RockvilleMDAngler

Very nice fish!

I know Loch Raven definitely closes. I think Clopper Lake is open year round

I am going to the Skins game on Sunday but if anyone wants to go on Saturday and has room I am definitely up for it ;D I fished there in late October in my inflatable but it was REALLY windy and I couldn't keep the boat in control long enough to catch anything. I would love to give it another shot.

Bantam Curado 201 BSF. I know it isn't very expensive and it isn't made anymore but I own three and absolutely love them and see no need to use another baitcaster.

The Sea Eagle SE9 is the best budget/compact/easily transportable fishing vessel on the planet.

I haven't used the new Curado but I have two of the last generation super frees and they are a thing of beauty.

I have yet to have my battery die during a fishing trip but I have rowed the Sea Eagle and it is relatively tough for one person but easy for two. That being said I rarely ever get wet or lose gear like I would in a kayak, plus I can flip and pitch in cover. Since I am a diabetic I have to have room for food on my boat so the Eagle works great in that regard. Most of the waters I fish are smaller reservoirs (under 600 acres) but I see no reason why I couldn't fish a larger impoundment if one were easily accessible. The set up is really really easy and takes me 15 minutes or less (although the first time took a half hour but I was learning as I went).

I don't see why anyone would want to fish from a kayak, I would get clausterphobia big time. My Sea Eagle 9 allows for stand-up casting and has room for tackle and coolers of food and it cost less than most kayaks and easily stores in my car when deflated.

I'm glad to help :-)

I was looking at the pontoon boats but decided against them since I don't like the idea of my legs being in the water with all the water snakes in my area. I decided on a Sea Eagle SE-9 and it has a wooden floor so I can stand to cast, a trolling motor (that I added), a depth finder (that I added), easily seats two and a dog, has two wooden seats, and a fishing rod holder. It also easily fits in my BMW 3 series and sets up in way less time then a pontoon (15 minutes with the electric pump). I find that it easily gets into places thata pontoon can get to and it has way more room for food and tackle. You should check them out at www.seaeagle.com

I forgot that Smallies fight so hard, I was originally talking about LM only. Having caught 1 muskie in my life I have to say that three in a day would be amazing. They fight like CRAZY so I would probably take the muskies. That being said smallies are a lot of fun, especially when they are biting.

Why do you fish for bass instead of other species of fish? I have been pondering this question for the last few days and I cannot really come up with a great answer. Bass fight OK but not as good as a muskie/pike/carp/salmon/catfish/walleye, they are OK to eat but not nearly as good as crappie/trout/salmon/walleye (I almost always catch and release anyway), they are usually easy to locate and catch but not as easy as crappie/catfish/carp. So why do we all obsess over these fish? I think that for me it has mostly to do with location, they seem to be the dominant fish in most of the lakes I fish. I also think that the bait monkey has a lot to do with it since there seem to be more cool baits and equipment that can be used for bass than any other fish. Any other ideas as to why most bass anglers have nightly dreams about fishing for these fish?

My senior year of college (2002) my fraternity house was broken into. The thieves had their pick of an XBox, PS2, several new computers, speakers galore, but instead they took a few rolls of quarters and my buddy's laptop. The laptop was a 1994 model 486 and was not worth $20 but it contained a book he had been writing for 4 years that was over 300 pages long. When he saw it was gone he fell to the floor and sobbed for an hour. That was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed since the guy was normally Hi-fricken-larious and we were all dying to read the book but he said too much of it was written spur-of-the-moment and he could never re-create it.

I have a Minn Kota Endura 50 or 60 (I can't remember but it is older and has 35lbs of thrust) and I want to put a Motorguide Hacker prop on it. Will this fit or do I need to get a Minn Kota hacker prop (which I don't think they make)? Thanks

I took a guided trip with my wife on the tidal potomac river in April and we had a great time. Our guide fished the whole time but really helped my wife and I perfect our soft plastic skills. While the guide caught the biggest bass of the day (an 8 pounder, check out the picture) his success helped to enforce what he was telling us (fish that worm as slowly as possible). The guide company was Life Outdoors Unlimited and I know they do guide tours i at Lake Erie and The Susquehana River in PA. http://www.penrodsguides.com/

I've got a small pond in my neighborhood and I figured out that it was about 7 feet deep in the center. I used a big Silver Buddy and threw it on spinning gear, you can chuck those things a mile. I counted it down to 7 before it hit the bottom and repeated tests verified the depth. It isn't scientific but it gave me an approximate depth.

I own a Sea Eagle SE8 inflatable boat and I absolutely love it. I have the fishermans dream package that comes with a removable hard floor/motor mount/two wooden seats/electric pump. The material is VERY strong and hooks are not a problem, I haven't sprung any leaks at all. Two people can easily stand and cast. I have installed a depth finder, anchor, cup holders, rod holders, and I use a 35lb trolling motor. The boat EASILY fits into my car (a 1996 BMW 3 series) and sets up in less than 15 people. It comfortably fits myself my wife and our dog. People bad mouth inflatables since they assume it will be like a pool toy material but the high end ones are amazing. I take mine to lakes that have no boat ramps and shore fisherman keep asking me how much it cost and where I got it. The only problems I have is that wind pushes it around pretty easily without a drift sock and rowing it is pretty hard since there aren't oar swivels but I use the motor exclusively anyway. Check em out: www.seaeagle.com You can find them on Ebay pretty cheap too.

My favorite lake is Clopper Lake is Gaithersburg, MD. It is 90 acres and I absolutely kick butt when it comes to largemouth but they have this stupid rule where private boats are not allowed on weekends so I need to make up excuses to leave work early if I want to fish it :-)

I'm psyched to have made it! Great video! I hope to have pictures of a better fish for the next time, this time I just grabbed the first one I could find on my work computer :-)

Illegal or not if the bass can survive in this body of water I am stocking the bejezus out of it! I never keep bass for any other reason so if the DNR has problems with my transporting bass to my pond where they can potentially thrive then they can sniff my farts. There are plenty of people in my area who keep EVERY fish they catch so some guy transporting some small ones is no big deal especially since I am helping the bass population grow.

I really looked at getting a pontoon boat earlier this year but I decided that I needed room for my wife and dog so I got a Sea Eagle SE8 inflatable boat. It is easy to stand in thanks to the wooden floor, it has a trolling motor, a depth finder, cup holders, rod holders, and it fits easily in my compact car. I have used it since March and absolutely love it. I would still love a real bass boat but for the money and convenience nothing beats a sea eagle. Check em out: http:www.seaeagle.com

During the spawn this year I went to a local lake and caught 50 small (all under 10 inches) bass over three days and put them in a cooler full of water and then put them in my neighborhood pond. There are bluegill all over that pond but since the first stockings I have not been able to catch a single bass from the pond. I think that the pond is relatively shallow, it is about 2 acres and I bet it is 6 feet deep in the middle... would bigger bass survive? The pond is in the DC area where we have hot summers and cold winters so I think the pond isn't deep enough but I am still willing to stock it.

My Grandfather (RIP) and uncle always fished in the ocean and that was a blast but I first got REALLY interested in fishing when my Dad took my little sister and I for a walk (I was maybe 7) and we went over a bridge where kids were fishing for carp with bobbers and bread. A carp or catfish took this one older kids bait and swam at top speed taking his lure (and nearly him) under the bridge, the kid tried to tighten the drag but it was useless. As the kid was holding on and bending nearly off the bridge the fish swam over 70 yards and then snapped the line, sending the young angler toppling backwards. Ever since then I loved freshwater fishing. So since my Dad took us on that walk I will credit him even though fishing has never been his obsession.

There was a bit of controversy since Millan's entire focus is on de-humanizing the actions of dogs and simply looking at them as dogs, there are a lot of people who don't want to do that. With Millan the proof is in the pudding: he routinely fixes severe problems with dogs in a matter of hours, he keeps over 35 Rottweilers/Pitt bulls/Dobermans in a pack that often runs without leashes through the mountains and every single dog obeys him without question. Many of the emotions that we see in animals like Elephants and dogs are very much pack-related. Things are done for the interests of the pack, for example "play" is often dominance struggles that serve to let off energy and determine leadership, the stroking of bones can serve to ensure that the pack member is gone or to determine if the remains are those of a fellow pack-member. I definitely think that animals have emotions; however, they also move on very very quickly if left to their own ways. My wife's uncle passed away two years ago and his dog seemed to go into "mourning" for a full year because the dog's initial sadness was greeted with "ohhhhh the poor baby misses his dady..." and praise from us to try to comfort the dog. All this did was make the dog confused about it's role in the house, it's initial sadness had been reinforced to the point where it was unable to feel anything else. Eventually the family stopped visiting on a daily basis to check on everyone (less affection for the dog) and my wife's aunt decided to get back into shape and started taking it for longer walks, this snapped the dog out of the depression and he was his old self again. While animals do reveal some human emotions they also exhibit the exact opposite, they rarely have compassion for their own kind (dogs will kill the weaker members of the pack to ensure survival without showing any remorse) and they live in a complete pack structure. While that structure may dictate that the adoption of an orphan pup will strengthen their pack, it is often the opposite when the structure dictates that the pup is weak and needs to become dinner. Humans in our society have enormous amounts of compassion and we look at the behaviors and activities of our pets as though they think the same way we do when in reality it is more often wishful thinking on our part... "ooh roscoe just loves this ball, he will play for it for hours and hours" when in reality Roscoe is so bored and restless he has developed an obsession over a ball since he can dominate the ball. While dogs and other animals do have emotions they are on a much simpler scale than our own and they are far less important in their society.

I am not one for the beach but my grandparents have a place in Rehoboth Beach, DE and my wife and I go a few times every summer (she loves the place). The only saving grace for me is a 100acre lake known as Silver Lake. The lake is polluted but has enormous carp and a lot of bass, the best part is that nobody really fishes it except for little kids with dough balls so the bass are not pressured at all. I went fishing there from shore in late May and I got the wife to come as well, she was fishing a drop shot rigged Gulp minnow worm and I was fishing a jig n 'pig. She caught a nice 3 pounder and then decided to head in, well I grabbed her rod (an ultralight with 6 pound mono) and decided to try a few more casts (I had not caught anything at this point). I caught my pb of 8lbs on the first cast and proceeded to get 4 more in a row ranging from 3 to 5 pounds. I fished for two more hours and caught a total of 15 bass. Catching that 8lber on UL gear was an amazing thrill. The wife came back to check on me and saw the huge grin on my face and immediately realized that she missed out but she was able to witness a few more catches before we went back for dinner. I have had better number days before but never that many with so many lunkers.