Fishes in trees

Ned rigs mimic real fishing rigs, except that they are smaller and lighter. Seriously, I think that the "short injured senko" is the best answer. If I fished in areas where there was a little less cover, I would fish the ned rig more, but I just got tired of buying jig heads. Even though the hook is smallish, it gets hung up too often for me.

I fish lizards on my jika rigs quite a bit. Actually I always have 2 jika rigs ready to go, with a lizard on one and a creature on the other - identical rigs, rod, reel, line and weight of jika rig. Some days they want the slightly fatter profile of the creature and other days the slightly slimmer lizard gets the not. Over the years I have accumulated numerous brands & shapes & colors of lizards. Colors vary day to day, depending on what I think the water color is doing. Shapes - currently I impartial to the YUM Zellemander (recently discontinued I think), the YUM Sallemander (also recently discontinued I think) and Berkley Powerbait Lizards. If Berkley still made the Powerbait Lizard in the 8" size, that is the one I'd primarily use. The Zellemander has 2 ribbon tails. The Sallemander has small paddle tails on each of the appendages. I don't know if that is an advantage or not, but it is a different look, one that a lot of guys in my neighborhood don't throw. I like the texture of the YUM baits in that they seem to hold up ok and I don't think I've had any hook setting issues with them.

Cabelas & BPS house brands of fishing clothes work ok. I 've got a couple of Columbia shirts that work ok. The issue for me is that I like a "suit" look and finding a shirt & shorts set that match is an issue. Not too many of them out there. Living in Missouri, I find that the long sleeve fishing shirts & sunscreen work good for me. I haven't felt the need to get the fishing gloves yet. On the same subject, I had a fishing buddy who had to get his ears trimmed a little bit due to skin cancer - nothing serious, he is going to be ok, but it was a wake up call. I remember to put sunscreen on my ears AND wear a hat that covers tham. Last time I checked with my doctor he said that ought to be enough.

For a moment, I thought someone was selling my boat. I need to go out to the shed and see if it is still there. Mine is blue - and a 2002 and has a 100 Yamaha 4-stroke. All i know is that if I wanted to replace my current boat, I couldn't do it for $5000. Mine is in above average shape - with upgraded electronics and the 4-stroke is in premium condition. I smack into stumps and bushes and trees so often that it is very scuffed up looking the entire length of both sides, and I've made no effort to "pretty" that up in any way. I don't know, my boat has always been in a shed, except when it got rained on when I was fishing or towing. Then it always got dried out in the shed - out of the weather - with all the hatches open. The back deck on that boat is wood and in my case the back deck is fine- no issues - the boat you're looking at, it just depends on how it has been stored. If always stored outside, it probably isn't fine. When I bought my boat, the dealer tried to tell me that a12 volt trolling motor was fine on that boat. Not true - the LOWE WF 180 is heavy compared to tin boats of similar size. My trolling motor is in the 70 lb range - and it is ok. If there is any way I could fit an extra battery for a 36 volt system, I would have done it long ago. Basically, I don't know what it is worth - I haven't had to deal with that particular problem. Changing the subject - I thought I heard once that the boat dealer in Kirksville was a fairly decent one. Can't they hook you up with a decent used boat. Hopefully something that will meet all the screwy rules they have in the various reservoirs around Kirksville, i.e. Thousand Hills and Hazel Creek. Good luck in your boat hunt.

Go back to the basics, i.e. Buck Perry - "The fish are deep . . .or shallow . . . .or somewhere in-between." Just start methodically looking. The suspended fish theory isn't necessarily a bad one. My experience with pit fishing has been that they always had some reason to suspend where they were, as opposed to somewhere else. Major depth change, underwater hump, long extended point, something. Somewhere in that pit there is a ramp that goes from the bottom to the bank, at an angle that they could maneuver machinery in and out of the pit as necessary. Find that place.

If you're fishing 10' deep or more with the drop shot, I wouldn't go any lighter than a quarter ounce with the weight. I generally use that or a 3/8 oz with my finesse set up if there is much wind. My reasoning is that the drop shot system is a way to present the bait a little ways off the bottom, so I might as well get the bait to the location ASAP. Your bait is essentially weightless, no matter how much weight is beneath it. My current finesse drop shot rig is a 7'St. Croix Mojo spinning rod - Med action with an extra fast tip and a 2000 size Shimano spinning reel. Line is 14 lb Fireline Crystal to a very small ball bearing swivel, then connected to 5' or so of 8 or 10 lb Abrazx fluorocarbon. All casting with this rig is an underhanded pitch as the line won't reel past the swivel. Not really a problem as I rarely pitch more than 40'. Like several others here, I like the strike indicator characteristics of line contrast against the water.

I don't get to this section of this website very often, but it is early am and I just got home from work and I'm just looking. I've got to ask, "If it ain't part of your job to wear a jersey and pimp products, why would you want to?" The coin that you'd spend on a product pimping jersey might be better spent on some good weather appropriate outdoor gear that will contribute to your comfort while you're outdoors and therefore contribute to your fishing success? JMO For the record, I'm a geezer and I've always needed a very good reason to wear some one else's logo without compensation.

I used to avoid changing out hooks and stuff because I had issues with the split rings. My short stubby fingers didn't work good using split ring pliers - I found it difficult to keep the ring centered on the pliers to open it up. Then I got a good set of split ring pliers. Texas Tackle Split Ring pliers weren't cheap - $15 more or less - but they work great and are easy to use and keep the split ring centered. I like quality tools that work.

I carry a lot of different hooks, for different purposes. Tx rig hooks - weighted swim bait hooks - wacky rig hooks - Gammy Wicked wacky hooks and others that I can't recall right now. Hooks get sorted by purpose, and I probably have several packages of each size. At Walmart, in the school supplies aisle, they have the zippered pencil pouches for around a buck each. Buy many of them, put each assortment of hooks into their own pouch. If the pouches get too fat, you haven't sorted them into enough categories. Be specific when you label each pouch. I find that bright colored duct tape works best for labels. If you have a stray/loose hook, just put in the appropriate bag and sort it out later. I normally carry 50 to 60 different brands/styles/sizes of hooks and this system is what has worked the best for me so far. I had one of those Falcon designated hook boxes and I gave it away because it was too limiting. Then my buddy traded it back to me for some other piece of gear. I use that box for tx rig only stuff and it works ok for that.

If you've got a good deal on the 300E - BUY IT Previous posters advice about it being too much reel for a jig rod are totally correct. I fish a Kistler 7'5" Heavy action pitching/flipping rod with a Curado 50E and 20 lb Abrazx often. It works great as my bubba drop shot rod. ALSO ( staying somewhat on the subject) it works great as a heavy jig rod, for throwing half and three quarter oz football heads at Table Rock. Line capacity of the 50E is enough to handle either of these applications. Sometimes I will be throwing those half ounce football jigs a long way - I might throw out 3/4 of the spool - but it works. Now, the reason I said to buy the 300 E if possible is that it is a great reel for many other applications. For instance - distance throwing of crank baits - fill it with 65 lb braid and it is a great frogging reel AND an outstanding A-rig reel. If you ever happen to go north and fish for large pike or muskies, that reel will work great for that. Here's what I'll do if you don't like the 300 E - I'll swap you a Chronarch 50 even up for it. You put that 300E on a jig rod and go pitching all day and your wrist is going to hurt at the end of the day - it just will - it is pretty heavy compared to premium reels in a size commonly used for jig fishing. All this advice goes out the window if you are going to use this reel for inshore fishing as well

As aluminum boats that boat is big and heavy. Don't be thinking that you will be saving a ton of money on gas. Compare it to similar sized glass boats and it isn't that much lighter. If you are running that on smaller reservoirs will you be "putting around" more than you will be "running"? I'd be concerned about carbon build up, putting around on quarter throttle or less for any period of time. To my mind, that is the primary advantage of 4 strokes, i.e. you can putt around all day "quietly" and never carbon up the engine. The cool thing about that boat is that it is built like a tank and with modest care, will last forever.

Why not? Wiring issues? Security issues? If you have an on board charger, I'd try buying the apartment manager a 6 pack and explaining the situation. If you are paying for covered storage and can't plug in the charger - that's messed up. All part of the challenge of being a boat owner, I guess. If you want to drop a bunch of money on solving this issue, several years ago In-Fisherman magazine wrote about a stealth charging system that would route power from your alternator to charge your batteries while you drove to the lake. Other than it sounded expensive, I don't know very much about the particulars. For more information, call the guys at In-fisherman. I have better luck calling that magazine than I do with sending an E-mail and expecting a response. Call prior to noon (their time) and if they are in town they're probably in the office then.

The last time I was in Clinton, I inquired at Everhardts about Montrose. They said it was pretty shallow - don't bother - low quality ramp. So I didn't bother going there. Years ago, I drove out to it once - without my boat and it seemed like a pretty enough lake. I'd like to know how you did and about the quality of the launch area.

If I'm fishing in that situation, I 'm thinking low & slow - most likely some jig/worm combo.

I have a swim ladder on my boat. It doesn't help much if you fall out on the other side of the boat. Back when I first got my current boat (2002) it occurred to me that I might fall out of it and I ought to have a plan on how to get back in. At a BFL tournament, in the parking lot a couple of days prior to the event, I was with a number of other guys standing around listening to a local semi-pro expound on the particular nature of Table Rock Lake, compared to the other Ozark Highland Lakes. Anyway, the subject of falling out of the boat came up and this guy mentioned that the easiest way to get back in was - A - get back to the surface and grab on to the boat. B - hand over hand, work your way to the back of the boat and use the power trim to life yourself back into the boat, kind of roll back in.. Seemed like good advice and that summer I tried it in 80 degree water in a shallow cove, wearing swim trunks. It works. I've fallen out of the boat once - spring of 2006 - in 40 ish degree water. The technique worked then. Glad I practiced. When I got home from that trip I got on the phone and ordered an inflatable life jacket and I nearly always wear it. The inflatable life jacket would have made the whole process easier.

To address the question "Do jig head shapes make a difference?" The basic answer is yes, they do. There is quite a bit of info out there about this but basically you get to decide for yourself. The great part of this is that there is a built in excuse. Should you fish some jig style bait for a while and not get bit, you can always blame the head style.

There is a learning curve to a drop shot rig, just like there is for any other fishing style. There is a time & place where the drop shot works best, just like any other style. There are different ways to approach drop shot fishing, just like many other styles. Start with your rig. Many guys use spinning gear and consider the drop shot a " finesse" fishing method. Net necessarily so. I always carry a "bubba shot" rig (a 7.5' flipping stick with a 50 E filled with 20 lb Abrazx) This is an alternative to jig fishing, both deep and shallow - also an alternative to flipping. You can flip/pitch next to an object, allow a moment for the half ounce weight to hit bottom and then all of a sudden you have a bait - suspended 6" to a foot off the bottom, right next to the object you think holds fish. You can wiggle it if you want, most of the time just trying to hold it steady and let the rocking action of the boat most it slightly works.. I use this approach a lot on objects from 2' to around 10' deep. As the water gets dingier, use a soft plastic that moves a little more water. I generally start with a crazy legs chigger craw. The power bait jerk shad works ok for me in clearer water. Start with the Arkansas Shiner color and with your scented colored markers, you can imitate nearly any color bait fish you want. Nose hook the bait with a Shimano Wicked Wacky hook. I carry all the different sizes, but 2/0 or 3/0 works best for me. A GULP sinking minnow on a 1/0 wicked wacky hook works good for me as well. In addition to the bubba rig, I carry a finesse rig, very similar to many of the ones described here and elsewhere. I tend to use that rig in slightly deeper/clearer water when I feel line visibility is an issue. I could fish it shallow but most of the time I grab the bubba rig. The main thing I think about the drop shot is slow down and don't get in a hurry. Once you've decided on an object to place the bait next to, give it time - at least a minute or two and more is better. I try to figure out where the "shade pocket" is on any given object, and try to place the bait within inches - in the sun but very near to the shade pocket. Another thing - if you're trying to drop shot out of the back of the boat and your boater isn't drop shot fishing, that's a challenge. To compensate, use a spinning rod that can handle a half ounce weight. that will get your bait down ASAP next to the object and give you more rising time until the boater forces you to move the bait or lose it. Do a good job of anticipating and you can stick a number of fish that your boater just blows on by. There you go, my thoughts on drop shot fishing for now. If you can't catch fish drop shooting, either you haven't done it enough to get on the learning curve - or you are fishing it in the wrong time & place or it is possible that you are genetically/emotionally unsuited for fishing a drop shot, in which case try something different. Part of the charm of bass fishing is that there are many paths to the same goal.

In my opinion, speed traps are ok square bills, but I think that Timber Tigers are better.

For soft plastics, I like to use plastic shoe boxes that I get at Walmart. Several times per year they go on sale for around a buck a piece at Walmart. Every time you go to Walmart, look and see if they are one sale, and if so, but ten bucks worth. There are two kinds - the kind with the separate lids and the kind with attached lids. I like the attached lids better. Buy a roll of white duct tape and a sharpie so that you can make labels that last. I think that I'm at around 60 or 70 boxes now, and the next time they're on sale I'm pretty certain I'll get another dozen. Hard plastics & terminal tackle, over the years I've accumulated numerous 3700 size plano boxes, so I just sort the various baits into different plano boxes.

The question was about plug knocker storage. I also carry an extendable pole. I think you need both.

Currently 3 different reels make the traveling/starting team. Bubba Drop Shot - Curado 50 E with 20 lb Abrazx Finesse Drop Shot - Medium Level Shimano spinning reel (the one with the double paddle handle and quick fire bait, forget the name right now) - now it is the next day and I remember that it is a Spirex This spring I got a Curado 70 and mounted it on an older Loomis 6' 10" drop shot rod ( with a casting handle ) this rig hasn't seen the water yet.

I like to use a fairly stout cord, like parachute cord rather than braid. Braid has cut into my fingers one too many times, I don't use that any more. I've seen a couple of semi=pros here in Missouri use an anchor rein, permanently mounted somewhere close to the bow of the boat where it was easy to get to. MY current set up is one of those H shaped brackets used for storing extension cords. It easily holds enough cord and is relatively easy to deploy. I've considered one of those dog leash set ups, but I wonder if it would really be any easier to deploy than my current set up.

If I had an unlimited amount of time, I'd learn how to skip with a bait caster - but I don't. When I get into a situation where I must skip a bait underneath something, I have an assortment of spinning rods that I know I can do the job with. Works for me.

I think that the easiest answer would be to mount it to your trolling motor. Back when I had a pond boat, that's how I did it. You just had to be mindful raising and lowering the trolling motor and don't crimp the cable.

Every so often I lose stuff/break stuff/ space stuff out. I can't get very bent out of shape when that happens - because it never is and never has been an ownership thing with fishing tackle. I see it more as a "temporary custody" thing. When something gets lost - or broke - or just spaced out to the point of I've no clue where it is right now, I just look at it as my temporary custody of that item has been revoked.