Fishes in trees

Like many people, I read the articles praising the Neko rig that were published last winter in the Bassmaster magazine. I put together a Neko kit, with various sizes of appropriate weights & hooks. The lake that I generally fish has gotten pretty grassy this season, moreso than in the past several years. Bass are in the edges of the deeper weeds, for the most part, as evidenced by depth finder readings AND the fact that a tail weighted, tx rigged stick baits has ruled in this situation. I've yet to get a bite on the Neko rig, and I've fished it for a total of about an hour this season, in areas where I had a good chance for success. I've come to the conclusion that Neko rigs don't do well in grass. Maybe later in the season when the grass lines become more defined and there is a definite edge to the deep weed line, we'll see. Preliminary results of the Neko rig are disappointing. Back to the question, "Can you fish Neko rigs in grass?" MY current answer is yes, you can fish any rig where ever you want to however my experiences have been so far that I haven't gotten bit at all fishing Neko rigs in grass.

I've been to Paho once - last year. There are lots of grass lines. There are some brush piles deep - not marked, but placed in kinda obvious spots off of main lake points. Buddy and I found them no problem -we were just told that there were brush piles off of points. The mistake I made last year the one time I went was to not bring a frog rod. Also, bring something to fish grass with - I'd recommend a tail weighted senko. Good luck.

DO NOT purchase Plano boxes just as you need them. This will guarantee that you will pay a premium price. Every so often, at BPS, Cabelas, Walmart & elsewhere, Plano boxes go on sale. Buy them then. Have a few extras around all the time. Don't be afraid of the smaller 3600 sizes. They make good "kit" boxes - enough for a tournament day. I carry quite a few of the half size plastic boxes in my boat, because I like the variety it offers me. For instance - a 5/16 Eakins jig kit - 9/16 Eakins jig kit - 3/4 oz football head kit - Wobble head kit - Brewer Slider head kit and so forth. I can't remember the last time I paid full retail for a Plano box. Generally keep a dozen or so of the full size & half size boxes around.

I occasionally throw lizards on my home made jika rigs. Some days fish want the slightly skinnier profile of a lizard - compared to a brush hog. I like the YUM Zellemanders also. I wish they would have made 8" ones. Zellemanders are discontinued now (I think).

Over the seasons I've used a variety of different bait casting rods to throw wacky seniors. There isn't any other bait that I throw wacky style. I started out using a relatively cheap All Star rod I got at Dicks. I believe that it was med action with a kinda fast tip. I don't remember, that rod has been broken for a long time. Then I got a Falcon Eakins Jig rod (which is on the lighter side of MH, with a fast tip) and I liked that better. Then I got the same spec. rod in their Bucco line. I like that better, primarily because of the split grip it was a little lighter. Then those rods broke and I decided it was time for a change. Currently I'm using a Fenwick HMG spinning rod MH with an XF tip. With a 1000 size Spinning reel and a 20 lb braid/fluoro combo. Right now I'm liking the spinning set up because it makes it easier to skip baits under branches and that spinning rod has much more backbone that the Falcon rods did. Drag on the spinning reel is set pretty tight, but not all the way tight. I think that touch & feel are important on a wacky rod, however I think I see more strikes prior to feeling them. I've caught more keeper fish on the first cheap All Star rod than the other rods I employed for wacky fishing - however in hind sight I think that was a unique situation in that I was fishing a relatively new lake that was peaking and the wacky rig on 17 lb fluorocarbon was a unique way to reach what was basically an untapped population of fish suspended in the trees. Botton line is that in my experiences, spinning or bait casting will work - well - currently I'm favoring spinning gear but that could change. Best advice is to have a rig that will handle a big fish because big fish latch on to wacky senkos from time to time.

The rule on trolling motor power - now & forever - is that there is no such thing as too much tolling motor power. Buy the biggest trolling motor that ou can afford that will fit in your situation. I used to fish out of a 10' Water Scamp. It fished ok with the 36 lb thrust motor that it came with. It fished MUCH better with the 55 lb thrust variable speed Minn Kota that I later purchased. Variable speed is much preferable to fixed speeds, IMO. You are correct that the boat you've got will hold a lot of weight. Speaking from experience, running out of electric power in a little boat isn't any fun. Go ahead and purchase 2 of the biggest deep cycle trolling motor batteries and wire them parallel. That will give you more running time. When I had my little pond boat, I ran 3 batteries, just because the lake that I was fishing at the time required a couple of runs of 15 to 20 minutes or so, on constant high speed, to get to where you wanted to fish. Do that a couple of times and your battery is seriously depleted. Buy a charger that will charge 2 or 3 batteries at once - that way when you upgrade to a bigger boat, you will have the on board charger already purchased. There isn't any need to mount the on board charger in your sun dolphin, just keep it at home and hook it up when you get home

Sunny days - post spawn - I start out thinking the deeper edge of whatever weed line is available OR main lake points slightly above the thermocline. I'm thinking low and slow. I know there are lots of other options and I'll probably pursue them as the day goes on, but that is where I start. Main lake points - half ounce jika rig with a brush hog or a lizard. Deepish weed lines - some sort of jig/worm combination, most likely a quarter ounce Brewer spider slider head with a BPS paddle tail stick-o. Option B is the same head with a ribbon tail worm - probably a 7' one.

I'm not familiar with the A-rig rod, but I've touched other Eagle Claw/Wright McGill yellow rods with Skeet Reese's name on them. None of them seems sensitive enough for me. As far as I'm concerned there isn't any substitute for sensitivity, even on reaction bait rods built for cranks or square bills or spinner baits or A-rigs. My current opinion on A-rig rods varies from day to day. Some days I favor a 7'9" Fenwick Aetos Heavy action rod other days ( most days really ) an old Team Diana 7' Musky rod gets the start. It handles 2oz+ A rigs well and throws nearly as far as the longer rod - and it stores much easier. Jury is still out though. I wouldn't get that yellow rod though, I think you can do better for similar amounts of money.

I have a 30" long fish gripper that I got a number of years ago from BPS. Sadly that tool is discontinued/ no longer available/ . . . .whatever .. Anyway, when I'm fishing by myself I find that it is easier to use the fish gripper than it is to take the time to deploy the net on any fish that I'm not going to just lift into the boat with my rod.

Lure decisions - you've got to make those yourself, depending on disposable income, local conditions and how you like to fish. Fish out of a boat or bank bound? Spinning gear or bait casting? Fish by yourself or with friends/acquaintances? Do you fish in ponds? larger lakes? Streams? Rivers?

Did you want uninsured gear or uninsulated gear? I think you have to pay premiums to get any insured rain wear. Speaking of paying a premium, my Guide wear had lasted a long time (2000 or so ) and one of the reasons for that is that it is pretty heavy duty and just too warm to wear from May til September. It is good stuff though and I won't go on an early spring or fall trip without it along in the boat. I think that all the other premium grade rain wear is pretty good also - so take you pick. For rainy days in warmer weather, I like my Frogg Toggs. Very light - breathable - pay attention and they last a long time as well. My Frog Toggs are loose enough that you can layer underneath if necessary.

Over the years I've made my share of stupid fishing purchases. Back in the day, when I was a meat fishing bush hippie, I bought a European style "keep sack" thinking it would be better than the nylon cord stringers I was using, because I saw it in In-fisherman magazine. wrong . . . It was just a nylon thin mesh nylon sack, that when it inevitable snapping turtle came around would just chew through the thin nylon to get to the fish. I think it lasted a couple of trips. Once upon a time Guido and Dion Hidden were at a bait shop shilling for US Reels. They were new to the market at a fairly attractive price and they worked great in the parking lot throwing practice plugs so I bought one. In every day fishing practices, the Hidden performance series Supercaster 800SX doesn't perform that well at all. It has been in bait caster prison since I bought it and tried to use it twice. In my fishing shed I have a large assortment of plastic baits that I can honestly asked myself, "Just what was it that prompted me to buy that bait?" . . . cause I can't remember.

In the past ( early 90's ) I had a couple of reels with the flipping switch. I never did use it but then I didn't flip then either - ever. I can see where a using a slow trolling technique, like bottom bouncers, a flipping switch might be handy. There are other ways to minutely adjust how much line you have out while trolling. I only know a couple of guys who are seriously into trolling and they use line counter reels for everything. Looking at a bait caster for throwing bass baits I wouldn't go cheap. You get what you pay for. I'd go at least mid-range. I'd go Shimano because I like their reels more. Figure out what you want to use the bait caster for and go from there.

Plano makes lots of different specialty boxes. Go to their web site & find out. Some guys are fine with their cranks all kinda scrunched together. Me, I kinda like individual compartments for different baits of the same style and different boxes for different bait styles, primarily so that they don't rub against each other as much in transit and it makes knowing. what I got a little easier. I like using hook bonnets also, just because I ain't fond of sticking a hook point in my finger while I'm digging through my crank collection, and those often take up extra space, so fewer baits fit in each trough. Therefore DD cranks get a box - med cranks get a box, wake baits get a box and so forth. If a box fills up I will get another box rather than blend. Med. divers with square bills for instance. Taken a step or two farther ( like many of us do) - Wiggle Warts get their own box. DC8 Timber Tigers get their own box. Norman DD22's get their own box as do the large Fat Free Shad baits. and so on . . ..I like leaving extra room in each box, in case I should happen to acquire more Wiggle Warts or Timber Tigers or whatever. I understand that it means buying a few more boxes and I'm ok with that. Be on the lookout for sales/closeouts. A couple of years ago, the Walmart in my area all closed out on crank boxes, like the one pictured in the previous post - $4 a hit. By the time I found out, Walmart "A" had 3 boxes left and I got those. A few days later, driving to work I realized that I was driving past a few other Walmarts. I ended up with 10 of those boxes altogether from 3 different Walmarts. This year they had the 3600 size regular boxes closed out for $2.88. I've bought 10 of those so far. Besides fishing purposes, those boxes are a good size for organizing random loose stuff in my shop. - specialty saw blades, random drill bits, stuff like that.

I am a fan of the Founders All Day IPA, when I just want to catch a little buzz while fishing or mowing my lawn. Here in Missouri, All Day IPA is available in bottles for around $10 per six pack OR $17 for a 15 pack in cans. For fishing, the key is to only bring so many. If you bring the whole 15 pack you will likely drink most of them. For me, I bring 4 or 5 and that's it - when you're out, you're out. Not a big fan of Shandies, per se. Leinenkugal shandies aren't for me. They have a "metallic" taste to them and furthermore, Leinies are more of a pseudo craft beer than a reel craft beer, IMO. For hot weather fishing, I don't think you can beat Shiner Ruby Redbird - a relatively LA beer with a grapefruit/ginger tang. They are an acquired taste, you either like them or you don't. Some beer snobs refer to them as a semi-shandy, other beer snobs put the Ruby Redbird in the "radler" class, while still other beer snobs refer to Ruby Redbird as an abomination. Don't care - as long as they are ICE COLD they work great for me in hot weather.

My lead off pond bait is a quarter ounce Brewer Pro Spider slider head with a 5' BPS Paddle Tail Stick-o. Green pumpkin is the color I start with, red shad is another good all purpose color.

Timber Tigers. The 3 sizes that see the most use for me are the DC4, DC5 and DC8. They are available in a number of different colors, I like different colors for different water colors. They make their version of a sexy shad color which is a decent all water color option. For water with 3+ feet of visibility, the Texas Shad color works for me. It has a dark grey back, blending to grayish/silvery sides blending to a white belly. The sides of the bait also have a light pinkish blush. For water with a foot and a half or less visibility the chartreuse body/purple back works for me. Taking your red felt tip marker and making a red spot at the chin of the bait, underneath the bill works. The DC4 and DC8 baits are labeled at half ounce and the DC5 is labeled at 3/8. The numbers indicate depths - based on 10 lb line. I can't bring myself to throw a square bill on 10 lb line. 14 is about as low as I go, 17 or 20 is much more likely. Heavy line reduces the depth somewhat so it seems that I fish the DC8 much more often than the other 2.

I use a variety of these baits on my home made jika rigs. Zoom Brush hog is always an option and so is the Netbait Paca Craw. Big Bite baits used to have the Kreit creature, which was a decent bait, now discontinued but some colors still available at Tackle Warehouse, but not Tilapia, which got bit the most for me.. Color wise - current favorite of Brush Hog is a green pumpkin with orange metal flake. This works MUCH better than watermelon/orange flake which seems to be more readily available. Many of the Paca Craw "craw colors work for me - Bama Craw - Summer Craw - Ocochobee Craw and other's that I can't remember right now. On the subject of creature baits, do not neglect various iterations of lizards. The YUM Zellemander and the Sallemander are both great. baits. Currently discontinued, Berkley used to make an 8" powerbait lizard that was an outstanding bait. I used it on jika rigs and in places where I'd throw a 10" Power worm. IMO, Berkley got word that I was becoming too fond of that bait and they discontinued it, just to mess with my head.

For a more finesse approach to drop shot fishing I generally start with a 3" or 4" paddle tail worm. I might try centipedes, various brands of 4" to 5 " finesse worms. As mentioned previously, lots of baits work on this rig. For the "bubba" drop shop approach, my best bait by far has been a powerbait crazy legs chigger craw. Day in and day out that has been my best bait. I've had days in more murky water where a nose hooked Gulp sinking minnow has been the ticket. The issue with the sinking minnow is that you've got to stick with it. It dries out pretty quick lying on the deck, no matter what the air temp is, and they don't re-hydrate very well.

It is possible to be a color bigot. I am one. I don't mind chartreuse, as long as it is identifiable as chartreuse. I don't mind gold, as long as it is identifiable as gold. I don't mind orange - as long as it is identifiable as orange. I don't like yellow. I don't like and won't use yellow baits. I don't like and won't use yellow lines. I won't wear yellow shirts, pants, socks or hats - or tolerate any yellow gear if I have a co-angler (which is seldom). A buddy had a new yellow Siren hat once, and I insisted it stay in the truck, I loaned him a different color hat out of my fishing truck. Not a fan of yellow. I used to make an exception for corn and that even these days it has to be the only choice in the company cafeteria and I have to REALLY want some vegetable. I understand that this is phobic and has very little relation to reality, but I'm good with it. I remember reading that same Doug Hannon article and feeling like, "good, there is someone who feels the same way I do about the color yellow." As a Mizzou grad, I am very familiar with the difference between black & gold compared to black & yellow. I don't do yellow. If not having yellow in the boat is costing me fish, I don't care. It is probably gaining me fish because I don't have to worry if anything yellow in the boat is costing me fish

You are a 13 year old living in Orlando, Florida. There are LOTS of geezers who live in Orlando who fish. If you can't talk your way into fishing with them AND occasionally borrowing their gear, you have limited language skills. On a side note, statistically speaking, If you live in an area where there are a bunch of old guys, who fish, some of them might be perverts. Don't fish with those guys.

I think that ponds are a little more manageable, easier to get your head around and figure out where the fish are, if you're bank bound. Since I bought my current boat, (2002) I don't fish ponds anymore, because I feel that pond fishing gives me bad habits. What times on drop baits, angles for cranks & suck are different, for me pond fishing is just more trouble than it is worth - and I have access to several very good private ponds. Plus - as I get older I'm not a fan of bank walking on unsteady rocks & mud, not a fan of shore line vegetation interfering with my casting and I'm not a fan of the extra bugs. Ever kick over a nesting goods that you didn't see? Not good, it hurts and the goose gets hurt also. Ever set your gear down and after the fact find out that you set it down next to a snake? I don't have those issues when fishing out of a boat. I have different issues when boat fishing, like fish location, boat control and competence issues.

I haven't had any issues with Abrazx the past few seasons. I use it in 15 and 17 and 20 lb. I do use KVD line conditioner from time to time.

There is another piece of terminal tackle called a "sling blade flutter" that might do what you want. *** Edit ***. Apparently the sling blade flutter has been discontinued. Just did a search and couldn't find them. I know that they exist, because I have some, in various hook sizes and weights.

12 lb mono is a little heavy for spinning gear - hope it works for you. I guess it depends on the diameter of the line - some 12 lb is thicker than others. Some 12 lb lines are more supple than others. In my experiences using line heavier than 10 on spinning gear, it cut my distance down quite a bit. Douse the line down regularly with KVD line treatment or Reel Magic, that will help bite a bit. For me, early in the spring or late in the fall, Reel Magic seems to work better because it is silicon based, and thus less likely to freeze due to wind chill. All the other times, the KVD line treatment works better for me and it is water based. Weight wise - 3/16 or quarter ounce is the place to start IMO.