OCdockskipper

Like noting that the emperor is wearing no clothes, you stated a fact that the true believers consider to be blasphemous. If you continue to post such damaging comments, a swarm of boston fanatics will descend upon you and claim you are bigoted, stupid and the team you root for is inferior to it's boston counterpart. And don't you dare mention the New York Giants & Super Bowl XLII, that is just plain cruel...

I believe you can be a generalist, good at a multitude of techniques and also have 1 or 2 techniques where you are excellent. The two categories aren't mutually exclusive.

No, it got married because it wanted to, not because it had to...

As WRB states, there are regional & local differences that put a cap on the largest bass each lake has the ability to produce. However, there are two other variables that can make a big difference - Your ability and time. Taking the second variable first, all bodies of water change over time, due to both natural & man made influence. WRB probably remembers back in the late 70's when all of California was in a major drought & nearly all of the reservoirs were 50% full or less. Then two winters of major storms topped of nearly every body of water in the state. Fishing fluctuated from excellent (many fish concentrated in the smaller, drought stricken lakes) to worse (fish spread out over completely filled lakes) back to excellent (a couple of years of great spawns with water covering more fertile areas) over a 7-8 year period. Any snapshot of a single year would have been misleading as to what each lake would average or could produce. The more important variable is your skill level. When I first began to fish my home lake, I was proficient with moving baits, but not much else. That had worked on previous bodies of water, so when I would catch 6 or 7 bass a day in the 1 to 1.5 lb range, I thought this lake wasn't that good. Fortunately, the one other person who fishes the lake regularly was friendly enough to take me out with him one time. I was amazed at the number and size of fish he caught on plastic worms & creature baits, my perception at that time was that those fish did not exist in that lake. I learned how to fish those lures and over time, learned other techniques that fit well for this lake (such as skipping docks). Catching 20 - 30 fish a day became the normal, with a large percentage of them being over 2 lbs and the occasional 5lb to 8lb making a showing. I write this not to say I know everything, but rather to point out the difference, that I had no idea about what I didn't know. What is fun about learning new techniques is how you can apply them to new bodies of water. I was in Texas a couple of years ago visiting family and was told that the small river & swimming hole near the house only held a few small bass. I went ahead & fished it anyway and the combination of a ZMan TRD fished behind boulders and a 4" senko skipped under the shoreline brush produced a bunch of nice fish, including a pair of 5lbers. My sisters jaw dropped, she would not have believed those fish lived there had she not seen it herself. She has since become a Ned rig aficionado and it has replaced her love of buzzbaits and crankbaits.

Not as stunning as in other parts of the country, but not bad for a Southern California sunrise...

Here in Southern California, party boats are also appropriately known as Cattle boats. You are elbow to elbow with other anglers, fighting a fish involves having to fight under & over other anglers and their lines, it just isn't that much fun. It is like fishing in a city pond with other folks right on top of you. If you can afford the charter, do it - it is a much better experience.

At least if a gator latches on to you, you don't have to put a lit match to his head to get him to let go... Have you ever tried to jam you thumb into the eye of a tick to get him to release? It takes a lot of precision & a tiny thumb...

I disagree with the other responses, I believe you are indeed cursed. By chance, you haven't accidentally run over any gypsy's recently have you?

The channel cats on my lake give themselves away on their strike, it is much more violent than a largemouth bass, even on slow moving lures. I have had catfish grab a Ned rig in the same manner a largemouth smashes a frog or fast moving squarebill. It seems like the catfish are trying to crush & kill even the slowest moving lures, while the bass are content to just inhale them. With Ned rigs, I always imagine the bass inhale them and then forget that they have them inside their mouth. My friend has a bass in his koi pond and it is interesting to see the different way he strikes different food (the bass, not my friend). Minnows & goldfish are run down and just hammered, while nightcrawlers and meal worms are slowly slurped.

I went for lower percentage guys in the upper buckets and favorites in the lower buckets: A - Ehler B - Crews C - Lucas D - Pipkens E - Lane

Hammerhead Shark

My little Pond Prowler stays on the water all year long, I have always covered it. The first cover was an inexpensive "one size fits all" from BPS, it ended up blowing away in a windstorm. So I had a quality cover custom built by a local guy who makes them for various saltwater vessels in the area. It takes all of the sun, weather, bird poop and other crud and keeps the boat looking really nice. I also used it a few weeks ago when we hauled the Pond Prowler to a small lake we were vacationing on. Worked well for the travel, allowed us to put all the gear inside the boat without worry of it getting damaged.

In 1973, my parents bought a lot in Canyon Lake, California. At that time, there were only a few homes built on the water, one of which was adjacent to our lot. My parents went through the process of submitting plans to build a house & were told they couldn't build the 2 story house they submitted because a neighbor opposed it. Turns out it was the homeowner next to us, he never spoke to my parents about his concerns, he just went straight to the HOA. So my dad had plans drawn up for a 1 story home (which didn't require neighbor approval) that jutted as far out & as close to the water as he could. Since we were on a point, what this did was completely block the view of the main lake of the existing homeowner. Needless to say, said neighbor flipped out and from that moment on, was the stereotypical grumpy old man on the porch. The only time he would talk to us would be to yell or cuss about something. At this time, I was a shy 10 year old who was just really discovering fishing. I would walk the shoreline (in the water) catching bluegill from the brush or under docks. One day as I got near his dock, this neighbor came outside growling & yelling at me, intimidating for a child who had been raised to respect ones elders. I immediately left, telling my parents about the encounter later that evening. My dad's reaction was that I was allowed to fish there and that I had permission to stand up for myself if it happened again. So the next morning I'm out again and the neighbor once more comes out of his house. As he comes down the ramp towards his dock, he is telling me to get the hell away from his property. I didn't react and didn't make eye contact, I was too scared. He continued and said something about he was tired of the noise our family always made (??), at which point I got my sea legs. I looked up at him and replied "Oh yeah, well your wife kept us up all night with her barking". I have no idea where that smart aleck comment came from, but it completely stunned the old man. He stammered & sputtered, walked back up to the house and never was seemed as intimidating as I once thought he was.

I'd put new hooks on them & use them. One good thing about 30-40 year old lures that are no longer being made is most likely, the bass living today have never seen them.

A bag of grapes.

I haven't fished a tournament in about 40 years, I fish now because I enjoy the entire process from setting up gear to wrapping up for the morning or day. I also notice "nature" things that one would not expect to be occurring in the urban environment of my home lake. This point was reinforced for me last week while on vacation at a small desert lake. In the mornings, I would take my pond prowler out for a few hours until the temperatures started reaching triple digits. Mid-day, I would get in my bathing suit on a small kayak and go out to catch some catfish from under docks, drenching myself with water every few minutes to stay cool. In the evening, I would walk a portion of the western shore, fishing for bass as the day drew to an end. Different methods, different species, just enjoying the experience...

That is an odd list. Some of the lures are specific models (Zara spook, Senko) while other ones are entire categories (crankbaits, buzzbaits). I have to believe that list was put together by someone from Rio Linda...

Of course, that list doesn't include Dottie when she topped the 25 lb mark & was foul hooked, but it does include her twice as she grew towards that weight. Although my home lake doesn't have Florida strain largemouth, just over the hill from me is Lake Mission Viejo, which did (they had a fish die off a couple of years ago). Lots of DD including a 19 lb about a decade ago for the same reason the San Diego & LA county lakes kicked out so many monsters, a steady diet of hatchery trout. Many of these Southern California lakes basically "grew" these monsters by feeding them an easy meal, a 10" trout that had never seen a predator before. Although it sounds blasphemous, I never enjoyed fishing Mission Viejo and stopped going there about about 8 years ago. It is a small, clear water lake, huge amount of pressure and alot of folks who could care less about fishing etiquette. I found the fishing in Florida, Georgia & Texas to be a lot more fun with more action (numbers) and more fish in the 2 to 5 lb class. I don't know if the same holds true for the San Diego or LA lakes, but Mission Viejo seemed like it was trophy fish or 10", nothing really in-between. I never caught a beast out of there, but was in the boat with my buddy when he caught an 11.5. Although that was thrilling, that day he caught it was a drag, for it was the only bass we caught that day larger than 12". I believe the number of huge bass from Southern California overshadows a lower number of trophy fish when compared to places in the south. This doesn't apply to the northern fisheries like the Delta or Clear Lake, they are a completely different animal and I do enjoy fishing them.

I believe Phoenix reaches that mark every summer...

My concern would be the definition of criminal would change. It isn't difficult to imagine a heavy handed government chipping someone because they spanked their kid in public or were doing 35 in a 25 mph zone. Worse yet, bad people would be able to find all of your good fishing spots...

I am getting tired of working, so I have a deal for you - You do my work & I'll do your fishing.

I never get tired of fishing, although I do occasionally get tired when fishing. It is amazing how rejuvenating a nap can be. Right now, I am tired of the hot weather & sweating like a pig midday while fishing. In a few months, I will grow tired of having to wear layered clothes just because the weather dips into the 40's. But tired of fishing? That does not compute.

If you want to catch 1 big bass, your odds are better in a farm pond. If you want to catch 5 bass totaling over 25 lbs, your odds are better in a larger lake. Not that either can't happen in the other scenario, but typically there is one queen of a pond while larger lakes can usually support multiple larger fish. I fished a 3 acre farm pond this March in Georgia, the owner wanted to see what amount & size bass were in it. Since the area near the dam was devoid of cover save for one brush pile, I went ahead and threw a Ned rig on 8 lb line in order to get as many bites as possible. First 4 casts resulted in 3 aggressive 10" bass. Fifth cast, the line tightened up, and I set the hook on the queen of the pond. She broke the surface, with a head that was as big if not bigger than my PB, and then pulled drag on her way over to the brush pile. I did a bad job of getting her turned, she went into the brush pile & broke me off. Now the queen has a lip ring. Over the next 90 minutes, I caught about 20 more stunted dinks and a dozen or so bluegill the size of my face. From what I understand, that kind of dispersion (many dinks & large bluegill, a couple really large bass) is normal for small ponds that receive no pressure or management.

It really depends of what the circumstances of not catching another bass for 3 months is. If you catch your PB & then in the excitement, trip & bonk your head, putting you in a coma for 3 months, then it would be worth it. However, if you catch your PB right in front of a gypsy & she whispers "skunk for 3 months" in your direction, I would have to choose the other. Can you imagine trip after trip, cast after cast without catching even a single bass? Heck, 3 hours without catching a bass is misery, 3 months would lead to dementia. You'd be doubting your skills, spending thousands on new gear to break the slump, even breaking out the helicopter lure to give it a shot. Imagine the frustration when the kid with the Barbie pole catches a bass right in front of you and you haven't grabbed a lip in 3 months. Chilling!!

In thinking about this, I wonder if Johnny Morris's philosophy is that BPS influence on bass fishing tournaments (their sponsorship of tournaments and involvement in events) is making the number of bass boats being sold increase, therefore they want to reap the benefit of said involvement by owning nearly every brand of bass boat. Whether or not BPS actually is influencing the number of bass boats sold, JM might believe that it is the case. If so, it would be frustrating for him to think that others not doing such promotion were benefiting from his actions. Just a hypothesis...