Fishes in trees

I don't know why you'd ever tie direct to a crank bait. I like the idea of a split ring over a snap. If you're paranoid about the line getting caught in the split ring, oval split rings fix that.

I can't speak to the particular Aetos rod you're referring to but, I have a couple of the 7'2" MH XF casting rods that I use for bottom contact baits between 3/8 and 3/4 and they work great for me. I have a few 6'8" MH (I forget the listen action) that I use for throwing spinnerbaits and other reaction baits and I'm happy with them for the most part. All these rods are several years old and I'm not certain that they are included in the current Aetos lineup. I've considered different Aetos spinning rods in the past but wasn't impressed with the handle at all, thought it was uncomfortable.

I bring many waters and a few beers (Founders All Day IPA is the current favorite). Stop at Caseys for gas en-route and the Caseys chicken salad sandwich on a croissant is a good lunch choice or one of their wraps, whatever is fresh. Sometimes Lance crackers. Most of the time when I get to go fishing I go all day and so when I get off the water, I'm hungry. I'll stop for BBQ or Mexican or whatever. I generally don't go to a lake if I don't know where the food is when I get off the water. In Missouri that generally isn't a problem.

You do what you want, but I think that buying a significant other a cheaper fishing rig is just asking for it. If you wouldn't fish with it, why should she? Previous suggestions of $50 or so rods on sale at Academy are spot on. Excellent value for the money. I don't walk into Academy Sports without money in my pocket. Bargains happen often enough there that you just got to get 1 or 2. Last year, I got a couple of jig rods in the $40 range that are every git as good as my $150 (more or less) Falcon Low Rider Eakins Jig Special. My advice is to keep your eye out for "bargains", but don't go cheap.

I've fished for many years & tried nearly every "new" technique that came down from the different "experts" that I either read about or met. So I got lots of gear. Last year I fished 10" worms ALOT. Tungsten weights helped the learning curve quite a bit. I got confident enough that I didn't feel that I was missing hits and that I could throw it in different places and feel like if there was a fish there, it would probably bite it. This year, I don't know. I keep a good ned rig in the boat all the time, but I seldom fish it. I have a Loomis drop shot rod that I need to remember to keep in the boat. I bubba drop shot frequently but I seldom pick up the finesse version. So there be 2 things to work on. Last year I feel like I neglected my whole reaction bait game, mostly to focus on 10" worms. Improving my reaction bait game in general, and my spinner bait game in particular, is in the plans this year.

I've learned my lesson on this one. If I have to skip something somewhere, spinning gear makes it easier for me. I just bought a Curado 150 DC and it has a skipping setting, so I'm sure I'll try that at some point this spring. Weather here sucks right now though and I don't see me getting out on the water til maybe late March.

They are your lures, you get to decide what is fishable and what ain't. ... me, I wouldn't fish any of the wooden lures. You've got some old Bomber Water Dogs that are pretty collectable . ... I wouldn't fish the older Heddon plastic lures . .. some of the poppers are just old lures and not particularly collectable, I'd put new hooks on them prior to fishing them. The Lazy Ike baits were very common and popular at one time - not so much these days. Really, outside of a few of the poppers, I wouldn't fish any of them. There are some lure collector web sites where much more information is available. Some rainy/snowy day I'd sit down at the computer with a 6 pack and start researching. I wouldn't be letting my dad or anyone else for that matter start throwing these lures and losing them until I had a reasonable knowledge of what I had.

Low, clear water, my first inclination would be to drop wacky senko rigs on any deep weed line edge I could find. My second inclination would be to drop a lightly weighted 10" worm into those same areas.

JMO, and take into consideration that I don't night fish very often, but I feel that walking baits are more trouble than they are worth at night to fish - Pop-rs fit into this same category. My best topwater night fishing baits have been ones with a more consistent noise - something that I felt was easier for a fish to track, find & strike at night. First choice would be a jitterbug. Next, in no particular order would be a Heddon crazy crawler, a buzz bait or some rattling wake bait.

Do the math. Expenses for tournament fishing, at the club level aren't appreciable different from expenses incurred fishing at the semi-pro level like BFL. Entry fee might be a little higher, but travel costs will be the same, lodging costs will be the same, boat gas will be the same . . . .You aren't going to fish with any less expensive baits/gear just because it is a club tournament. Most club guys won't mind carrying you once - for a single tournament, lodging, food, gas, whatever. For a whole season that is definitely out of the question. So - do the math and make sure you can afford it.

I fish senko style baits quite a bit. If I'm throwing wacky style, there isn't any substitute for original senko. I'm a fan of using o-rings. 3/8 o.d. - 1/4 i.d. seems to be the size of o-ring that works best for me. Sometimes I use a single o-ring, last year I tried using 2 and criss-crossing them so that the hook is perpendicular to the bait. On e o-ring rigs the bait with the hook in line with the bait. Didn't notice a huge difference either way, this year I went back to one o-ring. When I tx rig stick baits, either weightless or tail weighted hook or tx rig with a slip weight (pegged or not) or with an insert weight in the tail I find that there are many brands of stick baits that work. My approach has been to buy most of them and I make my bait choice based on color rather than brand. This year my buddy has has most of his success with tx rigged dingers, black/blue sparkles laminate. Me, I've had some luck with the black & blue, and also with the V & M stick bait in Ocochobee Craw and the Ocho in the same color. Culprit makes a unique color of green pumpkin with large copper flakes that lead the league on a couple of occasions this summer. Last summer, the water overall was a little clearer than it has been this summer. Last summer the Chompers stick bait in Huckleberry color seemed to be the ticket. So that is my approach to tx rigged stick baits. BUY THEM ALL - every color you can afford - make your bait choices according to color rather than brand. I've found that if the fish don't like the bait - it will last a long time. Should fish show a preference for a particular color, the bait won't last very long.

As I've gotten older I find that I won't launch my boat anywhere that doesn't have a decent ramp AND a decent privy. Fortunately here in Missouri, most Department of Conservation lakes and all the major lakes fit that criteria. There are a few subdivision lakes that just aren't worth the effort. Fishing on them is ok to great, I wouldn't know because I don't want to mess with loading/unloading issues. Current issues as a type 2 diabetic dictate that 20 minutes after breakfast, when I eat my Metformin, I've got to be somewhere that I can "lighten my load".

If you can't absolutely, positively, justify stocking up on both jigs AND cranks and maybe some spinnerbaits, and a swim bait or two, perhaps some new line, then you really aren't hooked by the bait monkey

A private strip pit? Sounds like fun. You might need to acquire some gear to make it more fun. You said jon boats are available. USE THEM. If you feel weird going out in them by yourself - get over it. The owner wouldn't have given you permission if he/she felt wrong about you using the available gear. Get your own trolling motor. I'd recommend the largest one you can afford - Minn Kota makes a 55 lb thrust one 12 volt and variable speed. (Variable speed is handy and worth the extra coin over the one with 4 or 5 fixed speeds.) If the jon boats have oar locks - get a decent set of oars. Get a portable depth finder - I'd recommend the Hummingbird Fishing Buddy. That will greatly increase the learning curve of understanding the various depths. The previous advice of finding the ramp where they moved equipment in and out is spot on - key place on the whole lake really. Good luck.

I went out yesterday - cloudy & rainy - it got a little darker ( a very little bit darker ). If I hadn't known about the eclipse I just would have chalked it up to dark clouds. Caught a few fish - all slots - pretty slow day all in all, but beat the alternative of not going fishing and it was the only day this week that I could go.

BEWARE OF CHEAP BAIT CASTING REELS. Rumor has it that you get what you pay for. Kinda long ago, I bought a US Reel Supercaster Hidden 800 SX. I bought it because, throwing half ounce practice plugs in the parking lot, with a kind of tippy 6'6" rod (labeled MH but really more of a medium power & action) you could throw a long ways with reasonable accuracy. Fast forward to real time, throwing any kind of bait on the water, and it don't work very well. Anytime your bait caught any air back lashes happened. I couldn't find a technique that it was even decent for and there was nothing it was good at. I have a collection of cat fishing gear and the Hibdon Supercaster is in with that bunch of gear, early retirement as it were. I've used it twice in the 5 years I've owned it, I had a spread of catfish lines out and that Supercaster rig never got bit. I'm concerned what would happen if a decent cat or a bigger carp picked up the bait and made a run on that reel. I wouldn't be surprised if the gears disintegrated. However, if you want to throw practice plugs in the parking lot, it is a good reel for that. To reiterate - DON'T BUY CHEAP BAIT CASTERS.

At my favorite fishing store, they had a their last 300E, sitting in the very top shelf of their pile of reels, out of the way and gathering dust. I wanted it, but I kept telling myself to wait, until I had some genuine disposable income. When I finally decided that I had spare money, that didn't need to be allocated for anything else, I went to the store and some one else had bought the reel. They told me, don't despair - the new Tranx will be in soon and it will be the replacement in their line for the 300E and it is a sturdier, more reliable reel. I thought ok, I'll wait and see, the new Tranx came in and it was more or less everything they said it would be EXCEPT it is quite a bit heavier than the 300E. Heavy enough that I don't want to mess with it. I wanted the reel to throw A-rigs a ways and not throw out over half the. spool like I'm currently doing with my current A-rig reel. (Calcutta 200 TEGT) Anyway, my dreams for a palmable distance casting reel have been put on hold for a while. That Tranx is just too heavy for me and it would bug me every time I threw it. I think that if you can deal with the weight on the Tranx, it would be your distance casting reel for the foreseeable future. I think you'd have to work very hard to wear that reel out.

I don't like wasting time tying knots while I'm fishing. I'll take time to re-tie if line gets scraped or bait gets lost , thats ok , but just taking time to put on a new bait seems to me a waste of time. Therefore - at the start of the day I've got 15 or so rigs laid out on the deck. Switching baits is pretty simple - just pick up another rig. I do that a lot. It isn't unusual to try 3 different baits before moving off to a different spot. How & what I throw pretty much depends on how I'm feeling and what I think will work and that is a moment to moment decision.

Might try looking in pawn shops - never know what you might find.

I would disagree that a high speed reel, in the 7 something to one range, is necessary for jig fishing. Sometimes handy - yes - necessary? -- no. For me, gear ratio is a secondary consideration for jig fishing. Reel weight -how it feels on the rod, how it casts - sensitivity are more inportant to me. Back in the day we thought 5-1 reels were "high speed" Anyway, for my jig fishing I like my Curado and Chronarch 50's. I like the size, they can handle any jig line from 10 to 20 lb fluorocarbon. They just suit my style right now. Given unlimited funds, I'd probably be fishing the higher end Shimano reels or maybe/probably the Diana Pixies, but these mid-range priced reels suit me ok for now. I believe the gear ration is 6 something to one.

There is such a thing as heavier duty spinning gear. I've got a Fenwick HMG spinning rod - 7' MH with an extra fast tip. A spinning reel with 30 lb braid and I haven't seen any vegetation here in Missouri that rod couldn't handle. (Haven't been to Florida or similar climates with this rig, so I can't say how it would deal with that level of vegetation. This rig can throw a senko as far as necessary. I've got lighter spinning gear that I throw senkos on from time to time, as well as different bait casting rigs. It just depends.

Why build a tackle box? Tackle boxes can be bought and they come in different sizes and levels of quality, from pretty cheap and not worth your time and easy to tear up, to how much do you want to spend. What is the level of quality that you and your wallet are comfortable with? I sense somehow that you aren't referring to that, but more to building up a kit of reliable lures. Questions - . . . . A - What are your local waters like? B - How do you like to fish? C - What works most of the time for others in your area? D - Bank fish or boat fish? E - Bank fishing - How far are you walking? F - Boat fishing - How big is the boat you're fishing out of? G - Boat fishing - Do you fish out of other guys boats more often - co-angler? H - Tournament stuff or day to day recreational fishing? ( Two considerably different games ) I - Prefer spinning gear or bait casting gear? J - Bank fishing - Do you stay on the bank or do you mind getting a little wet? (If you don't mind getting a little wet, the best tool you can buy for bank fishing is a pair of hip waders. Gets you off the bank a little bit and makes it much easier to fish parallel to the bank, which is often important in covering water while bank fishing ) K - How concerned about budget are you? L - Local resources - Are there decent tackle shops in your region or are you more focused on internet purchases? M - Bank fishing - If you're hiking in, how far? ( Back in the day, when I was a meat fishing bush hippie, about half a mile was my limit. DON'T try hiking in hip waders.) N - What kind of fishing do you like to do the best? (For instance, I'd carry more Ned rig stuff if I LIKED Ned rigging. However, I see that kind of as a last resort so I carry a minimal quantity of Ned rig stuff) * Minimal for me - your definition of minimal might differ. O - How old are you and what is your budget? This makes a difference. What do you need to accumulate now? What can you wait to accumulate over time. (16 years ago, I had to build a fishing shed to accommodate the stuff I'd accumulated up to that point. And it gave me room to accumulate much more stuff. Needless to say, I didn't buy very many new bait casters the year I paid for having the shed built. ) Hope this gives you some stuff to think about. There isn't any easy answer to your question, but confronting these questions MIGHT give you some notion of what you need and what you don't. (Except the one about building a tackle box - buying one that suits you is MUCH simpler than trying to build one) Questions B and N are similar - they are important questions.

That reel is too heavy for me. Now when they come up with one with similar stats that weighs less than 8 ounces, then I might consider one for my collection of "borrower" reels.

Arkie salty crawling drugs are good baits. Used to be available at Walmart everywhere - not so much in the Walmarts near me (KC Metro area). I think they are a good pitching bait, thrown on some kind of brush jig. They are a little bigger and a little longer than the Chompers. If you have water with plenty of rocks and little vegetation they work good on football heads - with or without the brush guard. Match your line to the stoutness of the jig hook. A heavy forged hook doesn't work great with lighter line - IMO.

Lots of guys, even the first few YEARS of boat fishing will fish too fast and not give the bait time to drop. Bass fishermen aren't the most patient of fishermen therefore the need to tell yourself to be patient and give the bait time to drop. An alternative is to go heavy. When I feel the fish are relating to the bottom, I'll throw my home made jika rig which vary from half an ounce to 3/4. Increase the drop speed on purpose just to get to the bottom quicker. . . . .At least until my buddy, fishing out of the back of my boat, sticks a few 18" or 19" fish, throwing a 10" power worm with a 3/16 oz weight and just waiting for the drop to happen. Fish were on the bottom, but they wanted a lightly weighted 10" worm instead of a heavier weighted brush hog - go figure. I did switch to what he was using - one of the advantages of having 15 rigs ready in the boat.