Fishes in trees

I don't know why you couldn't use a swivel in your drop shot approach. I'm not a big fan of barrel swivels, if I were going to do that, I'd probably go to a ball bearing swivel. Me - I just tie a good knot for my braid to fluoro connection. I've found that using the Gamakatsu wicked wacky hooks, with the little tube on the hook shank to run your line through, has eliminated a lot of line twist for me.

I don't know. This is a hard question. I'm not a big fan of hard questions so I will answer this hard question in the same manner that I answer many other hard questions in my life, i.e. by deferring thinking about it until "later". Geeze . . . I feel better . . . . tackle dilemma over… . .

I have several suits - depending on the weather. Frog Toggs work good - but they aren't so hot in the early spring when it is cold. Gore Tex works good - but it isn't so great in the summer when it is hot as well as rainy. Pick your poison. If you can only get one suit right now, I'd go Frog Toggs. Get it kind of roomy so that you can wear layers underneath. If you are fishing tournaments - I'd go with a mid-weight gore tex suit. Think of it this way. You've already spend x amount of dollars for tournament gear, x amount for travel & lodging, x amount for dues, fees, & licenses, why short yourself on comfort during the hours you're fishing. When you're wet & chilly you don't feel good, you aren't totally focused on fishing, your thoughts are somewhere else at least some of the time. If you are going to play the tournament game - give yourself an honest chance to compete and don't short yourself on gear. My grand dad, in olden times, referred to that behavior as being penny wise and pound foolish.

My favorite deeper diving crank is a Timber Tiger DC 16. Again, this is mostly due to where I fish week in and week out, there are many sunken bushes and brush in the 10 to 18 foot range, all over the lake and all depths, really. Most cranks, you run them into a sunken thorn bush, it is gone, or at least you've got to pull out the lure retriever. Timber Tigers come through that stuff much more often than not.

That kind of looks like a Luhr Jensen profile. I don't know if they mad a Hotshot with a jointed tail section or not. Trolling lures aren't my specialty. That lure has a what looks like a metal lip. Did they make a Hotshot with a metal lip? Again, I'm not sure. Also, I may be mistaken, but "hotshottting" a bait isn't exactly trolling. The way I understand it, you boat is anchored, bait is cast downstream and you let the force of the current against the bill take the bait to the bottom. Then you hold the bait in place for a few moments, hopefully next to a rock, boulder, or some other underwater obstacle that a fish might be sheltering behind. Then after a while, you release some line, let the current push the bait back a little farther and repeat the process of letting the current bump the bait against the bottom. At least, that is how I understand "hotshotting". I don't live anywhere near where it is commonly practiced.

I use a trailer on a spinnerbait all the time. I don't use trailer hooks. Mostly I think that if you are fishing a spinner bait in a place where you can get away with a trailer hook, there are probably better options out there - JMO Back to the subject of which trailer. Generally, I think that a spinnerbait without a trailer is half a bait. Most of the time I'll use some short soft plastic as a trailer. The BPS Cajun trailers work good. I'll use the ZOOM swimming chunk quite a bit. Lucky Strike use to make a 4" twin tail trailer that had a clearish/smoky grey body with lots of different colors of glitter in it and ending with chartreuse tip on the tails of the bait. Sometimes the chartreuse has faded a little bit and can bit touched up with a chartreuse sharpie or one of the dips available. Long out of production, I still have a couple of bags left that I scored on a close out. This is my favorite clearer water trailer. I think that the point of a trailer is to give the fish something soft to bite down on, and that gives you a second or two longer to set the hook. There might be a secondary factor as an attractor, but for me the jury is still out on that point. As far as using the trailer as an attractor, I used to use Uncle Josh split tail eels on the spinnerbaits, but these days I switch baits too often for that to work, the pork eel is likely to dry out between uses, and I don't feel like wasting the time to attach/detatch the pork bait every time I choose to switch presentations. New this year, and untried as of yet, a tackle store near me cut their prices on all their Netbait plastics, down to $1.50 per bag, therefore I now own a BUNCH of all the different sizes of Paca chunks. I'll be trying these out as spinnerbait trailers this spring. So that's my current thinking on spinner bait trailers.

I don't rig very much, mostly because I'm not very confident in it. I've changed my C-rig gear several times over the past decade and a half. Currently I'm using a seven and a half foot MH, extra fast tip spinning rod a 4000 size Shimano reel and a 50 lb braid/fluorocarbon leader. I have NO trouble throwing a half or 3/4 oz weight as far as I want with it and like other people have mentioned, you only use the reel to store line, all the bait action is caused by dragging with the rod tip. The few bites I've gotten, there haven't been any issues keeping up with the fish with the spinning reel - I think that it is a 5 something to one ratio. Mostly, it is just that the waters I fish aren't real conducive to C-rigging, so I don't do it very much.

How wide are these trails that you are dragging a canoe through the woods? Maybe a smallish jon boat or a 10' pond boat, on a trailer, pulled by an ATV, could be the way for you to get your gear to a remote body of water. Here in Missouri, I have a buddy who LOVES to fish out of the way, hard to get go, ponds, watersheds and strip pits. He's able to get to these areas with quite a bit of gear using the following system. A 10' BPS pond prowler is mounted on a light duty trailer he got from Harbor Freight, that he adapted to hold his boat. This trailer is pulled by a large ATV. (He's a big guy, in the 250+ range) The boat, trailer, ATV combo, he loads on to a 16' road worthy flat trailer that he pulls with his pick up. The idea is to get as close as reasonable with the pick up and larger trailer and then get to the water using the ATV/ pond prowler set up. A cool set up. Maybe something like that would work for you. A little outside the box thinking. It did cost considerably more than $900 to acquire that set up though. If money is a real issue, that set up wouldn't work for you.

the Nitro CDC. Wasn't that the center console version of the Nitro? As I recall, those were ok boats, the top of the Nitro line at the time. If it has been well taken care of, I wouldn't worry about the hull. As I recall, and mind you I've never owned a Nitro, only ridden in one a few times and listened to parking lot talk about boats, where the NItro's had questionable quality was in the little things. Like lower quality hinges on the bin lids that would corrode over time. They used a lighter grade of vinyl on the seats than some other boat makers did. Low end to mid-grade bilge pumps and live well pumps rather than the top of the line. All that being the case, the one guy I knew who had one liked his A LOT. He told me he felt much more confident and secure running in the 2 to 4 foot choppy water that is fairly common on Table Rock and Stockton Lake in the spring. My advice is overall, that seems like a good boat - have fun in it. You probably will burn more gas, for a while anyway, but that will be mostly due to the fact that it is a new to you boat and you'll have fun just driving the boat for a while.

I've got a few of those. I think that they work great for storage of extra spinnerbaits in my fishing shed. I found that they took up quite a bit of room in the boat and after a while I decided that I didn't need that many spinnerbaits. Then I got the flat Falcon boxes, later made by plano and they store better in the spaces I have available in my boat, better than the oblong box. So, I'm back to carrying a 80 or so spinnerbaits in my boat, I still don't need that many but, what the heck, they fit in the bin so why not?

I don't see why you couldn't put a fluke on that bait. The only way to find out would be to try it on your rod. I don't think a few grams is going to make a difference in this case. If you do go a few grams over the 5/8 oz rating, I won't tattle.

I haven't done this for years, mostly because I boat fish now, BUT back in the day - post college, but nowhere near flush yet, I was a meat fisherman. I would catch and eat anything that swam. I had access to several waters that were stunted, filled with 9" to 11" bass and the owners didn't care how many I took, just get them out of there without resorting to nets or poisons. OK, early spring, ice is off the banks but there is still some ice towards the center of the pond. Take a 1/8 oz crappie jig (red/chartruese/white was my favorite color) with the smallest pork rind you can find. At the time, Uncle Josh sold some thin 4" eels. Only available in brown, color didn't really matter that much. Anyway throw the bait up on to the ice still floating in the pond. Throw past the edge 5 or 6 feet. You want it to make a little noise when it hits. Then drag the bait to the edge of the ice and let it fall. 2 or 3 casts, then walk 50 or 60 feet and try it again. You will find a spot where the fish are grouped (who knows why) and catching 8 or 10 before the bite slows is very doable. At the time, I used 6 lb mono because that was the best option available. If I were to do it again, I'd probably use some braid/fluoro combo. That's where I'd start for early season pond fishing.

In the articles section, there are several that describe a drop shot set-up. No need to re-write the stuff, just go there and read that stuff for background information. Be mindful that drop shot is just another presentation and can be used with nearly any rod & reel combo. You get to choose if what you got will work for you or if you need to bust out some cash for another rig. Me, I keep a couple rigged and ready every time I go out. There is the "bubba" set up, with a flipping stick, bait casting reel and 20 lb line that I use when I'm fishing around gnarly cover (wood, thick vegetation, sunken thorn bushes, etc) I generally use half ounce weights for this rig, mostly because that is what is readily available where I live. If 3/4 oz drop shot weights were readily available, I'd use those. I always have a somewhat lighter spinning rig ready to go. Currently it is a 7' Medium/tending toward MH rod with an extra fast tip. Other guys like a more flexible tip for drop shot fishing. You got to experiment to figure out what you like. I generally use a 10 lb braid/fluorocarbon leader set up. More often than not, I will use lighter weights, mostly dependent on how deep i want to fish and how much wind there is that day.

My thoughts are that the meathead worm is more of a drop shot worm - more suited to nose hooking than anything else. The slider heads are a good suggestion, also Brewer makes a tx rig crappie head that would work in the larger sizes. I would think that any jig head with the spring on top would work also.

For rattle trap style baits, I prefer 17 or 20 lb mono - whatever is on close out at Walmart this time of year, I get enough for the entire year. The re-released Berkley Iron Silk is an excellent line for this kind of work.

If all else fails . . . . . Step A - score some cranks in the weight, size, bill style, etc. that you like ( who cares about color at this point) Step B - Send them to Hughes Custom Painted Baits in Reed Springs, MO. The guy is an artist who can paint any color scheme you want. Check out his web site. They won't exactly be cheap, but you'll have exactly the color scheme you want.

A couple of times over the past few years, at my favorite local lake ( which is full of stumps, you've always got to putt around, it is dangerous and illegal to get on plane) there have been geezers, older than me, who thought it was a good idea to go out on this 300 + acre lake with just a trolling motor and a semi=charged battery. Very quickly, they run out of power and can't make any headway against the wind and sooner than you think they're three quarters of a mile down the lake. These guys I've pulled back to the launch cove. One guy I had to help get his boat back on the trailer. One guy couldn't understand what the problem was, he'd charged his battery up "real good" at the start of the season. (This happened in MAY.) He thought that deep cycle batteries just held their charge forever, I guess. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. My good deed was that I saved him from his own ignorance. My other good deed lately is that I always have more hand-wipes in my boat than I need, so if someone is "caught short" in the privy, I can throw them something to tidy up with.

That is a cool looking boat. If I were a fire/rescue department looking for a boat that would be used for occasional rescue operations, I'd consider that boat. Very occasional. If a department did very many fire/rescue operations, they'd pop for a real boat. That boat looks like it would be a pain to fish out of. Don't drop any hooks in it. How are you going to power that boat? Oars? Sails? You're looking at 2G worth of boat, no motor, no trolling motor, battery and/or gas tank, safety gear, and so forth. For that kind of money I'm pretty sure you could a deep V or semi V that would be MUCH easier to fish out of. JMO

You got 4 choices when you're jig fishing. You can drag them, hop them, swim them or dead stick them. Pick one. If it doesn't work, try one of the others, or a combination. If that doesn't work, try a different bait. If that doesn't work, take a break, pop a top, chill, practice jumping out of the boat, or something else.

Here are a few tips I've accumulated over the years. In the truck, carry a tool kit that will let you loosen or tighten any fastener on the truck. Fuses, jumper cables, drag strap, air compressor have all been necessary from time to time. Same goes for tool kit in boat. Boat plugs are cheap. The 1" size is nearly universal. Have a couple of spares. That might help you save some one else's fishing trip. Trailer bearings fail most of the time because you are sloppy on your regular maintenance. Not to say that they don't just randomly fail from time to time, but most often they fail because of a lack of routine maintenance. In my fishing truck I carry several changes of clothes, appropriate to the weather. Especially in the summer time, a clean set of shirt & shorts make the drive home more comfortable, compared to driving home in your dirty, sweaty stuff. The aforementioned tip about knowing how to get back into your boat should you fall out is a good one. Make a point to practice this sometime this summer. Handi-wipes are better than toilet paper. They store easier in the boat because they come in their own weather resistant packaging. Don't be a jerk and only carry enough hand-wipes for yourself. If you are on site and able to offers hand-wipes at the appropriate moment, you'll make a friend for life. There's lots more, but that's enough for now.

If you don't fish with anyone from your area, you might want to start. You can learn as much fishing with different guys as you can off the internet.

Your profile says that you're 17, so you have probably figured out that bank fishing and boat fishing are similar, but different. Also, at 17, you probably don't have an unlimited amount of disposable income to spend on gear, so my advice is fish what you got. As you gather spare income for fishing gear, pick a style of fishing that you want to upgrade gear-wise and get that. I got to tell you, that as I went through that gear acquiring curve, dedicated jerk bait rods and dedicated crank rods were way down the list. My first few upgrades were better, more sensitive, worm/jig rods. (I still occasionally use the HMG 5'9" MH spinning rod I acquired in 1980) When I got to the point to where I wanted to fish bait casters, my first goal was to get a decent spinner bait rod. Cranks and jerk baits were way down the list at that time. Anyway, that's just me, my advice still stands though, as you get disposable income to improve your gear pick a style of fishing you want to improve on and get that. Might not be cranks or jerk baits, I don't know.

I know I have mind separated by brands and stored in different Plano boxes. I can't recall the number of the boxes right now. Thin ones, but not the angled dividers. I like to store them one bait per compartment and so I just bought several boxes. No matter what kind of box one decided on, those green treble hook protectors are very helpful. I put those on nearly every hard bait I have in storage. They are a good idea to save both your fingers while you are looking through baits and over time they protect the hooks as well.

Saturn makes an 18' inflatable? I just went to their web site and the largest they showed on that site was a 15" model. At $1700 and change, before shipping, before outboard and other accessories, it occurs to me that there might be a cheaper option available locally. A V-hull or semi-V hull handles choppy water better than a flat jon boat hull. However, those inflatables are neat boats and if that is what you want, that's what you should get. JMO

I'm not going to be snarky, I'm not going to be snarky, about what is and what ain't a good REAL. A good REAL what . . . . . offers so many opportunities to be snarky that it is unfair. Kind of like sneaking up behind guys on crutches and kicking the crutches. Should you desire a good REEL that will last for the rest of your life, pop for around $180 or so and buy and Chronarch 50 E.