WaterOtter

Another good day on the water; here are the keepers I found today. Anyone know what the first lure is? It seemed very out of place 18' up and in an area of the lake that's only about 4' deep when the water's high. It and the next one were tangled on the same branch.

I appreciate the testimonial for the rig, and that's a good story! btw, I found a Rebel Pop-R rig on a similar rig this summer but in a different lake, hung up an underwater branch about a foot and a half below the surface, and I wondered about it too. Now I know they work!

Here's one I found last weekend that I need someone to explain to me. It is a modestly sized hook with a 48" steel leader on it, probably home made since the leader connects right to the hook. There's a swivel on the top end as though the whole thing might need to spin, and it was tied onto red monofilament, which I associate with low cost Zebco reels. What kind of fishing situation would this be needed for?

I had a fun day on the lake today. I found 3 rigs that taught me new ways to fish. Rig #1: Deep diving whopper plopper (I found it snagged on a picnic table 36" down). This guy used a split shot + a sliding cone sinker + a steel leader Rig #2: Bobber jerk bait I pick up lost bobbers because they get cruddy and become eyesores, and this time I was surprised by what came out of the water with it. Rig #3: Caveman rig I was paddling through an algae mass when my paddle got tangled in some line, and I ended up pulling up a rig that was using a good sized rock as a sinker.

This rig is one of my favorites this year. I can imagine the person being so excited to fish this lure with amazing realistic minnows (sure to get lots of hits just like real minnows, but they'll last forever!) so the lucky fisherman tied it on below his or her bobber, but excitement quickly turned to frustration as the minnows kept popping up next to the bobber. So, he/she added a huge river weight to keep it down. In the end, however, the treble hooks snagged a root and that's how I found it.

An amazing find last Monday -- a Creek Chub Plunker in green frog. It's at least 43 years old (they stopped making them from wood in 1978, according to what I've found online).

Had fun on the water today and found these lures. I went early while the temps were in the 30's so I wouldn't get in the way of fishermen. I'd never seen a hula dancer or a jointed chatterbait CFL before, and I've never seen a jerkbait like this one. It has big eyes molded and painted like jitterbugs' and hula poppers'. I'd never seen this either ... a plastic swimbait hooked up on a hook, with a sinker further up the line. It didn't come with a bobber, so I think the guy was fishing it like a live minnow. At one point it had been tied onto a line normally, because there was also the remains of a normal fishing knot tied onto it.

That's awesome!

I hang my treasures on rails I put on the wall, made out of the "groove" edge of cheap flooring. First I used leftovers from a job, then I found I could buy a box of the cheapest flooring for $20 and rip the planks on my table saw. The hooks grab onto the rails easily, and the lure hangs lightly against the wall so I can turn them to pose them. After a while I painted the rails white to match the wall.

It's great to be out on the water again, now that the ice has cleared up and I can get my paddle into the water. Here are the "show worthy" lures I found in March. My wife asked what kind of fish eats pink mice with no hair? I said it must be a kind of fish that climbs trees, because that's where the guy was fishing for it.

Most of my luckiest lures were ones that I found ... and then I gave them away one by one, the same way I got 'em...

Speaking of conscience, I recently moved to Michigan, and I have been disgusted by how many lines I've found that someone just cut the line and took the lure, leaving the line behind. I've also seen where someone just opens the snap swivel and takes the lure, and I've even seen a few places where someone took the lure and hooked the swivel back onto the fishing line, effectively creating a lure trap to catch more lures. I cut it all out.

I love lure hunting in my kayak. Eventually I started to realize that I was catching more lures than bass, and my time fishing was declining while my time lure hunting was increasing. Eventually I started leaving my poles in the car because they were getting hung up in the bushes as I poked along the shoreline, and I only used them for opportunistic fishing when I saw jumping shad. And then at some point I started leaving my fishing poles at home ... In 2017 I realized I had found over 100 lures in about 4 months, so I started keeping a log of my paddles and how many lures I find. It can be eye popping when you keep count!

I've been curious because once I overheard two fisherman say something that went like this - "hey, that guy in the kayak is picking up trash" and the other guy said resentfully "he should pick up trash, he picks up our lures too." I had always viewed it the other way around - by picking up trash, I build up good karma, and then Karma rewards me every now and then with a nice lure. I'm glad to have found someplace to ask lots of fishermen. It's good to hear reasonable views.

I hate losing anything, so I'll fight it until its last breath. How do you all feel if you see someone in a kayak pulling lures out of trees? What about if he is also pulling down the lines and picking up trash along the way? (I like to do this in my kayak, but I've often wondered if fishermen resent me for getting the lures)