Make Time to Relax.

August 13, 2008

Its been a very stressful day at the office, it seems like its been a Monday for 3 days in a row now. Your co-worker is being a jerk and your boss is too busy to care. It seems like everything is breaking and everyone needs their problem taken care of first. The work day finally ends and its off to your safe haven, your home, also known in man terms as your cave.

You arrive home to find that the cooler had stopped working during the heat of the day and its over 100 degrees in your house. You look at the cooler and find that the pump has stopped working so its off to the local hardware store to purchase another. As it turns out the employees also have had a bad day so they are taking it out on you. Then you find that due to a decision by the corporate office, which of course is back in the cooler climates, they no longer stock the pumps because they are out of season. So its off to the the giant Mega Low Mart where you are forced to buy a pump of, lets just say not as good quality to get you through the next month and half of summer.

You arrive back home to install the pump and find that for some reason your automatic garage door wont open. You get inside of the hot box and discover that the electricity is not working so you go to call the electric company but of course without electricity your cordless phone wont work. You use your cellular phone and as it turns out the electric company has shut off the power to your entire neighborhood due to routine maintenance but neglected to inform you.

You try and remain positive, see the glass as half full and just let things go and remain in a good mood but its getting difficult because its still hot in the house even though the power is back on and the house is starting to cool down.

Then you get a call from your significant other and she has been having a rotten day as well because of some jerk that she works with and of course you want to go down to her work and pummel the guy for messing with her but you know if you did that you would end up in jail with a newly umeployeed wife. The little woman in bad mood, which is not a good thing, but with both of you being in a bad mood it is not the time to try and have any discussion because your both being unreasonable.

AAAHHHHHHHHHH! Whats a man to do? Me personally, I toss some food in the slow cooker, hook up the Champion or just put a couple rods and some tackle into the truck, leave a note on the fridge stating, “Gone Fishing” and take off to your nearest body of water. I’m fortunate enough to be the early person at my normal “9-5″ job so my working day ends at 2:00 which even after taking care of things around the house it still gives me at least a few hours on the water

I have people say to me quite frequently just how lucky I am that I get to go fishing all the time and that they never get to. I tell them that they have to make time to go fishing, to get out and relax. If you dont take the time to eat, oh sorry, I meant to say smell, the flowers once in awhile the internal stress is bad for you. Yes the price of gas is kind of high but when you need to get away, the financial cost is more than worth it to spend the money for peace of mind.

For me, fishing takes me back to good times. Back when I was a kid and didn’t have a care in the world. When toothpaste and toilet paper didn’t cost me any money, it was a simpler time. Yes, childhood can be rough but compared to all the responsibilities of adult life its actually pretty care free. It takes me back to good times fishing with my father, who has since passed on. I know when I’m fishing I often think about and miss him. He was a great man and role model. No matter how busy he was, working 2, sometimes 3 jobs to take care of his family, he would make time to take me fishing.

So I say to one and all, get out more often. Relax, become one with nature, explore that inner child we all have within us. Make time to relax. You’ll get back home relaxed and all of life’s “Tests” wont seem all that bad. Besides that you can reminisce of your time on the water, even though it might have been just a few hours, because you managed to catch a few nice ones and even if you dont catch any, you still were able to escape from it all, for at least a few hours.

Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon

Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!

Written by bassnman · Filed Under The "ZEN" Zone | Leave a Comment

“Be The Bass” Think Like A Fish

March 23, 2008

Many times I have been asked the following questions, “How did you know the fish would be there?” or “How did you know what they wanted?” My response is always, “You have to enter The Zone and think like the fish.” I’ve heard, “Your crazy” more than once, but if you stop and really think about my statement chances are, you might find that you have more than once applied that principal yourselves.

Lets say your out for a drive and realize your hungry, what do you do? I don’t know about you but I’ll go though a drive through and pick something to eat, preferably a Double Double with Grilled onions from In and Out. Or lets say your sitting in your living room in your Lazy Boy after a nice dinner watching TV and your significant other is dangling something like a chicken wing or a bird feather in front of your face. How long before you grab it and take it away from her?

Now try applying these scenarios to yourself if you were a fish. First lets approach the hunger one. Think like a fish, you’re swimming along, your stomach starts to rumble and you decide to stop and find a bite to eat. While you cant pull into a drive through you can find something almost as convenient. By instinct you would go to a place where the food was plentiful and easy to get.

You would look for some form of structure or current. Think about it, you as a fish seek refuge in structure, so do the smaller fish as well as crawfish. The more bait in a spot the easier it is for you to catch some. The same principals applies to current. When there is current it washes stuff, food, to a specific spot. This once again attracts smaller fish which in turn attracts bigger fish looking for a bite to eat.

Now I’ll approach the wife dangling something in front of your face. Remember, your still the fish here. Your sitting in your favorite brush pile, just pigged out on a big lunch of shad and crawfish, kicking back watching the world around you. All of the sudden something plops down into your living room. It proceeds to bounce up and down right in front of your face over and over again until it finally makes you mad enough that you have to react grabbing it to make it stop, or just to kill it or maybe because even though your full you will make room for that one more crawdad, remember the wife with the chicken wing? Either way you react to it.

Next time you go fishing try applying some of these tips and think like a fish. It just might produce more bites for you and hopefully produce more hookups as well.

Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!

Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!

Written by bassnman · Filed Under The "ZEN" Zone | Leave a Comment

Catch, Clean and Eat.

March 6, 2008

Yes, I am a big advocate of Catch and Release, especially when it comes to bass. Mainly because in most waters they are what is considered a natural resource. Sure they were originally planted years ago but since then most of our waters are not restocked with bass when the supply gets low. Think for a second, remember back when you heard Grandpa telling the stories of how many bass they caught back in the day and fried them up? How easy they were to catch and how plentiful they were. Yet now days it’s not all that easy. Yes, allot of bass have become conditioned and don’t bite as often as they used to but I believe there are less bass now then there were back then.

Please don’t take me wrong, I see nothing wrong with keeping a few bass from time to time as long as your going to use them. I feel that when you catch a mess of bass, place them into the freezer for 6 months and then end up throwing them out because they got freezer burn is wrong! The people that really get my shorts in a wad are the ones that keep over their limit including the ones under the size minimum. I have and will continue to report these people because they are nothing but poachers that are abusing the resource for the average fisherman.

Anyhow, back to the subject. I have to admit, nothing taste better than fresh caught fish and besides that it brings out the Gatherer, Cave Man Instinct, that is inbred in men. Me hunt and kill dinner, make fire, cook kill and eat! I have very fond memories of dad and I cooking freshly caught trout over a camp fire by wrapping them in foil, or frying up a mess of crappie fillets and hush puppies yummmm, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

When the wife says she wants fish for dinner or my taste buds are just yearning for some fresh fish I’ll go out and catch a few for this purpose. Most of the time it will be Crappie or bluegill, which by the way are my absolute favorite. I also like the taste of striper’s, if they are prepared correctly.

Now I’ll share some tips for cleaning and preparing your catch. First, if at all possible keep the fish alive until your ready to clean them and place them on ice. Once the fish dies his meat starts to spoil so leaving him soaking in the water on a stringer will take away from the taste. If your not going to clean them right after they die place them in an ice chest with ice of course. This slows the decaying process. I personally prefer to clean my fish right away, and immediately pack them on ice for the journey home.

There are a couple things to be sure you do when cleaning them. In my opinion filleting them is the best way to go but if you don’t know how or just don’t want to go through all the hassle you can gut them and cut their heads off. If you want to leave the heads on make sure to remove the gills, these contain blood and will leave a bad taste. Also MAKE SURE you clean the blood cavity along the spine very well, including rinsing it. This is where allot of people mess up and wonder why their fish taste bad. If you follow these few simple rules your taste buds will be happier.

With the striped bass as well as other fish, when you fillet them there is a thin redish strip that runs along where the lateral line was, Trim this out and and get rid of it. If left on and cooked it leaves a bitter taste which soaks into the rest of the meat.

Now for some tips to cook your catch. If your camping outdoors bring along some Heavy Duty Aluminum foil, some butter, lemon pepper and bacon strips. The simple lopping their heads off and removing the entrails cleaning method work best. Season the fish with the lemon pepper, place some butter in the cavity, wrap bacon around the fish then wrap it in foil. You can also stuff fresh veggies into the fish if you so desire. Then just place this package directly on the coals of the fire for about 7 minutes per side.

Another way is to bring along a cast iron skillet and some oil or butter and seasoning of your choice. You can either fry or sauté the fish. If you want to fry them bring along some bread crumbs or corn meal for breading. Prepare the fish anyway you desire.

Try this the next time your camping with family or friends and make some memories of your own. Just remember, Like is mentioned on my page, Keep what you can use and release the rest.

Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!

Written by bassnman · Filed Under The "ZEN" Zone | Leave a Comment

“Be The Bass” My Thoughts On Bass Intelligence

March 2, 2008

First off let me say that all of this is information I’m about to share is not based on any scientific studies, just my years personal experiences

I have been asked more than once, “How come bass are so smart? First off I cant see how an animal with a brain the size of a pea could be all that intelligent. However I do know that there has been more than one time in my life that the wile bass has out witted me. I’m sure that all of you have had these days as well. So I ask myself, how could that be? Here I am, what I consider an intelligent human being and this stupid green creature got the best of me, what’s up with that?

Don’t take that wrong, I don’t for one second believe that they possess intelligence like us carbon based creatures do but I do believe that bass, especially the bigger ones, become conditioned to things. I think if they have a bad experience with a certain smell, sound or lure they tend to avoid it.

Think about the lures that caught bass all of the time in the past, then all of the sudden the bass will not even sniff it. Ever notice how the attractant manufacturers are forever changing their smells? Is it me of have you noticed that the ones that always stick around are the ones that smell like natural forage, crawfish, baitfish and even night crawlers but the ones that smell like garlic or black lickerish seem to disappear? One word, Conditioning.

I believe that if you take those lures that used to catch bass then all of the sudden don’t and give them a rest for awhile, say a season or two, then try them again you would be pleasantly surprised to see that they still do catch bass. I know that I have taken lures that caught bass for me 10 years ago and then they sat in the tackle box because something new and exciting came along and caught my eye, out of a whim I tied them on and just wacked the bass on it once again.

I also believe that bass become conditioned to their environment and their surroundings Sounds that are not natural like the hum of a trolling motor, the dropping of something in the bottom of an aluminum boat or even the “pulse” of your transducer when your depth finder is on can make them skittish. They could associate the sound with a traumatic experience, well maybe not a traumatic as we would perceive but one but the last few times they experienced those noises they were forced to go in a direction they didn’t want to go and besides that his jaw kinda hurt. Then they get pulled out of the water by their bottom lip only to see my ugly face, which in itself has to be traumatic. Then if they are big enough, they get weighed, photographed and kissed before being placed back into the water.

Think about this, when you hook a bass where does he usually run? Into cover, because he is conditioned to believe that cover offers protection. Not because he knows that if he runs into cover he can break your line but because he feels safe in there and the fact that he will no longer be pulled in a direction he does not want to go.

Many times I will pull up on a spot, put the trolling motor in the water, turn on my Lowrance, take a look at the bottom, see the fish on structure, mark it on my GPS, shut off the depth finder, ease off the trolling motor and proceed to fish.

One thing that could possibly blow my theory completely out of the water are the resident bass that hang out at boat launch’s on every lake across the world. All the traffic, noise, people slashing in the water should scare them off. They should pack up their bags and move to a quieter place. Here I believe that the bass become conditioned to all of the commotion and accept it as normal.

Another theory I have is the bigger bass hang out there, especially out here in California, waiting for the stock truck to pull up and dump in a load of stocker trout, then its time to put on the feed bag. I have seen many times when the stock truck pulls up, you can see these big shadows start to show up from all directions. I feel that the have become tuned into the sound of the truck and associate it with feeding time. Kind of like a dinner bell.

I also believe that seeing how a lot of tournament release the bass at the boat dock, at least out here in California, they stay in the area because something keeps them there, which I feel is available forage. Think about it foe a second. The launch ramp is made of cement, algae grows on cement, bait fish eat algae, bass eat bait fish. Also, most of the time there are rocks and mud around launch ramps which algae also grows on. Crawfish eat algae, bass LOVE lobster!

Why do the bass in California seem harder to catch? Is it because they are smarter? One word, NO. First off, all of our lakes are very heavily pressured with pleasure boaters, casual fisherman and on just about any body of water in the state on any weekend you will probably find a bass tournament of some kind going on. Next, most of our lakes were built in canyons so they are deep and clear. The old saying, if you can see the bass, he can see you, especially applies out here.

Some people think I give bass too much credit, that they are not capable of learning. Let me state again, I do not believe they learn as we humans do but I do believe they become conditioned to things.

I have been told more than once that I have the ability to think like a bass, I don’t know if that’s a compliment or an insult but I usually take it as a compliment, hmmmm.

Well, that’s my in site on this topic. Hopefully I’ve given you something to at least think about.

Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!

Written by bassnman · Filed Under The "ZEN" Zone | Leave a Comment

“Be The Bass” My Thoughts On Catch and Release

October 8, 2007

Let me take a moment of your time to explain the importance of catch and release, any resource can be severely damaged for years if we don’t practice catch and release with the large, genetically better bass. These “superior” bass are capable of producing more genetically better bass for years to come. If they are all removed, are your children ever going to be able to enjoy this sport we cherish so much?My question is, if you catch a Trophy bass, why kill it? This creature has withstood the test of time and nature. Do you realize that a 10 pound bass has survived some outlandishly high odds?When she was born, along with several thousand others, they had to avoid being eaten by nest robbing carp and sunfish as eggs and well as “Fry”. Then once her “Dad” got tired and hungry of guarding her she had to avoid being eaten by him. Many of her brothers and sisters didn’t make it.When she made it to the fingerling stage, she had to watch out for more predators, other bass, birds, and other species of fish. As well as disease’s and parasites. What a tough life huh? Finally she reaches “Adult” size, say 12 inches. According to scientific studies, out of the thousands of eggs laid only 10-20 will actually make it to this stage.Now she has to avoid being caught by fisher people or hope that is she does get caught, they practice catch and release. She also has to watch out for other bigger bass that attempt to eat her.One day while tournament fishing I came across this big bass, about 7 pounds, floundering around on the surface with something sticking out of its mouth. I scooped her up in my net and to my amazement this 7 pound bass was chocking on another bass, still alive mind you, that she attempted to eat that weighed at least 2 pounds and of course she couldn’t swallow it. I realized then that as far as bass are concerned, “If I can fit it in my mouth I can eat it”. I pulled the smaller bass out and even though I wanted to stick them both in the live well my ethics would not allow me to. BTW, that day good karma shined on me and I weighed in a 28.4 pound, 5 bass limit sack and won the tournament.

Anyhow, back to the subject. As time progressed and she grew, she learned that if something was pulling her in one direction, a line connected to a fishing pole, to run to their “Feel Safe” area’s, which is usually the nearest cover, trees, rocks, etc. run in circles and this would somehow enable her to swim freely once again, because she just broke your line. As you can see, she has gone through allot to become the trophy she is now today.

So, if you are lucky or skilled enough to catch one or more of these superior bass, take pictures, measurements and weigh her. There is nothing more satisfying and rewarding than seeing the beautiful creature swim back into the darkness after a great fight. Now days most taxidermists will use an already made fiberglass replica of a bass, which looks so good when their done that you could never tell that it is a glass reproduction, right down to the gills. If you take in the actual fish, most of the time they will end up throwing it away or eating it themselves.

One word of caution. Your mount will only be as good as the artist preparing it is. Be it a skin mount or a fiberglass reproduction, it still must be painted. Make sure you see some of the taxidermists work before you pay the money to have it done. See if they are good at matching real life colors, etc.

Until Next Time, Good luck and tight lines to ya!

Written by bassnman · Filed Under The "ZEN" Zone | Leave a Comment