grimlin

The limit here for yellow perch is 30.Was 40 last year...virus hit us pretty hard. I see nothing wrong with catching 30 fish if it's within limit and law.Some people stock their fridges and don't alway fish. Ever watch commerical fishery?They take them by the thousands...now that's unethical....

The last 2 years i've gotten my fishing license...i didn't get a rule book.I couldn't tell you how many guys i've met on the lake that doesn't even know what the size limit is or the limit of fish they can take from a body of water.Last year i esimated over 200 that i've met and talked to...almost nobody knew except the few that really looked into it.Even i don't know all the rules yet,but i try my darnest to try and learn them.Heck i fished bass out of season once when i moved up here and was in my second year here...i was like "out of season?".Texas didn't have an out of season fishing..so i had no clue...and with nobody even informing me even without a book i was lost.I fish by myself so i'm trying to learn all these rules and respect the fishery. It happens and i believe none of the states inform people "enough" on the law and rules about fishing.Have you guys ever read some of these books on rules or law...some of them are darn right confusion and really doesn't explain everything you are "suppose" to know. To be honest,i got invited to fish a private pond this summer with a fish fry afterwards by my neighbors...i'm really gonna see what the rules are for a private pond now...because honestly i don't know and don't fish private ponds.I'd like to know the rules here in MI for that now.

If it comes with a plastic one throw it away(plastic spool that is)...reason why?Because plastic ones have 2 molds which are welded together...if you knotice where they join together they have sharp edge that'll cause your line to rub and weaken your line.Everytime you run your line over those you are knicking your line.Now i have heard people sand those down a little...not sure if it helps unless you can get that incredibly smooth.even then,you are roughing up the surface by sanding it down. It's better to get the aluminum ones..they are one piece and much,much nice.Might be a bit more costly for an extra aluminum spool,but worth it.Alot of spinning reels comes with extra plastic ones for free....if that was me i'd stay away from the plastic ones to be honest.

Tubes jigs are definely a favorite here as well.Another bait i've been catching smallmouths with is the berkley sabertail bug...Hook it up with a jig cast out let it sit for a good 2-3 minutes(if you don't get a bite before then) then slowly jerk the rod to hop the lure back to you. Another thing i like to do is if you have heavy current cast you jig up the current and let the current drift your lure...you'd be suprise how well that works.

hey ya,welcome to the forum.

My dream is to catch one that big .Nice catch man!

;D went 17 inches...probably another PB but lately i've been catching them close to this size.This one nailed a Jig x with joe's brown trailer.Fought like heck,had to tighten the drag on my reel.I couldn't reel it in...how tight do you guys set your drag?I have mine set where i can tug on my line a little bit to loosen some line...for some reason i like loose drag,but when fighting these smallmouths i have to turn up the drag a little bit more. Lost a nice largemouth dued to it spitting the hook 4 feets from me... >

I love fishing shows...bass pro i think is the best one...i seem to learn alot more from that show as the other shows are more entertaining wise.I would love to fish with any of those TV fishing guys.

I was 10 at the time,using a spincaster,somehow the line got twisted and when i went to make a cast about 10 feets it made a dead stop in midair and came right back at me.Got me in the arm as i was blocking my face.Went home tried to get it out and my father ended up just saying forget it we are going to the clinic.It costed him $130....lol Since then 22 years later i've been lucky and haven't had another accident. P.S. since i've gotten heavy into fishing again,one thing i do bring is my sunglasses...i won't leave home without them on a fishing trip now.

Definely a great catch.I love the colors on smallmouths.

Sweet! I love them days like that too. ;D

I usally try to keep that line tight.I love watching them jump.If they spit it they win,haha.

yep i did...matter of fact i didn't get an answer.It wasn't over illegal fishing though,it was boaters landing where people were fishing...there were no boat landing docks.It's all shore for shore fishermens.I swear we have some of the most retarded boaters here. We do however have that VHS virus going around up here...possibly why i'm not seeing as many fish being caught. However you'd think the DNR would be a little strict over what's being caught to protect the spread of the virus any more.

With many more new anglers and fishing growing in popularity of fishing among many weekend fishers who keep fish,should we be concerned about our fisherys?reason why i'm asking is i'm seeing an increase of people on the shore and lakes all carrying the 5 gallon buckets of fish.A weekend fisher if most don't know what a limit is or what a keeper size is(bass is 15'' limit).I've knotice with the increase of fishing sales can only mean a heavier pressure on our local lakes. I've gone strickly catch and release this year,knoticing not many people are catching fish like we usally do. maybe i'm just worrying about something over nothing...but usally this time of the year i can catch bluegills by the 50s now i'm lucky to catch 3 in 4 hours.I used to be able to catch bass 5 is the limit(even though small but still they were there).it's gotten pretty warm here now i figured the fish would be in alot more shallow areas.

That's how it works alot of times,but i knotice you are using trilene xl and that line has some considerable stretch in it.I was using that line as well and wasn't detecting bite like i would have liked to as well.I've been told to try the XT instead...a little less stretch in it and will probably help you and me detect those bites a little better.I had one where my line started swimming toward me! Shocked me so bad i tried to reel in the slack to set the hook but the fish beat me and spit the hook before i had the chance to set it.It was like that fish knew exactly what to do.

All on the sabertail bug from berkley,this is actually a great smallmouth lure.I had it rigged with a weedless jig without the skirt on(it's how i ordered them from a guy).Every hit came while the lure was falling on the cast or while it was motionless drifting with the current.It was the only way i could get a fish to hit it.Out of 20+ people nobody was catching anything bigger than bluegills.So i had alot of people asking what in the world i was doing to catch them. All 3 went in range of 14-16 inches.That's big for the little dam area i fish.

Maybe try getting some wader or a float tube.Not sure how deep the water is where your fishing,but that 20 yards of open shore changes once you wade or float.

$250 on christmas week. I spend $25 here and there just about every weekend.It'll stop soon once i start fishing.I'm fearing next winter though...i got to save up for a wedding,bait monkey ain't happy..he rather i spend it elsewhere.I just hope i don't end up decorating the wedding hall with fishing hooks and stuff....soon to be wife wouldn't be happy...

I still use spinning outfit for anything 1/4oz or under.I'm not that good with my baitcaster with smaller lures yet.No shame in it either.I however love my baitcaster too...it's what i use 75% of the time.

Put it this way...i've used live bait for years and never caught a 9 pounder..i still haven't to this day even though i fish artificals now.I have however seen people just drop a worm and a bobber and catch a really nice size fish.Artificals i think depends on more of presentation than taste. Bragging rights? I don't see why not,it's not easy to catch a lunker. Even in private ponds you still have to have the right presentation to catch lunker most of the time.

Right now it's twice a month if i'm lucky.I'm working double overtime and really don't have much time to fish as i get nagged for the housework on the weekends.It usally gets better in the summer time as that's when i usally fish all weekends all day sometimes.I usally can only stay about 2-3 hours as of right now.Not a whole lot of time. Long as i can fish i'm happy.

Great idea on location in sig.Thanks.

Keep your line tight at all times...giving a fish loose slack in your line is like letting the fish get off the hook.

I agree with everybody.I'd go with the crankbait,kreature or jig with a trailer.

Man if i saw somebody pull a gun,i'd been out of there in a hurry.That's just plain sad... I know the old guy didn't have any rights to what he did...but did the boaters push him over the limit?Regardless he should have never pulled the gun in the first place.