fishwizzard

My GF is way into them and is currently limping an 00 Forester along, she likes it so much I don't know what it will take to get her to give it up. She could likely afford a newer one but they are all "too fat, tall, and round", which I kind of agree with. The body style on hers is about the perfect kayak fishing vehicle too, a long, low roof, plenty of storage inside, can fit 7'+ rods no problem, and just off road capable enough to deal with a slick and muddy launch spot.

We were drinking beer and blasting rap, so you are not far off.

I have been fishing Cash Lake from shore a bit lately. Caught one in the 2-3lb range and a few in the 1lb neighborhood. Most of the guys I talk to there say about the same thing, that there are big bass in the lake but the extremity limited shore access makes it hard to catch them. I do see guys in small boats or yaks from time to time, but most of them seem to be after crappie. There is a huge stump/pad field on the far side from the bank fishing area, it might be worth checking out. You need a free parking permit to fish there, you can get it from the Park headquarters down the road. I have also caught some nice pickerel out of there, but I don't know if that is a plus or minus for you.

I worked in a fab shop the provided tools for us and somehow an "off" tape measure made it into our collection. It took like twoweeks of accusations and yelling for us to figure out to check all the tapes and low and behold one was almost an 1/8" short. We took it out back after work and put it down with a 10lb sledge hammer.

I have done that, but never had any luck trying to fish any of the zman lures weightless. For weeds or brush I usually either switch to a weedless Ned on a Owner or Decoy jig or just put the Ned away and switch to a small (3-4") weightless fluke with a bit of salt in it. The Reins Bubbling Shakers have just enough density to slowly sink and they seem to work well with the standard Ned retrieves.

I actually killed my first fish the other day. I was throwing a Ned up under an old bridge over a small stream and got a good strong hit. I set the hook and this tiny 3-4" bluegill comes flying out of the water and slams into the rocks at my feet, dying instantly. I felt pretty bad but I figure that the next raccoon or turtle that passes by will appreciate the snack. In general I always try to be respectful and avoid the temptation to fish spots where I have to drop a fish more then a foot or so back into the water and always retrieve any line or trash I find when I am out and about.

My girlfriend is slowing getting into fishing and last weekend we went out and waded for smallies. I had her wade in front so she would have a better chance to hit the fish fresh and unspooked. On previous outings she was struggling with hook sets so I was pushing her to be more aggressive and to embrace "when in doubt, set the hook". I swear to god I heard a small sonic boom as the first Ned rig flew back past my face that morning. Once she started catching she picked up quick on how much/little force it takes but she still managed to hit me in the chest twice that day. She is getting much better with casting accuracy so next trip I am going to walk up front, I think it will be safer.

Hah, clearly the Monkey has agents everywhere. I do want to get a fly rod eventually but I am currently trying to become proficient with a casting reel, so the fly rod will have to wait for a bit. Are there any lures that will work this way on a L or UL spinning rod? I still worry about missing larger fish in the deeper pools, but I guess a float-n-fly would work, but I think it would also catch every 4" bluegill in the stream as well.

The Owner Untrahead works very will for the Ned, but it takes a stiffer rod to get good hooksets. Decoy makes some very similer jig-heads that work just was well and are available on ebay.

Hi, I am really getting into bladed jigs, but am having trouble finding good ones that are lighter (1/8-3/16) in weight. The lighter Z-man ones seem to be about 50/50 in terms of running right and no one else seems to offer them. I would love to know if anyone here has ever tried making ones this small, or is there something inherent in the design that doesn't work well at light weights?

My father, who is 71, was a mechanic, like his father before him. My dad has a ton of Snap-on tools that belonged to my Grandfather. About 5-7 years ago, the plastic handles all stated failing, just crumbling in your hand when you tried to use them. After he had a small box full of them he drove around until he found a Snap-on truck parked at a garage. He spoke to the guy inside who looked everything over, made a list, and told my father that he would get a call when the truck was back with his new tools. The original tools were likely bought sometime in the 1950s.

I keep getting robocalls in Spanish for some reason. I have be able to grab a friend a few times to translate and it seems to be some kind of BS debt collection deal. Now when I get them I just keep saying "hola!" in a very loud and friendly voice until they hang up. In general, the best defense against scammers, assuming they get you on the phone, is to immediately cut them off and say "My lawyer handles all this stuff, give him a call, his name is (made up name) at (local firm that advertises on the radio)", then hang up. The idea is that it's isn't going to be worth their time to try to get money out of you and can get your number taken off their lists.

When I started fishing my social circle grew to include a lot of guys who are many decades older then myself. Listening to them discuss having bits of their faces cut off really got me to pay attention to sun protection. I bought a UV protection hoody and I keep it in my car so it is always at hand when ever I hit the water. If I wear it with nothing underneath it is as cool as an undershirt, although it does get stinky much faster.

When bank fishing I always make a point to make my last cast of the day to the exact same spot as I got my first hit of the day. Now, rarely does this result in a fish, but the few times when it works it makes me stupidly happy. But in general when fishing small ponds or short bits of shoreline, I tend to make a few passes in a day, starting with "subtle" lures like weightless plastics and ending the day throwing firetiger rattling cranks. I figure in a small pond, the fish are already spooked, I might as well try to make them mad enough to bite.

I started with spinning rigs and lately picked up a pair of baitcasters to try out. I am slowly getting the hang of them but still prefer spinning rigs. The one huge benefit I see in casting rods is that I can cast heavier lures on a much lighter casting set up then a spinning one. So for example, I can work a 3/4oz (lure + trailer) chatterbait on a reasonably light low-pro casting reel, where I have found even a 3000 series spinning reel isn't really up to it. However, without the fear of a backlash I feel more confident in making "risky" casts and generally prefer finesse fishing, so unless the monkey makes me buy a finesse casting rig, I suspect the two I currently have will be my last.

Power Team also sells cheap lots of mis-colored plastics on ebay. I got two big bags of tubes for very cheap, the only problem with them was that the colors were a little more blended then they were intended to be.

I have got the smallie fever pretty badly this summer and am having a blast pulling them out of all sorts of random small waterways. However, an due to being in a really developed area, most of the smaller rivers/streams are badly eroded, making bank access very hit or miss, with huge stretches only fishable via wading. Normally this is no issue as I enjoy getting wet but there is a stream nearby that has me stumped. The issue is that due to parking access, I have to park upstream of the area I want to fish. This spot had a highway build over part of it and as such the .gov had to do a ton of stream restoration which produced some just beautiful habitat. However, the banks are still super steep and average about 5'-6' above the water. This area has no official trails and not even any unofficial ones that I have found, so my options to walk down stream involve bushwhacking through a ton of poison ivy and thorns, which isn't very appealing. This leaves me with the option of having to fish upstream to down. The spot I am interested in is only maybe 20' wide at most, with the restoration work cutting that in half in many places. I went out there yesterday and other then a few sunfish, I struck out. Now, I did manage to spook a few smallies, so I know there are in there, but I am having no luck getting them to bite fishing down to up and even less luck sneaking past them to cast upstream. Is there a trick to this or do I need to head out there one day with a grass whip and machete and do a little trailblazing? I was fishing a Ned and some small tubes, are there better lures for fishing down current? I was thinking of trying a 3" stick worm under a bobber and letting it float down current, keeping the bail open and letting line out through my fingers, but some of the best spots go from a 1' deep run/riffle to a 3' pool so I don't think a bobber is going to work too well.

I had to break off 30lb braid the other day and I had to pull with all the force I could muster to get it to pop. I was fishing a t-rig and I assume that the weight had gotten wedged in some rocks, as I was amazed that the hook didn't bend out. I can't see how even a 10lb bass can pull with as much force as a 200lb person with his feet firmly planted on a diamond plate dock. I would absolutely prefer to lose a fish (that I was going to release anyway) over losing a $6-10 crankbait in any case, so I think the idea of a "break away" o-ring has some merit.

I have kept some in Ziplock bags for going on a year or so now and have noticed no issues.

In some of the ponds that I fish, I am starting to suspect that a lot of my missed hits are actually snapping turtles making a grab for my lure. Most ponds around here are full of them and I have even had to land them before to get the hooks out.

If lime in beer is wrong, I never want to be right. My only issue with salty lures is that the urge to lick my fingers after handling them is almost overwhelming at times.

I have a vague idea about taking my yak out in a nice lightly windy day and fishing a few wacky rigged worms under bobbers set to various depths. Bring a few beers and cigars and just drift around in the sun and see what happens. It sounds every relaxing until you hit a double. Might try the same idea but with some minnows or worms. I do a little catfishing/cigar smoking at a local pier already, mostly because I don't smoke in the house and if I am going to stand outside, I might as well have a line in the water.

I couldn't help myself and bought two packs of each instock color. I am about to leave town for a week or so for work and am going to tear the SMs up when I get back.

I once pulled in a maybe 1/2oz lipless crank, which was tied to a three way swivel, with a 2oz bank sinker tied with a short bit of line to the swivel as well. I get that someone was trying to get their lure down deep, but this was in a pond that might hit 6' in the middle.

The small Keitech ball head jigs work great for the Ned and I have noticed no difference in action between them and Gopher mushroom head jigs.