wader,
blydenberg lake has a well deserved reputation as a big bass lake. it would be a good spot to focus your efforts, especially if it is "in your backyard". (keep reading for more on lake bly.)
i think there is a lot to be said for fishing the same water often so that you get to know it well, as you do on the nissequoge. btw, you could spool up your freshwater bass reel with that 14# fireline.
flounder,
i agree with you about not fishing for bass when they are on their spawning beds. but when does that take place? i live on a south shore suffolk lake where i do almost all of my freshwater fishing. the c&r season for bass shuts down from 3/16 until 1st sat in june. on this lake, they don't bed in march or spawn in april. it will be interesting to see when they do this year, as this unusually warm winter has them a month ahead of schedule. sat feb 9th, i caught 3 bass on artificials. these were the year's first for me. on jan 27, i caught no bass, but a nice bycatch( a 16 inch brown). all fw fish are always released.
the new regulation for lake blydenberg that you mentioned, is a proposed regulation to take effect oct 1st 2002 (so not until spring 2003 on lake bly). you can see all the proposed regs at
www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/profshregchng02.html you can also e-mail your comments at that site until the public comment period closes on feb 15th.
striper77,
i totally agree with you about all year no kill regs for lm bass. please don't get me started on trout, as it took me a couple of hours to type my letter to dec (with capitals included).
billy40,
i am both suprised and disappointed in you. perhaps you should have your sluggos confiscated, and only be allowed to fish for lm bass with teeny,tiny dry flys.
crash,
i assume that in your neck of the woods they shut you out completely on nov 30th. do you have any idea why??? i doubt bass spawn up there in dec, jan, or feb.
as for bait fishing, circle hooks may be a lifesaver, but i don't use either. for me, the very best part of catching is the strike, and the notion of allowing a fish to hook himself would bore me to death. i know that there are times when bait will catch them when artificials won't, but that is the challenge i seek.
set,
opinari