What you missed is that this site jumped the shark.
It used to be about land based big game fishing. Now it's about land based sort of big game fishing.
And catfish tournaments.
That's why none of the cool kids post here and all you get are the same six old guys posting the same old sh!t with a couple of noobs tossed in here and there.
This site is good for grabbing some intel on conditions and making bait, but that's about it as far as real land based big game fishing is concerned.
Namaste.
Aww... come on Chip, minus some of the very few members that may have rubbed you the wrong way, you know you miss us. You aren't going to find a forum like this for our side of the coast with mostly like minded individuals to share stories, techniques, and just basically support each other in our fishing goals and personal life. I do get your comment about "true land based big game fishing", but our waters are fairly limited in that arena to begin with. If it were up to me, my posts would only be about sharks and maybe a giant bat ray or 2. Alas, it isn't, but I do enjoy catching the other things too as fishing isn't just a way to decompress for me. To be honest, my grinner fever was started by some of these guys. Don't be a complete stranger, I enjoy your posts and the camaraderie.
Tom's post says it all.
It was just Ben calling out Chip for targeting certain sharks by trying to use loop holes when he knew what he was doing. Chip's mind was made up and no one was changing it. Nothing escalated, but Chip just stopped posting here after that.
If true, I would be guilty of a federal and state crime. As a result, the safest thing for me, all the other big game fishermen, and this site is to not post. The "very few members that may have rubbed me the wrong way" make up about half the very few members who still post here. And what they fail to realize is that there are people who want to ban all fishing. If we don't stick together, they divide and conquer. It doesn't start with an outright ban, it starts with a small restriction. And then another. And then another. And...
This is how you lose personal liberties and freedoms. We live in a f@cking nanny state run by crazies.
So we go dark. We don't share. If you don't know, you don't know.
Which is really sad because this site was started as an alternative to another site that went the same way. Look at your site's stats. 15 people online. 1 user. 23 people online so far today, but the only posts are from the same old guys. There's no new blood and nobody is really sharing and it's because of this site's attitude. You can pick up some tips and techniques, but those are mostly for beginners. If you really want to learn, you're going to have to meet people on the sand and earn their trust. I used to reach out because I wanted to give back for the help I got. I don't do that anymore, and that's what's really sad.
The truth is if you want to catch the bigger models consistently you have to do things differently. The result of that, and all fishing for that matter, is that you're going to have by catch. The members of this board have made it plainly clear that they are not willing to accept this and that they are happy fishing for sort of big game. Which is cool, it's just not my thing. Catching the really big ones is hard. You have to do some crazy sh!t. It's not for everybody and that's probably a good thing.
If you ever want to take a shot, you know where to find me...