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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

CHIPTY puts the creators of FishAddix in the Hot-Seat

Welcome back Addix! This week I wanted to change things up a bit and I decided that I was going to sit down with the creators of FishAddix and get their feelings on the website and try to see where things are headed in the future. To protect their identities – I have used FAO1 and FAO2 as their names (FishAddix Owner #1 and #2). I really enjoyed the interview process even though it was not conducted face to face (due to scheduling conflicts). I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed doing the interview.

Chipty: What’s it like owning your own fishing website?

FAO1: You have no idea how many chicks we get just by telling them we own our own cyberspace fishing website. It’s really its own pickup line.

Chipty: Really, that’s kind of hard to believe…

FAO2: That’s because it’s a blatant lie. Yeah, we’d probably be able to pick up more guys than girls anyway (laughter). In all honesty, the site has come into it’s own over the last year and we’re really happy with what we’ve got so far and where we are heading in the future. We are constantly rolling out new things to try and make the site better for fisherman.

Chipty: Haha – that sounds more like it. And I’ll make sure to mention in the blog that you made yourself crack up with your own joke. So who came up with the idea for the website?

FAO2: Well that’s kind of a sticking point between the two of us. And we’ve decided – behind closed doors – that for the purposes of interviews and press releases and such – that we came up with the idea together while we were fishing one morning.

Chipty: Well I’m sure my readers will be angered by that answer – but we’ll move on in the interest of your feelings. What is your favorite thing about FishAddix?

FAO2: We don’t really have a favorite item or application on FishAddix. But we like how dynamic the site is.

Chipty: Keeping with the vague answers I see… I can’t take that one back to my readers so – what do you mean by dynamic?

FAO1: Well for one – the site was designed so that the more information that is entered into the site, on an individual level as well as a community level – the more accurate and more useful the site becomes to everyone. The more people that get involved with the site and post reports and create lakes, the more accurate the site becomes and the statistics start to reveal fishing patterns by themselves.

Chipty: What do you mean, “the stats start to reveal fishing patterns by themselves?”

FAO1: Well, the original idea for the site was that someone, anyone, like you and me, could log onto FishAddix and read reports of lakes in the area. And even if you’ve never fished that lake, you could go there and know some things that have worked for other people under similar conditions. And with the new fishing report structure that was rolled out earlier this year, in conjunction with the ability to follow lakes, reading reports and finding successful techniques has never been easier. And as more people join the ranks of the FishAddix members, and the more people add reports and lakes – everyone will benefit.

Chipty: Alright, well to avoid this blog sounding like a huge advertisement – what other hobbies and interests to you have?

FAO1: I don’t know, what do you want me to say that I like long walks on the beach and baking in my flower covered apron?

Chipty: Only if that’s what you really enjoy – I AM trying to conduct a legitimate interview here.

FAO1: No that’s not what I do in my spare time. Well maybe the baking part is true (laughter). Sorry. I’m a guy. I like the usual guy things – fishing, sports like baseball and football and basketball occasionally, and of course having a beer or 12 with my friends.

Chipty: You said you are always rolling out new things for the site. What’s the next on the list that FishAddix members should look for?

FAO2: Well, we have something really big cooking – but it probably won’t be rolled out for a few months. But the whole FishAddix team is on board that it could be the biggest new thing to hit FishAddix and we really think the members are going to love it.

Chipty: What’s the ultimate goal for you guys as the owners and operators of FishAddix?

FAO1: The goal is to become THE website for anything and everything fishing related. If you want to take a trip to a new lake with some friends – we want to be able to provide previous reports for that lake, bait and tackle shops that are nearby, guide services in the area, and anything you could need or want to know during your trip. And not just for fishing trips, but we’re going to have product reviews and technical advice for fisherman. The options really endless and we keep coming up with great ideas that are going to make our website a one-stop-shopping super site for fishing.

Chipty: Anything you want to say to my readers?

FAO2: Ummm, Chipty is the sweetest blogger name we’ve ever heard of.

Alright, alright… you got me. I made up that last answer. Haha. Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog. I would like to conduct more interviews in the future – perhaps putting some of the FishAddix members in the hot seat – so if you’d like me to grill one of your favorite members please let me know who and what questions you’d like answered. If you want to be in the hot seat then let me know why you are a good candidate.

See you next time,

CHIPTY

P.S. If you have ideas that you’d like Chipty to write about – please email them in to fishaddix@gmail.com or fishaddix@yahoo.com ATTN: Chipty. Thanks and I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Lure Chucking vs. Bait Fishing

First off I just want to say thanks for all the readers and especially all the posts on last week’s blog. It’s really enjoyable for me to read what fellow FishAddix have to say and I’m glad I’m not alone in the etiquette department. Perhaps we should just Shaq-beat offenders until there aren’t any offenders left. Whaddya think?

For this week I decided to bring it down a notch since last week’s article struck a chord with many of you. And as we near the start of the fishing season here in NJ I’ve decided this week to talk about fishing preference. For the purposes of this article I’ve decided only to tackle live bait and lures although I know some of you like the hybrid approach of trolling around using out-riggers. Now this is an age old argument right up there with the infamous, blonde versus brunette debate, with trolling with out-riggers being analogous to redheads - it’s nice to do every once in a while but it’s just not your bread and butter.

My personal preference depends on my mode of transportation around the lake. What I mean is, will I be hoofing through the bush taking on the wilderness Bear Grylls style with only my Rambo knife for protection (NJ fishing is dangerous, like fishing from the trenches – but that’s a topic for another article), or, will I have access to a boat and or canoe.

If I’m walking the lake and fishing from shore, odds are I’m going to make one hike around the lake to find my favorite spot and then I’m going to set up camp with a couple poles, a bucket of live bait, a few beverages (of the adult variety), a pack of sun flower seeds, and my Coleman Max camping chair. And the most activity I will engage in during my 7-8 hour day, is finding Mother Nature’s pole holders in the form of fallen branches, and then of course the occasional trip to relieve the adult beverages from my system. I like this type of fishing mainly because it’s relaxing. Once you pick out your spot there’s not much else to do but bait your hook, cast out the poles, and sit back and take in the outdoors in all its glory. Fishing from shore with friends only sweetens the deal. There is really no substitute for watching your friend bait their hook, flip the bailor, and launch a helpless shiner into the same tree that you are using to block those vicious UV Rays. I may immediately take that back – it’s a close race between watching them launch it into the trees and then them trying to get their setup back in one piece. Of course you can still cast into the trees from a boat but you usually just clip the edge of a bush and it’s not a full-fledged tree cast. Plus you can just row over to the bush and unhook your bait – with no pleasure derived from the painful experience of ripping your line through the trees.

Now if by the grace of God I have access to a boat (obviously I am not the skipper of this sea vessel – and I’m probably tagging along with the owner) then I like to use one pole for live bait and the other for lures. For me, this is the most enjoyable when I’m on a boat because I have the live bait out there, so I’m almost guaranteed to catch something eventually, but I can also mess around with various lures and perfect my casting as I try to get into more and more difficult spots. Plus, if I get bored of throwing the lures I can just kick back, enjoy a brewski or perhaps a sandwich (yeah I’ll bring the old Italian sub aboard), and watch my bobber.

I’ve also found that fishing with others is almost always more enjoyable when you are camping out on shore. This definitely depends on your company but the hooligans that I fish with really come out of their shell when we’re all lining the shore. My reasoning is this – if you are camped out on shore with live bait – there’s not much else to do except past the time by talking. I’ve had many an interesting conversation while I was hawking my bobber from shore and I’ve realized that you just don’t get the same forced interaction when you are lure fishing. Whether you’re on a boat or walking the lake with lures – there’s always something to do when you’re lure fishing. Keep this in mind when you bring your kids fishing – give them a bobber to look at and they’re going to drive you crazy – but give them a rubber worm to cast and recast and let them wreak havoc while staying occupied and out of your way. Now I hope no PTA members are reading because they might be misunderstanding my techniques for child neglect. Have no fear – no kids here. But I digress.

In any event, whether you are fishing with lures or you’re using home grown baby shiners – the way you fish is up to you and you only. And despite any off-color remarks from you’re more purist-minded fishing buddies – I say, keep on keeping on and do what makes you happy. If I could rip fish out of the water with lures the way I rip them out with live bait, I might be singing a different tune. But to me, I fish because I’m trying to relax and get away from the stress and responsibilities of being a semi-productive member of society. And I’m not eager to go fishing and stress out because I’m not using the right color lure or because the lure I’m using isn’t the right weight and doesn’t provide the action it was designed for. If I want a Cheeseburger, I’m gonna go to McDonald’s, and if I want to catch fish, I’m going to use live bait – because I don’t fix what ain’t broken (how’s that for sounding cliché?).

So tell me what you think. Do you use live bait or lures, and why?

Thanks for reading,

CHIPTY
(Scrambled acronym for – Cool Penname I Haven’t Thought of Yet)

www.FishAddix.com

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

This Week in Fishing – 3/8/10

This week I want to talk about a topic that strikes close to home with me – fishing etiquette. I don’t know if I am just a big stickler when it comes to fishing etiquette and etiquette in general, or that the experiences I’ve had have just been so egregious that most people would agree. Considering the fact that my “experiences” were perpetrated in part by fellow fishermen and or outdoorsmen – I’m inclined to agree that some people are just oblivious and ya just can’t do anything about it.

We’ll start off simple. If you’re going on an outdoor adventure I think it’s reasonable to assume that most people you’ll encounter should have general knowledge of how to behave while in and around other people enjoying the very same outdoors. For instance, when you go bowling, you don’t have to be a professional bowler to know that if the person next to you is about to bowl you wait for them to finish up before you take your turn. I suppose there are usually a few, less than intelligent people at a bowling alley that are there for the booze and could care less if you’ve just thrown 4 strikes in a row and are looking for number 5. But that’s the type of people you are going to run into at a bowling alley and you go in with your eyes open, knowing there’s going to be a few drunkies. When you’re out on the lake you’re not expecting that someone come strolling through the woods, and pull up only feet from you to drain the dragon. Not only is it bad social practice to pee near others, everyone knows you should pee at least 150 feet from a water source.

Let me paint you a little picture. You and a couple of friends head out to the lake. It’s a beautiful day in early spring and people are starting to shed their winter coats and get out on the lake. Guys are wearing their beaters to try and get that first of the year sunburn. And girls are breaking out the skirts (and the majority of those out on a lake have no business being in skirts). In any event, you find your favorite spot on the lake. This particular spot necks down to about 30 yards across before opening back up into a shallow pond covered in lily pads - so many lily pads that one could not navigate a small boat or canoe through the pads and the vast majority of it is barely knee deep. It would be fair to say that you and your friends are fishing at the mouth of a dead end and the lily pads can be seen clearly from the “main road.” You guys are the lazy type of fisherman and bring a bucket of live bait, chairs, and sunflower seeds and set up camp. Then, hour after hour, boaters, canoers, and young couples on paddleboats come aggravatingly close to you in an attempt to navigate the lily pad dead end. These people get right in front of you, so close that they can, and will ask you to take their picture as they hand you their digital camera without even straining to lean out of the boat. Once they realize they can’t get anywhere they pull the ole 180 right across your line and bobber. You watch as your poor shiner gets caught up in the ferry-like paddle wheel. Laughter soon turns to tears as your drag starts squealing and you realize that you’re losing all of your line and you didn’t stop at the bait shop to pick up more because you had an entire spool. The oblivious couple keep on cruising, unaware that they’ve prematurely ended your day, and only narrowly escaped you diving into the water to physically remove the pimply duo from their paddle boat. Alright, so maybe I embellished a little bit, but it’s only because I’m trying to make a point (and because well… it’s kind of my style).

Admittedly, I haven’t really discussed any solutions to fixing this problem that seems to be plaguing my favorite lakes. Shy of casting a case of bullet weights at them, I can’t really seem to come up with any solutions other than ridiculous ones that could never be implemented. So this week’s question to the readers is a two-parter: 1) what’s your best story involving fishing etiquette (or lack thereof), 2) and do you have any solutions for ending this unfortunate behavior? Until then – I’ll be petitioning the state to allow me to carry scud missiles and hand grenades while fishing in order to systematically remove these absent minded people from society. But since they denied my application to mount a turret on my car, I doubt I’ll have carte-blanche over the local lakes any time soon.

Until next time,

CHIPTY