Fishes in trees

Just an idea, you might try a float and fly, like some guys use for small mouth fishing in the winter. Most guys don't have a float and fly rig just lying around, so at the very least that is a reason to get another rig.

I'm short (5'7") and I find if I use too long a rod for fishing jerk baits I'm smacking it into the boat as I jerk down. Several years ago I found a 6'3" med light Shimano spinning rod with an extra fast tip. I throw jerk baits (mostly Pointers) on 14 lb Fireline with a fluorocarbon leader. It works ok. I'm on the lookout for a better set up, but I haven't found one yet. I'd consider a bait caster for jerk baits except generally when the jerk bait bite is on it is windy, and I'm not real good at throwing jerk baits into the wind with a bait caster. So that is that

Buy as many rods and reels as you can for as many different techniques as you can think of. Take them all with you to the tournament. Make the decision as to which 4 or 5 or 6 rigs you'll take the morning of the tournament, after you've got an idea of how your boater is going to fish and after you've got an idea of how much room you'll have in the back of the boat. I don't know much about fishing bodies of water where you're from, (CT, I guess), but I know where I live, in MO, I'm going to rig up different for Truman (a flooded river valley with more flooded timber than you'll believe) than I will if I'm co-angling on Table Rock (a classic highland style reservoir.) Some rigs are suitable for both environments and some aren't. As you fish more tournaments, you'll learn to refine your approach on the different bodies of water you'll encounter.

Using it to fly a kite isn't a bad idea.

I don't wade fish anymore, but when I did I found the best method of tackle transport was a cheap fishing vest with lots of pockets.

Those boats look like fun,but I'm pretty clumsy and I've had balance issues for a long time. I'll stick to my 18' Lowe. Even when I was in my 20's, small tippy boats & canoes weren't comfortable for me to fish in.

I rely on the gallon size ziplock freezer bags to keep me organized. The freezer bags are a heavier plastic that just works better for me. I can put 10 or so different colors of the same style bait, in their original packages inside the gallon zip locks. I keep the quart size ones around in case the original packaging fails or isn't adequate.

I used to fish out of a Buster Boats Trophy. This was a top of the line pond boat. It was 10 ' long by 4' wide. It had a built in live well and cooler. I never used the live well except for storage. It had plenty of room to fish out of when you were by yourself, a little crowded when you had a buddy along. The only down side was that it was too heavy to transport via pickup, it came on its own little trailer and launching anywhere there wasn't a ramp was a pain in the butt. In the boating section there are several extensive threads pertaining to small pond boats. The real answer to "What is a good small boat to fish lake and ponds/" is: How much money do you got and how much are you willing/wanting to spend.

Don't feel like you've got to limit yourself to spinning gear. I drop shot with bait casting gear much more often than spinning gear. Drop shot is just another style of bait presentation - nor more - no less. You can bubba it up or go light/finesse however you choose. When I'm fishing around stumps, brush piles, tree roots, etc, I like a heavier line and rod that I can lean on the fish and get it up and out of the cover. 20 lb abrazax is the line I use more often than not. That being said, next year I'm going to experiment with spinning gear more on drop shot applications, at least that is my current plan.

I also carry both an extendable pole and a plug knocker. Every day is different, some days I use the long pole more and some the plug knocker, just depends. I just started doing that this year. I'm certain that that the plug knocker got me back some lures that I couldn't have reached with the pole. I do, on occasion, get a lure stuck in a tree and the extendable pole works much better for that.

Weren't these baits out a few years ago under a different name? I don't remember the name but I remember that they looked good, they had good movement in the water and they absorbed so much water that on your second or third cast they weighed so much that they flew off the hook. I don't think I'll be buying any stinky finger sponge baits. Oh yeah, if I'm wrong about these baits, please post and let me know.

KC Metro area has em all - BPS - Cabelas - multiple Wally Worlds - independent shops. I shop at all of them. If I have the time, I can't drive by a fishing tackle store without stopping. Wally Worlds are extremely variable - some of them have a good assortment of quality stuff and others don't. Don't know why. What I do know is that occasionally I find a monster bargain at Wally world - you put a price sticker gun in the hands of some unmotivated GED candidate and no telling what is going to happen. The ones in my area, every Jan/Feb they have a pretty large clearance sale. I got a bunch of tungsten sinkers at 50 cents per pack. Other stuff happens from time to time. The best place to shop for reels in the KC metro area is Rogers in Liberty, MO. From time to time they will deal and the other places for the most part won't.

My thought here is don't bother re-inventing the wheel. Other than the intellectual exercise of trying to suspend a Thin Fin, there are already lures out there that achieve what you're looking for. For instance: There are any number of suspending jerk baits out there that are relatively easy to weight and suspend using suspendots and/or suspend strips. Another thing, they make these lures called flukes or senkos and it is a relatively simple matter to drift these through pole timber. If you have true pole timber with very few horizontal branches you might consider a flutter spoon, of which there are dozens of companies. Strike King is the first one that comes to mind, although I know there are others, like the Dixie Jet. This reminds me of a similar idea I had earlier this fall. I was in a fishing tackle store and I saw a Terminator Twin Spin. I thought that this was a cool looking lure and how hot it could be, in a controlled drop in timber. So I bought some - 45 bucks worth. I'm out on the lake, rigged up with a MH jig rod and 20 lb fluorocarbon (cause I don't want to lose my lures) Practice cast close to the boat, it looks cool dropping nearly straight down. Throw to a target, drop, drop drop, stops. Oh darn, it is stuck - good - go get it - it is really stuck. Too deep to reach with my extendable pole and multiple tries with the hound dog lure retriever don't succeed. I decide to wrap the line around the boat cleat and back it off with the trolling motor - pop goes the line. This spot is scrambled, can't fish here, so I move 30 years or so down the tree line and re-rig. 1st cast - stuck again - retrieve procedure repeated with similar results. Re-rig again - move 30 yards, cast again - same result. A $45 lesson, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that twin spins aren't an ideal timber lure. A good rock and/or weed line lure, not so hot around brush and timber. I'm not trying to denigrate your efforts or ideas at all, just offering a cautionary tale that cost me around 45 bucks and an hour of fishing time. I'll make more money and buy more fishing toys, but I'll never get that time back.

It seems whenever I go to fish jerk baits, it is windy out. Me and wind and bait casters and long distance casting don't play well together. I've given up on using bait casters for jerk baits. (mostly pointers, but occasionally other brands) I use spinning gear and 14 lb. fire line and a fluorocarbon leader. I get that it is a compromise set up, but it works ok for me.

Go to Wal-Mart. They will have an assortment of rods at that price point and under. I'd pick a lightning rod, but thats just me. You'll have a choice of brands and actions under $50.

Someone draw me a picture, I'm not following this. Gravity being what it is , and all that, I don't get how you'd fish a jig upside down. It is making my head hurt. I'd better go and wash my mouth out with beer, that will fix it.

Overall, this past year, my fishing success has been average trending toward mediocre. This is despite multiple upgrades in gear, etc. I'd have to say this year that my specialty has been purchasing fishing tackle and not so much using it.

I think the best thing about the 50Es is that they are so sturdy and so light. I use they on my bubba drop shot set-ups with 20 lb Seaguar Abrazax. Works great - remember to give it a shot of Line Magic from time to time. That Abrazax is tough stuff. I've gotten rigs stuck and rather than tear up my fingers yanking on the line, I wrapped line around a boat cleat and backed it off with the trolling motor. Several times I've gotten my whole rig back because I broke the branch I was stuck on,

I don't know of any other technique where there is more difference of opinion on what is or what ain't a decent spinnerbait rod. I know I'm way north of $1000 in the search of a spinnerbait rod that I really like. I'll find one I kind of like, fish it for a while, then find another one and so it goes. For a long time I liked the All Star IM 10 6'8" Zell Rowland spinnerbait rod. Those aren't readily available anymore and All Star is owned by Shakespeare now so the quality isn't the same at all. They used to have a lifetime warranty and now they don't. Currently I'm using a 6'9" Carrot Stick Wild Black rod. I'm liking the micro guides on that rod. I've got a 7' Kistler small swimbait special that works good for 1/2 oz spinnerbaits. I still have a couple of the above mentioned All Stars that I work into the line up from time to time. Still, it is a good bet that this time next year I'll have one or two different spinnerbait rods than what is in the current line up.

I'm old school enough that I remember when a 5-1 retrieve ratio was marketed as a "high speed" retrieve. Anyway, that's what I'm using for spinnerbaits, cranks, most any reaction bait really. I don't feel hindered in any way when I throw a buzz bait with that ratio.

I've got a few of the US spinning reels and they work great. I know that several years ago they had some quality control issues, but I haven't had anything bad happen. They have the widest spool in the industry, they come with several different arbors so that you can adjust line capacity. I don't know about the drag. I just screw the drag down tight and back reel if I have to anyway. They are a little loose in the anti-reverse, but that hasn't been an issue for me. They are made out of carbon fiber so they are light for their size. Oh, yeah, they are always on sale for $40 so if you break one you aren't out a whole lot of money. I've had 3 of them for several years now and I haven't torn them up yet. From time to time I use them as loaner reels and the newbies I've loaned them to haven't torn them up yet. I have mine spooled up with 14 lb Fireline crystal and that line works great on that reel.

You've got several options. One, in clearer water,the bait swinging kind of away from the cover isn't necessarily a bad thing. It creates the illusion of something trying to escape from whatever object you'[ve thrown at. Two, sometimes you can throw past the object so that it swings into your target area. Thirdly, feeding the bait line isn't that hard to do. You don't even have to use your off hand to pull out line. Most of the time , when I want a more direct fall, I'll just kick the spool of my reel with my thumb, release some line, and then just stop the spool with my thumb again. I'm not saying that I never backlash my reels doing this, but with practice you backlash less often than you might think. Option 4 is to pitch the target using spinning gear, which also isn't a terrible idea.

I haven't posted on this thread this year because, frankly my fishing year hasn't been much to brag about. Excuse my ignorance, but I've got to know, what's a "Ned rig"?

Rogers Lures in Liberty, Mo has the Curado 50 E reel for $160. I don't know if they have a 51 or not. Last time I checked, (several weeks ago) they had around a dozen in stock. Where they are at today, I don't know. As far as the other reels go, I was just dreaming, maybe actively dreaming, because I've walked into dream reel deals in the past. I think Rogers has a web site, but I don't know. I know they have a phone #. Call them up and ask them, they are good people and I'm sure they would be reasonable on shipping.

All I know is that the store where I buy most of my reels still has 13 or 14 Curado 50 reels left. I hope to get one or two more of them before they are all gone. Now that I think of it, I've got to get one of those Curado 300EJ reels. Those are supposed to be the bomb for swim bait/ A-rig fishing. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a Calais or a Calcutta 200 TEGT on sale. Stranger things have happened. All this idle talk/thought about Shimano reels has gotten me woozy. I need to go wash my mouth out with beer and not think about it for a while.