MonsterZero

We had a pond like that where I used to live, too. It was a permanent retention pond next to a nursing home. Had some great bass in it for a long time...until the employees started fishing after work. There are still fish in there today, but it is a shadow of what it used to be. Every fish caught goes home with someone.

I do not currently use snaps on freshwater, but they are indispensable in the salt. We always removed the split rings to avoid the TA clips getting into the split and causing a lure to come off or something to bend out.

Generally speaking, if you want to restore or maintain a damaged population, you should close fishing entirely to let it recover. We see this with moratoriums on at risk or protected species, particularly in saltwater, in my experience. Alternatively, you place restrictions on what tackle can be used, like barbless hook exclusivity in certain bodies of water or for certain species, like trout waters. As someone with a strong background in ecology and who has spent a lot of time with scientists of other disciplines, including biology, I am...puzzled by this. Without being present for the actual conversation, I am thinking they may be referring to species overall, and not specific locations. That is, keeping fish or practicing catch and release in your neighborhood pond is not going to significantly impact LMB populations overall, so it really does not matter except for convenience. Could not say for certain, though.

Average fish for Dirty Jersey.

Biggest I have ever caught on a lure was probably around 3lbs, which was pretty hefty for the body of water I caught it in. It was on a white Booyah Pond Magic spinnerbait.

I have found a few lures in this style in old tackle boxes purchased at garage sales over the years. I have never fished them myself, nor have I ever seen them for sale in any tackle shop I have ever been to. When I find cool vintage lures I often keep them separate, just because they are unique and I do not want to lose them.

Depends on how good I think the spot is. If there is the possibility that it is just not a good pond for numbers, pressure, fishable conditions, etc then I will just stop going. But if I am the problem, through my technique, lure choice, whatever, I will keep going back until I get dialed in or find that I was wrong and there are just no fish to be had. After all the years I have spent with a rod in my hand, I am pretty confident in my ability to find fish if there are fish to be found. Sometime there is just no success to be had in a place, and sometimes it just takes a bit more work to find it.

I got one for 50% off at Dick's and it has been good. Only fished it for a month or so last fall, but I am putting it through its paces this year and so far have no complaints.

I have inadvertantly started collecting creepers. I do not have an I-wing yet, but Megabass makes a smaller one that looks like a cicada called the Grand Siglett if you are into them. Great little summertime lure.

Once I find what works, I rarely branch out unless something really wows me, or someone does something legitimately new. That is a significant part of why I have started buying JDM tackle. They are building traditional baits to a higher standard, as well as experimenting with new, interesting designs and techniques. The fish do not particularly care what we think; they are going to eat what they want to, when they want to, and that is going to change without notice.

I stop fishing when the fish stop biting. Spring and fall, pretty much everything is biting; largemouth bass, striped bass, bluefish, etc. Summertime it is largemouth, catfish, and snakeheads. Winter I try to get out for trout when I can. It does not always work out like that, but I do try.

There is a species of biting fly that lives in the marshes along the coast here in Jersey. They have a lot of different names; greenheads, pine flies, etc. One of them is west wind flies, because when you are on the beach and a west wind blows up, it blows all of the flies into you and you get chewed up until it reverses. The west wind is no friend of mine.

6'2"-ish, depending on which convenience store I am walking out of. Mostly British Isles and Germanic Europe.

Again, you are using scripture to justify your view point. Not only is that against the rules of the forum and nonsensical, but that viewpoint got us into the ecological catastrophe we are in the midst of now. We were not 'granted dominion,' we grew big brains, built guns and dams and blacktop, and subjugated everything else. Man's tendency to hold himself above all other living things on some kind of pedestal, immune from the consequences of his own actions, is absurd. We are talking about the difference between treating other living things with respect and consideration, albeit living things that we actively utilize (and yes, exploit) for our leisure. What is morally acceptable or not is entirely subjective and cannot, by nature, be quantified.

Benchmade makes great stuff. My wedding present from my wife was the old version of their Bushcrafter. Probably my second favorite brand after Spyderco.