Jmurphy87

Well I resisted a week to the monkey 3 vision 110 2 packs smello gill 1 pack stink o sticks 1 pack grubs 1 pack 3.5 yamatanuki 1 pack of odd mustad alpha point hooks that I wanted to try. I am a sucker for jerk baits and colors that I don’t have lol.

Yep 14 hours today and the rest of the week lol. It’s good for the paycheck, well sort of I am salary so it’s straight time. But at least I got something extra instead of nothing. I definitely recommend that you try a fluke, I started throwing them last year and I have confidence in them already. There was a couple of guys in a boat throwing spinner baits past me and people fishing on other banks. I never saw them catch anything and that always baffles me, I want everyone to catch fish and have fun it’s just my nature.

Well I stopped by maple lake after another 13 hour shift this morning. I caught 2 dinks and an upgraded dink all on a weightless fluke. I followed @Woody B advice and left after catching the upgraded dink and not making one more cast. I fished for 30 minutes or so. The smaller ones came along the bank and the larger one was hiding underneath the tree in the shade. Hard to believe that we got crazy storms yesterday.

I would say be extremely careful on how you choose to proceed with your decisions. I am at a point in my life where I am hopelessly addicted to fishing and it’s all that I think about most of the time. I have very interesting things going on with my family situation currently and I want to make sure that I end up making the right decisions and not just what seems right in the moment. Fishing has put me into debt of sorts and I am currently living alone in a motel room, not debt related fully but to try and figure out what I truly want in life and how I want to proceed. I will say that wanting to fish for extended periods of time is completely normal and it’s perfectly normal for you to want that uninterrupted time with what you truly enjoy. Just be really careful of what this hobby that we love so dearly might cost us if we make the wrong decision and choices. Heck I have been up 26 hours now and I just got out of work at 8:15am and I am thinking about going and fishing this new to me urban area, although I know that being a supervisor at a plastics factory that I should probably get some sleep before having to be back into work at 7:30pm for another 13 hour night until next Tuesday. It’s all prioritizing and making the right calls, sometimes what we choose can be extremely lonely and leaves us wondering if we made the right choice. Sorry for the book but I wanted to share my experiences with you to help you understand your choices.

Most small swim baits weigh quite a bit by there selves, before a jig head. Believe me I have broken out my gram scale and most small swim baits are 2-7 grams on there own. So by that point you are over 1/4 ounce finesse but not bfs level where I try to keep total weight below 2 grams total. I would say a NRX+ 901 would be pretty good but that’s a spinning rod a 852mbr would be a decent casting rod version, or a 852jwr for a little bit stouter rod.

Congratulations, that looks like a very good time.

3 packs of flukes in various white colors 1 pack 3.5 dolive beaver 1 pack 1/16 brass bullet weight 1 pack 1/32 bullet weight 1 pack 1/64 bullet weight seems like finesse and power fishing all in one package, lately I have been a sucker for white baits. Although I did resist buying a couple different vision 110 in a color that I don’t have including a matte white stain reaction, gill colors. It was very hard but I have way too many jerkbaits as it is.

Well I went to Austin lake in portage again today, I stopped at the local tackle store before I went and decided what to throw. My choices were good apparently, I caught 4 fish in 30 minutes. This park gets pounded a lot so catching anything is a win, no big fish for sure. But catching fish were people usually don’t is a win in my book. Baits of the day a super fluke and dolive beaver. I just enjoy fishing and have fun trying out new rods. My phenix m1 vortex ml casting rod got broken in and blown over by the wind at least five times, oh well it’s gear and I can’t control the wind.

Yeah I threw my gobious the other day it seemed to do good on snags, hook is a thinner wire than the dark sleeper. It helps to get it back when hung, a pike stole my 3/8 one though. Oh well that’s fishing, if you are afraid to loose lures or terminal you are leaving fish behind.

Yeah I caught a couple more that I didn’t photograph, but there are healthy and swimming lol. Mostly a tube in yellow mustard and a 4” senko wacky rig. I threw a line through swim bait head before the pike stole it, I watched him run down current and knew that it would no end well and twang went the limp line. I did break in my 893c jwr NRX+ today and it felt superb and responsive. My fluorocarbon was from last year and a little bit unruly on my slx mgl but I made it work, heck I even hooked a piece of old rope in the river rofl. I just enjoy being out there and talking with fellow anglers that show up at the same spot that I am at, I also get intel on new spots so that’s good also.

They all have their time and place, use what you want really. I like fluorocarbon in the river on casting setups, I also use braid in the river. I like 8lb braid on my spinning reels, the casting distance is amazing and breaking off is fairly easy. I have used mono in the past for jigs and it works for them also. I like braid for heavy cover but you can use heavier fluorocarbon depending on cover. I guess to sum it up use your favorite and have fun, if it works who can say that you are wrong.

I caught a few today on a variety of different plastics and got to fight a 26” or bigger pike for a little while before it bit through my fluorocarbon. I still have a blast even if the size is lacking, I am still catching fish on this gorgeous day.

A couple more things, I like the line through heads. Although they are hard to find locally, 1/8-3/8. The 4” senkos buy one get 50% off just like the crush city. I didn’t really need them but I wanted them for sure.

No he didn’t file a complaint lol. I was starting to get tired of it and saw my electric trimmers setting around while moving some stuff around and thought that I should use them again. Oh well I can grow one again if I get the urge to not shave for a while.

Great Lakes finesse juvy craw I think.

Yeah the beard finally went after 4 months or so lol. My pants got wet do to the water level being higher do to the recent rain today, along with climbing on the hill like a spider monkey with my two rods in my hand and tackle bag on my back to reach my wall.

Caught one today on a tube. On my 7 foot wall lol.

Yes I catch a lot of smallies out of the Kalamazoo river for sure. Not huge but they make up for it with there fiesty behavior lol. And I get to fish some of the craziest spots for them. Like today I was standing on a concrete wall on the edge of the spillway that was seven plus feet tall and I had to pull myself up to climb it. Along with traversing a wet moss covered rock with a rod in one hand and a backpack on my back. It’s always a fun adventure and that’s why I love it.

I caught a couple more today, one on a wacky rig and one on a swing head jig.

Yeah she definitely pulled good and hard in the current, but she was no match for my megabass tequila baccarat rod. The underspin is a mustad tactical bass infiltrator blade weighted swim bait hook. Local shops don’t have much in the way of owner flashy swimmer only 6/0 with a 3/8 weight. I thought that these ones had more throat to them to clear the hunk of plastic better.

A couple from a 30 minute trip to the river.

That’s the reason why I love fishing in the river, they might be small but they fight like crazy. My 745c Kaden is a heavy rod and they put a nice bend in it.

They sure are pure muscle, no doubt about it.

Well I caught 4 in a hour on 4 different plastics lol.

Well I had an interesting 2.5 hours of fishing after work today. I caught 5 in the time that I fished and I had a big pike more than likely, I doubt that it was a musky give me one heck of a fight. I got it within 5 feet of the bank and saw its size. Probably 35 inches plus and thrashing away in the shallows, the biggest one that I have ever stuck. My poor little dobyns 745c was no match for the fish, I felt like I was not in control of the battle. Tried my best to get the thing in through the narrow gaps along the bank, but the fish was not having any of that. Ended up snapping a point of the #3 treble hook and just swam off. The hook broke near the shank. I was honored to hook a fish like that but I really would have liked to have landed it but oh well. Looks like my tequila baccara might just have a new target species to break it in on. All in all it was a good day.