papajoe222

Whenever I've purchased a fishing related gift for a friend or relative, I always steered clear of lures and stuck to accessories or terminal tackle. A spool of braided line, landing net, rod socks, or a tackle bag would get the nod unless he already has them. Lures, rods, reels, etc. are personal choices and if he is an experienced angler they likely would gather dust in his garage. My son-in-law has almost as much gear as I do, but was always asking to use my line cutters or pliers and would then misplace them. I got him a fishing tool set that came with a holster. He still misplaced them because he never puts anything away, but at least I kept mine in their rightful place and he received a gift that was both useful and thought out.

Yes, there is and a lot of those reasons are personal. I, personally would never use a O'Shaughnessy bend worm hook as I feel that style is more appropriate for live bait. I prefer a round bend worm hook for soft jerkbaits and an EWG for creature and beaver style baits. My favorite hook for the remainder of applications is a straight shank, round bend worm hook. I've tried the Skip-Gap for tubes, and it does hold the bait well, but it's a pain to thread through an internal tube weight. If they made an EWG in a straight shank, I'd love to check them out as I'm not a big fan of off-set hooks.

Which side of the plate do you bat from? Okay, spring training has me thinking baseball. I'm hoping to be able to pitch left handed with some practice. I don't think it will make much difference in numbers, but it sure will take a lot of wear and tear off my bum right shoulder.

I just finished my first spiral wrap and the reason I chose to do it was sensitivity. I fee that the line is in contact with more of the guides 100% of the time similar to a spinning rod. It may not make much difference, but a 10% increase in sensitivity on a moderately priced blank is a big plus in my book.

I, too have heard good things about TS321. In my case however, long term lubrication is a priority and it's my understanding thar both rocket fuel and TS321 need to be applied regularly. The upside is neither attracts dirt the way reel oil does. I refuse to ever use HotSauce again because my reels looked like they had never been cleaned when I broke them down for their annual mid-season cleaning. Rather than have two types of grease on my bench, I'll be going wth Cal's on everything once I run out of the blue grease (can't remember the brand).

Let's see. If I really thing about all the times I...............Wait, give me second. What was the question again? Oh yea, I get so focused when I'm by myself that I often forget

How to play guitar. After my recent surgery I found that I can now supinate my left hand (turn it palm up) I gave up playing drums with a conventional grip and never pursued playing the guitar because of my inability to do so. Oh, you were asking about fishing. Fishing a drop shot on a spinning rod with light weights. I need. To work on feeling the weight loose contact with the bottom.

My wife and I have been running an unofficial 'day care' for fourteen years basically babysitting one or two of my daughters' friends children. This gave me the opportunity to introduce those kids to fishing, first from shore and when their casting became consistent, in the boat with me. Those kids,of course, told their friends an cousins how much fun the have and it took off from there. We don't baby sit anymore, but I still take those 'kids' out a couple of times a year.

I fish Castle Rock in Wisconsin as soon as the ice pulls back from shore. That lake is considered part of the river system, so there isn't a closed season. The bass aren't very cooperative, but the walleye and occasional Muskie keep my interest until they get active.

They also can be found in good numbers in a healthy lake as the one I refer to is. Good populations of bluegill, crappie, bass and minnows are proof to me that they are not a threat to other species. The only fish lacking in this lake are catfish

I'm sure there are a lot of variables the manuf. use when determining running depth, but I would venture somewhere in the 10lb. range. Remember that a slight increase or decrease in line diameter results in a difference in inches on an average cast, not two or three feet. Some guys may say the only way to determine the running depth of a crank is to tie it on, cast it to the shallow end of a swilling pool and see where it stops making bottom contact. I don't have a pool and my average cast is a lot longer than any swimming pool I've ever seen and that's important because those that dive more than six feet or so take a while to get down to running depth. I prefer to cast them to an area that I know the depth of and try to determine how quickly the bait makes bottom contact. If it makes contact sooner than I expect, it likely runs deeper that the known depth and if it only ticks the bottom occasionally, it's right on and I'll mark the lip accordingly. I was surprised to discover that identical baits from the same company can run at foot or two different.

A mistake I made when I first started using them was retrieving them like a crankbait. Actually, I was fishing an original floating Rapala long before crankbaits, but I'd always used the reel to move the bait. When I read my first article on them and tried the retrireve, I was sure they'd never catch anything worked that way. Needless to say, I was wrong. Give them a try and not just during the prespawn. The have their place all season long.

It's made by Booyah and is similar to an umbrella rig. the difference being the only bait with a hook or hooks is attached to the long arm. the others have spinner blades. You can add any bait you like to it and fish it deep, shallow, or in-between. About the only baits I wouldn't use with them are topwaters and deep diving cranks.It affords you a lot of options and gives the look of bigger forage following a small school. I really like them for presenting small, shallow running cranks deeper in the water column. My favorite the 1/4oz. head, but I believe they come in a number of sizes. If you attach a short leader to the bait you're using I think you'll get more takers on it.

In a word, jigs. I like topwater and stick worms, even tubes which I fish a lot. Bottom line is I catch more fish on a jig/trailer and it only gets 1/3 of the action of the others.

Before your go out and spend good money on deep diving cranks like my personal favorite DD-22, be sure you and your equipment are up to the task. Not all rods, reels, or anglers are up to chucking these things. If not, I recommend using your favorite cranks on a BooRig. It will get smaller lipped baits down deep and is a lot easier on you and your tackle. Just a thought for you and anyone that's budget minded but knows the benefits of deep cranking.

Good question. I keep them separated from everything in their original package, but then again, I don't have to worry about storage limitations. I can always buy a bigger boat.

That's the way I've been fishing drop shots with a leader since I saw Bill Dance demonstrate the technique. No worries about line twist and I trust the two Palomars I use on the swivel more than I do an Albright or Alberto knot as I'm terrible at tying them.

Look at the Albright knot. It's easy to tie and comes through your rod tip easy enough if you reel in the leader. Also as a side note. There is a forum (rods reels line & knots) where you're likely to get more responses.

Just watched a video on how to tie a smell knot for your punch rig. Awesome hooking percentage compared to using a palomar or uni. How many of you have tried this and how confident are you using it.?

I go short for the rare occasion when I use a leader with braid as I don't see any advantage to one over 18-24in. I don't see the benefit of a leader except in super clear water and then only during mid-day when there is little shade.

I've used them for years (5&6in.) on stand up style jig heads. Started using them on the Madison Chain back in the early 80's. Picked up a 22in. largemouth on the 4th of July on that same jig and reaper. I only use two colors, black and bone (off white) the latter is a killer in the fall.

Yea. I wonder why I even bother painting them. If you think it matters, it does. I don't, so it doesn't

You could also try using a straight shank hook with your bullet weight pegged. Just remember to hook the worm straight by entering the nose on a downward angle. Peg the sinker and add an oil based attractant. That should help. The other thing you may want to do is try braid. 20 or 30lb. will cut through the pad fairly easily with a steady downward pull on a MH rod. The downside is if you hook the stem, then I'd wrap the line around a stick and pull it put stem and all.

You may be planning your trip for April, but unless it's toward the end of that month don't expect water temps to be much above 55. Also keep in mind that stocked trout, especially immediately after stocking, tend to follow the break lines closest to the stocking site. Notice I said the break lines. Find the stocking site on a topo map, look for the nearest depth change line and follow it. The bass will be more active and willing to move shallow the warmer the water temp. I'm not familiar with bass activity levels on lakes that trout are stocked in, so I can't say if a stocking will draw the bass shallow or not. The only reason I mention this is because the stocking of minnows that we do up north is done from shore in very shallow 40-45 degree water so as to give them a chance to disperse as the bass don't move up that shallow until the water temps. are in the 60's

Welcome to the board. As a newbie, you have no Idea the can of worms you just opened. So sit back and enjoy. BTW, for me it's Culprit for worms, Rage Tail for craws, and BPS for their Tender Tubes.