The Fishing Thread

[Easy 6]

Searched around & only found the video fishing & BassMasters threads, i know their are plenty of outdoorsman here, so i figured it'd be cool to draw upon the Planets vast experience in all things fishing.

I only use spincast reels & fish mostly large/smallmouth bass & cats. My choice of reels is quite the source of derision from many people i know 'duffer gear', but i haul in my share of 6 pound bass & 10-20 pound cats on that gear no problem. With a little know-how you can use just about any technique you want to on 'duffer gear'.

Berkley Powerbaits are a big part of my trick bag, the difference between those & regular stuff is night & day. My best action last summer came on Mister Twister scented white curly tail grubs, on one day fishing from shore to a bridge pier, i caught smallies, bigmouths, perch & even 1 carp believe it or not... great day. But my bread & butter is a texas rigged Berkley worm, it'll wiggle through any kind of cover without getting hung up.

With cats i strictly bottom fish, no bobber & bait is just as basic... but its always in 2's to give'em a real treat... a shrimp/with a nightcrawler, liver/chunk of cheese etc. Cats are mostly for night sport to me, time to kick back a lil...

So thats me style, how do the rest of you guys get your fish on? What do you fish for, what do you use? IIRC Missouri's trout season just kicked off, anyone getting anything?

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Strongside

Megatron, I’m planning a fly trip to WY in late august/early September. We have a few spots identified but would love any tips you might have with regard to location.

I've only fished a couple rivers in WY thus far. The Green and Ham's Fork just outside of Kemmerer. I'll ask Big Mac for some spots. If he gives my anything, I'll PM you.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Graystoke

Putting the Green River on my list now.
Pretty jealous here Megatron.
I was going to post my 19" Iowa Browns recently caught but now I will just forget about it.

Haha, yeah the Green is, well just a great river.

Post them sumbitches! This place needs more fish porn! Besides, your pics might convince me to head east one of these days.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Graystoke

Putting the Green River on my list now.
Pretty jealous here Megatron.
I was going to post my 19" Iowa Browns recently caught but now I will just forget about it.

DO IT! JUST DO IT MAN!

[Strongside]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

I've only fished a couple rivers in WY thus far. The Green and Ham's Fork just outside of Kemmerer. I'll ask Big Mac for some spots. If he gives my anything, I'll PM you.

My man.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Strongside

My man.

Just remembered a conversation we had during the trip around the campfire. I know the names Snake R., Firehole, East Fork of the Wind R., and the North Platte (Gray Reef) were mentioned as future landing spots. Maybe Mac will give me slightly more specific coordinates. Standby.

I will say right now that if you're looking for very technical, very challenging fishing, Ham's Fork is the place. relatively small water, slow moving and clear, overgrown steep-sided banks, 6x or smaller tippet a necessity and torpedoes the main quarry.

[Why Not?]

Guys I could use some pointers. Just moved back to KC (Overland Park area). Been years so I don’t remember the local scene real well. Where are some good spots close by to fish? I would love to take my sons out over the next few weeks. Also if any of you live in the area and have kids in the 8-12 range, and you want to do a fishing meetup, let me know. Thanks

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Just remembered a conversation we had during the trip around the campfire. I know the names Snake R., Firehole, East Fork of the Wind R., and the North Platte (Gray Reef) were mentioned as future landing spots. Maybe Mac will give me slightly more specific coordinates. Standby.

I will say right now that if you're looking for very technical, very challenging fishing, Ham's Fork is the place. relatively small water, slow moving and clear, overgrown steep-sided banks, 6x or smaller tippet a necessity and torpedoes the main quarry.

Forgot the last challenge: 20+ mph winds. But if you get a fish to rise, it's like trying to wrangle a donkey with 20 ft. of dental floss.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Guys I could use some pointers. Just moved back to KC (Overland Park area). Been years so I don’t remember the local scene real well. Where are some good spots close by to fish? I would love to take my sons out over the next few weeks. Also if any of you live in the area and have kids in the 8-12 range, and you want to do a fishing meetup, let me know. Thanks

Wyandotte co. Lake?

I haven't lived in kc for years but that used to be a thing

[TrebMaxx]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Guys I could use some pointers. Just moved back to KC (Overland Park area). Been years so I don’t remember the local scene real well. Where are some good spots close by to fish? I would love to take my sons out over the next few weeks. Also if any of you live in the area and have kids in the 8-12 range, and you want to do a fishing meetup, let me know. Thanks

It's been awhile but I remember good fishing at Pomona.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Strongside

My man.

Got some gouge for ya, but busy right now. I’ll pm you later.

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

Wyandotte co. Lake?

I haven't lived in kc for years but that used to be a thing

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by TrebMaxx

It's been awhile but I remember good fishing at Pomona.

Thank you. I’ll check it out for sure

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Anybody found this site. Jimmy is a really great communicator. He gives a little inspiration every morning along with a fishing tip. It's a good way to start the day. He lives in Oklahoma. Wonder if he's a Chiefs fan?

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

Anybody found this site. Jimmy is a really great communicator. He gives a little inspiration every morning along with a fishing tip. It's a good way to start the day. He lives in Oklahoma. Wonder if he's a Chiefs fan?

I like his style, and the drop shot is a great rigging tip

My tip for hot and clear mid afternoon conditions is throw the book at shade and cover

Fished the local, beaten to death lake last week and got a nice 4 pound largemouth... I’d thrown everything at this shady bay, particularly the shady side of this one big overhanging tree

My trusty beetle spinner, a Texas rig plastic and a Rapala crank bait... and NOTHING worked til I went old school with live red wigglers and a bobber on a tiny bait hook

[Megatron96]

Man lives in OK.

My tip for August fishing: Stay home with the A/C turned way down.

Just kidding.

Something me and my friend Howard came up with: Tie a gold/silver double barrel swivel to your line, then tie about a foot of line to the other end of the swivel. Then tie on a 1/0-2/0 hook and slip (Texas rig) a 6-inch straight tail onto the hook.

Note: this is what we used to call a 'weightless T-rig,' and you have to use either a spinning rig or an ultralight baitcasting rig to cast the thing.

Anyway, cast to weeds, deadfalls, shadelines, rip-rap, some kind of structure that would get fish out of direct sunlight. Then on a semi-tight line allow the rig to fall on a count. I usually started with ten seconds, and worked my way up to as much as 30 seconds. This rig drops at about a half foot per second.

Then as slowly as possible, reel it in. Like turn the handle about a quarter turn for every 5 seconds kind of slow. Short 3-4 seconds pauses every full turn. All the way back to you, or until the rig is in full sunlight again.

The swivel is a tiny prey item that the worm is stalking. This can and will provoke a predatory response from bass, even when they aren't all that interested in actually eating. They just can't resist getting in on the hunt.

You can make the thing very enticing depending on how fast you reel, but it should always be pretty slow. Try casting it into the shallows and watch how the worm behaves when you reel that slow; it kind of glides, hovers, twitches into motion then glides some more. It won't take long for you to get the idea.

2nd note: This is a light line technique. Most spinning rigs aren't spooled with more than 8-lb. test anyway, but just in case, I wouldn't go higher than 10-lbs to the swivel. Off the back of the swivel I'd try to go a bit lighter. like from 8-lbs. to 6-lbs. Or 10 to 8.

That being said, obviously you aren't going to be fishing this in heavy cover, but rather along cover, maybe a foot or two off. Which is why you need to allow it to drop on semi-tight line, so you can feel any take and set the hook quickly before that fish runs back into his hole.

Anyway, I've caught some nice fish on the thing, and more importantly for this time of year, I've been able to get some action when everyone else is just straining water.