fin

I had some I bought back in the 80's that smelled strong, like a solvent smell, so they just sat in a drawer forever. During the lockdown, I got desperate for worms and gave them shot. They worked great - caught a lot of fish on them and they lasted longer than a trick worm because of their shape - you can rehook lower down the worm when they get tore up. I don't know what color they were, some shade of green, but I wish I had more. I would definitely try that orange. Looks like motor oil in that picture.

You've got to have enough buoyancy to float two treble hooks, and enough weight to make it wobble and balance. I don't think that can be overcome through tech. I've played around with taking old lipless baits and converting them to suspending/floating/slow sinking, and it's tricky business. It's not that hard to do, but it takes some trial and error.

Just the opposite for me - I've caught lots on red lipless and other red baits, but very little success with anything metallic gold. The past year or so red is not as successful for me as it used to be though.

That's not even a real spoon is it? Maybe they made a spoon out of something else. Still, it's an interesting idea, combining a spoon with curly tails. Not a great execution though. lol

Yeah, there's something to this. Sometimes you can see what is triggering it, like the sun, but it seems like there's also some mysterious invisible force. I've noticed this with carp jumping too - several carp will sometimes suddenly jump simultaneously across the lake. I've seen it many many times.

Good fishing weather and good weather aren't the same thing.

Pretty sure this predates log4j. The article says info was stolen in October. Log4j was first exploited like a couple weeks ago, if I recall correctly. Also, regarding phone calls from banks or card companies, the safest policy is to hang up, look up their phone number and call them back. The scammers are incredibly skilled and have fooled some of the brightest security people. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/when-in-doubt-hang-up-look-up-call-back/

The way I always heard it was after a long conversation and debate about why we couldn't catch anything. Many complex theories of why the fish wouldn't bite this or that bait would be discussed, like the water temperature, oxygen content of the water, not enough wind, too much wind, phase of the moon, etc., then the old timer would say "They won't bite it if they ain't there." End of discussion.

I think I remember some things really well, but then I look back at my records and sometimes see my memory in some cases is way off. Like I might think a certain bait is productive, but when I look back I might find it only caught one big fish, and it was after I hadn’t caught a fish in a long time. The fact that the fish was big and it was after a slump made the lure stand out in my mind. Memory is a funny thing, it's easily distorted. Just because you think you remember things clearly doesn't mean that you do.

I'm just happy whenever I see anyone who is considerate. Sportsmanship is another whole level above that. Many people are only concerned with their own experience, and the experiences of those around them don't matter at all.

I would share my records with you if you were a blood relative. And I was dead.

I don’t mind the people as much as I mind the big bass being removed from the lake. That’s what really hurts. A 200 acre lake can’t recover like 10,000+ acre lakes.

Do you lose the right to complain about traffic if you drive a car?

Bank fisherman here. I carry the bare minimum, and this time of year I may only throw one bait for several hours. I hate the sound of lures rattling around in Plano boxes, so I just carry everything in plastic bags, even hard lures. I’ll keep like a maximum of five crank/jerk baits in a bag, and yeah, when I pull one out they usually all come out, like a Barrel Of (bait) Monkeys, that’s the downside. And sometimes they poke through the bag. I use the lightest backpack available. I’ll probably switch to a waist pack eventually. Like @OkobojiEagle said, it may take you years to figure out the few lures you really need. When you have a lure you can rely on to catch fish consistently, you just need to find the right spot to throw it. Changing lures is just wasting time. If they’re feeding, they’re not that picky, in my experience. If they’re not feeding, they won’t be impressed by a prettier lure. It’s nice to have options, but when those options start limiting your fishing, you’ve gone too far.

The comment about firing on the boat with a wrist rocket loaded with lead sinkers is about the worst recommendation I can think of. In fact, I’m kind of surprised to see that comment allowed on this website. I can be a hot head myself, and I find this comment pretty wise. It's pretty simple. Once you try to start a civil conversation instead of making a smart comment, it will be harder for both of you to get into something that might ruin your day. I have gone from being angry enough to fight to making a new friend before. I bank fish a lot, and it’s very rare that boats will come near me, even kayaks that have to paddle a long way out of their way. Fishermen in boats in general seem to have more respect for fishing etiquette than bank fishermen, and I say that as a bank fisherman. Occasionally you will run into exceptions. In those cases, generally all that’s needed is a hint of casting in their direction.

But the ones way up in the trees taunt me. I know of at least 3 that I can't reach that have been there for a long time. One of them is a whopper plopper, and I can do without another one of those, but the other two are so high up that I can't tell what they are. Of course my imagination tells me they are expensive jerk baits, but for all I know they are that cheap knockoff Walmart brand. If I went around and collected all the bobbers hanging in trees on the lake, I could decorate my xmas tree with them.

Ha. I'm in the south, just not near as far south as you. I actually fish more hours in the winter. I like the cold weather, it doesn't drain me like the heat does. But the older I get, the less my fingers can take of the cold. Gloves work for an hour or so, but then I've got to get them warmed up somehow. Rubbing them together or sticking them inside my clothes warms them up enough to keep me going for another 30 minutes or so, but that gets old. Wow. I would never have thought of something like that. That's pretty awesome. I get the impression that it kind of needs to stay upright all the time if possible, like that may be the reason they sometimes go out is getting turned upside down or turned sideways? I mean, just turning it sideways or upside down is not enough to always extinguish it, but it helps extinguish it.

You've been using the same ones for 5 years, or do you mean you've been using that kind for 5 years? I'd like to know which ones you've been using. One of the reasons I'm skeptical of a rechargeable is past experience where replacement batteries cost almost as much as replacing the whole unit, making it basically disposable. It sounds to me like the rechargeable are less trouble and more versatile, and you pay for that. I guess I could get by with a refillable, but it seems like I would pay with aggravation. And it sounds like the burners are similar to batteries - both types are going to have to be replaced.

I meant burner. So how long does the original burner last? I also just learned there's a trick to turn the thing off - just bang it upside down on a hard surface and the burner pops off. They're made to put in your pocket, so I would expect them to be pretty safe, they've been around for years and they'd be out of business from lawsuits if they were dangerous. Also, I fish from the bank, I'm not around gasoline. I've used the chemical $1 warmers and they work pretty good, but seem kind of wasteful. I fish almost everyday, so that would add up. Also, I only fish a few hours and those things work for like 12 hours, if I remember right. That's a lot more than the fuel one. Also, I watched a video that said the rechargeable don't work as well, but thanks for your opinion - that's why I'm asking.

What is the downside of refillable hand warmers? The only things I’ve read is that some people don’t like the smell, and you can’t put them out - you have to let them burn up however much fuel you put in them. I also see they sell replacement wicks, so I assume these things have a limited life? Is the smell sort of like a kerosene heater? It seems like you could figure out how much fuel to put in them if you didn’t want it to keep burning.

I've tried something like that with a ghost ocho. It looked pretty good swimming, but I never had any luck. It should work, but I think there are better options available.

Words of wisdom there. I've never done it, but it's the type of rabbit hole I'm likely to go down. I understand the design basics of bills, but I'd like to understand a little bit better. You've got angle, length and shape. From what I've seen, shape is the least important of the three. I've seen very different shaped bills produce the same type of action.

I’m glad I asked, because I thought you might be implying something else (political). I’m well aware of the effect covid had on people fishing and getting outdoors in general, unfortunately. Going to the lake used to be my escape to get away from everything, and suddenly everything came to the lake. It got so bad at one point I couldn’t even get to the lake. I hope we never see that again. Yesterday I had the lake to myself, and that’s priceless.

What is a covid band wagon angler? I don't know, but they probably don't realize how lucky they were to lose that lure.

Lots of cussing right there. Love the hex nut sinker. Found another one with ‘the safety on’. This spoon was hanging in a tree.