TOXIC

Guiding I have had to deal with it all. Funny story, I had some clients that were both professional musicians, husband with the National Symphony and wife with the Boston Symphony, they split their time between 2 houses. They LOVED crappie and booked me every year. One year they brought their 5 year old daughter. I brought her hot chocolate and a box of rubber baits to play with and actually, one of my daughters coats because it was spring and most underestimate how cold the lake is (and the air around it). We ran probably 20 miles up into a river to get their crappie limit. Right after we get there their daughter says that she has to pee. Well, I pull the little sand bucket I keep in the boat and handed it to her mother. She looked mortified and said that we have to go back to the dock. I told her that it would eat up all of their fishing time. She relented and had her daughter go in the bucket. About 2 hours later and after hot chocolate and gummy worms I heard "mommy, I have to poop". The mother looked at me and I told her "your options have not changed". At the end of the day we were all laughing and so was their daughter. I took them right out of their element.

They might not see it but it sure as heck will grab a piece of grass or weed and run crooked if I had it tied on!!

Go with what your budget allows and what you "need" vs "want". Electronics are a slippery slope and no matter what you buy, it will be outdated in 1 or 2 years. I have a frugal side so I like to buy used units that someone who has to have the latest and greatest is selling trying to upgrade. Since you do a lot of shore fishing, a good unit with mapping will help you locate dropoffs, points, etc., and may even get you off the bank to humps and other open water structure. Side scan and down scan are now basic requirements for me even if I am fishing shallow. GPS maps and waypoints are also requirements. As long as you can get those functions, you will have a good basic unit.

Good write up and timely as the mighty Potomac is about to turn on. A few additions.....First on Tide, Don't limit yourself to one tide (incoming or outgoing) as long as the water is moving they will feed, sometimes better on incoming, sometimes better on outgoing. Pick a strategy, either you find a spot and wait for the tide to get right or do what we like to do and "run the tide" meaning find the tide they are feeding on and follow that tide up or down the river. Finally, remember the upper river fishes much different than the lower and you may have to change up presentations as you move around. Just for the record, I have never been able to make myself fish the rocks at Leesylvania but I have fished the poop plant!!

All of the regular "creature" baits weighted but the most fun is a Yamamoto DShad in pink. I can see it, I can let it flutter down to the bed and if the wind is not blowing, I can work it right where I want it. If it's windy, a weighted 3 or 4 inch Senko is next in line. Finally, a Yamamoto Twin Tailed Hula Grub is deadly on a 1/4 oz football head jig for deeper beds or dragging.

Not to be snarky but there was just a Loong post on this subject and I think everybody made their thought perfectly clear.

Since I fish a Senko a majority of the time, anything that swims will bite it. I literally have caught almost all species of fish that swim in the Potomac on a Senko including Bluefish and Redfish and Flounder when the salt line is up.

You are throwing the best bait in the business for docks in the Senko. I have one setup on my deck at all times for skipping. A 6'6" medium rod with a medium/fast action and the spinning reel of your choice loaded with 6lb mono. I do not throw wacky rigged because I will throw over, under and around boards and pilings. Wacky will catch the wood way too much for my liking. I do not like leaving baits on people's docks. I always rig Texas on a Gamakatsu Skip Gap hook (4.0).

Great write up!! My OCD kicked in when that closeup shows the long tag end of line on that crankbait.

Your hook is rusty.

Simple, it's his "hook" for the audience. Same as Swindle with his humor. Most every "Pro" wants a hook to keep and generate an audience after all, it's a show.

Don't leave your catch waiting for breakfast in the morning (fresh fish and eggs are great) tied to the bank or you will wake up to a stringer of fish heads. Turtles are pretty active at night.

I stocked up on BPS Excel mono at the spring classic. Around 9 bucks for a 1000 yard spool. I got 6, 8 and 10lb. It's a good quality line.

I never winterize because I have access to a nuke power plant cooling lake in the winter. I just make sure my livewells and lines are empty of water. I drain my speedo and Water Pressure gauges after every trip. We get plenty of cold weather/snow in between trips. You will be fine.

Gospel. I only use mono on my spinning reels other than a couple with Wide Spool Technology (WST) with 35lb braid on St Clair and 1 rod I use for frogging when I need to make super long casts. Side note: I always walk my line off the spool after I fill it and respool it.

I used to take my 2 man Bass Hunter, strap it on top of a 1968 pop-up camper and pull the whole thing with my Jeep Wrangler to the Shenandoah river. We worked from a base camp and would wade or use the boat to travel miles up river then fish our way back. Our biggest concern was Mr. Black Bear and our food supply. Nowadays my idea of camping is in a cottage with the boat docked at the lake out the front door.

I'm getting ready to retire this year so finding and moving to a lake house is priority #1.

My wife has a small bucket on top of the washing machine where she puts all of my "stowaways". Then she brings it up when it's full. I have a pan in the garage where I empty my pockets and jacket and rain gear (if I remember) that when I head out again, I just grab those loose baits and put them back in for another trip.

I don't use fluro or leaders on my finesse setups. 6lb mono. The only thing I use fluro for is 10-12lb on casting reels with cranks.

That explains it.

You ever worry about someone breaking into your truck while you are fishing?

I can't give much advise on your setup since I'm trying to figure out how you are bending 3.0 Gamakatsu EWG hooks???????? Unless you are catching 50lb catfish. In 20 years of fishing those hooks, I'd wager I've bent 2 or 3.

The list of fishermen whos "Dock Talk" I trust is very, very short!! I gotta hand it to the Florida guys. They go out of their way to tell each other lies!! My tournament partner when I lived there was a very successful tournament angler. He would take off and run to spots that held-0- fish and made sure everyone saw where he was going. He would tell me to act like I was fishing but to not even cast. Afterwards or at the weigh in he was usually in the $$ and most often in the top 3 and the "Dock Talk" he shared was hilarious. I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

Part of the fun of fishing is that you are always learning. It never stops. Time on the water is the teacher and lures are the tool. Pick a technique, read up on it to get the best conditions for it, then dedicate some time on the water with it. Another thing about fishing (and I heard one of the pros say it during the classic) is that unique to our sport vs others is that every day is different. And it's true.

Not to get too far off topic but it seems to me that so much emphasis is being given to "fish care" that we risk falling down the wormhole on preservation. Let's not forget that the mere act of fishing is not good for the fish. It's a bloodsport and we are stressing them no matter how you look at it. Do I believe in the best fish care possible? Absofreakinglutely!! Do I believe in catch and release? Absofreakinglutely!! But I also know that even in the best circumstances, some fish are not going to make it. Either by being gut or tongue hooked or put in a livewell and carted around for weigh in. I think the MLF format FOR TOURNAMENTS is a good idea but let's face it, it will be hard to adapt for ALL tournaments. Not gonna happen. We have a whole group of smart educated Fisheries and Wildlife Biologists who are charged with managing the resource and who set slot limits, tournament numbers, etc. As for not fishing the spawn, SCIENCE has proven that on most bodies of water there is NO negative impact. As unsettling to some as that may sound (me included somewhat) it's a fact. That's why Michigan (Lake St Clair for example) went from a closed season to an immediate catch and release year round. That decision was based on SCIENCE and data not tourist $$ or corrupt politicians. I know a gentleman who lobbied for the change and his data was indisputable. Let's also not forget that when you buy your license, you can keep a legal limit every time you go out. I just don't want to see the act of fishing so regulated that the sport fades away in the name of fish care and good intentions gone bad.