airborne_angler

So I have been doing some pondering. Here in Az we have something called "Dont Move A Mussel" as some waters have infestations of Zebra and Quagga Mussels. The campaign calls for thoroughly "decontaminating" your boat when you remove it from the water,so you dont spread the invasive species to another body of water. Mussels arent the only thing to be concerned about,plants and other unwanted "Hitch hikers" can be an issue So could this apply to used fishing tackle as well? People sell used tackle all the time,and may not consider the spread of micro organisms. Say Person A has tackle that has been used in Vermont in a lake with a certain organism. Person A sells the tackle to Person B in Kentucky,can the micro organism from the lake in Vermont be transferred to the lake in Kentucky? It can happen with Boats,why not fishing tackle?

I once pulled a male Bluegill off a bed and as I was unhooking it,it sprayed "man gravy" all over my shirt. Wife couldn't stop laughing.

Steps to tie the Berkley Braid Knot: http://www.lurebook.com/encyclopedia/knot/description/berkley_braid_knot Compare to Zona's Shark Knot

Isn't Zona's "Shark Knot" nothing more than a Berkeley Braid Knot

The Flipping hooks I have are more of a round bend,and they are not the straight shank style,they have the offset bend.

I've been Texas Rigging my Rage Craw with a 3/0 EWG hook. Picked up some 3/0 flipping hooks. To me noticeable differences between the EWG and Flipping hooks are the hook gap,and the fact that the Flipping hook appears to be a stronger hook. Besides those obvious differences,is there anything else I may notice when I use the Flipping hook,such as placement in the bait or anything else?

I think the weight was a 1/4 oz,the same one I used when I was catching fish on the medium action rod. Could it be the braid(buoyant) not sinking as fast as straight FC? If this is the case,then I guess I may have been swimming the Rage Craw instead of having contact with the bottom. Perhaps I should go with the medium action rod and a size larger weight?

On previous trips I had been using a 6'6" medium action Berkley Cherrywood rod,a vintage Shimano Bantam reel with 10# Vicious Fluorocarbon line. Every thing felt good and I boated about 4 fish per outing on a Rage Craw. Like a fool I changed things up. I chose to use an Okuma 6.2:1 reel on a 6'6" Medium Heavy Shakespeare rod,with 65# Spiderwire braid,and a leader of 10# Vicious Fluorocarbon. On this outing I only boated 1 fish,and really had a hard time feeling the bottom. I really think my bait was swimming most of the time. So as far as the change of equipment goes,what could be the biggest cause for the decreased feel of sensitivity? Is it the Rod? Going from a M to MH. The Line? Going from straight FC to BRAID with a FC leader? I'm thinking the rod causing this difference,but I'd like to know what everyone else thinks.

Just a curiousity. Say you have 2 reels; one is a 5.0:1 and the other is a 6.3:1 ratio. They are both spooled with the exact same brand and test line,same rods,same lures. Is it likely to have one cast farther than the other because of the gear ratio difference? I know speed of retrieve would be noticeably different,how about casting distance?

Ive seen 2 different ways to tie this knot. This first demonstration,the guy wraps the line around,puts the loop through the opening by the eye of the hook,and then runs it through the opening made by his fingers: This second one is similar,but the demonstrator DOESNT put the loop through the opening by the eye of the hook,only through the loop made by his finger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H2OtZ6F1dw Which is correct,and how does everyone that uses this knot tie theirs? Do you use example #1 or #2?

I've never done it personally,saw it on a YouTube Video,wondering if anyone ever did the mod,and if it worked at all.

Anyone ever pulled the claws off a Crazy Legs Chigger Craw and fished it with just the crazy legs?

So I have a 12 ft Gamefisher Jon boat. I currently have a Minn Kota Endurance 50(55# thrust) transom mounted trolling motor with the battery mounted in the compartment right below the TM. I don't have a gas motor,only the TM. I fish alone alot and I feel there's just too much weight focused in that back area where I sit to control the boat. Today at the swapmeet I picked up a Minn Kota Powerdrive 40 foot operated TM for $125. Couple of questions concerning this unit. 1. Anyone think I overspent on this unit? 2.Can anyone give me any kind of ideas or suggestions on how to modify or fab something up,so I can mount this on the front of my boat? 3.If I can get this fabbed up and mounted,is there a learning curve on figuring out how to operate and control the boat with your foot?

Yeah it would give it a vulnerable appearance,but I'm not sure the action on the Rage Craw would be so pronounced and attractive. May even throw the bait off kilter so it would be out of balance.

Wondering how the Boze Sumo Frog stacks up in the rankings.

Yup this was PCL,over by the Rock Dam

I know "Walking the Frog" is a good retrieval method for fishing soft body hollow frogs.However there are those of us that sit down when we fish,from Canoes and Kayaks,so making a bait walk isnt an option due to stability issues of the watercraft we are in. I've never tried walking a bait sitting down,but I can bet its pretty difficult. Are frogs just as deadly being twitched across the mats as they are being walked?

Ive never used Vanish,I do use Vicious that I got on Clearance at Wal Mart,wondering if some might get the 2 names mixed up as they sound so much alike. Maybe it was the Vanish that was supposed to be on clearance.

Get a large magnet and drag the bottom. Theres gotta be some metal components on those setups,might get lucky and be able to get them all back.

Rage Turd...Thats Classic. Yea swinging and missing doesnt cost anything except a little energy and sometimes aggravation and frustration. Makes it so worth it when you suspect its a strike,but cant tell for sure,swing and get a solid mass that almost rips the rod out of your hand when it doubles over,not that its REALLY ever happened,but I can imagine.

I agree this is a good looking fish,nice broad sides,and nice Vivid colors. Fish has a boo boo on its tail as well

Anyone else have issues of getting a bite,setting the hook,only to have your Rage Craw come back stripped of its claws? Had a few occurrences yesterday. On one occasion I had what felt like might be a soft strike,I gave it some tension to determine if it was weeds or not.and it was like a tug of war,I got the bait away from the fish,only to have that fish or another come right back and grab it again.Mustve been a Bluegill or Green Sunfish,because the claws were gone when I finished the retrieve.

You hear about Purple,Pumpkin,green pumpkin,pumpkinseed,watermelon,blue,motoroil,rootbeer,sour grape and chartreuse either alone,swirled or laminated as a common place in the soft plastics world. What I dont hear alot about is other colors,such as Cherryseed and Redbug,which arent solid colors like Red Shad,but more translucent. I hardly ever hear anyone talking about doing well with this color.Does anyone even use these colors In any case,under what conditions is this color best? Another color I dont see too much speak of is the crystal Clear soft plastics. I have 2 bags of Caseys Competitor worms. One bag is Crystal clear with Black Fleck and the other is Crystal Clear with very tiny (I mean miniscule) blue and red flake. I assume these colors are older,anyone remember these colors,anyone do well with them? Wondering what conditions these would do good in? Oh and on a side note,what is with the scent on Caseys Competitor worms? They have a strong odor,not sure if its the plastic scent or an attractant...Anyone know?

No I didnt get measurements,I was pretty pumped and wanted to get the fish back in the water as quick as possible.

Well wheres my Humble Pie? I took a 10# dumbell and weighed it with my scale and 65 pound Spiderwire. Scale read 10.41. So if my math is correct this fish only weighed 2.9# (3.31,which is what my scale read yesterday, minus the .41 overage for the scale). Guess this fish looked so large because I havent hooked into anything this size in forever... Feel kinda foolish making a big deal over a 3 pound fish.This wouldnt even qualify as a kicker fish...