OCdockskipper

Southern California has a couple of unique airport situations, albeit probably not as extreme as Alaska. When landing in San Diego, you basically follow a hill filled with homes as you descend, passing over the freeway as well. The problem at night is the lights from the homes & cars on the freeway can sometimes make finding the airport difficult. My brother with the pilot's license was landing in San Diego once, couldn't discern the landing strip lights from the surrounding area and told traffic control of the problem. They literally "blinked" the run way lights twice (shutting off & then on) to make them stand out. Orange County (John Wayne Airport) has a runway that sends outgoing flights over a bunch of multi-million dollar homes before the plane is over the ocean. As a settlement with the city of Newport Beach, when a plane takes off, it has to go at a 25 degree angle (10 degrees steeper than normal) and then reduce power to near stall as it passes over the houses. Think of it as an S curve for takeoff.

I do, mostly in the early fall & early spring. I made a thread about it last week. Very few are under 5 lbs, it is mostly the big predator catfish that are shark like and attack anything (I saw one attack & eat a coot once). As far as what I catch them on, I went back through my log for the past 3 years & here is what those over 7 lbs bit on: BPS Speed shad swimbait (9) ZMan TRD Ned rig (7) Crankbaits (6) Various plastic worms (5) Jerkbaits (4) Senko (1) Jig (1) Chatterbait (1) I use scent (Fishstiks Crawdad or Shad) on my soft baits, but since I have only caught one on the slower moving senko, I don't believe it is smell that is attracting them. Like sharks, they may get drawn to an area by scent, but they attack movement.

I'm not sure what the exact number is, but as an adult, I probably average 2 round trip flights a year visiting siblings or for out of state work. So that's 70 round trip flights, plus another 10 or so round trips as a kid for a total of 160 airplane flights (all commercial airline). Oh yeah, add 1 flight on a Cessna. When I was a teen, my older brother got his pilots license and took me & my other brother out to the desert to a race track. On the way, he showed us what a stall was...I nearly crapped my pants. Then he landed the little plane in the middle of the race track (there wasn't a landing strip there). Upon leaving the race track, he nearly clipped one of the race cars on the track. All of which is why I have only been on 1 flight on a Cessna...

Although I target bass almost exclusively, for me it isn't about species but rather methods. I get bored still-fishing, don't enjoy fly-casting and find it a little hypocritical to use live bait in order to catch & release game fish. I really enjoy making precise casts, figuring out a retrieve that will work for that day and actively searching out the fish as opposed to waiting for them to come to you. Since I rarely keep any species I catch, I want to catch fish that either put up a dogged fight or an acrobatic show. Largemouth bass "check the box" for me in all of those areas, as do the big catfish that join the fray in the fall & spring in my home lake. I even enjoy the big bluegill or green sunfish who have delusions of granduer when they attack a bass sized lure. The only time I target anything different is when "bass methods" can be used to catch those other species. When at Lake Mead or Powell, I'll target boiling stripers by throwing topwaters & lipless crankbaits through the surfacing school. When in Colorado, I'll use small spinners or Ned rigs to pursue trout in the streams, creeks and lake near my brothers house, again because the method is similiar to what works for bass. I even threw a rapala for 20 minures once on a lake that was nearly frozen over, I found the only area that was still soft water and fished that instead of going out ice fishing like others.

It seems like in most DUI accidents with fatalities, the only one that lives is the drunk driver. As bad as being injured, hospitalized or killed would be, I would suggest it would be worse to live the rest of your life knowing that your actions led to the death of innocents.

I am not exactly sure why, but the transition to the Fall bite on my home lake has been kind of delayed this year. While water temps are just 2 or 3 degrees higher than the past few years, I have a hunch that the real cause of the delay was a series of weed abatement's done by our HOA in late August. All September & October, the entire fish population just seemed a little off. They weren't were they normally are, they were less aggressive and I noticed alot more fish suspended in open water areas. My catch rates for this time period were about 50% of what they had been in past years. So today was the first day that the fish seemed to fall into their fall patterns & behavior. For me, this is confirmed not only with the behavior of the bass, but of the large channel catfish. One of the signals of the beginning of the fall bite (& spring as well) on my home lake is some of my lures being intercepted by big whisker fish. Today was no exception, in addition to the bass, I caught 3 catfish that went 6-15, 11-4 & 14-6 (picture of the largest below). During summer & winter, I don't see much of these larger catfish but they sure make their presence known in early fall & spring. What I wonder is if this is normal on other waters in the country? Growing up, we use to consider summer time as prime catfish time, and it was rare to ever catch catfish on any lures. I'm not sure if the difference is the types of lakes (I grew up on a deeper impoundment with shad as the main forage while my current lake is shallow with bluegill as the main food source). How do the catfish on your lake/river act?

My personal best went 8-4, but I was by myself so the pictures weren't that great. 2 weeks later, I caught an 8-0 while playing guide to a friends sister, so we got a much better picture.

I have come to believe that one of the things that differentiates a Ned rig from any other type of small grub or worm presentation is the use of ElaZtech products. For example, I use GYB Senko's often when skipping docks, but there is a distinct difference in how a 3" Senko on a jig head looks in the water compared to a TRD. The way it sinks, how it stands up, the movement of the bait when you are not imparting action, all very different. For me, there is also a distinct difference in results. Therefore, if you want a Ned rig with a tail, I'd suggest using a Hula StickZ. You can cut it down to whatever size you want. There also is a new TRD Tube, which is slightly smaller than the TRD.

Great fish...Little jigs catch big fish (or something like that).

I think that may be the source for the disagreement. There is a huge difference in body shape between a 5" Bluegill and a 5" Green Sunfish, the former being more difficult to swallow for a bass & the latter being more streamline. I understand the simplicity in grouping all panfish under the Bluegill or bream moniker, but it can be misleading. I believe Tom was talking specifically about Bluegill and not panfish in general.

+3 for braid with a leader. I use Berkley Nanofil with P-line fluorocarbon leader.

The first kidney stone is the worst, I believe, because you have no idea why there is a knife being stuck in your back/side and no trail has yet been carved through your urinary tract. Subsequent ones became less of an issue for me, to the point that like Deaknh, I can feel them moving through with just minor discomfort. I shot one out last year in December and ended up giving it to my brother-in-law as a gag Christmas present.

Then by all means, get it. If just using it brings joy, then it doesn't matter whether it is the most effective tool or not. Enjoy.

I actually found a Gantrell Jr. floating in my lake over the summer. It cleaned up well & with new hooks & swivels, is a great looking bait. I have probably made about 300 casts with it over the past few months and have caught 3 bass with it - all about 2 lbs. I have much higher catch rate for that size fish with more conventional sized lures, so as WRB suggested, I will probably keep it tucked away until next years spawn.

That is a nice reel, looks to be in good shape and is probably capable of being part of one's arsenal. That said, why would you choose to spend money on 40 year old technology for any reason other than collecting? My daughter has a pristine '65 Mustang, had it since she was 16. She also has a 5 year old Corolla that she drives to work every day. As cool as the Mustang is, the newer vehicle is a better fit for everyday use. I think you would find the same thing with a newer reel. Your $50 would be better spent towards a new reel.

The negative is we only have two little lakes & a pond in the entire city and the lakes are only available to people who live on them. My friends brother does have a house for sale on one of them if you are interested...

My five biggest bass have been caught at 6:00 am, 6:15 am, 8:00 am, 9:00 am and noon. The days where I caught the most fish, the heaviest action has happened at all times - morning, mid day & afternoon. Personally, if I could only fish for an hour or 90 minutes, I would choose daybreak. The combination of action & less people around is a winner.

I have to add another lure to my list, the Zman Shroomz micro finesse jig. I liked the idea of having a Ned rig with a skirt, especially as the cold weather is approaching, so I ordered a few a week ago. On Saturday, I paired a green pumpkin version of it with a green pumpkin/red Batwingz trailer to make a compact little jig. First cast I made with it was to a retaining wall, & I got bit on the drop, a nice 14" keeper. Second cast to the same spot didn't get hit on the drop, but moments later as I dragged it deeper, I got tapped. Set the hook & ended up landing a little larger fish. Looking for a 3-peat, I made another cast to the retaining wall, but this time came up empty. So much for the magic lure... . It actually did well for the day, catching a dozen of the 26 fish that came in the boat. On a side note, this combination is a good little crawdad imitation. The light weight of the jig (1/16th oz) and the elasticel trailer makes the claws of the Batwingz popup in a defensive mode at rest. Drug along the bottom, it scoots flat like a crawdad, only to popup again at rest.

This isn't a ghost story per se, but it may fit here. There was a seminar on the power of the human mind and in order to make a point, the speaker asked the crowd "How many of you believe in ghosts?". About 50% of the hands went up. The speaker continued "How many of you have ever seen a ghost?", to which 6 or 7 hands went up. He then asked "How many of you have ever talked with a ghost?". Expecting no response, the speaker was caught off guard when an old man sitting in the back of the room raised his hand. Deciding to have a little fun with the old man, the speaker went off script and asked "OK, since you talk with ghosts, have you ever kissed a ghost?". The old man nodded his head yes. The speaker continued "Have you ever had sex with a ghost?" The old man blushed and again nodded his head affirmatively. Caught up in the moment, the speaker invites the old man to the stage. He puts his arm around the senior citizen and says "Now sir, we all want to hear about the time you had sex with a ghost." The old man looked up at the speaker and replied "Ghost? I thought you said goat!!"

Sam, I just have to ask. Does the ghost watch your or your wife when you are showering or getting dressed? I'm just curious if the ghost has manners or is a perv...

Since my home lake is shallow (10 ft with a couple of 12 ft holes), I have the luxury of keeping it simple. I break it down to shallow, mid & deep with the following having earned their first string status: Shallow - Strike King KVD 1.0 squarebill (silent) Mid - Strike King 3XD (rattling) Deep - Rapala DT-10 (rattling)

I had $80 built up on my business Discover card rewards, which allowed me to get $100 worth of BPS gift cards. I ended up using them to replenish a few things as well as order a few items I had wanted to try. Sorry for the upside down picture, I can't get it rotated

I have had that a couple of times. My friend once caught a fish that was pooping out a Roboworm it had swiped from his hook on one of our previous trips

I'd say largemouth with a very distinct horizontal band. For me, the difference is not just the jaw, but the head itself. To contain their future bucket mouth, even small largemouth have bigger heads than their spot cousins. If you can't see where the jaw line extends to, just look at the overall head. On a spotted bass, it will often look like it is too small for the body. Plus I have never seen a skinny spotted bass, it seems like they always have a belly on them.

I don't know what would happen in that situation, it might be worthwhile to talk to someone in pond management.