Duh!! Why Didn't I Think Of That

[EvanT123]

BR is such a great resource with such a vast amount of information, one can get lost in it all.

I was thinking what is one tip you learned on here, that made you think duh why didn't I think of that. A tip so simple but makes so much sense and improves your fishing and effectiveness.

One that comes to mind for me was on a thread awhile back about hookups with hollow body frogs. People were talking about how it can be hard to bend the hooks up alittle. Member .ghoti chimmed in using two pairs of pliers to bend the hooks. It was like a lightbulb went off. So simple yet so effective.

Anyone else have a moment or tip like that they care to share?

[Jolly Green]

Glenn "pegging" a weight to the line with a strand of skirt instead of a toothpick in order to avoid damaging the line. Brilliant.

[ccummins]

1. Saving the silica gel packs that come with electronics and putting them in your plastic lure trays ("Plano trays") to prevent rust.

 

2. Instead of tying a spinnerbait directly to you line and then taking a long time to change tie on a flourocarbon leader (12" to 18") and put a swivel on the end of the leader.  That way you can keep a snap lock on you line and change them faster.  The knot stays in place as compared to putting the spinnerbait on the snap lock and having it go all over the place.

 

3. Rinse out and save gallon milk jugs when they are empty.  Fill with water and freeze.  They will keep your home freezer colder than empty air will and save you money.  When you go out put one in your cooler.  Because of the mass they will stay frozen longer than plain ice cubes and if you leave the lid on them you won't end up with a cooler full of water.

 

 

[JellyMan]

This will soon be full of epic information...

[Bluebasser86]

Using rubber bobber stops to peg my sinkers 

 

Using a big, plastic coffee container to keep emergency TP roll dry in my boats storage 

[dave]

Peg a round plastic bead ahead of your (insert favorite brand) buzz toad.  It will act as a bumper through lily pads (especially spadderdock stems) and the eye of your hook won't get stuck in the notches or stems.

[Catt]

Rage Tail Lobster Texas Rigged...no weight

[AK-Jax86]

To tie my lure to my line and cast into the water

VERY valuable tip widely recognized as the most effective and utilized tip on this site

[Loop_Dad]

I've learned so much from this site thou, this is just one of them that comes to my mind...

 

I didn't go "duh why didn't I think of that", but one simple and yet cool tip was to apply pressure by your finger tip on the spinning spool to temporary increase the drag when you got a big girl on the line. I used to adjust the drag on the spinning reels all the time, but not any more. This tip was given by SirSnook. 

[AK-Jax86]

Using rubber bobber stops to peg my sinkers

Using a big, plastic coffee container to keep emergency TP roll dry in my boats storage

Emergency TP roll? You poop off the side of you boat in the case of an etxtreme case of when you gotta go you gotta go?

I'm not a boater so TP could mean somethig different in boater terms lol

[Loop_Dad]

Emergency TP roll? You poop off the side of you boat in the case of an etxtreme case of when you gotta go you gotta go?

I'm not a boater so TP could mean somethig different in boater terms lol

 

Does the container have two purposes? One as dry storage for the TP and two as your toilet.

[Mike L]

Only one!

 

Tie a swivel to the end of your line and hook to a stationary oblject, walk backwards to take the twist out your line when you don't have a boat to unspool.

 

 

 

 

Mike

[*Hootie]

Emergency TP roll? You poop off the side of you boat in the case of an etxtreme case of when you gotta go you gotta go?

One day while fishing with my son in an aluminum rental boat, the fishing was really hot, and suddenly I had to go bad. My son, not wanting to leave our hot spot, suggested I crap in the boat. When I protested, he said, Dad why do you think they call it a "JOHN" boat.

Hootie

[Mr_Scrogg]

Emergency TP roll? You poop off the side of you boat in the case of an etxtreme case of when you gotta go you gotta go?

I'm not a boater so TP could mean somethig different in boater terms lol

Here in Kansas all the State Fishing Lakes and Ramps at bigger lakes have buildings with a hole in the ground toilet. In my experience, you dont count on them to be well stocked with toiletries.

[AK-Jax86]

One day while fishing with my son in an aluminum rental boat, the fishing was really hot, and suddenly I had to go bad. My son, not wanting to leave our hot spot, suggested I crap in the boat. When I protested, he said, Dad why do you think they call it a "JOHN" boat.

Hootie

Hah that was a good one

[AK-Jax86]

Here in Kansas all the State Fishing Lakes and Ramps at bigger lakes have buildings with a hole in the ground toilet. In my experience, you dont count on them to be well stocked with toiletries.

Yea when that number 2 comes around you need to be prepared or you will have a lot of cleaning up to do. That's smart thought I wouldn't think to have that on my boat, don't have one yet but TP is a must now

[shimmy]

I recall back when Catt discussed the different water columns and how bass will live in certain water columns year round not limiting yourself to seasonal patterns. I always grew up targeting bass in less than 8 feet of water year round and only fished 8+ waters occasionally in the summer and fall. After hearing of his success and how monster bass are predominantly caught in the 8-15 foot range year round (more specific to lakes with less depth - not like lake Amistad depths), i gave it a shot and it has changed my fishing. He emphasized how another big bass population lives 15+ deep year round as well. The reality that big bass prefer certain depths year round was a big wake up call and i then started targeting depths that were less targeted for specific lakes. While this is not to say a bass that lives in 20+ waters won't come up shallow to feed here and there, it means they live deeper most of the year than other big bass that prefer shallower depths. For example, one lake i hit is hammered by fisherman hitting the 8 feet and less zone year round. I Stopped fishing the shore and points and learned about subtle structure changes (also learned from Catt and WRB) in the 8-15 foot range that other anglers failed to recognize and started killing the bigguns on that particular lake.

 

Wanna be a better angler and get the most out of the original topic here, I suggest bookmarking any topic with Catt and WRB pitching in and you will become a better angler.

[Dwight Hottle]

Well said Shimmy.

[sparkytele]

Fill spool with mono then top off with braid,floro or whatever. Just wanted to bang my head against the wall the wall after learning that.

[Bluebasser86]

Emergency TP roll? You poop off the side of you boat in the case of an etxtreme case of when you gotta go you gotta go?

I'm not a boater so TP could mean somethig different in boater terms lol

 

 

Here in Kansas all the State Fishing Lakes and Ramps at bigger lakes have buildings with a hole in the ground toilet. In my experience, you dont count on them to be well stocked with toiletries.

A lot of them have either the outhouse style toilet that's just a hole in the ground or the Johnny on the spot. In either case you'll be lucky if they have TP in them. Some of the lakes don't have any bathroom or sometimes people apparently get a kick out of knocking the Johnnies over at which point a tree is a lot more appealing to me. It's not just for using the bathroom either, if someone gets stuck or cut it's good for covering a wound or stopping up a bloody nose that I seem to get fairly often. 

 

I had a boater have a full on emergency on the water that grabbed onto the big motor and the ladder and hang it and shoot a roostertail off the back of the boat, I hope I never have to see/hear that again 

[boostr]

A lot of them have either the outhouse style toilet that's just a hole in the ground or the Johnny on the spot. In either case you'll be lucky if they have TP in them. Some of the lakes don't have any bathroom or sometimes people apparently get a kick out of knocking the Johnnies over at which point a tree is a lot more appealing to me. It's not just for using the bathroom either, if someone gets stuck or cut it's good for covering a wound or stopping up a bloody nose that I seem to get fairly often.

I had a boater have a full on emergency on the water that grabbed onto the big motor and the ladder and hang it and shoot a roostertail off the back of the boat, I hope I never have to see/hear that again

The land lubers would call this the "screaming diarrhea"

[run23]

so many pointers....hrm. the two that have produced the most for me: 1) how to fish a fluke and 2) grabbing the tips of your senko and pulling them apart a bit to break it in. i do this with all new plastics i put on my hook now. maybe just a mental thing, but at least it gives me more confidence with the presentation. 

[KyakR]

I thought about this topic for a long time! As I tend to finesse fish, the best advice a friend gave me was to try to never put more energy or movement into a finesse bait than a living thing that size would be able to generate. This slowed me down and focused me. It worked

[aceman387]

I thought about this topic for a long time! As I tend to finesse fish, the best advice a friend gave me was to try to never put more energy or movement into a finesse bait than a living thing that size would be able to generate. This slowed me down and focused me. It worked

Great advice!  my favorite style of fishing. I bet if most people followed this tip their catch numbers would soar!    Tip! don't attempt this technique after drinking a large cup of coffee  

[bigbill]

Glenn here taught me about spinnerbaits. I watched his videos too.

He also gave me the common sense way of instruction on the how to's of a lot of bass fishing stuff.

Even though I'm a shore fisherman it's an information highway here between everyone. There's a lot of stuff I haven't done or used yet. I'm still learning new stuff everyday.

If you have a question just ask here and fisherman all over our country will help you out. In my early days of bass fishing it was just the tv shows. Then this sight was on the internet and it supported me from the very beginning here. I been here a longtime. I think I have vested rights for a pension too. Kidding.

But there's no better sport than fishing. If it wasn't for this sight I wouldn't be the fisherman I am today. I'm living my dream just shore fishing.

Ot,

My only complaint is I wish we had more handicap places to fish at in my state. Easy access where the handicapped could actually catch fish. I'm disabled but can just fish certain areas. I feel for the ones who want to fish but can't. I like to see everyone catch fish. That's my goal in life.