fin

You don't even need a code. I got six sale items for a total of about $12 and got free shipping without entering a code. It's a pain trying to find the limited colors that are on sale though. I guess they want you to look at all their colors one at a time, hoping you'll fall in love with a color that's not on sale. It's worth it to end up paying about $.25 each for soft plastic. Thanks! Edit: Looks like it's all GSM brands have free shipping.

Casting into/through a culvert is good exercise. It's a lot more difficult to get distance, because you are limited by the height of the pipe. You have to be accurate to get any distance. Very difficult with a baitcaster.

Three pounds is where I draw the line for pics and weighing, but unhooking is the first thing I do, and if that takes too long, I skip both and just release the fish. I recently caught a fish that weighed exactly the same as a fish caught the day before in the same area on the same bait. It was only after studying the two pics that I was able to determine it was two different fish. Without the pics, I would have sworn it was the same one. I talk to most of my fish. I cannot disclose information contained in client discussions due to confidentiality agreements.

If you find a good video, please share. I imagine you can find some good tips, but I think this is one of those things that you can't really learn from a video like you can learn from someone in person.

I’m fishing from the bank, so it’s all about small size and light weight. I like to keep them in my pocket so I don’t have to dig in my backpack while I have a fish out of water. The ones I use now are standard needlenose, but they’re only like 3-4” long. I used to have some that were 2”, but lost them. I actually think you get a better grip with shorter pliers, just like the best cut from a pair of scissors is nearest the hinge. I have used hemostats, which are good for getting deep, and they’re light, but they just don’t have a strong enough grip. I’m not real happy with the ones I have - they’re too heavy, but I’ve never run across anything that’s better that isn’t expensive. Aluminum is around $40. Tackle Warehouse has some pliers that are over $300.

🤣

My history with chatterbaits has been varied. I don't understand it, but it seems like certain models/colors have been excellent producers, while many others have never caught a fish.

That makes me think of a bird that I don't know the name of. I think it's some kind of Swift. They fly fast and low over the water and occasionally hit the surface, eating some kind of bug or shad. They make a sound like that.

I've never tried it, but maybe your drag is locked up?

One thing it would work for is as an inline replacement hook on a Spook or other Heddon bait that uses that metal thing. I can't believe someone would create a hook for just that purpose though. It reminds me of Lew's Speed Sticker hooks. I can't believe I've still got a couple of them. I would hate to subscribe to a company that sent me unsolvable mysteries 😆

That's nice for not having to breathe in the stuff, but I don't want to get it on my hands because of the melting issue and because I don't want to transfer the odor to baits. I thought I was being real smart once, and put on gloves before spraying myself down. The gloves were mega-sticky afterward and I had to trash them.

Chatterbait? Not my fave, but sometimes it's the only tool that works.

I forgot about those too. In the right color, they are the exception to my rule about spinnerbait trailers. They're more like an extension of the skirt. They can be very effective just t-rigged with a light bullet too. They're better with a 1/0 EWG, but a 2/0 will just barely fit. Run the hook between the forks. I use to have good luck with them, but only in one color that I can't find anymore. I've never seen the Mann's version in stores, but it probably works just as well.

That doesn't help much with them getting in your ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Sometimes the repellent alone doesn't even stop them from orbiting the noggin and driving me crazy, that's when I break out one of these:

I change out skirts and/or blades if I feel like it isn't working. I don't feel the urge to add a trailer, and on the rare occasions that I do, it feels and looks wrong.

Please inform boaters they are spoiling the idyllic image in my head as I fish vicariously through you. 😆

I think that's the first pic I've seen of another boat in one of your posts. Do you see other people out there much? I had a yellow Snagless Sally a long time ago. I think I bought it back in the 80's. I caught a few fish with it, one nice one I remember. Eventually it got... snagged.

What? Who? Me?

I don't have the answer, but I think your diagnosis of the problem is correct. Hookset is too late, but when you can't feel anything because you're fishing weightless and the fish is probably inhaling the bait, there's no way to know it's time to set the hook. When you feel movement, the fish is already swimming away with the bait in its gullet. Fishing smaller baits just exacerbates the problem. I don't like not being able to feel the bait, so I fish with smaller weights instead of going weightless, and I avoid smaller baits. One alternative is something like a Carolina or Free rig, something that separates the bait from the weight, so you get the best of both worlds. I had a three pounder inhale my 1/2 oz lipless a couple days ago, with only a few feet of line out. Fortunately it was barely hooked in the gills and I was able to free it unharmed. So it's unavoidable, but you can reduce the risk. You need to change something or start eating those fish.

They're a legit brick & mortar family owned shop on Lake Lanier in Georgia. Been around forever. Not the first to misspell Daiwa, and they probably mispronounce it just like they spell it. https://www.hammondsfishing.com/pages/our-story (Not an endorsement of security on their website, just saying it's a legit business)

I'm not sure I follow. I'm very grateful for what I have experienced, but pessimistic about the future. Do you mean I should donate to the Sierra club or something like that?

I think in many ways we are very lucky to have lived (and fished) when we did. I feel pretty certain we have seen the peak in public fisheries.

It seems to me that fish in shallower water (like less than two feet) can get some kind of leverage and create more resistance than the same fish in deeper water. It may seem like a stronger fighting fish, but it's really just where it is caught. At least that's my hypothesis.

I don't think it can be repeated enough how important it is that they catch fish early in the game. They can get turned off to something really quick, and once they decide it's boring, you'll probably never get them interested again. Make sure you go somewhere they will catch fish quickly. I think maybe learning the equipment good enough to cast without trouble before ever getting to the water might be a good tactic. Set up a target in the yard or something. Once they get out on the water they're distracted by a million things, and they want to DO, not LEARN. Or you know, they may not care about fishing at all, they may just want to spend time with you doing something you enjoy, so don't stress over the learning too much.