Fishes in trees

A short answer to your question is, yes.

I drop shot quite a bit and I've found it necessary to have 2 rods - a bubba drop shot rod for cover situations and a more traditional spinning drop shot rod for the more open water situations. I carry 20 or so rods rigged when I fish by myself and 2 or 3 of them will be drop shot rigs. 1 standard drop shot and the other 1 or 2 bubba style with different baits rigged ready to go.

I am not a fan of big game line. Several years ago, I was using it quite a bit, then had some funky line issues. Rather than try to figure it out, the easiest answer was to upgrade my line choice. I think good uses for big game are making mobiles and hanging pictures.

Beware of cheap braid. You get what you pay for.

Prior to owning a rigging tool, I positioned the o-rings on the senko using my hands and maybe a little slobber.

So far this year, my best keeper bass tactic has been a 1/2 oz jika rig - creature bait or lizard - 15 or 17lb fluorocarbon line, pitched to edge of grass lines at the depths you're talking about. For me, the advantage of a jika rig over a tx rig is that it drops straight down better on a semi-slack line. The previous suggestion of trying to tick the tops of the grass with a heavier than normal rattle trap type bait is a good idea and one I'll try next time I go.

You can't own too many rods. You can't own too many reels. Can't do it. The idea that some of the actions on some of the rods that you own are similar is moot. Go back to the basic premise - i.e. "You can't own too many rods" The way you solve this problem is the next time you get the urge to get another rod, get one with an action dissimilar to the ones you've already got. Problem solved - glad I could help. Being a helper is good.

The power bait line of soft plastics doesn't dry up. The Gulp line of plastics (same company, Berkley) does dry up and shrivel pretty quickly if it is out of the package and not in water. I've don't fish a tx rig with a slip weight very often, but when I do I have better results dragging the rig rather than hopping it. I wouldn't use a tx rig on the spinning gear like you are doing, not because it think it is a bad rig, but because I think that there are better rigs out there for spinning gear. For spinning gear & 8 lb fluorocarbon line, I 'd get some Brewer Spider Slider heads, both in 3/16 & 1/4. Get a modest assortment of worms, some straight tail and some paddle tail, and that's all I'd throw. Drag it, swim it, whatever, just throw that rig around enough objects and you will get bit. So far this year, I've had better luck with paddle tail worms as opposed to straight tails, but some years that is reversed. I've just never been comfortable with the weight sliding up & down on the line. I like knowing where the weight is.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but FOLLOW THROUGH IS IMPORTANT!! Your cast isn't done once your thumb has released the spool. Continue going forward with your rod and finish with your rod pointed at your target. The natural rotation of your wrist should cover this, but you should finish with the reel sideways to the water. I use a right hand crank reel and I'm left handed, so when my cast is complete the reel handles are facing down. The way it was explained to me many years ago is that you are putting less strain on your bearings with the reel spool in a vertical rather than a horizontal orientation. I don't know if that is true or not, but that is the way I've always done it.

I'd say that the is one situation where you need to become a meat fisherman. When I was in my late 20's - early 30's, I had access to a similar body of water. There were MANY small fish and fish over 12" were uncommon, once or twice a year you might see a fish over 15". The woman who owned the water was extremely opposed to any chemical attempt to alter the population and after she consulted with the conservation department (she was old & rich and knew most of the conservation commission on a first name basis) it was decided that she should let a few select guys who she trusted to be on her property to take all the little bass that they could out of that small lake. I lost count of how many 60 to 100 fish days I had out on that lake, catching 8 to 11" bass. (the deal was that any fish over 12" had to be released) Over a period of 5 to 6 years I, I became a light tackle expert and gradually the average size of the remaining fish grew. In the meantime, 10" bass fillets were on the menu a lot. That is the way I'd approach the stunted fish problem.

I got along ok with my dad, but it had nothing to do with fishing. I honestly am not sure where my obsession with fishing came from. My dad's idea of a good time was sitting in air conditioning with some decent scotch. If decent scotch wasn't available, cheap scotch would do. In a sense I miss my dad, BUT, I am very aware that he had "feet of clay" Primarily, he had a very deep seated fear of getting old, and therefore he didn't take real good care of himself, he frequently self-medicated using alcohol as his pain killer of choice. He died at 59, with many health issues generally associated with guys much older than he was. I probably have unresolved issues concerning my dad. The only time I examine these issues is this time of year, around father's day. After due consideration I've realized I have a dillygaf attitude on this subject. In a way I feel that I am lucky. For the most part, my relationship with my dad was cordial, even though I was aware of his faults (and he was aware of mine) I have several good friends that had genuinely rotten relationships with their dads, for a variety of reasons. For instance, I have a good fishing buddy whose dad left home when he was 15. Gone, so long, didn't hear a peep out of him for several decades. No clue where he was - out of sight, out of mind. Then one day, 5 years ago, the old man shows up on his door step. Hi - how are you? I'm dying of cancer. I'd like to get back into your life and get to know you now, during the last stages of my life. My bud thought about it, for about 5 minutes and came up with the answer - Pops, hit the road - go away - you've obviously had several chances over the past few decades to contact me and you've waited until now, when you're dying to contact me. Here's the story. I put myself through college without you. Earned a decent living without you. Raised kids without you. Buried your former wife without you. Buried a sister without you. Too late bub - hit the road. and he closed the door on that chapter of his life. I understand that Fathers Day is a good time for recollecting and cherishing memories. For a lot of us, those memories are mixed and for some of us, those memories are toxic. Just an FYI, there are many of us boomers out there who had a decidedly mixed and complicated relationship with their fathers. And I'm sure that there are many guys of my generation who put their children through several different kinds of torment. Thanks for reading this rant.

Thinking in terms of arcs is good advice. Don't try to make a "line drive" type cast with a bait caster, until you get good. Once you get good you will find that for the most part an underhand pitch is much better for most circumstances than an overhead line drive type cast. If you are going for maximum distance, like you might with a crank bait, sometimes an overhead cast is the way to go. I'm assuming you are using a straight handled rod, with a large enough handle for two handed casting. You have to feel the "flex point", the instant when the rod is fully loaded. You start your back cast, get the rod flexed, when it is fully loaded, it is a push/pull motion, where at the same moment you push with your top hand on the rod and pull with your lower hand. Release your bait at the proper instant with your thumb and the bait will travel out in a moderate arc towards your target. All of this assumes that your spool tension and brakes are adequately set. If you do it wrong, you will get a backlash or some other calamity will happen. Fix the backlash and try again.I'd recommend inexpensive line and casting weights toward the middle or upper end of what the rod is weighted for. For a real good time, if you have any buds who are proficient in bait casting, invite them over, buy a 12 pack, listen to their helpful hints as you demonstrate your bait casting prowess. Have fun. It is just a tool and you can learn how to use any tool over time.

For 4" & 5" worms, I think that it is hard to beat a Brewer Pro Spider slider head. Those are the ones made with a slightly stouter hook than a regular slider head. The regular slider head would be my second choice.

I like being able to throw baits far. In and of itself, it is fun. I understand far is a relative term, lure weights, line diameters, etc. come into play. I don't care that I will occasionally miss a long distance hook set. If I hadn't have thrown far, I probably wouldn't have gotten the bite, and therefore wouldn't have had the opportunity to miss a long distance hook set. Besides, you can't miss them all. You will stick some distance hook sets, (or they will stick themselves, which is more likely) Some baits, covering the water is important (a rattle trap style bait comes to mind), others not so much. In many instances while bank fishing, distance is important. Is it as important as accuracy? The real answer is yes and no, it depends on the situation. All I know is that I like being able to throw far when I want to.

The short answer is yes, Lucky Craft baits are worth the money.

When I get confronted with a summer cold front, I go to the deep weed line on points, main lake points and maybe the first or second secondary points leading into a cove. I want to fish the sparse weeds on the edge of the weed line out to 4 or 5 feet past where the weeds stop. Most guys use a jig or a tx rig for this fishing. These days I'm mostly using a 1/2 oz or 3/4 oz jika rig or a bubba drop shot with a half ounce weight. The productive areas I'm looking for, on the lakes that I fish are mostly between 8 and 15 or so feet, maybe 20. If I don't get bit on the first point, I go to the next, and I'll go to a dozen points before I'll try a different pattern on front days. I'm sure that there are different front patterns that would work, but last year and so far this year, this is the one that has worked best for me. You could probably go shallower and punch holes in weed beds, the last couple of times I went fishing, I didn't have a punch rig rigged up so that wasn't a primary or secondary option for me & I didn't want to spend time tying one Last time I went, (post front conditions, day after a 2" rain, water temp dropped several degrees from pre-rain temp) the deep weed line pattern was working from mid-morning to mid afternoon. Later in the afternoon, around 5 or so, I thought I needed at least to try something shallow. Not a lot was happening, but on one grass flat, due to the rain and the subsequent rising water, there was 6 or 8 inches of clear water above one grass bed. I threw a real light Rapala minnow on light gear and caught 8 or 9 shorts & slot fish one after another, a nice little flurry. Trying to move slightly deeper for bigger fish didn't work and I also tried several other grass beds with nothing happening shallow or slightly deeper. So, that's my current theory on summer post front fishing conditions. Half ounce jika rig, 15 or 17 lb fluorocarbon line, creature bait or power bait lizard fished on deep weed lines on main lake points (or the 1st or 2nd secondary point inside a cove) On my lakes, for the most part this translates into fishing 8 to 15 feet or so down, maybe deeper on your lakes. Oh yeah, secchi disc reading was 3 1/2 to 4, which translates to a water visibility of 7 to 8 feet. This was a little murky by my lake standards, secchi disc readings of 4 to 6 are common.

To echo what others have written here, just think of it as a different kind of spinnerbait and throw it around the same kinds of cover. Color & trailers are a pick 'em. Whatever your favorite spinner bait colors are, go with those for a chatter bait to start.

I like the Cabelas Guide Wear Shirts & Shorts. I buy the long sleeve versions and keep the sleeves long unless it gets really hot, then I roll them up. I don't worry about my legs getting sun burned because I have to wear the over the calf anti blood clot socks. I use quite a bit of sun screen on my knees, back of my hands, neck, face & ears before I ever leave the house in the morning. I have a couple of sets of the Columbia PFG fishing shirts & shorts and they work good also. I've got a few BPS fishing shirts & shorts as well. In addition to the sun protection factors, it is important to me not to look "raggedy" when I go fishing.

I'm presuming the hooks are sharp? Maybe try heavier line. I throw square bills on 20 lb line, 17 lb minimum, that way I feel like I can be pretty aggressive controlling the fish. Maybe your crank rod is too flexible. I dunno, some days fish get off more than others.

When the tungsten weights went on sale this spring at Walmart, I spend $150 and got a bunch in the 3/8 and 1/2 oz sizes. I make my own jika rigs. It doesn't matter if the weights have a line tie built into them or not. With steel leader material and crimps and 60 lb fluorocarbon leader and other crimps (available at Michaels in the jewelry making section) you can turn any wright into a jika rig weight. I get bit more with the weight about an inch and a half away from the hook rather than right next to it. You can put 2 3/8 oz tungsten worm weights back to back and now you've got a 3/4 oz rig that will punch through nearly any weed growth without picking up any weeds. More importantly, you can pull it back up and your bait might catch some weeds, but your weight won't. Put an appropriate sized glass bead between the two sinkers and you've got a little bit of a noise maker. Works for me.

The first time on a new lake, I'm not adverse to taking an hour or two or even the whole day and just putting around the lake, just looking . .. Especially on a big lake, learning how to run the lake is important. Learning the seasonal conditions of a lake is important. The first time you come out of a sheltered cove on plane and turn into 4' rollers because you didn't know any better you will have an"interesting" boating experience. Your first year with a new boat, I would imagine you'll spend as much time learning how to drive a boat as you will fishing.

Timber Tiger DC8 in the Texas Shad color

A dozen outfits rigged and ready isn't too many. You only have too many rigs when you trip over one or more of them and break them. That's on you. I routinely carry 15 different rigs ready to go and 20 or 22 isn't out of the question. You ca buy rods & reels & gear. I haven't found a way to buy fishing time yet - I only get so much fishing time each week. Anything I can do gear-wise to maximize fishing time is money well spent. Different rigs allow you to be ready for different fishing conditions without wasting time retying baits. Don't let your desire to fish different rigs trump your desire to find fish. You don't always use every rig every day. Go back to your seasonal & daily patterns and start with where the fish should be according to time of year and such. Go from there. If you just randomly switch from rig to rig, you might get better at fishing different rigs, but you are unlikely to catch more fish. Learn to recognize conditions and fish the right rig for the conditions. That is what will make your catch ratio go up. All the different rods & reels are just tools, learn to recognize seasonal patterns and use the right tool for the job. Most artists own more than one brush, but they don't feel the need to use all of their brushes every time they paint.

Good gear is just as important in bank fishing a pond as it is when you're boat fishing. If you are scuffling around the edge of a pond it isn't a matter of if you are going to run into snakes, it is when. Protective footwear is important. Hip boots work great for foot protection and they will also get you off the bank a little bit, making it easier to fish parallel to the bank. I generally think that spinning gear is preferable to bait casting gear for most bank fishing applications. Bank fishing is all about compromise. You need to carry enough gear so that you are reasonably prepared for the daily conditions. Carry too much gear and mobility suffers and you don't cover the water like you should. Everything you tote down to the water you've got to tote back, plus the stringer of fish. In the summer the I used to fish out of a belly boat quite a bit, I had some encounters with snakes and turtles that were interesting, to say the least. As a general rule, they won't bother you if you don't mess with them, but that isn't true 100% of the time.

Those basket style weed guards were old school and basically caused more problems than they were worth. In very slight weed growth, they kept most of the weeds off - until one strand stuck and then it would act like a weed magnet and catch a bunch of weeds. Down time while you cleaned the weeds off. The chopper style props found on current Minn Kota & Motor Guide trolling motors eliminate the need for the basket.