guitarglynn1

The bright side is you felt the fight and got to fish. Part of NJ I am in you could still ice skate on the lakes and ponds here

As soon as I can. I am hitting small ponds first and if there is flowing water I am fishing. I fished small ponds late last year that were half frozen over or more and just fished the spots I could. I'll do the same thing. Soon as I see as much as a small edge of the pond thawed out I am fishing. We have snow on top of ice on top of snow on top of ice here in this god forsaken frozen waste land of a state NJ. But the worst is behind us and the snow is slowly but surely melting. I am going to check a few spots this weekend and I hope I can fish one of them. Only way I'll know is if I get geared up and go check em out. At the very least I'll be setting up my combo and loading up my tackle which in and of itself has me super pumped!

When I am on foot which is most of the time, I have a large hiking back pack that has about 8 different pockets and some of them have various pockets within the main pocket. As well as other loops and holders on it. Most of my lures I just keep the original packaging and have a spot in my pack dedicated to a specific type of bait. If it is a hard bait and I am not using it then I put it right back in the package it came in. Hooks, weights, jigs ect.. I keep in plastic storage cases. I can hang a net right from loops on the pack. I also keep numerous pliers with me, fish grabbers, fishing line, extra spools, temp and O2 gauge. Depending on weather I may have gloves, glasses, a poncho, hats, extra sweatshirt or something. There is a sport bottle holder on the side of the bag to keep a sport bottle with me. Drinks and chewing gum are really the only food stuff I ever bring. I eat when I get home. Also once it starts to shift towards spring bug repellent is a must. Not trying to get lymes disease or eaten alive by some annoying bug. Depending on the spot I am fishing I might have one of those waterproof fishing and boating maps for that body of water. And I like to keep a log book with me to use as a tool of reference and to take notes ect..

Guitar stuff is the same way. A lot of the MIJ stuff is as good as it gets. Beautiful reel! Steez spinning is at the top of my wish list.

Amazon is awesome for fishing gear. I don't know about anybody else but I am always filling my cart with amazon prime fishing gear. If you sit back and watch the price fluctuates on stuff widely. It is a gamble though because if somebody else watching the items grabs one up, then the price will go back to top dollar and you are out of luck. But the key is to have a large volume of stuff you watch so you have a better chance of catching something on the cheap. My brother recently grabbed an okuma evx M baitcasting rod off there for $25 shipped. Even came with a nice case to keep the rod in. The case alone was worth the price he paid.lol

Why is it that some lure manufactures go so all out on some lures with the eye details? is it the old to catch fisherman thing? I have read that with many bait fish the body of the fish is so camo that it leaves just the eyes for the bass to target in on.

Do any of you guys think that eyes on the jig make any difference? I know some swear by eyes on the lures being a significant factor in getting bites so was just curious about that. I was thinking of painting some eyes on some jigs this year and seeing if I notice any difference between those and the regular solid colored ones I always use.

Like everybody said, use the tools available like feedback rating ect..even if somebody has a poor rating it may not be that they are a bad seller. Go see what they got a neg for and see if that reason raises any red flags. Look over the pics well and try to have a good eye for detail. Some times you buy stuff from people who know less about what they are selling than you. hard to write up a good description if you are simply a re-seller with no real knowledge of the item. The description can usually clue you in to what they know. And hopefully if they know very little they admit as much. As they say, a picture can be worth a 1000 words. Study the pics closely. If the reel is used and the seller is using generic photos that is never good. You want to see what you're buying. Heck, generic photos bother me even if new. Let me see what I am buying. Read the description carefully. And ask questions if need be to get any concerns cleared up. Good communication is among your most important tools with ebay. For the most part you are protected. Ebay has their policy set up for strong buyer protection. If you get an item that is anything less than what was pictured or described than begin the refund process through ebays resolution system. I buy/sell on ebay daily and have done so from the beginning. You can find absolute steals on ebay. It is not perfect but you can find plenty of honest people to deal with on there.

Thanks and Happy TG to all :-) Snowing all day here in NJ as well Don't know about the rest of you, but tomorrow I plan on setting a calorie PR!

Jacksonville has some killer fishing holes. St. John's river is one of them and connects to an inlet I have fished at whiteys fish camp when I have visited that area.

You just made me want to do more catfishing this up and coming year. As a kid we used sunfish as cut bait and it never failed. looks like you have found a method that really delivers. I will be looking forward to trying this method. Thanks for sharing it with us^5

I did some catfishing this summer and caught a few smaller ones on fatheads. When I was a kid there was a pond not far from where I lived and me and my friend used to go there in the early mornings in the summer. It was real easy to catch very small perch, and we would catch a few and cut them up and use them for bait. Catfish loved them and we would never fail to catch some nice sized fish. One guy I was talking to who did a lot of catfishing told me to fill a stocking with bait and tie a rope around it and throw it out there and it will attract cats. Then of course throw your bait out there as well. I am yet to try it though.

I feel the same way jitterbug. I use 6lb for my UL and it gives me a little more confidence. Some of the spots I fish, it is not about how far I cast but rather simply trying to maneuver through trees and bushes. Having a short rod lets me get off casts in very tight confined spaces where as a longer rod would make it extremely difficult.

So far, senko an dingers

Lmao I was wondering when I would come across somebody who drinks coffee. Its coffee and gum for me.

Here are some more. That cold front hit and it snowed here and it was cold this morning! about 25 degrees and some wind. But I bundled up real good and the yellows didn't seem to mind so I did not mind either :-)

Thanks! It was awesome^5 so true! I caught every fish on a different lure.lol That is huge and a heck of a catch! You said it perfectly..I had no idea what to expect in that pond. I thought it might be bass or bust. When I saw them swarm my lure I was really pumped. I knew right then it would be a fun day of fishing. If yellow perch are biting, I can't resist dropping any original plans and just fishing for them on my UL as you mentioned.lol I'll trade you some of my yellow perch for those big bass you got out there :-P I don't eat them but have heard they are tasty. Wow that is a chitload of fish in an hour! sounds like you had a pretty large tight school of them. I broke out a small crappie sized crankbait but I only got a few casts right before I had to split. Do you ever have issues with them inhaling the smaller crankbait? I smash the barbs on my cranks but even so, the smaller ones I know will work great but those perch tend to try and inhale everything they go after. I release them and hate to have to deal with an inhaled crankbait. Awesome perch! And I agree, pics don't do them justice. I lived in quite a few different areas of this state and never caught or seen yellow perch. Only since I moved where I currently am did I start catching them. In fact it was the first fish I caught and I had no idea what it was, I just knew it looked amazing! it quickly became one of my favorite fish to catch

I have never done it but i might try it this winter. I know local fisherman who do it and one of them told me a great way to start is to simply look out for the guys out there ice fishing and join in with them. He said they will usually have maybe 5 holes cut out and know where the fish are and how to catch them. He said you sit and talk and have a good time. Interested to see what others have to say about it.

I didn't get out yesterday and a day late but to any vets on the board let me say you have my greatest appreciation and respect. Vets should be honored every day if you ask me. And nice fish caught by all. Especially the yellow perch

ha, I did the same thing last month and got snagged on something in the water and ended up pulling out a spoon I lost this summer. It was my fav weedless spoon too so I was pumped.lol That looks like a really nice pickerel got there. all and all that looks like a great day of fishing in my book

why do you think it sucks? It is one of my go to lines and I love the stuff. I mostly use elite and started using siege only this summer and I have nothing bad to say about it. have not used the 12lb though. mostly 6,8,10

Stellar day of fishing bro!

Thanks That is huge!! Bet it was fun to catch huh. I have caught a handful of them in the past few weeks about the same size as that one above. They are so much fun to catch

Anybody else been enjoying the great yellow perch fishing? I know that one guy on here has who told me he was gearing up for it. I can't get enough of it! There is this pond I found on a map that was not easy to find. It is basically in the middle of nowhere and is a good 1/2mile hike thru some trails to get there. I wasn't even sure if I would find it? But when I did it was awesome! What a beautiful place to fish and so peaceful, and a nice weather day for a change. I started to work my way around the pond and not even walking 50ft I saw some really nice sized bass around the bank and it was a tricky spot. The ground slopes downward and there were trees and bushes, but I just held a tree with one hand and fished with one hand. I just dangled my lure in there where they were to try and get a bite. When I did a yellow perch came shooting in and then a couple more did the same and the biggest of the bunch got it. I could see bass along the bank the whole time I fished but it was real easy to spook them and the perch. I did get a lure out in front of a couple small ones and got one to bite but didn't get the hook set. But the yellow perch fishing was awesome! The water was clear and they were following my lures in close and grabbing them and it was really cool watching them bite and go to swim off. I caught a half dozen of them and every one of them was bigger than the avg size I caught all summer at the lake. Got this cold weather moving in and not sure how it will affect things? But I hope I can enjoy another day like that at this pond. Just wish I found this place in spring. Just wanted to share it with you guys and hear of any others fishing for yellows.

I got out yesterday and made sure I got out one of these last two nice days. I didn't have much luck on the bass front either, the yellow perch is another story