Fishes in trees

By the way, the correct o-ring size for senkos is a 3/8" OD with a 1/4" ID. OD = outside diameter ID = inside diameter. Any larger ID and the o-ring with slip a lot

I built a shed to keep fishing truck, boat and assorted gear out of the weather. I can't say that cold affects it all that much. Over several seasons of freezing/thawing pork baits will soften up some. Over several years of storage, the cheap rubber skirt bands on some jigs and spinnerbaits will disintegrate and leave a gooey mess. I think that is more due to summer heat than winter cold, or maybe just a combination of time and varying elements. Any jigs you are storing long term, you might want to secure the skirts using braid or wire and remove the rubber skirt ring. I'm not whining, the advantages of having a secure locked building outweigh melting some jig skirts over time. Dust can be an issue. Invest in plastic storage bins. Mice & rats can be an issue. Do what you need to do to mouse proof everything important. I'm pretty lucky in that my boat or truck hasn't gotten infested. As far as storage issues go, everyone I know fights with storage issues. The way I deal with it is every time I see cheap shelving units on sale at Wal-Mart or wherever, I buy one or two. I have 13 or 14 shelving units now, I'd anticipate getting to around 20 by this time next year. You can't have too many shelves in your fishing shed. I'm all about horizontal storage, easy to see and get an idea of what is where. Another note, a few times a year plastic shoe boxes with attatched lids go on sale at WalMart for around a dollar. Every time you see this, drop a 20. You can't have too many plastic shoe boxes. I keep the majority of my soft plastic supply organized by style & brand in plastic shoe boxes. I used to have a label maker, but over time I've found that the adhesive wears out and the labels fall off the plastic shoe boxes. A better alternative for me is duct tape and a sharpie and make big, easy to read labels. Sorry, I've rambled too much about fishing shed organization, hope it helps some.

O-rings costly? Really? Several years ago I researched this and found an on-line whole sale o ring distributor, out of St. Louis as I recall. Because I wanted such a small order the secretary told me I'd have to pay "full price". Anyway, full price was a penny each. Ten bucks plus shipping and now I have a lifetime supply of o-rings. I don't remember off the top of my head what the web site was, I googled o-rings and went from there. Anyway, that's how you solve that problem.

I made one in my shop out of 1 1/2" schedule 40 plastic pipe and various fittings. It is a 3 level deal that holds the rods by the handle at slightly different angles out from the wall. It holds 30 rods now and I'm thinking of expansion. At no point was any measuring involved and all the pipe was cut using my sawzall. Just line stuff up by eye and cut away. It is a tribute to indigent caucasian engineering. I mounted it to the wall using 4" deck screws and 2x4 scraps. I wish I knew how to post pictures.

I guess you're right, I don't know, go to the source, call them up and find out. It's been a few years since I've fished BFL. I know this, they want your money and they want you to be happy enough to sign up again. I'm unfamiliar with other divisions but as I recall in the Ozark division, I never heard of anyone signing up as a co-angler and not getting to fish. Maybe if they were really late signing up or something like that.

My dedicated finesse shakyhead rod is a 6'3" Team Diawa finesse spinning rod. It is an older model, 8 pr 9 years old, I've never had a problem getting whatever distance I need or sticking any bites with it. I've tried some longer rods from time to time but the shorter rod just stores better in the boat for me.

Tackle organization is something that everyone struggles with and everyone reaches their own level of compromise. When I go fishing by myself (which is most of the time) I take 20 to 22 rods rigged up and ready to go. I understand that if I break or lose anything, it is on my. When I bring someone else in my boat I keep my rod & reel count to around 10. I try to be conscious of making sure to stow one rig before picking up another. One thing I learned a long time ago is to not have rod tips, lures, etc handing out over the side of the boat. That is asking for it. A bigger boat helps. I currently fish out of a wider 18' aluminum bass boat (Lowe 180W) I can carry alot more gear now than when I fished out of a 10' pond boat. Off the water, I keep a large quantity of gear locked up in my fishing truck. Over time I've worked out a system where it all fits and is more or less accessible. Over time I've learned that if I'm sloppy stowing my gear at the end of a fishing trip, I'll pay for it later. I've rambled too much and I apologize for that but basically on & off water tackle organization is something that you get better at over time. Good luck in your tackle organization endeavors.

I found a waterproof cell phone case at WalMart but the phone still rattled around in it some. I took a neoprene beer coozie and cut it up to line the case, now my cell phone doesn't rattle around in the case. I have to keep my cell phone on my while I fish, every so often I get a call that would be really dumb to ignore.

I live in Missouri, and I keep a large quantity of gear locked up in my fishing truck all the time. I do keep my boat and fishing truck locked up in a shed, out of the sun, whenever I'm not using it. Never had a problem. When I go fishing mid-summer I have sun shades for most of the windows in my truck than do a good job of keeping out the heat somewhat.

Several years ago (2009) I had a similar situation, i.e. blood clot in leg and I had to give myself shots in the belly for a week or so, I don't remember exactly, and after the first few times it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm not a big fan of needles either. I had a promising career as a junkie cut short due to a fear of needles. Blood clots are a big deal, but you can do what your doctor says and the blood clot goes away and you go on with your life. Good luck.

This is just me, but if I was bank bound under those conditions, I'd consider a more multi-species, live bait approach. If I was bank bound and determined to bass fish, I'd consider the drop in H2O temp a good thing. I think covering the water with a reaction type bait would be a good place to start - a rattle trap type bait or a spinnerbait. Anytime you're bank bound, distance is important and I'd gear my tackle towards long distance casting.

Should you choose to bubba-size your drop shot approach and tx rig your baits, there are lots of hook options available. Any worm hook will work. Try to tie your palomar knot so that the hook point rides up. With a little bit of practice, this isn't that hard to do. For me, some worm hooks work better than others. I am most likely to tie on a Gamakatsu skip gap hook, size 3/0 to 5/0 or a Lunker City Tex-poser hook in a similar size, if I want to tx rig a drop shot. This season I've mostly been fishing the Gamakatsu wicked wacky hook and nose hooking everything. I'm finding that I don't get stuck any more often than I do with a tx rigged drop shot. I remember trying the Owner down shot hook a few years ago, and I didn't get bit very often and I missed some of the bites I did get. So I didn't use that hook any more. Now, on further review, it could be that I didn't get bit very often was because my drop shot skills weren't as good than and maybe that's why I seldom got bit and lost fish.

Fishing as a co-angler I've had 2 tournaments spoiled when the boater that I drew for the day trolling motor broke. It was fixable, but not within the hours alloted for tournament fishing. Once it was a steering cable, the other time it was a wiring issue. Both times, it was a Motor Guide trolling motor that broke. I can't say anything nice about Motor Guide trolling motors. My boat was new in 2002, I haven't torn up the Minn Kota Maxxum trolling motor yet.

My personal best came on a Senko several years ago. Green pumpkin with purple flakes, wacky rigged on an O ring. Early spring 5 to 6 feet down on an undercut bank. Fish was in the 8 lb range. I frequently go back to that lake and more often than not try that spot, but I haven't caught anything substantial like that again. Several slot fish but nothing big.

I feel like we are lucky in the KC area to have a bait shop like Rogers Lures in Liberty, MO. They have a decent selection of everything - high end and low end stuff. Over the years, I've spent enough money there that most of the staff knows me by name and says hi. Sometimes, I will go there just to walk the aisles for half hour or so, just to get ideas for me next fishing trip. I don't always buy stuff but most of the time I do. The KC area also has a couple of Bass Pro Shops (Independence & Olathe) and there is a Cabelas in the western part of the Dot, out by the Speedway. Don't forget Burton's on the fringe of the Metro area in Smithville, MO. Competing with Rogers and the big boys is tough, but he manages to keep the doors open year after year. That would really suck if all you had was a bait shop where they stared and acted like they couldn't wait for you to steal something.

Do they make silent ones? Off the top of my head I can't think of one. I generally use Pointers, and I know that they have a rattle in them. Maybe a Husky Jerk? Do those have rattles in them? I forget. You could always take a Balsa Rapala and weight it down with suspend dots or strips.

A crankbait tuning tool (page 352 of the 2012 BPS Master catalog) is much easier to use than a pair of needle nose pliers.

Back in the day when I was bank bound and money was an issue I went to the Salvation Army thrift store and got the largest womens purse I could find. It held a few 3600 size boxes, a dozen jars of pork bait and various other stuff I felt I needed. I paid less than $3 for it, I didn't care how dirty it got and as an added bonus it was in a neon green & black zebra stripe so I wasn't concerned that anyone would steal it from me. I found a bag that I could just throw down on the bank easier to deal with than a back pack.

With a spinnerbait, you're going for a reaction bite, so I don't think that the line you use matters all that much as far as getting bit goes. That being said, I think that using a line appropriate to the situation matters a lot. For instance, I wouldn't use 10 or 12 lb test around a bunch of brushy/weedy cover. 40 lb braid ought to cover nearly any situation unless you think that line visibility matters, then it won't.

I've tried several different set ups to throw these baits - mixed results. Currently I'm using a medium light 6'6" All Star spinning rod (an older one - pre Shakespeare era) and an older Diawa Regal spinnning reel. For line, I'm trying that Berkley nanofil in a 10 lb test. You get decent distance throwing with the wind, barely acceptable distance throwing cross wind (which is most of the time) and sub par distance throwing into the wind. The 5 and 7 sizes are just really light baits. I find myself leaving them home more often than not. Maybe later in the fall or in the early spring I'll try them again.

All Star Rods used to be a great company when they were an independent, made in America rod company. Now that they are a pawn of Shakespeare, I can't speak to their quality at all. All I know is that the tackle store that I spend money at used to have many All Star rods on their racks and now they have none, and haven't since All Star was purchased by Shakespeare.

Maybe next time - I can't get that weekend off.

I routinely fish a lake that has a lot of standing timber. Let me offer a couple of options for you to try. To start with, I'm assuming you've got a boat and aren't shore bound. First, structure ( as opposed to cover) is still important. How would you fish this lake if all the trees and such weren't there? There are still points, ditches, high & low spots, etc. There is still probably still a weed line. This is where I'd start. Now, trees and submerged & partially submerged bushes and such add value to those spots. Don't start by fishing every tree on the lake. Fish the trees on the points first. Fish the trees on the points that are getting the most wind that day. Fish the shady side of trees or bushes on points that are getting the most wind that day. The old Buck Perry slogan still applies, i.e. "The fish are deep - or shallow - or somewhere in-between." You didn't have any luck keeping your wacky rigged senko from getting hung up. Thats probably my favorite tree fishing bait. Did you use a weedless hook? I like Falcon weighted weedless hooks, (1/16 oz), but any of the weedless spring style hooks will work. You really need a foot or two of visibility ( and more is better) for the wacky senko to work. At least, that's what I think. For me, senko is a confidence bait and I lose some confidence when the water is very stained or muddy. Anyway, a wacky senko drifted down on the shady side of trees, on points that are getting the most wind that day, is where I'd start first. You might want to take a more active approach - looking for a reaction bite, try throwing cranks. Just my opinion, but I think that the best crank for cranking timber is a Timber Tiger. You can get them in all different depth ranges. Me, I can get a DC16, which is supposed to get 16 feet down on 10 lb line, on an abrasive resistant 14 lb line, I can get down an honest 10 feet or so. You will be amazed at the kind of brush and cover that bait will come through and not get hung up. You will get hung up from time to time so invest in a good extension pole type retriever and also one of those hound dog style of lure retriever. A jig can be a good tree lure. A tx rigged worm can be a good tree lure. A tube can be a good tree lure. I generally fish trees using 14 or 17 or 20 lb fluorocarbon line - just depends what you think you can get away with. You try to determine where in the trees the fish are hanging at. They can hang out on the edges of the submerged branches, or next to major linbs or next to the trunk you never know, trial and error throughout the day until you put together the puzzle for the day. Find out what the forage base of the lake is. If you can find a sharply sloping clay bank, you've probably found a spot where lots of craw dads live, might be a good spot to put some time into. Somewhere on that lake there are different kinds of cuts, indentations, coves, whatever. Areas where deep water is kinda close to shallow water can be prime areas. There is no substitute for time on the water, but I hope this rant offers some ideas and areas on where to start.

What kind of neighborhood do you drop shot in? The lakes I usually fish in are pretty gnarly - woody & brushy and using standard drop shot stuff, i.e. spinning gear & light line, is just asking for a break off. Anyway, the vast majority of my drop shot fishing is done with a flipping stick and 20 lb Abrazx line. I've found that you can drop shot in nearly any conditions, but you've got to gear up for it.

The best time to go fishing is when you've got time to go fishing. Should it happen to be after a rain, then it is after a rain. The basic formula doesn't change. (Basic formula, according to In-fisherman Magazine, Lindner era is: Fish + Location + Presentation = Success) You can go to the In-fisherman web site and research this in their archives as they expound on this formula in extreme detail. Me, when I go fishing after a rain, I figure that the water will be a little more cloudy than usual, which generally means that fish will locate somewhat shallower. With soft plastics, my approach will be to fish the first drop off from the bank and fish any shade pocket I come across in the 2 to 7 or so depth range. I'll spend roughly half my time with soft plastics and half with reaction baits, like a spinnerbait/chatterbait or a square bill , maybe a medium diver until I determine an activity level