Their coming up ! Got a big one ! Whooo Hooo :-)

[Fish Chris]

Well, they were not exactly stacked on top of each other, but FINALLY, the Red Ears are starting to come up ! I caught about 12 of them, plus two BG's, one of which was close to 1 1/2 lbs. Fought really hard.

 

But anyway, the first fish was a nice RE, of about 1 1/2 lbs. Next was about 3/4's...

 

Then, I stuck this fat pig of a RE !  :-) She went 3.05 lbs on my certified scale :-) I thought the photos came out good too, as it was still cloudy, and I used a bunch of fill flash.....

After the big one, the size tapered off....

 

I'd love to go back tomorrow, but I think they will need a few more days to really stack up !

 

Can't wait until next week !!!  :) Whooo Hooo ! :-)

 

Oh, and this guy was totally posing :-) I think he wanted his photo posted on BBG.com :-)

 

Peace,

Fish

 

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Condello]

As usual, phenomenally impressive fish.  We are really fortunate to have your additions on this site, Chris.  A big THANKS for your awesome fish and awesome shots.

[Walt Foreman]

That is an amazing bruiser shellcracker, Chris!  Fantastic catch.

[Vince Fusco]

 That is one incredible Cacker!!!!!!! Let's hear some details..... what did you catch her on, how deep, etc. Congratulations on your catch!

[Tony Livingston]

Superb fish. Well done Chris!

[Bruce Condello]

Yes, I too would love to hear details on this beast, including depth and presentation. 

[Ronnie M.]

Very nice cracker and picture. Congrats on the catch!

[dick tabbert]

Great looking fish.

[Jim Gronaw]

I am humbled and embarrassed! Great fish!

This must be 'great shellcracker day'!

I'll bet that the fight of that fish was just unbelievable!

[Fish Chris]

Much thanks to all of you guys  :-)

 

Oh, I got her on a live lined (fly lined) night crawler, tip hooked, of course. The box was labled "mini" crawlers, but their were hardly any "mini's" in it. But she sucked up a 6" crawler, no problem :) I use a micro braided line (2/10) TUF Line.  But then I always use a mono leader. In this case, 6lb Maxima mean green. And a #6 Owner baitholder hook.

 

I just know their is a 4 lb'er out there waiting for me !

 

Geeez, that was sure cool :-) I wanna' do that again ! :-)

 

Peace,

Fish

 

 

[Troy Dorman]

Absolutely stunnning, I'm speechless. Excellent photo, easily one of the best ever on this site. Consider yourself very blessed to live in that area.

[Fish Chris]

Thank you very much Troy  :)

 

I'm actually pretty heavy into photography, and I am generally my own toughest critic. I'm not sure how many thousands, or 10's of thousands of fish photos I've taken, but I keep looking back at this shot, and I just don't know how I could have dialed in my camera any better. Probably in my own top 10 fish shots of my life. {you do know, as with most of my fish shots, I took this shot of me and the fish, by myself, right ?}

I have this awesome feature on my camera that lets me totally set up every single camera function you can imagine > ISO, F-stop, shutter speed, flash brightness, manual focus distance, self timer, etc > all ahead of time, then hit the "save" button.

So I catch this monster, and I'm totally freaking out, hands shaking, mind spinning.... But all I have to do is put the fish briefly into the live well, throw the camera on the tripod, and turn it on in the "C" (custom) mode. Bam ! It's totally spot on and ready to go ! :)

Granted, I might have set it up on a bright day.... then catch the fish under an overcast sky, or close to sunset.... But even so, I can make just one or two small tweaks, to brighten the shot.... or darken it.... or add or decrease fill flash, whatever, and either hit the save button.... or, just use it this new adjusted way, just for this session, then let it revert back to the previous settings after it is turned off, then back on :)

Cooolest feature on a camera ever !  :)

 

Oh, my primary fish photo camera is the Canon A650IS

I also have an A640, and an A630. Great cameras as well, just without image stabilization. Oh..... and unfortunately, these cameras are no longer made, and their is NO camera on the market that will do everything that these did, the way these did it :( Glad I have 3 of them ;)

 

Much thanks again :)

 

Peace,

Fish

 

PS, I paid $189 for my A650IS brand new ! Now, used ones are going for $200 to $300 on E-bay ! So my buddy was asking me what he should buy..... I told him to look for an A650 IS, like new, for $250 to $300, because it was totally worth it !

[Jim Gronaw]

Chris...you are totally correct about that 'hands shaking and mind spinning' on a trophy fish catch! I use a Cannon A560, nice little camera that does a great job, but I may have to upgrade to the A650IS and just learn to use all of those great settings and features because I fish by myself a lot also.

Again Fabulous fish and photos! Troy is right...you are blessed!