Fishes in trees

I think most of the hooks out there are OK. When I need to buy hooks ( which isn't very often, as I've bought lots of them in the past) I look at the shape and how it will fit whatever bait I have in mind that moment.

If you don't want to drive so far - consider Table Rock in Misssouri or Bull Shoals in Arkansas. There are cheap places to stay and generally there is a jerkbait or shakey head bite going on. Weather is extremely variable.

If you want to get serious about how different weights of spinnerbaits perform for you, then you've got to get serious about knowing how much different spinnerbaits weigh. For about $50 - I got a digital electronic scale that measures in grams. I think it was originally intended to be a postage scale. As I recall (someone correct me if I'm wrong) but there are 32 grams to an ounce. There is frequently 8 to 10 grams difference between different models of spinnerbaits labeled 3/8 ounce. You can buy a package of 1/4 ounce lead worm weights and sometimes they wom't all weigh the same. You can still organize all your 3/8 ounce spinnerbaits from lightest to heaviest. The only thing the scale does is to give you a constant standard - which is a good place to start.

A couple of years ago, I was fishing on a MO conservation lake that was uncommonly clear. (turns out, it was just that year - different story) It occurs to me that a drop shot fly might work. About the same time - there was a sidebar in a Bassmaster magazine about a guy on Lake Erie who was catching smallmouth in ultra clear water on drop shot flies. Anyway, I go to Cabelas in KCK and drop $30 or so on a few streamer flies. Some hair ones - some maribou ones - I'm looking for something that will imitate a minnow and is 3 or 4 inches long. I go to an area of this lake where I've caught fish drop shotting before - 4" slider worms, 8 lb test - 3/16 ounce weight. I'm rigged up for ultra finesse - 6 lb fluorocarbon and the same 3/16 ounce weight. I'm fishing 12 feet down on the lip of a drop off down to 17 or so in the trough of the drop off. Mixed results - 50 minutes of messing with this rig catches me one fish - a 13 or 14 slot fish and nothing else. That hit came while I was reeling in, as I was intending to reposition on the top of the lip. So that one fish hit a moving streamer fly 7 or 8 feet above the bottom. Couldn't raise another fish. Left the area for an hour or so - came back and caught a few more slot fish on a slider worm & Brewer jig head. Still got the flies - but they haven't gotten wet for a couple of years. So - I think drop shot fishing with flies might work - but it didn't work very well for me and I think I gave it a decent shot in good conditions. I'm unlikely to try it again any time soon.

If you need new line, you should put on new line. If you think you can get by another trip or two, then get by another trip or two. Compared to all the other stuff we buy - line is still relatively cheap. You can save a little bit on line by paying attention to close outs and stocking up and by buying service spools, the line is cheaper in larger quantities. Sometimes throwing a minor hissy fit at the tackle store helps. Point out that you pay retail and don't say anything about alot of the stuff that you get, they can help you out once or twice a year with a great price on bulk spools of premium fluorocarbon. Do your research so that you get a "real" good price instead of a half-assed good price.

I've read about and tried a half a dozen ways to put line on a spinning reel. All of them kind of work, but I've had problems with line twist from time to time. I think some reels are just line eaters. I haven't had that issue much with Shimano or Diawa reels, but I had a Ryobi and a Mitchell years ago that had an appetite for line, those reels had to be retired. I couldn't even give them away to anyone because I would have felt bad. What works the best for me (these days I have Diawa, Shimano, & US Reels that I frequently use) is once I get the line on the reel and I'm out on the water, I'm putting around and let all the line off the spool and drag it behind the boat for30 or 40 seconds. (After all the line is out) Then I tighten the drag all the way down and reel it back on to the spool. This seems to work the best for me. Once you've respooled, reset the drag to what you'd normally use.

For really weedy conditions, a pointy nose works somewhat better than a rounded head and a line tie on the nose of the bait works somewhat better than a line tie on top. A Brewer Pro slider head is a good compromise head that for the most part works anywhere.

Yes, one soft plastic brand is better than any other. The caveat is the brand varies from day to day and you never have any advance info about which brand that will be. I've given this question alot of thought. The best solution is to purchase as many different brands and styles of soft plastics as you can. Then on a day when you are privileged enough to actually go fishing, only take as many different soft plastics as will reasonably fit into the boat.

Eztovaras - that is a neat rudder set up,and I like how it is removable. Just a thought - a key feature to the Buster rudder is the pop up ability, i.e should you catch a stump head on - it will pop up. With your rudder set up, what happens should you catch every bit of a stump. It looks like your boat would stop instantly. You could spill a beer. What if you're standing up? It looks to me like the rudder works great, I'd think about some kind of quick release feature. Sooner or later you're going to smack something solid with that rudder and, like I said, you could spill a beer.

I'd use the tungsten ones, only they cost too much for me. I generally use the cylindrical window sash style. I use 3/8 or 1/3 oz most of the time. There is probably a month or a month and a half more fishing time for me this year. I'm going to experiment more next year. I generally use the Bass Pro brand, but I'd like to find a better quality one - for similar money. It seems like one out of every box - sometimes two are unusable. Either they are bent - or the clip isn't right or something. BPS has some quality control issues with this product.

To me, it seems that it works about the same. I like the fireline crystal for throwing lucky crafts and other jerkbaits. Once I jerk it down and get it to where I want it to suspend, I can let it set a while and the line, being very visible above the water works asa strike indicator.

The more time you spend fishing a drop shot, the more time you'll figure out places to fish it, and tackle to fish it with. It's just a very versatile rig. Rig it on spinning gear or bait casting gear, from light to heavy. This year my most consistent rig was a flipping stick, 20 lb fluorocarbon and a half ounce drop shot weight.

Just a thought, but 10 x 12 might not be big enough. Do you have or will you ever get a boat? Or a fishing truck? You'll want to keep those under a roof in the winter. Several years ago I built a shed 20 x 40 and now I wish I'd built at least 30 X 60. 90 x 150 would be better. You can't have too much garage space. The main thing is to have a plan to deal with the dust. Anything you want to protect should be in a box or a zip lock bag or something. Plastic shoe boxes go on sale at Wal-Mart for a buck a hit pretty often, so buy a bunch of them. Don't forget shelves. Most stuff you will want to keep of the floor. Shelves go on sale from time to time at Home Depot or Wal-Mart or other places like that. You can't have too many shelves. I've never had any real issue with vermin, but I'm pretty consistent with keeping mouse & rat poison spread around the perimeter all the time. The main thing for a fishing shed is to build as big as you can afford and have space for. You won't regret it.

Thanks for the wake up call. On some level its good to know that I'm not the only one totally perplexed by suicide. Over the past few years I've had to deal with it a few times ( one good friend - a couple of passing acquaintances) As a permanent solution to a temporary problem, it just doesn't make sense. It is a subject I don't like to think about because I don't have any answers. I just go with the notion that sometimes things don't have to make sense and leave it at that.

I'm confused. (don't feel bad, it is a very common and natural feeling for me) Are you talking sickle hooks or circle hooks? I know what a circle hook is and I'm not clear on what a sickle hook is.

I recall having a similar situation with my casting fore arm several years ago. I got one of those tennis elbow sleeves at Wallmart that helped a little bit, but it was hot and sweaty during the summer. It never occurred to me to use ice at the end of the day, and I didn't have a computer to search on line either. I ended up changing my pitching technique a little bit (I don't remember from what to what) and that helped some. Then I bought an 11 ball bearing Calcutta and that helped a whole bunch because it only took a quarter of the effort my prior reel took. t has been a few years now since I've gotten that shooting pain in my forearm.

I've got a few rabbit fur jigs. I don't remember where I got them, it seems to me that it is a company out of Colorado, but I don't remember for sure. I've only fished them a couple of times and then for a short period of time and I didn't get bit. They looked OK in the water, though.

A few more observations on this topic: The money & time you've invested learning a lake are in the past. Don't live in the past. It isn't a good idea. There is alot of sharing that goes on in draw tournaments. Should a boater have issues with sharing, maybe draw tournaments aren't for them. The co-angler isn't in the boat for the boater to have someone to bully for 8 hours. Basically, in my opinion if a boater is worried about a co-angler "stealing" his spots, there is an unhealthy level of paranoia present. Could go on, but I probably ought to stop now.

Back a few years ago, when I was fishing BFLs as a co-angler, I had a Garmin E-Trex, that I turned on the first thing in the morning and left it on all day Should I come across a point of interest,I'd mark the waypoint. It only became a point of discussion a couple of times, primarily because none of the boaters I ever drew finished very high. There are good reasons for doing it, primarily should anything happen to your boater, you know how to get back to the ramp. I can't imagine that a boater would be so paranoid about his "secret" spots that he wouldn't go to them during a tournament for fear of you marking them. The boater should realize that as a co-angler, I get to these lakes maybe once or twice a year and should respect me enough to believe that I'm not going to broadcast his fishing areas to the world. The GPS is a tool to help you get the most out of a tournament experience on a lake you're probably not all that familiar with. A boater with a bad attitude about your GPS is something you might want to discuss with the tournament director. I could go on and on on this subject, but I probably should stop now.

This year, my best drop shot bait has been some kind of a senko imitator. A Berkley Gulp sinking minnow, or a Bass Pro Sticko, or a Dinger or a Chompers. Something like a senko, but not as fragile. I've experimented with numerous rod & reel set ups this year - spinning and bait casting. The most productive by far has been the Bubba drop shot rig - a flipping stick - 20 lb fluorocarbon line and a half ounce weight. I've not had nearly as much success when I've tried to go lighter in line or rod action or weight.

Quarries can be real deep and sometimes, past a certain depth there won't be enough oxygen in the water. You need to find out how deep that quarry is, to start with. Find someone with a portable depth finder that you can borrow and spend some time getting to know the terrain of the lake. Quarries generally have a hard bottom, weeds generally grow in a softer bottom. Finding out where the weedline stops is a good place to start. You said you were fishing out of a row boat. Oars only or do you have access to a trolling motor? Trolling motors make fishing small to medium sized waters much easier. You don't necessarily have to buy new - try calling around to some pawn shops and see what's available. Good luck - quarry fishing can be tough, especially if you aren't geared up for it.

I've had a 100 hp Yamaha 4 stroke for going on 8 years now. The vast majority of my fishing time is spent on horse power restricted lakes, where running your big motor is allowed, but putting out a big wake isn't. I like how I can putt all day at 1000 to 2000 rpm and my motor never carbons up. I've seen 2 strokes that start to sputter and cough after 15 to 20 minutes of putting around. The trade of is that when I do get on a big lake like Truman or Table Rock, it is a little doggy getting on plane. Top speed is in the low 40's.

My guess would be that it is a color thing. Maybe a slightly different color - maybe a totally different color. That's what I'd try. Me, I generally start with the Table Rock Shad color. I look into my Lucky Craft box and there are 6 or 8 pairs of baits in different colors and 9 in Table Rock Shad, where I've messed with different sticky weight schemes. So that's what I'd try. Another thing to consider is that on that day, the fish were just messing with you and there isn't a whole lot you could do about it.

No - For a while now, I realize I've been addicted to fishing - and that's that. It could be worse. If I had a cocaine issue, all I'd have to show for it at the end of the day would be a runny nose.

Bank or boat? Bank fishing, I like a pair of knee high rubber boots. In a boat, they don't have to be so heavy duty, they just need to stop water. As a matter of fact, heavy duty just makes me a little more clumsy in the boat, which isn't a good thing. I found a pair of relatively thin stretchy rubber boots that work fine. They roll up into a gallon zip lock bag and hide in a corner underneath the console until I need them. I think I paid around $20 at the Orschlen Farm & Home store.