1984isNOW

The biggest issue I have no is not having the time to get out on the yak. job,2 young girls, wife, bills, everything else in life.... I sneak out when I can and its usually about the time the girls go to bed. This leaves no time to yak, and no time to explore new waters. I'm hoping with the increase in daylight I can at least further explore the banks I can get to. A little bit more of a walk into the woods beyond where most people stop might make a difference. And I'm starting to venture into tackle making (not soft plastics yet, no ventilation) so hopefully I can start throwing stuff just different enough to get a bite. We have 4 pages about tougher fishing and pressure and then we'll have other threads where people say they have thrown a jig for 40 years and it still catches fish... on the same water the other guys have been throwing a jig for 40 years and catchin'em. VT is just a little too far, I can hit some southeastern NH and the part of ME where the inlaws' cabin is. The girls will grow up and hopefully I can fish better times and waters and actually on the water in a few years.

This right here is the real deal, I can't believe the amount of junk left on banks now, always been an issue, but its worse now and not just because youngins are out there bassin. Grown ass idiots are plentiful, the thing it has to do with covid is more idiots found another place to leave a mess at when they got into fishing because they were tired of quarantining in their dirty messy rooms. And the mentor stuff does contribute to a degree, I have been snagged on more line than ever before. its confusing because I'm like "I can feel it bouncing around but I'm stuck..." I've spent time trying to untangle and cut up wads of braid and old fat mono stuck in laydowns in the water because people don't know what there doing, I often end a fishing trip with pockets full of trash and line to throw away (not my own).

Would you extend that offer to me? My inlaws got a cabin up there on a lake where I there's no fish... and then I see 6 pound largies absolutely ignore everything I've thrown and barely even take the time to check out something I've thrown. Bumped into some decent smallies recently there, but only because I wasn't relegated to the dock or kayak, family pontoon saved the day haha. Your posts either straight up keep it reel or get me gassed bro, that COD yo momma jokes line was hilarious If you're looking to adopt a son I think I'd be a great candidate. I'm in my early 30's, I clean my room, I pay room and board, I close cabinets and doors quietly, I don't just play video games all day, I don't talk back (at least not when you're in the room), and I wipe my own butt. I can send the paperwork over ASAP

I googled it... want nothing to do with those things man. Straight up sci-fi monster right there.

Could also take a look at rodgeeks, that's the same blanks St. Croix uses. The more important question is how did you end up blacklisted from NFC?

Hey all, I'm getting geared up to start tying my own jigs, I have some rod building thread (FUJI NOCP). Can I just use that thread to tie jigs too or do I need some specific kind of thread? Also, can you modify skirts, like dye them and add gold/green/silver flake and all that? Also, I'm open to any tips at all you might think would benefit a totally new tackle maker. Much appreciated

Its awesome that you give some away Wanna really make a young angler's day? Hit'em with like 5-10 packs of absolutely anything and he'll be talking about it for weeks, send 15 packs of all the stuff you know you won't bother throwing and he might start to think you're secretly a summertime Santa Claus. I have a fraction of what you have and I'm feeling like its already too much. I also just buy when things are on sale thinking "I'll eventually use/need/feel like why the heck did I buy this" *Here is the real question, have you noticed any actual difference in performance (ability to attract and catch fish) between any of these in a similar form (craw vs craw etc)? *The next question: How often do you actually swap out and try any combination of these while fishing vs just switching to a different lure or location? Those are very genuine questions, because I am noting that I bring 10 pounds of tackle with me to the bank, fish with the 3 or 4 things that I have already tied on my rods and almost never try a different shape/color of the same lure I'm using. I usually have something that moves, something for bottom, something with either more or less action than those 2 things, and then something finesse. I'll throw each lure in a spot either starting with finesse to limit spooking fish or starting with something I think might trigger a bigger bite and then rotate. No bites... I move on. I don't switch colors or try a different craw or slightly different worm or anything, because I already just spent 10-15 minutes making sure I covered this area with an appropriate array of techniques. Should I be switching up more? Because as it stands I'm thinking I need to just lighten my load. Its obviously a little different from a boat than from a bank, and the amount of time you have to fish, but seriously I think we all know better and still go against our own better judgement. I see all over this forum its more about finding the fish and placement than anything else, and honestly this probably rings more true than having a craw with flappier appendages or a GP with blue fleck or a GP with gold fleck or if your spinnerbait had chartreuse where it should've had a little blue. Sometimes I look at all my tackle I don't use and won't get to for a couple years because of all the stuff I need to burn through to get to it and think of the other things I could've spent my money on like gas or something fun with the fam. We are being marketed to after all

What do you do to add a skirt to your T-rig? I only really just started throwing a jig this season... first time I caught 3 fish 3.5# or greater, so I'm hooked to say the least, that's a killer day around here. T-rig is a little more versatile around here, a lot of weeds and wood and junk so it slips through without bringing back a small forest better than a jig. Best T-rig plastic has been discontinued, Berkley Havoc Juice worm... I'm holding onto a couple in hopes that I'll ever have time one day to make a mold to make some more for myself. They have hook holes in them, But I'll be darned if I'm not gonna try one day. Never threw a carolina rig, plan to give the mojo a go this year. What do you do to add a skirt to your T-rig? I only really just started throwing a jig this season... first time I caught 3 fish 3.5# or greater, so I'm hooked to say the least, that's a killer day around here. T-rig is a little more versatile around here, a lot of weeds and wood and junk so it slips through without bringing back a small forest better than a jig. Best T-rig plastic has been discontinued, Berkley Havoc Juice worm... I'm holding onto a couple in hopes that I'll ever have time one day to make a mold to make some more for myself. They have hook holes in them, But I'll be darned if I'm not gonna try one day. Never threw a carolina rig, plan to give the mojo a go this year.

Mad funny bro, but real talk - throwing tungsten on a dropshot is definitely a whole different lifestyle haha @A-Jay asked a very good question, what's your set up? I would recommend also throwing some vibrant orange in the mix. I know some people will call me crazy for that, I accept this, throw some blinding orange out there and see what happens. If you can't find tiny dropshot plastics that are orange, they don't make a lot of them, don't be afraid to cut up a larger plastic or grab some orange dye. Post some pics of the big girls who eat your little orange worm so we can see how ya did.

As of now I'm hitting the banks once the girls go to bed once a week or so depending on how the wife feels. Was tough during prespawn and into spawn because the action definitely dies down at night until that flips getting close to summer. That has only been since maybe mid april ish. I'm hoping that I can convince my 3 year old to love fishing soon, and go more as a family - to a boring bank we could just pummel until a random fish swims by, but at least its something I suppose. At least the night fishing will pick up eventually. It sucks being a grown up and living in a system that requires 40-50 hours of work+15hours total weekly commute to and from work just to feel like you wish you had more money and time and you're still not working enough or seeing your family enough. Then if you have more then one interest your time is divided that it starts to feel just not worth it to do anything at all. I spent a whole bunch of money last season and off season on gear because I couldn't actually fish and it was like my way of staying connected to it, and now I'm like why the fudge do I have all this gear haha. I got a swimbait rod and a bunch of swimbaits... just to think "I can't waste my time throwing those" knowing I'm less likely to catch fish, maybe more likely for a big bite, but at this point I think I need to keep being reminded what the fuss is all about and actually catch some fish. Anyways, thanks for letting me vent haha, maybe I'll hit the lottery and get a boat and take some time off with the fam...or I'll just have to wait

I've got a handful of NFC blanks I haven't even taken out of the tube they were shipped in like 2 months ago. Work and kids have kept me from building and I had to sacrifice my makeshift building area to make it a playroom for the girls, now I'm worried about the blanks haha. 2 crooked blanks out of 20 is 10% - which I've heard Gary say is normal. How crooked is acceptable is up to each person. Also is 10 percent really normal? I've heard others say straight is normal, crooked isn't acceptable. Again to an extent I'm sure we have to accept some deviation, nothing is perfect. But that picture... They never should've let that leave the factory. Glad they're doing the right thing and exchanging it for you, at least they handled it well after the fact. Let us know how you feel about the finished rod next to your other xrays.

@WRB and @riverat Does it matter which RIT dye? What happens if you don't dilute it? Does it work on all soft plastics/hard plastics?

Can anybody share any links or scientific data/research regarding bass and their ability to taste?

Lil man thought he found big mama gonna get lucky haha

Mayonnaise - all natural

So all I need to do to catch my next PB is go under cover, I mean underwater, and befriend a big fat lonely bass and wiggle my fingers to get it to bite and grab it by the face? But really, this says a lot about bass behavior and intellect, fascinating. I saw another video that didn't make it on DODO a while back, I think it was youtube channel the Nature of Fishing, where the same thing happened.

Time to go ring shopping

I always just say yeah I lost a 10 pounder about an hour ago on a wacky rig... they can't tell if I'm making it up or if I'm one of those every 6 incher lost is a ten pounder. Either way they keep it moving.

Your Name+avatar+Taylor Swift fan= Sea slug in space I mean I get it to a degree, but IDK man - just feels like there's a lot of fish and people ought to matter more than catchin'em. I feel you, I wouldn't be tellin no spots or baits to a couple of dumdums flickin butts into the lake or leavin plastic lure clam shells all over the place, but a grown ass dude just tryin to catch a fish while the kids are asleep - I'd probably throw'em a bone. You don't gotta post in on insta or anything, but if you helped me out with a spot I'd be tellin my buddies about this awesome dude who totally put me on some fish and made my night. Depending on the catch, you might be in my stories for years man, continuing to make other people happy with fish tales and fond memories.

I'm new to this part of MA. I'm pretty much relegated to shore fishing at present. I've bumped into people and hit'em with the "hey I'm new to the area, any places worth fishing around here"? Now I get not wanting to blow a spot up, not but what about supporting the community? What about helping a fellow angler out? Most of the time I get nothing, I've ever been told it's not worth fishing in the place they clearly think is worth fishing because they're fishing it haha. Anyway, if another angler "did the work" and are visibly fishing a spot and you get curious you should absolutely fish it. Better yet if you see a guide fishing a spot you should absolutely make a mental note of that. There isn't a person here who would agree that you can't fish somebody's dock, that's absurd. But you tellin me if that person was on the water they get to claim a spot? At least the dock owner has a case against people casting a flub into their boat or hooking into some rope, breaking off a hook where their kids swim. A person, guide or not, gets no claim to a piece of water if the people paying bonkers water front property tax don't get a claim. If you wanna respect people's spots stop hitting up docks, if you wanna catch fish follow a guide (but don't really actually physically in real time follow a guide - simply out of respect) [unless that's just the way the water is] and hit up docks. And when the poor shmuck stuck on shore asks if you had any luck at least five him half the equation, tellem what or where or how and letem figure out the rest. Anyway, next time pull up alongside and say "I'm just dropping a way point and trying to see what you're using"

I find my line is always dry when I get it, gotta lube it up first Yeah, I would hit up the store you bought it from or Shimano, probably just start with the store.

I actually think a bobber might be less fun unless you are certain you're gonna land on some sunnies. I set my girlfriend, now wife, up with a Walmart zebco spinning set up and some little inline spinners and little cranks. It always feels better not catching anything if you're at least doing something. Watching a bobber and not catching anything is boring, casting and retrieving at least makes ya feel like you're not just sitting there. Or hook her up with a ned rig if you know it's not gonna be super snaggy. Don't worry about catching a fish yourself, and show her how to cast. Let her get the first casts in all the good spots, and when she flubs the cast and blows the spot up don't react how ya would if you did it haha.

35 dollar ugly stick and 315 left for beer, this way if you don't catch anything instead of feeling like you wasted money you just feel good!

I found one that looks almost exactly like that in MA the last week, a bass spit it up. Pretty sure it's a gill that's been bleached by stomach acid.

How do you sharpen your hooks @WRB?