Catch & Release tourney?

[fowlmouth]

Hey Dan, How about a C&R tournament to kick off the season?

[Skulley]

That is a good idea.  Say a paper tournament to kick the season off in early May.  Or better yet, a paper tournament on the first day of catch and release season on the last Saturday in April.  DJ could call it the:

THE FIRST ANNUAL DK PAPER BASS TOURNAMENT
How about it DJ???  Would you be up for that??  I think that is a great idea.

BD       

[Revtro]

Excellent idea. 

[dartag]

how about Cass early may paper tourny..  1000 acres tons of bedding smallies and some of them green fish.  i'll cook the hot dogs.

[stackenem]

I'm in sounds like a good idea to me. I haven't been on Cass since July 22 2006. I need to get my nerve up to drive there again.

[Hooksetter]

Sounds good, can it be scheduled without conflicting with the ABA paper tournaments that will hopefully be scheduled in May? I would like to fish those also.

Willie

[djkimmel]

I was planning on having the event on Lake St. Clair in May, but we can look at Cass too if more members want to go there. As soon as I get ABA's schedule, I can pick a date.

I have to add - I do feel a little leery about taking stackenem back to the scene of last July's tragedy??

[fiker]

Count me in.  I"ve never been to Cass, but that's ok. 
I'd never been to the last two locations of the DK open either.
I thourghly enjoyed myself both those days too.

However, I have been on Clair before.  She is my true love as far as lakes go. 

[Skip Johnson]

Id be in also if it didnt conflict with ABA's tourney I think it will be the first sunday of may, Id rather fish st clair on the opener but I will go to cass if need be.
Do you think we would get enough co anglers to participate becouse ya cant pry me away from my boat especialy on the opener.

[joshimoto son]

My goal this year:

TO MAKE SURE THAT FIKER50 WEIGHS A FISH AT THE DK OPEN!!!

SO Ricker... Santa will be bringing you a case of dynamite, a harpoon gun (the whaling kind... not one of those wimpy hand ones) and some dolphin safe fish nets. 

Rick is a true example of a "class act fisherman"... when he's out there, catching fish or not, you can really tell he's having fun.

joshimoto son

[MIBassKid]

You know i'm in! Either lake is fine for me. Maybe we should set a poll for which lake?? I'm figurin to fish the EBA and we are going to fish both of these so i don't care which.
-Kid

[stackenem]

If it is on Cass I will be there just taking a different road to get home.

[Revtro]

I'm groovy with either, although more guys will probably catch a good bag on St. Clair...  It's just so eeeeeeasy that time of year. 

[MIBassKid]

I'm down for easy especially for being in the back end of the boat on spawning fish. But i'm sure we'll have fun either place.

[fiker]

New techniques!  Yeah that's the ticket.  With a couple of new methods I can probably weight in at least a 2#er.

I'm intrigued with the harpoon gun.  But, it raises several questions.
Would it matter if one uses a harpoon with high modulus graphite, or is a stiff handle the best choice?  My thoughts are that sensitivity isn't that important.  Do most guys use laser sights with harpoons, fiber optics, or is it simply point and shoot?
And what about color?  That time of year I'd probably want a red tipped spear wouldn't I?  I'm guessing that we're not looking for a reaction bite with this technique.  One things for sure, it would be equally effective on neutral and active fish.  Maybe even better on inactives.
Of course I'm also betting that I'd need a good pair of polarizing glasses, as harpooning is no doubt a site fisherman's technique.  I"m guessing that crimeleon is the better color to have that time of year.
Dynamite. 
I'm sure that length of cast is very important when employng this technique.  Especially in shallow water.  So I'm guessing that long over hand casts are the way to go.  Does anybody use this technique when skipping docks or is this primarily an open water technique?
Will I have to experiment with different size weights?  Or is rate of fall not that important?

These are good ideas Josh.  I'll look forward to Christmas morning.

I've secretly been working on own my "special weapon".  I"ve been converting and old grunt call into a fish call.  The concept is so simple, I don't know why nobody's done it before.  Duplicate the mating call and you're in like Flint.  There are however two minor set backs I've encountered.
I'm having trouble fine tuning the reed.  When tested so far, I don't think the fish have had a chance to react.  The darn deer keep splashing the water too much as they run into the lake.  Especially the bucks.  Maybe a higher pitch? 
And then there's the timing piece.  Can the call be used too early prior to the rut, I mean spawn?   And just how often should it be blown?  Can the call be overworked?

Well anyways, I'm reasonably confident that I'll have the kinks ironed out prior to the season opener.   At that time I expect to have several prototypes available for purchase.  I'll also be looking for investors, for those of you with too much money. 
Once underway I'll be assemblying a Pro Team to promote the call on the circuits. 
Oh sure, everyone will point and laugh at first as they see you on your knees blowing bubbles into the water.  But imagine their chagrin when you cash in at weigh in time.

[joshimoto son]

Dynamite. 
I'm sure that length of cast is very important when employng this technique.  Especially in shallow water.  So I'm guessing that long over hand casts are the way to go.  Does anybody use this technique when skipping docks or is this primarily an open water technique?

Skipping docks with dynamite sounds fun all by itself... I would be sure to employ the jetski pattern!! 

joshimoto son

[fiker]

I never thought of dynamite for pwc's. 

I've always used a decoy and blast nets. 

I place a silouette of a fisherman in a 12' aluminum row boat on the water. 
When the skiers come close to bother the fisherman, I deploy the blasts nets.  Much like catching Canada geese for banding. 

It's loads of fun!

I thought of employing a similar method for the Tuna Boats in the north channel of Clair.  Instead of using blast nets, I'd use remote cannons at the water level. 

Oh the sickness of it all!