Insanity

I smallmouth fish a creek here. You can't wade very close to them with out spooking them. But when I take my canoe they will bite from under it sometimes. By the way I anchor mine with ropes run down the gun rails from front and back. With the ropes run threw eye hooks you can work front and rear with out moving. Two five pound steel weights holds it even in the fastest moving creek. Or one for that matter if there's a current to keep you straight I just drop the front.

aha. I even Found the ringing for strike king. I hate ordering stuff. But I guess I'm going to have to get used to it. Now if I can just pry the bank card out of the wife's hands. Lol Thanks guys!

Did a quick search for swim bait heads. Yep that will work. As big a town as I live in and as much water as we have. It's a shame such a thing like a swim bait is still new to me. Man I wish they would build something big here. We finally got a Dicks here but they have more soccer balls then fishing lures.

Ok I'm interested in Lews as well. And I see lots of folks saying get the dual brakes. So let me ask the dumb question. For what ? Since I'm not familiar with dual braking systems. Is the mag brake to finicky to keep dialed in on there reels? Or is it just that you can use the dual for more applications? ( like from light to really heavy baits ) Also wondering if the secondary is the pin type like Shimano uses?

How do you find out the sizes. Micrometer?

I measured one. There exactly one inch tall. To much for a five oo. I think. The belly doesn't have the slit like other baits. So that's a lot of plastic for the hook to push threw. I think it would be better for the hook to protrude above it? If they make a jig head with a hook an 1 1/2 long, they would work fine. I seen some in six inch on line to. I'd order some If I could find the rite hook for them. For them big ole greedy prespawn girls. Lot cheaper then the big swim baits.

I stopped by Dicks yesterday and noticed these two new baits. On the craw fish. I liked the the two tentacles (?) coming off them. Bet the little ones would eat them up as is. But I'm thinking a jig trailer. Also noticed they made the regular ribbon tails in a fat style to. Finally! I've always had to use other brands for fat ribbon tail. I've always liked the quality and shine of there plastic. Sure glad to see them add more baits. Anyone using them yet?

I tried threading a weighted wide gap hook I had threw it. But it wasn't very pretty. Lol

I Use 20 as well. I tend to make them Bill Dance style hook sets on soft plastics. So I don't go less then 20 for that reason. I use Brekley Fireline because it has less of that cable sound coming threw the line guides then other brands I tried. How ever it's been years since I tried the others.

Shaving it thin! That's what I need to do to some baits I've tried in the past. I've cut slits under the tail, but to no avail. And never thought to shave the sides down. Duhh Thank you!

Ok I've got a dumb question. Finally found some big four inch soft plastic paddle tail minnows locally. ( yay sexy shad to) But soon as I got them home it hit me. I don't have a jig head with a hook big enough, long enough. After looking them over I'm clueless as to the best way to rig them. Being the body is so tall and long. I use a plain jig head for the smaller ones. But these would need a Long shank hook of some sort. Any ideas?

I think she might be a little young for spinning but I could be wrong. You got an ultra light she can try. I'm thinking her hands are to small but it might be to much to think about as well. These would be a good step In between. If you could find an old one on ebay or yard sale. For like of a better term the new ones feel like. ( junk! ). http://www.walmart.com/ip/Zebco-11-Platinum-Triggerspin-Reel-11PLT-BX/20753264 If these where as good as they used to be twenty years ago. I'd highly recommend one of them. But they are pure crap now days. Lucky I got two old ones from a yard sale last year. I gave one to my mom and the other had a broken foot. Got it for parts if I ever needed. Any way I bought my granddaughter a new one. Same as the one above, other then color. It felt so bad cranking it in. I took it back and got my money back. And glued to broken reel to the reel seat of the rod I got for here. Now she is only one year old so I have to help her cast and everything. But we are both happy with our new ultra light blue gill rod. . I don't no why they don't just make the new ones at least as good as the old ones and just charge more. Heck plfluger (sp?)makes a full size one for $49. Wonder how it feels?

Now that's a keeper! Where I can catch one of those? That is one bad ride! Bet they hold there value better then any other ride to.

From 5 degrees Tuesday morning to 42 yesterday and 57 rite now. And my sinuses are messed up from it to! They said for us to leave a faucet dripping Monday and Tuesday nights. Not to keep our home pipes from freezing but there main lines. First time I've heard that one. But it made since. Considering I no of at least one place it's close to the surface in a valley due to bedrock. And it has frozen there in past years. Hope everyone there left there's poring. If not it's still frozen. Lol. And I also noticed the county buildings like the post office had straw bales siting on the water meter lids. Considering it hasn't been getting that cold for the last few years. I'm shocked! They have never been this prepared for anything in the past.

Shhhss. I don't think the fish no there is a camera in the phones yet. Lol I still forget myself. I dropped a pretty 7+ back in a couple of months ago and then thought I should have taken a pic she was so pretty. My old iPhone takes good pics. I just noticed this fall. Had it for more then two years. Lol. The old phones where so bad I never bothered looking at this one and it's only like 2 Meg's to. Go figure.

Did you get a higher gear ratio reel then you had? ( new 7:2:1 il bet!) Or was his lower? That makes a ton of difference in retrieve speed and is key many times. For instance it's pretty hard to slow down your retrieve speed on a 6:2:1 reel when you should be using a 5:2:1. I'd wager it's impossible. You'll go back to cranking at a rate that feels nature sooner or later. I've seen the difference in my catches over the years as the reels have gotten faster and faster. I've got to slow down some.

Just thought I'd second the check and repack the wheel bearings. I see far to many broke down on the highway due to wheel bearings going bad. I'd check the classified adds/ Craig's list or what ever I could find on the net. To see if boats are easy to come by or what not in that area. You might find a better boat or decide to take yours based on the search. I'd take it if I was happy enough with it. Plus you can get a lot of lighter weight stuff packed inside it that might add in moving. I did that with mine when we moved across town one time. I gave my dad my old hydra sport bass boat. Because I couldn't find a lower unit for it. And because he wanted it so bad. He hauled it from Tn to Nm. 1680+ miles.

Lol yep might be the line. I have never fished the bright colored stuff. So I can't say for sure. But I have put my son beside me with a senko of all things and he still can't get a decent fish to take it. And he is doing every thing rite. I can take the rod toss it and land a fish, hand it back and nothing. Over and over again. I honestly don't no what it is. But it's not all presentation. Some of it just comes with time. I'm always telling my friends I could catch a five pounder out of a bucket of tap water. Lol

Hattrick7 L = Length [in inches] from nose to fork in tail To the fork In the tail? Or to the tip of the tail ? I've always measured to the tip. Like for legal length. I've never even had a tape measure when I catch the biggest ones anyway. Seems they don't bite if you carry a camera,scales,or even a tape measure some times. . I've used the calculator on here for years. Look under (tools) tab at the top. And it's pretty darn close to fish I have weighed in the past.

Toss some blue gill in for the kids and woman that don't bass fish and I bet it could be a fun family environment. Might turn a few dollars. For bass fishermen only. Um. I don't no. Unless unlike bass pro shop you sell baits and let them test there. Whoa big bucks maybe. As long as you build it as close to nature as possible it wouldn't cost as much to build and run. A couple of million tops. Lol Look up Pond Boss web site. If it's still up and running. That will give you an idea of what it takes to run a good pond. Humm, Soil gravel and plants should be the first line of water filtration. Pumps and filters second to keep the water clear and add current. Natural light threw ceiling panels like a green house and only Add lighting enough to keep plants happy in winter. Temp control. Low to slow down the fishing, higher to start a feeding frenzy. Would be cool to dig a pit in one spot, concrete and large window. To watch what's going on under water. Yea it's do able. I think the fish would act normal but do to the activity going on in general they would be pretty tight lipped. Would be nice to find a way to change out fish every few days to another holding pond to give them a rest period. And put fresh ones in. Maybe for months or permanently every so often.

Man I was just admiring some metallic with big metal flake nail polish at Kmart last night. Even had some pretty incandescent greenish blue. Which reminded me of sexy shad. I'm gonna get some to paint a few old cranks. As it doesn't take a fancy paint job just some of the rite colors. You should have on the clerks face as I turned to ask the price. After I explained i wanted it for lures she looked relieved. Lol. I sure no what its like to be low on funds. As I have been for the past few years. And I also had everything stolen a few years back and had to start over. Biggest thing is to buy only baits that work for where your gonna fish and stay away from buying multiple colors of the same bait. You only need two in most baits. And you could fish just about anywhere with only two baits in two colors from the different category's of baits. Baits like spinner baits and lipless baits can be worked from the surface to the bottom. And from slow to fast. So there my first pick. And my go to baits as well. You can just buy just two spinner baits and an assortment of blades to cover everything. I only use two colors usually. Lots of times the old tried and true baits cost less then the new stuff just out. And it still catches fish just fine Even more as the fish seem to forget the old ones. Because it mostly new stuff they see passing by them all weekend long in most places.

If none of the above has worked how about sticking it in the oven. Heat the reel a little. Also stress a little here! As I have tried drying jerky in many different ovens and most will not come on until 175 to 200. Toss it in for a couple of mins and just get it hot to the touch. Also as mentioned taping the end while you turn it, has always worked for me. But I get the wife to tap it for me. Just make sure she is happy before hand. Tap it for me. Lmao. Did I just typ that.

Welcome to the forum! Im thinking you should have the black/ white barn swallows there like we do. They nest under bridges and sometimes the babies fall out of the nest into the water.

I've been out of the loop for a couple of years. ( so I don't no about the copies being made today ) But when senkos came out i wasn't impressed with the cost verses durability. But after trying others I decided if you want to fish weight less it was going to have to be a senko. It has to have the salt in it for weight. I have never tried rigged any other way as weightless worked so good. Wacky seemed to draw dinks in like crazy. I even pored some myself. After making plaster Paris molds. Which works really well by the way. But there not senkos. Just another copy. If I was going weighted I would save money and use a cheaper brand as the fall rate that triggers so many strikes is lost.

Our state farm home owners policy covered everything else they stole. But I would have had to replace the fishing stuff and then they would have wrote a check minus deprisation. Bottom line is they would have paid about $200 dollars most likly. But I was surprised they covered anything at all. I had limo tinted the camper windows. To keep anyone from seeing in. They even stole food and bug spray. The skeeters where so bad. I think that's wha they broke in to get. Funny it was the middle of the week and I missed them leaving by a meer 30 min. Guessing by how long my wood burned which they where using. Wish I could have found them. I drove out a full tank of fuel looking. I had something special in mind for them.