Fishes in trees

When I had to replace the bunks on my trailer with the permanent bunk boards, I took it to the lake. It was just easier and my thinking was that if I got done early I'd already be at the lake and I could go fishing. Good plan - didn't work out that way. Very shortly after I finished the job an early summer storm rolled in and it rained the rest of the day and into the next. All my tools got wet and took a while to dry them out once I got home.

For me, chatter baits go into a plastic box, partitioned off so that they don't rattle around too much. My local Walmart currently has the spinnerbait storage boxes (3700 size) for $3. I have some of those and some of the older Falcon boxes. Plano used to make spinner baits with notches in the inner walls of the box and the spinner baits were stored laid down. Anyway, these boxes worked great as long as you didn't pack them too tight.

IMO football heads work way better than arkie heads fishing around rock. That's what they were designed for. IMO fishing a pointy headed swim jigs around rocks & wood is just asking for it. Jig fishing to me is an acquired skill and for me it comes & goes. I have days with jigs when I'm throwing them everywhere and the feel is right and I go all day and never lose a jig. Other days the feel is off and I donate one to the lake gods every 5 minutes or so.

I admire you will power and your intentions. I found out a long time ago thatI didn't have and really wasn't interested in acquiring, the patience necessary to teach kids fishing.. I'm happy to let someone else do it. Or they could do what I did and gradually teach myself. I started out with fishing for carp with a Zebco 202 and dough balls for bait..

When you tell yourself that you need to stick within xxx number of dollars for a piece of gear, be mindful that you get what you pay for. The few sub $100 bait casting reels that I own I was dissatisfied with within one or two trips post purchase.. I have several reels that when purchased were in the $150 range that are now 8 or 10 years old and in nearly perfect condition, other than boat rash scratches. If at all possible, refrain from going entry level on bait casters, look more at the mid-range offerings from the various manufacturers and you'll be better off in the long run.

I did that once, i.e. sense a strike, set the hook and when the fish came to my boat I'd hooked the loop of the pre-fab snelled hook & leader. Made me say, " huh". Anyway, the hook was in pretty deep and it was a short fish anyway so I just threw it back & it swam away.

There are a couple of things that you can do to mitigate this issue. 0ne - crank your drag on the reel down tight prior to spooling. Tension on the line - with a loose drag - can make the line bunch up somewhat one one side of the spool or another. Two - be mindful when spooling and you can use your finger or a pencil or some other skinny tool and help the line spool on smoothly. A little pressure on one side or the other can make it spool more level. Spooling takes practice and be mindful when you do it. A third option is to spend a few hundred dollars and get one of those electric line spooling stations like some decent tackle shops have - however there is a learning curve to that tool also and it is possible to get your line spooled on crooked using that machine.

The only reason to upgrade is if there is something about the old gear that you don't like. I used to fish Calcutta reels almost exclusively. I liked how the round reels worked, I liked how they set up on the rod, everything about them. However, over the last5 or 6 years they started seeming more and more heavy to me. I started by replacing one reel, a Calcutta 200 TEGT with a Chronarch 50. Difference between night and day, the combo felt much more responsive in my hands and I stopped getting tennis elbow from pitching for hours. I've replaced many of my Calcutta reels with 50 sized Chronarchs and Curados now, mostly for feel baits. I still use the 200 TEGT on my square bill rig and one of my spinner bait rigs, and my lipless crank rig. In these situations I'm generally using two hands to cast and there isn't as much effort and strain on one elbow. Point of this rant is don't upgrade just to upgrade. You've got decent gear. If you're going to upgrade, have a reason and a purpose for each decision. JMO

Are you specifically talking about gear necessary for transporting stuff half a mile through the woods, fishing and then transporting back? Tackle boxes & tackle bags really aren't made for that. Back packs are. The real question is how long did it take you to come to that decision? Back packs & plano boxes suitable for hiking have been available for a long time. I had something similar back when I was a meat fishing bush hippie (mid 70's to late 80's) For me, the most challenging piece of gear to transport was the hip boots. I wasn't going to walk half a mile or so wearing them - and they did make bank fishing much easier/productive so it was necessary. Basically I wrapped them up in their own bag and then strapped them to the back pack. I could have carried them in one hand/ rods in the other, but I liked having 1 free hand - occasionally a machete was necessary, plus on the trip back I was generally carrying a stringer of fish. Each fishing situation had its challenges and each one has a solution. It is unlikely that you will attain the ultimate solution in your first or second or third attempt. Even now, with an 18' boat and an Explorer to tow it with, stowing gear correctly & efficiently is a challenge, one that I'm not always successfully meeting. Live & learn .. .

If I might suggest an alternate approach to this dilemma . . .. .What is your favorite way to fish? Get the best rig that you can afford to fish that way. Once that is accomplished, then what is your next favorite way to fish - get a rig that you like to fish that way. .. . . .. and so on. Me, I don't think I would have spent $100+ on a bubba drop shot rod unless I had my jig fishing and finesse fishing and crank fishing and spinnerbait fishing more or less covered. If you want my opinion on what to get next, you can't go wrong on a Ned rig/Brewer Slider rig set up. . .. . unless you want to get into A-rigs or heavy duty frog fishing . .. . .or serious crank bait distance casting. . . The point is that you've got many options. Figure out how you like to fish and go from there.

Those old school wobble heads are good baits in certain situations. Here in Missouri where I live, one of those certain situations is early season emergent vegetation, similar to where you might throw a lipless crank, but the bass seem to want something with a little more side to side action and a little slower. The rubber band week guard pictures is a good touch, and when you find the right size rubber bands works great. Trick worms or similar imitations work good as the trailer bait. The YUM Fork Tail Dinger, which has earned a place in many bargain bins around where I live, works OK on this presentation, and at 50 cents to buck a bag the price is right.

Bait wise - good advice has already been given. Gear wise - you're bank bound so I'd stick to spinning gear. Back when I was a meat fishing bush hippie, my most important piece of gear was a set of hip waders, which got you off the bank a little ways and made fishing parallel to the bank much easier. (Fishing parallel to the bank, your bait is potentially in the strike zone much longer) If the water was really clear (5' or more on the secchi disc reading) and I really wanted to check out the deeper parts of that pond, a float & fly might be a good option. To adequately throw a float & fly requires relatively specialized gear, but dare to dream. . . If that wasn't an option and I really wanted to check out the depths, I'd go light line (6 or 8 fluorocarbon) and a quarter ounce Brewer Slider head with the 4" worm. Throw it as far as you can, sink to the bottom and slowly polish the bottom on the retrieve. Option B ( which I often used when I was in college ) Find out which professors on your campus fish and befriend them. They know better fishing spots than you do and if you make yourself indispensable, you'll get invited along. Option C - Real Estate agents often know many decent places to fish, but most often don't have time or aren't inclined to fish themselves. If you can befriend a real estate agent, you can often get introduced to great fishing spots. The way to befriend a real estate agent is to call them up and tell them you have free time on weekends and you're looking to make a little spare cash helping to clean up properties for sale. If they don't need help, they know another real estate agent who does. HAVE REFERENCES!! The last thing they want is someone they don't know nosing around properties they're trying to sell. Hope this helps in finding places to fish. None of this stuff is brand new news. I'm just sharing stuff I got told when I was a sophomore in a college town, wanting to fish, didn't know where to go and didn't have transportation other than a bike.

My 2 favorite lipless cranks are the old Berkley Frenzy - in a shiny thread fin shad color and a Cotton Cordell Spot - also in a shiny color.

IMO throwing jerk baits a ways calls for spinning gear. I use the widest spool spinning reel I 've got for this job. For line, I'm ok with 14 lb Fireline Crystal. Once I've made the long cast and . jerk... jerk. .. jerk - the bait is down approximately where I want it and I'm on pause - I like how the Fireline is easy to see so it kinda works as a strike indicator. Using this line, I always see the line twitch way before I feel the fish. Works for me.

IMO - loose hooks are a bad idea - not just because they might migrate from one compartment to another, but what happens when you turn over the box and spill it? Last time that happened to me - the hooks were all in the packages they came in or in a small zip lock bag that I got from Michaels and it was a pretty simple matter to just pick up all the little baggies. As many hooks as I routinely carry, I hate to think what would happen if I should spill a box and it was all filled with loose hooks. Given my eyesight, shadows and whatnot, I'm not sure that I would find them all. If I spilled it in my shop - that would be bad - I know that stray hook would find a tire at some point. If I did it at the ramp, there is a decent chance that stray hook would find some one else's tire, or toe, or child or dog toe, whatever. If I spilled it in my boat, it might find my toe, that one time I was barefoot in the boat. As you might guess by now, I think that loose hooks in boxes are a bad idea. I would advise keeping them in original packaging or getting some 2" x 3" zip lock bags. They are pretty cheap at a crafts store, like Michaels. As far as hook organization goes, then I keep like intentioned hooks together. I use heavy duty plastic pencil holder zipper bags that I got at Walmart for less than a buck each. Sling blade Flutters go in one bag, tx rig drop shot hooks go in another, Gammy wicked wacky hooks go in a 3rd, tx rig slug & stick bait hooks go in a 4th and so on. I carry 8 ro 10 different bags and then when I inevitably spill one of the bags I don't spill all my hooks and it is an easier and safer clean up. Regular tx rig hooks & weights (of which I carry a lot) are all packaged in a similar fashion but kept in a 3700 size, one compartment box, in the gear bin in the boat. Hope this helps. IMO keeping loose hooks in a Plano box is just asking for it and if you spill the box away from home there is a chance you could hurt some one other than yourself. The karma of some one else stepping on your spilled fish hook is a philosophical musing for another time . . .

I wouldn't ever store fishing gear in my go to work car. I keep enough stuff in my go to work car as it is. I do keep quite a bit of gear stored in my fishing truck locked up & ready to go. Fishing truck stays locked up in the shed connected to the boat, so it doesn't take me long to get ready to go fishing when the opportunity happens.

Rather than use a heat gun to bend the plastic, I wonder if you could use one of the grinding stones in a Dremel kit to grind off the offending plastic?

Deals for rain gear are out there and bargains are available. HOWEVER - it has been my experience that you get what you pay for. Should you purchase cheap rain gear - that's what you get. Spend the money and get decent gear and it will last for a long time. My Guide Wear was purchased around 2000 and it still looks and works great. I have a medium duty 10X jacket & pants set that still works perfectly and that was purchased prior to the Guide Wear. For summer use - Frog Toggs will last as long as you take care of them and don't rip them up. I'm not familiar with the Simms or Columbia products mentioned in previous posts.

You can make any worm float if you own a worm blower. Seriously, I think that I paid around $3 for mine at Dicks, but BPS and lots of other stores carry them. Look in the walleye or live bait section. They are originally made for inflating night crawlers, but you can put a bubble of air into any plastic that you want and it will help it float. modest air bubble in the tail of a trick worm will make it stand nearly straight up. You can make ribbon tail worms float - kinda - by injecting little bubbles of air into the thin tail.

Should you choose to use a heavy bass rod, like a flipping stick, as a cat fish rig - use regular hooks, that you set on strike detection. Most catfish guys these days use circle hooks - you don't set them, rather you just tighten up as the fish takes the bait and swims away. The catch is that your rod needs to have a kinda or really flexible tip, so that the line can tighten up without pulling the hook out of their mouth. This was addressed in In-fisherman magazine a decade ago when one of the writers was describing his issues setting hooks using a flipping stick. Take a moment and look at the rods being marketed as "catfish " rods these days. They will have a very flexible tip, compared to the backbone of the rod. If you are going to fish circle hooks (most serious catfish guys do these days) that flexible tip is important.

To a prior poster who mentioned that a vast collection of styles & weights of jig heads will be more helpful catching fish than a vast collection of rods & reels . . . it just ain't necessarily so. I own a vast collection of jig heads - to the point that it is impossible to fish every style of jig head I own over the course of a season. For more years than I care to post, every time I go to a fishing tackle store and they have home made jig heads in buckets near the cash register, I'm probably going to buy some if they are a unique design that I don't already have. (This is where I first found out about Mega Strike jig heads, a bait shot near Kentucky Lake had clones of the Mega Strike jig heads in bulk at the counter. The catch is different situations call for different jig heads and consequently that calls for different rods & reels. And so I buy them. Am I brainwashed? Or is it some inborn innate desire that makes some guys desire to own more gear than they need? And what is need anyway? Beats me, I just like to fish with different gear that I feel gives me a decent chance of success in each fishing situation. It is a vicious conundrum that obviously reflects a vast conspiracy between jig makers - fishing hook companies - rod builders - fishing reel conglomerates. There is an entire industry out there conspiring to acquire some of our disposable income. The industry understands that you can shear a sheep dozens of times, but you can only butcher them once.

There isn't any substitute for trial & error in this instance. You've just got to try different set ups & find out what works for you. Depending on how sensitive you are, there is a difference between how quarter ounce tungsten and quarter ounce lead feels. Different baits will catch the water differently - which will affect feel. Line size will make more of a difference than you might think and so will the weight of the reel that you will be using. If this is going to be your only jig/worm rod, make your best guess and go with it - change it out if you're unsatisfied with the performance. But since you asked, there are quite a few variables to consider. By all means, don't feel locked in to my advice. A long time ago I made the decision that if I wanted to fish a different line test/bait weight/presentation/whatever, the easiest thing for me to do would be to pick up another rod that was already rigged up. I carry a dozen or so jig/worm rods with me most of the times I go fishing, and that is to cover my normal everyday situations. If I got south more and fished LOZ and Truman and Stockton and Table Rock more often, I would have a dedicated 3/4 oz football jig rod and a Biffle Bug rod in the boat all the time - with I don't - but they do make the traveling team when I go south.

I remember this jig. Mid to late. 80's - forget the manufacturer. Included with the bait as a smallish split ring. The correct rigging was to run your line through the bait ( start at the nose to the exit on the bottom of the head as shown. Now, tie the line to the split ring and run the split ring over the hook and then everything was snug. Worked great. It was a good vegetation, brush jig. Seems to me that it was called the "Weed Sneek" or something like that. I still have a few of them but I haven't fished them in over a decade

I gave up lying to myself a long time ago. Of course I'm going to purchase more fishing stuff, and not just replacements for stuff that I go through. I just try to exercise some restraint. Last week I went into Academy just to "look around" at stuff I might need and I came out with . . .nothing. In a couple of weeks my favorite tackle shop is having their spring sale and the Berkley Trailer will be there and it is unlikely that I will walk away without any purchases. Last year I got a couple of spinner bait rods that matched my current favorite spinner bait rod. If I could find another couple of 7'2" Aetos MHxf jig rods I would buy them.

Finesse cranks are a category of bait that I collect, but rarely fish. I consider a finesse crank anything at 3/16 or less - maybe some quarter ounce ones. Anyway, if I see anything like that in any bargain bin I come across I will buy it. I have a number of Cordell CC Shads ( which some guys tell me are great trolling baits ) Years ago I came across a number of Rebel Mystic Minnows. Pretty lures, but they are a pain to cast even on crappie gear. (Those same guys tell me those baits are good trolling lures also ) I don't float fish or wade fish enough to really get into this style of bait, except for collecting purposes.