CeeJay

Yeah I think its actually been one of the better discussions on how the average, primarily bass anglers view common carp I've seen so far...pretty much anywhere. The poll results surprised me, but they really shouldn't.

Yeah I went fishing for smallmouth yesterday on the river. Little did I know that the river was still muddy and high from weeks and weeks of crazy weather. Anyway I brought only my bass tackle...caught a little smallmouth on an inline fairly quickly, which was encouraging. Yay I located some active smallies, I thought to myself. But then absolutely nothing after that first fish. I normally bring along my panfish tackle as well, but I figured since it was finally a couple "nice" days in a row the water and bass would cooperate...nope. Should have brought my Bluegill gear. Lesson learned: I'll never leave home without it from now on And this from me, someone who often gently/jokingly chides anglers who would rather catch zero of their target fish than a bunch of a different species. Bass fishing has been slowwwww here lately. The ability to adapt and broaden ones views certainly helps one become a better angler.

^ This ^

Will do Yeah it's been tough here this summer. Zero stability, I'd love for a settled weather pattern...even for just one week. It's been one weather event after another in my neck of the woods.

Congrats on that bull of a Bluegill. What type of lure, is that a marabou/hair jig? I can't quite tell from the pic.

There's a great little read about pike called "Bruisers of the Weed Beds" by Ben East. It's in "The Greatest Fishing Stories Ever Told" (from the Lyons Press Publishers) which is a good collection of fishing tales and anecdotes. I highly recommend it

Hard to say but that one could be pushing close to 2 pounds. Definitely a trophy. My PB 'Gill was 1.3 pounds and it wasn't nearly as thick as yours. Sounds like you have a fantastic trophy bluegill lake...there could be a record fish swimming in there for sure.

You just might have come up with a new way to catch bluegill I wonder if it was trying to attack your bait or just happened to swim between the gap...very odd but cool.

Hello and welcome aboard Yeah these forums are great and packed full of helpful information.

I'd definitely enjoy that Some day I'd like to travel around the country, meeting up with you guys and catching fish I've never caught before. It's definitely on my bucket list.

I'd love to catch a pike one of these days. The only aquatic creature I really consider a nuisance are snapping turtles

Wow Hank you had an awesome day at the lake Thanks for sharing those pics. I definitely consider the 1 pounders to be trophy bluegill.

-Spinnerbait -Senko Honorable mention: Inline spinners, Power Grub, t-rigged Scoundrel worm

I guess I'm lucky in that my girlfriend enjoys fishing, she also doesn't even mind relaxing on the bank while I fish beside her. And we're moving in together this upcoming fall in Colorado Of course, I'll have to supply her with plenty of baits and tackle, so that will be the next return of the bait monkey...never ever in my wildest dreams did I think I'd have a bait monkey enabler as my soul mate

Since I had to replace several lures, terminal tackle, and all my rods that were lost over the years I was literally attacked by that bait monkey this past spring. It was a multi-headed monkey. Lately though I'm pretty much settled back into my old ways (ie, being broke most of the time haha), and have tamed that monkey quite a bit

Yep

Yep, I use small spinnerbaits as well as inline spinners as my search baits on the river. The SK Mini-King spinnerbait is my favorite.

Awesome show, I love it They do, of course, play up the danger factor of the fish. Seems like a lot of times a certain "river monster" turns out to just have been a big harmless fish that knocked someone off their boat, but didn't actually attack anyone....like the dreaded killer Tarpon haha I enjoy it though and find it very entertaining.

So I'm guessing that Blue Cats are the least likely to hit artificial lures, out of all the species of cats?

I never had a mentor who took me out fishing and taught me how to fish. But I did learn quite a bit, especially when I first started fishing, by just talking to other friendly anglers I'd meet on the banks of my favorite lakes and ponds. Also learned from In-Fisherman magazine which I used to read cover to cover regardless of which species the articles were about, and a modest collection of books. And now, of course, the internet.

I'm going to really miss the Shenandoah River when I move to Colorado in a few months. Here's a sad fact, I moved into my current house upstream from Harpers Ferry in 2008. The river is a mere 3 miles away from my house. Yet I didn't start fishing the 'Doah until this past spring! For a variety of reasons (health, etc) I stopped fishing when I moved to WV. Anyway a great river with stunning scenery and I'll always remember it...as well as my first Smallie caught right here just down the road. Fishing the Shenandoah this spring/summer has improved my health, given me a new perspective on angling (fishing in current), and landed me a few of my new favorite bass...river Smallmouth

haha that is true First carp I ever hooked ended up spooling my cheap Zebco underspin reel I was using when I first started fishing (summer of 1996). The second carp I hooked did the same. The third didn't spool me, but broke off as I chased it around the lake I tripped over some rocks and my line went taut... SNAP went the 10 pound test mono. It was then that I finally decided to research them more and upgrade my tackle. I didn't have the internet at the time, but I purchased a European book called "The Complete Book of Sportfishing" that described various techniques and I adapted the info to my home lakes and ponds. Great book by the way, I still have it.

In the past I've caught bullheads and channel cats on: spinnerbaits, skirted jig, inline spinners, various flies, Rebel Crickhopper used as topwater, Creme Scoundrel worm, and a Rebel Wee-Craw crankbait.

Favorite: Light tackle. Least favorite: Heavy tackle

Welcome back.