Lane

32251, Yes the tool is expensive, but don't you think that the fish are worth it? Afterall, don't we spend big bucks on equipment used to catch them? It only makes sense to spend some money on making sure that they are released in GOOD shape!

The newer hooks do not rust, so every effort should be made to remove them. We have seen bass with hooks coming out of their side, and hanging out of their vent. There is a really neat new tool available to anglers that will cut the barb off the hook. The website is:www.hookeater.com Many anglers are afraid to remove hooks. They think that the fish will bleed out and die. I have seen more that survived after hook removal that those that die. As with any skill, practice makes perfect. Thanks for posting that article!

Books, DVD's, and magazine articles can help and may be a decent starting point. Finding a mentor, and actual time on the water will be your best bet. Most skilled fishermen had mentors, coaches, or fishing buddies that helped them learn the ropes! The best place to find a mentor is by joining a local bass club! Good luck!

Well I have to admit, that is one BIG UGLY WOUND! There is scar tissue that is very pronounced on the edges of the wound. It does not look like a fungal or parasitic infection. The wound was more than likely caused by a predator. The algae is not a bad occurance, it is probably doing more good than harm by keeping the wound clean. I know it sounds strange, but this is an common occurance on turtles and other creatures. It does look like it is healing. The fish will always have that nasty looking scar. Other than the obvious wound, the fish looks to be in good health! So RedTorpedo, you were right on the money with your diagnosis.

Sounds like the bass are doing exactly what bass should be doing this time of year, GORGING THEMSELVES! I would match the hatch so to speak, get some good crawfish baits! That Huddleston rigged crawfish bait LOOKS VERY GOOD! In fact, I think I need to get some of them! Anyway, sounds like a healthy fishery from what you described!

Iconelli's book gives reader's a look into professional tournament fishing, and is a GREAT biolography of his life! Here are some recommended books that deal with the fish science, they can definately help anglers gain knowledge into not only the bass, but some of their prey. All are available on the AFS website. Bluegills: Biology and Behavior by Stephen Spotte (Bluegills are a favored prey item for bass) First International Smallmouth Bass Symposium by D.C Jackson ( EXCELLENT READING!!!!!!) Good section on crawfish. Black Bass: Ecology, Conservation and Management. An official publication of AFS.

jaskoh, The American Fisheries Society has an online bookstore. They have several books on largemouth and smallmouth bass. Here are the links, www.afsbooks.org/indes.html www.fisheries.org/afs/ If I do decide to write a scientific book, it will be peer reviewed for accuracy and content. Meanwhile, we do plan to submit research to the American Fisheries Society for peer reviewed publication in their Journals. Fin-S-R has already hit upon this point. Some of the information is dry and may be hard to understand for the lay person, but you can gain alot of information from reading these publications and journals. Tony used to be a member of the American Fisheries Society, and we were recently approached by some of their members to join the organization once again. We have already sent in our dues.

Since I am a scientist, I am going to weigh in on the book, "Knowing Bass, The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish". It was authored by Dr. Keith Jones, who is the director of fish research at the Berkley Fish Research Center, (Pure Fishing). The book was definately written to sell Berkley products. NONE of the scientific information has been peer reviewed by the scientific community, which includes peers in the scientific fields of: zoology, fishery biology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology and ichthyology. He has pieced together bits of information from TRUE scientific organizations such as the American Fisheries Society and the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries. This is very much frowned upon by members of the scientific community, INCLUDING MYSELF! Of course my area of expertise is in microbiology, which deals with disease and issues that cause disease. Chapter 7, Pain And Stress was particularly disturbing to me, since it deals with areas that are in my realm of expertise. He has published VERY misleading and out and out FALSE information! I will point a FEW of them out to this forum. On page 259, Table,7-2. He gives readers a, "Livewell Salt Recipe Suggested for Stress Relief". Components of this recipe were used PRIOR to hauling fish, and NOT DURING ACTUAL HAULING SITUATIONS. He recommended that readers use Magnesium sulfate, which is Epsom's Salt. This compound is used to PURGE FECAL MATTER FROM THE FISH, it is a laxative! I can assure you that you do not want to use a laxative compound in the LIVEWELL! Calcium Chloride a chloride of LIME, and used VERY carefully to disinfect PONDS! DO NOT USE THIS IN YOUR LIVEWELL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sodium Bicorbonate is baking soda. I could only assume that he is recommending this to increase the PH or alkalize the water. Do not adjust the PH of your livewell, without testing the PH! On page 257 he states, "Bacteriocides such as nitrofurazone reduce the chances of infection by killing bacteria. THIS ANTIBOTIC IS BANNED IN BAITFISH, GAMEFISH! We have NEVER USED IT!!!!!!!! This sentence is on the same page where he REPRINTED CLAIMS on our products WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION! That is a separate issue that is under legal investigation! On page 260, he recommends the use of, "Oil of Clove" as a fish calmer. The use of oil of clove is NOT ALLOWED, because the raw compound contains a NTP listed carcinogen, Methyleugenol! There are components of Oil of Clove that are INAD's, but with the recent toxic problems in products coming from China, the NTP has had to suspend it's review until early next year. Any compound has the potential to be toxic if it is not formulated or used in the proper amounts. This area is best left up to the FDA Center's for Veterinary Medicine, state, federal agencies and experts such as ourselves that deal with INAD or any human or animal drug! We hold but state and FDA permits. Berkely and Pure Fishing DO NOT! They are not subject or regulated by the FDA, although that may soon change. I do not CLAIM to be an expert on the other sections of the book, but I did notice that a large amount of published figures were taken from other research and or scientific societies, and was NOT RESEARCH conducted on HATCHERY fish in the Berkley Laboratory. This book was written and printed to promote a product, and contains false and misleading information.

I read Ike's book, "Fishing On The Edge". I really enjoyed the book! I recently met him in person. One on one, he has the best manners of any man his age! I guess his grandfather, "Pops", raised him to be respectful and polite to his elders. I was also impressed with his intelligence! He is very different in person than he is on camera.

I read the book last year. It was a good read, but I know SEVERAL people mentioned in the book. Mike Long is not a jerk, Doug Hannon was misquoted, David Campbell of the SAL program and my husband go back twenty five years. I don't know Bob Crupi, but Doug Hannon said that he has been fishing with him and he is really a nice guy. Sometimes writers put their own slant on things to make the book more interesting to the readers. Don't take for gospel everything you read or hear. I did enjoy the book, more for entertainment value. It could also be said that professional tournament fishing is an obsession as well. In the world of sports it's called, "No Pain, No Gain". I would describe many of these individuals as PASSIONATE and DEDICATED. No doubt that David Campbell's life work has been centered around big bass genetics, Doug Hannon's on catching and observing double digit bass, my husband's on keeping them alive in captive conditions. Just my 02 cents!

Matt, I have done some preliminary scouting for Lake Amistad. I have been in contact with the co-owner of Angler's Lodge and they would be able to accomodate 50 anglers and they have 6 rooms with kitchenettes. There are fishing boat rentals at Lake Amistad Resort & Marina, but I would have to check to see how many boats would be needed. Of course we can fit two anglers in our Triton. I know that FLW will not be down at Amistad in 08. I can check with BASS and the TBFN to see what dates they plan to be down there. We would be attending the TBFN event anyway. There are PLENTY of RV hookups in case someone wanted to come down in an RV. I am sure that whatever location is picked, it will be fun for all who can attend. I know that we really missed out on a good time last year.

Did I mention that I caught my FIRST OFFICIALLY bedded bass? I was using a Zoom Super Fluke dipped in Spike It.

Amistad is probably 7 hours via car from Lake Fork. Texas is a BIG state!!!!!!! Lake Fork is in North East Texas and Lake Amistad is in South West Texas. All I can tell you is that my bass coach took me fishing at Lake Amistad during the spawn this last year, and it was UNREAL! I could NOT BELIEVE all the bass either on beds or staging getting ready to go onto a bed. The water is so clear that you can see them down at 20ft around the thick hydrilla! I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. I did NOT WANT TO LEAVE THE WATER!

I have been doing some checking on boat rentals and lodging on Lake Amistad. There is PLENTY of lodging. Lake Amistad Resort and Marina does have fishing boat rentals. They have 17ft fishing boats and 18ft fishing skiffs. If this lake is seriously being considered. Since my family situation is under control now, we will be able to attend. We have a new Triton bass boat that is in the process of being wrapped. Lake Amistad is a PARADISE!!!!!!!! The water is soooo clear you can see bedded bass EVERYWHERE!!!! It is UNREAL!!!!!!! I will be down at Lake Amistad next month, and would be more than happy to check out the boat rentals, lodging,etc. Also, My husband has an F350 crew cab and I have a Ford Excursion, so we could pick up some VIP BR members who would be flying into San Antonio International airport.

Guys, It is great to once again see the familar BR names and alot of new ones as well! This year has been CRAZY! My mother has been in bad health this year. She has been in and out of the hospital with heart problems. There have been other health issues in the family as well. Tony and myself have traveled to several bass tournaments and assisted with the care and release of the bass. We both have been hard at work developing a new formula for our Catch And Release product. I want everybody to know the this forum is highly regarded by several VIPs in the world of bass. That list includes Ray Scott and one of Florida's top biologist! In fact I consider this biologist the leading expert on bass biology in the world! Finally getting to met Glenn and spend time with him was great! We are all soooo very lucky to have him and the best forum on the planet! George, we were up REAL late this is VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!! It is great to see that your still around! I MISSED YOU GUYS!

Hello, I'm alive. Glad to be back online here (I miss it!). I met your fearless leader (Glenn) yesterday. Well.... ok, he's sitting here looking over my shoulder - he made me say that. HA HA! Looking forward to being back on the forums, now that I have a new laptop.

Each lake or body of water is different. Up north the spawning season is MUCH shorter than down south. A good scientific study is ONLY relevant to the body of water that the study is conducted on. Within a state or geographical area, lakes are in different stages of aging. I agree with other posters, recreational fishermen usually harvest the larger fish for trophy skin mounts. Lakes or bodies of water that recieve a lot of pressure benefit the most from reduced creel limits or size, and or slots. Pressure does not necessarily mean angler pressure. Pressure from other fish such as sand bass or striped bass must be factored in as well. There is little scientific evidence down south to suggest that sight fishing has a definate impact on the fishery. I have reviewed studies conducted on northern bodies of water, and in some cases it has improved the quality of the fishery to have a, "closed spawning season". There is no one size fits all answer to the question.

RW and JT have hit the nail on the head! This industry is SMALL and limited. In fact it gets smaller every year! My husband has been in the sportfishing industry for 25 years, 16 of those years with his own company. We are starting to diversify outside the industry. Anglers that fish regional or local trails, stand a MUCH better chance of financing their passion or addiction to tournament angling. MANY anglers go broke trying to keep up with travel expenses, entry fees, gas, etc!

Mike McClelland is also DEADLY with a jig, and is a SUPER guy! His personal story is amazing as well. I told him that I would be pulling for him!

WARNING! Anyone caught stealing crawfish for human consumption will be taken to the town square and HANGED! > Lane

Larger bass are DEFINATELY more aggressive than their smaller counterparts! This last weekend, I assisted with the fizzing and care of the largemouth bass at the BassChamp opener on Lake Amistad here in South Texas. It was a rodeo, 1,800lbs of bass were brought to the scales on Saturday, and 95% had to be fizzed. When I saw the winning sack of 34lbs come to the scales, I knew that I was in for some trouble! The big bass was 10lbs, and all of the big fish were deep caught and needed to be fizzed. When the sack was dumped into my section of the tank, I lipped the 10lb bass so that I could get my syringe and needle down the throat. That big girl put a jaw lock on my left thumb. I could feel my warm blood squirting into the mouth of the bass, which made the big bass exert more pressure on my thumb. It seemed like an eternity before I was able to get her to release my thumb. Blood was squirting everywhere, and it really freaked quite a few people out. The smaller bass were easy, and rarely put up a fight. Survival is a priority for the big bass. Also, most of the smaller bass were caught closer the banks than the bigger bass. One of the 7lb bass regurgitated a partially digested 3/4lb bass. The less experienced smaller bass do enter into large bass territory, but they run the risk of ending up as a meal for the larger bass. Older, larger bass do not tolerate competiton or intrusion in their home range from competing preditors. This behavior has been well documented. It would be interesting to know how much PSI (pounds per square inch) a big bass exerts during an aggressive attack. By the condition of my thumb, it is probably a significant amount of pressure for it's size!

Bigger bass are OLDER bass, and much like people become set in their ways. They will also fiercely defend their territory from intruders! Doug will probably agree, but that is an excellent question for the Bass Professor!

Alpster, I will bring enough for us! Just put some extra sausage in my gumbo! Thanks, Lane

Roadwarrior, Don't worry, I will bring enough craws for us! VERY FEW people use live bait on Fork, in fact it is considered a TABOO by the locals. Don't know about you, but I am after BIG BASS! I don't give a darned what anyone else thinks about it. One of us is going to hit the jackpot! Lane

The Grandebass Mutant has been a VERY successful bait on Fork, especially during the spawn. I am also bringing live craws! Lane