Compiled by Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, a central San Joaquin Valley native and local fishing expert.

BEST BETS

Nacimiento bass on a tear, Larry Kerns said. New Melones trout and bass bites holding up, Melanie Lewis said. Pine Flat rainbows still on the prowl, Merritt Gilbert said. McClure and Don Pedro bass hitting, Manny Basi said.

ROGER'S REMARKS

I was commenting to another angler at the launch ramp the other day about having to let my boat go for the last month due to some warranty work that needed to be done, and he said that that would have really stressed him out!

He asked, "How could you handle it?" Realizing he was right, I had to admit that not having the boat around to even look at was enough to make a guy a little neurotic. Why is it that just knowing your boat is available to go fishing, even when you're not really planning to go, still makes you feel like you're in control and that "you could go if you wanted!"

I guess it means that I'm fully infected with the fishing disease if I sometimes just need to get in the boat, move stuff around, check the batteries and sort out a few lures at times -- just to feel like I'm actually on the water, or that I will be very soon.

I've noticed that other guys are just like me, and they will also unconsciously go out to their boat and tinker around for a while until they feel everything is once again right with the world and it's okay to relax because the next fishing trip is just around the corner.

Why?

I really noticed this phenomenon when my father got sick and started to fail. Since he wasn't able to go fishing much, he would spend hours out in his boat just going through all his tackle, fixing things up and just sort of daydreaming about being able to go fishing very soon. He would also go to his favorite fishing stores and come home with bags of new lures and equipment that he was excited to store away in the boat and tackle boxes in anticipation of the next trip. Best therapy he could have ever had, and he always came back into the house fired up, younger and rejuvenated after one of these sessions!

How many thousands of dollars of stuff he bought and stored, I have no idea, but it was a bunch. Stashed all over his boat and in the garage -- this was the stuff of his dreams! I believe it all represented the very essence of the best of what life was all about for him. As everything in life changed around him, it helped him maintain his world as he knew it.

Maybe it's also close to the truth for many of us that each time we get in our boat, or when we just need to reassure ourselves it's ready to go fishing, we may in reality be reaffirming that there is an escape hatch in our life; that's the door to a place we all love to go to whenever we can! I believe it's one way we unconsciously keep our hopes alive in a stressful world.

Roger George can be reached at rogergeorge8000@sbcglobal.net

PHOTO GALLERIES

Check out catches from local anglers that have submitted photos from their outings ...

Gallery #51 (New November 3)
Gallery #50
Tournament Gallery #3 (New July 4)
Archived Galleries

Take your digital camera with you so you can send us your pictures for our galleries. Please send your photos to fishpictures@fresnobee.com. Please include the following information: Your name, city, type of fish, length and weight of fish, when and where caught, and what type of bait used. Large photos work best – we can crop and reduce a picture, but we can't expand a small picture and make it look decent. You can also send photos to rogergeorge8000@sbcglobal.net.