Discouraged

[randdmart]

Hello,

 

After trying to fish for 5 minutes VERY late on Sunday I'm now VERY discouraged.  The wind was gusting in our faces at about 20MPH and casting was nearly impossible.  When we would reel in we would get snagged every time.  Turns out there was a bunch of discarded fishing net on the edge of the lake.  This lake is an urban lake which may have been part of the problem as there was about 8 feet wide by about 6 feet tall weeds surrounding the lake except for a few spots.  Bad choice?

 

I want to switch from a closed face reel to an open faced reel but when I first tried an open faced reel it bird nested when I took the hook off the hook keeper.  Those who have seen my posts before know I'm still trying to find my footing with equipment and fishing in general. 

 

I like the push button reel but it seems so..... limiting.

 

I found a gadget called Hook Eze that will help me with tying my hooks and storing them during transport, 2 things I have been struggling with.  That should be here in the mail by next week.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2JAKSwUus - Hook Eze

 

The other thing that keeps happening is my split shots keep slipping even though I squish them with the pliers as tight as I can.  I'm using the Gremlin re-usable split shots #5.  I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.

 

I also got a Rocket Bobber at the suggestion of someone here at the forums but because of all of my other problems I haven't been able to get it in the water.  The YouTube videos on that are good and the product looks very promising.

 

I'm VERY discouraged but not yet ready to give up, close, but not there yet.

HELP!!!!!

 

Thanks,

Rich

[Eric 26]

First off don’t get discouraged very few people would say they were naturals and most not all probably had some type of mentor help them in the beginning ( my older brother in my case)which it sounds like you don’t.  Try researching videos on this forum as Glenn puts out really helpful videos, also search Debo’s fishing on you tube as they both have beginners tips videos. Lastly if you have a local tackle shop in reasonable proximity visit them and pay them to spool your reel my suggestion would be Trilene xl monofilament, cheap but very effective and being professionally installed will make a difference. If no tackle shop nearby not sure of your age but maybe your high school has a bass club and you can ask for help from the coach or a member. Lastly don’t give up this will be a learning experience if you stick with it on a lifelong adventure called fishing. Good Luck and hoping it works out for you.

[mrpao]

I would suggest asking a local fisherman for advice. There are usually fellow anglers that dont mind showing you how to do something. Thats the best way to learn.

A few months ago i was asked by a couple at one of the trout ponds i fish to help them out. They were very inexperienced and i rigged them up and showed them how to bait up and cast. They were able to catch a few trout that day.

Most of us dont mind helping. Don't be afraid to ask.

[BrianMDTX]

If you’re new, stick to a spinning reel. It’s simpler to learn. Eric 26’s suggestion of having your reel spooled at a tackle shop with 6 or 8 lb Berkeley XL is a good one. 

 

Dont get discouraged. Adversity is a great teacher. 

[The Bassman]

Just a word of advice. Be on the lookout for "discarded net" in every small man made lake. It's actually erosion netting that was laid down when the lake was dug and grass planted. I can't tell you how many lures I've lost in it.

[ironbjorn]

I wouldn't soak your reel. Soak the spool of line before before spool, use KVD Line and Lure Conditioner on the line afterwards, and use 10-15lb braid to a leader or straight 8lb mono; 10-15lb braid has the diameter of 2-4lb mono, and if you start going 10lbs (mono, fluoro, copolymer) or more, you'll have trouble with the line on a spinning reel. If you have an anti reverse switch on the reel, make sure that it's on and won't allow you to back reel upon first taking your hook and bait off the keeper because it can throw the line off the reel.  Spincast (closed face) reels are atrocious because most can't handle braid, most don't pick up a lot of line, and they all chew your line up; they also fall apart quickly.

[galyonj]

11 hours ago, randdmart said:

The wind was gusting in our faces at about 20MPH and casting was nearly impossible.

 

I'm only going to touch on this because these guys pretty much covered everything else.

 

Wind can easily turn an already-frustrating day of fishing into a nightmare of blown up spools. With 20mph gusts, I'd either go home or find some way (or somewhere) to fish with the wind at my back.

 

I would encourage you to learn to sidearm cast for several reasons, but a flatter trajectory for the lure can help mitigate the wind (to a point, anyway).

[Deleted account]

Discouraged after fishing for 5 minutes and getting stuck?

I got nothing for you...

[BrianMDTX]

16 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

Discouraged after fishing for 5 minutes and getting stuck?

I got nothing for you...

It can be discouraging very quickly if you lack experience, skill and your equipment is not set up properly. Especially as it sounds like this is not his first time out and has had issues previously. I started out bowhunting that way. No experience. No mentor. Equipment not set up properly. I got discouraged as well. And that was well before we had an Internet that made learning the how’s and whys a heck of a lot easier than going to the local public library for outdated books lol. 

 

The OP is asking for advice, guidance and encouragement. I say let’s give it to him. 

[galyonj]

I'm with Brian. Let's get this dude on some fish.

 

@randdmart, fishing, in my experience, is riding a knife edge between a really crappy day and a really awesome day. Yesterday, for you, was just a crappy day.

 

And you know what? It's all good. With context, we learn from our failures.

 

The wind was not your friend yesterday. To mitigate that, you change your orientation in relation to the direction of the wind and/or you change the angle of your cast. Problem solved.

 

The location, with those erosion nets, wasn't your friend either. So you move to a better spot, or you change your presentation to keep it off the bottom and out of the netting. Problem solved.

 

I will say that you've given yourself a harder row to hoe with that spincast combo.

• The casting distance is never going to (comparatively) be very good
• They are hard on line, and problems at the spool can get beyond saving before you notice because you can't see what's happening on the spool
• The components are generally of (comparatively) poor quality and are thus more likely to fail -- gears strip out, burrs on the spool, burrs on the cap, etc.

If someone came to me with no gear and no experience, and said they wanted to learn to fish, I'd suggest a 6'6" to 7' medium or medium/heavy open-face spinning combo, because that's the path of least resistance. The less time you spend fighting your gear, the more time you spend fighting the fish.

[randdmart]

Thank you so much for all of your advice.  Tonight after work I'm going after 2 spinning rod/reel combos.

 

Any advice on the split shot issue?

 

Also, can plastic worms be used with a size 4 hook to catch pan fish?

[galyonj]

31 minutes ago, randdmart said:

Thank you so much for all of your advice.  Tonight after work I'm going after 2 spinning rod/reel combos.

 

Any advice on the split shot issue?

 

Also, can plastic worms be used with a size 4 hook to catch pan fish?

 

You're welcome! If you can, see if you can return a couple of those spincasters and recoup some of your cost.

 

I'm gonna tell you something that might come in handy while you're reading these forums: Everybody here got bit by this real hard. And a lot of us spend a lot of money on the endeavour. You don't have to spend a boatload of money to get a piece of equipment you trust and enjoy using. A $50 spinning combo spooled with halfway decent line will do you just fine for a long time.

 

I'm unfamiliar with your split shot issue, but I also don't use split shot.

 

A #4 hook ought to be fine. #6 might be a little better. Panfish have wee little mouths.

 

For panfish and white bass I like a 2" paddletail or curlytail grub with a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jighead (head shape doesn't really matter, but panfish jigheads are usuall ball-head or aspirin-head, and that's just fine). Cast it out and just swim it back.

[BrianMDTX]

14 minutes ago, randdmart said:

Thank you so much for all of your advice.  Tonight after work I'm going after 2 spinning rod/reel combos.

 

Any advice on the split shot issue?

 

Also, can plastic worms be used with a size 4 hook to catch pan fish?

First, what exactly are you using and what’s your primary quarry? In other words, if panfish is your main goal and bass is secondary, that’s different than if bass is numero uno and panfish are just an additional opportunity. 
 

If it’s bass, my suggestion for extreme simplicity and potential to catch fish is get a 6’ 6” or 7’ medium fast spinning rod and a 2000 or 2500 size spinning reel. Spool it with 6 or 8 lb mono. Buy some 1 or 1/0 wacky rig hooks, some 3/0 EWG worm hooks and a few packs of Yamamoto Senkos. My recommendations are green pumpkin w/black flake and #956. Fish them weightless (see @roadwarrior pinned Senko thread for tips). Fished as a weightless wacky rig or weightless Texas rig, a true 5” Senko has enough weight of its own to cast easily and it will catch fish. If snags are your big issue, the Texas rig with the hook point Texposed (where the point of the hook is reinserted just under the outside of the worm to make it weedless and less prone to snagging) will be your friend. If you’re comfortable spooling line on, do it yourself (watch one of Glenn’s videos on line spooling) or have your reel filled at a tackle shop. Either wacky or Texas rig, cast it out near cover and let it sink on semi-slack line. If the line starts running, reel the slack in and if a wacky, the hook will set itself. If a Texas rig, when you feel the bass, set the hook! 

[galyonj]

4 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

First, what exactly are you using and what’s your primary quarry? In other words, if panfish is your main goal and bass is secondary, that’s different than if bass is numero uno and panfish are just an additional opportunity.

 

Thank you for asking the question I didn't think to.

[randdmart]

I'm using something called Power Bait to go after pan fish at the recommendation of the guy at Bass Pro Shops, Greg, has been great in helping me find my footing.

 

He said I can return the spincaster combos for spinning combos at customer service.

[randdmart]

1 hour ago, galyonj said:

I'm unfamiliar with your split shot issue, but I also don't use split shot.

If my hook is on the bottom, what other type of weight can I use?

[BrianMDTX]

51 minutes ago, randdmart said:

I'm using something called Power Bait to go after pan fish at the recommendation of the guy at Bass Pro Shops, Greg, has been great in helping me find my footing.

 

He said I can return the spincaster combos for spinning combos at customer service.

If you’re after panfish, I agree with the suggestion to use #6 hooks. Panfish have small mouths. I’ve used Eagle Claw baitholder hooks for decades. 

 

1/2 a nightcrawler (or less) on that hook under a bobber will catch panfish. If fished on the bottom, split shot will work. If you have slippage issues, tie a knot in the line under the split shot to keep it from sliding down. 

[NOC 1]

Hell man, I've been fishing for 50 years and still have a few days like that every year. But once you have a good day, you'll know why you keep doing it.

On 3/30/2021 at 6:30 AM, BassWhole! said:

Discouraged after fishing for 5 minutes and getting stuck?

I got nothing for you...

Way to go BassWhole!

[Deleted account]

11 minutes ago, NOC 1 said:

Way to go BassWhole!

LOL.

If you guys can walk him up to 20 minutes and retying once or twice next time, I may reconsider...

[PhishLI]

2 hours ago, NOC 1 said:

Way to go BassWhole!

Once a BassWhole!, always a BassWhole! Sssssalty?

[Koz]

On 3/30/2021 at 7:52 AM, BrianMDTX said:

And that was well before we had an Internet that made learning the how’s and whys a heck of a lot easier than going to the local public library for outdated books lol. 

 

The OP is asking for advice, guidance and encouragement. I say let’s give it to him. 

 

It's also important to remember that what people see in videos is also not true to life. You see some angler out there hauling in bass after bass but what you don't realize is the video is edited and he may have been out there for hours or even days putting together that footage.

 

To the OP, I'll pass on a story that put things in perspective for me some years ago. I used to be a decent golfer, and one year I was playing in a local tournament that I had won the year before. But I was just brutal out there on the course. I could not hit a decent shot to save my life.

 

My dad was caddying for me that day and he could see my frustration level building. As he hand me a club he holds on to it and says, "Jack Nicklaus can't run your hotel, either."

 

That simple statement put it all in perspective for me. I relaxed. I didn't play any better that day and I'm pretty sure I finished dead last. But I found peace in realizing I wasn't a golf pro and I had other skills. I also remembered that moment over the years and I became a better golfer for knowing that and I never, ever, got frustrated on the golf course again.

 

So know your strengths as they are today and don't sweat it when things don't turn our perfect or even the way you expect them to turn out. Relax, build skills, and most of all learn to enjoy the activity itself instead of dwelling on the outcome.

 

 

[galyonj]

Your dad's a smart dude.

  

10 hours ago, Koz said:

So know your strengths as they are today and don't sweat it when things don't turn our perfect or even the way you expect them to turn out. Relax, build skills, and most of all learn to enjoy the activity itself instead of dwelling on the outcome.

 

And this is something that I constantly work at, with...varying degrees of success.

[Eric 26]

On 3/30/2021 at 10:12 AM, randdmart said:

I'm using something called Power Bait to go after pan fish at the recommendation of the guy at Bass Pro Shops, Greg, has been great in helping me find my footing.

 

He said I can return the spincaster combos for spinning combos at customer service.

My favorite panfish lures are 1/16 oz road runner heads with 1”-3” Berkeley gulp alive minnows or any panfish sized jig head same gulp minnow with a bobber, toss it just past any weed line and you’ll get a panfish . Glad to hear Bass Pro is working with you.

[Deleted account]

11 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Once a BassWhole!, always a BassWhole! Sssssalty?

LOL.

Don't make me go up there and flail on you with my custom Lindenhurst B&T jetty stick Lawn Guylander, POTVIN SUCKS! GO RANGERS!

Patchogue, missed your stop....  

[Boomstick]

Basically I avoid lighter lures when it's windy and increase my brake. And it's not just lighter lures, but you want to ideally use lures with a total weight that is closer to the upper end of the rod's rating as well for maximum castability when casting into the wind.

 

It's also a good use for my Daiwa SV reels.