Fishes in trees

How weedy? At some point, fishing a crank bait in weeds becomes more trouble than it is worth. A minus1 or some other wake bait might be an option. I frequently do better in medium to thick weeds with a spinner bait rather than a crank. On your other question regarding degree of wobble in various cranks, I am sorry to admit that I don't pay much attention to that. I will grant that some cranks wobble different from others, but I don't think I can make any blanket statements at to if a wider wobble is better or worse than a tight wobble in different situations. I just don't know. Haven't really thought about it. Wished I lived in Colorado. I'd toast up a doobie and think a whole bunch about it. Can't do that here & now due to employment reasons - just not worth it.

my mistake luck this season so far has been that it has been rainy or cold or I've had stuff to do on my days off and I've only got to go once this year so far. Maybe I'll get to go Wednesday. I got stuff to do today and weather tomorrow is supposed to be unpleasant - colder and wetter than I want to deal with.

It is 4 AM or so and I just got home from work, looking forward to the next 3 days off, swilling a brew (New Belgium Dig Pale Ale, their spring seasonal), thinking I might get to go fishing sometime in the next 3 days, probably Wednesday. I finished going through E-mails and this is the second thread I've looked over on this site. I knew there was a reason that I stayed away from the resume section for the most part, I will probably continue to stay away from that section for a while. The only think I've got to say on this subject is to please keep your ragging at each other in that section and be nice when you are in other sections. Please.

Finding a plain hat is tough. I am not big on logo fishing apparel in general, hats in particular. It is the whole idea of not desiring to be an unpaid walking human bill board. I generally wear a wide brim hat, either a Columbia or an Oregon Research anti- sun hat and if I could remove the logos from those hats I would. I do have a couple of "Fishing for Freedom" hats I was given when I participated in the wounded warrior project at Truman Lake, and while I might wear those to town or out and about, I don't want to get them dirty by wearing them fishing.

A little older? Didn't they go out of business in the late 80's or early 90's? Anyway, if the transom is sound and it has been taken care of, it is a good boat. They were a well-respected brand at the time. 140 horses on a 17 and a half foot boat seems like a lot. Maybe not though, for years 150 on an 18 foot boat was the tournament standard, so I don't know.

Like JoePhish describes I too use a zip lock bag system. It seem I need more than 6 categories. Under "worms" I have a gallon zip lock for: 7" power worms, 10"worms, trick worms, finesse worms, zipper style worms, centipedes and maybe several others I don't recall right now. Under "creatures": Brush hogs get their own bad, as do super hogs, beavers, berkley beast lures, etc. I could go on. My point is I don't understand how anyone stays organized for more than a trip or two. Just a couple of trips and bags are out of order or mis-filed, thrown into the wrong bin or bag etc. It is at least a 2 beer job on a non-fishing day off to even pretend to re-organize. Over time, I have come to the realization that semi-organized is the very best I can hope for when it comes to plastic lures. So, on further review, I've come to the conclusion that one of the reasons that beer was invented was to help me organize plastic lures. Organization, when it comes to plastic lures is an elusive goal.

I haven't read the book but I have read several articles about stitching, mostly from in-fisherman magazine. It is a way to maximize feel, as you are literally bringing in line by the finger full. As I recall, most of the guys who practiced it were doing so from an anchored boat. The article I remember reading, recognizing structure and anchoring your boat a correct distance away from the structure was a big part of the retrieve. Just to my mind, it is problematic how well you could stitch if you weren't anchored and there was any wind at all. It seems to me that wind drift could defeat many of the advantages allegedly gained by stitching. It helps me to remember that stitching was developed a long time ago, as a way to maximize sensitivity, between the fisherman and the lure. As I recall at the time, the lure of choice at the time was a plastic worm, varying in size from large (8" to 10") to extra large (15" or so). Ok, so at the time, rods were made out of fiberglass or at best a fiberglass/graphite blend. Only a few brands of mono were available then and they weren't of the quality that we have readily available now. Braided lines as we know them now didn't exist. Braided dacron lines existed, but those were a different animal from what we commonly use now, for the most part. Hooks, for the most part are sharper and of higher quality now. So, all these equipment facts are relevant when you consider stitching. Stitching was devised as a way to maximize feel, given the technology that they had available then. You can make the argument that if they would have had graphite rods available, reduced stretched and abrasion resistant mono lines and the other products of fishing technology that weren't available 30+ years ago, stitching wouldn't have been invented. As I remember it, one of the keys to stitching was a stable platform, i.e. you needed to be anchored. How many of us even own an anchor now? I know I don't. I keep several lines on the boat, some of them rather long, but for the most part I use them to tie up to trees when I am eating lunch. I think you could upgrade even aspect of stitching gear using readily available current technology and you would have sensitivity unimagined by the guys who thought up and practiced stitching. Also I think that if you didn't anchor your boat, you'd get mixed results at best. I don't think that I have the patience to anchor my boat, and then cast out a worm and take 10 to 15 minutes to retrieve it. I think that would drive me nuts, more specifically I think it would drive me more nuts than I already am. I'm not likely to take it up because for the most part I don't think it fits my temperament or style of fishing. I think that it is a style of fishing that is rooted in the past, developed using the technology of the time to solve specific presentation issues. That's what I think. That isn't any reason for you not to fool around with stitching and see what you think. Good luck.

4 people in a twelve and a half foot boat? Even little people, good luck with that. That little boat will be crowded. Wear your life jackets. Be ultra careful about casting and hooks and stuff like that. Other posters advice on trolling motors is right on. If you are staying 12 volt, go with the 55 lb thrust Minn Kota. It doesn't weigh all that much more and it is powerful. I used to have one on a 10' pond boat I owned.

Step A is to find out how much you can tow with the vehicles you got. You can put an after market hitch on nearly any vehicle. Call up manufacturers and find out how much each vehicle is rated to pull. That will tell you how much boat you can buy. The whole boat ownership thing is a learning curve, but it is a pretty well traveled curve and there is lots of help out there when you look around.

I've got one. I used it for a couple of years. My thinking was similar to yours, in that I wasn't a big fan of spinning tackle and I wanted a way to light line drop shot. I had mine paired with a Calcutta 50. My reel, the Calcutta 50 didn't want to work with any line lighter than 8 lb fluorocarbon. I tried several different brands, but 6 lb test line just didn't work - too many tangles. I think the rod would handle 6 or even 4 lb test, but my reel wouldn't. Anyway, after a couple of years, I decided light line drop shot fishing was more versatile with a spinning rod and a reel that I could switch spools on, so I could go 4 or 6 or 8 as necessary. Most of my drop shot fishing is bubba style anyway - with 20 lb abrazax and a flipping stick, due to cover considerations, so the Loomis casting drop shot rod is on the bench right now.

For the most part I like the show. Some times I think he is a little pretentious. The show about the Tiger fish is a perfect example, where it shows him experimenting, measuring, act, building a steel leader. Really son, you're building a quick strike rig. Guys who bait fish for muskies, pike, large catfish use them all the time. The manufacture and various uses of quick strike rigs were exhaustively documented by Al & Ron Lindner when they owned In-fisherman magazine. How much trouble can it be to bubba up a quick strike rig? It looked to me like he was re-inventing the wheel.

Fenwicks are good rods. I don't have a Fenwick flipping stick, but I have several different Fenwick rods and they are good rods. I don't think you'll be disappointed with a Fenwick rod.

Back in the day, mid to late 80's, Roland Martin endorsed a lure that looked much like your jig. I think Blue Fox made it. (I think that they were a subsidiary of Normark/Rapala lures at that time. As I recall he had some decent finishes that year and attributed it to a bait that looked much like yours. Not as detailed color wise of course, they didn't make lures as detailed color wise then. This was back when he was still very active in the tournament scene, but it had been several years since he had won. Also it was a few years before the helicopter lure, which totally destroyed his credibility in my book. I think that it is cool that you're re-created an old obscure lure and it is working for you.

Opportunities like this don't come around very often, go back and buy all the gear. Do it now. All of it. Molds and everything. If there are rods & reels, buy them. Don't pass up this opportunity. It would be a shame to see this guys collection broken up when it doesn't have to be. Guys who have this much gear have other stuff as well. There is probably a high dollar rain suit ( maybe 2) in his gear closet, which might fit you. Probably some mid-range to high dollar fishing clothes also. Ask about all of it.

I generally keep 2 rods rigged for shaky head fishing. I keep a spinning rod with 8 lb fluorocarbon for 1/4 or 3/16 oz baits. For anything larger I have a 7' pitching rod and 14 lb fluorocarbon. I am more likely to use the pitching rod and heavier line, mostly due to the gnarly cover I generally fish around.

My guess without seeing the lure would be that it is really out of alignment, out of balance some way. Maybe the swivel on the blade is stuck, or is sticking part of the time. I don't know. I do know that I ever tied on a spinner bait and it did that, I would put it in the big box of used baits back in my shop. That bait wouldn't make the traveling team again.

I seldom wacky rig anything other than a senko (original) I most often use a 1/16 oz weighted Falcon K Wacky hook. I always run the hook around an o-ring on the senko and not ever through the bait. This bait/hook combo weighs enough so that it pitches great. I generally use 14 lb. fluorocarbon, a decent pitching rod (currently a 6'10" Falcon Bucco MH) and a Calcutta 200 TEGT reel. For me, the key to working this bait is to NOT work it. Feed it line and let it drop as naturally as possible. No additional action, no twitches, no nothing, just let it drop.

I normally don't take my boat out on to bigger waters when the wind is blowing strong. The few times I have gone out, my guiding principle is go slow and try not to do anything stupid. I have used my boat for several charity tournaments and the one rough water condition I encounter there every time is the early morning take off. Being in the middle of a bunch of boats, leaving the marina and driving through a bunch of other guys wakes is one thing. Having a slower boat and knowing that at any time some guy could come roaring past you from behind is nerve wracking. Just weirds me out. The last time I fished the Fishing for Freedom event at Truman, I requested to be the last boat out, just so that I wouldn't have to deal with that as much.

If you're fishing around woody cover, square bill cranks are better than rounded bill cranks, as far as not getting stuck goes. Even within the category of square bill cranks, some are better than others in my opinion. My favorite is the Wordens Timber Tiger. I use the DC 4 and DC8 sizes more often than all the other sizes put together, but I own a selection of all the different sizes they make. They aren't widely available, but they are out there. I believe Tackle Warehouse carries them. BPS used to, but not anymore. They key to the Timber Tiger is the splayed angular bill, which in cahoots with little molded in side fins, makes them come through cover really well. You have to play with one for a while to get a real appreciation of how hard they are to get stuck. When they do get stuck, they are generally "wedged" into a crevice, and farily easy to retrieve. I very seldom hang a hook on anything. That being said, I am sure that there are other good square bill designs out there, I wouldn't really know, Timber Tigers are the brand I've used for 6 or 7 years now.

I don't know if this is on point or not, but I'm not a big fan of small club tournaments. I haven't fished tournaments for a few years, due to some minor health issues. Never mind that right now. When I was fishing tournaments I only got a limited time off work every month. (I'm scheduled to work nearly every weekend, weekends off need to be scheduled, often a couple of months or more in advance) Anyway, by the time I figured gas, driving time, lodging, meals, etc. the only difference between a small club tournament and BFL was the slightly higher entry fee for the BFL. The smaller organizations and club tournaments were basically trying to re-invent the wheel. BFL has their organization down, and they present a professional, well run tournament every time. It was a no brainer for me. I don't mean to discourage you, and I don't live near you anyway, so I'm not a candidate for your tournament schedule, but that's my current thoughts on the subject. A new tournament organization would have to offer something significantly different for me to consider it.

Whoever told you to use snap swivels on crank baits was yanking your chain. As other posters have mentioned, some guys like to use snaps to make changing baits easier. Me, not so much, I find it easier to cut the line and tie the knot. My short stubby little fingers make snaps a pain to use. The only time I will ever use one is a ball bearing snap swivel on a jigging spoon. If you've got a good pair of split ring pliers, I think that using a split ring to connect the jigging spoon to the ball bearing swivel is a better connection.

I currently carry 25 different rigs. I generally fish by myself. Last time I went, half of them were strapped down on the back deck, in the "back up" or "probably won't use this time" categories, but I had them in the boat should I need or want them. How they are organized depends on how I want to fish on that particular day, what I want to focus on. When I have someone else in the boat with me, I cut down on the number of rigs, just to reduce clutter. What I really need is a bigger boat with better organized rod lockers, but that isn't going to happen in the near future. Back to the original question, "How many do I NEED?" The obvious answer is that I need all of them, I am probably going to need some more before this season is completed. There is a difference between needing a new rig and upgrading a rig already in service. I have upgraded rigs a few times already this season.

I have had minimal success catching "cruisers". The few I have caught happened when I threw a wacky rigged senko right in front of them and it happened to intersect where they were swimming. Most of the time they just swam right on by but a few times they have inhaled it.

Charge back systems are available. I remember reading about them in In-fisherman magazine several years ago. You could get systems that would charge your trolling motor batteries off of your big motor while it was running. You could get systems that would charge your trolling motor & starting batteries while you were trailering your boat down the road. As far as I know they aren't standard equipment on any boat. On an tangental point, If you've gone 4 days without charging your batteries and you still have power, good for you. Don't think that will continue indefinitely. You aren't doing your batteries any favors by not plugging them into the charger every time you come off the water. If you keep using your batteries and then going days between recharging them, you will experience decreased performance over time. Really

I leave the seat in the back of the boat. From time to time some one fishes with me and they seem to prefer the seat to the extra pro pole. I suppose I could take it out when I'm fishing by myself, but I generally don't bother. I haven't bothered for so long I think that it is stuck in there permanently. For the front of my boat I have an adjustable pneumatic pro pole. Some times I like to sit on top of it and sometimes I just want to lean against it and the adjustable pole lets me do either. I prefer the standing or leaning position to sitting down because I tend to pitch a lot, as opposed to making a traditional overhead or side arm cast. I see the guys who like to stand in the front of the boat without any seat or pole. I've tried that and I am totally uncomfortable doing that. It is really awkward for me trying to steer the foot controlled trolling motor without having anything to lean against.