Spankey

Picked it up at hardware store this morning. In and out in no time. $32.94 for 2023, I think it was up a few cents since last year. I’m getting it late and down to the last day of the year. I usually get it Dec. 1st. Give or take a day or so. We run from Jan. 1st. - Dec. 31st like the calendar year. New purchase or renewal comes/starts Dec. 1st. I’ll be 64 in May. Still have to wait for Senior Lifetime one more year. Thought it would have been 2 year wait but gal doing my license said it will be next year because I’ll be 65 in that year. I’ll have to see it to believe it. Not saying I don’t believe her BUT. I can’t wait until my birthday to buy my license, I’d be fishing illegal for too many days. I can’t take that chance nor do I want to. It’s all good regardless. Here in PA you don’t have to display your license on the outside anymore, but have to have it on your possession. I still display on my outside in a license holder.

That’s what I’ll do also. Or 2 or 3 year or whatever they have available. When my father-in-law and my dad got their senior lifetime it carried the trout stamp right along. They had no renewal on the trout stamp. My trout fishing buddy from town (just passed, r.i.p.) was only into his lifetime a couple of years. All he talked about for years was getting that lifetime. Blew past DICK’S today to pick my 2023 up today. Their computer and printer were down. Dicks at Dick’s to be expected. I’ll get it at the hardware store in the morning. I can do it online at home but I want the printout and my regs. book.

I’ve had my fishing and hunting license every year since ‘75. Since I was a young guy I had know about how some of you guys were able to purchase the fishing/hunting lifetime Sportsman’s license. Penna. has never had that. A bit of a sour point with me from way back. Oh well. At 65 I can get both hunting and fishing senior lifetimes. Probable get them then die. Just my luck. PA fishing you can buy 2 and 3 year licenses but there is no incentive. Put it this way (to me) no real incentive to do it.

Second rod stamp. I think I know what you are referring to but maybe not. So if you are out on the river fishing for channel catties and want to put out two rods you need to have that stamp. And don’t even think about a third or you are getting fined.

Guys I renew my fishing license tomorrow. Not sure if I remember if I’ve ever seen a thread on here about what licenses cost us. Different states I’m sure have a variety of costs and types of permits that are associated with it. I will pay approximately $32.00 tomorrow for resident license and my trout stamp. Believe me, my thread is not a complaint by any means about costs. I get out on the water a lot. Or let’s say as much as I can, and will never be satisfied and want to be out more. I’m in PA so I can get a real winter and a winter that extends longer than I like it to into early Spring. That’s down time. Safe creek access for winter trout fishing is what I have to look for. Guys I love my bass fishing, especially Smallies on the river. Dinks, runts, respectables and beauties I’ll take it all and try to be satisfied. Along with fishing for Mr. Greenjeans up at the lake. My fishing for trouts goes way back as a kid. I can’t shake that. I have the ability to fish for native, wild and stocked trout all within a short drive or not that long of a drive. I’m not all that crazy about eating trout. I prefer to eat the small native Brook Trout grilled but they are catch and release along with the wild trouts unless I harm one. That is not very often if once in forever. Stock trout that’s a different story, I have family, friends, neighbors, co-workers who eat the heck out of them. All people who don’t fish. I enjoy giving them to them as much if not more than catching them. I hammer some stocked streams close to the house. It’s a mix of rainbow, brown and brooks. And I can fish these creeks without being a bridge rat or a communal hole fisher. I get off the beaten path. I find that brown trout seem to be trout that want to wander and spread out and get away from others but, I’m sure that just a coincidence. A biologist I am not. One of my friends she’s a single mom with a couple of kids claims I gave her 80 trout a few years back. Was alway getting pics of them cooking in the frying pan or on the grill. My one work buddy his mom (passed) you couldn’t give her enough of them. She had and maintained old Scottish roots. Trout was a big part of it, ????????? so I’m told. Don’t let me hold up a tradition. Sorry for being so long winded over the license costs, but in my case enjoyment far exceeds the cost.

A lot of soft plastics have salt in them. Steel hooks rust. I don’t want my hook points to rust. If it rusts it can’t be as sharp.

I know those pretty well. Got grandkids. Wally World is good for something. Get a chance and see if they carry the chartreuse wiggler size. Grands love them.

One of the very few Megabass baits I own. I was drawn to buy that pattern and the baby bass pattern. I have gotten a handful of small Smallies with it. It’s PopMax series bait. Good luck with it, I have to fish it harder.

Guys just throwing this out there. I’ve been kicking around buying one of these things for a few years now. I like different kinds of homemade breads and I haven’t had any in years. Have you guys seen or bought one recently. Who carries these things. I’m striking out on a local level. Thought maybe I need to get to just the right place. I’m sure the net and Amazon has them but I would like to see it first. Might get lucky enough to have a good sales person to talk with and go over it. Didn’t want to do something blind. Your thought and opinions appreciated.

I can’t set here and talk a good jerkbait game because I’m not the king of jerkbaits. I never dedicated enough time at it to get good. I sort of fish them sort of like in between a jerkbait and a crankbait. It gets me fish. Rapala puts out a few variations that work well on the river.

On my deck it is generally 3 casting and 3 spinning. I can pull other out from down under if I need them or totally change up some tactic. Most times my spare rods are placed and facing out the back deck. I don’t like a lot of stuff around my feet and all over the place.

Rapalas in just Shad Raps has 6-10 minnow type patterns. Silver, Shad, Live River Shad, Smelt, Helsinki Shad, Herring…..others that resemble minnows. Size and profile probably mean more than that stripe or lack there of a stripe. I fish a Shad Rap successfully all season. I vary my color patterns but have not added any stripes to them. Rapala puts out a pattern called Holograph Shiner, don’t overlook that pattern. But I wouldn’t overlook a silver with a black back or a silver with a blue back either.

Great post. If I may ask are you fish is this over fairly shallow water?

For the upcoming season not much new that I’m thinking about trying. Picking up as few new to me color patterns of stuff that has worked. I fish tubes, I’ve never fished any of the Dry Creek Outfitters tubes yet. Want to try some. I don’t want to say a tubes is a tube is a tube because I don’t believe that. But I feel good about trying some DCO tubes.

I fish a jerkbait more like a crankbait at most times. If you’re in a feeding frenzy I’d think a lot of norms can go out the window.

They are a big part of my river fishing. Admittedly I over fish them but I catch myself and get a mix of soft plastics, topwater and spinnerbaits in. Good luck.

God bless you guy. Everybody will get better and hopefully before the holiday. Hang in there. That Cajun NyQuil looks like it should knock something out of you. Get better.

That sucks. Hope they work it out for it.

I’m one who throws a lot of crankbaits. But I have a love for soft plastics also. What I have to do sometimes is after I’m making that switch from hard to soft baits is cast my grub or tube and physically set my rod down for a short time. Not that long but long enough to get myself in a slow retrieval mode.

I’ve used the OG Slim the last two seasons some. Got a few river smallies each year. I throw it the same as any DT (location). Kept my color patterns simple and natural for now. May expand that some over the winter, pick up an 04 or two. Like DT’s I’ll throw it all season.

If you need a 5 ft. Ultra-Lite Spin for creek fishing for trout they are tough to beat. Great moderate action for Panther Martins, Rooster Tails, Foxes and CastMaster spoons. The ones I have have cork handles. They cost a few bucks more. $3 - $5, something like that. They been around for a long time. For fishing live bait I prefer and old UL Loomis and St. Croix fish. Faster action. Anyway I’m serious as a heart attack about that. To me they have a place in the trout world. But I can not give an honest opinion on their other rods, light > heavy for Sm/Lm bass fishing. Never owned one for that purpose. Sorry for not having an opinion for bass. A lot of guys on here probably don’t use them for bass fishing.

I don’t know how long I’ve been fishing Shad Raps but since their arrival I’m sure. Years. My favorite. One of top three confidence baits for sure on the river. I’ve fished a few others like a SR that are good baits also.

Don’t overlook some of the Rapala UL crankbaits. Sometimes in the bass world of bigger is better, is not always the case. The size of these bait are not unnaturally small. It’s just another way of going after these Smallies. I’m not one who is a fishing match the hatch. But I keep a light setup out there out there with me for small crankbaits and smaller soft plastics.

I often have to think and wonder the same thing. Do they put a hurting on larger smallies during the season. I’m no biologist by a long shot but I don’t think a large Smallie has a problem eluding a Flathead. But I could be wrong.

You never really see them very often on sale. TW sale price is a decent price. This is a bait that I find you need very few colors.