Fish Chris

Lets see.... What do I NOT use ??? Plastic worms, Crankbaits, Spinnerbaits, Jigs, Chatterbaits, SENKOS, .....but you said "techniques"...... Okay... no Drop Shotting, no Flipping, no night fishing There's probably a bunch more fishing stuff that I "don't do", but this is just right off of the top of my head. So my question to any of you guys is, "Is there anybody here who thinks that I have limited my chances at sticking the monsters I'm after, because of all the baits and techniques I have eliminated" ??? Peace, Fish

and some of this might surprise you.... Of course I have some sponsors which you will see in my signature at the bottom of this post. Now about my "fishing line of choice"..... I had used braid for 10 years, and TUF-Line in particular, for 2 years, before "I started bugging them" for a sponsorship. But even now that I am sponsored by them, I think you might hear me say stuff like "Braid is awesome.... and mono sucks" (without ever mentioning a brand) .... but not so often, TUF-Line vs Spiderwire" etc..... (although you really should compare prices)... I love my reels too.... but unless somebody asks me what brand I use (and I don't see why they would have to... again, its right there in my signature). Now about my boat, "Yea' buddies ! I am absolutely lovin' my new boat"..... but you have to remember one thing, "I already have my boat" ! It's registered "In my name" ...."And its paid for" ! It's not like they could take it back from me if I never mentioned them again. Of course out of good faith, as long as my boat continues to give me excellent service, "I'm liable to mention that company every now and again ;-) But now here's the BIG kicker...... Huddleston, Huddleston, Huddleston.... The best swimbait on the market.... I don't throw anything else..... But guess what ??? I'm not sponsored by them :-) Peace, Fish PS, One more thing; In the past, I have been aproached by many companies who wanted to sponsor me, but because these were not products that I would ordinarily use anyway, I declined those sponsorship offers. I don't care if "Billy Bob wants to give me a truckload of his plastic worms"..... I'm just not a plastic worm guy. PPS, Oh, and I think its kind of funny when some guys just fall in love with the idea of sponsorships, to the point that every new patch on there shirts, is like a trophy catch to them :-) Ever heard the term "Patch Monkies" ? :-) LOL.... I'm not the one....

No plans... on paper anyway. Well, maybe scratch paper. My buddy and I just kind of winged our way through it, and every time we came up against an issue, we just brainstormed a bit, and went with the best idea between the two of us..... which is all the more reason I am so happy with how it came out. Peace, Fish

Matt said > But I absoluty believe big bass are teritorial and its just a matter of time before I catch a realy big bass. < .....Of course that 17 plus of his, wasn't too awefully bad either ;-) But I know what your saying buddy. You stand as good a chance, or better, than anybody up here, of sticking that first 20 plus from Nor Cal ! Peace, Fish

those tracking studies are SOOO interesting. I used to have a paperback around here somewhere, by (I hope this is correct) John Hope, in which several big bass were tracked, and they acted just the way we are talking about. About that big bass.... Thank you..... but you would have caught her too, given the same opportunities that I was. Peace, Fish

I'm actually asking about this for both my buddies boat, a 17 1/2 foot fiberglass Kenner, with a 75hp 4 stroke Merc, and my new boat, a 14 1/2 ft aluminum with 25hp 4 stroke Yamaha. Now my motor is basically brand new, and runs great, but his has very low hours, and runs perfectly also. However, coincidentally, we both are having the same problem, and in both of our cases, it was after getting a new prop. Ironically, we both feel like we have finally got just the right prop, for the correct RPM's, and peak performance. So here's the deal..... When I throttle up to about 2000 to 2300 rpm's, I start getting a whining sound, reminiscent of a tuning fork (except its off key.... so its hard to sing along with :-) I'm not sure what rpm's my buddies starts doing this. But either way, as soon as the rpm's climb above this range, it goes away...... but it does the same thing again as we are slowing down, and the rpm's pass through this range again. I'm just about positive that this is not a mechanical problem, but on the other hand, it is annoying, and I have no idea what could be resonating like this, in either mine, or my buddies motors ??? Anybody have any experience with this type of thing, or ideas to eliminate it ? Thanks in advance. Peace, Fish

Thank you. Yours will gitterdone too :-) Stick a pig ! Fish Chris

I have to say, it was a lot more work than I expected.... and there were lots of things that came up throughout the project that I / we never considered, but we just kept working through them. And in the end, I just really couldn't be happier with how it all came out :-) Thanks again, Fish

I see you like the two strokers...... and yes, they are lighter.... course I'm not acustomed to picking mine up and carrying it around on my back :-) Seriously though, I found my old Honda 9.9 four stroker to be VERY low maintenance. It held exactly 1 qt of oil, and I (cleanly) changed it about 2 or 3 times a year, in about 15 minutes....... which more than offset having to screw around with two stroke oil mixing, every time I filled my tank. Now, when you talked about how clean, quiet, and economical the newest technology two strokers are, your right........ but only in the larger models. To give you an example, the new Evinrude E-tech, is only available "as small as" a 35hp, and even so, its specs, like weight, fuel economy, etc, are not near so impressive as the 150 hp's, and up (read; not much, if any better than small four strokers) My brand new Yamaha 25hp four stroker will burn about 3 to 4 gallons of gas in an all day fishing trip. I would be willing to bet that a 2 stroker would burn at least 6. Okay.... that's only 2 or 3 gallons a day savings, but multiply this X's my 140 days a year on the water, and your looking at about 350 gallons.... or about $1000 a year ! That's a good chunk of change for me. And finally, in my case, there are at least a couple of Nor Cal trophy bass lakes which only allow 4 stroke motors, "no matter how new, or how clean", and I totally expect to see more lakes like this in the future. Loved my old Honda, and loving my new Yamaha even more ! :-) Peace, Fish

After fishing out of a 12 ft Montgomery Wards Seaking (which was obviously never designed to be a 'hardcore' 140 day a year, fishing boat.... but I used it that way, anyway :-)) with a Honda 9.9, for the last 10 years, I finally got my dreamboat in February. It is a 14 1/2 ft, G3 V143, with a Yamaha 25hp 4 stroker (max for the boat). Anyway, I just finished installing the full, carpeted front deck, and bow mounted trolling motor. Plus, reinforced, and carpeted the whole rear lower floor, with pedastal seat base. My new baby goes very close to 30mph, and will take me all over some of the bigger lakes I fish, all day long, on no more than 3 or 4 gallons...... an important feature if you are a poor guy like me, who fishes too much, and doesn't work enough :-) So anyway, did I say "I was stoked" ? :-) Isn't she perty :-) When I get to my spot, I simply pick up my pedastal from the rear mount, and sit it into the pedastal base on the upper deck. I have two seats for it, but I fish by myself (by choice) 99% of the time anyway. The smartest part of the whole front deck is hidden underneath (so I'm glad I thought to take this photo). Ya' see, my deck is 5 ft 2 inches wide, and 5 ft 10 long.... so I had to add a small triangle of wood to the top. I used a high density laminate, 3/4 inch plywood, and gave it two heavy coats of marine sealant. The irregular shape you see laminated to the underside of the deck, does three jobs, all at once. A) It holds the front triangle and main deck together, as one. The hatch is cut out 2" x 2" smaller, giving my hatch a 1 inch lip all the way around to rest on. (very strong), and C) it gives the pedastal base 1 1/2 inches, of super laminated plywood to bolt through (again, very solid). Peace, Fish PS, The whole last foot of the deck lays flat across the only bench my boat had (and is securely mounted to it) plus I have three verticle supports, at strategic points around the deck, which transfer the weight straight down to the hull reinforcement ribs. I weigh 250 lbs, and this deck doesn't flex 1/8 of an inch anywhere ! :-) Oh.... plus, I hate benches..... and so this design took the only bench I had, and made it disapeer :-) Whooo Hoooo ! It's ON next Spring buddies :-) ....... But Sturgeon and Stripers even sooner.... only 4 more months ? :-) Oh..... the 80 qt icebox is my trophy bass livewell.

Hope this helps some of you. BTW Roadwarrior, you said > Every spot that has held a big fish in the past has the potential to attract a big bass in the future < and I absolutely agree ! Even if your monster bass finally sucumbs to old age (and hopefully not to a meat hunter) there was a VERY good reason that big ol' girl chose that spot, and when she is gone, the next big up and comer will fill that spot right behind her. In other words, their will be a new queen of the throne :-) And hey ouachitabassangler, you have a most excellent insight into the way a big bass moves through her daily rout ! You said > She will patrol the route with regularity, chasing off intruders, knowing the best ambushments. < and > They move sort of like a deer between feeding and resting areas, following the same trail endlessly with amazing clockwork regularity, departing from the annual route only for the rut. Most animals follow some routine that enables them to become masters of every plant, tree, rock or anything else that if there's any change around it, they note it. The biggest bass do that. < Geeez ! I just couldn't have said that better myself ! :-) ...... and isn't this just such cool stuff ??? :-) Peace, Fish

Do you guys know where a particular big fish lives ? You keep going back to a certain spot and seeing a big one, which you know from size and distinguishing markings / features, to be the same fish you saw before... and before.... and before that ? You guys all know that bass, especially the biggest ones, are very territorial, right ? And believe me, if you saw a big one on a spot, on one trip, then three trips later, then two or three trips after that, the odds are VERY high, that even on those in between trips when you did not see it, it was still probably within a long cast of the same spot... just down a bit deeper, and / or out a bit further. Anyway, the reason I mention this is, these are the kinds of spots that I always mark on my mental map. I won't neccessarily spend a long time on these spots at any one time, but I will be sure to sneak up on that spot, at least once, and maybe even 3 or 4 times every trip. One of those times, that big girl is going to be hungry, and your going to put that lure right in front of her face, at just the right time :-) Now, although I have seen this sort of thing countless times, and finally caught a good handful, one of the most memorable of these situations was with an obese monster of a bass, which I had been seeing every second or third trip, on the same exact point, all of the Summer of 02'. I had her swat at a trout lure a couple times, but not hook up. She finally decided to come into my boat to see me, after I stuck her while fishing a bedfishing technique (was she spawning ? Well it was August the 27th, so you decide) No since in posting a photo..... she was the 15.8 lb'er that you see in my avatar. I'd say she was worth going back 50 times throughout that Summer for :-) Have you found a big one, which you finally caught, or which you are still working on ??? Don't get discouraged ! She will eventually eat ! :-) Peace, Fish

Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum..... You said > the only time I don't catch fish is when there is something wrong < Where as for myself, "the only time I 'do catch fish' is when everything is lined up just right" :-) Peace, Fish

You said > If i'm not catching fish i ask myself what am i doing wrong < Did you ever stop to consider that you might not be doing anything wrong ? Sometimes the fish are just in a negative feeding mode. Again, I can fish all day without a bump or a follow, and still feel confident the whole time, that I'm doing everything just the way I should be, but that the fish are just not quite feeding wide open. Which is perfectly okay, as it only takes one cast / bite to make it a great trip ;-) Peace, Fish

Especially for somebody like myself, who is "not catching fish" a lot more often than "he is catching them" ! So anyway, I think about all the typical things..... my fishing rout, my next stop, what are the fish doing today, might they have backed off, etc, etc...... But above all else, I'm thinking, "I really don't care how freaking active they are today..... I'm only fishing for one bite anyway ! If it's over 10, it will be a good trip" !!! :-) .....and call me chronically optimistic, but I can throw a swimbait for 10 hours, without a hit, or even a follow, but right down to that last cast when the sunset is forcing me off the water, I still keep thinking, "I know it can happen".... and therefore, I'm still concentrating on every cast, even more intently than 10 hours ago when I started, because the way I see it, I especially don't want to miss a fish now, after putting in all the work that I already have ! I know, I know.... kind of twisted thinking. What an addiction to live with. Peace, Fish

Sometimes I talk to the fish ;-) Actually though, I'd probably run my mouth to the point I forgot I was fishing.... which is why I almost always fish by myself. I don't want any additional distractions. When I'm on the water, it's all business. I can talk to my fishing buddies, or chat about the trip online later, when I'm off of the water. BTW, I usually carry a cell phone, but always turn it off when I get on the water. Peace, Fish

would have been so blunt, but now that you mention it...... :-) If you ever here me say, "I caught one that was 'about' 7 lbs"..... No, I didn't weight it, because it doesn't matter to me if it were really 6 or 8 lbs. But if I caught one that was 15.8 lbs, that's because I weighed it, and it went 15.8 lbs. Personally speaking, if I'm reading a post and I see something like, "This thing was huge ! I think it was at least......" I pretty much hit the back button right then and there. Scales and cameras are just too easy to come by. And fish weights can just be SOOO decieving, especially to someone who has not weighed a lot of fish in the size range in question. Peace, Fish

A short trip for me would be 6 hours. A long trip would be 14. But ususally, 8 to 10 hours..... and then forced off by dark :-) BTW, have you ever seen little kids crying, kicking, and screaming as there parents drag them away from the amusement park ??? That's me when I have to quit fishing :-) Peace, Fish BTW, back in the day, when I was younger, and a bit tougher, I used to go out on one morning, in my 12 ft aluminum, fish all day, and into the night. At some point I would curl up in the space between my benches, sleep fpr a few hours, then get up and fish until the next night. I have done a whole bunch of 32 to 36 hour trips, in which time I never stepped out of my little alminum. Ahhh youth :-)

Getting skunked is okay ! :-) Enjoy the weather, the water, the sky, the trees...... and that monster freaking bass when you finally put her in the boat :-) "Not getting skunked" is more than it is cracked up to be :-) The king of skunks, Fish Chris

I started thinking about a few 4 to 6 lb 'dinks' that snuck in there and got a hold of my Hud, when I wasn't looking :-) Often, I will hardly remember those catches by the end of the trip.... But anyway, if I must include those in my average, I guess it would put me solidly in the 8 to 10 spot... So I just voted for that choice. Peace, Fish

Before I read the poll choices, I immediatly thought 8 to 12 lbs. So I guess my answer would be both the 3rd and 4th. But now here's the part I find interesting. The "average" size of the bass caught, by the large majority of anglers, in the very same lakes I'm getting these 8 to 12's in, is ususally "considerably less than 3 lbs".... Yes, read that again, "less than most of the average sizes listed by the posters above". Hmmmm...... Granted, any of the guys fishing in my area, and also, any of you guys, could catch the fish which average 8 to 12 lbs too. They / you would just have to fish specifically for the 8 to 12 lb plus fish. Yes, we have lots of big fish here. Most guys just don't catch them, least wise with any regularity. Peace, Fish

then this truthful old addage comes to mind; > The best time to go fishing is any time you get the chance ! < :-) Fish

I do everything I can to avoid crowds, and I almost never fish weekends..... but sometimes I wonder how much I do this for my own personal pleasure, and how much the fish actually care ? Here's an interesting story. About 2 months ago, during my vacation, (the only time I would ever have a Saturday or Sunday off anyway) I decided to go out on a Sunday, really early to beat the crowds, then get off of the water early when things got stupid. I had stuck a few smaller fish before 11 am, but now the crowds were pouring on ! Speedboats, skiers, jet skies going every direction ! It was one of those days without as breeze, when you knew it would be like glass if not for the crowds.... but along with them, were huge waves hitting you from 19 different directions at any one time ! So I'm bouncing my way back to the ramp, when I see this one good looking, long tapering point. I had fished it on a few "peaceful" days, but had never had a touch. But ahhhhh... what the heck. Just a few casts (it's just about noon BTW) Wham ! I stick a really large framed, but completely spawned out bass which goes 11.6 lbs ! .....and she had one come up chasing her, as I fought her in, which was easily over 13 ! After photos, weighing, and the release, I make a few more casts, and Wham ! I stick a spawned out 8.6 (would have gone 10 plus herself, a few weeks earlier). Oh.... so here's the kicker; I go back out the next day.... the most peaceful Monday ever ! Flat as glass... 70 degree water temp.... Throw my Huddleston trout all day..... and not a freakin touch ! I guess the hot pattern was, "rediculous boating pressure, and water chopped into froth" ! Go figure. Peace, Fish

Not only will I completely back the 10 am to 3 pm statement by RW, but as I had said, I consider the hour between 11:30 am to 12:30 PM to be the "magic hour", and I always try to hit one or two of my favorite spots at this time. Peace, Fish

Choke Canyon ??? That's the place with the huge Gator Gars, is it not ? I'd pay you to put me on some of those ! Don't know why anybody would fish for wimpy little bass, when they had those radical prehistoric monsters to tangle with ! ;-) Okay... Okay... we have Sturgeon which can go 300 plus lbs, and although I do love to fish for them too, I still probably spend more time each year, chasing these "little ol' Bass" :-) Hard to say why I still love the green ones, with the big mouths, so much.... Peace, Fish