Jump to content

big jim

BST Users
  • Posts

    1,533
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Converted

  • Interests (Hobbies, favorite activities, etc.):
    fishing, cooking/smoking the catch
  • What I do for a living:
    whatever it takes

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. We usually demand a joke from the newcomers around here, swampy! That's before we start spillin' the beans with all the "best kept secerets of striper fishing" to any of the newcomers! But since I'm already here, I'll give ya a quick answer and THEN you can try to entertain us with a good joke, deal? No, nobody has a photograph here of what you're talking about. At least, not handy! But my good friend stewie very clearly described what it is you need to know in his post, the fourth post down from the top of page two of this thread. But I'll try to again present stewie's first option that he gave you here, very plainly and in the Queen's best English, OK? According to stewie's post, assume that the end of your fishing line, coming from your rod and reel, has a barrel swivel or a ball bearing Sampo brand swivel tied on it with whatever knot is appropriate for whatever type of line you happen to be using, probably a black colored swivel rated at a minimum of 100 #. On this terminal end, you are going to tie two pieces of line, one of which is shorter and has your teaser fly attached to it and the longer one which has your plug or whatever lure you have selected attached to it. So, what you have is two lengths of line, one about three to four times longer than the other, tied to the same loop of the swivel. Their respective knots will be next to each other on the same loop of the swivel. You will be fishing with two potential hook-up points, and swinging on separate pieces of line, it can look like your plug is chasing your fly. This will often trigger a large fish to grab the teaser fly, even though he could easily eat the larger plug, too. Sometimes the fish hits both. But the teaser rig often accounts for big fish when they don't seem to want to hit anything else. Now, stewie also told you something about tying this teaser rig without the common barrel swivel coming into play, like when I have my mono leader knotted to my braid. With no barrel swivel to tie to, stewie suggests that you tie a dropper loop at a certain point in your line. It is at this point where you will attach your teaser and your plug will go on the end of the main line. If you want to know how to tie a dropper loop, a very commonly used knot in saltwater fishing, you should pick up a book on knots at the library and spend a rainy weekend tying important knots. You could tie up a dozen bluefish or striper rigs while you're at it and make the whole effort a valuable lesson. You could even go scouting on the internet for your info. You're bound to find graphics of almost every knot available. Check it out. Glad to help you. Now you can help yourself, too! And don't forget to post your joke!
  2. Too bad ya missed the season on him! Fluke are one of the best eatin' fish we can bring home from our efforts! I loaded my freezer up with them this season and am enjoying a fluke dinner weekly! Also caught my personal best this season: 29" and 9.4 #'s. It was a good year for fluke, especially along the south shore of RI/MA, the true Mecca of flukedom! Congrats on a nice flattie! bj
  3. Sean: I don't care how they say it, being "laid off" or "restructured out of the organization" still always makes me feel fired. It happened to me three times as a member of the salaried managerial workforce in the electronics industry over a fourteen year period. Then I changed my career and it happened to me a few years later in the construction industry. I had always worked hard and given 110% for my employers. In the end , even as a salaried person, I was just so much meat. Then, when forced to take a working foreman's position that required some fairly heavy labor of me, I began having to perform tasks on a routine basis that were beyond my normal physical output. I complained to my management but the upshot of our conversations was that "there were plenty of other guys who could do the job." I was working 60 hours a week and earning great wages but I was a supervisor, and not accustomed to performing as a laborer. In short order, within eight or nine weeks of returning from a lay-off, I had injured my back on the job moving a large piece of steel. Coming back from that injury is taking me a long, long time. The company that I worked for doesn't even exist any more! As long as you have to work for somebody else you will always be at their beck and call. You have a unique opportunity here. Not everyone is advised 120 days in advance that they will lose their jobs. You've got a great head's up here. Take advantage of it. Don't waste this time! See what you can do to shift your income producing opportunities into your home office. Diversify? That might be a good idea. Start selling a product or a product line on Ebay. At least, see what you can do as your own boss, maybe as a consultant, a CPA or in the service industry doing taxes part of the year. The bottom line is, you and I will always be subject to treatment like "just another number" if we don't do something about it ourselves. You owe it to yourself, Sean. You're one of the good guys!
  4. I can't take my eyes off ya for a coupla days an' ya go rollin' over an' actin' up on me, dang it! Now ya just gotta stop that gas pain business, son, and stop fergettin' to take all yer ulcer meds and yer laxatives and those gelatin capsules you're supposed to take to keep things rolling along smoothly and ABOVE ALL ELSE: Make sure ya keep up with yer check ups! You've already been through more knives and needles than the average biology specimen and ya don't want to end up donating your body to the organ bank prematurely now, ya hear? All that time fishing is only good as long as yer alive an' aroun' ta do it, son!
  5. Hey, Stew! You have a 4WD? If you want to plan a trip out on the sand you just be sure to let me know, too, OK? I'd sure dig it if I could get in at least one beach trip this fall and I'm good for a bucket full of fresh bait and whatever else it takes: Lead, lunch, ice, insulin... I could meet you in Narragansett and we could go from there! I think the tackle shop will still have eels all through October. I can make arrangements to pick up a flat of herring &/or a couple of dozen pogies, in Mass if necessary, too. I should probably bring some fresh clams, too. You'll have to promise to freeze some of the bait if we don't use it all. I've got my knee braces fine tuned and I've got waders and foul weather gear but you can forget any rock hopping or long distance hoofing. I'll have to do most of my fishing from my chair, still! bj
  6. I hear that the mercury and other heavy metals level is higher, the higher up the food chain you go. In other words, mackerel have less than stripers and stripers have less than BFT. BFT have less than sharks, I would imagine. I love fish but I've stopped eating stripers due to what I've read about the mercury levels specifically. I eat swordfish once a year, period. I eat lobster almost never but certainly never more than once a year. Yet I eat fluke several times a year and have no idea what their poison level is and don't care to know! They taste too good and a guy's gotta eat something! bj
  7. Why, thankee! It was a home-made version of somethin' we called "Torpedo Juice" when I was in the Navy, made with a base of tropical fruit punch and 151 rum, to which is added equal parts of Gusano Rojo Tequila, Old Crow bourbon and Yukon Jack. When I drink torpedee juice I become a one man band!
  8. Well, I intended to throw my congrats to Red in the ring, too. But if that stream of ugliness indeed came from Red, and I know & trust our Fearless Leader, I guess I don't much care what kind of success he had with his fishing. In fact, I'd kind of like to think that he's already been DISinvited from the community by this time. There's just no room for that kind of threatening behavior here, directly, implicitly or otherwise. Good Lord have Mercy on us all.
  9. Winchie, Which Jim are you talking about? And what in tarnation is a "saltwater swirly?" And why would anyone want to dunk Mikey, anyway? Does he need a bath? Besides, do you really believe there's anybody around that could actually catch that Hoppy dude? He don't mean no harm... Yeah, I was just thinking about our athletic friend, that rock-hoppin' pursuer of piscatorial pleasure, angling-wise that is! He's a strange dude. A clever and accomplished fisherman, a witty guy... I was making up a song about him in my head, just something silly that I do when I'm up too late (or drinking alone) and it was starting to come out like this, sort of like a Ledbelly blues ballad... Ballad of Rock Hoppy Mikey Hey, Rock Hoppy Mikey, He put a pogie on da hook! Yeah, Rock Hoppy Mikey, Put a purple pogie on his hook! An when that rockfish bite it Rock Hoppy read him frum da book... "Cumma ov-ah he-ah fish-eeeee Cumma eat dis heah peece o' bait Cumma ov-ah he-ah fish-eeeee Cumman eat dis pogie bait I am da King o' Weekapaug An on my rocky throne I wait!" Da rockfeesh he dun lost it He lost his battle wit da King Da rockfeesh he dun lost it Lost eve-ree round to da King But when da battle was ov-aaaah "King" Hoppy say, "Let freedom ring!" Ol' Rock Hoppy Mikey He catchin rockfeesh all day long Yeah, Rock Hoppy Mikey He put dem back in rain and fog 'Cuz that rascallee Mikey He jes got to ketch anudda hawg! Ol' Hoppy, he cain't hep it, He jes a rascaleee yung maaaaan! Yeah Hoppy, he cain't hep it, He boan a rapscalliaaaaaan! He love to act da scoundrel Heee-eee jes goofin on youuuuu aaaa-gainnnn! Sort of sums him up, doesn't it? "So close to his fishing that he talks to the fish!" Loves to play pranks or jokes on his friends! Gets a kick out of witty conversation and one-up-manship. I say give him a salt water swirly!
  10. IMHO, signed tourney slips from a B&T is gonna make this contest far too serious! All you need to do is follow your own rules and remember that it's supposed to be for fun and a token gift of one plug from each contestant goes to the winner(s)! Simple! Clean! It's a beautiful, friendly thing! It's a given: The best way to measure the overall length of a big bass is on a measuring board designed just for the job. Not everybody is carrying such a contraption with them on the beach. Some of the boat fisherman may have them. One beach buggy rig I saw down South had one mounted on the rear bumber. Those guys perched on a rock out in the suds... ain't no way they can get an accurate measurement out there without a level spot to lay the fish down! But hey, lotsa you guys are just gonna let your fish go, even a bragging fish. I know some of you and I know that's just exactly what you'll do. Measurements on fish we're planning on releasing tend to be quick and dirty because we're mostly interested in getting the fish back into the water ASAP. Your contest was supposed to be for fun and, naturally, for the bragging rights that come with being the top dog for the season. Hey, most all of us dig a little competition in our sport to make it more interesting. Let's remember how you guys began this thing and try to keep it a fun thing. You can't get too freaking serious over this and still expect to be buddies when you get together for beers on the beach. The way I see it, in this contest a guy should do his best to get his fish laid down on his outstretched tape on a flat and level spot. Both tape end and fish end (head) should be butted up against the same object to insure they are in alignment. He should also have a plastic tape to get the girth. He should also take a photo, preferably showing the end of the fish and the end of the tape. If a witness is available, great. He can assist in the measuring so the time out of water can be greatly reduced! If not, I don't think you should require that the contestant kill his fish just to satisfy your curiosity. If a Boga is involved, great! We will then have a very accurate weight! Also, each of you should take part in this contest conducting yourselves as gentlemen, observing all the rules and regulations of the state of RI and those of an ethical sportsman. You have to have respect for each other's dignity, too. If you're calling somebody a cheat or a liar, be prepared to face the scrutiny of the group. Understand that such accusations cannot be taken lightly. You should accept and abide by whatever the group decides (majority vote) if there are any ties or any reason to settle group controversy. And above all else, you gotta remember that this is recreation! It's supposed to be for fun! Between just you and I? If YOU end up with the big momma bass of the season to your credit, it's not necessary to show me the carcass! I'll be very happy to see your photos, though! BTW, when it comes to our striped quarry I've pretty much made up my mind that they don't taste so good after all and I'm reading lately that their mercury content is so high that we shouldn't eat them more than once a year! I think I'd rather have my annual dose of mercury in the form of fresh broiled swordfish steak, thank you! My advice is to let them go!
  11. 40HH same sized ring but higher (taller) frame than BSVLG.
  12. Nuff said, bassdawg. You've said your piece. Now explain your violations of community rules to Tims.
  13. I'm not the expert on this subject, to be sure, and I'm operating under certain assumptions that may be erroneous to a degree. And certainly I'm not talking about the majority of lobstermen, who are hard working traditionalists just trying to keep the boat in the water. But IMHO there is a very serious effort to procure live BSB going on every day along our coastal area. Let me get your mental processes going by asking you if you have ever been on a party boat and seen the Asian people packing their freshly caught live BSB into cooler chests full of sea water? Or, have you ever been down on the water front in PJ for whatever reason, say, meeting a charter client, fueling your boat, taking a walk around the public docks, etc., and had a couple of Asian folks approach you and quietly ask you if you had any live fish (shee-bash) for sale? BSB specimens on the small side are the most desirable and many of them can be packed into a 48 quart cooler. But transporting 2 or 3 dozen live ones in a cooler without proper aeration and refrigeration is stressful to the fish and many of them are assumed to die. There are questions of whether it's ethically or morally acceptable to subject these creatures to what amounts to physical torture potentially leading up to an agonizing death (YIKES! Is PETA in the house?). Furthermore, once a fish dies, decomposition of its bodily tissues begins. The typical fish wholesaler routinely keeps his products on ice if they're fresh or he keeps them under refrigeration of some sort or his fish products are frozen. In the live fish market, nearly dead fish floating in tanks of room temperature water with other live fish can't possibly be viewed by the consuming public as a very sanitary way to be selling a food fish. Of course, I don't shop in an Asian live food market, either! Vigorous aeration is required to keep these fish stress free and alive. The marketing areas where we sell fish must be free from disease laden bacteria. Live fish and decomposing fish create these hazardous bacteria. Our sanitation laws don't allow live animals where we sell the meat from their dead bodies, do they? The hassle of selling live fish to the Asian live food market, the permitting required, the agencies that would be involved, I don't know. It seems to me that any lobsterman involved is probably going to be pretty reluctant to report selling live BSB to the live food dealers because if he did it would probably suddenly become not worth it. So, I'm not talking about the sale of tote pans full of dead BSB that have been processed (scaled, eviscerated & washed) & iced down for so much $$$ per pound. What I'm talking about is a couple of cages full of live ones kept in the water underneath the dock that sell for so much $$$ a piece. And if we're thumbing our noses at reporting our catch, what about season closings? Do we give up the gold mine under the dock once the season is over? And what about minimum sizes? After all, it's the smaller sizes that are the most desirable. The whole scenario has the potential to become a quagmire for the small time fisherman trying to make ends meet. That's where I made my assumption about the unreported transfer of BSB. No bad comments being directed at lobstermen in general or lobstermen who catch fish as a sideline. It was merely my intent to make a comment on another problem affecting the decline in population of an important resource, the BSB, and where a few bad apples are adding to the problem. Hopefully nobody took offence! Good weather for fluking and sea bassing coming up and I'spect I'll be on the water tomorrow! Leastways I hope so, Good Lord willin' and the truck makes it down there! BTW, standing versus sitting corrected? If ya got a leaning post in yer boat yer ready to meet either situation half way when yer OTW!
  14. Mako Mike said: Quote: "Actually IIRC you have that exactly backwards, all of the big fish are females. The smaller fish can be males or females, but the males change sex when they reach a certain size. Either way you obersvations on the status of the stock are right on, the recently adopted quotas on both scup and BSB are going to cut way back on the recreational catch next year." Actually, Mike, it's you that have it reversed! I know that you have this idea firmly set in your mind and that you're convinced that you're correct but let me cite what the experts have to say about this change the BSB makes in their gender. I researched this fact after reading your post just to be sure that I hadn't been wrong all along in my understanding! Firstly, while looking up species info on the BSB on the Internet I found the following: Black sea bass is an economically important serranid ranging from New England to Florida (Kendall 1977). A protogynous hermaphrodite, sex reversal from female to male occurs for at least half of the population, usually between the ages of 2 and 5 (Mercer 1978). Males are faster growing than females, attaining a maximum length and age of over 60 cm TL (24 in) and 20 years, respectively. Females reach a maximum length and age of 38 cm and 8 years (Lavenda 1949). Female black sea bass are sexually mature by age 2; males may not mature until age 4 (Mercer 1978). Next, I found that Thomas Batten writing for the Delaware Sea Grant said: This popular bottom fish features a moderately stout body, high back, flat-topped head, and moderately pointed snout. Like that of many fish that inhabit rocky bottoms, the color of the sea bass varies, ranging from smoky gray to dusty brown to blue-black, sometimes with a mottled or barred appearance with longitudinal spots of a lighter shade. All black sea bass begin life as females and then change into males at the age of two to five years. A third supporting quote that I discovered came from Gary Shep writing for NOAA on their web site. He says: Black sea bass are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning that they change sex from female to male. Born as females, most fish will change sex to males between ages 2 to 5 (Musick and Mercer 1977). The factors that lead to the sex change have not been proven although it has been speculated that the relative scarcity of males in a spawning group may be the stimulus for a female to switch sex. So you see, this is a fact that is supported time and time again where ever you look for information on it. The biggest BSB, the big blue "knucleheads" as many of the captains call them, are the males. Not to be a pain in your kiester but, that's what I've heard time and time again. Remember, Mother Nature always seems to give the male of the species a more beautiful appearance than the females and if you ask me, the deep indigo blue and the feathery tail and fins of the BSB make those big male specimens a lot more attractive than those scrawny brown and black females! Throw them back! But other than this misunderstanding on the sex of the biggest BSB, we are in the same camp on what's going to happen if the Feds do the right thing! Let's hope that they do!
×
×
  • Create New...