 years to see if this fishes offspring will get to be huge like this one...... He can simply go out and C/R the same exact giant that some well informed angler C/R'd the week before ! Or, wait a couple years and catch it again when its even bigger ! Anyway, in a nut-shell, I think the odds of a giant fish being C/R'd, then re-C/R'd, are way greater, than for that giant to produce offspring, which eventually become giants themselves, which are then caught 12 to 15 years later. I probably should update my article "The Importance of Releasing the Biggest Fish" to reflect my shifting opinions on the subject. Peace, Fish

If I were to fish (small, private) ponds more, I really believe "I'd be cheating myself" ! Farm ponds sometimes produce good numbers of "nice fish" (just watch any episode of Bill Dance) but if you want (at least a shot at) the "biggest" fish, you need to fish places that get heavily culled. Or should I say, lots of pressure to remove lots of the little dumb ones, that try to take up space and food. I'd like to say this was "Selective Harvest" at work..... unfortunately, a lot of the biggest ones are also removed in the public waters too..... yet we still produce as many giant bass as we do. If only we had a "max size limit", our giant bass production could be absolutely off of the scale ! A while back their was a young guy who lives in my area, who was sneaking onto an off limits lake, and smoking a bunch of nice 3 to 6 lb'ers. His buddy caught an 8.... but he was (in his own mind) just so sure this place had lots of 10 plus lb'ers. I told him, I didn't really care if he fished this "off-limit" place or not.... and I offered him a challenge; I said to him, "I'll tell you what... You fish that place all you want for a couple weeks, and I'll fish this totally 'legal' place, just up over the hill, and lets see who sticks the biggest fish". He never did get one over 8.... let alone 10, but I stuck a 10.7 and a 12.5, at the totally legal place. Anyway, let me put it this way; Some guys often rag on others about "easy" fish caught at this place or that, or on this live bait or that one..... Yada... Yada. Personally speaking, my whole philosophie on trophy bass fishing is to stack every odd that I can in my own favor.... or in other words, to make the task "as easy as possible". So then, isn't it ironic that I almost always prefer to fish the "tough public lakes" and predominantly with artificial lures ??? :-) With fishing, things are often not as they would appear on the surface. Peace, Fish

That was entertaining :-) Peace, Fish

I really appreciate all of the kind words. And it's great to see that you guys obviously enjoy "fish art" as much as I do :-) Again, I just have to reiterate, size is totally relative to so many things ! I think you guys should really consider a 6 lb replica from the North country, a 5 plus Smallie, an 8 lb'er from the Mid West, etc. Heck, if you get a bigger one later, you can always get "another" replica ;-) Peace, Fish

what the heck.... come on in :-) This wall is kind of fun too. Peace, Fish

Typically a Largemouth Bass replica of say 8 to 12 lbs, and say 23" to 26" might run $300 to $450. I think I paid like $350 + ship and handle for my 18.4, with a 29" length (but like I had said, Robert is crazy.... as his work is worth WAY more than what he charges) On the other hand, the size of the replica does not really change (very much anyway) the amount of work required to complete a mount.... therefore, a 6 lb'er might cost you $275 or $300. Oh BTW, when comparing prices of replicas to skin mounts, you must also factor in the VERY HIGH over night shipping cost of a heavily insulated, frozen solid bass, to the place doing the replica to begin with. An 8lb bass (which might be a 15 lb package) might cost $75, depending on where you live, and where your shipping too. And its not only the cost, but the major hassles too. Where with a replica, you can send the taxidermist a jpg photo of your fish for free, by e-mail :-) Oh.... and another thing.... People have sometimes kept and killed a big bass for a mount, simply because they forgot there camera or scale. But the fact is, you don't even have to have a photo for a replica. Most taxidermist can show you several examples, to choose from. It would be nice if you had a length and girth.... or the weight.... but even that can be gotten around. Simply wrap one piece of fishing line around its belly. Then cut. Do another piece for length. Then cut. Measure later. Boom ! You have your length and girth, and can now have a decently accurate replica made, plus be able to make an educated guess at what the fish weighed. So with this info in mind, now, even if a guy is not properly prepared, with a camera or a scale, he still doesn't "have to kill a big one" if he doesn't want to..... and he can still show that trophy catch off, from his living room wall, for the next 30 years :-) Peace, Fish

of course you don't have to wait for a 15 plus to get a replica :-) Size is relative to so many things anyway. I think a beautifully done 7 or 8 lb replica could make a nice decorative addition to any room. Oh... and one other thing comes to mind; Some of you might have a hard time convincing the wife that the skin from an actual "skin mount" has been treated.... I promise ! It won't stink ! :-) But on the other if its just harmless fiberglass...... Peace, Fish