OCdockskipper

It looks like a largemouth bass being held by a Georgia Peach (just a compliment, no micro-aggression intended )

Sorry for the delayed response, I never noticed the post prior to today. I'm not sure why you wrote "Just saying" so many times, it came across as kind of snarky. I will assume it was not meant that way. In any case, let me address a few of your points that I quoted. Glenn, I am not sure where you live, but if you watch any media from most of the the major cities in America, you definitely see a sneer from them towards the lesser densely populated areas of the U.S. It shows up in TV & movies, on the news and online. That is why the term "Fly-over country" originated, the concept that those on the major cities of the coasts summarily dismiss those in the middle of the country as not being as worthwhile as themselves. The culture of these cities is the antithesis of the culture found in most suburbs & less densely populated areas. I am not promoting this and it may not exist where you live, but it is a well known fact. Legislation limiting access to outdoor access is already part of the culture of densely populated areas. Tom (WRB) can testify to the damage that the California Coastal Commission has wreaked on California outdoorsmen in the name of environmentalism. I am not creating this wall, this division, it already exists and is initiated & promoted as part of the culture of those in densely populated areas. To believe that "we can just all get along" is a bit Pollyanna-ish and has led to bureaucracies like this running over the outdoor users. Lastly, I believe your definition of a big city is off. Houston has a population of over 2.25 million, while New Orleans is 385 thousand and Birmingham is 215 thousand. Where I live here in Orange County, we have 3 cities (Anaheim, Santa Ana & Irvine) all with larger & more dense populations than Birmingham and none of them would be considered a big city. Anaheim, the home of Disneyland, has about the same population as New Orleans in an area 1/7th the size (50 sq miles compared to 350 sq miles) and again, it would not be considered a big city. What it comes down to in my opinion is we should go to the places that want us, that rejoice in our arrival and are happy that we are there. If that makes us the big fish in a small pond, so be it - as Mel Brooks said "It's good to be the king"

I have had 50+ fish days on X-raps. Are you suggesting I would have caught more fish if I had used the megabass vision 110 on those days? If so, how can you make that claim not knowing anything about the circumstances of that fishing day?

Picture?

I take the advice of guys like Mark Zona & Andy Montgomery and opt for a shorter rod, not a longer one. The most consistent skipping motion is more of an underhand cast, so a shorter rod allows you to make that cast without hitting the water with the rod tip or having to side arm it. The actual length is kind of determined by your height & the boat you fish from. A boat that sits up high off the water can afford a longer rod while a johnboat or Pond Prowler that sits low calls for a shorter rod.

I can only imagine he needs that table to either chop onions or deal blackjack... Nice boat by BTW, using the trolling motor mount for your rudder is the way to go.

Worse, after it hit me, it fell into the water & a 28 1/2 lb bass inhaled it. Because of the amount of line out, I didn't get a good hookset and lost her.

One time I cast a Senko so far that it circled the earth & hit me in the back of the head.

To help the lures fly off the shelf, I'd recommend either "Stike King" or "Boohah". I'm sure people won't notice the slight difference in spelling. If you are planning on shipping any to North Korea, you could always go with "Super Mighty Bass Catcher".

When I was a teenager, one of my favorite plastics was the Rebel Ringworm. When I came back around to fishing as an adult, the Zoom 4" Dead Ringer was as close to a replacement as I could find. However, when I ordered some 6" models, I was initially disappointed that they weren't just longer versions of the 4" (long body, short curly tail). Instead, the extra 2" were almost all tail & while they looked good in the water, it wasn't the look I was going for. Then last summer a big girl inhaled a 6" dead Ringer in Green Pumpkin & changed my mind about it...

Hey buddy, any more comments like that and some of us just may have to give you the United Airlines treatment... Sincerely, 54 year old metabolism. I chose: A - Christie B - Lowen C - Kennedy D - Browning E - Lucas Apparently Kennedy decided to go trout fishing today, he caught 2 more fish than a dead man. I don't pick him often, he is high risk, high reward and today he tanked. Crud. However, it looks like scores were a lot lower across the board. In the BR Crew group, only 1 person is above 1000 points for this event (way to lead day 1 M.Smith!!). I have a feeling this may be one of those events like the Classic where a handful of people who are in the top 15 the first day end up going south on Day 2 and missing the cut. I think that feeling is based on wishful thinking!!

It wasn't that I was unsatisfied with your post, rather that the circumstances around it made it appear a little fishy to me. That is a "me" problem, not a "you" problem, so don't take it personal. Plenty of others read your post without delving into conspiracy theories as I did. As far as the warm welcome, it was an official city of brotherly love welcome ...

I grew up fishing Canyon Lake (Railroad Canyon Reservoir) in Southern California, the home lake of BR member JustJames. It was (& still is) a private lake, but in the late 70's & early 80's, only about 25% of the lots in the community had been built on and of those, maybe 1/3 had full time residents. Most people would only come out on weekends and use the campgrounds, even during the summer, so as a teenager, we had the lake pretty much to ourselves during the week. In retrospect, what turned out to be cool was not just the fishing, but the few other bass fishermen on the lake (all over 30 years old). They had bass boats, from an older model that looked like the ones used in the 1971 Classic on Lake Mead to brand new Rangers & Skeeters. If I recall correctly, most of them belonged to a bass club called the Ambassadors. Being a teen, I tried to modify my 12 ft (14ft?) Gamefisher from Sears to match their boats, complete with a foot controlled electric motor and makeshift livewell. These older fishermen always treated me very well, stopping to talk when we were both on the lake and always wiling to answer my questions about how to find & catch bass. In fact, I still have a couple of handmade jigs that a man named Bob Dashell gave me over 30 years ago. I have visited the lake recently and it is very different, the community is nearly 100% built out and not near as isolated as it once was. However, based on JustJames reports, the fishing there is still very good.

I may have gotten too skeptical as I age, but when the first post of a new member (who doesn't list any personal info) is to rave about how great a bait or some equipment is and then recites some of the bullet points the marketing department made up for the product, I immediately disregard the testimonial as a plant from the manufacturer. And I like the Storm 360GT!!

Since I fish a lake with no lily pads or other surface vegetation, I can use treble hooked surface lures instead of frogs & other weedless varieties. I prefer smaller topwaters, so the 3 I rotate through are a Zara puppy, Pop-R and Tiny Torpedo. Which one gets to start the day is based on the season and amount of chop on the water. For me, the Tiny Torpedo has been most effective later in the summer into the fall and when the water is calm to a very mild chop, your results may vary.

The team playing the best hockey right now is the Ducks, including their sweep over Calgary they are 15-0-3 in their last 18. Their last regulation lost was March 10th against the Blues, who scored in the final 30 seconds to win 4-3. The Ducks have a good mix of experience & youth as well as alot of playoff experience through their core players. They are one of just a handful of teams to have ever won their division for 5 consecutive years. With Chicago & Minnesota out of the playoffs, they would have to be the favorite from the west to make it to the Finals. Of course, since many people east of the Rockies are already asleep when they play, they tend to get overlooked.

I'm going to give you an opposite experience, not to try to persuade you from going forward & fishing tournaments, but just to give you more information. I am a highly competitive person and have found that when changing any solitary activity, be it fishing, bowling or golfing into a competitive activity, it changes the focus of why I am doing it. When doing any of those for fun, I enjoy the process. Internally, I am most likely competing with myself, but not to the point that I won't take time out to follow some baby swans and take a picture of them or take pleasure in executing s good shot or cast. When competing, the goal changes & I find I don't enjoy the process, just the result. I could bowl a 700 series or putt real well all day, but if I get beat, I am disappointed. That is probably a defect in me, if you don't have that, then you wouldn't feel the same way. Even when I am doing any of those activities for fun, if someone else is nearby, I start competing with them. Instead of just fishing, I now focus on making sure I catch more fish in front of them than they catch in front of me. Most likely, those folks are just great people enjoying a day outside and meanwhile, in my mind, we are battling down to the wire. It is kind of obvious why I enjoy fishing less pressured lakes...

You have lost me, so you may be correct that we need to agree to disagree. However, before we mutually tap out, let me try to understand what you are writing. If one says the "glass is half full", it does indeed mean that the glass is both half full & half empty. However, when one says "the glass is full", he means it is all the way full. Not mostly full, not nearly full, it is completely full, all the way. So, when the OP writes "I find fisherman to be...", his words mean all fisherman. He may not have meant it, but the words he used to communicate do. On a different note, as one who fishes docks on nearly every trip, I most likely took offense to this because I go out of my way to be courteous & respectful to property owners & their belongings. Intellectually I know the OP wasn't talking about me, but I dislike even the hint getting lumped into the disrespectful crowd. I'm probably taking it more personal than I should.

This is a response to your claim, not a "rip". First off, your sentence has 3 negatives, making it very difficult to try to determine what you are trying to say. Reading it verbatim, you are claiming the OP said ("didn't not say") all fishermen were good ("not bad"). I can't believe you meant that, based on the rest of your sentence. I am going to assume you were trying to say that the OP said not all fisherman were bad. The OP wrote "I find fisherman to be very rude and inconsiderate of people who own lake property." There is no way one can read that sentence and infer any other meaning than all fisherman, even if he didn't use the word all. In that sentence, "All" is implied. If I wrote "I find moderators of Bass Resource to be cross dressers", there is no escape clause in that sentence that excludes Bluebasser86 or Road Warrior. I have damned all moderators by not excluding any. The OP did the same, hence the response from the rest of the members.

Obviously a stuttering problem...

Last year I came across a bass bed with a small male and large female locked on it. As I was getting ready to pitch to it, a 2 ft plus carp swam into view headed right towards the bed. The male left the nest and bumped the carp, which quickly left the area. I have also seen bass follow behind a single carp as if they are waiting for them to root up a small crayfish or spook a small baitfish for the bass to gobble up. From what I have seen, carp are the Great Danes of the freshwater fish world. Big, slow moving, and often bullied by smaller, more aggressive fish. I think carp have self esteem issues...

This accusation is so untrue, everyone knows that if Bill Dance were to reach over the side of his boat to retrieve caged fish, he would inevitably fall in the water and his hat would end up in the cage. By posting this rumor, you are giving it legs, even if you declare that you are not believing it. It would be akin to someone posting that the rumors of you being a pedophile and having kidnapped a couple of children are just not true. Those methods of smearing folks belong in a political campaign, not a bass fishing website. LOCKDOWN!! (oh wait, I am not a moderator...)

1. Ned rig (ZMan TRD); 2. 4" Senko, rigged wacky (weightless); 3. Crankbait (model varies based on season). I think ones answers may say more about the waters they fish than what works best universally. From my 3, it isn't difficult to figure out the lake I fish is shallow, fairly clear, not much vegetation & loaded with docks.

Mark Zona had a different show that aired today, it was pretty much instructional on the things he has learned over the years about skipping docks. It is one thing to read this information, it is another to see it in practice. One thing I found particularly interesting was that he uses both spinning & baitcasting, the former for unweighted plastics, the latter for traditional jigs. That is different than the either/or I often find on this subject. One other tip he gave was if you are right handed, to always approach the docks in a clockwise manner to make the skipping easier. While this is a good tip, there is one scenario where the opposite is true, a scenario that I have on my home lake. When you have short docks where a majority of the pontoon boats are parked on the front of the dock, your skips have to enter from the side. When the docks are fairly close together & you are approaching the docks clockwise, that means your casting angle will be really tight, often not even possible. However, if you approach these docks counter clockwise, the angle to the side of the dock opens up, giving you a larger & more accessible target. I have included a diagram of what I am trying to illustrate. The only time I approach these kind of docks clockwise is when the fish are positioned under the boats more than the docks. A majority of boat owners park their boats so that when you face the dock, the open pontoon section is to the left. Approaching these boats clockwise gives you a clear shot between the pontoons as opposed to trying to squeeze the cast between the pontoon & lower unit. It also cuts down on fish wrapping you around a propeller. If you haven't had a chance to watch the show, do it - it was very well done & even features a cameo by Greg Hackney as "That Guy" diagram.pdfdiagram.pdf.

I feel like I am channeling Hobo Kelly - "I see a Hula Popper, I see a Cordell spot, I see a Rapala minnow..."