BuzzHudson19c

Rapala original floater was the go to in my childhood. Spoons and inline spinners were big too.

If fishing is causing any type of physical pain, you need to get stronger. Thats not a sleight, just advice. Strength building is injury prevention.

No music for me. Fishing is the entertainment.

Always wear the same hat but that could be more about comfort. And no bananas, banana bread, banana boat sunscreen. No bananas!

Kids (respectful ones) are the only humans I will talk to when fishing. Everyone else gets some northeast hospitality and one word answers.

30 years or so. Still fish a lot of the same water i started on.

I was blessed to have an involved father growing up. Also, we always used hardbaits with treble hooks so gut hooks were rare. My old man considered live bait cheating. Just teach them how to handle the fish and explain how to avoid gut hooking. Or my other rule, if you can't get the hook eat the fish.

Hit the river for a few hrs this morning. Managed 5 smallies (2 in the 3 lb range.) Current is still ridiculous so it was tough in a kayak. Ratltrap was all theyd hit, nothing subtle. Visibilty was bad so tough to see beds. They were swiping baits not slamming them, which makes me think spawn has started.

An injured baitfish only goes one way in current and its not upstream.

Still prespawn around here. Some starting to bed. Smallies having been in the mood to chase baits and wont look at most plastics. Fishing cover is still pretty much useless. Ratltraps, jerkbaits, and squarebills parallel with shore, near drop offs has been producing. Mostly in 5 - 8 ft of water. Hitting the river tomorrow and i expect to see them moving up to beds with the warmer weather the past few days.

I hunted this past week instead of fish and I learned that 3 dead Canada geese is the maximum amount I can stuff in my kayak.

Depends on weather and water temp. Hit the usual stuff, cover, drop offs, weed lines. Most of all, cover water. Buzzbaits, rattletraps, spinner baits etc until you find them.

As a general rule, don't listen to the people at big box stores. That's not to say there aren't some very knowledgeable people working there, but I'd say 90% of them are full of it. I have $25 reels and $200 reels. I have never had a bearing rust, ever. Even the spinning reels I abuse and oil like once every five years don't rust. As far as having a reel you never have to "do anything with," that's up to you. It's a machine and will break down eventually. It's up to you as to whether you want to get two seasons or two decades of use out of something.

Do ripped trick worms and bullet casings in the bed count as accessories?

Oh, did my heart sink when I saw the title of this thread. I have tried whopper ploppers's and they just don't fit for me. Dust collectors now. I had better luck with them for largemouth but for smallies, The buzzbait is king. There are times when I will fish an entire day with the same Buzzbait tied on and never think about taking it off.