Bankc

What MN Fisher said. When you're low to the water, you use more of a side sweeping motion, with a little bit of downward direction to it. I'll usually start with my rod about two feet above the water, and then end with it around six inches above the water. I probably move the rod from around a 30° angle to the side of the bait to a bit more than a 60° angle. Whatever feels right. Play around with it and you'll stumble across something that works for you. I like shorter rods for this. I have some older 5'6" pistol grip rods that work well. Though I've also used 7' split grip rods for it, and they work pretty well too. But the longer rod handles can get in the way sometimes, and the longer rods can make imparting the action a bit more finicky. I prefer medium action for just about anything with treble hooks. With the shorter rods, the medium action blanks tend to load better, and allow me to cast further. That's assuming that the weight of the lure is appropriately matched to the rod, however. Plus, the slower action rods help keep those tiny hooks from getting thrown as easily. And you don't need as much power to set those hooks as you do on larger, single hooks.

Same. I sleep in on the weekends, and still get up before the sun rises. And while I'm not a morning person, by any stretch of the imagination, I find the prospect of fishing a much stronger motivation to get out of bed than the prospect of punching a time card.

As others have said, fish the structure, not the trees. It's easy to see a submerged forest and think that each one has a big bass attached to it. But that's almost never the case. Also, look for lone trees or trees that stick out from the bunch (different size or species). Especially if they're near a creek channel or drop off. A bunch of trees with nothing else going on around them is usually a waste of time. As for what to fish, for me that largely depends on the size and shape of the trees. If it's large enough, like an old tree that's rotted some so it's lost it's thinner branches, or if the branches mostly stick out above the water (so you're not getting a lot of vertical twigs in your way), then I'll often go with a square bill. A square bill will bang off large horizontal branches and roots easily, but will often get hung up on small vertical branches. For trees with lots of more vertically running branches, I'll go with a spinnerbait. Sometimes I'll cast them off to the side, let them sink, and then try to pull them back through the branches. Sometimes I'll cast right at the trunk at let it helicopter down through the branches. If the bass are holding near the bottom, I might go with a jig or T-rigged plastic. I might even yo-yo it over branches. Sometimes a topwater will work if they're higher up. You never know. There are lots of ways to fish standing timber. And don't be afraid to hit it from all sides. I often catch bass on the side that I don't think they'll be at. Mostly you'll fish it like anything else. The only real thing to keep in mind is to stick with lures that won't get caught up in them. So I generally avoid round bill or lipless crankbaits, chatterbaits, spoons (though a weedless spoon might work), wacky rig worms, or anything expensive. Also, keep in mind that trees are probably more highly pressured than many other areas of the lake. Bass anglers see them and are drawn to the instinctually, whereas fish can take them or leave them. So sometimes trees that are hard to get to are more productive than trees that are easy to reach.

They're larger in your hand, so if you have arthritis, or are doing a lot of heavy cranking, they can be easier on your fingers. With the T-knob, you don't have to grip the knob between your finger tips, like on a paddle, but can stick it into the palm of your hand and let the shaft point out through your fingers. That way you can still get the same control, without having to grip as tightly. They're generally more of a saltwater thing. I'm not a big fan of them myself. But then again, I'm not spending an hour trying to horse in one big fish.

I don't know if it's just dumb luck, but I've never found a spider in my kayak. And I keep it in the garage, which is home to many brown recluse and a few black widow spiders. I like to believe that hanging it from the ceiling on a ceiling hoist is the reason for that. I'm sure they could still get up there and drop down into it, but the added difficulty in doing that seems to be pretty effective in keeping them away.

Pretty much anything can be fished with it. Though the one place where a high gear ratio like that excels, in my opinion, is buzzbaits. I think gear ratios are more of a personal preference thing than a technique specific one.

Topwaters are usually what prevent me from getting skunked on the days when the fish just won't bite. I don't fish them in deep water, but rather just shallow water along the bank, usually when the sun is near the horizon. Poppers are my favorite, though a walking bait, buzzbait, and prop bait are also frequent flyers for me. I'll say this to help keep the bait monkey in check. I haven't noticed any difference between colors. And more often than not, the brand doesn't matter either. What gets bit is the size and the action. And with most topwaters, you control the action. So I generally just buy one of each style in each size that I plan on using, and then don't buy anymore until I lose one. Even old ones with the paint worn off don't seem to make much of a difference. I have about 10x's more jigs, crankbaits, and plastics than I do topwaters, and I fish a topwater about 20% of the time I'm out.

I'd save your money and save yourself from having to carry the extra gear. If you get to the point where all you do is finesse fish (which I don't know why you would in Oklahoma), then it might be worth getting four separate setups. If you fished from a boat where transporting and storing the rods while not in use isn't a hassle, then it might be worth it. But bank fishing with four setups that so closely relate to one another isn't what I'd want to do. Just go out with one or two finesse fishing rods for a while. Figure out how effective this technique even is for you, before you decide to invest into it. In most ponds and small lakes in Oklahoma that I've fished, about the only finesse techniques that are worth my time are wacky rigs and weightless T-rigged plastics. Stuff that falls slowly, but you can cast often to cover lots of water. The water isn't clear enough to draw them to your lure, so you have to bring the lure to them. Stuff that just sits on the bottom and wiggles doesn't seem to do me much good.

Last Sunday I threw everything I had at them, and they ignored it all. Then, I tied on a KVD 1.5 chartreuse squarebill and targeted some small schools of baitfish (no idea what kind), and the bass wouldn't leave it alone! I wasn't even bumping it into cover. Just a moderate steady retrieve in both shallow and deep water. I did have some trouble finding those schools of baitfish, as they seemed to move quickly, where quite small in both size and number, and didn't seem to have much of a pattern as to where they'd go. But whenever I did find one, that lure always seemed to snag at least one 2-3lb bass, which is a decent sized fish for the lake I was in. So I just circled around, looking for signs of those schools, and as soon as I saw one, cast into it and reel in bass. Then the disturbance from the catch would disperse the school, and I'd have to wait to either find a new school, or for that school to reform somewhere else. I was landing one about every ten minutes. A cold front had just passed through, so I thought it would be tough fishing for sure. But it turned out to be one of the better days of the year, once I found the one lure they wanted. Funny how it works sometimes.

In the pre-internet days, I think that existed. But today, I think things tend to quickly spread across the world, so much so, that region specific techniques are largely a thing of the past. The only region specific technique around here is noodling. And even that spread beyond Oklahoma. But due to various factors like being willing to drown yourself, loose a finger to a snapping turtle, or ruining your best sleeveless shirt, I think it's going to remain primarily an Okie thing.

It all depends on what you need. Think about what you actually fish most. Then look for setups specific for those techniques. For me, I mostly use four different presentations, so I have four rods specifically for them. For everything else, I just use one of my four rods to make do. I actually have more than four rods, but since I'm either bank fishing, or fishing from a kayak, the four is all I like to take. Any more, and I find they get in the way. For my fishing style, I'd go with a specific topwater and specific crankbait rod. Something like a 5'6" M/M for topwater (the shorter rods really help with popping and walking the dog, I feel). Then something like a 7' M/M for crankbaits. Maybe a 7'6" MH/M for deep divers. But that's just me. I'm not a big fan of fast action rods for treble hook lures, if it can be avoided.

The most amperage for your money is probably going to be the group 29 marine deep cycle batteries from any number of stores. I believe most of them, if not all of them, are the same on the inside (same factory), but just have a different label slapped on the outside. They should all be about 105Ah and you should be able to find one under $100 (though there's usually a core charge of around $20 on top of that) if you look around a bit. The down side is that they're large and heavy. Over 60lbs. But I have an MK Endura 30 on my kayak and one of those batteries, and I've never run out of juice with it, and I usually travel 5-6 miles on the water every time I go fishing. Sometimes more. Though I will advise you that if you plan on traveling large distances that might threaten the battery's capacity, then I'd limit your speed to setting 4. The lower, the better really. The power draw on that trolling motor just about doubles with every number. So at setting 4 you're getting about 80% of the speed of setting 5, but you're only using 50% of the power to do it. At setting 3 you're getting a little over half of your full speed, but doing it with only one quarter the power. You're more than doubling your range at setting 3 vs. setting 5. I'll still use setting 5 for short bursts, but generally drop to 4 when I need cover large expanses. I get over the impatience of having to go slow by trolling while I make those longer trips. Setting 4 is just about the right speed for trolling!

I do. I'll admit though, that's it's not as convenient as I had hoped. First, it's hard to pull up and lower. My kayak, with all of the stuff I have stored in it, probably weighs over 100 lbs. I'd estimate that I'm having to use about 70-80lbs of force to move it. Theoretically, due to the pulleys, it should be 50lbs, but there's a lot of resistance so it's actually a good bit more than it should be. As you get near the top, you have to lift it one side at a time to keep the brake from engaging. Otherwise you can't get it all of the way up. And with my shorter ceiling, I need as much clearance below it as I can get. I have to stoop when walking below it even if it's all the way up. The rope also digs into my hands pretty badly, so I usually wear work gloves when operating it. Also, make sure you predrill the holes for the bolts and drill them through the exact center of the ceiling joists. You're gonna put a ton of weight on that thing while lifting the kayak (the weight of the kayak plus the weight you apply to the rope). If you don't predrill the holes, it's easy to shear off a bolt head trying to work it through the wood. And if you don't nail the exact center, it's easy to split the wood of the joist when the kayak wobbles (you have to pull it at an angle because the kayak is directly below it). It's not hard to install (though the instructions were of no help), but you will want to take your time to make sure you do it right. Having said all of that, I am glad I bought it. It does keep the kayak out of the way and makes it easier to load and unload than having the lift the kayak up on a rack. Plus, they're fairly cheap. Mine wasn't much more than $30 (RAD Sportz brand).

I store mine in the garage. Don't use wax on a plastic kayak. It won't stick well, and doesn't offer any protection. There are some UV sprays you can use, but if you're storing it inside, it's not worth the effort or money, as it won't be exposed to UV light anyway. Just clean it with mild soap and water, and make sure it's evenly supported so it doesn't warp. And make sure it dry, which I assume you are because you're storing it inside. Most plastic kayaks are made of HDPE, which doesn't require much maintenance. UV light and mold are your biggest concerns, as well as warping.

I pinch the FG with my fingers while I'm tying it to keep it tight, so I'm not relying on the cinch near the end to do much work. Tie the overhand knots in an alternating orientation. I.e., over then under then over... Add more wraps if necessary and tie one free overhand knot at the end, like on an arbor knot if it's still slipping.

I use braid on most of my rods. The exception being fluoro on my crankbait rod and mono on my topwater. Both of those need a bit more stretch to the line, and the stiffer line helps to keep the line from getting fouled up in the treble hooks. For everything else, if I decide a mono or fluoro would be better, I tie on a leader. Otherwise, I'm straight braid. Also, I tend to prefer 15-30lb braid unless I'm fishing heavy cover.

Why stop now? The bite's just picking up!

I'll eat crappie and walleye that I catch. Sometimes catfish, but only if I'm fishing a fairly clear lake, as they can taste pretty muddy. I've eaten bass many times. But I don't care for it much, and haven't eaten any in decades. I did fish with a guy once (a friend of a friend) who said LMB we're good if you cooked them right. We caught a bunch and then he cooked them for us. They were really good! He wouldn't give me the recipe, but there were a lot of herbs and spices on the fillets. Probably some other stuff too. That was last time I've had LMB and the only time I thought it was good. So I know it's possible to make them taste good. But I don't know how.

My yard isn't that big, so I'll usually set up a pair of lawn chairs and do laps around them to unspool and respool my line. It's kind of a pain to do, but it's not something I have to do that often. If I'm going to transfer the line to another spool anyway, I have a spare reel to put it on first.

If I only went fishing when the weather was nice, I'd only go fishing twice a year. Too hot and too cold don't mean anything to me. Too windy, on the other hand...

If you do it yourself, take lots of pictures along the way. And lay everything out in a way that you'll not only know the order that everything goes back together, but the orientation. It's easy to mess a reel up by putting a washer in upside down. You can usually find a schematic online that'll help too, especially if you run into trouble. I've rebuilt clocks, cameras, and carburators with this system. You don't have to be experienced or even mechanically inclined if you're organized and methodical enough.

That's the truth!

A old buddy of mine wanted to go fishing with me a few months back. It was the first time we had been fishing together. We show up and had a rig set up with three Zoom tiny Flukes set up at different depths, and a red and white bobber up top. He would just cast it out there and let it sit, motionless, for hours at a time. I tried to help him out, but he wasn't interested. It didn't help my case much that I didn't catch anything either.

I've done superglue. JB Weld would probably be more permanent, as the superglue failed on me after about a year. Best thing to do is to replace the line guide all together. But sometimes it's not worth the money or hassle.

I set it to about half of what will break the line. When I get snagged and have to break off the line, it usually takes about twice as much force as I thought to break it. So maybe I'm around 1/4th? I always loosen the drag when not fishing, so I don't want to mess with precise measurements on the water. If I need more or less, it's easy to adjust on the fly. Sometimes I'll just thumb the spool to get more drag pressure. It's not something I'm overly concerned with. It's rarely cost me a fish, and usually when it does, it's because I forgot to set the drag the first time or did something else stupid.