Allaroundfishing

yes around shells it can be very frustrating so I can only imagine around those dang zebra mussels! I found I used to have issues feeling a c rig bite as well but I went to heavier weights and unless im fishing very shallow gravel I throw a 1oz lead bullet weight for my rig, doesnt get snagged as much as you would think either, and i throw it on a 7'6 medium heavy bass pro shops fish eagle rod so its definitely not that rod that makes the sensitivity

I was pointing out that the same people who will not throw a carolina rig offshore will throw a football jig in the same situation, its still a slow moving presentation same with a shakyhead or worm. The presentation is similar but for some reason its more or less acceptable to throw one of the other And that's what I don't get because most people I hear this from i fish the local weeknight and weekend derbs with, and I have buddies who are in the college series that either say what I mentioned above or hear it at the tournaments when talking at the ramps with other competitors.

I used to tie flies and crappie jigs and to get super technical about it, when you add hackle onto a super light fly or jig like that it can slow the fall rate in still water and in current it will actually help keep the bait more neutrally suspended, basically the hackles will help grab enough water that it wont slip down to the bottom as easy in the current and stay higher in the water column. This helps keeping from getting snagged as much! But yes the natural hairs and materials look so much better in colder water than any clumsy man made attempt at making something rubber look like a bug or minnow

Something Ive been thinking about recently is a phrase Ive heard often among friends and at ramps or in the parking lot at tournament. " Man the only thing I can get bit on is "X" but you aint gonna catch me throwin that" This seems to be something I hear alot about finesse techniques or slower techniques. Especially a carolina rig or splitshot rig, ned rig etc The biggest hypocrisy I see is people saying they cant stand to drag a carolina rig offshore but you look at their front deck and they got a shaky head and drop shot right beside their big worm and football jig.... so I just wonder what makes you decide that fishing slow one way is better than another and if the fish are biting a carolina rig better than a football jig why not make the adjustment to get more bites? This is something I hear people at my level of fishing clear up to pros stating "well I knew they'd win it flippin the grass but i wanted to catch em offshore" seems to me that if theyre biting something why would you not throw it... Perhaps im just too inquisitive but it genuinely stumps me as to why you wouldnt throw something you are getting bites on just because its not the way you want to fish. So whats your thoughts on this, are you like one of the anglers mentioned above or are you like me and let the fish decide.

Usually when people use floating worms they are talking about a zoom trick worm, there are several other worms that look nearly identical made by other brands but most use a zoom trick worm in the merthiolate color or bubblegum, white and yellow are some other popular colors. Im not too sure on the history of it but there used to be many companies that made floating worms or lizards, slug-o etc... As long as the worm youre throwing is a narrow body worm with a bit of a "bulb" on the tail it should produce the desired action.

My best guess is its more so the flash and just stark contrast of a white or white and chartreuse bait coming past them that excites them into biting, think of a pink or merthiolate worm in the spring, who knows why they go nuts over em but they sure do. and on another note years ago pros used to use bright white worms such as slug-gos and other brands that are now defunct and they would twitch those baits right under surface almost year round and catch fish so sometimes its just the curiosity or excitement that gets em to eat.

I throw a carolina rig a lot, year round and I am very comfortable with using it in many scenarios. The only thing you can do wrong is not throw it, for shorter leaders - 18-24 inches youre fine with a 7ft medium heavy rod with 14-17lbs mainline and a 12-14lb mono leader. I have found that a longer leader leads to more bites on my lake, I usually start at 36 inches and go up, in the summer a 5 foot leader is not uncommon for me, I use a 7'3 heavy with 16lb mainline and 14lb mono leader, 1oz weight is my go to but sometimes ill use a 3/4th if im not getting as many bites with the larger weight. I suggest starting out with a 24 inch leader when youre learning as you get lots of bites with it as well as its easier to cast and doesnt snag as much in shallower water, also until you get comfortable throwing one i would use a 1/2 or 3/4th weight

Yea I’ve captained 4 tournaments since I graduated and it’s so hard to sit in a seat for 7 hrs and keep your mouth shut but like you said rules are rules and if you’re gonna break em… Turn the dang go pro off!

That was my point though long winded and a rant the anglers who are out there to compete and get better don’t get much out of a tournament where they had little to no part in making the decisions for the day. I have no Ill will towards the anglers or boat captain I just feel as though rules were bent or broken in an attempt to help the anglers win

Yes every tournament trail I fished with a boat Captain was allowed to offer up options or give advice but not supposed to be the one making the decisions on where to fish or what to throw, in several instances he very clearly was telling them what to throw or getting them a different colored worm out or even tying on lures for them which is 100% against the rules, it’s more frustrating knowing that these kids are out there to compete and unknowingly their captain is giving them an advantage over others, obviously the execution is down to them and throughout the day they post fish that might have positioned them better but more so it’s shame on the boat captain because if they were to get in trouble it would be on the kids and not the captain I did participate in this tournament trail However I’m not sure if In the last two years they have changed the rules about what boat captains are allowed to do, there were several more instances where he was tying on baits for them or telling them what baits to throw where, which technically it’s not against the rules but the kids are supposed to be making their own decisions on the water. As for the captain tying on lures for the kids it’s definitely not allowed as the anglers are supposed to be able to make changes and adjustments themselves, the only exception is if the boat captain has to pick out a backlash or tie a knot the angler who he’s helping must sit in the boat and not fish. However in the video the captain was grabbing rods and retying while both kids are fishing. I fished high school for 2 years and I understand that stuff like this is going to happen and that most of the time the kids who won the local event 9 times outta 10 had a hired captain to take them out, it’s part of the sport but I sure wish the captains would take some accountability and do the ethical and responsible thing. It’s pretty clear however ethics and responsibility is a dying breed now

Im sitting at my desk tying up some jigs and as per usual just watching some Youtube in the background (fishing of course) and this particular video is a video of some highschool anglers who are fishing a tournament on one of my "home" lakes. As i'm listening to them talking while fishing the one angler mentions several times about practice fish which in even in high school circuits is allowed but there are some rules to it, each organization is different but from my recollection when I was fishing high school the Boat captain wasn't allowed to officially practice for the tournament without his anglers being with him. However as the video goes on one of the anglers says "so when you were practicing here is this one of the spots where you sent me the pics of the fish" and then several minutes later at a different spot he asks the boat captain "is this is the point you caught the big one off last week". So I would have to assume that the kids were not fishing with him while he practiced for the tournament. Obviously we all know what assuming makes you but with the language used its pretty indicative they were unable to practice with their boat captain. As i mentioned earlier I fished in highschool as well as a matter of fact the first time I ever bass fished was in 2017 when I was a sophomore in highschool, I practiced with my partner and boat captain for almost every tournament the weekend before if possible and if not possible we just showed up and fished, no skipping school or leaving classes early I just played the cards I was dealt. My whole point about this rant is that I feel its not only unfair to the kids who parents or boat captain cant afford or unable to take them to practice for a tournament but its also unfair to these young anglers. They obviously have a skilled boat captain who was able to put in the time and money into practicing and providing them the ability to fish but with that comes the fact that the kids just showed up and used what he told them and where he took them. Sure they could have learned from their day of fishing but at the end of the day their captain was telling them what to throw and where while also taking them to spots that he found, Obviously its 10x harder to try to get on the water while you're still in school but the fact that their tournament day was more of a guide trip and less of a learning experience for the kids involved through no fault of their own. Perhaps i'm just a little salty because I was regularly fishing these tournaments against kids who parents were local sticks who could take 2-3 days off to practice for their kids tournaments. Im just curious what others might think of this... oh and no practice didnt keep me from winning two state championships and a trip to the nattys

Had a question about being able to connect my garmin and lowrance units so i could share way points, my boat mechanic brought it up one time that there was a way to do it but i forgot what he said i needed. Im sure one of yall could point me in the right direction... if its even possible to do so! Any help is greatly appreciated!

Nc used to make tire reefs in their lakes for years, some local lakes have tire reefs that are legitimately 30 feet wide by 100 feet long, and 25+lb bags get caught out of them several times a year, whatever they might leech out certainly doesnt seem to keep the fish away Edit: the tires have been in the lake for approaching 40 years not legal in many places but most of my local lakes have tire reefs all thru them, some are 30+years old, fish love them.. especially big catfish in the winter and mid summer, bass love em too if theyre in the right places

hands down the best one ive read so far, thanks for the laughs?

That seemed to be the general consensus with my group of friends as well