Fishes in trees

Back in the 70's, when I was a meat fishing bush hippie, I gained access to a similar body of water - similar sized and filled with 10" to 12" bass. I was in heaven, I was encouraged to catch & keep all the little bass I wanted and I did. 100 fish days, while not common, happened every so often. 30 to 50 fish days happened all the time. I got real good at fishing 3/16 oz Brewer Sliders on 6 lb test. There were a couple of other guys who had access to this water. After 6 or 7 years average size improved some. Every 6 or 7 fish a 15" to 18" keeper would happen and one nasty spring morning I caught 2 that were in the 23" range. My advice for this body of water is to get into meat fishing. Catch & keep & eat. Little bass taste good. Over time average size will improve.

I think that a tx rig tube with an internal weight is the easiest bait to skip. It gets bit ok. If I want an open hook option, the Gene Larew Bass Shooter is first choice. I use spinning gear to skip.

Back in the 70's one of the better fishing magazines out there was Fishing Facts. I read in Fishing Facts once, that it was a good idea to put anise oil into your bags of plastics. So I did. Don't know if it helped. I was a bad contact bait fisherman then, I missed more than 50% of my hits AND I'm pretty sure there were more hits that I didn't know about. At the time, Mann's had the jelly worm that had different fruit flavors associated with different colors. These days I find I fish powerbait products more often than not, and when I don't I give the bait a spray of BANG scent, so I guess I think it helps.

Once upon a time I was at some sports show seminar where the "pro" who's speaking rambled for a while about how the quality of hooks generally supplied on cranks wasn't a "bad" thing. Specifically referring to lipless cranks he talked about when you got the lure stuck on a stump, it was just easier to firmly pull the lure off the stump and then when you got the lure back - re-bend the treble to approximately its original shape with your pliers and continue fishing. He recommended every so often swap that hook out for a similar quality hook. I remember thinking "huh" at the time, but as I was bank bound that approach allowed me to save a couple of lipless cranks that otherwise would have been sacrificed. Then I got a boat, and a pole type lure retriever and a "hound dog" type retriever on a stout cord, and within a season came to the conclusion that stronger hooks made it more likely that fish that bit made it into the boat. My point here is that I'm not really a fan of weak hooks and if a fish is strong enough to bend a hook I don't think that any drag setting is going to make any difference.

I remember back in the day I had a couple of them and I can't remember what I didn't like about them. Probably the vinyl skirt. My favorite back in the day was a smallish frame - round/oval head with a short blade arm and a smaller single Colorado blade. A black one with a black or brown pork frog or a white/chartruese one with a green & white spots pork frog ( standard size, # 11 I think was the ticket.

Thanks for the idea. That is a better rod storage system than what I've currently got. I can adapt that design to my situation. I'll buy the stuff soon and than I've got my first summer rainy day project all ready to go.

Changing the subject slightly, on reflection, I've been "that guy". Im my case, going down a tree line, kinda off the bank, kinda not, pitching 10" worms to the tree trunk, letting them drop to bottom (12 to 20 feet) trying to take the sun & wind into account, how exactly are those fish positioned in relation to the tree . . . I'm in my own head and NOT thinking about anything else. I'm watching the trees, the wind, angle of the sun, it is a lot to think about and then 15 minutes go by, maneuvering according to how the trees are laid out, not much else and all of a sudden I hear a HEY - WATCH OUT!!. I'm 20 feet from a guy going the other way - never saw him. Guy says didn't you see me and I've got to say no and I know how stupid that sounds. I know I can say didn't you see me, but what's the point? At this point, all you can say is sorry & move on. Sometimes out on the water I just get in my own head and there is lots of stuff I don't see. I know folks can say PAY ATTENTION, but in fact there are many things to pay attention to and you can't attend to everything so every now and then I have an OOPS. I suspect that in many of these situations described, something similar has happened and 2 different areas of attention collided.

If possible, so somewhere where you can try them on. Different suits fit different people different. In my case, when I was in the market for an early spring gore tex or better rain suit, Same size, the BPS 100 MPH bibs kind of hung on me, where the Guidewear bibs had a better all over "fit", even allowing for different layers that might or might not go on underneath. I don't think that you can go wrong with any of the premium rain suits out there, just make sure it fits you. You wouldn't but a $400 + or - without getting it tailored. Tailoring services for rain suits aren't available so far as I know, but I do know that different brands fit different. I wouldn't want to stick myself with one that hung wrong or was tight in the wrong places or, too loose is just as uncomfortable as too tight. I recommend trying them on. My Cabelas Guidewear suit is 18 years old & counting.

I used to fish ponds in Central and Western Missouri all the time. I wish cartable sonar would have been available at the time. Real early spring in ponds I had 4 baits that I would rotate through, and generally sooner or later one of them would work. Part of it was lifestyle, but I seldom got out on the water prior to noon or 1 pm, and even then I was looking for the warmest water in whatever body of water I was on. I focused on reaction baits, lipless crank, spinner bait, rooster tail/Mepps/various other brands on in-line spinner, curly tail grub on a jig head 1/8 or 3/16 or 14). Grub would be purple or white, all the other baits would be white or white-ish. Procedure with all these baits was the same, throw them as far as I could and retrieve them fast enough to keep them just off the bottom. If you never snagged you were fishing too high, snagging all the time meant you were fishing too slow. At that point, keep moving, keep throwing. I threw the baits with spinning gear then - didn't own any decent bait caster at the time.

I've had the Bucco Trap Caster with the micro guides for a few years now. It works great as my dedicated lipless crank rod. I throw mono on it, from 14 to 20 depending on what mono is on sale. Anyway, I've never fished with in chilly early spring conditions. I've always wondered it you would have more guides icing up issues with the micro guides than you would with the regular guides. Back when I fished the Ozark BFL's, that first and maybe the second tournament of the year, I'd go through most of a can of Reel Magic, spraying it on guides to keep the ice off. These days, if it is that chilly, I'm just not going.

I use 14 lb Fireline Crystal and a short, foot to foot and a half fluorocarbon leader. I prefer spinning gear to throw jerk baits.

My current Ned Rig is a 5'4" Fenwick HMG spinning rod. Med - extra fast tip, and a 1000 size Shimano Spirex rear drag. The rear drag Spirex is an older reel, a little heavier than the front drag, but it works and currently it is a low priority to replace. Mostly I throw Berkley Nanofil. 12 or 17, I don't know exactly what pound test. I haven't noticed the white nanofil line affecting bites one way or the other. This rig will throw a 1/16 oz jig head with a half sinker z or finesse TRD as far as I've ever needed to throw one.

I've went to mostly 1000 size reels (Shimano & Pflueger, various grades) mostly because of weight reasons and they seem to fit my hands better. The fish ok to me using 20 lb braid or 14 lb Fireline. I'm pretty sure that they would handle 6 lb Fluorocarbon, but I don't fish that light that often. My current favorite wacky rig is a 7' Fenwick HMG MH- EXF tip - 1000 size reel (Pflueger President I think) with 20 lb braid and 15 0r 20 lb fluorocarbon leader of a foot and a half or so. I don't worry about breaking the reel at all with this set up and it lets me cast as far as I've needed to so far. I like how light this set up is and how when I get bit, I can use a sturdy hook set and not worry about stuff breaking.

Go to the tackle store and look around, you might find something. Years ago, I found some small spinner bait organizers, good for holding 4 or 5 baits - probably not made anymore - go to Flambeau or Plano web sites & look around. Maybe a cheap CD case from Walmart with vinyl pouches - seems like I've read that recommended on this site previously. Some 3600 boxes have one side that is open after you remove all the dividers - maybe get one of those. On a side note - creek fishing 3/8 & 1/2 oz spinner baits might be a little heavy for creek fishing - I don't know how much current you're dealing with. Maybe a beetle spin type bait might be the ticket. Good luck. On a different side note, the last time I fished the Gasconade in south central Missouri, I was in a float boat and more often than not every time I came across faster riffles that were at least a foot and a half deep the War Eagle Screaming Eagle was the ticket. (This bait is a 1/4 oz size bait that actually weighs a half an ounce). Might want to try something like that. Sorry for going long. After gong long, then re- reading previous posts, the Flambeau small spinner bait box is what you need. I have a number of those boxes and they work great.

Bank fishing or boat fishing? If you're in a boat you've got a few more options. The warmest water in the lake would be the best chance for active fish and that warmest water will probably be the shallower portions of the lake. Spinner bait or chatter bait or lipless crank these areas. If you're bank bound, start walking and be throwing a spinner bait along the bank, go as parallel to the bank as you can 5 to 8 or so feet out. Another option if you're in a boat is that some fish might not be out of their winter patterns yet. In that case try to fish main lake points, if there aren't many of those fish where shallow water comes close to deep water. I'd throw a shakey head or a finesse jig, maybe one of my home made jika rigs. Dress warm enough that you can stay out for a while trying to figure out the spots.

I fish with many brands of stick worms. For wacky style fishing, I don't think that there is any replacement for senkos, so I have a separate bag for that. Anything that I'm going to Texas rig, I like a tougher brand of plastic, so I've used Dingers, Strike King, (both the shimmy sticks & Ochos) Big Bite Baits have some interesting colors and so does Chompers. When I go to a tackle store and see a color of stick worm that I don't have I'll probably buy a couple of bags. I fish BPS stick baits quite a bit - besides the stick-o consider fishing the Mag Fin-eke worm Last summer I fished the Zoom Mag trick worm & Zoom Mag Finesse worm quite a bit. There are many brands of stick baits that I haven't tried also, in some cases because of limited availability and in other cases because enough is enough. I haven't gotten into Jackall or Keitech, or some of the other brands that have come into my neighborhood in the past couple years. Besides texas rigging with a tungsten worm weight, early in the summer, post spawn but before summer patterns get set, I fish a tail weighted stick worm quite a bit, throwing it into holes and irregular edges of weediness that are forming but not formed yet. I got broke off enough that I upgraded to 17 lb Abrazx for this approach. I guess the point of this is I wouldn't limit myself to comparing just 2 different brands. My approach seems to be get the colors I want, the ones that I feel best match the water colors I might deal with, and again senkos are different, if I'm wacky rigging I'm throwing a senko, with a couple of criss crossed o-rings so that the hook is at a 90 degree angle in relation to the axis of the bait.

This is a subject that I've thought about quite a bit. Harbor Freight makes canvas tool bags - the 15" ones sell for $5 on sale pretty often (They also make a 12" one). My current system is that baits stay in their original packaging and are sorted by category into different gear bags. Currently (I think) there is a separate bag for 10" worms, paddle tail worms, lizards, brush hogs, senkos, tubes, Chompers, senko imitators like Dingers, etc, 7" power worms, I also use these bags for kits, fishing styles that I only do occasionally, so I keep baits, terminal tackle, etc together. Currently there is a Biffle Bug kit, a finesse drop shot kit, a bubba drop shot kit, a 3" to 5" swim bait kit, ned rig kit, and I know I'm forgetting a few. Label the canvas bags with different colors of duct tape and the stuff is more or less organized. Every so often, original packaging bags wear out before you run out of baits, that is where freezer strength zip lock bags are necessary. There is a white space on the outside of the bag to write down brand & color - do that when you transfer stuff or I guarantee you will forget. The harbor freight canvas bags are pretty heavy duty. Some of them I've had for 4 or 5 years now and they are still sturdy and the zippers still work.

IMO rain gear must match up to the weather or else you're uncomfortable. Me, I solved that problem by getting several sets of rain gear. Early spring - late fall -temps under 50 degrees I have a set of Cabelas Guide Wear - purchased 2000 or 2001, somewhere in there. Still in good shape, all the zippers work. Spread the expense over 18 years (and still counting) and great foul weather rain gear becomes pretty cheap. I don't get to go fishing all that often, but I will wear this suit 6 or 7 times per year, give or take. Late spring - summer - early fall I like the Frogg Toggs. Windproof - just as water repellent as the Guide Wear - adjust clothes underneath to current weather conditions. I've been in pretty heavy cloudbursts in July 90 degree weather give or take and been fine. When the rain stops you might want to unzip or you'll start sweating. Frogg Toggs can be fragile so pay attention to where it rubs on seats & stuff and getting hooks stuck in it. Not a big issue, but something to remember. So that is how I deal with rain gear. Unless you live somewhere where it is the same temperature all the time, I don't think you can comfortably get by with one set and in my case, taking reasonable care of the gear has resulted in it lasting for a while now. While we're on the subject, rain gear and cold weather gear isn't necessarily the same. Cold weather gear involves a good hat, gloves/mittens/ warm socks, waterproof footwear, etc. MY advice for that is to buy an assortment of it and keep it in the fishing truck and use as needed.

The freezer strength zip lock bags work better for me than the regular zip locks. As far as I know, the smallest size is the quart size. Still, that solves the issue of just taking a few baits of each size & color & they won't bleed into each other. It is the constant dilemma of bringing too much or not enough of any particular piece of fishing gear. I fish out of an 18' tackle box so I tend to err on the bringing too much stuff side.

Congratulations, you ran into something that I didn't believe existed, i.e. a "knowledgeable BPS fishing staff". Every so often, I go to the Independence, MO store, never ran into one there. In fact, they've mastered the art of instantly doing a 90 degree or 180 degree turn if they happen to be walking down some aisle that you're in. Excuse the rant, just over the years I've found BPS a frustrating place to shop. I like their aquariums though. I presume at the BPS store in Springfield they still have the monster Alligator Snapping Turtle in a separate tank. That beast is cool and it never gets old looking at that thing.

I use spinning gear for jerkbaits, mostly because I fish them most often in the spring and it is often windy in the spring and I do better throwing jerk baits into the wind or cross wind with spinning gear. Top water gear, I find if I use a rod that is too long I often smack the tip into the side of the boat while manipulating the bait. For me, 6'8" rod is too long and with a 6'6" rod I have to pay attention and be careful, so I use 6' rods for throwing top waters. My current favorite is one I got off the clearance rack last year, a 6" All Star Med/Fast.

Is it too much to ask HUH? What for? Are you kidding? Do you really think that your fishing skills will improve if you've got the same dome protector as a TV fisherman does? Call me an old Geezer, ( I don't mind, as a baby boomer we've co-opted that term and it isn't derogatory any more. It is a title you earn by living 60+ years) but, I don't see the point of being a human billboard for some company without some compensation. If the hat was free, that might be enough compensation. I just don't see the point of wearing come company's logo without some compensation - as mentioned previously, my human bill board days are behind me.

I learned that lesson once with a bunch of crappie jigs, "just a little rust, I can fish them ok - no problem" Fishing for what turned out to be medium sized bluegill & crappie and the occasional 12" bass, I broke a dozen or so 1/8 oz crappie jigs, all at the same place ( bend of the hook ) in about an hour. No jig lasted more than 2 fish ( and these weren't big fish). Point of this story is I don't recommend fishing with rusty hooks at all. My advice - bite the bullet, invest in a bunch of correct size treble hooks and quality split rings and while you're at it get a GOOD pair of split ring pliers. I like the pair I got from Texas Tackle. Get the heavier trebles for your lipless cranks and maybe very sharp lighter ones for your jerk baits, I don't know for sure - do your research. THEN - pop for a mixer of your favorite barley pop, crank up the stereo in your shop, and start swapping out trebles. I'd guess that you'd get most of them done in an afternoon. Option B - you've gone to the trouble of cleaning up the lures, go buy the trebles & split rings & pliers and put them all in a box labeled "next winter project". Now go buy enough new lures to get you through this season. Problem solved.

Is the owner there all the time? Perhaps sometime when owner isn't around you could find a 4-wheeler to drag/tow your boat. Definitely, if this water has the potential you think it does, you'll be going there more than once. Somehow consider leaving a boat there. Using the riding mower, if available to drag or tow a boat down the path isn't a bad idea. I've got to believe that somewhere in your neighborhood there is an old Jon boat that you could get to the shore of that water and just leave it there.

I have an older Falcon 6'10" Eakins Jig rod with a 50 sized Chronarch and 10 lb Abrazx that I'll use for weightless worms. Generally though, I've got that rig purposed for another technique and I'll go with some spinning rig. I don't think you need to go real expensive here, any Medium spinning rod with lighter braid and a fluorocarbon leader will work.