Fishes in trees

In my opinion those spin shot hooks are more trouble than they are worth. Even in light to moderate cover, they flop around and get hung up more than I like. IMO the Gamakatsu Wicked wacky hooks are better because they always stay aligned with the line and they snag random stuff much less often.

Basically there are two types of shaky heads, right? The kind that you tx rig some plastic on the hook shaft of the jig and the other kind, with a spring, post, or something that you impale the nose of the plastic that you're going to tx rig. I think that they both work and I own many different brands of both types. More often than not, I use the spring style, because I think that they are a little easier to rig and I seem to get better hook sets. A couple of favorites are the "Hazey Daze" jig head, home made and purchased from some bait shop around Table Rock Lake and some that are a little more commercially available, the Chompers shakey head. If I am going to "bubba up" to fish a shakey worm presentation, the 3/8 Chompers head is ideal, IMO. One of these days, I am going to try the Mega Strike ones, but they really aren't commercially available in the KC area currently. Rogers Lures in Liberty carries a small assortment, but not in the sizes I want.

I've got a Lowrance Endura Safari. I got it from a pal who won it as a raffle prize at a tournament. I got it for considerably less than retail. It is a couple of years old now, I keep telling myself that I am going to get the chip for it that will show lakes in greater detail, but I haven't done it yet. Overall, I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Back several years ago, when I was co-angling in BFL, I had a very basic Garmin unit (around $100). When I was practice fishing by myself on unfamiliar lakes, I found it very handy, just to mark trails and remember the way back to the dock. Fishing as a co-angler, most boaters weren't happy when I would pull it out to mark a spot. I still did it, but I was more discreet about it after a while.

Even square bills can be a pain to fish from shore. If I am fishing heavy cover/fallen trees from the bank, I'm thinking something a little more snag resistant is in order. Perhaps a spinner bait/buzz bait. If I'm limited to one rod - heavy cover & fallen trees - from the bank, I'm thinking a Medium or Medium/Heavy spinning gear with 20 or 30 lb braid & fluorocarbon leader. For bait, I'd throw a senko or maybe a sluggo. In my experience, cranks in general and even square bills in particular are a pain throwing from the bank, more trouble than they are worth.

My guess is that you aren't doing anything wrong. Your rod might be a little light, but that isn't a deal breaker, besides, you are using braid, which should ( in theory) help with the long distance hook setting. I would say, "Welcome to carolina rigging" You are going to have days when sticking fish is a challenge. From my viewpoint, that is one of the "charms" of carolina rigging. At least you are getting bit. You might want to go to a little stiffer rod. Perhaps some kind of scent, to make them hold it longer. Really, I don't know, I think carolina rigging is a pain and I only do it when I have to.

If I am using the drop shot shallow, I'm gonna "bubba shot" i.e. flipping stick, 20 lb fluorocarbon (minimum) and half ounce weights (minimum, I am very likely to go heavier.

I fished there once a few years ago. It was in June or July, I forget which, definitely post spawn. Previously I had fished it a couple of times in the late 80's. As I recall, the facilities were good. Ice and sandwiches were relatively close. There was a good ramp, with plenty of parking. Bathrooms were clean. Bring your own TP and handi-wipes. As far as the lake goes, I remember a main lake area and then two long arms. It is a decent sized lake (5000 acres or so, but I could be way wrong on the size). Banks were mostly clay/mud. There were some rocks, more so on the main lake area as compared to the arms, but there weren't alot of rocks anywhere. There was some standing timber, I guess there used to be much more, there were many stumps right at the water line or a couple of inches either way. I thought that the water color was dingy to muddy, visibility was often a foot or less. Wasn't using a secchi disc then so I don't have a number. My approach to summer fishing at the time was to stay pretty shallow, throw reaction baits like a spinner bait or square bill, and hope for pods of active fish. The plan didn't work that day. I think I caught two fish all day, on a square bill, off a stump, in 5 or so feet of water. I remember it being tough fishing, a pretty lake, for the most part, but tough fishing. I say for the most part because a couple of the more remote coves seemed to be a garbage dumping area.. Anyway, it has been a number of years since I've been there, I have better lakes closer and if I want to drive my big motor alot, I will just go to Truman. If I had to fish it now, this time of year, I would stay out of the creeks and stay on main lake points in 10 to 30 feet of water with jigs or jika rigs or something else slow.

Early spring fishing - where you have ice forming on spools, guides, level winds, etc. I think reel magic works better. Everything else, I think that the KVD line treatment is better. JMO

rizzo777 - where do you live at? Rogers Lures in Liberty MO, has these on sale right now.

Arkie Heads? I think I carry enough of every size available, though mostly I throw 3/8. If I have decided that I am going to fish spinning gear that day, I'll mostly throw 1/4 on braid with fluorocarbon leader. Football heads? - a different story - If I am fishing a football head, I am fishing 15 to 30 feet or so down, primary amongst rocks/sand/mud bottom - maybe some small stumps here and there. I don't think that I own any football heads that weigh less than 1/2 ounce and the vast majority of them weigh 3/4. I don't fish these conditions very often, but this is what I carry when I do.

A couple of times fishing at Truman Lake (which is kinda close to Whitman AFB) I had a stealth bomber go overhead. Those are cool planes. It is amazing how small they look coming at you, how large they are when they are directly overhead and then what a small profile they have when they are flying away.

Just for the record, a sharper hook probably would have pushed on through and you would have been able to cut it off at the barb. Just joking, I've been there, I've stuck hooks in myself that required surgery to get out. There isn't any better argument for always carrying a GOOD set of side cutters and a VERY sharp knife in the boat at all times. A first aid kit equipped for post surgical clean up isn't a bad idea either.

I wouldn't change anything. What really happened here? Answer - you lost a jig fish in the weeds. IMO, 12 lb mono is a little light to go fishing in weeds with, but lots of people do it. Back in my youth, I did that a lot. It is called fishing with what you got. I would wait until you had a larger sample size before I made any major gear/line changes. Option B - Buy a bunch of high dollar, technique specific tackle. You are probably already in debt now, nearly everyone else is, myself included. What are the chances that you will eat/sleep/act any different if you were somewhat further in debt? Something to think about. p.s. - should you choose option B, you are still going to lose jig fish in weeds on occasion. Just glad to help.

Don't stress yourself trying to re-invent the wheel. Rod Saver makes a vehicle rod carrier for around $20. I've got one in my SUV. It works great, suspending the rods from the roof. Product description on their web site says it will hold 7 rods. I can put 20 on mine and they stay organized.

I got one. It works some of the time. Sometimes, you've got to pull out the 18' extendable lure retriever and use it instead. I know that I need both of them, or else I would lose many more lures. My issue with the hound dog lure knocker is storage, and getting to it when you need it. It takes up space on the deck and deck space is at a premium. You've got to make sure you stow it right after you are done using it or else you will end up tripping over it. I am trying to rig some system where it is both easy to deploy and easy to store. Easier said than done. There is a learning curve to using this tool. Get as vertical as you can above the stuck lure, behind it if you can. Getting a straight drop where it can smack into the snag as hard a possible seems to work best. Again, easier said than done in timber. Tie a good knot and use stout cord. I lost one lure knocker that came untied at the knot. Still no clue how that happened, I thought I tied a good knot. I am open to on how to make this tool BOTH easy to store and easy to deploy. It is a work in progress.

Back in the day when I was a hippie meat fisherman, I had a couple of different ways to fix bass. One way was to get a package of Tempura batter at the store, mix it up according to directions, use beer instead of water. Once the batter hits the hot oil,it puffs up and seals the fish against the oil. The fish actually cooks by steaming inside the batter. Toe batter tastes good also, I just never did eat alot of it. My other favorite way to cook bass was "boy scout style." On a sheet of tin foil grease a rectangular area with butter, leaving room all around the edges. Lay down a layer of sliced onions, then a layer of fish, dot with butter & pepper, squeeze a whole lemons worth of juice on top. Or you can freeze the lemons, thinly slice them and use them as a layer on top of the fish. If you have enough fish, lay down another layer, you can do up to 3 or 4 layers. With another sheet of tin foil, seal it up tight, put on Weber, indirect medium heat for half an hour or so, so that the whole package steams and is heated through. If you are cooking on a camp fire, wrap it in several layers of tin foil and put it on the edge of the fire, and put some coals on top. Again, cook it until it is done and steamed through, half an hour or so.

The main requirement for a carolina rig bait caster is that you want to be able to throw a heavy bait a long ways. Backlashes while carolina rigging are bad. Probably put you out of action with that reel for the day. In this instance, I think gear ratio is a secondary concern. 6 something if it makes a difference. To my mind the primary concern is distance, distance that is repeatable over and over all day. I'm thinking Calcutta, either the standard one or the 200 TEGT 11 ball bearing model. I don't carolina rig that often, but that is what I'd use.

I'm not a big fan of the swivel hooks. I think that the hook flops around too much and gives you a better chance of getting hook hung on something. I prefer the Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky hooks. You tie your standard palomar knot with the long tag end, and then thread the tag end through the tube along the shaft. It keeps the hook aligned behind the line and with the weed guard on the hook is pretty weedless. I nose hook baits with this rig. I generally use a Berkley Crazy Legs chigger craw, but any 4" or so kind of fat craw shape or shad shape bait works for me. While we are on the subject, the rig you got will work. When I am drop shot fishing around flooded bushes and timber ( which I do ALOT) I will upgrade the gear a little. I use a 7'5" Kistler heavy flipping/pitching stick, a Curado 50 reel and 20 lb test Seaguar Abrazx line. I start with a half ounce weight and I'm not afraid to go heavier, just to get down quicker. The notion with the heavier gear is if I get bit down amongst heavier bushes and timber, my plan is to get that fish up and out of the area asap. This gear helps me do that. I keep a drop shot rig in my boat that is very similar to what you are using. I use it more on deeper weed lines and more open, clutter free areas. You can cast or pitch drop shot rigs, just like you would a jig. In deeper water you can go vertical or semi-vertical. Don't go crazy trying for casting distance with this rig, you will lose many more rigs if you are consistently throwing more than 30 feet or so. There is a whole lot to drop shot fishing. To increase the learning curve, commit to it and leave the jigs and Tx rigs at home, or at least in a pile at the back of the boat where it is a pain to get at them. Good luck.

I mostly use Terminators or War Eagle. Now that War Eagle is selling their skirts separately, you can put the cool War Eagle colors on lots of different brands of spinner baits.

I use various brands of shaky heads. One thing that they all have in common is that they tear up plastics. For a similar presentation that doesn't tear up plastic quite as much try nose hooking baits on an appropriate drop shot hook with a 2" or so drop line. Start with a quarter ounce (figuring 8 or 10 lb fluorocarbon) and be ready to go heavier (5/16 or 3/8) if you don't want to mess around, get to the bottom asap. This rig is slightly less weedless (let me emphasize slightly) than a shaky head, but it solves the problem of tearing up your plastics. Pick your poison.

I don't consciously collect old fishing tackle. I do buy tackle pretty often and I am a sucker for a "sale" on fishing tackle and it doesn't matter very much if I need it or not. "That lure looks cool!", is a good enough reason to buy it. I live secure in the knowledge that whoever latches onto my stash of gear after I pass will get a load of "antique" fishing tackle.

I keep both spinning & bait casting rigs set up for drop shot fishing in my boat all the time Open water - sparse cover, I'll go with the spinning gear. As the cover/brush gets more gnarly, I will be more likely to grab the "Bubba" drop shot gear. I feel pretty confident using either rig. Overall, I tend to use the bait casting gear more often, because it is better suited to the lakes that I more commonly fish. My bait cast drop shot gear consists of a 7'5" Kistler heavy action flipping/pitching rod and a Shimano Curado 50E spooled with 20 lb Abrazx fluorocarbon.

I think if you are buying a new crank bait, you've got to buy 3 of them. One to use, one for a back up and the third for your reserve supply. Soft plastics though, I literally got hundreds of single bags of a product. Some make the traveling team, most linger in plastic shoe boxes, stored in my fishing shed. In addition, you've got to recognize the curative powers of buying extra fishing tackle. Every time my deep seated self esteem issues rise to the surface, I buy myself some fishing tackle and I feel better - for a few minutes. Works for me. It's called retail therapy. I learned it from my sisters and former girl friends.

For the past few years, I was a fan of wide gap hooks for nearly all situations. I didn't really think about it that much, it was just a question of which wide gap hook I would choose. However, in the past few weeks I've been experimenting with making my own jika rigs. For many of my jika rig designs, the jury is still out. One thing has stood out though, I'm getting much better hook sets with the standard Gamakatsu hooks compared to wide gap ones. So I am rethinking my approach to which hook I choose when. Right now, looking at results from my home made jika rigs the 3/0 Gammy, regular width, with the sproat style bend rather than the round bend is the club house leader - by a bunch. But, like I mentioned earlier, I am in an experimentation mode and the jury is still out.

IMO 10 lb mono is a little light for throwing a 3/8 oz jig in vegetation. You might be better served with 14 or 17 fluorocarbon or a medium weight braid/fluorocarbon leader. I think that your rod/reel combo is fine and will do the job. Of course the reel doesn't say Shimano on it, but according to your profile you are still young and you will gain a greater appreciation of quality as you age.