schplurg

How do you tell a hybrid from the others?

I did my first bed fishing recently. Walking the bank and there they were, small males anyways. Not many. I learned a lot. As said already, some fish are easier to antagonize than others. And there is also that magic spot on the bed where the fish will react to the bait. Anyplace else and they just watch. Learned that one pretty quick! They didn't mind worms but when I switched to a craw they went on alert. It's interesting watching them nibble and "mouth" a bait to scare it off, and all the other behavior as well. I found bluegill bedding a few years ago. I could tell pretty quickly which ones were more prone to bite. My fourth bait was the key. Some kind of a tiny hair jig. All 8 of those fish continued guarding and fighting for beds after they were released, so that was good.

Well that settles it, I'm moving to Mexico! I laughed out loud at the sheer craziness and my jaw hit the floor several times watching this video. Great stuff! Amazingly amazing!

That answers my question!

I can't even get bit by mosquitos! I fished with a buddy on his private pond last summer. He got eaten alive, welts and all. He's allergic. I didn't get bit at all. I never do. I did catch more fish though

I drove over Shasta last Sunday. Depressingly low water.

That's nice that they can clean it. Here in Cali if they find anything on your boat you're banned for a month. I have been through several inspections with my kayak. Not one of these people ever inspected the yak at all. They looked at it on my truck, "yep, it's a kayak", collected my money and let me launch. We had two yaks on the lumber rack of my friend's truck once. No way to inspect from up there, and they didn't try. Never asked to take them down, never opened the hatches, never gave the boat more than a passing glance. Next time I will demand an inspection for my money.

What a video! All those fish caught, plus directing the shoot, adjusting for lighting*, commentating LOL I love it - it takes a lot to get a good vid! All very worth it! Looked like a blast! * This is why your photos always look great here at BR. Very nice work, AJ.

I use regular ol' Eagle Claw snaps on a few rods. I'd like to try others, they can get hung up in the line, but usually it's okay. As .ghoti. said - check the action yourself and if you don't like it, try tying direct. Sometimes I'll switch from chatter to crank and use a snap. Like I said, a few rods have a snap on all the time. I'm no expert but so far I haven't had one fail.

I drove over Lake Shasta last week via Hwy 5. Depressingly low. Not much snow on the mountain either. New Melones was 80 feet down a month ago when I went. Steep banks too. New Hogan was 30 last week. I do know of one lake in the Motherlode area that is kept full every year. Shhhh. Rivers and creeks though are okay. For now. I drove up to Oregon last week and saw some gorgeous rivers and streams. Breathtaking in their beauty. Gonna visit there again soon and bring my gear. My parents moved there. Snowpack is already gone. Another bad rain year and we're in trouble. Heck we already are. Anyways, I digress. Wish we had too much rain!

Great idea! There are a lot of options for photos when alone. I do the GoPro on my hat brim, and I have some awesome shots and videos I couldn't get any other way. I even discovered how my bail can close while casting if I'm not careful (see below), explaining some of my "I know I opened the bail!" moments. I watched a vid in slow motion and saw it happen. Aha!!! Some options for fish photos are setting the camera on a rock, clipping it to a tree. I have a giant clip that connects the GoPro to my hat that comes off in less than a second if I want. I can clip it to anything, or just set it on the ground if I have to. I have the GoPro almost every time I go. When you fish alone it's cool to have so you can show off to friends. It sees everything I see. Here's the short video of my "open or closed" bail cast discovery. It's got a lame voiceover but you get the point. Oh ya I've clipped the GoPro to my rod too for fun.

Fishing is definitely that kind of therapy for me too. I have hit the banks many times just to get stuff outta my head for a few hours. It works well for me. If I could just stay there all the time I'd be fine!

I wonder if leaving my spinning rod in the hot van for some days caused my mono to get "memory"? One day I got a few "wind" knots (no wind) when I usually never do. I could see the spiraling of the line as I fished. I don't usually leave them in the van, but I did for a week maybe this time.

There's a Youtube vid of a guy embedding hooks in his own arm deliberately, then trying different methods to remove them. Wow skin stretches a lot! He apparently has a high threshold for pain. You can watch him push them in one at a time.

Definitely prefer to fish alone on the bank. Especially bass fishing. Sometimes I bring one good friend I have, but we usually split up when we fish anyways. Sometimes we will cast right next to each other in a few spots that are really tight, but usually I go alone now. He always leaves when he runs out of beer anyways, and I don't drink when I fish so I don't have that problem. Unless I run out of water! "You know when I fish alooooone...I prefer to be by myseeeeelllllf!!!" Hmmm actually one of my most fun days of fishing was with him. We surfed fished for perch and had a contest. He won, 13 to 12. THAT was a blast!!! Go figure.

I have the opposite problem. No rain, very low lakes everywhere

That's what I use in the yak. It's all I have. I thought about getting an auto inflate for fishing a river from the bank. There's a big sign there that reads "People Drown Here", so I thought if I fell in and whacked my head it could save my life. Lotta rocks, beautiful river in the Sierras.

Heal yes. Missing piece of mouth grow back to normal, no. I've caught them where it looks like their jaw is dislocated(?). Looks like a piece is on the outside instead of the inside. Saw one with the right side of its mouth gone. That ain't healing well. Roof of the mouth is good, unless the hook comes out through their eye. Did that recenly. We're terrorizing fish for fun and ripping em out of the water by their face. Stuff's gonna happen.

I think they go more low tech to make it challenging I was on hold for half an hour last week and sadly, I drew this. Now you can write your own captions . alien 1: "Can't tell the cows from the people on my graph..." alien 2: "That's why you should use hot wings! Cows hate 'em!" alien 1: "Wings are good for numbers but I'm goin for a PB"

No bro, work is distorting your outlook on life, and fishing! At 53, I am of the mindset that work will have to be scheduled around my fishing and life, and I will find work/a job that will allow me to pretty much do that. You only live once. Doing my best to make the above come true.

If that Walmart frog is catching them then I'd say that's $1.97 well spent! Booyah make good frogs at reasonable prices. Only thing I've caught on a frog is a bullfrog. Nice going!

Why would someone deactivate the auto-inflate? In the rain? Serious question though.

I get them at least once a week and I haven't had a car with a warranty for 15 years or more. They call everyone with that one, so some people must fall for it. The phone companies have the technology to stop this but they won't.

Oh crap my car warranty is expiring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do we actually use tanks in battle anymore?