MacJig

And they are deceptively fast. They can move with you stride for stride. Ouch. Not a pleasant sight to see.

So I was out fishing on a beautiful Early Autumn day. It was a bit windy, somewhat cool but a great day to be out. As I was making my way around the pond, having caught one already I decided to try a new spot at the same pond. It looked favorable. So I put a few casts in, felt like I got some attention and decided to stay. As I was putting down my gear I felt a bite. I thought maybe a black fly. Continued to fish and then another bite and another sting and yet another. Oh no! I must have put my gear on a hornets or a wasps or a bees or something's nest. They were all over me. I felt like a human pin cushion. I left my gear and ran for my life. At least as fast as an old man can move. I say ran but it was more like a brisk walk. When all was said and done I must have had 20 to 30 stings over my body. In reflection it was a nice day but it wasn't worth it! Have you ever had an experience like that? In retrospect, it sounds a little funny but some of the dangers of fishing can be quite serious. Caution is always a good rule to live by!

My absolute favorite lure regardless of conditions is the green pumpkin Pit Boss. The 4-in. Just cast it out and hop it along the bottom. If bass in Florida are anything like bass in New York, you will get a hit, especially if the water temperature is still high!

Has anyone in Western New York ever fished the Conesus lake inlet? Any advice? Where to park? Where to go? I'm basically looking for fishing on the bank.

Has anybody found any issues with their credit card? Like did the transaction correctly show in US currency? Was the US dollar equivalent right? What you were expecting? Were there any foreign transaction fees that you paid? Many thx.

With the current exchange rate it seems feasible to go through some of the Japanese markets for reels and other fishing equipment. I came across Digitaka and wonder if my fellow anglers have ever used this company. How did purchasing something through that company impact your credit card? Were there fees involved? Did the transaction go through in Japanese or United States currency? Anything that you found unfavorable? Forgive my ignorance but I've never ordered through an overseas company like this and look forward to hearing about your experiences.

By far. By far. By far. The best for me in western NY has been the 4" Pit Boss in green pumpkin. I don't know why! But it far out distances any other craw that I use. It is my number one confidence bait.

Hey. Thx all for the comments/suggestions. I'm sure I will give it the old college try! I use the shallow diver square bill now. But in the shallow, ultra weedy water, it doesn't work. Hopefully the Wake bait to the rescue.

Getting tired of throwing shallow cranks and still picking up weeds. I am considering adding a few wake baits to my arsenal and would like some opinions on the matter. Do you like using them? Best conditions to throw? Brand? Size? Color? Many thanks in advance.

I had a monster of a pike on from one of our local ponds here last year. I got him to shore but instead of getting my fish grips to pull him up I tried to drag him further up the shoreline and he broke off and swam away. But I got him on shore and I saw him so, yep, I counted him! I wasn't going to let a monster go uncounted. ?

I remember fishing back in the '60s with a small aluminum boat and a 10 horse motor. And even with that little 10 horse motor, the boat tooled; it got us to our place pretty quickly. I can't even imagine what these mega horse power motors can achieve as far as speed is concerned. If the boat had wings I'm sure it would lift off. I am clueless why something that big and powerful is needed on our fisheries. And they're just getting faster and faster as the years go by!

Well that looks interesting! Hey, if it doesn't work with ticks it looks like it might take the cap off a beer bottle. ?

Man I'm kind of sorry I asked! ? We are all going to become paranoid every time we go out. But it is something to be very mindful of. Going forward I'm always going to wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, the tighter fitting underwear, light colored clothing, wear a t-shirt tucked in and douse myself with 30% deep spray. Also thought about closing the bottom of my pants with rubber bands to keep ticks from crawling up my legs. Stuffing them into my socks just isn't practical for me.

Smart. I always have spray with me but i figured that March in NY should still be relatively bug free. I just didn't think that I needed spray. I was wrong.

Just came home from urgent Care to see if they could remove the head. I was told it really wasn't necessary that the head will come out by itself. I was also told that infection was not an issue now since the tick was dead. They did give me one dose of antibiotics to take which I did. I will just keep an eye on it for now. If need be I'll go to my own physician. This is one of the silent dangers of fishing. You can't even feel when they're on you and you don't feel their bite. Often you don't see them until they actually burrow into your skin. Oh the cost of catching a bass!

Thanks bird. My doctor prescribed an antibiotic this morning which I'm going to be picking up. Just preventive! I've been checking some of the sites online as far as prevention and or dealing with ticks and some are so complicated and numerous in their suggestions that it would take you about 3 hours to prep for a 1 hour fishing trip. There are a lot of good common sense tips out there but some seem a little unrealistic. I mean if I did everything that I'm told to do online I'd be stripped naked in my driveway before entering the house. Of course by that time the neighbors would have called the police and they would have carted me away anyway.

Many thanks for all the responses. The backpack I'm using now is one that I got from Walmart that I think was on sale for under 10 bucks. It has worked well but it's starting to fall apart a bit and I'm looking for something a bit more durable. Nothing like the Walmart special!

So I went out fishing for a few hours a couple nights back. I didn't catch any Bass but it was a good time out. I woke up the next morning feeling good, going about my business when I looked down on my arm and saw what I thought was a blood blister. Didn't think much of it. I went about my business. But later in the day I looked at it again. I moved it from side to side and noticed what I thought were ... legs. Yep, legs! It was my first ever tick. I called to my wife and told her this is really bizarre and repulsive. She tried to extract as much as she could but the head was left inside. So I'm off to urgent Care this morning to get the head removed. Long story short, have you had any experiences with ticks and what have you found to be the best repellent and or practice to avoid them? I really look forward to your responses. No one ever said that fishing was always going to be easy! ?

Thanks for the replies so far. When it comes to backpacks, it's like a jungle out there! It can get overwhelming.

I'm looking to upgrade my backpack for pond bank fishing. Can anyone out there recommend a great backpack for just that purpose? There are so many brands and models out there it's like wading through a dense forest to find the right tree! As always your help is very much appreciated.

Nothing like having a grandpa that owns a pond! Can't beat that.

Yeah that's a real blast from the past. The best memories are created when we are children. Unfortunately we tend to lose that talent as we grow older! Cynicism can take the place of adventure, sadly.

That looks fabulous.

And I bet it tasted great too!! I know what knee problems are all about. I've already had to have one knee replaced and the next one is yet to come. I bet that was painful having to give up on a sport you had such passion for.

Harvesting was much more prevalent back in the sixties as well. Men fished to keep some and have them for dinner; even bass. Today that is a no can do! Fishing was much more like hunting back then. Today it's more of a spectator sport!