Bazoo

Found a couple today at a private pond. An Ozark Trail crankbait and an H2OX topwater. I actually have had some good success with Ozark Trails crankbaits at a favorite river spot. It seems the action does well with the way I fish into the current.

An hour today produced this little guy. It was mighty cold out there and the water was 2' high.

There is some wisdom in that. For me, throwing a subtle soft plastic bait is a technique I use when fishing pressured waters. After that, I then switch to a crankbait or other more noisy/intrusive lures. My thinking is that pressured fish will be more likely to commit to a subtle lure first, and if I use a crankbait, they are more likely to shut down feeding until all fishing activity ceases.

I use this https://www.academy.com/p/h2ox-premier-worm-binder I dropped the plastic box it came with, and most of the plastic organizers. 2 3600 boxes will fit in the main compartment, along with 1 of plastic organizers for a handful of spinnerbaits. Soft plastics and terminal tackle go in the front compartment. From this I change to just 1 3600 box and added more soft plastics to the main compartment depending on what I'm wanting to focus on. It's all less than 5 pounds no matter what I do, and it's pretty comfortable and reliable. I've using this bag exclusively for over a year now.

Guess I won't expect to have a private and exclusive guided fishing expedition when I visit... I own 18 acres. I let 1 friend hunt, and I let 1 shoot on my private range. Actual friends, and not just folks I met through others. I don't let others use my land because I use it, and it's not that much land when you consider over half of it you can't shoot safely due to neighbors. There is actually very few places I consider safe, I'll guess I have 4-5 acres that is huntable. The critters love the rest. I hate to turn people away, but I tell them, I use my land and I don't want to be crowded. That said, if I met someone that wanted an introduction to hunting, I'd likely invite them. But they wouldn't have a forever hunting spot, rather, they'd have a mentor that would help them find their own spots.

Howdy and welcome. With no other information to go on, I'd say you need to focus on a small handful of lures. Those lures I think would perhaps change depending on location, but would be safe to say these are core lures everywhere. -Squarebill crankbaits that dive to about 5' in colors gold or shad -5" Senko worms with or without a bullet weight in colors green pumpkin and whatever else suits you -Zoom finesse worms and Trick worms in colors white, watermelon red, green pumpkin. I'd rig this weightless, or with a split shot rig. -Rebel pop R for a topwater -3/8oz white or white/chartreuse spinnerbait, double willow in spring/summer/fall For me, those would be solid go to lures for just about anywhere, and I think most here would be able to do well with them also. My secret lure, though, is a bit uncommon, but is widely available. Zoom fat albert grubs in green pumpkin. But instead of rigging it on a jig head that is common for grubs, I texas rig it. I usually use a 2/0 gamakasu extra wide gap hook with a 1/16 oz bullet weight. It is something the fish doesn't see a lot rigged this way, and I use it in place of the popular ned rig. I would limit my tackle selection to those, or no more than 1 more, and I would focus on shallow water areas where they would work. Master these, then move on to other lures, other depths, and new techniques.

Bible study isn't mandatory, but I do enjoy it, so I do try to attend. We usually have some sort of potluck as well. I appreciate everyone's insight.

Interesting replies, thanks all. Yeah, I do like to squeeze in time before bible study, this time of year, but during summer, I usually have an hour after bible study before it gets dark. Often I'll hit it an hour before, and an hour after. I do try to be rigged with what I want to use, but in yesterday's trip I was trying the new rod for the first time and didn't have it strung. I normally take 2 rods, one for hard lures and one for soft plastics. My go to plastics generally will use the same hook so I might change from a grub to a worm. I am pretty adept at stringing and tying lures though. I do try to limit myself on lure changes, with 1 change. So if I'm fishing a crankbait I will switch to topwater, which I did yesterday. I did have 1 little guy swipe at my topwater.

Today I had only a bout 30 minutes to fish before bible study. I almost decided to not even bother, but I figured 30 minutes is better than nothing. I was able to connect with a little guy: Having only such a short time, I know the odds are against me, but I planned my lure choices beforehand and I was basically ready to go when I got there. Save 2 minutes to put the line through the guides and tie on the hook. There have been other times in the past, especially before bible study or church, that I only have 30-45 minutes to fish. The fishing hole is right next door, but having such a short time means I have to fish right next to where I park, and not do a lot of lure swaps. So what does everyone else do in this situation?

Dang @Pat Brown , congratulations! --------------------- I just got my first of the season. I had fished a few times over the course of winter, but hadn't had any success. Then, I started having a bit less time, and I made a 3 week trip to California to visit a friend. I came back to nice weather! There was 6" of snow on the ground when I went to the airport. I had only about 30 minutes before bible study today, but I got this little guy with a Fat Albert grub. New Cherrywood rod I'm trying out, so far so good. It does much better than the $25 price tag would have you believe. I only wish it had about 3 more eyes down it's length.

I have been to 3 or 4 gun stores, and to 3 different ranges so far. I haven't seen the first rebel flag though. It's about like Kentucky as far as the guns and attitude. It is quite pretty. I was able to check out some fishing stuff at a local sporting goods store. Found an interesting crankbait. Brads wee wiggler. Looks like a copy of the wiggle wart. I've never seen one where I come from, though I checked and they can be had through the normal channels online.

I had not thought of that, thank you for bringing that to my attention.

Thanks.

I did learn some about how to replace tiptops. I was in need of a new tiptop (for a different rod than the Zebco) I mentioned. I removed a stainless tiptop from a cheap rod and put it on the other rod. It worked for a month and even though I was running mono, it grooved. Course I probably fished it 40 hours during that period. I got to get a better glue, the glue I got is Custom Rod Builders off ebay, and it's so soft when dry that I can force the tiptop to move. But It was suitable practice and I think I have it figured out. I'm still using the old Zebco, and it's still holding up. I sured up a loose guide with clear nail polish.

I started by getting the Berkley Cherrywood spinning rod from walmart. It might just be an interim or it might be the end. The only thing I don't really like about it is that it's 7' - I prefer a 6'6". It was less than $30 with tax, so my expectations aren't super high. My major concern is that I've seen some bad reviews of Cherrywoods breaking/mechanical failure. But also some reviews were folks used them for many years. The Cherrywood is rated 1/8-3/4oz while the Lightning is rated 1/4-5/8oz. It feels softer in the tip, and while it's rated just 'Medium', the same as my Lightning rod, it is a bit lighter overall. We shall see how it casts and how it holds up. I'm still on the search for a breakdwon casting rod. They didn't have any Cherrywood casting rods in the store, and for that matter, the only breakdown casting rod they had was an Ozark trail and it wasn't suitable. First, it was M/H, but thats just personal preference. The guides were quite tall, as tall as a spinning rod's guides. And the overall quality just looked poor.