Fishes in trees

What a question and it begs the question - "Has anyone ever owned an equal amount of rods & reels?" I don't think that I ever have - not even back in the day when I was a poor meat fishing bush hippie. I tend to have more rods than reels, mostly because I shop bargain bins for rods alot and I haven't seen any reel bargain bins where Shimano Curados & Calcuttas & the like are all jumbled together. Also because I tend to break more rods than reels, the concept of "I must get this rod as a backup" comes into play. Not that I break a whole lot of rods. Some years I haven't broken any - other years 2 or 3 or 4. The notion that I might break a rod at some point is enough for me to rescue a rod from the bargain bin from time to time.

Rod ratings give you a place to start. I don't buy rods over the internet unless I'm replacing a rod that I know works for me. I have to touch it and feel it for me to get an idea of what I might want to use it for. Then price and current disposable income and wants & needs come into play. In my fishing shed there are several rods where I guessed wrong. These sit bungeed together in a 5 gallon bucket in my fishing shed, waiting for me to discover a purpose for them - or - trade them off to someone who might need it or want it. Ultimately I find that rod ratings printed on rods are like parking lot striping on any Ozark Walmart parking lot, i.e. - they are there for guidelines, but no one really expects everyone to follow them all the time - if ever.

Sooner or later, you're going to go multi-species, might as well start now. Those two Ugly Sticks are great catfish rods - save them. Start dropping by pawn shops on a regular basis. Sooner or later you'll come across a couple of acceptable quality bait cast reels that will work for catfish. I prefer the larger sized old Ambassadors, but you might find something different. Years ago, I found a couple of older Quantum IR4 CW reels. These were the larger, wide spool versions of the old Quantum Iron series of reels. As long as you're throwing at least a half a n ounce, these reels work great. Then you'll be set for bank cat fishing. (As soon as you get a couple of decent rod holders ). That's what I'd do.

Creeks & rivers are different from reservoirs & ponds. The original poster might have the gear on hand and he might not. Do some research. I know I probably wouldn't take a bait caster to fish on a small creek - oh wait a minute, seems like the last time I fished the Gasconade ( south kinda central Missouri - in the Ozarks) I did bring my Curado 150 DC and a short spinner bait rod with me to the party. Several 15" small mouth wanted that War Eagle Screaming Eagle. Jigs & soft plastics caught most of the fish that day though and a bait caster wouldn't have been the wisest choice that day. Current was a slow walking speed, but it was moving and you only got one shot at each object and you were moving fast enough that you had to pick & choose which object. Spinning gear worked better for that. I think the advice about something to throw in-line spinners is good advice.

I think that the little kink at the top of the worm is a good thing - part of the presentation. Rigging a trick worm straight on a strait shank shakey head is pretty easy - you just line it up a little bit different. In the end, I don't think it matters all that much. What matters to me is the tail of the worm. Straight tail ? Bulb on end of tail (like a trick worm)? Paddle Tail? Ribbon tail? Most of the time I go with a paddle tail or a trick worm, but how many bites am I missing by not throwing a ribbon tail. I know guys in Wisconsin & Minnesota whose favorite worm to put on a jig head is a 7" Berkley Power worm. I've never been able to make that combo work for me.

If I had to go back to fishing from the bank, I'd lay off the drop shot notion. Instead, I'd take a page out of my old meat fishing bush hippie days and go finesse jigging. Get the best quality Medium or ML spinning rig you can. Get a decent reel that balances well. Use a thin line like 20 lb or less braid - or 14 lb Fireline. Probably don't need a leader but you could go with a thin fluorocarbon leader if you wanted to. Back in the day I threw alot of 6 lb mono. Now buy a large supply of Brewer Slider Heads. I like the Spider Slider Heads the regular ones - not the "pro "ones that have slightly heavier hooks. Get 20 or more of 1/4 oz & 3/16 oz & 1/8 oz. Buy 3 or 4 colors of the 4" slider worms. Color don't really matter so just get several that you like. Me - I threw the quarter ounces 90% of the time, but there were times when the slightly slower drop of the lighter jig heads seemed to matter. I used the heavier jig heads because I could throw them farther and I think that makes a difference from the bank. Then just cast out, let it drop and polish the bottom. By this I mean, you only want to be touching the bottom every so often, the idea is to slowly, gently swim the worm and stay within a foot of the bottom. It is hard for a while and then it becomes second nature. If you're doing this and not getting bit - find another pond.

You're on the water, right? I've found trying to drop shot from the bank to be challenging and a waste of time. My personal experiences with drop shot fishing are mixed. Using either a lighter weight finesse set up or a heavier duty bubba shot rig, I've never had a great day on the drop shot/ (For me a great day is 30 or 40 fish on one rig, dinks & keepers combined). However, several times a year the drop shot turns a stinking day into an ok day and that's why I generally keep a finesse set up and bubba rig ready to go in the boat.

Out of the three boats mentioned, I'g go aluminum and take the savings difference and upgrade the trolling motor & electronics. Express makes good boats. I have a LOWE WF 180 which is going on 20 years now, everything works. The Previously mentioned LUND is a great boat. You live in South Carolina - I'm not real familiar with regional east coast brands. The real question when you get a boat is where are you going to keep it and will it fit. Another serious question - how far away is the dealer?

The tackle shop I mostly frequent in the KC Metro area ( Rogers, in Liberty, MO) has copper blades in a variety of sizes. I've used copper blades on spinner baits for years, as I recall I've always bought them there. My favorite spinner bait for extra muddy water (less then 1 foot visibility) is a half ounce single Colorado blade spinner bait. Chartreuse/ purple with a white/chartruese tips BPS cajun trailer and a Colorado blade. Don't know the size of the blade, but it is larger than a quarter, by a little bit, but smaller than a fifty cent piece. Once upon a time, perhaps more than a decade ago, I frequently fished an extremely murky reservoir and I ordered a couple of dozen spinnerbaits in this configuration from Rogers. Still have 7 or 8 of them. Anyway , back to the original question - yes they still make them. No - I don't off the top of my head know who "they " is. I'd imagine that you could go to Tackle Warehouse, or another site or Netcraft or any of the other terminal tackle on line retailers and you could get some. The original poster is somewhere in NorthWest Iowa. Got no clue where to go there, but if I had to I'd go to whatever local shops are available and ask around. Edit - Just realized the post was about copper bladed buzz baits. Never seen one & don't know where to get a copper buzz bait blades, other than to ask around. In the meantime, bulging a large copper Colorado blade isn't a bad alternative.

Just a question, but how far from the ocean was this spot in the river. I saw on Shark Week that Bull Sharks give birth in fresh water and they've been known to stay in fresh water until they are several feet long - and sometimes they come into fresh water when they become adults and no one really knows why. Anyway, there is another candidate for the action.

My issue with pistol grip casting rods was that my wrist & for arm hurt some after I'd been casting around an hour or so. Even on short ( 6' or so ) rods I find a straight handle rod is best for me so that I can cast with 2 hands and my wrists and fore arms don't hurt when I do it that way.

In spinner baits, I remember the Brush Hog - the Bush hog and the SOB. (. SOB stood for small okie bug). I remember something about the Bush Hog, the package had Porter Waggoners picture on it and it said something about supporting disabled veterans. Maybe he bought gear and components so that some disabled veterans could assemble and package them and make some money, I don't know. I remember Burke lures - made out of some semi-flexible rubber or plastic. Don't remember the names of any of the individual baits, but I liked their company slogan "Put a Burke where they lurk " I had a couple of them - in different actions, for me, "The Burke - didn't work"

When it comes to reels that I feel aren't performing up to par, I stay in my lane. I'll either take them or ship them to a repair shop. It's been a while since I've used DVT (a site sponsor ) but the last time I did he made a couple of old Shimano Calais reels perform better than new for me and It wasn't that expensive.

I had some plastic worms once - forget the name, but they were made by Indians and infused with "lunker lotion" - whatever that was. They kinda worked - At least I don't have them any more so I must have used them all up. Mann's used to market a tail spinner named the "Little George" - the joke was that the bait was named after George Wallace (the former governor, not the comedian ). I used to own some in-line spinners called "Panthers". They worked and were unique that the blade went straight through the wire shaft and there wasn't any clevis to attach the blade to the shaft. From time to time I wondered what panthers had to do with fishing, other than the obvious that cats allegedly like to eat fish. The joke being that panthers are basically ambush predators and you worked these baits by just casting & retrieving them and the fish ambushed them. Cotton Cordell used to market, maybe they still do, I don't know a top water bait called the "Boy Howdy". I still throw various sizes of "Timber Tigers" pretty often. Prior to them being discontinued I bought a BUNCH of them on close out, one of those times when it was my day off, I'd had a few beers, was discontent that I couldn't go fishing that week and I walked into my favorite tackle shop when they had just (20 minutes prior) put them on close out. I bought 40 or 50 in various sizes and spent less than $200. There used to be jigs marketed in the Table Rock area ( maybe there still are, I don't know, haven't been there in a while) that were called Hazy Daze jigs. I thought that was kind of funny. Once on a practice day I got on a great bite using these jigs after a few barley pops. I'm sure there are lots more, but these are all I can recall right now.

Satisfy my curiosity please - Just what do you mean by "dragging"? That could mean many things. The only advice I can offer for Carolina rigging from the bank is GOOD LUCK. I never saw much future in Carolina rigging from the bank I find it hard to believe that there aren't any tackle shops in the Philadelphia/Trenton area. I googled "tackle shops in the Philadelphia/Trenton metro area" and I got a list of a dozen names or so. Anyway - good luck finding a rod that works for you.

The model numbers don't come to mind this instant, but I'm pretty sure there is something in the Express catalog that would meet your needs.

The size that works for me with senkos is a 3/8" od / 1/4" id. These are just a little tight on senkos but with a little slobber they go on pretty easily and stay put. Your results may differ. I would suggest that you take your baits - go to Ace Hardware of someplace like that - go to the plumbing aisle where they have the individual o-rings for sale and see which ones fit your chosen baits best. A long time ago, someone told me about a web site - o-rings.com. I went there and after a couple of phone calls, I got a distributor in St. Louis who would sell me some. The smallest order they would consider was 1000 of them and that cost me $10 plus postage. The woman on the phone wondered out loud what I needed with such a small order of o-rings. I'm pretty sure somewhere in the fishing shed I have 300 or so left. On a side note, I've tried crossing them over - it is a pain and I really don't see a higher percentage of hooked fish, so I don't bother any more.

Keeping the stuff inside the cooler in a zip lock bag is probably the easiest answer. I wonder what a teaspoon of cornstarch might do to thicken the consistency? Once it has turned to thick liquid, does it turn back into paste when the temperature goes down or does it then stay in the thick liquid form?

I hope you struck gold with your dream chatter bait rod. That's never happened to me. Since I've seriously gotten into bass fishing ( early 80's ). I've searched for the perfect spinner bait rod. I'm probably several thousand dollars into the search over the years. The very best I've done is rods that are "ok" - "will do the job" - better than average at setting the hook. Never found one that is "the best". Tell the truth - the Curado 150 DC that I got a couple of years ago has upped my spinner bait game better than any rod I've bought for that purpose for the past decade. That reel has added 15 to 20 feet to my cast with the same amount of effort.

The only way to know if any particular bait will work - for you - on any particular rod is to try it. .For instance, a couple of my fishing bud throw spinner baits on rods that I wouldn't think of using - for a variety of reasons. Next - it is my suspicion that most guys who say they're throwing 50 yards really aren't. Maybe they are poor judges of distances - maybe the truth is such a precious thing that they don't want to waste it on a subject like casting distance - I don't know. Maybe they are ALWAY throwing with a strong wind at their backs AND they're ALWAYS throwing with the wind. I know that I have some rigs that could, if I had to , throw a half ounce or so 50 yards and if I threw a half ounce chatter bait & trailer 50 yards - good luck on strike detection and hook setting for the first 50 feet of that cast. At that distance, you're just praying that they hook themselves. If you're worrying about having too many rods & reels - don't - it is nearly impossible to have too many. I have a slab spoon rig that I got for throwing ounce and a half to 2 ounce slab spoons into tail races and I can legit throw 100 yards and after an hour or so of throwing that, my fore arms and wrists are tired. If you're wondering about how much your bait weighs and how that applies to any particular rod you can solve that pretty easily - a postal scale that weighs in grams and fractions of ounces costs 10 to 20 bucks at Walmart. I don't know hold old mine is - at least ten years, probably more. You mentioned casting technique in your post - IMO casting technique is important and it is one of those things that can nearly always be improved on. - but it probably isn't the issue in your case. My best advice for you is to find a way to get off the bank - because it is likely that you'll have much more success if you can throw parallel to the bank rather than in & out.

I still have a BUNCH of the old Eakins jigs, so I don't forsee changing any time soon. If I'm moving the boat I like the 5/16 oz size. If I'm fishing out of the back of some one else's boat, I like the heavier 7/16 size, just because I want the bait to get down and do its thing before the boat gets moved very far.

Nice toy.

I've experimented with numerous hooks for throwing wacky rigged senkos. I nearly always use an o-ring. I like a weighted hook, because I think the slightly fast drop helps. My current favorite ( for the last 5 or 6 years at least ) has been a Falcon K-wacky hook 3/0 - 1/16 oz. - with the wire mouse trap style weed guard.

I get it now. Just looked up your bio. Married with a son & daughter. I totally get why you're more concerned about making your soft plastics last than I am. I've had numerous fishing buddies in your situation, i.e. like to fish, but have other obligations as well, so doing what you can to stretch your fishing dollars is important.

You can do that - just buy another rig. I have multiple spinning & bait casting rigs that I use to throw soft plastics. While I'm a junk fisherman and I like to carry many different rigs for specific circumstances, the vast majority of my rigs can present multiple types & weights of baits should that become necessary. For Instance: I throw Brewer Slider Heads alot. Generally a quarter of an ounce, but if you throw Brewer heads very much, you know that there can be a considerable weight variance between one quarter ounce head and the next - nature of the beast. Soft plastics associated with these heads are either Brewer Slider worms or 5" BPS stick-o paddle tails. First choice for throwing these baits is a 6'10" Falcon Low-rider Finesse Jig Rod with aa Curado 50 reel and 10 lb Abrazx. (This used to be the Eakins Jig rod before Eakins & Falcon parted ways, probably more than a decade ago ) I have any number of spinning rods that also do a good job of presenting this bait. If it looks like I'm going to be throwing into the wind, or if I'm going to be fishing out of the back of the boat, I go with spinning gear - either an older 6'3" Diawa LT rod that's just labeled as "finesse spinning" or a 5' 9" Fenwick HMG Med/ ex fast tip that I just like alot. If I have the notion to throw trick worms on a heavier shakey head, like 3/8 or 1/2 oz, I throw those on one of my jig rods, first choice would be a 7' Fenwick AETOS MH/ ex fast tip that is rated to throw weights up to 3/4 or an ounce, I forget. Fishing from the back of the boat, I want my shakey head to get deep asap and so the heavier head becomes necessary. These are just two examples - there are lots more - the point is that rigs can be interchangable and you don't know just how hard it is for a junk fisherman to admit that. In a perfect world with unlimited boat storage, I would have a separate rig for each bait presentation (with spare line spools for each spinning presentation) that I could possibly imagine. And another couple should I run into schooling white bass and maybe another couple should I decide to make long drifts over deeper flats for flatheads and whatever else that is living deep might bite.