herder

Well,,,,being an ulta-light - light tackle fisherman it's doubtful that I'll ever own an A-rig. That and using what was the original that was developed in the 70's for saltwater fishing, then called the umbrella rig. They were fished using 300' of 40 lb monel stainless wire and a 100lb mono leader. These were fished with 4/0 reels and heavy trolling rods. You tied some colored thin wire around the wire to mark depth, I forget what the formula was to how many feet you'd have out to reach a certain depth, maybe 100' for every 10' of depth. Anyway I brought 2 outfits to use as at the time this was the hot way of striper fishing up here in the NY harbor. That lasted for 2 trips using them, just reeling them both in to reset your trolling pattern into the tide was a ton of work. I think the last straw was reeling one in after hooking up and it was 2 10lb bluefish, my arms were killing me. Here's a picture of one of them I still have from the 80's, as I tell my wife, I'm a collector not a hoarder 😛

It's posts like this that makes Bass Resource great

There's only one answer, drop shot, must be fished exclusively 😛

For as long as I can remember it never bothered me to be alone. I do a couple of solo camping trips a year, my wife is not thrilled about that. I have to call her in the morning that I woke up, and then after fishing that I made it back to camp. I do quite a bit of solo fishing day trips too. While I have no issue's with being alone, I do enjoy fishing with a good buddy as we can brag to each other and bust chops, especially around a campfire while having a couple of beers. Funny story; while I was still working I came back from a solo trip where it had rained most of the time, co-worker ask me what did I do while it was raining, I said it gave me a lot of time to work on my manifesto, I was pretty much left alone after that. 🙃

Hmmm, I might start calling my wife Gemini, 😛

It took me a little while to realize I wasn't just on vacation, people ask me if I miss working, I just laugh.

I actually thought that maybe Glenn had shaved off his mustache which caused a fracture in the space-time continuum

Congratulations on your retirement Brian👍 I can highly recommend it, nothing beats being able to get out during the week and avoiding the weekends, especially holiday weekends. Went camping on the Delaware river in NJ for a week of kayaking and fishing. Arrived on Sunday May 3rd set up camp, walked down from my campsite and fished the river for an hr, tried shad fishing but nothing, switched to bass and caught a smallmouth and a 20’ Walleye. Next day launched the yak, wind was brutal, blowing against the current. There were whitecaps on the river, was getting blown against the current at 2mph , could only fish close to shore as the middle was unfishable. Toughed it out and managed to land 13 Smallmouths. Next day my friend came up, he’s shore bound so we just fished down from the campsite. Once again the wind was brutal, I got 3 Smallmouth and another Walleye, when coming off the water hooked a nice shad and lost it at my feet, kept casting and got a couple of bumps then hooked another one and landed it. My friend caught his first Walleye and a chub. Next day was a rainout, no fishing. Following day I went to a different launch a couple of miles north, didn’t work out as I only got 1 Smallmouth for 5 hrs of fishing. Got back to the campsite and hit the shoreline for another 2 hrs and got nothing. Next day back to the campsite launch, cloudy with showers and of course wind though not quite as bad as the previous days. Landed 15 Smallmouths, lost a bunch on the jump. Got back to the launch and started loading up, now the sun came out and the wind died down.

Your back? Didn't know ya were gone 😛 Man, that felt like forever, must have clicked on the short cut 3 thousand times.

I pre-rig em and glue them to the jig head. I've had to rig them up on my kayak, gluing them there some times gets interesting.

It's a great thing to do! My buddy and I were camping and a young kid and his father were camping next to us. They came over to talk to us as they saw our kayaks and fishing rods. They had kayaks and the kid was really interested in fishing, dad said he wasn't a fisherman and really didn't know what to do. We had fished a small lake within the campground and just caught a bunch of pickerel. Kid said he never had caught a pickerel, I gave him a handful of small paddle tailed swimbaits on jig heads, told him where to go and what to look for. They came back later and the kid told us he got 3 pickerel, you could see the excitement on his face.

I pick up what I can, living here in the NY metro area it can be daunting though. I've fished area's in the NY bight where you would need a front end loader and a hundred 40 yd dumpsters. Lakes by me aren't too bad, one thing I will not pick up is the lone sock or cut off sleeve My local river is better than it was, but still are area's that are, well, disgusting.

I'm 73 and I'm fishing the best I ever have on the freshwater front. I've fished as long as I can remember, but got heavily into Saltwater fishing in my 20's. In the past 10 years I've gotten more back into freshwater fishing, where now the majority of my fishing is in the freshwater. I must say that finding Bass Resource significantly help me get back into it. I'm blessed to have good health to be able to kayak, camp and fish ( being retired is a big help)

I don't know if this is a specific technique, but finding fish, if they ain't there it doesn't matter what you throw. I think there are always some fish on the shore line. But finding what cover there using or feature of the shore you can concentrate on those. Weed lines, are they on the inside or outside edge, or buried in them. Current seams in river systems, and eddies. What depth are you finding them in and the list is endless but to me that's what makes it fun (sometimes) What I bring with me covers surface, sub-surface, mid-depth and bottom, of course the ole monkey knows that there are thousands of techniques and lures that can cover all the bases 🐵

It's just dust in the wind 😃 Back in the day casting floating Rapalas into the wind was like trying to cast a potato chip 😧

Ya know, I ask my self that question all the time while I'm on the water. I've trolled in the salt for Stripers and Blues quite often. But not in the fresh, and I'm in a kayak paddling sometimes crossing a 1/2 mile to get to another spot. I even have rod holders with me while I'm on the water, and I know how to do it. I even have plugs with me that I could troll with. Me thinks it's a mental block, or just the stubborn German side of me 🤔

I've used baits that are probably over 10 years old with no issues. Somewhere in my hoard is a pack of purple jelly worms that have to be 50 years old, might have to unearth them and give em a try, also have some I think they were Rebel ring worms and Charlie Brewer slider worms. I do keep them in the original packages except for dingers, cause I get them in 100 packs so they go in a zip lock for space sake on my kayak.

I thought it was something I did! I was responding to a post about drop shoting, as soon as I hit submit the problem started! Sorry @gim , I was blaming you and I didn't even post a pic of a rock bass 😃

I had Owners, Gama's, Mustad, Eagle Claw, VMC through the years. They all work, but I'm partial to Owners and Gama's, as mention keeping them sharp is key and I carry a small file with me in my vest. Sorta another case of Ford vs Chevy, you use what you have confidence in.

Wow!!

I almost dread that moment, I teared up just reading that.

Finally on the board😃 Was on a week long camping/fishing trip down in South Jersey. The plan was saltwater fishing for inshore Tog, a hard fighting bottom fish. Well that didn't work out, with the coldest winter we've had in 10 years the fish hadn't move in yet from the ocean. Spent 2 days trying that with out a tap. Plan B was lakes in the area, didn't bring a lot to freshwater tackle with me but some of my basics. We tried out 2 lakes we've never fished, one was just some Pickerel, with only a couple of small bass. The other one was much better, we spent all day exploring the lake and caught Largemouths, crappie and Pickerel. We figured out some spots that produced and came back the next day. The next day I landed 20 fish, 17 Largemouths, 2 Pickerel and a crappie. Water was 72, and most fished were caught along what I call bull rush's along the bank with 5' of water up to them,I don't know what they are as there not up north where I mostly fish. Most caught on a 5" green pumpkin Dinger, other's on a 2.8 Fat Swing Impact all along the outside edge of the "bull rushes" or in a pocket there. Also lost a bunch, and of course bite offs from the Pickerel. We saw the most turtles as I ever seen, I mean it was in the hundred's. Weather was nuts for Jersey in the middle of April, day time temps were 85 to the 90's.

Unfortunately I've had a few that have passed on, and a couple who can't anymore due to health issues. My son goes with me on some camping/fishing trips. I have one that I've been fishing with for over 20 years, was a fly fishing guide up in the Catskills for years. Were equal now as I don't fly fish. Couple of other's that we meet up a few times a year. I do a lot of solo trips, so I talk and curse to myself.