airborne_angler

I always tell myself that I WILL catch at least one fish. No matter the species. Im targeting Bass but like yesterday I was Catching Trout on my Dropshot. Not what I was after,but I cant say I was skunked either.

What exactly is the "strike zone" How is it determined,and whats it all about,Ive heard the term alot but never understood it. How can i tell if my presentation is in the strike zone . Im fishing from the bank and dont have eyes under water. Can someone just please educate me on this term

When using certain techniques there is a lesson to be learned in order to get the bite. What have different techniques taught you? For Example. I have been dropshotting for a few weeks and been successful with Dinks and an occassional quality fish. What that has taught me is to Slow down the presentation. I now realize that when I was fishing with plastic worms I was fishing them too fast. I now tie on a T-rigged plastic worm (or jig) to my dropshot rig in place of the weight. This forces me to slow the entire rig down. The other day when I did this the fish were mostly striking the suspended bait but I caught a couple on the the worm and one on the jig.

Ya Know Im not real sure of this guys story. He says there was a Nuisance bear dumping over trash cans in the campground of the lake. The trash cans are square, bolted to concrete slabs and about 4 feet long and theres no way for the lids to be lifted because the lids have handles that are recessed. Anyway I asked him if he was with the Game and Fish Dept and he said no. But they contacted him and hired him for this job(So he says). I think the Game and Fish commisssion would have someone on thier staff to take care of the bear and If the bear was a nuisance they would tranquilize it and relocate it. The guy had no sidearm that I could see which is normally always carried when hunting. He said he came out 2 weeks ago and shot a big bear but couldnt bring it back cause the brush was too thick for him to track it. How inhumane. To Just shoot it,and let it run around,die and then rot!!! Or if he didnt get his arrow placed correctly theres a bear running around with an arrow stuck in it ,possibly infected and in pain. This guy was also saying theres BIG BLUE Catfish in the lake I was fishing. Horse Hockey. I dont even think Blues are anywhere near Arizona. I know the Record Channel came out of the lake I was fishing but no catfish have been caught in years out of that lake. I will be careful when im back there but as far as a Bear goes,his story dont add up,not saying there cant be a bear,but his version of the bear thing aint jiving in my book.

Oh I almost forgot.It might be a good idea to print out a aerial photo of the lake and laminate it. Then with a grease pencil mark where you are planning to be when at the lake. Give the map to a loved one or friend. That way should something happen,theyll be able to better pinpoint your location,should you not return at the expected time.

Was at the lake yesterday and was encountered by a guy carrying a bow. I dont know anything about hunting so I asked him what the deal was. Said he was hunting a nuisance bear and had a blind set up back behind the dam of the lake,near a 40'x20' pool. I inquired about the pool and he told me theres Catfish and Bass in the pool. I decided to do a Google Map search and sure nuff,theres a pool in the satellite imagery. I also found a path to it so it wont be so far a walk,Maybe I can get my 4x4 on that path. Looks like ill be exploring a new area next time I go to the lake. The guy told me he never sees anyone fish at the pool and hes pulled 3lb Bass out of there. Im not sure how recent the imagery is but its certainly worth a look. So basically all I am saying is it pays off to check Google Maps in case you hear of a body of water thats out of the way a bit,and not known of,just to positively validate someones story.

Yeah well This lady was wearing a bikini top when she approached me the first time and well the top was very revealing. I was tempted to ask her to sho...err,cough cough.... Well nevermind,that would have been wrong. Sorry if I was wrong just then and if mods think im being distasteful well then please act accordingly .

Got to the lake yesterday and in the parking lot was approached by a lady in her late 30's asking me if I had a spare fishing pole I could "rent" her. I didnt see dollar signs as some would have. I thought a minute and then quoted her $10 for as long as she needed it. I figure it was fair. If she decided to make off with the pole or dropped it in the lake then I would be out an $18 Zebco 33 spincasting combo. She was willing to pay but didnt have enough. Was I too harsh in what I asked? Later that day had the same lady in a boat come rowing to the spot I was fishing. She had her 13 yr old son in the boat and he asked if he could "buy" a hook off of me. I was just gonna give him some, but then they offered me some cold bottled water. So I told the kid and his mom "Tell you what,Ill trade you 10 hooks for a bottle of water." Worked out well. I got a nice refreshing bottle of water and he got the hooks he needed to continue fishing.

I see this on every body of water I go to and it just puzzles me. It gets windy at times and some spots of the lake are choppy but at random spots the water is smooth as glass. Does this indicate a creek channel,under water structure of what? Or is just the wind pattern doing this?

I went out yesterday and threw a 3/16 oz Jig with a plastic craw trailer. I was using the dropshot/jig setup and on only the 2nd cast of the day I got a nice bite. Set the hook and the whole time I was bringing it in was wondering if I caught the fish on the dropshot or the jig. Well I was pleasantly surprised when I finally landed the fish. It had hit the JIG. As usual the fish was a dink but my first on a jig.

I have heard that a "jig bite" feels a certain way. I wanna go out this week and try the Drop shot/Jig technique . I will be using a 3/16 Green Pumpkin FLW Finesse jig with the Craw trailer thats provided with the jig. As I have been told the dropshot bait is what needs to be focused/concentrated on with this rig,but should a fish decide to hit the jig,just how does that feel? Ive never fished a jig so I dont know what to expect. I will be using a 6' Spinning rod with a Shimano reel and 6lb test line(I would use heavier line but the reel will only hold 4 and 6 lb test). Im sure this will be adequate unless I get hit by a Hawg/or 2 seein how this is a double rig setup. What other things can you seasoned fisherman tell me about fishing with jigs that would give me the upper hand?

If you have been following my posts lately,I have been getting frustrated due to catching Dinks. The lake I frequent gets a pretty heavy stocking of trout in the winter,and the lake is deep enough that even in the extreme Arizona Summers ,the trout can still be caught . I met a guy that was camping at the lake and he told me that just before first light one morning he was fishing and the lake was "alive" He couldnt see anything but heard slapping on the water and explosions. Think the Bass could have been feeding on Trout? Would it be worth my while to try to throw a swimbait?

State regs here in Arizona say no more than 2 hooks per line. So if I wanna use this rig its all good.

Saw this in the local paper today and was wondering if it would be worth looking into it. PATENT FOR SALE: Rod and Reel Saver Have Prototypes call xxx-xxx-xxxx

I was just reading the other post about dropshot and the thought of putting a Jig as a weight never occured to me. Thats way ingenious. Not too hard to consider but I never thought of it. Seems real cool. Im really into dropshot fishing right now and have all but put my Senkos away. I wanna give this dropshot/jig rig a try but before I do I need to ask a few questions as I have never fished jigs before. 1. Is this technique used soley on a Spinning outfit,or can it be used on a baitcaster as well? 2. What size jig do you use? The WalMart here sells the finesse Jigs with trailers made by FLW. Would those jigs work or should a standard size jig be tried? 3. Which bait do you focus on working more? The jig or the dropshot bait? Would focusing on just the dropshot bait create enough action to make the jig have a good presentation,and on the other hand ,if I work just the jig,wouldnt that be too fast a movement for the dropshot bait. Help me out here please as I have stated I have never used a jig 4.This is just a general jig question. Is it necessary to use a pork trailer or trailer of some other sort on the jig or can the jig just be fished alone? 5. What are the differences in the using the jig VS. just a bell sinker. I have lost alot of sinkers while dropshotting. Is the jig just as likely to get hung up? I can live with losing a bag of bell sinkers as I can find then all over the lake shore,but jigs well losing them frequently thats a different story. 6. I have noticed on a few of the Bass I have caught on dropshot,have crawfish antenna hanging out thier throats,Guess a jig might up the ante after all? Heck its worth a shot and if it increases the chances of catching fish then why not...Im still kinda floored and find it to be a brilliant idea of using the jig on the end of a dropshot..

Man o man that is an awesome Idea. I would have never thought it. I gotta give that a shot.

What can a person do if they are fishing a lake(from the bank) and a Thunderstorm hits. What are the appropriate measures to take to stay safe from lightning. For example, If I was fishing and noticed the skies turning dark and decided to pack it in and head home and then the skies open up and lightning starts to strike. Do I stay put, seek low ground,or keep walking with my rods acting lightning rod? Any suggestions of what to do when caught in the wilderness and a storm hits?

Im new to the dropshot rig as well. I have had success with it but mostly just dinks.I dont spend money on "specific" dropshot weights. I use ordinary Bell sinkers.When I fish it I cast it out, Let it hit bottom. and then slowly lift my rod tip . Sometimes I just lower my rod tip then bring it back up to make the line taught again, Then at times I also let the bait sit stationary and just shake the rod tip.Guess I havent found the "exact" way to fish it. I just experiment and all the methods above have produced fish. As far as the length your bait is off the bottom,that is something you have to experiment with. The fish might be holding real tight to the bottom so you could possibly put your bait just a couple of inches off the bottom. Alot of times when I went from a taught line to a slack line I would bring the line taught again and....fish on. Wierd. Sometimes I cant even feel the fish hit...Its just kinda......There. Other times I get such hard strikes ,the rod almost gets pulled into the water. Im never prepared for that so I have yet to hookup on one of those. Last fish on a dropshot I caught last night got me aggravated. I would cast out,before I could even start moving the bait,I got a slight tap - tap. I would wait ,set the hook and come up empty. I tried to catch this bugger 5 or 6 times. Eventually I just let it nibble on my bait for a longer time. I lowered the rod tip,set the hook and ...fish on. To my surprise it was a 14 inch ...Get this......TROUT!!! I was using a 3" Berkley Power Pulse Worm. I have also been able to catch some real nice Bluegill on this rig.

I have never fished in a tournament,I just dont think im that good. I was watching the Bassmasters Classic and my Girlfriend kept saying the fish were tiny. Yeah they were small but they were nice compared to what I have been catching. Thats why I said I would like to catch some "Keepers" based on tornament guidelines. I think if I could get into a bunch of fish like that for a while I would be much happier. Ill try alot of the different things you all posted. Im gonna start fishing the opposite side of the lake and see how I do there.

I just hate the long drive,the long walk in the heat to get to the spot I wanna fish . Maybe next time ill try a different spot on the lake and see what that produces. Im sure im not the only one who suffers in the wallet with the price of gas!!!

I wish the fish I was catching were at least 1 lb. Atleast a "keeper" in tournament standards,but these fish are tiny. Mostly no bigger than 8 inches. Its not much a challenge anymore catching those. Im fishing the deepest part of the lake . Its hot so Im under the impression thats where the biguns are gonna be. In the last 2 weeks I have only hooked into 2 decent fish(between 1.5 and 3 lbs each). Just wish things were more consistent and I could catch more that size. I guess I just want more of a fight. I was pumped when I finally caught those. But they werent caught on the same day.

Went to the closest lake to where I live today,just like I do on alot of other days during the week. I was fishing a rocky dam with lots of Rip Rap . I wanted to walk to another spot on the dam and as I started out I heard a "sizzle" .I figured out what it was and got a bit scared. It was a Rattlesnake and I couldnt get a view of him. It could of came out of any crevice in the rocks and gotten me. I gingerly walked away but for the rest of the day was crossing the rocks like they were eggshells.

I go fishing just about everyday. Lately I have been trying different techniques. Normally I throw Senkos,but tried Dropshotting and was pretty successful with dinks. Now the whole Dink thing is getting old. I just dont have the charisma I used to. I havent caught a fish that got my adrenaline pumping in such a long time that fishing is getting boring. I normally fish a deep part of the lake,its at a dam,lots of rocks--rip rap and climbing the rocks to get to another location on the dam is difficult. The walk to the dam is a whole other story,its at least a 25 minute walk one way and in the heat its a killer. Think I should lay off wetting the line for a little bit ?

What is the proper way to use the Shakin Technique on a Finesse worm? And what worms are suitable for that technique? I was Dropshotting the other day with a Berkley 3" Power Pulse worms and caught a Bunch of dinks and of all things.....get this ......3 Trout!!!! Got bored with the dinks so I tried a 4" Kalins Western Weenie Worm and experimented with the Shakin technique. On the first cast I hooked into a 15 inch LMB that I would estimate weighed anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 lbs. Im not sure I was retreiving it properly and want some consistency that why I ask about the proper technique. I was sitting down on the bank while retrieving it and suddenly felt like I was snagged BIG TIME. No tick tick or tap tap. The bait just stopped like it was hung. I tried to "unhang" it and suddenly realized my rod tip was bouncing. I was in very deep water at the dam on the lake . Is it usual to have the bite somewhat undetectable when fishing deep like that?

Yeah I could only be so lucky to miss the bite of a 22 lb Bass. Im determined to get whatever it is and when I do Ill be sure to report my findings.