mattm

3.5-4.5

Welcome.

I'd say go give your parents a dollar and have them buy you a lotto ticket RIGHT now.

LBH, where is it this year?

I just think it is to touchy of a subject and your never going to get anyone to agree. For instance I have no disdain for deer hunters. I used to do it myself. I quit b/c I once shot a very nice buck from about 275 yards. He never knew I was there. Was thinking of that trip one day and said this is just to easy, and not at all fair. It is my opinion that anyone who is a decent shot is not going to miss a deer with a high powered scope that is less than 150 yards away. However, if I ever take the time to learn to shoot a bow I may take the sport back up. I do still dove hunt b/c I feel this is a challenge. Those are some fast deceptive birds. I don't think there was any reason for that turtle to be shot in the other post. I know what i'm about to say will offend some so please just listen to my reasoning and respect it just as I will respect your position to do the opposite of me. A few posts back I posted a picture of a dead copperhead. I did not kill this particular snake, but would of if I had come across it. I do not kill any snake I see unless i'm 100% sure that it is venomous. I'm sure venomous snakes have there place and don't seek out humans to bite. However, they do occasionally, and usually b/c of human error, bite humans. I'm sorry but I value a humans life and quality of life more than a venomous snakes. I have no idea what a water mosacin or cottonmouth looks like and as a result have probably let many of them pass. If I do ever learn to id these snakes I will kill them in good conscience(sp). That is the only way that I can be absolutley sure that it will not one day bite a young child that is being uproperly supervised somewhere. I think the idea that some have on here about not killing any snakes is noble and I can respect your love for nature. I just have a slightly different view. I will appreciate the non venomous snakes until the cows come home. John, please don't take my turtle comments as an attack on you. Growing up in the country and being an uneducated young man I killed many things that I am ashamed of now. Just live and learn.

Where is ICAST and does it move around year to year?

Just tie or melt two Zoom ol monsters together. I'm kidding of course. Unless you try it and catch fish then i'm just trying to throw you off my secret .

Don't give up on the whole fishing and senko thing. It just takes time if it was easy nobody would like it so much. Wacky rig your senko if you want, but there is sometimes that just will not work. If your fishing ponds and losing baits trigged good luck wacky rigging it. My suggestion would be to texpose the hook. Just t-rig with the hook all the way through the bait. The hookpoint and the part just below it should be resting on the bait. If you've done it correctly your bait should be in a straight line. Now just take the part of the senko that is between the hookpoint and eye of the hook and put it a little towards the eye of the hook then slide just the smallest amount back onto the hook point. Now if you've done it right your hook should be all the way through the bait with just a small amount tucked into the top of the bait. Completely weedless and very penetrable on hookset. Maybe someone will come along to explain this better. If not check back tommorow and i'll take a pic tonight and post it for you tommorow. When fishing the senko I think it is very important to pull the bait with your rod, not hop it like many other plastics.

I already answered your toad question in your other post. As far as the senko fish it trigged if you have muck. Personally I don't ever fish the senko wacky b/c i'm always catching to many fish trigged to think about changing. Don't get me wrong i'm sure wacky works to many people swear by it. Anyways trig the senko throw it out wait 15-30 seconds before doing anything. Then with a swepping side motion pull the bait, let bait settle back to bottom and reel in slack. Repeat steps until bait is out of strike zone. If there is fish around your usually going to know it before you do any repeating of steps.

I've never personally used that toad, but have been with a friend many times when he was using it. He just fished it like you would any other toad. On top of the pads, buzzed on the surface or just under the surface. Trig it weightless with a 4/0 hook.

Nice fish. That is an impressive perch. Is some of the fin a shadow on your shirt maybe :-/?

I'll wait until shimano makes one.

Wow....what a toad. Congratulations man. Did you happen to get a weight on that beast. I'd say at least 5lbs . Lol. Seriously, if you guys didn't get a weight I would love to hear a guess.

Speedbead, Others may come along and disagree with me, but I personally feel that the bass won't come much further to eat your bait. I think it probably has to do with the amount of energy they have to expend for the meal. I'm of the belief that it just depends on how actively the fish are feeding that determines the size of the strike zone just like in stained water. If the fish are extremly active maybe they'll go a little further than in muddy water since they can see the bait. Matt

Shattered it....way to go.

Agreed thats ones just a baby. I don't see a ton of them around here, but that would be the smallest one i've ever ran across.

Wow.......I bet its a month before you tie anything else on. Congrats, you'll have that jig mastered in no time.

Welcome, glad you are getting back at it ;D.

Oh and I usually find that you can fish faster on most days in ultraclear water. You don't really want the fish to have a long time to study your bait, and figure out it is not the real thing.

You hit the nail on the head with long casts. A lot of the stuff in you tackle box will work. Just get a ridicously long way from the fish, and make sure your throwing very natural colors. Plastics = watermelon, green pumpkin, pumpkin seed. Trig and crig and probably even senkos if you have a setup that you can throw them a decent distance on. I would leave the spinnerbaits in the box unless there is a little chop on the water or overcast and then obviously throw willow leaf blades. I would opt for a white or translucent(sp) colored skirts. Rattle traps in chrome black, blue or green back. Cranks in white and shad colors. I'm by no means an excellent fisherman, but I do fish A LOT of clear water and find that really any type of bait will work as lone as you are making long casts and throwing very natural colors. Having told you all this i'm sure your fish will be hitting chartruse and metholiate today . BTW, good luck.

Welcome. Anyone else shocked muddy has a friend named Geno.

I've been watching it and its pretty good. Not sure that it is going to have much staying power though. I could see it getting old to a lot of viewers pretty quick.

Yeah I ran across that in an old Bass Masters magazine and was going to ask about it on here and never did. I like the idea of bending it and making it swim kind of in a circle on its side like a dying baitfish. I went to the website and was going to order, but didn't like that I had to buy the kit with every color to get it. If you figure out how to get just one let me know.

Very nice fish. Great pics too. You have that taking a pic by yourself thing down.

Nice fish. Looks like you probably did a little fishing it the rain.