Fishes in trees

Don't be a cheap skate. That will come back to bite you. Pop for a Curado or Chronarch 50 - maybe the newer Curado 70. This is you wife's first bait caster we're talking about here.

I think that some of the principles of the Ned rig are spot on - i.e. try to go as light and as low & slow as you can given the conditions. . .. In the lakes that I fish, if I stick with the classic Ned bait - a 1/10 oz exposed hook jig and a TRD, I lose too many baits. In the lakes that I fish, if I stick to the cleaner areas ( like the dam) all I catch are small fish So, while I feel like a Ned rig is a good situational boat, it doesn't fit my situation very often. Getting used to the "weightless" feel of your baits takes some getting used to. Ned often writes that 100 fish, more or less is the goal for a 4 hour fishing trip. As far as Ned is concerned, little ones count. My personal opinion is that Ned has found a method that works very well on the waters that he commonly fishes. 100 fish per day is achievable when you count sub 12" fish. It could be that the Kansas Lakes near the !-70 corridor are somewhat stunted and there is a plethora of little fish available. Like any other technique Ned rigging will occasionally capture a big fish - however it is my opinion that if you're targeting 15" or larger fish there are better options. I understand that I won't get bit as much. Case in point - went fishing last Wednesday - decent day - unusual in that the water temp was slightly higher than the air temp. I spent several hours trying to find a shallow bite - because I thought the unique water/air temp situation would be conducive to that. Don't ask me why, cause I don't know, just what I thought at the time. Anyway several hours into the trip, ran into a friend of a friend and his opinion was that the better fish were suspended in the trees (This lake has MANY trees) Anyway the next 15 minutes, targeting suspended fish in the trees, by dropping a lightly weighted tx rigged 10" worm resulted in 2 15" fish, one slot fish and a few missed bites. Guess how I tried to fish the rest of the day. I don't believe that given the cover that the fish were in that the Ned rig would have landed any of those fish.

I've been doing this long enough that I wouldn't consider bringing along a "one size fits all" assortment of tackle. Seasonal and local conditions make a big difference as to what goes into the boat and what doesn't. So, basically, your question is unanswerable in its current form. I would point out that there is quite a bit of overlap in what techniques work where. So - your place to start is to go with what you know. For me that would be jigs & soft plastics.

If you're gong to keep it at that one lake, I'd spend the money on a lift. If different lakes are on the menu, trailering is the best option.

Not to throw water on your plan, but if you're serious about fishing, a 1 car garage just isn't big enough. You're looking for houses that fit your lifestyle, not to fit your lifestyle into some particular house. Of course I realize that often compromises have to be made. If you can afford it, a storage locker is an option. Me - I live on acreage in a rural area. When my fishing habit outgrew my garage I built a bigger shed. In hindsight, I with I had built 50 x 90 rather and 30 x 40.

I use weighted wacky rigs more often than not. My opinion is that 3/8 oz is WAY too heavy. IMO weighted hooks are the way to go. My current favorite is the Falcon weighted - weedless K-wacky hook in 1/16 oz. I can throw this on spinning gear with 20 lb braid/fluorocarbon leader or on bait casting gear with 15 lb Abrazx. With bait casting gear I can throw this bait as far as I need to.

I'd think twice, and then again and again before giving away free stuff to kids. It has been my experience that kids ( and grown ups to an extent) don't really respect stuff that is "free" and don't take care of it was well as stuff that they bought with their own money. Call me cynical if you want to. I'm in a similar position in that I have more gear than I need (not more than I want). While I will very occasionally "loan" out fishing gear (with no expectations of ever getting it back) most of the time I just store it in totes in my fishing shed. When I'm not here any more my estate will have an auction and guys who are interested will get some interesting deals. That's my current plan for dealing with extra stuff.

I think that the edge of the shade line is a decent place to throw a bait no matter what time of day. I try to be aware of "shade pockets", where objects beneath the water create spaces of shade. For instance, a horizontal branch coming out of a tree trunk 5 or 6 feet underwater will create a shade pocket. Say you have a soft spot in a shallow flat, where vegetation grows to the surface, but harder bottom all around, where vegetation doesn't grow as well. That will create a shade pocket. I have modest success fishing these areas. I think that I"ll do better fishing these areas as I become more intuitive about how to approach these areas and get better at making my first cast count. Unless it is totally cloudy, any given area could have dozens (or hundreds) of shade pockets. Learning to differentiate these into high probability and low probability site is a work in progress. Another work in progress is how deep do you you have to be before shade pockets aren't a factor? I'm pretty sure that water clarity figures into this. Most of the water that I fish have secchi disc readings of between 3.5 and 6 feet - which translates into 7 to 12 feet visibility more or less. Next - another thing I'm working on is which cover ( of all the available cover in a particular piece of water) is most favored by prey species. Predators will sacrifice comfort for dinner. All of this is ongoing, but it is stuff to think about while I'm fishing - moreso while I'm driving toward fishing.

If you don't like it you shouldn't use it. Me - I like mine. I've got 6 of them. 7'2" MH ex fast is the best jig rod I've owned so far. ( I haven't gotten into Loomis or other $200+ rods - yet ) I like the slightly thinner handle and the split grip.

Correct rod - reel - line for the situation are all necessary and interconnected for distance casting. My experience has been that a rig set up for distance casting isn't good for much else. Doesn't necessarily have to be lightweight. For instance - I have an 11' or so MH "Predator" rod that I got from Cabelas a long time ago. They called it a "european style" rod at the time and I think it is intended for bank fishing for pike, carp and other larger fish. Match this rod with an Ambassador 6500 which holds 300+ yards of 20 lb line and you've got a rig that, with practice can throw a 2 oz slab spoon a couple of hundred yards. Don't know the exact measurement, but approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of the spool will be out. I purchased the rig to throw slab spoons into the tail race area at Truman Lake. (Throwing that far requires a wind up - kind of like a shot putter or discus thrower does. You have to spin around and get a maximum load on your rod prior to release. This takes some practice. Don't do this around people. If you snap off a 2 oz slab spoon, it is flying somewhere. Should it hit someone, it will hurt.) I don't get a chance to do that very often, been several years, but the rig doubles as a decent cat fishing rod - where you never have to throw that far, and for that I keep it around. If you're just going to be throwing at surfacing schools from your boat, I'd recommend a spinning rig - much less hassle. You can't imagine the back lash you get if you make a mistake trying to throw a hundred or so yards. You have to cut it out every time - AND - that is a lot of line out and you don't want to make a mess and just leave it in the water. Don't be that guy. Now, having written this, I think that distance casting is a phase that every fisherman goes through. If you're specifically talking about distance casting of crank baits in particular, there is a LOT of literature out there and you don't need an 11' rod - a 7.5' to 8' rod will do and there are many out there to choose from. IMO distance casting of deep diving cranks requires 10 lb line and you can't be afraid that you might lose a bait from time to time. Most of the distance casting that I currently do is throwing lipless cranks over shallow to mid depth weed beds. I use 20 lb line for this. As an example, I currently use a Falcon Bucco Trap Caster and a Shimano Calcutta TEGT filled with 17 or 20 Iron Silk for my lipless crank duty and this rig will throw as far as I need to and then some. If you want to get into distance casting, drop a few hundred and set yourself up. As mentioned earlier, this is a situation where quality gear makes a difference and lower quality gear can and will get frustrating.

I like the Netbait Paca chunks most of the time.

As mentioned previously, 10 minutes is a LONG time to take to change out baits - even if you're changing out braid to fluorocarbon leaders. This suggests that you might want to improve your knot tying skills. Another part of fishing efficiency is being ready. If you've just got one rod & reel, have the various components well organized and ready to switch. In my case, I address the being ready issue by having 15 to 20 rods rigged & ready to go before I leave the dock. More often than not I'm fishing by myself and so if I should step on and break a rod, I only have myself to blame. That happens less often than you might think. Your next rig, you might want to have something that handles reaction type baits ( cranks, spinner baits and so forth ) Then for your third, get the best one that you can afford for your favorite style of fishing - for me that is a jig rod. Over time you'll build up your gear collection. Should you get into club fishing, there might be some guys who have loaners. Back when I was a broke college student, some of my professor pals that I went fishing with had loaners.

As a guy who wears glasses every day, polarized prescription sun glasses are a must for me. Every few years I need to get a new pair. $100 doesn't start to touch how much these cost.. Think closer to $500 and now you're in the ball park. Of course they are no line bifocals with scratch guard and whatnot.. I tired for a couple of weeks going fishing without they and using a clip on style or the cacoon style over glasses, but they aren't that comfortable for me. If you're using these glasses on the water, be sure and invest in a glasses strap.

I own a number of Fenwick AETOS rods and only one Loomis rod. The Loomis rod is a very special purpose rod that I don't use very often.(ML bait casting drop shot rod) I have a couple of the 7'2" MH extra fast tip rods that are my favorite jig dogs, currently. I have a few of the shorter ones (6'8" or 6'9", I forget which) which are MH with a fast tip and I like these for reaction baits, like spinner baits, wake baits, square bills and so forth. I like having 3 just alike because it makes switching from bait to bait simpler for me. At 95$ through the Fenwick web site I think that the AETOS is a better choice. If the low end Loomis was significantly cheaper, I'd go with that. Both those rods are very good rods IMO

I like to use Chompers. They are made in Missouri. I would describe them as a smallish company with regional distribution. They are pretty strong in the Ozark lakes. I've seen Crock-o-gator , a brand primarily out of LOZ distributed in Kansas City.

The correct size for o-rings is 3/8 O.D (outside diameter) and 1/4 I.D. ( inside diameter ) I prefer criss crossing o-rings rather than the shrink tubing, but then, I've got LOTS of o-rings. Go to orings.com and several phone calls later you'll find some industrial supplier who will sell you a small order (by their standards) I got them for a penny a piece, but I had to buy 10 bucks worth. I am unlikely to run out of o-rings any time soon.

Couple of comments. First - no one sees or hears everything. Can't happen - too much stimuli, either consciously or unconsciously, stuff gets filtered out. That's the way it is.. .. unless you're a swami or something like that. Next, it is possible to be extremely relaxed and still know, for the most part what is happening with your bait. This applies both to reaction type baits and "feel" type baits. The phrase "trance state" means different things to different folks in different contexts. I think we've all been there, one way or another, at some point in our fishing experiences. Rick Clunn, for instance, has referenced fishing in a "trance state" I'm pretty sure that he knows what he means when he says that but I'm not sure I know what he means. I have opinions on what I think he means - kinda - that aren't all that well thought out . . . I try not to get so existential about fishing . . . To address the original post, if you're having trouble remembering what you were doing right before the strike and what you did to get the strike, that's a challenge. Your options are try harder to remember or just go unconscious and be happy when you get bit. When I go fishing I'll probably have 20 or so rods rigged up ready to go. Some thought and reasoning ( or a semi-reasonable facsimile ) went into rigging up each rig. Therefore, should I get bit on my jika rig, for instance, odds are very good that I was dragging it around the deep edge of a weed line. Should I get bit on my bubba drop shot rig, odds are very good that I was throwing it at some perceived object in 10 feet of water or less. If it was cloudy, I'm probably trying to get it every so slightly up wind of whatever object it might be. If it was sunny, I was probably trying to get it to the very edge of the shade pocket created by whatever object I was throwing at. I'm probably consciously or subconsciously taking the wind into account in this process. If I get bit on a spinner bait, I'm probably checking to see if fish are holding at a certain level in the water column OR seeing if they are holding behind/next to objects at a certain level of the water column. Sometimes you will be casting as some seen or suspected object, miss it by a considerable distance and still get bit anyway. Fishing is funny that way. The original advice still holds, if you're having issues remembering what you did to get bit - try harder. With practice & effort you will more than likely get better at it - or you won't. In that case, the best advice is don't try so hard, let it come to you . .. . Hope this helps

More or less yeah, but back in the day 5 to 1 was considered a high speed retrieve. Right off hand, I forget the ratio of the Fritts reel, but it was closer to 5 to 1 than 3.8 to 1 I think. Anyway, put some 25 or 30 pound line on that reel and it does a great job of lobbing baits & weights a decent distance without throwing the bait off the hook. I have them on some close out catfish rods that I got at Walmart. They have a considerable back bone to them, but a very forgiving tip. They were made for fishing circle hooks for catfish.

Changing the subject to reels with fishing pro's names on them, a dozen or so years ago BPS marketed a David Fritts bait casting reel. Those are great cat fishing reels. Guido Hibdon put his name on a US Reels product. That reel is yet to find its true purpose in my reel arsenal.

I have a couple that I switch off on. I have some New Balance walking shoes that have good arch support and I have a pair of boat shoes that I got at BPS. They are a little lighter than the New Balance and they also have good arch support. Not a big fan of getting them wet, but it happens from time to time. Putting them on the shoe dryer overnight fixes the dampness issue. I've tried wearing Aqua Socks and similar water shoes but overall I didn't like them. If you're going wading in a creek I think that's the way to go.

I have a 7 foot something Fenwick HMG MH rod that would work for that. Those rods are a c-note, more or less. The thing I like best about Fenwick HMG's and AETOS rods are the lifetime warranty.

If you're into cat fishing, where deploying multiple rods matters, you might get some use out of them in that way. A friend of mine has a very interesting collection of busted, cracked and shattered surf rods that got that way fishing for cats on the Missouri river. The largest one that he's ever landed was in the 50 pound range. It is pretty common knowledge that there are much bigger fish in the Missouri river than that.

My primary experience with Lucky Craft baits is with Pointers & Sammy's. I think that they are worth the money. My first dose of Lucky Craft baits happened after a fortunate evening at a casino where $60 became $750 in the course of an hour and a half. Being aware that you shouldn't do anything responsible with found money, I immediately spent it all on a collection of Pointers and a couple of Sammy baits. Since then, I've acquired more, some on sale and some not. My advice would be that if you have to make a choice between purchasing Lucky Craft baits and feeding and housing your children, buy the baits and let your children forage.

This issue come up every year when I go to fish the Fishing for Freedom project that the Leavenworth Bass Club puts on at Truman Lake. A couple of times I've been paired with a soldier who had NO experience using a rod & reel. I figure that spinning reels are a little easier to learn on than bait casting gear, so I put together 4 rigs that cover any fishing situation that we might encounter that day. All the reels are 2000 size Shimano reels spooled with braid and a fluorocarbon leader. I've got a 7' Med action rod for cranks/ reaction baits, a 7' MH Fenwick HMG for any soft plastics, a different 6'6" MH rod for lighter plastics and a 6' spinning rod for throwing at schools of white bass that we might encounter. We start out learning how to cast and we generally have that down in an hour or so, then we tie on a Timber Tiger DC8 and go looking for fish. The past few years it has been a relatively shallow bite where shad are stacked in the backs of coves

If you're buying wacky hooks to use with O-rings, I've found that Falcon K Wacky hooks to be much better than the owner ones. I like the 1/16 weighted ones with the wire mouse trap style weed guard. Get the 3/0 size.