Hey folks, 

 

Got a trip to the North GA mountains in a few weeks, and the house we're staying at is right on a stream/creek. I plan to spend a large portion of my vacation making use of that water access.

 

The bait monkey has been demanding this past year, so I have boxes of darn near every type of plastic, from flukes, paddle tails, swim baits, trick worms, 10" worms, 12" worms, frogs, craws, ned rig stuff, etc. Just picked up several packs of Dinger/Senko yesterday. I also have a ton of chatterbaits, jerkbaits, cranks, jigs, etc.

 

In short, I am a mini Bass Pro.

My question is, given I've never tried to fish moving water before: anything in particular I should purchase before I go? I imagine the waters will have species I am used to: small mouth, large mouth, crappie, bream/sunfish, possibly trout.

 

I need to keep my spending in check, but I also wanna nail some fish while on this stream! I am not certain of the stream size, unfortunately.

 

Tight lines!

All that stuff will work in moving water!  You should be good!

The bait monkey wants you to buy some chartreuse grubs and some ball head jigs. 

The bait monkey always gets his way 

I would go online and  find out as much as you can about the stream and any surrounding bodies of water that you might be able to fish.  You can plan your attack and limit disappointments at the same time.

35 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

The bait monkey wants you to buy some chartreuse grubs and some ball head jigs. 

What size ball head and how long on the grubs? May already have em, but need to be sure!

I hate to encourage the Bait Monkey, but I would not go fishing on a creek or small stream without some inline spinners.   Size 3 Vibrax and Mepps are my favorite, but Rooster Tails, and Panther Martin work great too.  If the water is deep and the current slow, than inline spinners will work, but not as well as other lures.  If it is small and shallow, than you might not need anything else.  

If I were in your situation I would make sure my ML spinning rods are ready to roll.  2-3" grubs or little boot tailed swimbaits like Keitechs on the lightest head you can get away with from 1/32-1/16 should do well.  I always liked Bluefox minnow spins, they're like an inline spinner except they have a bigger profile and they cast better.   

Bait monkey says: "Pick up some Mepp's spinners and some RoadRunners."

4 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

I always liked Bluefox minnow spins, they're like an inline spinner except they have a bigger profile and they cast better.

I've always been partial to Mepps Comet - same idea...bass, walleye, panfish, northern, trout...all have 'fallen' for the Comet.

Do you have a second (or third) mortgage on your home in order to feed your fishing habit?  If no, than you need to continue to listen to the baitmonkey.

Do you have enough tackle? No the answer is always no. Even after the divorce is final..you need to leave the courthouse, go home and get on tacklewarehouse. There's nothing wrong with you..its everybody else.

1 minute ago, Ratherbfishing said:

Do you have a second (or third) mortgage on your home in order to feed your fishing habit?  If no, than you need to continue to listen to the baitmonkey.

I shoulda known better than to ask fellow bait junkies

All you guys a terrible!  LMAO ?!  Always have to get that monkey going don't ya!  LMAO ?

3 hours ago, Capriceragtop said:

What size ball head and how long on the grubs? May already have em, but need to be sure!

Getfishordietryin already nailed it. 

4 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

The bait monkey always gets his way 

 

Creeks & rivers are different from reservoirs & ponds.   The original poster might have the gear on hand and he might not.   Do some research.  I know I probably wouldn't take a bait caster to fish on a small creek - oh wait a minute, seems like the last time I fished the Gasconade ( south kinda central Missouri - in the Ozarks)  I did bring my Curado 150 DC and a short spinner bait rod with me to the party.   Several 15" small mouth wanted that War Eagle Screaming Eagle.   Jigs & soft plastics caught most of the fish that day though and a bait caster wouldn't have been the wisest choice that day.  Current was a slow walking speed, but it was moving and you only got one shot at each object and you were moving fast enough that you had to pick & choose which object.   Spinning gear worked better for that.   I think the advice about something to throw in-line spinners is good advice.

Bait Monkey says, EVERY stream fisherman needs some Z-Man Slim Swimz in his life.

Well, I managed to find some pics of the creek the house is on. Saw a nice stringer of trout, too.

 

Bait monkey got his hooks real deep in me today, boys. Picked up a bunch of Nikko soft plastics, some neko rig weights, some extra grubs, 2.5" and 3" swimmers, as well as some more spinners. I'll probably snag some more things like Mepp's and Rooster Tails locally.

 

And since I moved my main Lew's baitcaster reel to a heavy rod, leaving an empty medium rod, I also picked up a Curado 70 MGL for light work like T-rig trick worms, flukes, etc.

 

So I'll have 3 spinning setups and 3 casting, ranging from finesse to heavy duty.

 

I know I won't use all this gear on this stream, but there is a sizeable lake nearby, and I'm taking a kayak.

 

Thanks for all the advice, folks, as well as enabling another addiction!

If the river is in northern Georgia, it may be stocked with trout. You may want to check GA regulations on that particular river.

I'm in SC and many of our mountain streams are stocked with trout. We dont have too many regulations on most of our rivers.

25 minutes ago, mrpao said:

You may want to check GA regulations on that particular river.

Excellent advice. Based on what I can find, I'll be north of the designated trout areas, but there's a tackle shop nearby, so I'll call em. I'm taking a fly rod for practice, but don't know how lucky I'll be.

 

Hoping to smash some smallmouth and crappie.

59 minutes ago, Capriceragtop said:

Well, I managed to find some pics of the creek the house is on. Saw a nice stringer of trout, too.

 

Bait monkey got his hooks real deep in me today, boys. Picked up a bunch of Nikko soft plastics, some neko rig weights, some extra grubs, 2.5" and 3" swimmers, as well as some more spinners. I'll probably snag some more things like Mepp's and Rooster Tails locally.

 

And since I moved my main Lew's baitcaster reel to a heavy rod, leaving an empty medium rod, I also picked up a Curado 70 MGL for light work like T-rig trick worms, flukes, etc.

 

So I'll have 3 spinning setups and 3 casting, ranging from finesse to heavy duty.

 

I know I won't use all this gear on this stream, but there is a sizeable lake nearby, and I'm taking a kayak.

 

Thanks for all the advice, folks, as well as enabling another addiction!

I would tell the Bait Monkey to go bother some one else.  For that stream all you need is some inline spinners, a floating Rapala and a medium light spinning rod.  Many other lures will work, but if the entire river is like what is in the picture, than a pocket full of spinners is all you need. Of course if you want to do some fly fishing, than the Bait Monkey can spend a considerable amount of cash on a pretty stream like this. 

33 minutes ago, king fisher said:

For that stream all you need is some inline spinners, a floating Rapala and a medium light spinning rod.

Sounds like going back to the fishing of my childhood.

 

I've got plenty of em, but I hadn't thought of bringing floating Rapalas.

 

I think I've got a Mepps Comet or something similar, too.