Question:

I’m going to jump in here.Bass fly Fishing guides Since a decent rod is fairly inexpensive now days, you should junk anything under six feet. And no, do not go to a seven foot rod. Get a decent six foot rod. A good medium six foot rod is a general type of rod. Most 6′-6″ and 7′-0″ rods are more specialized. If you’re just starting out, set all the brakes to on.Bass fly Fishing guides Hold the rod, with the lore on it at 45degrees and engage the cast control. Turn it down so that the lure doesn’t fall. To cast, you should bring the rod back to about 10 o’clock and release at about 2 o’clock. A good beginning technique is to begin the cast with the reel handle facing you and turn your wrist as you finish. Buy inexpensive line to learn on, Bass fly Fishing guides and change it when it become a birds nest. Try to cast a short to medium distance and when this becomes normal, then move up. Try crawling before running, it works. I’ve been using a baitcaster  since last year, and it’s taken me two seasons to get really comfortable. Be wary of the experts, they’re going to be telling you how they take all the brakes off, turn the sensitivity down to zero so the lore drops like a rock, and cast the length of a football field with a 1/16oz jig head (a lot of times, even into the wind.)Bass fly Fishing guides I guess in time, you and I will learn how to do that too. Just now, try to get past a day with no bad tangles in your line.

Response:

Gary, I wasn’t aware that you could just set one or two of these..Bass fly Fishing guides. thats news to me… I’ll try fiddlin’ with the breaks.

You generally want to keep even brake pressure, so with a Corsair, you would use 0, 2 or 4.  I’ve been know to cheat and use uneven brake patterns (1 or 3) but I’d never own up to it in public Another question, is the length of the rod important in the control?  Maybe I was misunderstood into thinking the shorter the rod, the more accuracy you get..Bass fly Fishing guides. Should I jump to a 7 footer?

I think what is important is balance, it has to feel good to you.  That means the rod, reel, line and lure should feel like they belong together to you. When it is all balanced to you, the accuracy and distance will be there.  To me, a Corsair is a heavy duty reel.  Something that feels good on a 6′6″ to 7′ medium-heavy to heavy rod.  I like 17 lb mono on mine.Bass fly Fishing guides  Rods that are 5 feet in length tend to be in the medium-lite to medium range, and I’d be thinking 8 lb mono and tossing light lures a little ways.  I wouldn’t use a Corsair in that application.  Getting things to feel just right isn’t easy, I’m about to swap out 3 rods because they don’t feel right to me. As far as a 7 footer goes, I use them for worming and flipping.  Since I only use mono and mono has a little give to it, I use a 7 footer for worming because it takes up slack quickly and makes setting the hook easier.  For flipping, you use as long as a rod as you can because the rod length and your arm length determine the distance of your casting. And to answer you last question, I’ve only been baitcasting about a year. I’m new to it.Bass fly Fishing guides  (My life before was trout with a spinning reel–I’m completely a Bass fisherman now and I’ve been making adjustments all over the place…) is when I get these backlashes, mostly at the END of the cast, could it be that the line has too much memory?  I’ve noticed that when I get these backlashes, it’s typically a 5 minute procedure to untangle, but thats when I notice the memory on the line… I was thinking that the memory could be jamming up the process of the cast (and the memory is usually deep in the spool, hence a long cast).

If the backlash occurs at the end of the cast, tighten the knurl knob up a little bit more until the lure just stops, instead of letting it slowly drop. One thing to keep in mind is you can set up your brakes and tension controls until they are set just right and you can still get bird’s nests.Bass fly Fishing guides  The reason for this is the spool is still spinning and the lure has stopped pulling out line.  This happens for many reasons.  First, a gust on wind decided your lure isn’t going any further.  Second, your lure hits something – tree, wall, shore or your fishing buddy.  Third, you just put too much energy into your cast. And finally, your thumb is asleep or lazy.  With a good cast, you put just enough energy into the lure to have it stop where you wanted it to stop.  In other words, the brakes are such that they will stop the lure when you want it to stop.  In some situations, we impart more energy into the lure than is necessary, so we use our thumb to take it out.Bass fly Fishing guides  In other words, our thumb becomes a brake.  If you are getting bad backlashes at the end of your casts, you are putting too much into the cast and you need to get that thumb involved.  Since you have been using a baitcaster for one year which is a half year because you are from Massachusetts where you do that winter thing, you only have about one more year to go before your thumb gets its degree As far as line goes, you need a quality line.  That doesn’t mean the most expensive line.  I’ve tried most of them and I mainly use Silver Thread.  I buy it on the big spools so it is really pretty cheap.  It has all the properties I like in a line.  I use it up to 12 lb and then I switch over to McCoy’s Mean Green which is a little more expensive.Bass fly Fishing guides  Also don’t respool the whole spool on the Corsair.  You could go in the poor house quick respooling that sucker. Just replace the last 50 – 75 yards.  Remember your blood knot.

Response:

Gary, I wasn’t aware that you could just set one or two of these..Bass fly Fishing guides. thats news to me… I’ll try fiddlin’ with the breaks. You generally want to keep even brake pressure, so with a Corsair, you would use 0, 2 or 4.  I’ve been know to cheat and use uneven brake patterns (1 or 3) but I’d never own up to it in public

All of mine are “out”… and it does feel “comfortable”.  I might consider cheating if all else fails. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Another question, is the length of the rod important in the control? Maybe I was misunderstood into thinking the shorter the rod, the more accuracy you get… Should I jump to a 7 footer? I think what is important is balance, it has to feel good to you.  That means the rod, reel, line and lure should feel like they belong together to you. When it is all balanced to you, the accuracy and distance will be there. To me, a Corsair is a heavy duty reel.  Something that feels good on a 6′6″ to 7′ medium-heavy to heavy rod.  I like 17 lb mono on mine.  Rods that are 5 feet in length tend to be in the medium-lite to medium range, and I’d be thinking 8 lb mono and tossing light lures a little ways.  I wouldn’t use a Corsair in that application.  Getting things to feel just right isn’t easy, I’m about to swap out 3 rods because they don’t feel right to me.

I’m actually concerned about the rod length.  It “seems” small… When I bought it, I didn’t dawn on me, I was more concerned about action and quality.  So, I’m thinking of moving over to an Ugly Stick or something with a larger length, and even a heavier play. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -As far as a 7 footer goes, I use them for worming and flipping.  Since I only use mono and mono has a little give to it, I use a 7 footer for worming because it takes up slack quickly and makes setting the hook easier.  For flipping, you use as long as a rod as you can because the rod length and your arm length determine the distance of your casting. And to answer you last question, I’ve only been baitcasting about a year. I’m new to it.  (My life before was trout with a spinning reel–I’m completely a Bass fisherman now and I’ve been making adjustments all over the place…) is when I get these backlashes, mostly at the END of the cast, could it be that the line has too much memory?  I’ve noticed that when I get these backlashes, it’s typically a 5 minute procedure to untangle, but thats when I notice the memory on the line… I was thinking that the memory could be jamming up the process of the cast (and the memory is usually deep in the spool, hence a long cast). If the backlash occurs at the end of the cast, tighten the knurl knob up a little bit more until the lure just stops, instead of letting it slowly

drop. I’ll try that, but I think your right about the wind and the lure weight… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -One thing to keep in mind is you can set up your brakes and tension controls until they are set just right and you can still get bird’s nests.  The reason for this is the spool is still spinning and the lure has stopped pulling out line.  This happens for many reasons.  First, a gust on wind decided your lure isn’t going any further.  Second, your lure hits something – tree, wall, shore or your fishing buddy.  Third, you just put too much energy into your cast. And finally, your thumb is asleep or lazy.  With a good cast, you put just enough energy into the lure to have it stop where you wanted it to stop. In other words, the brakes are such that they will stop the lure when you want it to stop.  In some situations, we impart more energy into the lure than is necessary, so we use our thumb to take it out.  In other words, our thumb becomes a brake.  If you are getting bad backlashes at the end of your casts, you are putting too much into the cast and you need to get that thumb involved. Since you have been using a baitcaster for one year which is a half year because you are from Massachusetts where you do that winter thing, you only have about one more year to go before your thumb gets its degree As far as line goes, you need a quality line.  That doesn’t mean the most expensive line.  I’ve tried most of them and I mainly use Silver Thread.  I buy it on the big spools so it is really pretty cheap.  It has all the properties I like in a line.  I use it up to 12 lb and then I switch over to McCoy’s Mean Green which is a little more expensive.  Also don’t respool the whole spool on the Corsair.  You could go in the poor house quick respooling that sucker. Just replace the last 50 – 75 yards.  Remember your blood knot.

My spool is pretty thin actually, it’s not 100% up… Richard

Thanks for all the advice… Gary

Response:

Thanks for the input.  I’ve heard  a lot of people learning a baitcast say the same things you have.  The Pro’s are a little disturbing. Part of me loves watching The Bassmasters, and the other part of me hates it cause they make it look SO damn easy. One thing I’ve also got to become more aware of (as Richard pointed out), is the amount of energy I put into the cast.  I think I do try to slam it out there and thats where it’s become a problem–backlash city.  I’d say that I’m about 80% successful with having a good cast.  It’s that 20% that pisses me off where I don’t get to fish… Incidently, it happened to me this morning… But this time when I was fixing a backlash a bass decided that he liked my bubble gum worm sittin’ out on that lilly pad… Much to my shagrin, I would have like to catch him but I had the spool out of the socket and was untangling!!!  A baitcasters worse nightmare…  That was the 20% of the time that I’d like to fix. Thanks for the help. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m going to jump in here. Since a decent rod is fairly inexpensive now days, you should junk anything under six feet. And no, do not go to a seven foot rod. Get a decent six foot rod. A good medium six foot rod is a general type of rod. Most 6′-6″ and 7′-0″ rods are more specialized. If you’re just starting out, set all the brakes to on. Hold the rod, with the lore on it at 45degrees and engage the cast control. Turn it down so that the lure doesn’t fall. To cast, you should bring the rod back to about 10 o’clock and release at about 2 o’clock. A good beginning technique is to begin the cast with the reel handle facing you and turn your wrist as you finish. Buy inexpensive line to learn on, and change it when it become a birds nest. Try to cast a short to medium distance and when this becomes normal, then move up. Try crawling before running, it works. I’ve been using a baitcaster  since last year, and it’s taken me two seasons to get really comfortable. Be wary of the experts, they’re going to be telling you how they take all the brakes off, turn the sensitivity down to zero so the lore drops like a rock, and cast the length of a football field with a 1/16oz jig head (a lot of times, even into the wind.) I guess in time, you and I will learn how to do that too. Just now, try to get past a day with no bad tangles in your line.

Response:

Gary, I have a Corsair 300 with 12 pound green Stren.  My Flippin’ stick is a short 5 ft. Medium graphite Daiwa… The problem I’m running into on long casts (over 20 yards), is that I get a pretty good backlash almost ALL the time.  I’ve tried tighting the brake, reducing the height of the cast etc…  Nothing seems to work–My brother in-law is starting to call me the “backlash master”… Help!

I have a Corsair 300 with 17 lb line on a 7 foot heavy rod and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a backlash with the set-up.  I use it to toss Carolina rigs across the lake.  When you say, “tightening the brake,” that makes me nervous. The Corsair 300 has mechanical brakes that can be click-on or click-off.  These brakes are located under the cover on the side opposite of the crank-em-in handle.  To get at the brakes, you loosen the two raised knurled screws on the handle side and pull out the spool.  There are four click-on / click-off brake shoes attached to the far end of the spool.  For long-distance casting, I would suggest you click all four of them on.  If you are using you rig as a pitching rig, then you might want to go with two.  The plastic knurled knob next to the crank-em-in handle is a spool tension control.  The way to set it is to put you lure on the line, hold the rod out in front of you, put the cast button and let the lure drop.  Then tighten the tension control knob until the lure just barely drops. If you have been using a baitcaster for a while, you might notice with your thumb that some backlashes occur at the beginning of the cast and some backlashes occur at the end of the cast.  For backlashes that occur early, you click-on more brakes; for backlashes that occur late, you add a wee bit more tension. If you are still getting backlashes after doing all these fine things, you might want to decrease the amount of line on your spool.  If you decrease the amount of line on the spool, the spool will spin faster and generate more braking power.  I can see filling the spool on a Corsair 300 so it was down about 3/16th of an inch from the spool lip. One last bit of advice, don’t try to use the Corsair 300 as a finesse rig, it won’t work.  Make sure you throw stuff in the 3/8 oz and heavier range. Richard

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The problem I’m running into on long casts (over 20 yards), is that I get a pretty good backlash almost ALL the time.  I’ve tried tighting the brake, reducing the height of the cast etc…  Nothing seems to work–My brother in-law is starting to call me the “backlash master”… Help!

I’d like to add to Richard’s very good advice: If you’re plunking your lures into the water short, what my buddy would call, “Trying to knock them out”, then you’re going to get killer backlash unless you’ve got a very quick thumb.  Maybe my Ambassadeur 3600 is just real sweet, but I can fling a lure pretty much 40 or 50 yards (something like a spook) and have the lure at the limit of it’s distance, so the spool is going so slow when it hits the water that I don’t really need thumb.  Now if I try this with my Daiwa, it’s backlash city.  Check your casting technique and make sure you’re not short casting. Marcus Ward 505 US 7569 – International 505 Class Yacht Racing Association Central Missouri State University – Department of Psychology http://www.throb.net/mward/

Response:

Thanks Richard. Yes, I’m aware of the internal brake settings.  I believe mine are all “on”, pushed “out”. I wasn’t aware that you could just set one or two of these… thats news to me… I’ll try fiddlin’ with the breaks. Also, I’m aware of the tension adjustment, and that seems to be OK… If I put say a spook on–I let it out jus enough to have it drop slowly… so that works ok. I think after reading what you wrote about the rod size.  I might just have the “WRONG” rod.  It’s a 5 ft rod, made for baitcasting, but it’s short and when I cast, I’m using a side arm approach (just habit I guess), I haven’t really gotten to the point where I’m good at rearing it over the head with a baitcast. Another question, is the length of the rod important in the control?  Maybe I was misunderstood into thinking the shorter the rod, the more accuracy you get… Should I jump to a 7 footer? And to answer you last question, I’ve only been baitcasting about a year. I’m new to it. (My life before was trout with a spinning reel–I’m completely a Bass fisherman now and I’ve been making adjustments all over the place…) is when I get these backlashes, mostly at the END of the cast, could it be that the line has too much memory?  I’ve noticed that when I get these backlashes, it’s typically a 5 minute procedure to untangle, but thats when I notice the memory on the line… I was thinking that the memory could be jamming up the process of the cast (and the memory is usually deep in the spool, hence a long cast). Thanks everyone for you help… happy fishing, Gary By the way, I envy all you southern people.  Bass fishin in the Massachusetts (eastern) is quite a challenge compared to the south… Somedays I wonder if Bass really exist up here.

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Gary, I have a Corsair 300 with 12 pound green Stren.  My Flippin’ stick is a short 5 ft. Medium graphite Daiwa… The problem I’m running into on long casts (over 20 yards), is that I get a pretty good backlash almost ALL the time.  I’ve tried tighting the brake, reducing the height of the cast etc…  Nothing seems to work–My brother in-law is starting to call me the “backlash master”… Help! I have a Corsair 300 with 17 lb line on a 7 foot heavy rod and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a backlash with the set-up.  I use it to toss Carolina rigs across the lake.  When you say, “tightening the brake,” that makes me nervous. The Corsair 300 has mechanical brakes that can be click-on or click-off. These brakes are located under the cover on the side opposite of the crank-em-in handle.  To get at the brakes, you loosen the two raised knurled screws on the handle side and pull out the spool.  There are four click-on / click-off brake shoes attached to the far end of the spool.  For long-distance casting, I would suggest you click all four of them on.  If you are using you rig as a pitching rig, then you might want to go with two.  The plastic knurled knob next to the crank-em-in handle is a spool tension control.  The way to set it is to put you lure on the line, hold the rod out in front of you, put the cast button and let the lure drop.  Then tighten the tension control knob until the lure just barely drops. If you have been using a baitcaster for a while, you might notice with your thumb that some backlashes occur at the beginning of the cast and some backlashes occur at the end of the cast.  For backlashes that occur early, you click-on more brakes; for backlashes that occur late, you add a wee bit more tension. If you are still getting backlashes after doing all these fine things, you might want to decrease the amount of line on your spool.  If you decrease the amount of line on the spool, the spool will spin faster and generate more braking power.  I can see filling the spool on a Corsair 300 so it was down about 3/16th of an inch from the spool lip. One last bit of advice, don’t try to use the Corsair 300 as a finesse rig, it won’t work.  Make sure you throw stuff in the 3/8 oz and heavier range. Richard

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can you give me an example of the difference between a “short cast” and a what a long cast would be?  I’m typically a side-arm caster (being that my boat is 12 ft. and I’m usually in it with another person). Also, I’m aware of the Ambassadeur (is this the anti-backlash systtem?), I’m considering getting this reel.  I like the Corsiar, but the drag ALWAYS seems to change, and I’m not real happy with the plastic parts for the controls. Can anyone recommend a good baitcast rod say under 100 bucks?  Something good for close to short (flippin’), and something good for making a 20-40 yard cast?  I guess an “all purpose” rod… Gary – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The problem I’m running into on long casts (over 20 yards), is that I get a pretty good backlash almost ALL the time.  I’ve tried tighting the brake, reducing the height of the cast etc…  Nothing seems to work–My brother in-law is starting to call me the “backlash master”… Help! I’d like to add to Richard’s very good advice: If you’re plunking your lures into the water short, what my buddy would call, “Trying to knock them out”, then you’re going to get killer backlash unless you’ve got a very quick thumb.  Maybe my Ambassadeur 3600 is just real sweet, but I can fling a lure pretty much 40 or 50 yards (something like a spook) and have the lure at the limit of it’s distance, so the spool is going so slow when it hits the water that I don’t really need thumb. Now if I try this with my Daiwa, it’s backlash city.  Check your casting technique and make sure you’re not short casting. * Marcus Ward 505 US 7569 – International 505 Class Yacht Racing Association Central Missouri State University – Department of Psychology http://www.throb.net/mward/

Response:

I have a Corsair 300 with 12 pound green Stren.  My Flippin’ stick is a short 5 ft. Medium graphite Daiwa… The problem I’m running into on long casts (over 20 yards), is that I get a pretty good backlash almost ALL the time.  I’ve tried tighting the brake, reducing the height of the cast etc…  Nothing seems to work–My brother in-law is starting to call me the “backlash master”… Help! Gary

Response:

I’ve been learning a Shakespeare Intrepid Baitcaster since Spring. Here’s tips I’ve learned and people have posted to me: -A 6 foot Medium/Heavy pole, with 6 ringlets is almost mandatory for bass and long casts. -Keep the spool full of line. -THUMB THE REEL! -When you see the lure ready to hit the water, apply pressure to the spool with your thumb. -Adjust the brake every time you put on a new lure or bait so that when it drops the line’s not unraveling. -I have better luck with ’side-arm’ casts and ‘pitch’ casts then ‘overhead’ casts-this may or may not help you. -Practice-practice-practice-practice-practice-practice….go to a lame fishing hole where nobody’s around and cast like a madman…it’s actually quite fun if you’ve had a stressful day. One other tip that I haven’t tried: A guy told me to help his kid learn, he unspolled about 30 yards of line, put a piece of tape across the line and rewound it back to reduce the backlashes. Baitcasters aren’t for everybody, although it is almost an art to learn and that’s where the fun is…and heck you can even catch fish with them too! ) Jim

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Question:

Try a copper color colorado blade spinner bait in either green Bass Fishing bactics or white, fish it slow, around rocks hop it like a jig if you have to but fish it

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I will be fishing the Potomac Bass Fishing bactics(North of D.C.) for the first time this spring and wonder if anyone has any tips on catching smallmouth.  I’ve been out twice so far with no luck, still a little early,Bass Fishing bactics and cold, water temp at 43 degrees Saturday. Thanks

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I will be fishing the Potomac (North of D.C.)Bass Fishing bactics for the first time this spring and wonder if anyone has any tips on catching smallmouth.  I’ve been out twice so far with no luck, still a little early, and cold, water temp at 43 degrees Saturday. Thanks

Hellgramites (sp).Bass Fishing bactics Turn over some rocks in shallow water with a small net downstream an d catch some of these multilegged ugly little creatures that smallies crave.

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I will be fishing the Potomac (North of D.C.) for the first time this spring and wonder if anyone has any tips on catching smallmouth.  I’ve been out twice so far with no luck, still a little early, and cold, water temp at 43 degrees Saturday. Thanks in advance! Mike — Hellgramites (sp). Turn over some rocks in shallow water with a small net downstream an d catch some of these multilegged ugly little creatures that smallies crave.

I think that if you look in the Bass Pro Shops catalog, you can find a company that makes soft plastic hellgramites, maybe these would work too? Later Henrik Web: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/4175

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Question:

If you are going to be at the nothern part of bass fly fishing tips Cayuga Lake in July I would reccommend fishing at a place called Montezuma.  It is a bird sanctuary, but there are plenty of places to fish around it.  It has great bass early in the season and into mid July.  If you are going to be near thee south end of the lake I reccomend Taughnauk (I have lived here for years and still can’t spell it) State Park.bass fly fishing tips  You can fish from shore using a slip bobber set to about 20 ft. with minnows or saw bellies and you will probably get some nice lakers or salmon.  If you want other tips or need any more information, feel free to e-mail me.  I live less than 10 minutes from the southern end of the lake and do 90% of my fishing there.

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I plane on fishing cayuga state Park.

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Where do you plan on fishing in Cayuga?

Ace of Hearts, Although not the original poster,bass fly fishing tips I could use some advice as well. I’ll be staying at Cayuga Lake State Park during the second and third weeks of July and plan on fishing the northern half of Cayuga Lake.

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Where do you plan on fishing in Cayuga?

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When you get there look up a fellow named Carmen,  he camps at one of the campgrounds. –

I`m heading out to Cayuga in July and will be there for about a week I know there are Smallies there can anyone tell what bait works there? and are there any hot spots I should know? thanks Dave

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I`m heading out to Cayuga in July and will be there for about a week I know there are Smallies there can anyone tell what bait works there? and are there any hot spots I should know? thanks Dave

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Question:

We’ve got a reservoir here called Howard T. Duckett,bass fly fishing video  other wise known as Rocky Gorge.  It’s 800 acres, and gas motors are not allowed.  We catch some huge fish out of here every year. They draw it down so far that you can’t even launch a boat, unless you carry a small boat to the water. My partner and I video tape the lake when it’s this low.  We also have put together a binder with 150 pictures of differant areas, from one end of the lake to the other. We also have built structure with trees and rocks in some great spots. Not only did we learn alot about The Gorge,bass fly fishing video but we had alot of fun exploring it.

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I am fishing a tournament on bass fly fishing video Cherokee lake in eastern Tennessee on February 26, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or suggestions for fishing this lake at this time? Before you buy.

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Randy, back in the 70’s when I taught school in Grainger County,bass fly fishing video I used to fish Cherokee from April to September, at summer pool. In February, expect the lake to be down — waaayyyyyy down. I guess you’ve seen the lake during winter… lots of mud flats with chunk rock, limestone outcroppings, and plenty of gradually sloping, chunk-rock and gravel banks. It’s a big lake by Tennessee standards — about 60 miles long. I really only know the area on the north/west side, south of Bean Station. There are so many long points, islands, and coves on Cherokee that it’s sort of easy to get turned around. Wind and rain will turn the lake muddy in a hurry, with so much exposed bank. Here’s what I can tell you (for what little it’s worth since it’s twenty-five year old info)…bass fly fishing video  At winter pool, there is almost NO cover in most of the lake. Some coves have stumps, and there are stump fields way up lake above Poor Valley Creek. If you can find the stumps, you’ve found the bass. Flip every stump you find with a jig ‘n pig — pumkinseed or blue/black if it’s overcast. Otherwise, take a bag full crankbaits and look for warm-water pockets along the north banks. Or fish the bluffs above Highway 25. The main lake forage is shad. Does that help any?

I am fishing a tournament on Cherokee lake in eastern Tennessee on February 26, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or suggestions for fishing this lake at this time?bass fly fishing video  Before you buy.

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Jet ski trap!  Why didn’t I think of that!  Several thoughts ran though my mind, but this is a family forum.  While the lake is low, how do you set one?  Come to think of it, this could a good addition to the r.o.f.b. FAQSs. It might take a vote, but I think it would be close to being as good as the Fishing Gods.  (Seacow is still messing with my days off!) bass fly fishing video–  Go fishing. And may your fish be as big as your tales!    Columbia SC, Lake Murray

I am tossing this in here because I do not remember ever seeing this discussed here.  When your lake is Drawn down, spend some time surveying the newly exposed shoreline, or what was once under water. Even with electronics you will never see structure like you will when the water is 10 feet lower <even less than normal.  Take a camera, and a note book.  For the Bigger Kids with more expensive toys, a hand held GPS.  If you have a map of your lake, take it too.  Really what I like to look for is gullies, ditches and the like, that may not show up on a map.  Sharp changes in ground make-up,  Potentially overlooked spawning flats.  I recommend, if possible, get out of the boat and walk around a bit.  You will probably find a few crankbaits and the like, if the water is low enough.  Also take the time to fill a garbage bag if you want, who knows what kind of junk you will find.  IF ALLOWED, you can create some structure for yourself. stack some stone, move a tree, whatever you think the fish will like, during the next season.  Then yo have your own honey hole, that will take someone else a while to find, Disclaimer, Do not build Jet Skier traps unless you have an approved coast guard species control tag. that’s all for now, but lets hear what anybody learned this way and any other ideas. — Mike.. A true fisherman approaches the first day of fishing much as a child approaches Christmas, with the eager anticipation, sleepless nights, making of lists, and the anticipating of pleasure.

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Question:

lures for bass If the wind is blowing like you describe, don’t hide from it, get in it. Pick up a crank bait, spinner bait or rip bait, get along a wind blown shore and start covering water. Look for mud lines and start looking for a reaction bite. August is a tough time to fish but mid day, those fish still know a feeding opportunity when they see one and a couple should be in the wind blown areas looking for lunch. lures for bass Armed with all the great tips from Dan the Man, my brother Kevin and I decided to hit the lake Sat. afternoon.  We usually try to go for the early morning bite then fish through the day to about 2 or 3PM (depending on our stamina), but this time we thought we’d start out in the afternoon fishing structure and hit the topwaters at sundown. We headed first for a wide cut between a submerged island (Tecolote Island) and a flat (Storke Flats) but the afternoon wind was too much for my little boat, so we ducked into a protected bay to the East of the Flats (just SW of Arrowhead Island).  We anchored up in 10-15 ft and fished out over a dropoff to about 40 ft.lures for bass  I tried a skirted grub (smoke/pepper) rigged T-skinned w/brass & glass and Kevin tried swimming a plastic frog just off the bottom. After about 20 min. and no takers I switched to a spinnerbait (chart/white) and Kevin went to a craw imitation he’d carved from an old red rubber shad (looked pretty good).  Still no luck, so we decided to get out of the wind and waves and headed up Santa Cruz bay.  We plied the rocky banks on the eastern side with skirted grub, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and shaking a Creme worm (brass & glass again), but still no interest.  We wandered across to the western side of the bay where there is a nice, reedy flat with a drop to the main channel.  More time spent with the same bottom stuff,lures for bass but still nothing.  By this time it was getting late (6:30) so we decided to move to shallower water (10 ft or so) and started throwing topwater baits. We tried my new Zara Spook, some 3″ poppers, buzzbaits (black and chartreuse), shallow running cranks, little lipped minnows (ripping baits) and I even twitched a Slug-go for a while.  Lots of fishing, no fish.  I suspect the wind (which continued to whip up the surface, even in the bay) may have negatively affected the topwater bite.  I had hoped for calmer conditions as we neared sundown, but no such luck. Anyway, we got skunked, and I’m still looking for my first bass.  It looks so easy in the video, guess we just need to keep trying.  Hard to beat a day on the lake, fish or no.  Fish would be a nice addition,lures for bass

Response:

Armed with all the great tips from Dan the Man, my brother Kevin and I decided to hit the lake Sat. afternoon.  We usually try to go for the early morning bite then fish through the day to about 2 or 3PM (depending on our stamina), but this time we thought we’d start out in the afternoon fishing structure and hit the topwaters at sundown. We headed first for a wide cut between a submerged island (Tecolote Island) and a flat (Storke Flats) but the afternoon wind was too much for my little boat, so we ducked into a protected bay to the East of the Flats (just SW of Arrowhead Island).  We anchored up in 10-15 ft and fished out over a dropoff to about 40 ft.  I tried a skirted grub (smoke/pepper) rigged T-skinned w/brass & glass and Kevin tried swimming a plastic frog just off the bottom. After about 20 min. and no takers I switched to a spinnerbait (chart/white) and Kevin went to a craw imitation he’d carved from an old red rubber shad (looked pretty good).  Still no luck, so we decided to get out of the wind and waves and headed up Santa Cruz bay.  We plied the rocky banks on the eastern side with skirted grub, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and shaking a Creme worm (brass & glass again), but still no interest.  We wandered across to the western side of the bay where there is a nice, reedy flat with a drop to the main channel.  More time spent with the same bottom stuff, but still nothing.  By this time it was getting late (6:30) so we decided to move to shallower water (10 ft or so) and started throwing topwater baits. We tried my new Zara Spook, some 3″ poppers, buzzbaits (black and chartreuse), shallow running cranks, little lipped minnows (ripping baits) and I even twitched a Slug-go for a while.  Lots of fishing, no fish.  I suspect the wind (which continued to whip up the surface, even in the bay) may have negatively affected the topwater bite.  I had hoped for calmer conditions as we neared sundown, but no such luck. Anyway, we got skunked, and I’m still looking for my first bass.  It looks so easy in the video, guess we just need to keep trying.  Hard to beat a day on the lake, fish or no.  Fish would be a nice addition, though. Brian-

Response:

Question:

Sorry about that guys…Bass Fishing Tips techninques. it wasn’t supposed to go to the group. My fingers were thinking faster than my brain again. Thanks,

Response:

Here I am.. figure, hey, Bass Fishing Tips techninques can’t seem to get any hits lately on my fishing pool, so now I’m trying to get a few on my website. Don’t like being the only one lookin at the darn thing.. http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/5991/index.html fish gifs, humor, and the link page has everything from the strange.. to the fishless.. I mean.. uhh, fishy.

webtvhaven

jay’sspace

Response:

Thanks for the post.Bass Fishing Tips techninques  I hope it brings you a few hits to the page. Recently the folks in Rec.Outdoors.Fishing.Bass put together a set of posting guidelines to help people that want to advertise thier sites along.  It’s full of helpfull hints and tips to keep you from getting yelled or worse for spam.  I’m attaching a copy for you to take a look at. Hope it helps. Thanks,Bass Fishing Tips techninques – Here I am.. figure, hey, can’t seem to get any hits lately on my fishing pool, so now I’m trying to get a few on my website. Don’t like being the only one lookin at the darn thing.. http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/5991/index.html fish gifs, humor, and the link page has everything from the strange.. to the fishless.

Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.bass POSTING GUIDELINES – Rec.Outdoors.Fishing.Bass 1)  Introduction Welcome to rec.outdoors.fishing.bass.  This Usenet newsgroup was approved in February 1996 for information about freshwater bass fishing.  The following guidelines will help you share your bass fishing information, questions and experiences.    A)  Definitions        a)  Spam: Repeated posting of similar comments.        b)  Commercial posts: Posts designed to sell products or services            for a profit.        c)  Flame: Comments designed to insult or offend another person.        d)  .Sig: A signature block placed at the end of a post.  For this            newsgroup, a .sig may contain up to six lines with no more            than 76 characters in each line.  A .sig begins with a line            that contains only “– ” (dash dash space).        For example:            –            John Johnson            Tiger Lure Manufacturing, Inc.         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Response:

Question:

I’ll be fishing there this summer spring spawn Bass Fishing Tips for the first time, primarily for LMBass. Any tips? Any other fish? (Mid-June)

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I’ll be fishing there this summer for the first time, primarily for LMBass. Any tips? Any other fish?

Smallmouth fishing is better and more widely distributed. Some lakes have brown trout, landlocks,spring spawn Bass Fishing Tips a few brookies and northern pike.

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Question:

fly fishing bass california you are both far more talented and experienced anglers than I will ever have the chance to be, but I think your hooksetting methods haven’t been optimum since hooks started becoming sharper than crayons and tomato sticks. Unless you are using stretchy taffy or rubber bands for line, a “snapset” would be far superior to your “powerset.” The best description I have seen of the snapset is in the “tips” section of Rich Zalewski’s website ( www.richz.com ).fly fishing bass california  I have been using that method for many years and I do not lose fish or rods. You might want to give it a try. fly fishing bass california lol Craig, remind me to sit in the front seat if we ever fish together.  I once hurt myself setting the hook, I was so sure a 4+ had my worm good.  I slammed him & it was just like someone pulling the football away on a kickoff like Charlie Brown. Warren Yah, I know.  I snap rods setting the hook.  G.Loomis hates my hook set power.  But I have not only hurt my rods, I have hurt myself (shoulder and wrist).  I have a bad feeling I would suck at using circle hooks anyway! But it brings up a funny story. fly fishing bass california  I was bank fishing while talking with some of my friends that fish for carp.  I was actually practicing my pitching so I had my 7′6″ heavy rod and 25 pound test line.  I pitched to a small weed bed (4′ diameter) about 15 feet off shore.  There were three of these “Carp” guys behind me laughing about the big rods, heavy duty reels & heavy line us Bassers use to catch those little tiny 3 & 4 pound fish.  When a little 12″ bass hit my lure and I set the hook and that little fish came flying out of the water like a bullet.fly fishing bass california  I quickly ducted and it smacked this one guy right in the face and finned the inside of his nose.  It’s one of those times when you are trying to say your sorry, but you’re laughing so hard that the person doesn’t really think you mean it.  Because he was saying; “You did that on purpose!” and I was just in tears laughing saying “No, really, I didn’t mean to do that.” as I was trying to help him stop his nose bleed at the same time.  They still pick on me about bass fishing, but now they do it from a safe distance.

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I agree with Bob.Bill(bass master)dance decribes it best.Its all about leverage.Bill says,Where do you take a lid off of fly fishing bass california a jar when the lid is to tight.You take it to the center of your chest.I have mastered this technique and can still rip their lips off.Talking about stories.       Me and my partner were on lake martin when I felt that ole thump.The little fish started swimming toward the boat.By the time I caught up slack the fish was right beside the boat.I put one of those lip rippen hook sets and said watch this flying fish.Well about that time he got a bite and didn’t look.Well the fish went flyin right down his shirt.I didn’t know he was tickleish (Imagin that)he got to jumpin around and fell right out of the boat.Igot to laughin so hard I fell out to.It was a short day, middle of january, 38 deg.,and five miles from the ramp.fly fishing bass california Boy what a cold january day.      Dennis in bama * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

Question asked, question answered, and any competent group of impartial judges would agree that your side surely is having more fun! — ~Bob Rickard Vote early and often this November; the country you save may be your own.

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It’s not about technique, it’s about power and who has it and who don’t. If it was strictly about technique, I know how to set a hook perfectly every time.  Your right, with hooks being lazer sharp and with some actually having bone cutting edges, you don’t need to power a hook set.  A quick snap of the wrist is all the power you need.  But I cut the points off just so that I can drive that no point hook through. But funning all aside, it’s mostly because of adrenaline.  Your in a tournament and your adrenaline is pumping through you. Your anticipating a strike with every cast.  All of a sudden, Bam, you feel the strike. Before you can even think, before you can even blink your eyes, you have dropped your rod, reeled in the slack and that rod is in the 12 O’clock position and your turning the handle on your reel with lightening speed.  It’s not about anything but getting that fish in the boat as quickly as you can (that is why, big rods, heavy duty reels, and heavy lines).  I don’t have the nerve that Woo had.  Imagine having a 5+ pound ($100k) bass on 6 pound test and you are trying to play that fish into the boat.  I would be dead.  The heart wouldn’t take it.  From the second I feel the strike, my only though is getting that fish into the boat now!!!!  Now, if it is just you and me out having fun.  Nothing is better than using a ultra light rod, 2 or 4 pound test, and fighting a 5 pound bass.  If you land it, GREAT!  If you lose it, no big deal (that’s a lie). — Craig

Response:

It’s not about technique, it’s about power and who has it and who don’t. If it was strictly about technique, I know how to set a hook perfectly every time.  Your right, with hooks being lazer sharp and with some actually having bone cutting edges, you don’t need to power a hook set.  A quick snap of the wrist is all the power you need.  But I cut the points off just so that I can drive that no point hook through. But funning all aside, it’s mostly because of adrenaline.  Your in a tournament and your adrenaline is pumping through you. Your anticipating a strike with every cast.  All of a sudden, Bam, you feel the strike.  Before you can even think, before you can even blink your eyes, you have dropped your rod, reeled in the slack and that rod is in the 12 O’clock position and your turning the handle on your reel with lightening speed.  It’s not about anything but getting that fish in the boat as quickly as you can (that is why, big rods, heavy duty reels, and heavy lines).  I don’t have the nerve that Woo had.  Imagine having a 5+ pound ($100k) bass on 6 pound test and you are trying to play that fish into the boat.  I would be dead.  The heart wouldn’t take it.  From the second I feel the strike, my only though is getting that fish into the boat now!!!!  Now, if it is just you and me out having fun.  Nothing is better than using a ultra light rod, 2 or 4 pound test, and fighting a 5 pound bass.  If you land it, GREAT!  If you lose it, no big deal (that’s a lie). — Craig

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I have been curious about circle hooks ever since I watched In-Fisherman and Al was using circle hooks to catch cat fish.  Then in Warren’s recent post about the Senko.  I know you don’t set the hook with these hooks, you just start reeling.  The hook is to slide into the corner of the fish’s mouth and they are hooked.  Ok, so: 1. What size would you use for bass? 2. What type of delay do you use? (the bass picks up your lure, do you immediate start reeling or do you count 1, 2, 3, etc?) 3. Does Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops carry them? 4. Besides the Wacky Worm (Senko) setup, what other applications have you heard this hooks being used for? and how do you rig it? I was thinking of using them in Mann’s Shadow (minnows) and hooking it like you would if it was a live minnow (either through the lips or through the eyes), or running it through the tip of a tube or #11 pork trailer with a split shot or Carolina rig. — Craig

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I used some on trotlines for catfish and couldn’t see any difference in catch ratio to the amount of bait that was taken. I think their main purpose is to prevent gut hooking fish rather than inproving the catch ratio. If you don’t have a problem with gut hooking fish, then you’re probably better off with a standard hook. That’s my opinion and it ain’t necessarily right. I have little experience with circle hooks. Mark McCoy <a href=”http://members.aol.com/mmccoy01/index.html”McCoy’s</a  Bumpus Mills, Tennessee

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I have been curious about circle hooks ever since I watched In-Fisherman and Al was using circle hooks to catch cat fish.  Then in Warren’s recent post about the Senko.  I know you don’t set the hook with these hooks, you just start reeling.  The hook is to slide into the corner of the fish’s mouth and they are hooked.  Ok, so: 1. What size would you use for bass? 2. What type of delay do you use? (the bass picks up your lure, do you immediate start reeling or do you count 1, 2, 3, etc?) 3. Does Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops carry them? 4. Besides the Wacky Worm (Senko) setup, what other applications have you heard this hooks being used for? and how do you rig it? I was thinking of using them in Mann’s Shadow (minnows) and hooking it like you would if it was a live minnow (either through the lips or through the eyes), or running it through the tip of a tube or #11 pork trailer with a split shot or Carolina rig. — Craig

I have used the circle hook for down-shotting(size 4) and they work very well for that because its easy to nose hook a worm.  When you feel the fish bite, wait until you feel the weight of the fish then start reeling, you dont need to count or anything, you will just know. Tyler Brinks Henderson, NV Lake Mead

Response:

I used them this year in Canada for Walleye.  They took a little getting used to!  I had a tendency to set the hook and ended up just pulling it out of the fishes mouth.  Once I got the feel, it was very easy and lip-hooked ‘em every time. Size would depend on what you are using.  For live bait, I use small hooks (#6 or #8). I got mine from Cabela’s.

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have been curious about circle hooks ever since I watched In-Fisherman and Al was using circle hooks to catch cat fish.  Then in Warren’s recent post about the Senko.  I know you don’t set the hook with these hooks, you just start reeling.  The hook is to slide into the corner of the fish’s mouth and they are hooked.  Ok, so: 1. What size would you use for bass? 2. What type of delay do you use? (the bass picks up your lure, do you immediate start reeling or do you count 1, 2, 3, etc?) 3. Does Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops carry them? 4. Besides the Wacky Worm (Senko) setup, what other applications have you heard this hooks being used for? and how do you rig it? I was thinking of using them in Mann’s Shadow (minnows) and hooking it like you would if it was a live minnow (either through the lips or through the eyes), or running it through the tip of a tube or #11 pork trailer with a split shot or Carolina rig. — Craig

Response:

Forget about it Chris.  First, you set the hook by steadily raising the rod, not by reeling.  I would never use circle hooks in competition.  Besides, I don’t know about you but personally I LIVE FOR CROSSING THEIR EYES & RIPPING THEIR LIPS!  Who the heck wants to bass fish without the element of a sledgehammer hookset??? Warren – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have been curious about circle hooks ever since I watched In-Fisherman and Al was using circle hooks to catch cat fish.  Then in Warren’s recent post about the Senko.  I know you don’t set the hook with these hooks, you just start reeling.  The hook is to slide into the corner of the fish’s mouth and they are hooked.  Ok, so: 1. What size would you use for bass? 2. What type of delay do you use? (the bass picks up your lure, do you immediate start reeling or do you count 1, 2, 3, etc?) 3. Does Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops carry them? 4. Besides the Wacky Worm (Senko) setup, what other applications have you heard this hooks being used for? and how do you rig it? I was thinking of using them in Mann’s Shadow (minnows) and hooking it like you would if it was a live minnow (either through the lips or through the eyes), or running it through the tip of a tube or #11 pork trailer with a split shot or Carolina rig. — Craig

Response:

Yah, I know.  I snap rods setting the hook.  G.Loomis hates my hook set power.  But I have not only hurt my rods, I have hurt myself (shoulder and wrist).  I have a bad feeling I would suck at using circle hooks anyway! But it brings up a funny story.  I was bank fishing while talking with some of my friends that fish for carp.  I was actually practicing my pitching so I had my 7′6″ heavy rod and 25 pound test line.  I pitched to a small weed bed (4′ diameter) about 15 feet off shore.  There were three of these “Carp” guys behind me laughing about the big rods, heavy duty reels & heavy line us Bassers use to catch those little tiny 3 & 4 pound fish.  When a little 12″ bass hit my lure and I set the hook and that little fish came flying out of the water like a bullet.  I quickly ducted and it smacked this one guy right in the face and finned the inside of his nose.  It’s one of those times when you are trying to say your sorry, but you’re laughing so hard that the person doesn’t really think you mean it.  Because he was saying; “You did that on purpose!” and I was just in tears laughing saying “No, really, I didn’t mean to do that.” as I was trying to help him stop his nose bleed at the same time.  They still pick on me about bass fishing, but now they do it from a safe distance. — Craig

Response:

lol Craig, remind me to sit in the front seat if we ever fish together.  I once hurt myself setting the hook, I was so sure a 4+ had my worm good.  I slammed him & it was just like someone pulling the football away on a kickoff like Charlie Brown. Warren – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yah, I know.  I snap rods setting the hook.  G.Loomis hates my hook set power.  But I have not only hurt my rods, I have hurt myself (shoulder and wrist).  I have a bad feeling I would suck at using circle hooks anyway! But it brings up a funny story.  I was bank fishing while talking with some of my friends that fish for carp.  I was actually practicing my pitching so I had my 7′6″ heavy rod and 25 pound test line.  I pitched to a small weed bed (4′ diameter) about 15 feet off shore.  There were three of these “Carp” guys behind me laughing about the big rods, heavy duty reels & heavy line us Bassers use to catch those little tiny 3 & 4 pound fish.  When a little 12″ bass hit my lure and I set the hook and that little fish came flying out of the water like a bullet.  I quickly ducted and it smacked this one guy right in the face and finned the inside of his nose.  It’s one of those times when you are trying to say your sorry, but you’re laughing so hard that the person doesn’t really think you mean it.  Because he was saying; “You did that on purpose!” and I was just in tears laughing saying “No, really, I didn’t mean to do that.” as I was trying to help him stop his nose bleed at the same time.  They still pick on me about bass fishing, but now they do it from a safe distance. — Craig

Response:

Question:

Well Chet,tournament bass  I moved up North about 25 years ago, and got introduced to Mrs. Salmon, and Mr. Steelhead, along with cousins Northern, Muskie, and their sister Walleye, and I’ve “upgraded” my tackle since then. There are fish swimming up “North” that will make iron filings out of your gear assembly.  Like the song says,tournament bass “B-b-b-b-baby you just ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Response:

and downsizing my bass tackle.tournament bass  Anyone have an ice fishing house for sale!?! LOL I think I’ll take up muskie!

First of all Chet, Define moving “north”.  Where are you moving from and to?  Maybe I’ll have some tips for you. –

Response:

and downsizing my bass tackle. tournament bass Anyone have an ice fishing house for sale!?! LOL I think I’ll take up muskie!

Response:

lol Chet, you’ll change that tune when you finally meet Mr Bronzeback… Warren

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – and downsizing my bass tackle.  Anyone have an ice fishing house for sale!?! LOL I think I’ll take up muskie!

Response:

Better be careful.. Them there muskies are huge! Toothy critter too!! Might be muskie taking up Chet instead of Chet taking up muskie :’} Ken Williams – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – and downsizing my bass tackle.  Anyone have an ice fishing house for sale!?! LOL I think I’ll take up muskie!

Response:

Wait until we show him that we have lakes up here that you can’t see across to the other side, and “BIG” ore carriers float on them. Bet he’s never been on a lake that has 4 ft. waves. All kidding aside, you don’t have to downsize your tackle box for fishing up here, I’ve got 3 and they’re all full. The lakes up here are full of Small Mouths that will give anyone a fight for their money, like Warren says, those Bronzebacks are FUN. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – lol Chet, you’ll change that tune when you finally meet Mr Bronzeback… Warren and downsizing my bass tackle.  Anyone have an ice fishing house for sale!?! LOL I think I’ll take up muskie!

Response:

Question:

– Just returned from the Texas Koi apringBass Fishing Tips & Fancy Goldfish SHow!!  Met Brett but he was so busy we really didn’t get to talk. Yo Brett,you didn’t even ask my name,busy,busy selling fish! Congrats to Brett on his prize winning fish. He did have some beauts I was sad I could’t buy any.apringBass Fishing Tips Good deals too! But,it’s already kinda cold here and my fish are sleepy! The Santa Fe Pond Society http://www.rt66.com/~dragonfy/Koi.html ~*~*

Response:

drfonfly wrote ~~Congrats to Brett on his prize winning fish.~~ What did the fish win a prize for? ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                 pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

Response:

drfonfly wrote ~~Congrats to Brett on his prize winning fish.~~ What did the fish win a prize for? ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

Last year, “Most unique” was one of them.  An accident of culling, one that didn’t get fed to the bass.  Now, everybody wants one and I through them all away.  Oh well. I posted in another thread some of the prizes my fish won.  I always get accused of “advertising” when I do this, but a few; Please note, I say “my fish” when I mean “fish that came from my hatchery and are now owned by my customers”.apringBass Fishing Tips  I don’t enter fish into shows myself, even open (lets breeders and dealers enter) shows.  I was taught long ago by my sensei (mentor) that it was bad form to beat your customers in a koi show. Some prizes my fish won this year in San Antonio; Best in Class for: ginrin (ginrin kohaku belonging to Bob Johnson)                    syusui/asagi (syusui belonging to Mac McGreevy)                    hikari mono or ogon (platinum belonging to Mac McGreevy)                    hikari moyo      (kujyaku belonging to Carsten Pedersen) Show Chairman’s Award for a doitsu kujyaku belonging to Bob Johnson (note; this is the famous X kujyaku as seen on my web site). I told my wife about the prize for the X kujyaku and she said “Oh, its not a kujyaku anymore?” Sigh. Lots of apringBass Fishing Tips firsts and seconds in all classes and sizes.   The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.   I was very busy, thankfully, and had little time to visit or go look at the winners.   Brett

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Now that is an interesting concept — not to beat the fish owned by your customers…. very wise I would say. Congrats all the same on your former fish winning for their proud owners. An ”ex’-kujyaku, eh? chortle!! And I thought it was hard being married to an engineer. ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                 pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

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The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.

When I was there last, spring ‘98, she said all the koi were imported.  Why would they (WG Gems) import when they could get koi from you? —  cornel huth    mixers – all sb, wss, cs423x, opl3sax, at-3dxg, xg-dsp  http://40th.com/       midi db – the ultimate midi player

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Last year, “Most unique” was one of them.  An accident of culling, one that didn’t get fed to the bass.  Now, everybody wants one and I through them all away.  Oh well. I posted in another thread some of the prizes my fish won.  I always get accused of “advertising” when I do this, but a few; Please note, I say “my fish” when I mean “fish that came from my hatchery and are now owned by my customers”.  I don’t enter fish into shows myself, even open (lets breeders and dealers enter) shows.  I was taught long ago by my sensei (mentor) that it was bad form to beat your customers in a koi show. Some prizes my fish won this year in San Antonio; Best in Class for: ginrin (ginrin kohaku belonging to Bob Johnson)                   syusui/asagi (syusui belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari mono or ogon (platinum belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari moyo      (kujyaku belonging to Carsten Pedersen) Show Chairman’s Award for a doitsu kujyaku belonging to Bob Johnson (note; this is the famous X kujyaku as seen on my web site). I told my wife about the prize for the X kujyaku and she said “Oh, its not a kujyaku anymore?” Sigh. Lots of firsts and seconds in all classes and sizes.   The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.   I was very busy, thankfully, and had little time to visit or go look at the winners.

Brett, I’m printing the above off, since sometimes Koi, USA will have a write-up with pictures about these shows, if ‘whoever’ put on the show submits the article w/pictures. Hope they did. ~ jan

Response:

GMT): The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports. When I was there last, spring ‘98, she said all the koi were imported.  Why would they (WG Gems) import when they could get koi from you? — cornel huth    mixers – all sb, wss, cs423x, opl3sax, at-3dxg, xg-dsp http://40th.com/       midi db – the ultimate midi player

Well, if I stick to the politically correct answers, it hardly makes sense. But, the general perception has been, and is, that only imported koi are fit to be owned.  A “domestic” koi is only fit as fish bait, or to linger in Wal-Mart.  I have been working six years to try and change that perception. More than anything, getting my fish into shows and having them win big prizes (like 1996 National Baby Champion) has helped to change that.   Also, my production which seems huge to some, is actually quite limited, even the low grade fish are limited in number.  All my customers understand that I’m not one of those huge farms with a two page price list by size and grade, and have them all, all the time.  Each lot of koi is sized (measured for size), then priced as they are brought up from the procuction ponds and hand sorted.  I then start with my oldest and best customer to see if they need any of aht is avaialable, then the next oldest, and so on.  Sometimes I run out of fish quickly, sometimes I’m looking to add another customer to the list.  So, no matter which garden center you visit that might buy fish from me, they might not have any of my fish at that moment. So, my fish are out there, coast to coast, Texas to Michigan, but pretty spread out.   In Texas, most of my fish are into the Houston and Dallas areas, or sold direct from my farm on my retail day (here’s the pitch, close your eyes if you care not to be offended) —First Saturday of each Month— map at my web site http://www.waterscapes.com or by appointment.  Other than that, the vast majority of my fish go to the East Coast. I do the show bit in the local area (TX & OK).  I got to work at my real job as a biologist sometimes, too. BTW, I thought I was in your killfile?  Pulled me out? Brett

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Last year, “Most unique” was one of them.  An accident of culling, one that didn’t get fed to the bass.  Now, everybody wants one and I through them all away.  Oh well. I posted in another thread some of the prizes my fish won.  I always get accused of “advertising” when I do this, but a few; Please note, I say “my fish” when I mean “fish that came from my hatchery and are now owned by my customers”.  I don’t enter fish into shows myself, even open (lets breeders and dealers enter) shows.  I was taught long ago by my sensei (mentor) that it was bad form to beat your customers in a koi show. Some prizes my fish won this year in San Antonio; Best in Class for: ginrin (ginrin kohaku belonging to Bob Johnson)                   syusui/asagi (syusui belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari mono or ogon (platinum belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari moyo      (kujyaku belonging to Carsten Pedersen) Show Chairman’s Award for a doitsu kujyaku belonging to Bob Johnson (note; this is the famous X kujyaku as seen on my web site). I told my wife about the prize for the X kujyaku and she said “Oh, its not a kujyaku anymore?” Sigh. Lots of firsts and seconds in all classes and sizes.   The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.   I was very busy, thankfully, and had little time to visit or go look at the winners.   Brett, I’m printing the above off, since sometimes Koi, USA will have a write-up with pictures about these shows, if ‘whoever’ put on the show submits the article w/pictures. Hope they did. ~ jan

Oh, they’ll have pics, none of my fish will be in them.  You’ll see the grand and reserve champs, maybe some best in size.  Best in Class is usually too far down the heirarchy for the pics.  The show was put on by the Texas Koi and Fancy Goldfish Society (TKFGS) and they did a fine job, I might add. Perhaps, just maybe, they’ll put in “Show Charman’s Award”, if so, that is one of mine (belongs to Bob Johnson of Lake Jackson, TX)(the X kujaku).  Or as my wife told me upon bragging to her about the prize “Oh, it used to be a kujaku?” Oh well. That fish is also in the pics in Koi USA’s Koi the Year issue for 1997. Look for the entry from TKFGS, you see the fish, you’ll know it. Brett

Response:

I couldn’t find the X kujyaku on your site.  Where is it?

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That fish is also in the pics in Koi USA’s Koi the Year issue for 1997. Look for the entry from TKFGS, you see the fish, you’ll know it.

Brett, What month of 1997? ~ jan

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I couldn’t find the X kujyaku on your site.  Where is it?

Go to the “archives” section along the left.  In the archives, go to the “Bob’s Prize Koi” section which, I beleive is part of the “Great Lakes” page. Its a big (old) site with a lot of stuff in it.  I’ll wander in there this evening and see if I can find it. Brett

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That fish is also in the pics in Koi USA’s Koi the Year issue for 1997. Look for the entry from TKFGS, you see the fish, you’ll know it. Brett, What month of 1997? ~ jan

Well, sometime in the summer, I think.  I dug around here in my dungeon and couldn’t find it.  I know it was the issue with all the “Koi of the Year” pics in it.  If I had any sense at all, I’d organize all the stuff with my fish in it.  Over the years, there are many of my fish in Koi USA, Nichiren, Rinko, etc.  I just look at the pictures, no that’s the wrong mag, uh, I read the articles, uh, I don’t know what that mag is doing there, uh, I musta found it somewhere.  Gotta find a new hiding place. Brett

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If you go to the AKCA web site www.koiusa.com  look under Koi of the year and then scroll down to the 1997 section. Then under entrants it should be the first list, starts with Austin Pond society and had Texas Koi and Goldfish club in it. After the pictures all load you’ll see the fish, a big orange X across its back. Steve

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Steve pointed  the way to Brett’s winning Koi….AKCA   www.koiusa.com   Thanks Steve, for  the instructions on how to get to the zine!   Brett, what a gorgeous Koi!!  Never have seen one like that..so Bob Johnson is the proud owner.  You must be very proud!!  Know I would be… Nedra

Response:

If you go to the AKCA web site www.koiusa.com  look under Koi of the year and then scroll down to the 1997 section. Then under entrants it should be the first list, starts with Austin Pond society and had Texas Koi and Goldfish club in it. After the pictures all load you’ll see the fish, a big orange X across its back. Steve

Thanks Steve, That’s the one. Brett

Response:

Steve pointed  the way to Brett’s winning Koi….AKCA   www.koiusa.com   Thanks Steve, for  the instructions on how to get to the zine!   Brett, what a gorgeous Koi!!  Never have seen one like that..so Bob Johnson is the proud owner.  You must be very proud!!  Know I would be… Nedra

It is not even close to my best fish, but it is my favorite by a long ways. Such a fish has a profound effect on my life.  I remember the first day we found it.  The fish was about 1 3/4″ long and the markings were blue, not yellow or gold.  Mr. Suda (famous Japanese fish breeder) was there helping us to sort fish that day.  So was Bob Johnson.  Mr. Suda, normally all business and hard work, stopped and said, “Nice Kujyaku.”  Bob went nuts. We put the fish back into a tategoi pond.  9 months or so later, we seined that pond.  Bob was there, about to die of anticipation.  Soon as he saw the fish he whooped.  ”You like that fish?” I asked Bob.  Bob works for the railroad as an engineer, 6 twelve hour shifts a week, most weeks, at night. He then works several hours at the koi farm, nearly every day.  I don’t know how he does it.  I gave him the fish and his expertise at fish keeping made it into a champion.   The fish continues to win big prizes when it is shown.  Bob only shows it infrequently.  We are planning on breeding the fish in the next couple of years. And that, is one of the rewards of breeding fish. Brett

Response:

Brett – The ponds where you keep these potential prize winners — are they the same ponds that are subject to all kinds of fishing bird visits? So when you seined the pond there is a real possibility the fish would not be there? Or do you have more secure ponds for the fish that are in the possible wonderful catagory. btb – I visited your website and viewed the two koi pictured – wow! ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                 pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

Response:

Well, sometime in the summer, I think.  I dug around here in my dungeon and couldn’t find it.  I know it was the issue with all the “Koi of the Year” pics in it.  If I had any sense at all, I’d organize all the stuff with my fish in it.  Over the years, there are many of my fish in Koi USA, Nichiren, Rinko, etc.  I just look at the pictures, no that’s the wrong mag, uh, I read the articles, uh, I don’t know what that mag is doing there, uh, I musta found it somewhere.  Gotta find a new hiding place.

Brett, Enough clues, first one I grabbed I got lucky (course I have only been getting the mag since summer 1995. Sept/Oct. Page 19. WOW! Now I understand what you mean by *X*.  How old was the fish when he bought it from you and how old is it now? ~Keep ‘em Wet!~ jan/Tri-Cities WA    Zone 7 Remove Z to e-mail See my ponds: http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html

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Brett, What a great story.  Are the tategoi ponds a clay-mud colored pond…that is known  as a “growing on(?)” pond.  I’ve seen pics of and mine was that color last spring and summer, after my koi turned over every pot on all shelves. When the water finally cleared 2 mos later the fish looked like they had grown  6 or 7 inches.  Then i saw in a zine somewhere about the “growing on” ponds that goi are put into in Japan.  Had i only known this months before i would have waited until the cooler weather  settled all the clay mud particles.  Just curious…. Nedra

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Brett, What a great story. Are the tategoi ponds a clay-mud colored pond…that is known  as a “growing on(?)” pond.  I’ve seen pics of and mine was that color last spring and summer, after my koi turned over every pot on all shelves. When the water finally cleared 2 mos later the fish looked like they had grown  6 or 7 inches.  Then i saw in a zine somewhere about the “growing on” ponds that goi are put into in Japan.  Had i only known this months before i would have waited until the cooler weather  settled all the clay mud particles.  Just curious…. Nedra

All of my ponds are earthen aquaculture ponds much like the ones catfish are grown in.  I hatch and rear fish in them as well as grow fish in them. After they leave my place, they are kept in back yard ponds.  Sometimes, I keep other peoples fish in a special “boarding” pond. If any of my ponds has more than a few koi in it, it is a chocolate milk looking color as they stir and muck it up pretty good.   Besides my fish ponds of about 1/2 to 3 acres each, I have a 30 acre water reservoir and a fish holding shed with 2, 12′ dia. tanks, 5, 6′ dia. tanks and one small trough of 1′x2′x8′.  Just a small fish hatchery, like many others in my neighborhood, except for mine is full of koi instead of catfish, stripers, bass, chinese carp, etc. Brett

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Brett wrote that his ponds are earthen aquaculture….. ~~~~~ Hey  Brett, Thanks for the information! After reading all the stuff you take care of and then you have time to do rec. ponds?? I call that  Love!! Nedra

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My wife and I really enjoyed the Texas Koi and Fancy Goldfish Show.  Water Garden Gems was a wonderful place to have the show.  Excellent facilities. Wish we had a store like that in Amarillo.   We spent a lot of time in the seminars trying to learn as much as possible.   Nice friendly people, good selection of venders, and a lot of wonderful fish. Looking at all the rain they are having in that area this weekend, I am sure glad the show was last weekend.  (excellent weather) Carl Holtman                             zone 6 President-Ogallala Water Gardeners http://www.amaonline.com/owg ICQ# 10736251

Response:

Field trip.  Brett, do you allow people on your farm to look at your operations?  You are living the life my husband and I would have lived if we had more courage. . . . – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Steve pointed  the way to Brett’s winning Koi….AKCA   www.koiusa.com Thanks Steve, for  the instructions on how to get to the zine! Brett, what a gorgeous Koi!!  Never have seen one like that..so Bob Johnson is the proud owner.  You must be very proud!!  Know I would be… Nedra It is not even close to my best fish, but it is my favorite by a long ways. Such a fish has a profound effect on my life.  I remember the first day we found it.  The fish was about 1 3/4″ long and the markings were blue, not yellow or gold.  Mr. Suda (famous Japanese fish breeder) was there helping us to sort fish that day.  So was Bob Johnson.  Mr. Suda, normally all business and hard work, stopped and said, “Nice Kujyaku.”  Bob went nuts. We put the fish back into a tategoi pond.  9 months or so later, we seined that pond.  Bob was there, about to die of anticipation.  Soon as he saw the fish he whooped.  ”You like that fish?” I asked Bob.  Bob works for the railroad as an engineer, 6 twelve hour shifts a week, most weeks, at night. He then works several hours at the koi farm, nearly every day.  I don’t know how he does it.  I gave him the fish and his expertise at fish keeping made it into a champion. The fish continues to win big prizes when it is shown.  Bob only shows it infrequently.  We are planning on breeding the fish in the next couple of years. And that, is one of the rewards of breeding fish. Brett

– “Wei Wei” down here in the heart of HOT Texas

Response:

proxy.airnews.net, Field trip.  Brett, do you allow people on your farm to look at your operations?  You are living the life my husband and I would have lived if we had more courage. . . .

<original post deleted to save room  Sure!  No courageous farmer, I.  My wife is a nurse with good pay and great benefits.  Not to mention she is very understanding. I am open for trade and visits on the first Saturday of each month from 10 until 4.  Also, I am available by appointment for visits.  It is a commercial/industrial location, just a fish farm.  Not a retail place, and as such is fairly stark by comparison to water gardening centers.  However, it is very different from most places that call themselves a “koi farm”. I’ve got 80 acres on one site, 260 acres at another.  About 30 acres is in koi production, most of the rest is either reservoirs or bass fishing lakes. I’ve a small fish holding facility where I prepare koi for shipment and have them up for sale when folks visit. Please, do come and visit, and of course the entire group is more than welcome.  Most of the time it is me, the fish, the wildlife, the water, and the sky.  Gets lonely.   e-mail to me for my phone number and call before you come.  I have a downloadable map at my web site as the place is kinda out of the way. www.waterscapes.com Brett

Response:

We have wander lust; may just wander down around Thanksgiving.  Are you available then?  We will phone or email in advance when our plans firm up. Read your story about the Prince’s visit and tips for starting a fish farm.  Thanks for sharing that wonderful story.  Maybe someday he will want to visit your koi farm. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Sure!  No courageous farmer, I.  My wife is a nurse with good pay and great benefits.  Not to mention she is very understanding. I am open for trade and visits on the first Saturday of each month from 10 until 4.  Also, I am available by appointment for visits.  It is a commercial/industrial location, just a fish farm.  Not a retail place, and as such is fairly stark by comparison to water gardening centers.  However, it is very different from most places that call themselves a “koi farm”. I’ve got 80 acres on one site, 260 acres at another.  About 30 acres is in koi production, most of the rest is either reservoirs or bass fishing lakes. I’ve a small fish holding facility where I prepare koi for shipment and have them up for sale when folks visit. Please, do come and visit, and of course the entire group is more than welcome.  Most of the time it is me, the fish, the wildlife, the water, and the sky.  Gets lonely. e-mail to me for my phone number and call before you come.  I have a downloadable map at my web site as the place is kinda out of the way. www.waterscapes.com Brett

– “Wei Wei” down here in the heart of HOT Texas

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– Just returned from the Texas Koi & Fancy Goldfish SHow!!  Met Brett but he was so busy we really didn’t get to talk. Yo Brett,you didn’t even ask my name,busy,busy selling fish! Congrats to Brett on his prize winning fish. He did have some beauts I was sad I could’t buy any. Good deals too! But,it’s already kinda cold here and my fish are sleepy! The Santa Fe Pond Society http://www.rt66.com/~dragonfy/Koi.html ~*~*

Response:

drfonfly wrote ~~Congrats to Brett on his prize winning fish.~~ What did the fish win a prize for? ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                 pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

Response:

drfonfly wrote ~~Congrats to Brett on his prize winning fish.~~ What did the fish win a prize for? ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

Last year, “Most unique” was one of them.  An accident of culling, one that didn’t get fed to the bass.  Now, everybody wants one and I through them all away.  Oh well. I posted in another thread some of the prizes my fish won.  I always get accused of “advertising” when I do this, but a few; Please note, I say “my fish” when I mean “fish that came from my hatchery and are now owned by my customers”.  I don’t enter fish into shows myself, even open (lets breeders and dealers enter) shows.  I was taught long ago by my sensei (mentor) that it was bad form to beat your customers in a koi show. Some prizes my fish won this year in San Antonio; Best in Class for: ginrin (ginrin kohaku belonging to Bob Johnson)                    syusui/asagi (syusui belonging to Mac McGreevy)                    hikari mono or ogon (platinum belonging to Mac McGreevy)                    hikari moyo      (kujyaku belonging to Carsten Pedersen) Show Chairman’s Award for a doitsu kujyaku belonging to Bob Johnson (note; this is the famous X kujyaku as seen on my web site). I told my wife about the prize for the X kujyaku and she said “Oh, its not a kujyaku anymore?” Sigh. Lots of firsts and seconds in all classes and sizes.   The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.   I was very busy, thankfully, and had little time to visit or go look at the winners.   Brett

Response:

Now that is an interesting concept — not to beat the fish owned by your customers…. very wise I would say. Congrats all the same on your former fish winning for their proud owners. An ”ex’-kujyaku, eh? chortle!! And I thought it was hard being married to an engineer. ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                 pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

Response:

The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.

When I was there last, spring ‘98, she said all the koi were imported.  Why would they (WG Gems) import when they could get koi from you? —  cornel huth    mixers – all sb, wss, cs423x, opl3sax, at-3dxg, xg-dsp  http://40th.com/       midi db – the ultimate midi player

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Last year, “Most unique” was one of them.  An accident of culling, one that didn’t get fed to the bass.  Now, everybody wants one and I through them all away.  Oh well. I posted in another thread some of the prizes my fish won.  I always get accused of “advertising” when I do this, but a few; Please note, I say “my fish” when I mean “fish that came from my hatchery and are now owned by my customers”.  I don’t enter fish into shows myself, even open (lets breeders and dealers enter) shows.  I was taught long ago by my sensei (mentor) that it was bad form to beat your customers in a koi show. Some prizes my fish won this year in San Antonio; Best in Class for: ginrin (ginrin kohaku belonging to Bob Johnson)                   syusui/asagi (syusui belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari mono or ogon (platinum belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari moyo      (kujyaku belonging to Carsten Pedersen) Show Chairman’s Award for a doitsu kujyaku belonging to Bob Johnson (note; this is the famous X kujyaku as seen on my web site). I told my wife about the prize for the X kujyaku and she said “Oh, its not a kujyaku anymore?” Sigh. Lots of firsts and seconds in all classes and sizes.   The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.   I was very busy, thankfully, and had little time to visit or go look at the winners.

Brett, I’m printing the above off, since sometimes Koi, USA will have a write-up with pictures about these shows, if ‘whoever’ put on the show submits the article w/pictures. Hope they did. ~ jan

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GMT): The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports. When I was there last, spring ‘98, she said all the koi were imported.  Why would they (WG Gems) import when they could get koi from you? — cornel huth    mixers – all sb, wss, cs423x, opl3sax, at-3dxg, xg-dsp http://40th.com/       midi db – the ultimate midi player

Well, if I stick to the politically correct answers, it hardly makes sense. But, the general perception has been, and is, that only imported koi are fit to be owned.  A “domestic” koi is only fit as fish bait, or to linger in Wal-Mart.  I have been working six years to try and change that perception. More than anything, getting my fish into shows and having them win big prizes (like 1996 National Baby Champion) has helped to change that.   Also, my production which seems huge to some, is actually quite limited, even the low grade fish are limited in number.  All my customers understand that I’m not one of those huge farms with a two page price list by size and grade, and have them all, all the time.  Each lot of koi is sized (measured for size), then priced as they are brought up from the procuction ponds and hand sorted.  I then start with my oldest and best customer to see if they need any of aht is avaialable, then the next oldest, and so on.  Sometimes I run out of fish quickly, sometimes I’m looking to add another customer to the list.  So, no matter which garden center you visit that might buy fish from me, they might not have any of my fish at that moment. So, my fish are out there, coast to coast, Texas to Michigan, but pretty spread out.   In Texas, most of my fish are into the Houston and Dallas areas, or sold direct from my farm on my retail day (here’s the pitch, close your eyes if you care not to be offended) —First Saturday of each Month— map at my web site http://www.waterscapes.com or by appointment.  Other than that, the vast majority of my fish go to the East Coast. I do the show bit in the local area (TX & OK).  I got to work at my real job as a biologist sometimes, too. BTW, I thought I was in your killfile?  Pulled me out? Brett

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Last year, “Most unique” was one of them.  An accident of culling, one that didn’t get fed to the bass.  Now, everybody wants one and I through them all away.  Oh well. I posted in another thread some of the prizes my fish won.  I always get accused of “advertising” when I do this, but a few; Please note, I say “my fish” when I mean “fish that came from my hatchery and are now owned by my customers”.  I don’t enter fish into shows myself, even open (lets breeders and dealers enter) shows.  I was taught long ago by my sensei (mentor) that it was bad form to beat your customers in a koi show. Some prizes my fish won this year in San Antonio; Best in Class for: ginrin (ginrin kohaku belonging to Bob Johnson)                   syusui/asagi (syusui belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari mono or ogon (platinum belonging to Mac McGreevy)                   hikari moyo      (kujyaku belonging to Carsten Pedersen) Show Chairman’s Award for a doitsu kujyaku belonging to Bob Johnson (note; this is the famous X kujyaku as seen on my web site). I told my wife about the prize for the X kujyaku and she said “Oh, its not a kujyaku anymore?” Sigh. Lots of firsts and seconds in all classes and sizes.   The thing is, all these fish were born and bred in S.E. Texas, not Japan. The competition was tough, almost all Japanese imports.   I was very busy, thankfully, and had little time to visit or go look at the winners.   Brett, I’m printing the above off, since sometimes Koi, USA will have a write-up with pictures about these shows, if ‘whoever’ put on the show submits the article w/pictures. Hope they did. ~ jan

Oh, they’ll have pics, none of my fish will be in them.  You’ll see the grand and reserve champs, maybe some best in size.  Best in Class is usually too far down the heirarchy for the pics.  The show was put on by the Texas Koi and Fancy Goldfish Society (TKFGS) and they did a fine job, I might add. Perhaps, just maybe, they’ll put in “Show Charman’s Award”, if so, that is one of mine (belongs to Bob Johnson of Lake Jackson, TX)(the X kujaku).  Or as my wife told me upon bragging to her about the prize “Oh, it used to be a kujaku?” Oh well. That fish is also in the pics in Koi USA’s Koi the Year issue for 1997. Look for the entry from TKFGS, you see the fish, you’ll know it. Brett

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I couldn’t find the X kujyaku on your site.  Where is it?

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That fish is also in the pics in Koi USA’s Koi the Year issue for 1997. Look for the entry from TKFGS, you see the fish, you’ll know it.

Brett, What month of 1997? ~ jan

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I couldn’t find the X kujyaku on your site.  Where is it?

Go to the “archives” section along the left.  In the archives, go to the “Bob’s Prize Koi” section which, I beleive is part of the “Great Lakes” page. Its a big (old) site with a lot of stuff in it.  I’ll wander in there this evening and see if I can find it. Brett

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That fish is also in the pics in Koi USA’s Koi the Year issue for 1997. Look for the entry from TKFGS, you see the fish, you’ll know it. Brett, What month of 1997? ~ jan

Well, sometime in the summer, I think.  I dug around here in my dungeon and couldn’t find it.  I know it was the issue with all the “Koi of the Year” pics in it.  If I had any sense at all, I’d organize all the stuff with my fish in it.  Over the years, there are many of my fish in Koi USA, Nichiren, Rinko, etc.  I just look at the pictures, no that’s the wrong mag, uh, I read the articles, uh, I don’t know what that mag is doing there, uh, I musta found it somewhere.  Gotta find a new hiding place. Brett

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If you go to the AKCA web site www.koiusa.com  look under Koi of the year and then scroll down to the 1997 section. Then under entrants it should be the first list, starts with Austin Pond society and had Texas Koi and Goldfish club in it. After the pictures all load you’ll see the fish, a big orange X across its back. Steve

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Steve pointed  the way to Brett’s winning Koi….AKCA   www.koiusa.com   Thanks Steve, for  the instructions on how to get to the zine!   Brett, what a gorgeous Koi!!  Never have seen one like that..so Bob Johnson is the proud owner.  You must be very proud!!  Know I would be… Nedra

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If you go to the AKCA web site www.koiusa.com  look under Koi of the year and then scroll down to the 1997 section. Then under entrants it should be the first list, starts with Austin Pond society and had Texas Koi and Goldfish club in it. After the pictures all load you’ll see the fish, a big orange X across its back. Steve

Thanks Steve, That’s the one. Brett

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Steve pointed  the way to Brett’s winning Koi….AKCA   www.koiusa.com   Thanks Steve, for  the instructions on how to get to the zine!   Brett, what a gorgeous Koi!!  Never have seen one like that..so Bob Johnson is the proud owner.  You must be very proud!!  Know I would be… Nedra

It is not even close to my best fish, but it is my favorite by a long ways. Such a fish has a profound effect on my life.  I remember the first day we found it.  The fish was about 1 3/4″ long and the markings were blue, not yellow or gold.  Mr. Suda (famous Japanese fish breeder) was there helping us to sort fish that day.  So was Bob Johnson.  Mr. Suda, normally all business and hard work, stopped and said, “Nice Kujyaku.”  Bob went nuts. We put the fish back into a tategoi pond.  9 months or so later, we seined that pond.  Bob was there, about to die of anticipation.  Soon as he saw the fish he whooped.  ”You like that fish?” I asked Bob.  Bob works for the railroad as an engineer, 6 twelve hour shifts a week, most weeks, at night. He then works several hours at the koi farm, nearly every day.  I don’t know how he does it.  I gave him the fish and his expertise at fish keeping made it into a champion.   The fish continues to win big prizes when it is shown.  Bob only shows it infrequently.  We are planning on breeding the fish in the next couple of years. And that, is one of the rewards of breeding fish. Brett

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Brett – The ponds where you keep these potential prize winners — are they the same ponds that are subject to all kinds of fishing bird visits? So when you seined the pond there is a real possibility the fish would not be there? Or do you have more secure ponds for the fish that are in the possible wonderful catagory. btb – I visited your website and viewed the two koi pictured – wow! ~~k30~~ http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html                 pictures courtesy of Jan, Pond Goddess.

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Well, sometime in the summer, I think.  I dug around here in my dungeon and couldn’t find it.  I know it was the issue with all the “Koi of the Year” pics in it.  If I had any sense at all, I’d organize all the stuff with my fish in it.  Over the years, there are many of my fish in Koi USA, Nichiren, Rinko, etc.  I just look at the pictures, no that’s the wrong mag, uh, I read the articles, uh, I don’t know what that mag is doing there, uh, I musta found it somewhere.  Gotta find a new hiding place.

Brett, Enough clues, first one I grabbed I got lucky (course I have only been getting the mag since summer 1995. Sept/Oct. Page 19. WOW! Now I understand what you mean by *X*.  How old was the fish when he bought it from you and how old is it now? ~Keep ‘em Wet!~ jan/Tri-Cities WA    Zone 7 Remove Z to e-mail See my ponds: http://home.earthlink.net/~alanjordan1/jjspond/index.html

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Brett, What a great story.  Are the tategoi ponds a clay-mud colored pond…that is known  as a “growing on(?)” pond.  I’ve seen pics of and mine was that color last spring and summer, after my koi turned over every pot on all shelves. When the water finally cleared 2 mos later the fish looked like they had grown  6 or 7 inches.  Then i saw in a zine somewhere about the “growing on” ponds that goi are put into in Japan.  Had i only known this months before i would have waited until the cooler weather  settled all the clay mud particles.  Just curious…. Nedra

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Brett, What a great story. Are the tategoi ponds a clay-mud colored pond…that is known  as a “growing on(?)” pond.  I’ve seen pics of and mine was that color last spring and summer, after my koi turned over every pot on all shelves. When the water finally cleared 2 mos later the fish looked like they had grown  6 or 7 inches.  Then i saw in a zine somewhere about the “growing on” ponds that goi are put into in Japan.  Had i only known this months before i would have waited until the cooler weather  settled all the clay mud particles.  Just curious…. Nedra

All of my ponds are earthen aquaculture ponds much like the ones catfish are grown in.  I hatch and rear fish in them as well as grow fish in them. After they leave my place, they are kept in back yard ponds.  Sometimes, I keep other peoples fish in a special “boarding” pond. If any of my ponds has more than a few koi in it, it is a chocolate milk looking color as they stir and muck it up pretty good.   Besides my fish ponds of about 1/2 to 3 acres each, I have a 30 acre water reservoir and a fish holding shed with 2, 12′ dia. tanks, 5, 6′ dia. tanks and one small trough of 1′x2′x8′.  Just a small fish hatchery, like many others in my neighborhood, except for mine is full of koi instead of catfish, stripers, bass, chinese carp, etc. Brett

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Brett wrote that his ponds are earthen aquaculture….. ~~~~~ Hey  Brett, Thanks for the information! After reading all the stuff you take care of and then you have time to do rec. ponds?? I call that  Love!! Nedra

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My wife and I really enjoyed the Texas Koi and Fancy Goldfish Show.  Water Garden Gems was a wonderful place to have the show.  Excellent facilities. Wish we had a store like that in Amarillo.   We spent a lot of time in the seminars trying to learn as much as possible.   Nice friendly people, good selection of venders, and a lot of wonderful fish. Looking at all the rain they are having in that area this weekend, I am sure glad the show was last weekend.  (excellent weather) Carl Holtman                             zone 6 President-Ogallala Water Gardeners http://www.amaonline.com/owg ICQ# 10736251

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Field trip.  Brett, do you allow people on your farm to look at your operations?  You are living the life my husband and I would have lived if we had more courage. . . . – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Steve pointed  the way to Brett’s winning Koi….AKCA   www.koiusa.com Thanks Steve, for  the instructions on how to get to the zine! Brett, what a gorgeous Koi!!  Never have seen one like that..so Bob Johnson is the proud owner.  You must be very proud!!  Know I would be… Nedra It is not even close to my best fish, but it is my favorite by a long ways. Such a fish has a profound effect on my life.  I remember the first day we found it.  The fish was about 1 3/4″ long and the markings were blue, not yellow or gold.  Mr. Suda (famous Japanese fish breeder) was there helping us to sort fish that day.  So was Bob Johnson.  Mr. Suda, normally all business and hard work, stopped and said, “Nice Kujyaku.”  Bob went nuts. We put the fish back into a tategoi pond.  9 months or so later, we seined that pond.  Bob was there, about to die of anticipation.  Soon as he saw the fish he whooped.  ”You like that fish?” I asked Bob.  Bob works for the railroad as an engineer, 6 twelve hour shifts a week, most weeks, at night. He then works several hours at the koi farm, nearly every day.  I don’t know how he does it.  I gave him the fish and his expertise at fish keeping made it into a champion. The fish continues to win big prizes when it is shown.  Bob only shows it infrequently.  We are planning on breeding the fish in the next couple of years. And that, is one of the rewards of breeding fish. Brett

– “Wei Wei” down here in the heart of HOT Texas

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proxy.airnews.net, Field trip.  Brett, do you allow people on your farm to look at your operations?  You are living the life my husband and I would have lived if we had more courage. . . .

<original post deleted to save room  Sure!  No courageous farmer, I.  My wife is a nurse with good pay and great benefits.  Not to mention she is very understanding. I am open for trade and visits on the first Saturday of each month from 10 until 4.  Also, I am available by appointment for visits.  It is a commercial/industrial location, just a fish farm.  Not a retail place, and as such is fairly stark by comparison to water gardening centers.  However, it is very different from most places that call themselves a “koi farm”. I’ve got 80 acres on one site, 260 acres at another.  About 30 acres is in koi production, most of the rest is either reservoirs or bass fishing lakes. I’ve a small fish holding facility where I prepare koi for shipment and have them up for sale when folks visit. Please, do come and visit, and of course the entire group is more than welcome.  Most of the time it is me, the fish, the wildlife, the water, and the sky.  Gets lonely.   e-mail to me for my phone number and call before you come.  I have a downloadable map at my web site as the place is kinda out of the way. www.waterscapes.com Brett

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We have wander lust; may just wander down around Thanksgiving.  Are you available then?  We will phone or email in advance when our plans firm up. Read your story about the Prince’s visit and tips for starting a fish farm.  Thanks for sharing that wonderful story.  Maybe someday he will want to visit your koi farm. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Sure!  No courageous farmer, I.  My wife is a nurse with good pay and great benefits.  Not to mention she is very understanding. I am open for trade and visits on the first Saturday of each month from 10 until 4.  Also, I am available by appointment for visits.  It is a commercial/industrial location, just a fish farm.  Not a retail place, and as such is fairly stark by comparison to water gardening centers.  However, it is very different from most places that call themselves a “koi farm”. I’ve got 80 acres on one site, 260 acres at another.  About 30 acres is in koi production, most of the rest is either reservoirs or bass fishing lakes. I’ve a small fish holding facility where I prepare koi for shipment and have them up for sale when folks visit. Please, do come and visit, and of course the entire group is more than welcome.  Most of the time it is me, the fish, the wildlife, the water, and the sky.  Gets lonely. e-mail to me for my phone number and call before you come.  I have a downloadable map at my web site as the place is kinda out of the way. www.waterscapes.com Brett

– “Wei Wei” down here in the heart of HOT Texas

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