FishTax

I'll say it. Buy big game mono, catch fish, be happy for cheap. Forget floro.

With regard to my previous thread on the kast king scale, I ended up buying another one of those because of price. I realized that mine became damaged from me abusing it (I left in floor of kayak, dropped fish and other things on it, etc.) and I just need to take better care of it. It is waterproof and floats. I'm reckless with damaging and losing equipment, so a nice scale would go to an expensive grave quickly in my setup. If I had a nice boat with protected, dedicated storage, I may buy something nicer. Probably not though.

They have 20% off almost all fishing stuff online right now. Their tungsten is fine, that stuff is generic no reason to use name brand. I don't like their line, I just use big game (also on sale there right now). Their rods/reels are ok. Have tried a couple, I like to add about $20 and get a name brand that is much better most of the time. Their hard baits are known to be great, I don't throw hard baits a ton so don't know.

2 bottles of water and a pack of nabs always. If longer than 5 hrs and I brought a cooler, I'll bring a turkey sandwich and additional drinks. I like the premade sandwich from the cooler at food lion. Also frozen purple seedless grapes are great in summer. In the winter I'll bring a protein bar and coffee, but they melt too fast in the summer. I like gatorade bottle as well. When it's empty it's a perfect urinal. I'm on a kayak, pedal drive burns less than paddling probably but still a lot over 4-6 hours so I have to refuel or start feeling pretty hungry. On a boat with motor I consume about half as much food and am totally fine. In the summer I always hydrate well before getting to the launch as well. If you start dehydrated this time of year you can get in trouble fast and can't really fix the deficit while fishing and sweating, so I like an electrolyte drink and additional water totaling 35-50oz prior to launching in the summer. Last year I was very close to heat exhaustion or something, so I've been much more intentional ever since that episode.

Had a great time with @Pat Brown and @LrgmouthShad the last few days even though the bite has been tough. Adding to Pats post, here is my fish from Little local lake and a larger one from the larger reservoir. The tropical storm jacked things up here, as well as causing some devastation in my home town here around Graham and Burlington, but thankfully no one in my family has any major damage.

Patience and no pressure. Lots of praise. He'll learn fast is he's interested. He may not stay interested long if no bites, don't force it and try but to show disappointment. Every kid is different but those are my tips.

I think they are schooled up so they are harder to find, but easier to pattern when you can find them in my experience. It helps to have other locals you can talk to so you know what fish are doing (or not doing) when you aren't out there. @Pat Brown and I text pretty much daily about what we are seeing and for me that is extremely helpful and eliminates much wasted time on the water!

Went out for a little over 2 hours after work yesterday evening. Beat my previous record by a lot on quantity for this lake! I couldn't believe how hot the bite has been in my honey hole. I think I caught 12 including white bass. Those things are fat, healthy, and fun to reel in. I'm hoping to keep some this weekend and make tacos for July Fourth. Very excited to take @Pat Brownand @LrgmouthShad to my honey hole this weekend. I'm hoping the bite is still strong as it has been. I don't think I went 10 min without a bite. Missed several bites and had a few shake off by the boat but still caught numbers in what has historically been a very tough lake.

I have the donkey leash, because of this post. I have it permanently tied to my kayak. I love it. Used it yesterday! I will say I struggle to release it from the fish mouth, but that's clearly because I'm an idiot because I think it's really easy to use for someone who isn't a troglodyte. I just can't figure out the release mechanism. As far as a fish getting off, anything is possible but it seems pretty unlikely to me. I think a small fish would get off easier as a big fish has a bigger lip to latch onto so less likely to slip. I highly doubt this thing would break though, it's very well made.

I blow through jigs in wood and rock fast enough that rust never becomes a factor for me. That said, I occasionally find one stashed away from months ago and they didn't usual have rust either. Maybe bc no oxygen gets through plastic or something, I'm no scientist. What will wreck a hook fast is leaving submerged in water pool in kayak, like a cupholder with no drain hole. Oops.

I ended up just buying another kastking. It's less than half the price of everything else I considered. I'll just be more careful with the screen in the future.

Sure. I think if you threw a confidence baits more than a dozen days without a bite when you were sure you would get one, you may lose some confidence. But you won't lose the experience so i think never back to like no confidence level such as my status with a whopper plopper. That's actually a great example because many people in my area loved those a few years ago and now I don't know anyone in the state throwing one consistently.

Confidence definitely matters. Hard to put into words why. Maybe it's because of so much experience with a lure that built that confidence. Maybe it's because you keep that lure tied on longer so statistically more likely to get bit. Maybe it's paranormal. It definitely matters though.

Agree with @GreenPig. Lost many a shaky head in rock.

All of the above. When I cut them off I lay them somewhere to dry. At some point they make it into a tackle backpack storage or a Plano box. Generally they are just everywhere. Hard to leave home without them that way!

I caught a white bass and a large mouth on a white bucktail yesterday. Photo in latest pics thread. I was working it slowly swimming it off a ledge in a quarry that goes from 12' to 35' straight down. Many other things were working as well but you can really bomb these hair jigs and it's just something different they don't see much around here. Definitely wouldn't throw that near wood. It'd be gone in first cast. Open water only for me.

I like @Siebert Outdoors. Forum sponsor. I catch many fish on his stuff and have never had a failure. For ultra cheap, I use strike king stuff on sale. Probably totally mental but I don't like it as much, just doesn't seem to get bit as much. Where are you fishing and what size fish do you generally catch? As Wrb said, the hook is the deal. If you're pulling them out of thick pads, or heavy wood, etc, you need a different jig than fishing open water. I like the heavy grass jigs for certain things, the sniper finesse jigs for some things, and in ponds with no wood and generally open I like the mini swim jig with a split tail trailer and a slow Alabama shake. 😉 Good luck! Jig orders can stack up fast if you fish many different bodies of water. I have a totally different set for my lake and my favorite pond.

I like to keep mine on the kayak outside. That may be a contributing factor and maybe I just need to keep in my gear I bring in. Don't want to though, I want to keep everything possible out there.. Rapala is on my short list. I'd love one with a tape in it too but that's a luxury I don't have to have.

Got out again today, same spot, they were still there! Tried an offshore hair jig and caught a couple on that. Another on a heavy Siebert jig, and one on a lipless. Trip got cut short by a nasty storm unfortunately. I was on a roll. I usually catch about 1 per 90 min on this lake so it's really fun to be getting bites more consistently.

My kastking scale just bit the dust. Something happened to the screen. It's about 2 years old. What does everyone here use for a scale? Pros cons on different models? Seems like price is all over the place on various models. I prefer one with lip gripper included, that is not giant.

Had an awesome 2 hour trip on my kayak too a rock quarry which connects to my local lake. I've never caught a fish there before but today was hard not to catch one. I missed 6 on frog... 2 on lipless, 1 on swim jig. So I did my best to not catch lol. Started by getting a good bite on a heavy Siebert jig. Then missed the frog bites. They were busting on bait balls over 40' water, and also hitting in shallows . I wanted a popper but didn't have one with me, so I settled for a lipless and it did the trick. I was still getting good bites when I left because of early dinner plans, which was sad to abandon a hot bite but I'll definitely be watching this spot the rest of the summer! Even scored one that I think is a white bass but may be a perch. The lines make me think bass but let me know what you think.

You caught a fish. Doesn't sound too bad to me!

I was only out an hour last night, couldn't take it any more. This morning, my fingers and elbows are chewed up good. I'll try long sleeves and gloves next time. How much wind is too much for Thermocell to work? I've never tried it, so I guess I should but just wearing more clothing is much easier. I think I gave my mosquito net head thing to my kids. That'd be nice to have though on those nights when they are buzzing your ears and driving me nuts, I need to locate that thing and bust it out again.

All of the Walmart and academy in my area keep these in stock. Sometimes in a random place though. Not sure how different inventory is out your way though.

To all of you in infested areas, and especially those who night fish, what do you do about mosquitoes? I don't want off on me, or my kayak, or my lures. Skeeters eat my fingers like a golden corral buffet steak night special. Any tricks that actually work? Does thermocell work? Anything else like that which isn't directly on skin? Also I think they bite through my fishing shirts so I'm switching to cotton at night at least. Thanks for any ideas!