chi0082

Some of my buddies have been catching a few while crappie fishing at night. They won't tell me where though. Go figure.

It's funny how people think that fishing a tournament at night in the summer is ok because it's not as bad as during the day when it's hotter. As if the water temp drops from 91 to 60 as soon as the sun sets. I strongly think tournament fishing at anytime during the summer months should be outlawed PERIOD! I've seen wayyyyy too many dead bass in my time from all the tournaments held in the warmer months. Having ice in a livewell only makes matters worst. Taking a fish from 90 degree water and dropping it in 50 or 60 degree cool water gives it a sudden shock that will either kill it or severely stress out the fish. They are not designed to go from one extreme to another extreme in temperature in such a short time. Then after struggling for hours trying to acclimate themselves to the cool water in your livewell, you end up throwing it back out into 90 degree water at the ramp after weigh-in. Now tell me that doesn't spell "Death" to a fish. Just because you see a fish swim off does NOT mean it will survive. Many bass will swim off and die many hours after release. I have woken up to a morning of dead bass all over the banks from a summer night tournament too many times. Sorry I don't really sugar coat my replies so if this offends you or hits you the wrong way, good. Stop fishing summer tournaments!

That's the attitude that encourages poaching and allows them to continue to do what they do. It is our responsibility as sportsmen to do everything in our power to stop those who ruin it for everyone else. We may not put an end to it, but we can sure as heck reduce it. I have turned in many idiots and poachers in my time. I sleep well at night because they never know it was me. Rule number 1 is to never confront them, you let the warden or sheriff do that.

Can you explain why you're dipping the weed guard in super glue? What does that do?

I would find out what time they left and call the game warden/commissioner to pay them a visit at the ramp to check their livewells. Bet they have plenty of undersized stripers and/or several over the creel limit. I'm sure they keep everything they catch because nobody sees what they catch and nobody is out that late. And maybe next time bring a big arse spotlight and park your boat right next to them. Everytime they catch a fish light up the entire lake and see for yourself what they're catching. lol.

I know that's what I thought too. But that one time it would not go away no matter how many times I hit the backspace button. But anyways, it works now. Gotta love technology.

So yea, how do you get rid of a "quote" box if you didn't mean to click on it? It seems as soon as you click on the Quote button you can't remove it from your reply. It's frick'n frustrating how they designed this feature.

Looks like a Tail Dancer mixed with a Shad Rap bill.

^^^^THIS!!! I would say with great certainty that 80% of people who catch them can not tell the difference between a small wiper/striper and a white bass. I've seen too many small stripers/wipers caught and kept thinking they were giant white bass. Reported a few too, but it is not enforced enough in my honest opinion.

Thanks for the report. Sorry to hear about the boat. Hope it's as easy as cleaning the carbs so you can get back out onto the water. Good luck and catch a big one and post a pic!

Yea I just wanted to help you guys out by giving some feedback. Tis all. Nice website though.

Not finding it on your website. Don't like how I have to select a category to be able to search, and then it only searches within that category. You should implement an overall search function for all your products and place it on the front page or top of the page so anybody can search for any product in any category. Normally if I spend more than a minute trying to find something I want and can't find it, I move on to another store/site. I found them somewhere else, but thanks anyways.

This is the reason why I never plan on catching/keeping any fish. The moment you bring ice or a cooler or go prepared to catch fish, the fish automatically know and refuse to cooperate. My best days were the spontaneous "wake up and go" type of mornings where I forget my cooler and forget the ice and forget the bait. The fish seem to bite like crazy and I either run out of bait, run out of stringer rope, or run out of place to put them. A problem I love to have more often. The lessons is to never go prepared.

It's an ego thing. You have to catch more than the other guy or you're not a good fisherman. But you're right whites do taste better fresh as with most fish. I normally cut out all the red meat and they taste great. If they've been frozen, after I cut out the red meat I soak them in milk for 20 mins then I batter and throw them into hot oil immediately. Taste fantastic.

So how did you guys do??? Normally it's nice to report back to everyone after asking everyone if they had a report for you.

I'm looking to get some fish grippers and can't decide between the plastic floating ones or the steel spring ones. Anyone use one or the other and liked one of them better? I'm afraid of dropping the steel one into the lake when I'm reaching overboard to grab a fish with it. Does the plastic one hold well? Which one do you like better and why? Normally I just use my hands, but I've got stabbed too many times by trebles when you grab a fish by its lips with a stickbait or crankbait in its mouth and it shakes violently. I don't want to dig anymore hooks from my arms or fingers. One lesson was enough.

Experience is a hard teacher isn't it.

Black lights don't affect your night vision.

How do Falcon's compare to St. Croix's spinning rods? I'm looking at a 7'6" med hvy fast action and Falcon's options seem limited. How much of a discount are we talking about too? My dad likes St. Croix's and has several, but if I can get a deal on a comparable Falcon, I may opt to go that route.

Before I used black lights and fluorescent lines I did not know the number of bites I was missing. Makes a HUGE difference in my experience. With fluorescent lines and a black light you can see all the subtle movements in your line before you feel anything with your rod in hand. Another thing is....bugs are very attracted to the black lights so go prepared.

Storm rolling in, barometer dropping, overcast skies, little to no wind. Sounds like perfect topwater weather. I'd kill to be out there right now. Let us know how you did.

Nice double. Pretty rare indeed.

I want to try colored line (green, yellow, flourscent blue, etc) so I can better see my line for those subtle strikes when pitching/flipping jigs or using the ned rig. I've always used clear line in all applications and if I use braid, I nearly always tie a flouro leader to it when fishing jigs, worms, tubes, etc. I only tie braid directly to frogs, A-rigs, and other few topwaters. Do bass shy away from bright line colors? I've searched a ton on this topic and cannot get a definite answer.

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions and ideas. I ended up getting the Daiwa Revros in the 3000 size. It is smooth as butter and built like a tank. I'm sure it'll last me for many many years. The drag is seamless and engages effortlessly. It's a 5.6:1 ratio but pulls in 37 some inches of line per rotation which is higher speed than most reels in its class (which is exactly what I've been looking for). All in all, I think I love this reel. Thanks again for all the recommendations!