Fishes in trees

In one of the more recent In-fisherman magazines, the editor, Doug Stange, writes about how he used nanofil alot over the past year. For the most part, he liked it. He dealt with the fraying issue by just cutting off the frayed line from time to time. Of course, he gets his line for free, so you have to take that into account when you read his account of line usage. Me, I got a spool of 12 lb (which is thinner than 4 lb mono) and put it on a 6' Med/light spinning rod. I've been using it to throw Shad Raps and other light cranks. Can't complain about distance at all. I haven't used it enough to get much line fraying. It will get more of a workout this spring.

Everyone needs a few back up spinning rods. Why trade it? Besides, if you are ever on a jerkbait bite on a windy day, spinning gear with 12 or 14 lb Fireline solves the wind issue. I always carry a jerkbait rod in the boat - all the time - every season. There is no telling when a jerkbait bite might happen.

I like the Table Rock Shad color. When the lakes around me to from winter clear to a little more dingy in the spring, that color works for me.

Go to Walmart. I'm pretty sure that they will have something that will meet your needs for less than $30. If you want to go really cheap and don't care if you get looks or stares, go to Salvation Army. When I was in your position years ago (semi-broke & bank fishing) I found a large women's bag for less than $5. As an added bonus it was black & neon green zebra striped, I didn't have to worry about getting it dirty or anyone stealing it.

I don't have an issue with using different lines on different rigs. When I re-spool I put a little sticker on the reel with brand of line, lb test and date spooled. It really isn't that much trouble to keep track of. When I go fishing by myself (which is most of the time) I routinely take 20 rigs, + or - a couple. Believe me, I have my own tackle issues, but keeping track of line on reels isn't really one of them. Occasionally, I will have a backlash when I am fishing. Imagine that. Anyway, if I feel that it is going to take me more than 5 minutes to untangle the mess, I just go ahead and swap out the reel. I carry several extra reels filled with different lines, to solve this issue. This most often happens when I am trying to get maximum distance with deep diving cranks, so 3 of the spare reels are filled with 10 lb test deep cranking line.

Kinama baits had a color, confetti, which was a lighter watermelon color with quite a bit of larger glitter flakes in it. In 2005, that color was the ticket, it outfished other senko colors for me, by a bunch. More recent years, not so much, it is just another color that I rotate through from time to time.

That torpedo looks to be a mid-80's version. At that time, they came out with a "G" finish that was very reflective. When you fished it in sunlight, you could actually get a "strobe" effect, a pretty bright flash. During that time, I had several Cordell Red Fins that has the same finish. The catch was that the finish wasn't very durable most of it would wear off in less than a season. A cool lure though. If it is in really good shape, it is probably more valuable as a collector item than as a usable lure.

Last season I used a 5'9" medium power rod for most of the top water fishing I did. It worked ok. I liked how I could make downward snaps with the rod and not slap the gunnel of the boat or the water.

I know that keeping a boat out of the weather when you aren't using it is important, but I'm not so sure that a portable building is the way to go, for practicality, durability and space reasons. To me, it is just as important to keep my fishing truck out of the weather as it is the boat. When it was time for me to re-address this issue (2001) I build a garage big enough to pull the truck and boat into it without having to disconnect the boat from the truck. I went 20' by 40' and I have inches o spare on either end. Should I ever acquire funds to remodel, I'm going bigger. 50 by 150 isn't out of the question.

Go ahead and get yourself a dedicated A-rig rod. Remember what you were told in high school shop class and use the right tool for the job.

I take ALL gear out of the boat. When I take the boat to the mechanic in late Feb/early March I like to have the boat empty. When I get the boat back, I take an afternoon to re-load the boat and drink a few beers. Spring gear gets loaded into the boat & truck. Summer gear & fall gear gets put into storage bins where it is easy to get to (and the bins get labeled) Somewhere in my shop there is a check off list I made a few years ago and I go through it to see that all important stuff is where it should be.

Great question, every year we get this question once or twice and I get to give the same answer. Go to your Salvation Army thrift store. Get the biggest, ugliest women's purse you can find. It will hold all the gear you need for bank fishing. you can throw it down where ever and you won't care if you tear it up or not. It is unlikely to get stolen. Don't pay more than $2. Along the same lines as the previous post, back packs frequently go on sale at Walmart. I have several, all purchased for around $5 each. I keep them in the fishing truck to store clothes that are occasionally used. One for a a spare rain suit. One for spare long underwear and spare fall or spring clothes.. One for spare summer clothes. One for an extremely well stocked first aid kit, and so forth. Buy them in different colors and for the most part you instantly know what is in the truck.

The tag line to this post is "Help me out. . . " First do yourself a favor and help yourself out. Read all of the articles on this site, even if they don't pertain to your current particular situation. This will give you a background of information and allow you to ask pertinent questions, as opposed to vague, general questions. Post #9 - find a mentor - is real good advice. Be mindful that in fishing, no matter how much you read or how many questions you ask there is no substitute for personal trial and error and time on the water.

I don't think that I am alone. On more occasions than I can count I've made purchases that, upon further review, weren't real smart or useful.. But I've got em. I still might use them some day, I ain't dead yet. Having said that, trying to quantify which was the worst or stupidest gear purchase is a challenge. Just say that there have been more than a few and leave it at that.

Best gear purchase ever? Without a doubt my set of Cabelas Guide Wear. Not too heavy, comfortable to wear, I've had this suit for a number of years now. I don't wear it all the time, but when the weather turns wet and/or chilly this suit solves the problem.

Don't sweat having a guaranteed boater. I fished Ozark division of BFL for 5 years and only occasionally had a guaranteed boater. I never got left out of a tournament. Very occasionally there were a couple of boaters that got paired because there weren't enough co-anglers. After you've been to a couple of tournaments you'll find some one to pre-fish with if you want to.

You're in St. Joseph, google the Pony Express Bass Club.

Research on this site will reveal lots of other threads that deal with these boats. Years ago, I used to have a boat like this and it got me off the bank, made me more mobile and versatile. As to the question, "Are there hidden costs?" The answer is "DUH" For starters, trolling motor and battery ( or 2 or 3 wired in parallel) and alternate power source (paddle or oars), life jacket (not totally necessary but important). Rigging options are unlimited on these little boats, that is to say rigging options are limited by your pocketbook. How are you going to transport this boat? They also make a 10'boat. If you are ever going to fish with some one else in the boat, that 2 feet makes a difference. When you fish by yourself in the 10' boat, there are some balance issues that occur. Sometimes. Depends where you place your seat and how much you like to stretch when you're running the trolling motor.

Tournament fishing doesn't have to be exorbitantly expensive, but it does require money. You need a job. You're in St. Joe, MO? There is a pretty active bass club - Pony Express Bass Masters out of St Joe. I don't know any of those guys personally, I've met there here and there incidentally. Across the river, there is a very active bass club in Leavenworth. Good luck in your endeavors. Get a job. Find out if you can catch "many" 4-5 lb bass during tournament time.

I'm sure your boat looks great, but d**n, that sounds like alot of work. I've got a 2002 Lowe WF 180. I am fairly certain that I took it to the car wash last year, or was it the year before that. I know for a fact that I vacuumed the carpet twice last year. I try not to be a slob in my boat, but I'm not very concerned how it looks either.

A decade or so ago, I was very brand loyal to All Star rods. All of my tournament gear and most of my back up rods were All Stars. The reason for this was simple A - they had a great warranty program. If you broke the rod, they replaced it. You'd get it replaced off the shelf if the store you got it at had one. You could swap it for something similar if the store had one you liked. Or you could have the store send it in and in a relatively short period of time, you'd get a new rod back. Now, I knew about this program long before I bought my first All Star rod. The deal for me was simple, an All Star rep was nice to me. If I ran into him in a store he'd say hi. We both fished BFL and when I ran into him at the tournaments we'd talk. He was very good at getting stuff not only from All Star, but from other companies that he repped for and nearly every tournament he had goodies for the guys he'd talked into getting All Star rods. Sadly, those days are gone. All Star rods got sold to Shakespeare, quality control diminished and their rep system got disbanded. He had health issues and doesn't fish tournaments anymore, it has been several years since I've seen him, I ought to look him up and see where he's at. Anyway, that is my brand loyalty story. Nearly any company can have my brand loyalty if they are nice to me and take an interest in my fishing. I can remember when BFL tournaments were Redman tournaments. The organization that ran the Redman tournaments always had swag to give away, every tournament. Not so much at BFL. They have shirts, caps, etc. for SALE, but very seldom are there any complimentary gifts. Oops, my brand loyalty story turned into a rant - better stop - sorry.

Every year I tell myself that this is the year I'll keep better records and it never happens. At the end of the day after the boat is on the trailer I'm tired and hungry, more concerned about driving to dinner than writing in a fishing log. I've made the same resolution this year, but the odds of me sticking to it more than a few times are slim. The one set of records that I am anal about is mileage & maintenance records for tow vehicle and boat. One of the last thing I do before leaving the house is jot down mileage in the vehicle log. Next trip, I write down the new mileage number, subtract the difference, etc.

Later this month or early next month, Walmart is likely to discount much of their current line stock to make room for next years stock. There are bargains and value to be had here. I've found the Spiderline superXXX mono in 17 or 20 lb test to be a good spinnerbait line. The same for the Stren super knot line. I like to use 10 lb mono for long distance deep cranking and I tend to swap out that line a lot. Nearly any brand will last for 2 or 3 trips. I am not a fan of the Berkley BIG GAME line at all, I have had enough unfortunate experiences with that line that I won't buy it anymore Some of last years braids will be knocked off a few dollars, it all depends on what the department manager in each Walmart thinks.

My color choices would echo the others mentioned here for the most part. When I have decided to fish a square bill in water than is a foot of visibility or less, Timber Tiger makes a color - chartreuse with a purple back that I've had quite a bit of success with in dingy/muddy water.

Just to be contrary, let me point out that the gist of this post ignores some things, i.e. that long casts are fun, and often necessary. Rather than lament how long distance casts are tough, why not just try to get better at all phases of long distance casting? Maybe it is just me, but I get a certain sense of satisfaction out of making a successful, accurate long cast. Hey, I know that long means different things in different situations. A long pitch is different than a long crankbait cast, but the statement is still true in either case. I'm pretty certain that it goes back to my childhood when, provided with inferior equipment, I was fairly certain that I could catch more fish if I could just cast farther. 40 years and many dollars later, the equipment issue has been addressed, and I know now that it can only be solved for a while. Anyway now, when I miss a long range hook set, and I don't miss all of them, just some of them, I just say," darn, I need to get better at that." Let me also point out that if you are tournament fishing as a co-angler long casts are often necessary. Would you rater try to catch a percentage of fish at long range or would you rather catch 0% when, while you are waiting to get into comfortable casting distance your boater picks off all those fish? Anyway, that 's my current thinking on long distance casting.