Fishes in trees

The classic dilemma of a bank fisherman. Is it better to have it and not need it or need it and not have it. Back in the day when I was a bank bound meat fishing bush hippie, I erred on the side of taking too much stuff. My fishing back pack was relatively heavy and I generally carried all the rods I owned at the time ( 3). If the bass weren't biting, I had the gear to switch over to panfish or catfish right there with me, so I didn't have to walk back to the car.

I like a 6 foot rod for throwing spooks or Sammies or stuff like that. There are lots of different choices, my current choice is a mid-90's era Mitchell Fulcrum - available at Walmart at the time for $40 or $50, less on close out. One of the first split grip handle rods I ever saw & had the disposable income at that moment to purchase - it's pretty light weight - medium action - and when paired with a Calcutta TEGT & 17 lb mono it will a 1/2 oz Sammy a ways. A little more than half the spool if you want to. So that is what I use - I know lots of guys use longer rods but I'm not a fan of smacking the rod tip against the edge of the boat and when I use a longer rod, that is what happens. All Star rods used to make a Zell Rowland "Top Water Special" a 6'3" stick that was on the heavy side of medium that was designed to throw spooks & Pop-r's. If you find one of those buy it and take care of it. The early series with the brownish blanks were the best, IMO.

If I'm having a tough day, I presume that it is me and not the fish. I generally think that should I put the right bait in front of a fish, they will bite it. So I lead off with the premise that I just haven't chosen the right bait yet - so I switch. To what? Perhaps a different area of the lake, perhaps a different bait, different color, I just try something else. A long time ago I read something that Roland Martin told a writer, that got recorded, where he talked about how important he thought the wind was. It was his opinion that the fish nearly always faced into the wind, and that determined where they would be on places like points. I fish around trees & stumps & bushes alot. I like to think that no matter what time of day it is, the fish are most likely to be in the shade. Not necessarily the obvious shade on the surface, but where might the shade be 6 or 7 feet down. So I make guesses about where that might be and throw the bait at that. Maybe I'm pitching a bait right into it or maybe I'm running an appropriate depth crank as close to it as I can get - just depends. Sometimes I find myself getting a bad attitude when the fishing gets challenging. Generally some form of IPA helps. Sometimes it is a stout, high alcohol one, because, after all, I only need one. Other times ( most likely when it's hot out ) I'll go lo-alcohol, like a Founders or a Bell's. Light Hearted IPA, something like that. Other times, when the going gets tough, the tough eat a sandwich, or just spend 15 to 20 minutes driving around the lake, reminding yourself that you're doing this instead of working or being responsible. Attitude adjustment takes many forms, but Im pretty firm in the notion that should the fishing get tough, it is my attitude that needs adjusting. A classic case of "Figger it out, son"

For skipping baits under overhanging branches & under docks, spinning gear works better for me. Much more often than not, but bait will be a senko. Used to go weightless, but over the past few years I've found that for me a Falcon weedless "K"wacky hook, 1/16 oz attached to the senko with an o-ring, skips better for me, drops a little faster, and I think that the faster drop gets me a few more fish each year, compared to the weightless drop. Anyway the gear I've used to accomplish this has changed ever so often. Currently, I'm using a 7' medium/ medium heavy, extra fast tip, close out Field & Stream rod that I got at Dicks for $15. It was the last Dick's close out ever in my neighborhood because Dicks got out of the fishing tackle business. Anyway, liked the rod, hated the handle, it was too long - so I cut 6' off the bottom of the rod, found a chair leg tip that would fit snug to the rod and then dipped the butt of the rod into plastic-dip, the same stuff that you use to coat the handles of your pliers. Long story short - it works great now. (Oh, yeah - for reel & line I use a 1000 size Shimano spinning reel & 20 lb braid)

The Missouri conservation department is more often than not an extremely capable and competent conservation department. However, once upon a time, several years ago, they decided to re-introduce otters to Ozark streams & other streams & rivers in the state. Several prime small mouth streams in the Ozark were promptly decimated. Turns out that otters like to bass fish too. What makes me hat them is that they don't recognize bag limits or size limits, stuff like that, they never take a day off. A similar thing happened in some of the lakes that I fish, when the otters, released in streams, followed the water upstream to reservoirs and you can figure out the rest of the story. One year , in a 300 acre lake that I often fish, the lake has 4 smaller and 3 larger coves and ups couldn't go into any of them without seeing 1 or 2 groups of otters, doing their otter thing, swimming around and eating. Over time, the conservation department tried to mitigate this by encouraging trapping and greatly expanded the limits & seasons for trapping otters and right now it doesn't seem as bad as it did 8 or 9 years ago. Still I wish they'd thought it out better prior to releasing a bunch of otters in the waters of the state.

The spinning rod that I use for throwing jerk baits is an older 6'3" Shimano, ( right now I forget which grade ). Hard to describe the action - kinda medium with an extra fast tip? Anyway, I like it because when I'm doing that sharp little downward jerk, I'm not slapping the side of the boat, like I would be doing with a longer rod. If I could find a 6' rod with the same action, etc, I'd use it. I've tried longer rods and I liked that I could get a little better distance, but after a while the tip would break right where I'd smacked it against the side of the boat when I wasn't paying strict attention.

I have both. My regular glasses get darker in the sun light. While they get darker, they ain't polarized. I also have a pair of polarized prescription sun glasses. No comparison - the polarized glasses let you see deeper into the water. If you're into fishing and you wear glasses, IMO you should have a pair of polarized prescription sun glasses. You aren't doing yourself any favors if you don't. As mentioned in prior posts - they also serve as eye protection - I know I've bounced a bait or two off mine - not all the time but you do it once and you'll remember it. I think the operative phrase here is " pay to play". You aren't doing yourself any favors by not having them.

I carry a bunch of plastic - not real sure how much, wouldn't be surprised if it was 40 pounds or so. I like options. No clue what I'll carry this year, year hasn't started yet. Last year I carried : A bunch of a few colors of Berkley 10 " power worms, mostly blue fleck & pumpkin, then maybe a dozen other bags of different colors with maybe 3 to 7 baits in each bag. I carried a gallon zip lock bag of tubes - various colors & never got them wet last year. I carried a gallon zip lock bag of Brush Hogs - 90% of the time I threw green pumpkin/orange glitter, but it made me feel good to carry an assortment of colors. I brought a gallon zip lock bag of the Berkley Power Hawgs - never got. them wet last year. A gallon zip lock bag of regular size trick worms (Zoom) and a similar size bag of the Magnum trick worm, and a similar size bag of different brands of worms similar to trick worms. Pretty sure there was a bag of lizards and a bag of the YUM Zellemanders. I like the ZOOM magnum finesse worms, so I had a gallon zip lock bag of those, in addition to another zip lock bag of 5" stick worms. Senkos are packaged in their own kit, bait & hooks & o-rings all in their own canvas bag. Finesse worms get their medium size canvas bag with an assortment of Brewer, Zoom, Netbait & Powerbait finesse worms. A dozen or so different colors of Chompers are in a different canvas bag, these go in the fishing truck, I don't think they made it to the boat very often last year. Drop shot baits - I keep a zip lock bag of finesse drop shot baits, bubba size drop shot baits that I nose hook and bubba size baits that I tx rig. There is a zip lock bag of craw imitations and a zip lock bag of Beavers & different companies imitation of Beavers. Paddle Tail worms get their own canvas bags as do Sluggos & other sluggo imitations. All Biffle Bug stuff is in a separate canvas bag - hooks, weights, 20 or 30 assorted bags of Larew & Zoom craw imitations. Then there is what I call the day box - recently purchased soft plastics that I haven't assigned a permanent home yet. I'm pretty certain that I've forgotten a kit or 2 or 3. Like I lead off with - I carry a lot of soft plastics. If it is a color that I like, I'll have several bags. Should I run into someone who has a color that I don't have, maybe they might trade so I have lots of spares so that if I feel like trading, I can.

What I know is that the few guys I know who like & fish the Carolina rig REALLY like that rig and fish it most of the time. That ain't me, but when I was fishing BFL as a co-angler, there were times when that rig was the one to fish, mostly because it is harder to get back- boated when that's what you're throwing. What I finally ended up with for throwing Carolina rigs was spinning gear. I had a 7' MH spinning rod (on the heavy side of MH) , a 3000 size reel filled with 20 or 30 lb braid. I don't think I ever threw less than a half ounce weight, and 3/4 oz was what I usually threw. The Carolina rig is an unwieldy rig to throw and I had issues throwing it with a bait caster, which is why I went with spinning gear. I really didn't notice any difference in strike detection between bait casting & spinning gear, the only advice I have on that is to tighten up, then set the hook sideways, in the opposite direction from where the fish is swimming. If the fish is swimming towards you, you probably aren't going to catch that fish, but still, try to tighten up & power set side ways, might as well power set to your strongest side. Good luck.

I think it is hard to find a good spinner bait rod. Lots of different opinions out there so you have to experiment, pick & choose. Over the past few decades I've spent more than I need to admit trying out different lengths & actions for throwing spinner baits. In the late 90's I found out about All Star rods, they made a Zell Rowland Spinner Bait special, which I grew to like quite a bit. The early All Star rods had great blanks, but sometimes they shaved expenses on other components. I had four of them where the locking ring over time wore down the threads on the handle and your reel wouldn't stay fastened, sometimes it would bounce out of the handle when the locking ring slipped under the pressure of a hook set. Later on, I found that I liked the Fenwick AETOS. For a while they made a MH 6'8" rod that I liked, a MH with a slightly softer tip than a worm rod, enough tip that I could load it up and make decent casts with modest effort. Since Academy Sports has became the exclusive distributor for All Star Rods, I've came across a 6'10" rod they make labeled as a spinner bait rod. It compares to the old original 6/8" ones. The length difference is mostly a slightly longer handle. The spinner bait rods that I like the most have kind of a worm rod action, that are slightly more "tippy" than my worm rods. I have buds who like the composite graphite/fiberglass rods which have a much more parabolic action. So that brings it back to you pick em.

That looks like nice toy. At least your gear monkey insists that you buy nice toys. Think how different your life would be if you had a indiscriminate, cheap skate gear monkey hanging around.

On the Missouri Conservation lakes that I fish, rip rap fish are either happening or they ain't. Doesn't take long, 15 or 20 minutes, paralleling the bank, trying different depths, if you don't get bit, leave and come back in an hour or so - or tomorrow. I've caught alot of fish off rip rap dams, & bridge pilings, my experiences have been that if it don't happen quick, it probably ain't going to happen right now, the best use of my fishing time is to leave, try some other place & come back later.

I don't know about anyone else, but talking/writing about technique fishing helps me try to figure out stuff. What is the best place to try any specific technique? What is the optimal approach gear wise? What gear, while not optimal, will work? Will gear that I've designated for a specific technique work for other stuff? Or kinda work? Once you've popped the top for this line of thinking, you can't re-cap it. Given that you can't carry gear to meet every conceivable situation, what situations do you want to be geared up and ready for, which ones can you handle if you want to, which ones can you handle if you've got to? That is basically why I sort out my gear into technique specific niches, because it helps me stay more or less organized and gives me a starting place for the question, "How am I going to address this particular fishing issue?" Especially when I'm mindful that there is more than one correct answer, there might be a dozen or so kinda right answers, and there are lots of "What were you thinking?" answers. There you have it - my current thoughts on is there is or is there ain't such a think as technique overload.

Early or late in the season, it is tough to beat Cabela's Guide Wear. I bought a set in 2001 and it still works great. 99% of the time it sets in in my fishing truck in the gear bag it came in, but the times I needed it, it worked great. I got the uninsulated set , so for cooler/cold weather I wear layers underneath. For the in- between season I have a set of Frogs Toggs. They weight next to nothing, they aren't perfect, if you raise. your arms up, rain will get in through the sleeves, other than that they work. They also work for early mornings, when you know it is going to get warm when the sun gets up, they work good as an anti-wind layer.

I want some. You tell me - you make em. PM me for how much for a dozen & I 'm good for it. Believe tor don't. To be specific - the 1/8 oz head with the heavy or med/hvy with a 6/0 or 7/0 hook

At Walmart I found some 1/16 oz mushroom head jigs with the smaller hooks, like Ned uses, and it has a decent wire bait holder that holds the cut in half Zinker Z's and TRD's pretty solidly. The few times the I fished them the elaztech bait didn't shift around on the hook shank at all. I bought 6 or 7 boxes and at the rate that I fish the Ned rig, that is probably a lifetime supply.

I use spinning gear for light balsa cranks. I've tried numerous different combinations. Last year I tried a close out 6'6" Fenwick HMG ML spinning rod with a smaller Pflueger spinning reel. Tried the braid/leader combo and found it was just easier to tie directly to the 10 lb braid that I was using. I think the braid I was using was the newest version of Power Pro. When I'm throwing Shad Raps on this rig I have to pay close attention or wind knots happen. They even happen when I am paying attention. I just think that throwing lighter baits on whispy, thin lines, in the wind, wind knots happen from time to time.

My current chatter bait rod (for the past3 years) is an older Diawa Light & Tough 7' worming/jiggin rod. Got it at a pawn shop. It has way too much tip for me to use it as a worm rod, but to me it has the right amount of tip so that I can sling a half ounce chatter bait as far as I want. I've experimented with several different reels and the Calcutta TEGT worked the best, then last year I had my old Shimano Calais tuned , oiled & polished and I like it best now. This reel handles 20 lb mono great.

If I only had one lure, I'd be stopping at Walmart on the way to the lake. I'd buy something - anything - just so that I did have an option. I couldn't do one bait and and don't want to try to do it. All the different "what if's" would be running through my head and fishing wouldn't be that much fun.

I don't really have a pattern. However, before I start out looking for fish, I spend some time in the parking lot cove and throw lipless cranks & lipped cranks, making sure there isn't anything wrong with the line on the reel, giving everything a little shot of KVD line treatment and just taking in the weather. Then I decide where on the lake to fish and what to fish first. What made it interesting last year, on the lake that I fish the most, I was throwing the big square bill, ( the Academy version of the big Strike King 8 XD square bill ). Directly across from the ramp and extending for about 50 or so yards in either direction is a line of stick ups. 2' deep very close to the opposite bank, gradually deepening to 9 or 10 feet at the edge. 1st cast - minor backlash, 2nd cast - 18" fish. 3rd cast - 15" fish, 4th cast - slot fish and 5th cast - slot fish. I ended up spending more time in the parking lot cove than I planned. Still I try to approach each day as a different day and wonder "where do I think the active fish are now?" and that's where I start. Back when I was a bank bound meat fishing hippie, it didn't matter where I started because I knew I was going to walk all around the pond and pick it apart with several different baits, so I just started at the nearest point and always started with a quarter ounce or 1/8 oz Brewer Slider Head & 4" worm. This is a good question and I'm pretty sure that lots of guys have different warm up procedures that it will be interesting to read about.

Dry the stuff off prior to putting it away. The little desiccant pouches help in your crank bait box. Don't unnecessarily expose your stored gear to moisture.

I think of it as a crank bait that always stays on the bottom. I've had the most success throwing at or across 45 degree gravel/chunk rock/ hard clay points. Secondarily gravel/chunk rock/hard clay flats adjacent to points are worth checking out. Never have had the opportunity to throw it around big rocks, (like parallel to a big reservoirs main dam, where they used big rocks ) but there isn't any reason to think that it wouldn't work. A modest amount of timber/brush /stumps is ok, should you get too much I think other baits are better options. A limited amount of vegetation is ok, a lot of vegetation and the bait gets bogged down. Soft bottoms are maybe worth checking out, but I've had more success on gravel or chunk rock or firm clay bottoms. The only sizes I've thrown are ones between 7/16 and 3/4 oz. Gambler makes some 3/4 oz football heads that you can attach your own hook to any my personal best came on one of these and not the original Lew's product. Other companies make a similar product and I haven't tried them all but still, I think that " Biffle Bug" is more or less generic enough for me and companies that manufacture similar baits that aren't Gene Larew, I still refer to that style of bait as a Biffle Bug. So far the baits that have worked for me are the original Biffle Bug and various Zoom craws. I've thought about throwing the big size of the Reaction Innnovation Beavers, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. The lakes that I most often fish seem to have a little too much vegetation and I often get it clogged up there, sometimes I can pop the vegetation off, more often than not I can't. The weekend that I finally figured this bait out, at Truman Lake, I had 2 16 or so pound days in a row, then on tournament day I caught 14 or 15 fish that were 14 & 3/4 ", so non of them counted. MY co-angler caught 2 15" fish on a Timber Tiger and that is what got weighed in. Depth didn't seem to matter, I caught fish 14 or so feet deep, toward the end of gravel points and I caught fish in 3 feet of water as long as it was a hard or semi-hard bottom. I throw the bait on a relatively cheap 7' All Star Carolina Rig rod and an older Curado filled with 20 lb Abrazx, and I can throw out most of the spool whenever I want. At the end of the day I think that this is a reaction bait and therefore covering the water is important, so being able to throw far when you want to seems important to me.. There, that's all I know about Biffle Bugs right now.

I like to be able to turn anti reverse on and off. I think it is better to have the switch and not need it than to need it and not have it. I have a Shimano Nasci, which lacks the switch to turn anti-reverse on and off, and while the Nasci is a good reel , it is never my first choice because it doesn't have the switch.

I know that rod. It will work. I use a slightly heavier Fenwick HMG (MH/ex fast tip) rod for the same bait. It works for me. I go with 15 lb braid/ fluorocarbon leader. When I get bit I feel like I can drag any fish out of any cover with my rig.

My All Star Carolina Rig rod makes a great rod for throwing Biffle Bugs.