Fishes in trees

I wouldn't bother with putting soft plastic lures into plastic boxes. Keep them in their original packages. Group similar lures together in gallon zip lock bags. Be mindful that the zip lock freezer bags are a heavier duty plastic than the regular zip lock bags. I wouldn't mess with the regular zip lock bags. Sometimes you will tear up the original packaging. Have some quart size zip lock freezer bags on hand and transfer baits into that bag. Take out your sharpie and be certain to label brand & color. Take the gallon zip locks and keep them in a cheap duffle bag. Myriads of different sizes of cheap duffle bags are available. Pick one that suits, be mindful that as your soft plastic assortment grows, you will probably need more than 2. 3 or 4 is a good number to start with and allows you some room for growth. A few years ago, Walmart had cheap, wheeled, soft sided carry on size luggage on sale. The ones I found measured roughly 20" x 12" x 7". I bought 5. These stack easy in my Explorer and are easily bungeed down on the back deck of my boat when I fish by myself. I've been doing this for a few years now. After you have been doing it for a few years, you will find that there isn't any perfect system. I try to have one or two carry ons for each season. Spring soft plastics - fall soft plastics and summer soft plastics. There is some overlap, but that don't matter. The point is to have a bag that you can grab and go and have enough options within that bag. Another option is to divide baits by water color, i.e. baits for clear water - stained water - dingy water - muddy water. Experiment with your secchi disc to figure out what these different water color titles mean where you live. By this I mean that what is considered clear water in Texas isn't the same thing as clear water in Missouri. Even in Missouri, Lake Ozark clear isn't the same thing as Table Rock clear and neither of those are the same as Bull Shoals clear ( which is mostly in Arkansas, I know) Whatever soft plastic system you decide to employ, be sure and label it. Do not count on your memory because it will betray you at the worst possible time. I have went through several different labeling systems. I have found duct tape and permanent marking sharpies to be my current best system. I hope this gives you an idea of how to sort your working assortment of soft plastics. How to sort your spare & extra soft plastics that you keep back in your fishing shed is a different topic. Here is a hint for that storage issue. Dust, insects & mice are your enemies here. Go to Walmart and buy many plastic shoe boxes. I think that the ones with the attached lids are better than the ones with the separate lids. Buy several different colors of duct tape and label everything, trying to stay organized. For me, Berkley plastics are one color of duct tape, different brands of worms are sorted by length and type of tail and are another color. Baits that I have a lot of, like trick worms, get their own box (or 2). Lizards get a different label color than worms; same goes for tubes, craws, creature baits, swim baits, what have you. If I have aided you in your soft plastic organization strategy or added to the confusion, then my work here is done. On another side note, once you have decided to take an afternoon and devote it to soft plastic organization, I find that several IPA's and a blasting stereo help. Bridgeports (out of Oregon), Boulevard Pop-up IPA (out of Kansas City), O'Dells (out of Fort Collins, Colorado) and Deschutes (another Oregon Brewery) are a few good IPA choices to start with. Don't get bent out of shape if you don't get done in one afternoon. There will be more afternoons and more IPA's. Tune wise, on the stereo, I have found that Bob Wills, Billie Holliday, George Thorogood, Dwight Yokum, Lynnard Skinnard, Count Basie & Bob Marley to all be good soft plastic sorting tune choices. Oh, by the way, in your profile, it helps to know where you live. Guys who live more or less in your neighborhood will be more likely to respond.

If I'm throwing jigs from the bank, I am probably not throwing any kind of skirted jig/trailer combination. Most likely I am using a quarter ounce Brewer slider head and a 5" paddle tail worm. This is a tx rig style jig head that comes through most cover you throw it at. A fairly slender profile, but the paddle tail moves some water. Anyway, that is where I'd start. I'd use spinning gear and a light braid/fluorocarbon leader combination, so I wouldn't be as bothered by the wind.

So, you are tired of getting sweaty, lifting weights, running, starving yourself/taking other actions to make weight and rolling around on mats with other guys. I can't imagine why. Jimmy the Cricket told Pinocchio "Let your conscience be your guide" That is still good advice, even if it is coming from a fictional character. Basically you are asking other people to offer opinions on a decision that only you can make.

My current thinking on Rattle baits is that brand is more important than color. I don't own every brand out there, but I do own Traps and Spots and the Yo-Zuri Drum and the Spro Aruku Shad and the Strike King Red Eye Shads and the predecessor the Diamond Shad, and the Bagley Shad-a-lack, and the Lucky Craft ones and I know I'm leaving out several. My current favorite is a discontinued bait, the Berkley Frenzy, in a kind of shiny, shad color. I've thrown enough of these baits that these days I start and stay with the Frenzy. I have 4 of these baits left, down from a close out purchase of 10. When I run out of these baits, then I will resume my rattle bait experiments.

I live a little south of you, but I think that the crank bait color dilemma is pretty similar everywhere. I own a bunch of different colors of cranks. Over the past couple of years, if I don't have a good reason for throwing a particular color (i.e. someone told me it was a good color on the particular body of water I'm fishing) I generally start with something vaguely shad colored. I want a bait with some white, something shiny and something grey in it. Maybe or maybe not a spot of red on the throat, I'm not married to the idea that a crank has to have a spot of red on the throat. Maybe or maybe not a darker shade on the back. Currently the bait that meets these color schemes for me, in a diving crank, is a Timber Tiger DC 13 or DC16 in their Texas Shad color. Please not that if I'm on Table Rock or Bull Shoals (which happens every other year or so) I have a box of Table Rock/Bull Shoals colors. Original Wiggle Warts in a translucent brown and translucent green, a grayish green translucent shade, some with tiny orange spots, black spots and some without. For waters with a slight stain to them, Table Rock Shad is a good color. Also please note that in the Mid-Mo, Western MO and Eastern Kansas area there are some strip pits with very clear water. The Table Rock/Bull Shoals colors work good in these waters as well. Basically, I think that crank color is tied to water color. Very dingy water calls for brighter baits, also baits that you can smack into stuff because by and large I've found that the fish stick closer to cover in dingy water. To me, dingy water is a secchi disc reading of 2, + or - little bit. As water clears up, I go with more bait fish or craw fish imitating colors, also I think that fish are more likely to chase stuff in clearer water. Please be mindful that this is just my current thinking on crank colors, these opinions are very much subject to change depending on future experience/experiments.

To echo what was written in earlier posts, 3/8 oz i kind of heavy as finesse jigs go. Add a trailer and the bait gets heavier. Depending on what kind of trailer, you could make a 3/8 oz jig kind of flutter down rather than sink like a stone. Regardless, if I'm throwing 3/8 oz jigs, I want at least a MH rod with a fast or extra fast tip. Currently I have a 7'2" Fenwick Aetos or a 7' Kistler for these chores. For a more finesse bait casting presentation, look at something like a 6'10" Falcon Eakins Jig Special. That rod is on the lighter side of MH, with quite a bit of tip in the rod. It throws 3/16 and 1/4 oz jig heads with some sort of plastic real well. (I tend to use the 1/4 oz Brewer Head and a 5" paddle tail worm). Using a 3/8 oz jig, I am unlikely to go lighter than 14 or 15 lb line. 3/16 or 1/4 oz I am ok going down to 10 lb abrazx. Whatever finesse presentation you decide to go with, get a reel that is as light as possible. I use a Curado 50 on my Eakins Jig rod, and a Curado 200 on my heavier jig rod. When I can afford another 50 size reel, I will swap it out on one of my jig rods.

If I had the room for the extra battery on my 18' Lowe aluminum, I'd have a 36 volt trolling motor

I think that it is possible to go nuts and over sort jigs. I am more of a jig & soft plastic guy and less of a skirted jig guy. That being said, here is what is currently in the boat. 1 3700 size box for Bubba shaky heads ( 3/8 oz & up), 1 3700 box for shaky heads (5/16 & lighter). There is a 3700 box for brush jig heads with fiber weed guards (a few 1/4, mostly 3/8 & half oz. different brands) There are a few smaller 3600 size boxes for Brewer Heads, Ned Rig heads, Wide Gap Brewer Heads. There are a couple of 3600 size boxes for the Larew Biffle Heads and the other imitations in various weights, mostly 5/8 and 3/4. There are 3 3600 size boxes for Football heads 2 for 3/4 oz heads and one for the rest of the various sizes. There are waterproof 3640 boxes for regular size Eakins jig, Eakins Brush jigs, Heavy Eakins jigs, skirted 3/4 oz football jigs. There are a few boxes for "assorted jigs" that don't exactly fit into any of the above categories, or they are overflow, because at some point I decided I needed more in the boat. Don't forget the jika rigs, I make my own, so I keep them in smaller 3500 size boxes separated by style & weight, so currently I have 7 or 8 boxes of those. Most of these are jig heads, so I have lots of soft plastics to fit on these jigs. These are carried in a soft canvas bag (or two). This whole current system is a testament to how you can sort stuff out on cold, windy, spring days, when your fishing truck is in the shop and you can't go fishing. I am fairly certain that there were more than a few IPA's involved in this decision process as well. Like I said in the first sentence, I think that it is possible to over sort jigs and jig heads. All of the boxes are labeled (all 4 sides, top & bottom) with different colored duct tape cut to fit. Duct tape seems to stick better than any other labeling system I've tried. On the underneath side of the bin lid, there is a dry erase chart, listing what is in the different colored labels, and it is more or less up to date. That saves a little bit of time digging in the boat bin, but I understand that once I have decided to dig into the boat bin, I am going to waste fishing time. Last fall, when I did the Fishing for Freedom event at Truman Lake, my soldier co-angler was both amused and impressed with this level of organization. Over the 2 day event, I managed to prove that level of organization didn't matter, that I could lead us to not catching fish no matter how organized/disorganized I was.

As mentioned earlier the weight of your bait and the density of the cover you are pitching should determine optimum gear choices. Also as mentioned earlier, the rods you got will work. However, I feel like you want to branch out a little more and buy another rod - that is cool also. I generally carry 3 pitching rigs and use them interchangeably depending on cover & bait weight. Be mindful that there is quite a bit of overlap in these 3 rigs For lighter stuff, I have a 6'10" Falcon Eakins Jig special (which is on the lighter side of MH). I have a Curado 50 and 10 lb abrazx on this rig. Moving up in power a little bit is a 7'2" Fenwick MH Aetos, paired with a regular sized Curado and 14 lb fluorocarbon. Moving up in power a little more I have a 7' Kistler Helium Heavy jig rod, paired with a Curado 50 and 17 lb abrazx. These 3 rigs get me through most of the soft plastic/ jig/ jika rig bait presentations through the year. I wouldn't want to call any one of those rigs my favorite, because the other two might get their feelings hurt and become resentful.

I use two different rigs. For wacky rigged senkos in the average cover that I fish I go with bait casting gear - currently a 50 sized chronarch on a 6'10" MH Falcon Bucco rod. I go with a Falcon weedless wacky hook, weighted either 1/16 or 1/8 and some brand of medium weight fluorocarbon - last year it was 15 lb abrazx. For tx rigged baits, I generally go with some brand of senko imitator and spinning gear. Currently I'm using a 5'9" Fenwick HMG Med power extra fast tip rod with a1000 sized Shimano Spirex. For line, last year I stuck with 14 lb Fireline crystal and either 15 or 20 lb fluorocarbon leader (a fairly short one, 12"to 18") The spinning gear is fairly lightweight, but I managed to stick and land most of my bites with it last year. I have tried longer and stronger spinning rods, but for where I fish tx rigged senkos, I have better accuracy with the 5'9" Fenwick HMG.

Go to the In-fisherman magazine website. Get on the midwest finesse part of that site. Check out all you can find on the "ned rig". 4 lb line is fine. For this fishing, you might want a little stronger butt, in the lower half of the rod, compared to your average UL rod. It can be done on UL rods, but you can upgrade and get better results. Check out what they use.

I think it depends on what you are using the tube for. If you are planning on dragging the tube on the bottom, deeper than 10' or so, you better use a 3/8 oz jig head, or it will take forever to drop to the bottom. Me, I'd probably go half ounce in that situation. In that situation, rig wise, I'd probably use one of my 6.5 or 7' MH spinning rigs with light braid or 10 lb fluorocarbon. If you're pitching a 3" tube into cover, a 3/8 oz tube jig is probably wrong. I think that the open hook would hang up too much, be more trouble than it is worth. If you got to go 3/8 (for whatever reason, probably distance & drop speed) Charlie Brewer makes a 3/8 oz tx rig jig head in both a regular hook and wide gap hook styles. I'd go with bait caster and 15 or 17 lb fluorocarbon for this approach. If you aren't totally married to the idea of throwing a 3" tube, I think that throwing a 4" or 5" tube into cover makes more sense, in that the slightly heavier bait would be easier to pitch and I don't think it would make much difference in how much you got bit. I'm pretty sure that other companies make 3/8 oz and heavier tx rig jig heads, Brewer heads are the ones that I have the most experience with.

By the time I get to the fishing tack store, I forget what size I'm after and the different companies sizes are different and I get confused. My strategy is either to write stuff down about what brand/size I need or just bring the old hook with me and try to match it up that way. A couple of weeks (or was it days) ago, I don't remember, a guy at work told me about weighting treble hooks with drops of solder to affect crank bait suspension and action. He claimed that the weighted hooks worked better than suspend dots on wiggle warts. Something to think about and maybe try.

I throw 6 and 8 and 10 lb fluorocarbon lines on spinning gear with minimal problems. Every so often you need to drag the line behind the boat the straighten it out - not a big deal. Something else to consider, if you are certain that the roles bearing is working correctly and you are certain the the line is spooled correctly, it could be that your reel is just a line eater. Over the years, I have had a few reels that I just couldn't get line to work right on. 10 to 15 minutes of casting ( and it didn't matter what kind of lure) a jerk bait or a small crank or some kind of soft plastic and the line would be fouled. True, this hasn't happened to any reel that I've bought lately. Of the ones I remember, one was an 80's era Mitchell (one of the first skirted spool reels), a couple of BPS house brand reels, a cheap Eagle Claw branded reel are the ones that come to mind. As far as cheap reels go, I have had decent luck with the US reels super casters. They cast good and the wider spool gives less line issues. Down side is that after a couple years they feel just a little "loose" all over and they start to make noise. All my super casters except for one are on the bench now. I'd give them away, but I'd feel bad about giving someone else my problem reel, so I don't. So far, I am having decent results with mid-range Shimano products, as far as spinning reels go.

I make a lot of my own jika rigs and that involves using many split rings. The Texas Tackle split ring pliers are the best I've found. You can't wear them out. They will last until you space them out or until someone steals them. I have two pairs. One pair stays in the boat the other in my tackle making box in my shed.

After a dozen casts or so, you should know what not catching a fish feels like. If something feels different than that, set the hook.

If stability is an issue, you might want to look at one of those 10' pond boats. 2 guys can easily fish out of one of those and stability isn't much of an issue. Jon boats, go as wide and as long as you can afford. JMO.

My first choice for pointers, in very clear to slightly stained waters is their Table Rock Shad color. That is where I start, if it is a very sunny day, I might go to a color that is more shiny. A cloudy day I'd be more likely to stick with Table Rock Shad all day.

I think that the telescoping poles are probably best for bank fishing purposes. A certain number of snags you aren't going to get back no matter what kind of lure retriever you've got.

If I've got to fish a worm in dingy water, I would probably go with red shad.

Not exactly a shaky head, but most of the time I use Charlie Brewer slider heads. Chompers makes a kind of wedge head in a variety of sizes that work ok for me. These have a spring coming out of the top of the head. I have a variety of other brands, of those the ones I use most often have the spring coming out of the top of the head.

At that price that rod is a steal. Buy it. Only if it meets half of your needs in a cranking rod - buy it. Put 17 or 20 lb mono on it and you will have a square bill/buzz bait/ rattle trap rod supreme. Go lighter with the line, to the 10 or 12 lb range and you got a deep diving crank rod that you can bomb lures a long way with. Go mid-range with the line 14 or 17 and you've got a rod that will handle those great big Strike King & Lucky Craft cranks. If you absolutely have to throw 3/16 to 3/8 oz cranks - get spinning gear, it will work better on the lighter baits than bait casting gear will IMO. I always get myself a couple of Christmas presents each year, so at least I will get a couple of things that I will like, and not get any family member upset. Had I seen that price a week ago, I would be the proud owner of one. Instead I addressed needs in other areas of my life. Maybe, if in a couple of week I am suffering post holiday depression and throwing money at myself will make me feel better for a little while . . . .

You are in Excelsior Springs, right down the road from you is Rogers Lures, in Liberty. They are good people and can help you with decisions like this and lighten your wallet at the same time. Right now, at Rogers, in Liberty, Timber Tigers are on sale for half price. Those are my first choice for shallow cranking. Load up on DC-8s and DC5s, get a few of the DC4 and the wake bait DC1. You can get set up , box and everything for way less than $200.

If you want to sit down while you fish, no one will tattle on you except yourself. It isn't a bad idea. When I was a bank fisherman, I didn't think much of having to sit down on the ground and get wet, but I did often. Here are a few suggestions. Back in the day when I went to a lot of outdoor concerts, I had a pair of concert lawn chairs. These were pretty light, and set lower to the ground than regular lawn chairs. I had a velcro rig to keep them folded up and strapped together, all on a sling. Whole thing weighed 5 lbs total. A great tool to keep your butt off the ground. Mayber a little bulky for what you're looking for.. I've seen some folding butt rests at golf stores. Just a post with a spike on one end and a fold out butt rest on the other. Fits in a golf bag. That would just be a little heavier than carrying another rod. Another option would be to bring along a girl friend when you go bank fishing. She could pack the lawn chairs and a lunch, providing both nutrition and entertainment when you decided to take a break from bank fishing. The best option, IMO, mentioned earlier, would be a lidded 5 gallon bucket. Keep all your gear in the bucket and just tote it around, sit on it when you need to. If it is a pond that you fish at a lot, go to a lawn sale and score a half a dozen lawn chairs and scatter them around the pond, near the stations where you are likely to be fishing. You might want to put a "PLEASE DON'T STEAL ME" sign on each lawn chair. There is a good sociological experiment right there, put out a chair with a "don't steal me" sign on it and see how long it lasts. That's all I got right now, glad I could help.

I have a set of guide wear that is at least 10 years old now that I wear for spring & fall weather. Summer time, I prefer a lightweight set of frog toggs.