huZZah

So, it’s very hot. Water is low. I am bank-bound. Water is easy to get to but it’s 1-2ft deep and probably 90 degrees. You might see something swim through but it’s very hard to catch. And you get hung on every single thing. And it was 10am and already over 100. Full sun. So I went out to where my boots wouldn’t fill with water and I was just kind of launching these giant heavy baits as far as I could trying to reach deeper water…and I caught around 6 fish in 1.5 hours. That’s never happened to me at this lake. They weren’t big. A couple were smaller than the bait. And I threw to the same general spot every time. There were boats everywhere fishing. I got a couple looks and they of course came over toward where I was throwing baits. So that was that. But like…what the heck?! Desperate for food? Bored? These fish, not the boats.

Right on. I’m guilty of attributing being very lucky that my severe over thinking paid off because I caught. Not because it was dumb luck, which obviously it was, because it’s never worked since. Ever. Yet, it’s always so tempting to try it again.

That’s awesome. And you’re awesome for even being willing to do it. And they even caught fish!

The heat generated from driving/towing on your tires and engine is inconsequential to the heat already generated by simply sitting in the sun or the heat the engine generates itself. Never seen it be the straw that broke the camels back.

I feel the need to also point out it could be how you fish. I don’t mean user error. Some people “expect” or “want” more from their baits. Or the cast may have a lot of whip and it exacerbates issues with the rig or weaknesses. Or just don’t rig it perfectly every time. I mean like my son will drag his worm through razor wire followed by a mine field, get hung on spike traps, with barracudas ripping at before a slow drag through molten lava, and then come out with a fish and his bait barely left hanging by a thread. He thinks that’s cause the bait is designed for it and everyone is that dang lucky. Boy rarely loses one even when it’s got barely anything holding it to the hook. I don’t care which hooks you use, I just kind of went though it myself and realized it was nearly so much the hook as how I was fishing he bait. Cause I had the same issue trying all different hooks. Now I’m back to offset and typically ewg. I just like how I can handle the bait with them. And for vanity, I like how they look rigged…

Crazy to say but don’t ignore the open water. It’s amazing to find a beast just movin through defying logic. Although, I guess if I’m dumb enough to be out in the sun, and I’m the top of the food chain, then surely some fish is dumb enough to be out in the sun.

All what you’re used to. Went to Colorado over July 4th. We sat outside in the shade. Waitress in Denver was complaining of the 90 degree day at 5 pm. That night the low at home was 89. At 3am. You just get used to it. The tricky part is that the shade just blocks the sun…it’s still hot. The wind doesn’t cool you…it’s warm. And swimming just feels like a warm bath. Even the lake wading is not that cool. But I can work out in it all day as long as I have a hat, sunglasses, and water. It’s all I know. You just adapt. And sometimes you catch monsters in the heat of the day with no one else dumb enough to be out in it. I wouldn’t last 5 mins ice fishing. I hate being cold.

I have never fished clear water and I’m strictly bank. Sometimes you just are a big 0 for the day and can’t be helped. For all you know the fish weren’t within a mile of you. That being said, I still throw dbl colorado blade spinners, the rattle swim jigs, no rattle swim jigs, worms, arkie and football jigs, and square bills and lipless cranks. I do not have good luck with any chatter bait. In gross water I also don’t have great luck with too water beyond very early morning before the sun comes up. Never even good at night for me.

Seems counter intuitive, but the quickest way to get shot? Pull your gun first. This just gets me casting at you. Oops. Oops. Man sorry. Oops. Ah Jeez sorry. Oops. Whoa my bad. Oops. Ah gosh sorry. Oops. Whoops. But at the same time, I’m always hyper aware that we live in the world where kids eat Tide pods and shoot up schools. So if it’s gonna be a serious confrontation I’ll just move. My family needs me alive and providing, not dead cause I wanted a good story of teaching some inconsiderate tool a lesson.

Nothing wrong with knowing your limits. Previous job, I’d work 12-16 hr days with long 20-24 hour Friday nights to early Saturday morning, then a lot of Saturday’s have to be up again for something. In my 20s it didn’t faze me. 30s, I started to notice I was a little tired by Sunday. Did it 16 years. Now I have a different job. ?. Specially in a kayak alone, the last thing you wanna do is test limits. Not worth being wrong to me.

I’ll archive this thread into a time capsule and let my grandchildren laugh reading while they tell their fishing gear to catch fish more to the left while sitting at home on a moon of Jupiter. I’d rather have a smart lipless that can unsnag itself when I ask. That’s the pipe dream. They could charge $50 and it’d be a money saver for me.

I personally love my Tatula 100 and Shimano SLX. They are my most used reels ever.

Don’t like it? Don’t use it. (I am incredibly amused by the double standard of how much crap people probably have on their boats, but the reel? Unnatural! You kids get off my lawn!)

I have black tungsten and the normal cheap lead. I pay more attention to shape and never even consider color.

I once had a bad problem with green power pro sticking on one reel only. I trashed it and respooled from same original and problem gone. Maybe it’s that simple. But man I wasted days jacking up my slx before it occurred to me.

I actually haven’t noticed that I don’t get bites when they turn over. Like, I quit even worrying about it cause it didn’t seem to matter if it was staring down at a fish. Boom, splash, fish.

@Mikeltee Not afraid to admit I’m right there with you. My WP is 2 years old and I’ve committed dozens of hours to it with nothing to show. Ever. My weird dragonfly I got as a joke for my son has caught 4-5 in that time just dorking around at random times. Maybe a total of 4 hours in 2 years.

Same. I feel like a predictable pattern is less “real” or something. No clue if it really makes a difference.

I have respect for people that get treble hooked and don’t change a thing. We need those kinds of stubborn when someone invades us with a superior force some day. But… Once was enough for me. I had to do the push through and cut the barb off and all that while bleeding pretty good. Then of course I was a mile around the lake from my truck without noticing. Still have the scar. I always use lip grippers and pliers for any hook now. Barbless included.

I usually go the other way, from bottom to top for some reason. So like a jig, then a worm I can move around, a spinner, then a top water. Or I just keep throwing my spinner out toward the middle and contemplating life and being surprised when something bites it.

Considering the enormous amount of nanny cams available today, I’d trust a stranger that thinks there’s cameras above my own family… If you’re that worried, there’s plenty of cameras to get that don’t even look like cameras.

So…you realize when you talk about how your parents generation were such hard workers…and they instilled it in you…and this generation isn’t…you’re talking about your kids right? So…if you don’t like how they are…maybe, just maybe… ? Nah, definitely those other people’s lazy kids.

Money can’t buy class …and apparently it can’t buy last-minute decision making either. Or understanding refs jobs when your offense takes the field.

As a former black belt I limit myself to beating my 8 year old green belt to the ground. That’s right son. Dads still got it.

I don’t do jerkbaits much but I prefer a shorter stiffer rod (6’6” or even 6’ MH XF) cause I’m standing on the bank or even out in the water a little. Longer rod makes working the bait difficult. Also a softer rod makes working it difficult. The XF helps a lot though as stated above.