papajoe222

The final nail in the fishing coffin for me every year is wrapping the boat up for the winter. As luck would have it, we're in the middle of a warm spell and I was able to do all the 'winterizing' over the past couple of days. One thing I'm doing this winter is setting the trailer up on jack stands to keep the weight off the tires and make rotating them in the spring a whole lot easier. Another was to put a switch on the outside power outlet, so I don't have the on-board charger going 24/7 all winter. On once a week on Sunday morning and off that night. No more baseball, no more fishing and no more happy Papa until sometime in March. I believe the reason for the invention of liquor was winter for more than one reason, but I'm in the group that blames not being able to fish as the driving factor.

I wouldn't call mine a collection, but rather just hanging on to reels rather than upgrading to new ones. I have 14 Daiwa baitcasters, including my first low profile one to the two Fuegos I purchased earlier this season. Every one of them still gets used along with a couple of Abu Garcia Ambassaduers I use for musky fishing. I have sold some duplicates over the years for money for other reels, but similar to the outrageous number of rods I own, I just can't seem to part with them. Are you like me, or do you actually collect reels?

First, I add more pauses to my retrieve with cranks, then burn it before pausing again. I rarely get bit on a straight retrieve unless it's banging bottom, or bouncing off of something. Next, I'll change colors, size and profile of the bait, in that order.

For swimming a worm, I like the Zoom Ultra Vibe on a small jig,or weighted worm hook. For swimming a worm on the bottom, I prefer a ribbon tail like a Culprit with a pegged tungsten weight.

I separate them according to style (football, swim, arkie, etc.). I use a fine tip Sharpie to mark the weight and place them in the box with the lightest in front, and the heaviest closest to the hinges. I only use a few brands of jigs and I can tell which brand they are by their style of keeper, or rattles. I also keep extras on a peg board and when I take the last one from the board, I reorder.

So do you count it down, or watch the line until it stops sinking, or is it like a suspending crank that will suspend at any depth up to its max when you stop reeling?

I don't do anything because I don't attempt to match the hatch. I fish plastic worms, jigs, cranks (some do imitate bluegill), topwaters, etc. Bass fishing isn't like trout fishing, (thank you Lord) 'matching the hatch' is a phrase straight from those guys. It helps to know the movements of the primary forage of a lake, but my take on this is that the bass see more than enough of the predominate forage, so, similar to not throwing the same bait the majority of anglers are using, I show them something different. It's worked for 60 years for me

Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Of those I like Minnesota the best as my strong suit is natural lakes and I prefer smallmouth over largemouth. Michigan is a close second. Believe it or don't, but Florida is at the bottom of my list. Although I've caught some big fish there, that strain of LM seem very moody (stronger response to and longer recovery from the passing of cold fronts).

There is a gear that sits atop the A/R ratchet that has tabs that fit into the underside of the main brass gear. If, during reassembly, those tabs don't fit inside, they press against the underside of the main gear leaving a gap that can allow that A/R ratchet to move up the drive shaft. In that position, it will not trip the thumb bar back into position. By tightening the drag and turning the handle you can sometimes force that gear to slide into place. I don't recommend doing this as reels differ in their placement of parts under the main gear and doing this may harm the inner workings. It's best to take the side plate off and reassemble things in the correct fashion.

I add anise oil to bags of worms that I won't be dipping in JJ's or Spike-It. Don't know if it makes a difference, but I've been doing that before I ever began using the dyes. I prefer the Magnum Bass Stopper (weedless) over the Kelly's, but have used both with success. They are an awesome presentation for introducing someone to bass fishing. Attach them with a good swivel snap and maybe a small split shot, I prefer putting it on the leader not my mainline. Kids love them because they're fairly inexpensive, they catch fish, that rear hook sticks the short strikers and they don't have to worry about threading a plastic worm on a hook.

I only use snap swivels for bass, on presentations that are line twisters like in-line spinners, spoons and pre-rigged plastic worms. Cross lock/duo lock for me.

I'm not from VA, but that size fish was possibly well up in age. Sounds like there was more than one factor that contributed to that fish's demise. First, I never play a fish for any length of time, unless it's just a matter of her being a match for my equipment. I learned that from musky fishing and it's also one of the reasons tournament anglers bring their fish to the boat quickly. The second contributing factor has already been mentioned; too long out of the water. I add a step to CPR (catch, photo, release), I get a quick measurement. I have a tape measure decal on my gunnel and just prior to release, I get a quick measurement. Lastly, it's sad to say, more fish die from any of a number of circumstances after they are released than anglers are aware of. In this case, it happened much sooner.

I'll swap with you, Lake location for lake location. Heck I'll put you up for the week-end on my end if you'll do the same on yours.

I use the season and conditions for picking out what S/B to throw. I'll change up if I'm getting follows, only after I've tried different speeds. If they're showing little or no interest it the first one, I'm switching to a different style bait. I'm reduced to three hours or a little more time on the water. I want to make the most of that time. If building baits while on the water is part of your overall enjoyment of the sport, go for it. I'll build or modify at home.

That's fall fishing. Some days they're up shallow, sometimes up to the bank shallow. Other days you'll find them on deep structure. Some fish will stay shallow and never venture to deep water. Given a choice, I'll start deep and work shallow. It's easier to keep my jig in contact with the bottom as I use light, hair jigs with a trailer. Working down hill, it's difficult to keep contact and distinguish between the jig falling and a light pick-up by a fish.

I"m on my second telescoping retriever. I sold my first one (12ft.) to a guy that gave me more than I paid for it. This one is 18ft., I think, and this season alone it's saved me more than its purchase price. Liking the Mann's crank.

I had a buddy that is OCD about everything he owns. He takes his reels off the rods at the end of the day and stores them in a padded case. He doesn't put them back on the rods until he's on the water. You know where this is going, right? Brand new Lew's Speed Spool (Gen 1) went over the side of my boat as he was attempting to seat it on his rod. 40ft. of cold water. We drove an hour and a half back to his house and he got his diving gear. Drove back to the lake and he searched the area for two hours only stopping to surface and warm up. Never found it. He also never fished out of my boat again.

I keep a magnet on the shelf above my workbench. Found one of those micro washers in less than a minute.

It's our turn in July and August when we catch the big girls mid day while you're hiding out in your A/C home wishing you could be too.

I'm assuming your rod handle is EVA and not cork. Is it deteriorating, or does it just not feel right? I would give it a good cleaning with something like SimpleGreen to get rid of the dirt and grease. Don't know what to tell you about adding shrink tubing other than it does shrink lengthwise. I doubt it would improve your grip. If that's your goal, I'd wrap it with the stuff they use on baseball bats and tennis rackets. When that gets nasty, you can just peel it off and rewrap it.

If you're one of the may anglers that maintain their own reels, read on. One of the worst things that you can do when cleaning a reel is using the wrong solution to clean it. Use something that won't leave residue. There are products out there specifically for reel cleaning and there are common cleaners like SimpleGreen that do an excellent job of cleaning and everything can be rinsed with water and dried before lubing and reassembly. One other thing, Don't over lube. Excess grease and oil only attracts more dirt and if your equipment sits for any length of time that grease and dirt combination will cling to parts. The resulting mess is a mother to remove and clean. I just finished cleaning up a buddy's Shimano. It took me more than twice as long to get it clean before I began putting it back together. Every season he would just add more grease and oil. I was amazed that the thing still worked fairly well.

I've been doing this since I began using a baitcaster; cast, switch hands, then reel. The weird thing is with spinning gear my rod stays in my right hand. I was gifted a couple of Revos and they're left hand retrieve. I'm thinking of practicing with them over the winter, for no other reason than to give me something to do during the 'ice age.' I've attempted this more than once, but it was during fishing season and I would quickly put that rod away. For those that don't switch hands: Have you always done it that way, or did you learn it at some point?

Up here, the winter cold water period (for open water) is from 40 down to ice over. 55 is the start of late fall, which is right where the temperature was here on Monday. The 3/8oz, blade dropped down steeper banks worked early on and by late afternoon, a spinnerbait and follow up Fluke got the groupies and a couple of 4lb. girls. With the way things are cooling off here, by Friday I suspect to see 50 or below.

I'm wondering what others use for horizontal and vertical presentations in the fall. I have a couple that I always have tied on; A single Colorado blade short arm spinnerbait, a blade bait, tube jig, hair jig. The first two give me both options and will help me determine which presentation the fish prefer at any given time. Same goes for the hair jig. The colder the water gets, the more I rely on the blade and hair jig and when that temp gets below 40, I'll even try deadsticking them a time or two during my retrieve. So, what are your favorites?

The biggest difference that I can think of would be locating the fish if you don't have an idea of where they were during the day. Some will be roaming, following schools of baitfish and some will hold in an area where baitfish frequent, eg.creek arms. That can be a lot of water to cover in the dark, with your eyes on your electronics. When/if you do locate them, you'll be dealing in a neutral mood more often than not. Where noise and vibration are calling cards for summertime night fishing, they can be a turn off in colder water. If you can find and catch them during the day, those same techniques should work at night.