Fishes in trees

I put the ultimate bunk boards on my trailer a number of years ago, right now I don't remember exactly how many years ago. The first few times I went fishing, I was aware of how slick the boards were and the boat floated off the trailer pretty easily. This was easily countered by leaving the boat kinda loosely hooked up until you climbed into it, then lean down and unhook the boat. It was never a " problem " and I never had an accident. Fast forward to now - a few years later and the boat kinda seem to stick to the ultimate bunk boards when they are dry. I still don't unhook the boat until I'm in it, but that is more due to paranoia than anything else.

I asked the manager of a local tackle shop why he didn't have a greater variety of Mr.Twister baits and I showed him some of the baits & colors that I wished he would carry. He empathized with me, then talked about how as an independent tackle shop - Mr. Twister was a challenge to deal with. He said that they were really in the business of selling electric fillet knives and that they would sell you so much soft plastic product IF you bought x amount of electric fillet knives. If you just wanted to buy just soft plastic product, then the prices were higher and if you wanted to make x amount of money per unit the math didn't work. He didn't go into great detail about it but just said that other soft plastic companies were easier to deal with. So that's the main reason that I don't fish much Mr Twister product, i.e. it isn't readily available in the tackle shops I frequent.

A couple of years ago I happened to be in Academy Sports, right after ( within 15 minutes ) they had put a bunch of marked down Ocho's on the peg board. As I recall they were $3 per package ( for the 5" size ? not sure about the exact length) I didn't buy them all but I did buy five packs of every color they had, plus a few of the 6" size. Spend over $100. A few pack I have traded away, but most of them went into the large storage tote of extra stick baits. For me - they work best as a tx rigged pitching bait. I fish the regular size ones with a 4/0 or 5/0 hook and generally a 3/16 oz tungsten weight & 15 lb Abrazx line. As I type right now, I forget the different colors I've tried but I think I should fish the black/ blue flake more. When I go to fishing events like the Fishing for Freedom event that the Leavenworth Bass Club puts on, I bring a medium size tote of spare baits - just to trade and give away to guys I meet there. It is a shame that event was canceled this year, but it was for the best. Had it not been canceled it probably would have turned into one of those super spreader covid events that you read about. Hope they are able to have the event next year but wouldn't be surprised if they don't. I don't expect covid to go away any time soon.

Why wouldn't you over complicate it? What else you got to do when you're fishing the Ned?

To echo the previous post - mostly junk fish also. Even when I know that my plan is to mess around with a certain technique most of the day, it is a challenge to leave rigs that I might need at home or in the fishing truck once I get to the lake. I carry 15 to 21 rigs most of the time and I fish by myself most of the time so I just figure that if I step on a rod & break it, that's my bad. It has been several years since that has happened. Over the past 6 or 7 years I've only broken 3 rods and trunk window & electric window have accounted for 2 of them. The other one ( a 7'4" Fenwick AETOS, $150 more or less ) broke when I pulled way to hard to unstick a stuck square bill. The only one I was really bummed about was when the hatch back window slipped and one of my two original All Star WR1 worm rods is now 6" shorter.

If you can only carry four rigs: Assuming 2 bait casting & 2 spinning A - BC reaction bait rig B - BC jig/ worm/ pitching rig C - Shakey Head/ Slider rig (spinning) D - Wacky/ Neko/ Drop shot rig. (spinning ) Taking seasonal patterns into consideration there are times I might carry different rigs. A dedicated buzz bait rig/ separate spinnerbait/ chatter bait rigs / top water rig. Early spring I would for sure have a dedicated jerk bait rig. Sometime you might want a Carolina rig - I don't know. When I was doing BFL's I generally carried 6 rigs - 7 if I could make them all fit in my rod sack. I wold generally take 10 or 12 rigs to the tournament and after the tournament meeting I'd make decisions about which ones I'd take the next day.

Hey now - don't be whining about technique specific rods. To give a short answer to the question, "Are manufacturers scamming us about specific rods . . ya da, ya da, ya da . . .." The short answer is no. "They think fishermen are gullible sheep herders from the hills". - no they don't. Manufacturers see a market demand and are meeting it. The fact is ( or what passes as my opinion of a fact in this circumstance ) - rods with different lengths & actions do a better job of presenting different baits. If you choose not to use technique specific rods - then don't. However, understand that mocking technique specific rods, with just a modest at best understanding of what different manufacturers are trying to accomplish by offering different lengths & actions, is pretty ignorant. Lastly, I think you spelled "beetle" wrong. A fishing rod designed to catch "beatles". i.e., an old, disbanded, half dead, very innovative & ground breaking for their time rock & roll band is just silly. As is your rant. Who is to say as color is " strange"? While there are some colors of rods that I'm disinclined to purchase, just on general principles, I'm not one to call colors " strange". Speaking as an old bush hippie, with a modest appreciation of mescaline & magic mushrooms, I can't call any color "strange" - with a straight face. I like colors, for the most part.

All things being equal (and I understand that they seldom are) a longer rod will tend to get you more distance and that is often important both in bank fishing and fishing from a boat. For the most part, I don't find the handles on 6'6" rods & up cumbersome, in fact the longer handle, braced against your forearm, help considerably in setting the hook, especially at a distance - with is one of the reasons you go to a longer rod for anyway. That being said, I can agree that all spinning rod handles aren't properly proportioned for everyone. A couple of years ago I got a Field & Stream 7' spinning rod on close- out from Dick's pretty cheap. Even though the rod was inexpensive, there was a lot to like about it. I liked the light weight, liked the tip action, even thought the reel seat was good, considering how inexpensive the rod was. What I didn't like was the handle - in that it was just too long from the bottom of the reel seat to the rod butt. Fished with it twice - didn't like the handle - put it on the bench. Then one day I realized that it was my rod and I could "adjust" it. So I did. I wrapped where I was going to cut with clear Gorilla tape ( to reduce splintering) and cut the bottom 3 1/2 inches of rod off. I rebalanced it by taking a rubber chair leg tip - putting a few pennies in the bottom of the tip and then glued it to the cut off end of the rod. I used a lot of glue. When that dried I dipped the whole thing into plastic dip ( the same stuff you use to dip the handles of pliers in ) When I got all done and the rubber cured, I have a sweet 6'8" spinning rod ( on the medium side of medium heavy) that works great for wacky rigging senkos. I has enough of an handle that I can cast 2 handed ( which I often do when throwing side arm, or roll casting ) but it isn't too long, IMO. The point of this is that I wouldn't dismiss longer spinning rods out of hand without trying them for various purposes. Realize that if you get one cheap on close out you can shorten the handle some, giving you all the advantage of the extra length from reel seat to rod tip, just cutting off some of the butt end. Mind you. I probably wouldn't do this to my 7' Fenwick HMG spinning pitching sticks, and I've got a 6'10" Kistler Argon ( the blue one) that I like the handle the way it is. Hope this helps to understand part of the point of having & using longer spinning rods. I don't use the longer spinning rods exclusively. I own & use shorter spinning rigs for various purposes - some of them old enough to be considered "vintage".

Make up your mind. Are you a catfish guy or a bass guy? Are you a bank guy or a kayak guy? Bank fishing and kayak fishing are two different disciplines. Are you aware of seasonal patterns and fishing where the fish "should" be? Be mindful that fish position themselves differently in rivers than they do in lakes. Is it a gear issue? i.e. often when there is a tough bass bite down sizing your baits can have a positive effect, but it is a challenge to throw smaller baits on regular gear. Got the right gear in general? While bass gear and catfish gear can be interchangeable, it isn't optimal. Rods intended for fishing bait generally have a different action than rods intended for throwing lures. This is especially true if you are bait fishing for catfish using circle hooks because the tip has to be limber enough for the rod to load up and get enough tension for the circle hook to set itself. Also some baits lend themselves more to using circle hook than other baits. Try to analyze how you analyze your bass fishing and catfish fishing approach. Strive to fish current conditions rather than fishing "memories" of how you caught fish in the past. Memories are a place to start but memories about past fishing conditions are seldom the same as current conditions and this is especially true when you're dealing with rivers and current. Hope this helps.

At the very least, prior to getting on the water, you can rig it up & throw at targets in the lawn - get good with the rig. Knowing how to pitch sitting down is a valuable skill to have.

I've looked at that Falcon Head Turner Rod. Every time I go to the tackle shop I look at it I think about buying it. I'd get that one. Don't care what the action allegedly is - I've handled it and it seems pretty sweet to me.

I keep it KVD line treatment in my boat nearly all the time and use it when I need it. Note that the KVD stuff is water based and in pretty cold weather, spring & fall, all it does is help the line freeze faster. For cold weather I use Reel Magic which is a silicone based product. I get that the silicone products do degrade the line over time and for the most part I'm OK with that if it happens to get cold out when I'm out fishing.

Back in olden times (late 80's ? ), Bass Pro Shops marketed a line of soft plastic skirts & soft plastic bodies that you would mix & match. I remember walking into a shop in Columbia, MO and seeing a whole end cap of soft plastic skirts & bodies. Twin tails, single tails, and maybe several other styles. I think that Canyon Lures offered a similar set up, but a little smaller and kinda more suited to crappie. The same store, for a while, carried the full catalog ( more or less) of Brewer Slider 4" worms, all the different weights of crappie heads & slider heads and all the different colors of 3" paddle tail grubs. I dropped $60 or $70 bucks, something like that, but the next time I got to town, 6 months later, the selection was significantly depleted and they never re-stocked, as far as I know.

I remember reading about a crank bait designer - I first came across his name (Tom Seward) in the old Fishing Facts magazine and later in the earlier 80's In-fisherman magazines. He designed the Brush Baby and later the Timber Tiger. He recommended using spinning gear for throwing cranks - basically for distance purposes. He was throwing crank baits into bushes & trees. He didn't share the opinion that bait casters were more accurate, basically saying that with an equal amount of practice you could be just as accurate with spinning gear. I tried it for a while early in my co-angler tournament fishing. I purchased a rod similar to what he used ( a 7' Medium rod ( on the MH side of Medium ). I liked the distance I could get. I liked that I reduced back lashes when I threw into the wind or cross wind. Accuracy to the extent that he described as possible never really happened for me, but I wasn't all that accurate with bait casting gear either at the time. He was using a fairly large spinning reel and 10 lb mono. This was a time when braid wasn't readily available. So all this really proves is that throwing cranks with spinning gear is doable. Besides I don't know anyone who can throw size 5 or size 7 Balsa Shad Raps on bait casting gear. I'm sure there are some guys who do, but I don't know them.

It is true, in fresh water, one ounce crank baits aren't generally thrown on spinning gear. Doesn't mean that it can't be done, just to say that most guys don't. In fact, my tongue was kinda in my cheek when I suggested the 11' Predator distance casting rig as an option. You aren't going to find many rods, in any companies fresh water rod line up that will do what you want. The place to look for a spinning rod that will do what you want is different companies inshore rods. That is where I'd look. You're in Texas - Academy sports is based in Texas - All Star rods are exclusively distributed by Academy Sports. That is where I'd look first.

What are the heads made of? How light is "micro". I can see throwing baits like that in the Gasconade or some other south Missouri small mouth stream.

I have a small set of extra large square bills, not of the Megabass brand, but the Academy Sports house brand which are for the most part the same weight. I throw mine on a 7' MH bait casting rod with 20 lb mono. If I was determined to throw those baits on spinning gear - I think that gear is readily available. I have a 7' Fenwick MH/extra fast tip spinning rod - rated to 3/4 oz I think that I wouldn't have any reservations about throwing a crank weighing an ounce with. Be mindful that the rod is only half the problem. You're going to need a decent reel. I'd use any larger size spinning reel that could handle at least 20 or maybe 30 lb braid Another option - years ago Cabelas marketed a series of "predator" rods, for European style fishing. One of those was an 11' Medium action spinning rod, rated for baits up to 2 or 3 ounces. It will accept either bait casting or spinning reels. Take my Diawa 2600 Black Gold reel, fill it with braid and you could throw an ounce 100 yards or so. I got distances of up too 150 yards throwing ounce and a half slab spoons. I was using 12 lb mono at the time because I didn't know any better. I have an Ambassador 6500 and filled with 20 lb mono I could get 100 yards once I got the reel dialed in. So there are a couple of different options. Good luck.

Sure, I think it would. With a drop shot the primary purpose of the weight is to get the bait to the strike zone (the bottom to a foot or so off the bottom ) asap. I wouldn't hesitate going heavier if it was windy and there was chop on the water. I'd lead off with at least 3/8 oz if I was fishing co-angler, just to give my bait more time in the chosen strike zone before the boater moved the boat.

Think about how you're going to set the hook prior to getting the strike. If you want til you have a strike, you've wasted too much time. I haven't watched the movie, but how I set the hook is a controlled snap as soon as I detect something. By a controlled snap I mean that I don't set the hook as hard with my Finesse Jig rod & 10 lb test as I do when I'm getting bit on my MH/ extra fast tip/17 lb Abrazx 10" worm rig. I feel like with jigs & tx rigs going "up" with the hook set generally gets the best results. Fishing with my home made jika rig and rigs like the Carolina rig or the Biffle Bug rig, I've had better results setting the hook side ways, in the opposite direction from where I think the fish is swimming. If I think it is coming toward me, I go side ways to the left & hope for the best.

My recommendation would be to "old school." In the decades before the Ned rig became a thing, there was the Brewer Slider rig which is a similar presentation but is much more snag free than the open hook Ned rig. The 4" worms marketed by the Brewer Slider company are an easier to use alternative than elaz-tech worms are - IMO. I own a Ned rig and occasionally fish it, but I find that for me it is much more effective on the sandy/creek rock/smooth rock sections of Ozark creeks/rivers than it is in the reservoirs that I generally fish in.

I haven't seen the Zlinky bait in any of the shops that I frequent. Zoom does make a magnum finesse worm - which is more or less a stick worm and is an excellent target pitching bait. I have a number of packs of those in a variety of colors and they work good.

Back in the day, when the Color-c-Lector and then the Combo-c-Lector came out, that was the primary problem with these devices. You'd drop the probe, get a color reading - go fishing , right? Not so fast, move the boat 10 feet and the light might be different, water color be slightly different, whatever, and you'd get a different reading. If you were determined to fish the color dictated by the device, it would drive you nuts. You couldn't really be sure that the color it told you to use, dropping it off the side of the boat, would be the same color it would dictate if you moved the boat next to the stump you wanted to throw to. That was basically the problem with that device, and it is the same conundrum you're dealing with now. My only advice is to choose a color based on your best guess and go from there, when you lose confidence in a color, try something else, OR have half a dozen identical rigs and put different colors on each rig. I can testify that either approach has the capacity to drive you nuts. Most of the time, in the waters that I commonly fish, I'll throw some kind of green pumpkin. Over the past couple of years, a buddy fishing out of the back of my boat will often throw a black & blue dinger when I'm throwing some kind of green pumpkin and I've been outfished more than once. Then I go to black & blue and he still outfishes me, which leads me to the conclusion that color had little to do with it, he's just a better stick bait fisherman than I am. It is all a mystery - good luck. The only thing I know for sure is that I have tomorrow off and I'm going fishing.

Admittedly, I'm a geezer and I remember when 5-1 reels were considered "high speed." Once upon a time, Shimano made a Curado in a 3.8 to 1 gear ratio. After a while, at my favorite tackle shop those went on sale and then I found out why, i.e. it is possible to get a reel that is "too slow." That being said I still like lower gear ratio reels for reaction baits because I find it easier to speed up if I need to than to slow down if I have to. Current lipless crank reel is an older, reconditioned Shimano Calais with a 5-1 gear ratio. Current square bill reel is an older Shimano Calcutta TEGT at 5-1. Current chatter bait reel is an older Curado D at 5-1. Only exception to that is a couple of Curado DC reel that I've acquired in the past 2 seasons. I'm using them for spinner baits and while I like them I find if I reel without being conscious of speed I'm a little too fast. I got the lowest ratio available ( 6.4 -1 I believe) and I have to be somewhat conscious about reeling speed. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing because there are lots of things about my fishing habits that I probably need to get more conscious about. Is what it is. Back to the original poster, I'm pretty sure you can learn to use any reel you get, especially if you don't. have several bait casters to compare with. Me - I like the lower gear ratio reel for reaction baits and I'm going to keep the ones I got tuned and in shape rather than buy new. Now pitching reels, worm & jig reels, I'm starting to come around to the notion that a higher gear ration has advantages in some circumstances, primarily in getting the bait back for another cast, once the bait is through the anticipated strike zone. My primary pitching reels, 50 size Chronarchs & Curados are a 6/4 ratio and more recently I got Version 1 of the Curado 70, which has a higher gear ratio, which I don't remember right now.

If I was setting up an indoor tackle room - from scratch - and money wasn't particularly important, here is what I'd have: ( more or less in order, maybe not) A - highest ceiling possible and no ceiling fans ( to protect rod tips) B- A decent work bench can be got at Ikea or Harbor Freight. If you wanted to upgrade every year or so there are plans in Popular Mechanics for work benches. Find some wood working guy to build you one. (Me - I use plastic folding tables from Walmart) C- Arrange for good lighting, when you're messing with fishing reels good lighting is important. D- I'd have 2 of the walls with shelving floor to ceiling - one wall for soft baits and the other wall for hard baits/terminal tackle. E- The other 2 walls would be rod racks (planning ahead). Plan for space for all the rods you got now plus another 30 or 40 spots. F- Beer fridge - maybe a small chest freezer & microwave. G- Decent stereo H- If space is available, I'd have the biggest TV I cold get and a couch. I- Allow for plenty of electrical outlets, so you can plug in tools where you need. Unnecessary extensions cords are a pain in the butt. J- I use my Dremel tool quite a bit - you might too, so have a dedicated storage space for tools - bits & safety gear. K- If you're going to get into rod making/rod repair dedicate space for that, i.e. a separate bench with the appropriate tools & lighting & don't forget exhaust fan because some of those chemicals stink and aren't good for you. L- Shop Vac & floor magnet because you're going to make messes and drop small sharp pieces of metal sooner or later. This isn't an extensive or all- encompassing list. I'm sure there are other guys that could add to it.

I don't know what all of Ardents problems were. They were listed as being from Macon, Missouri and every time I tried to call them I got an answering machine and they never called back. I never saw their products in any stores ( with the exception the live well tags and their reel cleaning kit. The few times I got to touch an Ardent reel (I forget exactly where - I think some guy at the ramp had one and I noticed it and asked if I could touch it). Anyway, I thought that the one I touched was a little overweight and a little "clunky" compared to the Shimano reels I was using at the time. Anyway, I feel like they could have done better had they paid attention to customer service, done better marketing and returned phone calls. *** Edit prior to posting ***. I believe the place where I handled the Ardent reels was Everhardts in Clinton, MO. They had one " regular" reel and a few of the Flipping reels. The flipping reels had a much narrower spool and no line guide - just a nose cone that you threaded the line through. That was the only store I ever saw them in and that was a number of years ago. It wold be nice if American made reels were an option, but I don't think that they are a serious option.