Fishes in trees

Here's the deal. Do your research. When you get to some place you can fish - try something. If that don't work - try something else. In olden times, Bill Dance & Roland Martin collaborated on a " fishing computer". It was programmed to ask a series of questions and based on your responses it listed which lures you "should" be using. If you're having issues deciding what & how to fish on your own, maybe that old school toy can help.

A "few" "must have" lures? No such thing. I feel like I "must have" most of the lures being offered for retail today, as well as most of the ones that have been offered for retail in the past. That is the only way that you can understand the subtle differences between Husky Jerks, Rogues, Pointers, AC Shiners and the dozen or so other jerk baits in the current arsenal. The same thing goes for the dozens of brands of shakey head jigs - and cranks - and soft plastics. The only thing limiting my acquisition of different baits is my admittedly limited disposable income and an often waning sensibility of enough is enough. I feel like every lure that has made it into the fishing truck is a "must have" bait, and the ones that are specially blessed make it into the boat. IMO many lures are "specially blessed" because many of them make it into the boat. I don't seen an easy answer to the question. Got to start somewhere - pick a few, then pick a few more, sooner or later you'll be where many of us are at. While you're picking them, probably want to pick baits that are somewhat suitable to your current conditions, of which I have no clue . ..

IMO - 2 different situations require 2 different baits - maybe more. Skimming the tops of weeds = some kind of tandem bait, willow/willow blade, willow/colorado blade, whatever. I wouldn't ignore the old McCollum Bush Hog, which has 2 fairly large Colorado blades and is designed to "bulge" the surface. I use half ounce baits the vast majority of the time. For the deeper weed line situation I prefer a single Colorado blade - reduced visibility requires more "thump" IMO so that is what I nearly always go for.. Color is up to you - sooner or later any color will work - colors that work for you might not work for me. I've seen that. Having said that, my favorite low visibility color is a half ounce chartreuse/purple bait with a fairly large copper Colorado blade. I want the blade above and slightly behind the hook. Not a big fan of the "short arm" spinner baits, however I've seen many where I thought the blade arm was too long. Anyway, that is what I use. Now, having said that, I think that a brightly colored chatter bait works better for skimming over the tops of weeds than a spinner bait does, (because I can see it and feel it better) or a wake bait like a Minus 1, maybe with the down hook of the trebles snipped off to reduce snagging a little bit. You've got options ..

I've got a 7' Fenwick HMG spinning rod. MH with an extra fast tip. It is rated for lures up to an ounce. I wouldn't have any issues with throwing lures weighing several ounces with it. Use a reel with a large enough spool. You don't want to be throwing over half your spool out - IMO. I bought this rod specifically to throw 3/4 oz Football head and cone head jigs rigged with 5" and 6" boot tailed plastic shad baits in tailrace conditions, specifically the Pickwick Dam tailrace during a BFL Wild Card tournament. I was throwing 14 lb Fireline with a 20 lb Fluorocarbon leader. Distance was never an issue. Pre- tournament, throwing into the tail race from the bank, I got the distance I wanted and got bit several times - landed 2 fish and lost 4 jig heads. By tournament time, I had PLENTY of jig heads & baits. The issue was the boaters I drew. Day 1 - drew a semi-local guy with a 3 week old 20' Ranger - beautiful boat. He said, "I ain't going anywhere near that tailrace in this boat - it's brand new." Day 2 - drew a guy from West Virginia who trailered a 17.5 tin boat to Florence Alabama. He had the boat to drift the tail race but he didn't have the confidence to do it. We spent the whole day fishing a side canal - protected by several jetties. Minimal current and minimal fish were present. Oh well - best laid plans - Now I do have a spinning rig capable of throwing baits in the 1 ounce range - more or less. I don't use it very often, but I got one . . .

Fishing them around edges of any kind is a good idea. A buddy of mine hit on a pattern a few weeks ago of fishing the outside edges of standing timber. Here's the deal - a few hundred yards of standing timber tree line. Boat is paralleling the tree line. Bait is thrown paralleling the tree line - 8 to 15 feet away from the main line of trunks. Mostly open water, but there is a branch sticking out here and there, underneath the surface and difficult to see. Throwing a bluegill colored chatterbait and running it 5 to 7 feet down in 14 to 20 feet of water. Bud cleaned up on this pattern on two different occasions this summer - two different lakes. I've been unable to replicate this, but thought I'd share - might work for you.

Back in olden times, 5 1/2 feet rods were pretty common - with the old pistol grip handles. I knew guys who were very accurate with this gear. A 5'6" MH rod was pretty common in the Ozark for throwing jigs. Believe it or not, most people sat down to fish then and outside of an occasional roll cast (Jimmy Houston style) pitching wasn't very common. Heck, standing up to fish wasn't very common. A rod that size in Medium action would be more suited for reaction baits - spooks - poppers - Buzz baits, stuff like that. I always considered that length and style of rod a " wrist killer ". I was glad when longer, straight handled rods became more common. When I'm not pitching, I make 2 handed casts ( roll casts, side arm, overhead, whatever ) and 2 handed casts, with a longer handled rod, are much easier on my wrists over the course of a day. All my short piston grip rods are permanently retired.

RB stands for round bend - as opposed to several other types of bends in hooks offered by various hook manufacturers, like wide gap or sproat or O'Shaunessey to name a few. As for your wacky rig hook issues, I got nothing, other than if you don't like the hook you're using for whatever reason, try a different hook. I like Falcon K-Wacky weedless weighted hooks for wacky rigging myself, but there are many quality brands of hooks out there.

Pretty simple - purchase some punching gear and have at it.

When I was co-angling, I took 2 spare bait casters. One filled with line appropriate for reaction bait presentations and the other for "feel" bait presentations. Much more often than not, it was the crank/spinner bait/square bill reel that I would back lash. 3 minute rule, i.e. if I couldn't get the tangle out in 3 minutes or so, cut the line, store the tangled reel and bust out the alternate. Don't forget spare spools for whatever spinning gear you bring also.

My first decent spinning reel - a Garcia Mitchell 300 purchased in. 1976 - wouldn't let you close the bail manually. You had to turn the handle to flip the bail over. Every so often, you broke a bail spring. This was a popular reel and a well known problem. The 2 tackle shops in Columbia, MO always had extra bail springs on hand. These days, flipping the bail by hand, just seems more sensible and natural to me. You take a fraction of a second, look down and see that the line is "right" and then flip the bail. It is pretty much unconscious now, in that I don't think about it, I just do it.

I have found that when my frogs fill up with water, they land with a more natural "splat" sound rather than a splash. I think that this is good.

On any given trip, I'll have 15 to 20 rigs ready to go, However it is my identical rods that I use the most. I have 2 identical 7'2" Aetos MH/extra fast tip rods that I'll use for soft plastics - jigs - jika rigs - anything that required touch & feel on the bottom. I have three 6'8" Fenwick Aetos MH / fast tip rods that I use for reaction baits - spinner baits, chatter baits, square bills . . . I'm comfortable throwing any reaction bait on these rods. On any given day these 5 rods get most of the work.

I've got enough gear that if a lure makes it into the boat, it is a "favorite." On further review, I've got LOTS of favorites. Still, I try to pick a bait based on current situations.

For me, longer rods are a challenge to work walking baits like spooks, or poppers. I like a medium action rod, but I don't want one over 6'. - 6'3" max.

Harbor Freight has canvas tool bags for $6 more or less. These work great for sorting out various plastics. Not a big fan of the "one bag to hold them all" school of thought. In my case, that bag would get way too heavy. I like the 15" size best although the 11" size works ok for smaller assortments. Currently I keep a dozen or so in the boat - more or less. 10" worms - 7' ribbon tail worms - 5" paddle tail worms - Chompers - tx rig drop shot baits - nose hook drop shot baits - senkos - assorted tx rig stick baits - finesse drop shot baits - ned rig baits - brush hogs - assorted other creature baits - Lizards - Yum Zellemanders - wait, seems like I keep more than a dozen and I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some. Anyway the advantage to these bags is that they are heavy duty canvas and you can just throw them in the bottom of the boat and no damage happens to them when you step on them and kick them out of the way. Check it out, I find that a variety of canvas bags sorted by bait type works much better than a big bag to hold everything did.

I don't know, but boiling soft plastics, with the hope that it will "soften" them and improve the action, just seems like a bad idea to me. I think that you can find the niche that different baits work best in and go with that. For instance, BPS Stickos work good for me as tx rigged stick baits. Fishing them wacky style, there isn't any comparison between the action of the sticko and the senko. So I don't use stickos when I want to wacky rig. There's one example. While keeping different plastic baits in their own packages you might want to sort them out according to how you're going to use them. For instance - wacky rig baits in one bag - tx rig stick baits in a different one. Nose hook drop shot baits in one bag and tx rig drop shot baits in a separate bag. Paddle tail worms in one bag and ribbon tail worms in a separate bag. I keep a small gym bag full of "Truman Lake" colors. Tubes, Lizards, Chompers, 10" worms, 7" worms, Paddle tails, trailers, etc. all in colors that I'm fairly certain will work on Truman. A separate gym bag is full of an assortment of soft plastics that are likely to work on the generally clearer waters of the Ozark Lakes. There is some overlap that I'm not concerned about. Harbor Freight sells canvas tool bags (depending on supplier & time of year they will either be canvas or ballistic nylon) and the 11" and 15" sizes work great for sorting plastics into usable bundles. Keeping stuff organized & available in home storage mode is a different issue. I find the plastic shoe boxes with the attached lids work best for me. All the big box stores like Home Depot - Lowe's, Menards have them and they will be between $1.50 and $3 each - less on sale. Every time you go to one of those stores, and remember, drop a 20 on plastic shoe boxes. After a few years, you might have enough. The better you have stuff organized (and labeled) the better chance you have of remembering what you have when you need it. For instance - a box full of Trick worms - a different box full of the Netbait version of trick worms. Power worms & culprits are both ribbon tails - but have a different box for each brand. Sorting all your different plastics into a system that works for you is a challenge and requires considerable mental effort. I find a session IPA like Founders All Day IPA or Boulevard Frequent Fliers works best for me. Glad I could help.

I'm a Fenwick fan. My only experiences are with the HMG, Aetos and the discontinued Technica AV lines. I like their warranties and customer service.

One - I don't think that 7' is too short for a frog rod. I wouldn't be that worried about it being too stiff. It is a Carrot Stix. I'd be worried about it being too brittle and easily breakable. I've owned a couple of Wild Black Carrot Stix for a few years now. I'm the only guy I know who hasn't broken all their carrot six. The main reason is that I'm not an exceptionally forceful hook set kind of guy. If it was me and I had the issue of not feeling that rod was right for frogging, I'd try again and buy a different frog rod. Then I'd re-purpose the Carrot Stix, at least until it breaks ( and sooner or later it is going to break, that is what Carrot Stix do ) I'd suggest that you put a decent reel on it with an adequate supply of 15 or 17 lb fluorocarbon and use it to throw heavier football jigs (half or 3/4 oz). In the clear water reservoirs in the Ozarks, it is a good idea to carry a heavy football jig rod all the time. It makes fishing the 15' to 40' points much more efficient, because you ain't waiting so long for the jig to drop. Another purpose for this rod might be for throwing Biffle Bugs. I've experimented with a number of different lengths and actions of rods for throwing Biffle Bugs (I generally throw the half ounce or 3/4 oz size) and I've found that a heavy action rod works best for me. I wouldn't sell the rod, that would be more trouble than it is worth.

I'm recalling the old BPS hybrid spinnerbait (Tornado/toronado/something like that) with the bent semi-willow blade. I don't know anyone who didn't buy one and I don't know anyone who caught a fish on one. . . . Maybe I just bought the wrong color, who knows. When this bait hits the bargain bin, I will buy one or two because it looks like a good frame & hook - blades can be replaced, as can the p.o.s. vinyl skirt. I'm going to wait for this bait to flame out and hit the bargain bin prior to buying one.

Many boaters have "spare" or "borrowers" rigs, to lend out if the co-angler is short on gear. I know I do. I haven't fished tournaments for a while, but I take out rookies enough times per year to have spare gear. When you get paired up with a boater you might inquire, or inquire at the pre-tournament if anyone has any gear they'd be ok with lending. My only rule was/ is that I DO NOT lend any rig that is in the starting line up. Basically if a first string rod gets torn up I want to be the guy to do it. I don't mind lending rigs that have been rotated out of the starting line up. When I was fishing BFL as a co-angler I'd show up with 15 or 18 rods and wouldn't make the decision on which 5 or 6 rods I was taking until after the tournament meeting and I had an idea of the plan for tomorrow. Club tournaments are ok to learn, there comes a time when you've got to decide are you there to learn or are you there for the camaraderie. In my case, after 2 years, (and I knew it after the 1st year) I realized that all I was going to learn in the club was how to ride around and throw baits at the bank. I already knew how to throw baits at the bank. I started doing BFL because for roughly the same amount of money, I was interacting with a more knowledgable group of fishermen, who didn't mind sharing information (This differed from the club, where every location was "secret"). Club fishing go old when every tournament you got "don't tell so and so where we fished". . .. Good luck

Years ago, when I lived in the Columbia area there was an area called Whetstone which was the next exit past Fulton, about a 40 minute drive for me - that would be around an hour drive from St. Louis, depending . . Anyway, that area had a dozen or so small to medium sized ponds and 2 larger lakes, one of which for sure had a boat ramp. I went there several times and caught a few fish each time - pretty lake .

Any store I walk into, it is in the back of my mind to notice if there is any fishing tackle or gear there. I'm getting to the place where I can't drive by a pawn shop without going in and looking at available fishing gear. In my spawn shop experiences, guys very seldom pawn quality fishing gear - I haven't found any decent gear that I'd consider buying, but that isn't any reason to stop looking. Back to Walmart, I'm in Walmart for one reason or another at least once per week. I'm gonna stroll through the fishing department, " just to see". Currently, the Walmart in Excelsior Springs & Richmond have the 3600 size Plano boxes for $@.88 each. I have a modest supply of back up boxes now and over time I will get rid of the old style latches and change over to the "pro style" latches. On another front, in their jig head rack look for Arkie DeD Stand up finesse jig heads. 1/16 oz Mushroom head with a bait keeper and the correct size hook for Ned Rigs. Roughly 60 cents per jig head. Not exactly cheap, but more or less affordable.

If you're going to get serious about lure retrievers, you will need both types, the extendable pole type and the "hound dog" style. If you're bank fishing, 18' won't stretch as far as you imagine it will. 18' total length will give you a working length of 15' or 16' max. Boat fishing, you need both, some situations favor the extendable pole, others require the drop down plug knocker. While we're on the subject, the lure retriever on the link you gave seems a little cheap to me - in that the extendable pole looked a little thin. You get what you pay for. I forget what I paid for mind, and I probably didn't pay full price, however I'm pretty sure I paid more than $20. When you buy the extendable pole, be mindful of where you're going to store it. If it isn't readily accessible, you'll have to re-arrange stuff to get to it, you'll waste time and it will probably be windy, it is just asking for it. Plan ahead and store the pole where it is easily accessible. In my case, easily accessible means that it is often in the way when I don't need it. I have a 5 minute rule that applies to stuck lures. If freeing a bait takes more than 5 minutes, I'm very likely to break it off. Certain lures, like Lucky Crafts and other expensive baits I'll make an exception. This year I've been taking more time to free tx rigged lures. Don't care so much about the bait, but I'd just as soon save the tungsten. Most of the time the drop down plug knocker works better in this case - but not every time. That is why you might as well carry both styles.

Those numbers on your rod are GUIDELINES and they aren't absolute, by any means. The best way to determine best weights for your rod is "trial and error". Be mindful that not all quarter ounce jigs fish the same, and the same can be said for all 5/8 oz jigs and all the different weights in-between. For instance - a quarter ounce jig/worm combination will fish/feel different than a quarter ounce skirted jig/trailer combo. Trial & error is the only way you'll find weights that feel right for you. If you want to get really picky, carry an electronic postal scale in your boat, one that measures down to the gram. Weigh every jig/trailer combo you come up with. Be mindful that wet jigs weigh more than dry jigs and once you get into maribou and hair jigs - different materials will absorb water at different rates. For my part, I'm glad I made most of these jig weight decisions back in my youth, when as an unemployed herb oriented bush hippie, I could dedicate the appropriate amount of time to questions like this. Then, as an UNEMPLOYED herb oriented bush hippie, I would address the question, "Which professor pal of mine could I talk into buying said jigs to ensure myself an adequate supply?"

I fish slider heads ALOT I have 2 rods that I favor for slider fishing. (90% of the time I'm fishing the quarter ounce spider slider pro head, the one that has the slightly stronger hook) I have a 7' MH rod that I got on sale from Academy Sports in the close outs last January, for $19.99 It is on the Medium side of MH and it is paired with a Curado 50 E and 10 lb Abrazx. Or I have a 5'9" Fenwick spinning rod - rated as Medium action/extra fast tip, but it is on the heavy side of medium, IMO. That gets paired with a 1000 size Shimano Spirex or Sahara and 14 lb Fireline. IMO either one of these rigs works great for throwing slider heads, admitting I don't throw lighter than quarter ounce very often. (The Academy Sports rod replaced a $100 or so Falcon Eakins Jig Special, which I broke last year and haven't got around to replacing yet. Falcon does have a deal where they will replace out of warranty rods at a reduced cost, I just haven't got around to it yet)