Fishes in trees

I prefer the Falcon K-wacky weedless hooks. I use the 1/16 oz weighted ones the most.

A long time ago, far, far away (late 70's early 80's) when I was bank bound, I had 3 primary lures. 1 - a 4" split tail eel on a 1/8 oz crappie jig. 2 - A Charlie Brewer slider worm in some shade of purple. (green pumpkin wasn't available then) 3 - A Mepps spinner. I fished spinning gear because it was available and you could get much more distance than bait casting gear that was available at that time. I meddled around a little with other hard baits ( cranks, Rapalas, top waters, and so forth) but for the most part the 3 baits first mentioned were my bread and butter. If I was bank bound today, I'd throw a tx rigged senko. You might mess around with other baits, but the texas rigged senko will allot you to fish all the water column available to you. Throw it on spinning gear and 20 lb braid and you can sneer at most weeds. Plan B would be to find someone who lives near you with a boat and reason with them in some fashion so that they will take you with them when they go out in their boat. Fish lakes with rental boats. I fished many ponds where the owners left old jon boats turned over on the bank, for anyone who wanted to fish out of. Be very careful turning over jon boats. Copperheads and other snakes like to live underneath them. In your info, you don't say where you live, so no one on this board could offer if they wanted to.

My first response to your post title is, "don't we all?" Or in my case, I could use a better one. For me it is a matter of allocation of resources and I've currently allocated enough resources to my boat issue. To upgrade my boat currently would be really stupid and fiscally unsound. How old are you? If you are over 18, my advice would be to get a job and save your money and sooner or later a boat could happen. Allow me to suggest some options. Plan A - There are lots of different schematics for different boats out there on the internet. Do your research and find one that meets your needs. If you've got the tools & skills, you're all set. Get to work building your boat. Along time ago Noah built a boat. In more recent times, numerous people have constructed home made boats. It is your turn now to build a boat. Plan B - There is probably some geezer in your neighborhood who owns a boat and doesn't go fishing as often as he would like to because of any number of reasons: Doesn't drive at night - Loading & unloading the boat is a pain (physically & mentally) - launching/loading the boat on to the trailer can be a chore for one person - and you can probably think of dozens of other reasons. Maybe you could find out who that guy is and find a way to have him want to take you fishing using mostly his gear. Plan C - Somewhere in your neighborhood there is probably some widow, whose husband used to to own a boat and now the hub is no longer around, but the boat still is. Perhaps you could work out some sweat equity deal - I don't know. Plan D - If the lakes around you are "good lakes" like you say, there are bank fishing opportunities there. You may want to refine/upgrade your bank fishing skills. Maybe target a different species - I don't know your exact situation. Here's what I'm saying - If you like to fish, but you don't have a boat, and don't have the disposable income to immediately acquire a boat, it becomes and IQ/ingenuity test. It is a pass/fail test. Either you will figure it out or you won't.

For me, if I'm fishing wacky style, I prefer original senkos. If for some reason I'm fishing them tx rigged, weighted or otherwise, I find the knock offs last longer. I like the BPS stick-o, singers have worked for me in the past. Chompers makes a good bait that is a little more durable than the senko, but not by a whole lot. Chompers makes a color called "honeysuckle" that is a good clear water color for me.

I've never had any issues using the straps. However, several years ago I was in the boating section at BPS and I came across some round gel "shock absorbers" which were designed to be placed between the battery and the battery tray. A side effect was that they made it a little easier to get the straps snug & tight, by compressing the shock absorbers a little bit. Rhino's idea with the silicone mat serves the same purpose.

A good place to start looking is in the links section of this web site under tackle manufacturers. There are a number of plastics companies out there, mostly regional. Perhaps you've neglected some major national brands, i.e Powerbait, Netbait, Gene Larew, Reaction Innovations, Mann's, Gambler & Chompers come t mind right off and I would imagine that I'm forgetting something. I used to think that having a bait nobody else had was important, that it gave me a significant edge. I've moved past that idea and my current thinking is that it is more important to correctly present whatever bait I'm throwing than it is to have a unique to me bait. Don't let my opinions stop your quest though, there are lots of smaller soft plastics companies out there.

As I recall , they both cost around the same. The best reason to go Chronarch would be if you want the 50 size. The Curado I doesn't come in that size - yet - that we know of.

If I am throwing in-line spinners, I will use a top quality ball bearing swivel. I will use the ones with snaps if I have to. Most of the ones I have that are in my in-line spinner kit now, I've taken the time to attach the swivel to the spinner using an appropriate sized split ring. One a side not, I would urge everyone who ever tinkers with tackle from time to time to go ahead an get a high quality pair of split ring pliers. There really isn't any substitute for this tool. The split ring tip that is on many fishing pliers is a joke.

A couple of comments. First, the previous comment about using Owner twist lock hooks is right on. Your baits will last longer. Second, consider using a nail weight inserted into the bait behind the hook (I use one that is just less than 1/16 oz) It increases the drop speed a little bit, but the bait will still drop horizontal. Third - If you use a braid that is easy to see, with a fluorocarbon leader (I use 15 or 20 lb) the braid will act as a strike indicator, just like trout fishing. I consider this bait a soft plastic version of the Rapala floating minnow, except you can fish it anywhere in the water column. ( realistically, not that deep because it takes a long time to sink and I get bored waiting, but you get the idea I throw this bait on spinning gear, just so that wind is less of a limiting factor. I just crank my drag down pretty tight and dare any fish to break my rod. I will back reel if I have to. You've found a fun bait that often works throughout the year. This bait has a permanent place on the traveling team, that elite group of rods that get put on the boat every time. One more thing, I prefer the Strike King version of this bait to the original Zoom fluke

I don't fish a white spinner bait very often. I fish a white & chartreuse one quite a bit. I like using a plastic trailer. I'll use a Zoom or BPS trailer most of the time. Most of the time I will take my chartreuse felt tip marker and color the tips of the legs. I don't know it it makes any difference other than I like the way it looks better. The lake I fish most often doesn't have any shad in it, but many of the bait fish/minnows that are present have a little bit of chartreuse on their tails. Many of the mature sunfish (I'm not sure what breed they are) also have a little bit of chartreuse on their trails.

Me, I set the hook asap. The instant I think I've gotten bit I set the hook. Last time I checked, hook sets are free. Not a really big deal - you just went 0 for 5. If you are really paranoid, you can use that as evidence that god has a grudge against you for some perceived character flaw.

Check out Trophy country in central Missouri. Find the money. Your bud is coming back from Afganistan, his wallet is probably thick from combat pay and no place to spend it, to speak of - let him pay. All you need to bring is your gear, they will provide food & lodging. Strip pit fishing is fun. Trophy country is not cheap, but it is a bargain compared to lots of other places.

When I first got my boat, I was told to use Ring Free ( which is a Yamaha product I think) and so that is the only one I've ever used. When I store the boat for the winter, I fill the tank up completely full and treat it with Stabil. My first fishing trip of the year, I try to run the motor quite a bit and burn up 1/4 to half the tank or so.

In the lake I normally fish, I often see small water snakes (8" to 15" or so), swimming about wood & weed cover in 3 to 7 feet of water. I've never seen a fish blow up on one. Don't know why. I've seen fish hit a baby duck (both in the movie Bigmouth and in person) but I've never seen a fish hit a swimming snake. For me, a snake imitating lure wouldn't be my first, second, third or fourth choice.

For me, I catch fish on spinnerbaits, but for me, they are a "conditions" bait, by that I mean that conditions have to be right for me to consider throwing one. For me, the conditions are: Secchi disc reading of 3 or under (if the water is any clearer than that I think there are better options. Water depth between 2 and 7 or 8 feet. Enough cover where throwing a square bill would get problematic. (in thinner cover, I think the square bill is a better option, for me anyway.) I generally have 3 spinner bait/chatter bait rods rigged & ready, those would be a chatter bait, willow leaf and colorado blade bait. Colors, I vary quite a bit, in clearer waters I favor bait fish colors and as the water gets more stained, I move more toward chartreuse & white. One more oddball pattern I've gotten on several times in the last few years would be using a black spinner bait, single fairly large colorado bladein very clear water with a wiggly swimming type trailer. When the fish are shallow and in a chasing mood I've had excellent results with the bait. In this situation the bait is almost an alternative to a rattle trap type bait, but bottom grasses make fishing that bait a pain. Hope this helps you get a handle on situation where spinner baits work for me. I know guys that throw them all the time, it is their leadoff bait. Not so much for me. These buds tend to fish different lakes with murkier water. I probably ought to address the issue of what kind of retrieve. Most of the time I'm doing a plain jane, slow roll type of retrieve, pulling the bait just fast enough to keep it a foot or so off of the bottom and if it runs into anything I give it a little pop to clear the obstacle. I've thrown enough spinnerbaits over the years that I don't think about it any more than that. I use 5 to 1 reels because in the day when I started throwing spinnerbaits, that was considered a "high speed" reel. Probably won't change until I wear out the reels and being as I use Calcutta 200 TEGT reels to throw spinnerbaits it is likely that I will die before the reel wears out.

My top 3 constantly changes, but most recently my 3 most used rigs are the jika rig, bubba dropshot rig and I've caught several keepers recently on a Strike King Caffiene Shad, tx rigged with a 3 gram nail weight inserted in the body behind the hook, so that it drops relatively flat.

I've got a Lower WF 180 and a Maxxum trolling motor. I've experimented with several different pedal locations in the dozen or so years I've owned my boat. I'm left handed and always fish from a butt seat, I very seldom fish standing up without something to lean on. My best pedal location is offset to the left of center and the Lowrance depth finder is set on the top right corner of the deck, out of the way, for the most part. I wear polarized prescription sun glasses when I fish and I have to have the depth finder set "just so" or otherwise I look at it and it is black (because of the polarized lenses I wear) I've tried with the pedal in the center and it just didn't feel balanced. I imagine if I had a boat with a recessed pedal I would get used to it, but I don't have any plans to put one in my boat.

A rod bag to transport your rods & reels from you vehicle to the other guys boat is a handy thing. When I was a co-angler I carried 2 medium sized gear bags, both half to 3/4 full. I found that was easier to find stuff when I needed it rather than one stuffed bag. One bag, filled with the "hard stuff' ( seasonal appropriate hard baits, jigs, terminal tackle, etc) was attached to the rear seat post with velcro straps. The other bag, filled with " soft gear " (plastics, and so forth) was thrown down on the floor underneath my feet when the boat was underway. Most of the boaters I fished with in BFL left a bin open for co-angler stuff so it wasn't strewn across the deck. After a tournament or two, you will figure it out - every tournament is different - bring what you think you will need, but don't short yourself. A conversation with your boater after the draw helps a lot in deciding what to bring or not. One thing I found helpful that I didn't see many other co-anglers do is to bring several extra bait casting reels. If it looked like it was going to take more than 5 minutes to clear out a backlash, I'd cut the line, reel it up and put on another reel. I found that saved a lot of time. That is also the reason I went to spinning gear for throwing jerk baits in the wind, you only have to carry extra spools.

Either one of those upper tier spin casting reels are good reels. You can't go wrong with either one. Probably ought to get two. If there are lots of docks where you fish, that spin cast reel makes skipping baits underneath docks a breeze. I have one classic Zebco 33 filled with 17 lb fluorocarbon,and a 6' med action casting stick. On those few times per year when I go to Lake Ozark, that rig makes the traveling team. I can skip baits underneath docks all day and never have a backlash. Saves a lot of time for me.

The wearable pfd part is easy - buy an inflatable life jacket and wear one. I've worn one nearly all the time for the past 8 years. Literally, after a short while, you forget you have it one. Buy the best one you can afford. I probably can solve your throwable flotation storage issue as well. When I had my pond boat ( a 10' Water Buster Trophy) I took an old back pack and strapped it to the back of my fishing seat. I carried rain suit, extra clothes, cigs (I smoked then) matches, and an assortment of other stuff in that backpack strapped to the back of my seat. I wedged a throwable cushion between the chair back and the back pack. Sometimes I used a little bit of duct tape to make sure it stayed put, other times I would just wedge it in there and pull the back pack straps tight. If you think about it, the back of your fishing seat is unused storage space that is off the floor of your boat. If you don't do anything else, just duct tape the throwable cushion to the chair back. Duct tape is cheap. Hope this helps.

My advice would be to do a little more research and maybe fine tune your tackle before you give up on jigs. There are lots of different styles of jigs and some are more suited to particular presentations than others. Not that they won't work, but given a certain set of conditions, some jigs are more effective than others. For starters: What kind of cover are you fishing? What color is the water. How deep are you fishing. What weight are you throwing/trying to throw? The information is all out there. Do more research to fine tune your presentation. Also, be mindful of the In-fisherman formula for fishing, i.e., Fish + Location + Presentation = Success. Don't focus on presentation so much that you ignore the other parts of the formula. On most fishing trips, during the drive home, I try to analyze what I did & didn't do and how successful I was or wasn't in relation to the In-fisherman formula. It gives me a place to start and a frame of reference.

I've got a couple of long sleeve Cabelas Guidewear shirts (long sleeve) that I like for summer fishing. I just recently got a Columbia set of Shirts & shorts that works good also. I like the button up shirts with pockets rather than the knit ones. What I've started doing the last few years is changing clothes after I'm done fishing. Fish, sweat all day, take out, put away your stuff and the last thing I do is to change clothes. Fresh, clean, non-sweat soaked clothes improve my attitude tremendously on the drive home.

Currently, my favorite jig rod is a Fenwick AETOS 7'2" MH. I'm pretty certain that if I had means to get into Loomis rods, my opinion would change. If I had the means to get into Megabass rods, my opinion would probably change also.

If yo are going to spend a lot of time bank fishing, I'd suggest that you get different gear rather than another rod & reel. If you are bank bound - a good pair of hip boots is invaluable - maybe a back pack style tackle bag would help you get more mobile. Rods & reels are important, but for most applications spinning gear beats bait casting gear for bank fishing applications. Look at what might get you better access to fishable water. That is my opinion.

I'm guessing you need to look at smaller boats. Measure a lot before you buy. When you are measuring length, measure from the tip of the prop, (when it is on the trailer with the transom saver in position) to the tip of the hitch. Also, what neighborhood do you live in? I'm on the outskirts of the Metro area and $170 a month seems high to me.