airborne_angler

The spoon I was using was a Kastmaster and the package specifically says its for Pan Sized Bluegill up to Trophy size Gamefish. I called the dept and spoke with a rep and she said as long as I was throwing large baits with Large hooks,all would be ok. Ok Lets say I try that,but figure out the Bass are in a Finesse Mood and I throw a Dropshot.I catch a few Bass and Inadvertently stick a Trout...My Fault? I always thought the rule was "No Trout in Possession without a Stamp",now they are saying you cant even hook a trout without a stamp. I dont have underwater vision to be able to tell whats eating my lure. So now I gotta be afraid when I fish because I might get in trouble for accidentally sticking a trout. I wont know its a Trout until I bring it up from the depths,Then I can worry I suppose.

Had a run in earlier this year with a Game Warden for throwing a spoon while fishing for Bass,as the Spoon was "supposed" to meant for Trout(as the Game Warden said).I didnt have a Trout Stamp and I almost got busted. Well I just went on the Az Game and Fish website for the latest fishing report This is what I read: PARKER CANYON Scheduled for trout stocking this week. Fishing for sunfish remains good. Largemouth bass fishing continues to be slow. The store at the lake is open and information on the store and current conditions can be found at www.parkercanyonlake.com. The following report is courtesy the Parker Canyon Lake Store and Marina: Fishing was slow for bass and trout this week. The bluegill are still hitting well and the weather has remained good. the water temp has started to drop with the cool morning upon us. Trout stamps are required now for fishing as the have begun the winter stockings. So this means ANY fishing requires a Trout Stamp? Weather in Az is nice just about year round,so the Bass may still be caught although its winter. If im Bass fishing(Soft Plastics,Crankbaits,and Spinnerbaits),why do I now need to go get a Trout Stamp? Makes no sense.... How can they enforce such a rule? If im throwing Nightcrawlers for Bass,or Crawdads for Bass,and I catch a Trout,is that my fault?Bluegill,Catfish,Bass,Trout,Walleye and just about any other freshwater fish will eat Nightcrawlers. Im still scratching my head.

The reel in question is a Quantum "predator" 1151 MG Baitcasting reel. How old is this reel,and what kind of gear ratio does it have. Does this reel contain any special features?

I recently bought a large lot of assorted soft plastics. In this lot there are many many different brands of worms. I put many different brands of worms side by side and all I saw different was the color on alot of them. Its just like trying to reinvent the wheel. I dont think any one might be better than the other. I got a bunch of lizards too. Theres really no way to make a lizard "different" I cant say anyone of these will be a better fish catcher than the other. Grubs...Dont get me started on those. Every maker has their version and they are mostly ALL identical to everyone elses. Why are there so many soft plastics companies out there,when all they do is make a bait(worm,lizard or grub) that looks just like the next guys product.?

The side that the swivel seat base would attach to.

Currently my 12' Jon has those seats with the clamps on them. It is my understanding these are not the best,and can(and will) cause a person to fall overboard. Im looking for a more permanent mounting solution. How about taking these fasteners and installing them on the benches,and then mounting my swivel base and seat to these fasteners? Think these would pull out? They have the "claws" you see to keep them from spinning when a fastener is installed,but im not sure these wouldnt lift out if pressure was applied to them on a hookset.. Pictured is the side of the fastener that would go down into the bench of the Jon Boat Any thoughts on this idea?

Speedbead, so what you are saying is that when the trout forst get planted,the Bass will have a feast and my bait "might" be ignored. But a week later,theyll wonder where it all went and will be searching for it,that may be a better time to throw a trout swimbait when they have thinned out the herd and are searching for more?

Well in April they dropped em right out of the truck from the boat ramp. The fish they normally stock are about 9-12 inches long. According to the Az Dept of Game and Fish,the Trout dont naturally reproduce in this lake so there are several stockings from October until April. You can still catch a few straggler Trout through the summer as well. I think that normally by summer,most of the Trout have all been caught,eaten by predators or died naturally from the heat.

The Arizona Game and Fish website says that the local lake I fish will be stocked with Trout for the first time this season the week of 25 October. Would this be a good time to start throwing "Trout" patterned Swimbaits,such as a 6 inch HUD in a Juvenile Trout color?

I rarely ever eat fish. Tonight my wife fried up a pound of store bought Tilapia Filets.Wow what a wonderful tasting fish!! Ive been hearing that Bluegill tastes great as well. Anyone ever cooked and eaten Bluegill? Whats the minimum keeper size to consider eating? Whats the best way of cleaning these fish? Are they best fileted or just cut off the fins,scale em,hack the head off and take out the entrails(like a Trout) Lastly whats a good recipe and how is the actual flavor of a Bluegill best described?

I dunno,im sorta over Crankbaits. I have enough to last me a lifetime. Theres a time and a place for em,I feel more comfortable throwing a DS.

Earlier in the week I asked about everyones favorite DS bait. Now I want to explore another aspect. With your favorite bait in mind,how do you prefer to hook your bait when throwing a Dropshot? Do you prefer Wacky(through the middle) or Nose Hooked? I know some will agree that at times,depending on the bait,there may be no other option than nose hooking,but other baits,like a Finesse worm,Cut Tail or Robo worm,you have the option of throwing it Wacky rigged. I used to throw my 3" Berkley DS worms Wacky rigged on a DS,and caught lots of fish,no size but still fun as heck. I have primarily been throwing my Cut tail worms Nose hooked,but did experiment with them Wacky rigged and the fish were hooking themselves up on the drop of the initial cast.Only happened a few times though. Otherwise I havent had luck with wacky rigging a Cut tail on the DS. So what works best for you all? Currently im "stuck" on throwing a DS. Cant put it down and cant bring myself to try any other technique. I know im limiting myself,but when the DS gets bit like it does ,its pretty addicting(for me at least).

I was able to find them a few years ago in a 100ct bag. They were packaged as "seconds" from ffo.com. I should have stocked up. Man I miss those worms. I think the Berkley Powerbait Trout worms are the same thing.

Whats everyones Favorite Dropshot bait? Which bait has been most productive For dropshotting? Which has been least productive for dropshotting? Personally I dont really know if I have a Favorite,I do have confidence in a few: 3 Inch Berkley Dropshot worm(looks like a mini Senko) nowhere near as thick,just a tiny little worm. 3 Inch Berkley Ringworm specifically for Dropshotting 4.5 inch Kinami Cut tail Worm 4 inch Tiemco Skunk Series PDL Swimbait/dropshot (A japanese made bait) Ive run out of all the above,so now im into using a Lunker City Rascal Worm. Havent had many bites on it,but one bite came like a clap of thunder. Just hit it like a freight train. Just about doubled my rod over,and it turned out to be a dink. I think I may have been caught in the rocks when that fish struck. The cut tail worms,Lunker City Rascals and The JDM bait have all been used with Megastrike and though I havent caught any HUGE fish(largest being about 4.5#'s) Ive caught good numbers every outing.

At least it got released and didnt end up in a photo taken in the living room of the guys house.

So lately I have been fishing Dropshot,nothing but. Fall is upon us and the night temps are getting down to the mid 50's mostly in the 60's though. The daytime temps are still in the high 80's to low 90's Anyone fish a dropshot year round with success. A few years ago I couldnt stop throwing a Senko. Now I cant stop throwing a DS. With temps dropping at night and the fish migrating,will a DS still be effective through this transition period?

Is this color a fish catcher,or is it just a bait made in this color to benefit Breast Cancer research? Anyone ever thrown this crank in this color and had success with it?

Its pretty stiff,not a noodle by any means. When I wave it up and down the tip barely moves

not sure of the rods action but line and lure weight are as follows: Line:10-20 Lure1/4-5/8 oz Does this help?

I just picked up an All Star PT60MH (Pro Touch 6'0 Medium Heavy) Rod with a Shakespeare Agility Reel. The reel im not to concerned about. I was wondering about the rod. Its a Medium Heavy action but its very light to the touch. I love the trigger on it. Was wondering what this rod would be best suited for? Cranks? Wormin? Topwater? Im sure it can work for any of those I just mentioned,but what application ,primarily,would this rod be suited for best?

Could these 3 combined be a good tool for finding the points,ledges and dropoffs in a lake. Example: I have an old Topographic map of the lake I normally fish. It shows contour lines,points and all that stuff you cant see from the surface. It may not be 100% accurate,but im sure its pretty close. Now I go to Google Earth,which shows a Real aerial view of the lake. I use the Topographic map as sort of an overlay and put "pins" on the google Earth map where a point starts,ends ect. Each of those "pins" will have a GPS coordinate you can read at the bottom of the Google Earth page. If I put these coordinates in a GPS device,how close would I get to what I see on Google earth. Anyone ever done this. Seems like alot of work,but if its accurate,and you can get a topo map of a lake youve never fished,scout the structure on the map,then find the general location on Google Earth put it in your GPS,you wont have to motor around aimlessly looking for those key areas. Please note,This is a tool for those of us with either no fish finder,or only an entry level unit that you cant preload with maps and such. Hows my thought process on this?

Ive been searching for some decent hooks for dropshotting. Would these style hooks suffice? http://cgi.ebay.com/100-pcs-fishing-hooks-37753-WIDE-GAP-2-eye-/170528977806?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b451b38e#ht_1077wt_695

With the 12' Jon Boat I purchased earlier this month,I got a Humminbird Wide Eye C fish Finder. Anyone know anything about it? Where can I find some literature/articles about it? How old of a model might this be? How does it stack up against the Eagle Cuda 128 I have in my 10" jon boat?

So on the "Chowhounds" what was the theory behind the Spinner and how well did they perform?

The 2 top cranks are sorta strange. They both have a wire that protrudes from the bottom of the lip and had has a swivel with a plastic spinner blade attached. What kind of hair brained idea was this. Anyone know who makes it and what its called? What about the one on the bottom? None of these baits have any markings or other identifiers.