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]

Which one of you is this?

"For The Win
For The Win
Kansas angler's historic crappie catch breaks 59-year-old record
Story by Pete Thomas • 1h ago

A Kansas angler was recognized Tuesday for his recent catch of a massive white crappie that broke a 59-year-old state record"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...e40f5b37&ei=43

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by threebag

We went out today and cleared some turtles off the ponds. It was a lot of fun, lawn chair, cold beer and some music… while my boy plinked away with the .22

Ever tried a floating turtle trap?



We used to make them out of 2x4's. Just make a frame for a cube and cover all but one side with wire mesh. Then pound a few nails to the inside of the open end, pointed downward into the cube. Put some chicken livers in it and they'll crawl over the top of the cage to get in but the nails prevent them from getting back out.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by loochy

Then fish more. At some point you'll get consistently good enough that you'll never get skunked

I am going more often. My biggest lack of skill in it is choosing the right lure for the conditions.

Other issue is tying them on. Arthritis in hands makes it hard.

[tooge]

Originally Posted by Graystoke

Let me know your stream destinations. Most of the time I haunt my favorite stream which has a significant portion on private property. I have managed to get permission and now all I have to do is text the landowners and let them aware I am on the property. Its a great setup as I hate fishing anywhere near folks. Plus this place has major Browns roaming around.

Will do. I've fished central and northern Wisconsin but not the driftless area specifically.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by penguinz

I am going more often. My biggest lack of skill in it is choosing the right lure for the conditions.

Other issue is tying them on. Arthritis in hands makes it hard.

This is about the easiest way to tie a terminal knot that I've found:


You can buy clips so you dont have to tie lures on.
https://www.basspro.com/SearchDisplay#q=snaps

Choosing lures can be a puzzle. Took me decades to figure out which baits to tie on in given situations. Fortunately, now we have YouTube, and there are millions of clips about how to choose which baits for a given situation.

Here's some vids that can be helpful. I'd stick with the top-10 or so.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...r+bass+fishing

In general, keep things simple. In clearer water/bright days, fish smaller and light colors. Darker, larger baits in murky water/low light.

Soft plastics like worms (I like Roboworms and Berkeley Power Worms/baits) are a go-to in most freshwater., 4"-6" most of the time.

Oh, we're in spring, so use a lot of white colored baits. White and Red, otherwise known as "clown" should be top producers at this time of year.

Play around with sink rate; try some light weighted lures for slow falling action, and some heavy baits, until the fish tell you what they want to eat.

Work baits slower this time of year, faster as the water warms up.

Anyway, hope some of that helps.

[Megatron96]

Basic tutorial on how to bass fish in the spring, prespawn. I'm guessing that where you guys are, this is what stage the fish are at:


Here, we already have fish beginning to bed.

[ChiefsFan63]

I fished some farm ponds on Monday with Dad, wife, and daughter. We caught over 20 largemouth bass total, cleaning 11. Biggest was 2 1/2 pounds. It was a great day to fish. The water was fairly muddy, but I've seen much worse. They were still pretty light in color and the bite was kind of light. Fish tacos that night were AMAZING!!!

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

This is about the easiest way to tie a terminal knot that I've found:


You can buy clips so you dont have to tie lures on.
https://www.basspro.com/SearchDisplay#q=snaps

Choosing lures can be a puzzle. Took me decades to figure out which baits to tie on in given situations. Fortunately, now we have YouTube, and there are millions of clips about how to choose which baits for a given situation.

Here's some vids that can be helpful. I'd stick with the top-10 or so.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...r+bass+fishing

In general, keep things simple. In clearer water/bright days, fish smaller and light colors. Darker, larger baits in murky water/low light.

Soft plastics like worms (I like Roboworms and Berkeley Power Worms/baits) are a go-to in most freshwater., 4"-6" most of the time.

Oh, we're in spring, so use a lot of white colored baits. White and Red, otherwise known as "clown" should be top producers at this time of year.

Play around with sink rate; try some light weighted lures for slow falling action, and some heavy baits, until the fish tell you what they want to eat.

Work baits slower this time of year, faster as the water warms up.

Anyway, hope some of that helps.

[threebag]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Ever tried a floating turtle trap?



We used to make them out of 2x4's. Just make a frame for a cube and cover all but one side with wire mesh. Then pound a few nails to the inside of the open end, pointed downward into the cube. Put some chicken livers in it and they'll crawl over the top of the cage to get in but the nails prevent them from getting back out.

I might have to make one of these with my son. Probably not as fun as plinking them with a .22

The cost of the round is about the same .22lr I think was $.06 and the .223 were like $.07. Have thousands of both, just like tearing shit up

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFan63

I fished some farm ponds on Monday with Dad, wife, and daughter. We caught over 20 largemouth bass total, cleaning 11. Biggest was 2 1/2 pounds. It was a great day to fish. The water was fairly muddy, but I've seen much worse. They were still pretty light in color and the bite was kind of light. Fish tacos that night were AMAZING!!!

Ha. Way to go. This reminds me of as a kid we got to fish a farmers pond out by Medicine Lodge it was drying up so the farmer said catch all we can and we were making a game not to catch fish and we would catch them without bait. We caught over 20 that we took home to fry. What a badass day that was. Never had a day like that again. We were throwing in hooks and reeling in as fast as we could and still catch them lol

It's sad though when farm ponds dry up.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by threebag

I might have to make one of these with my son. Probably not as fun as plinking them with a .22

The cost of the round is about the same .22lr I think was $.06 and the .223 were like $.07. Have thousands of both, just like tearing shit up

Oh the rifle is definitely more fun.

But a floating trap like that is EFFECTIVE.

We could clean out a pond in a couple of days.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by tooge

Crappie are hitting well in small lakes and ponds near KC. Should be spawning here in a couple weeks.

I need to get down to Truman soon and get my boat on the water to make sure it is ready once they go. Hopefully the weather stays decent and doesn't **** up the spawn.

[Megatron96]

Some pics of some of the fish I caught a couple three weeks ago

Some kind of shad, about a foot long:


Common carp, less than 10 lbs


Another common, over 25 inches


Silly cat






Funny thing is, they all ate the exact same fly, a clown Clouser minnow I tied maybe 15 years ago. So did the three white bass I caught that day, though for some reason I can't find the pics of those fish. Post when i find them.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Some pics of some of the fish I caught a couple three weeks ago

Some kind of shad, about a foot long:


Common carp, less than 10 lbs


Another common, over 25 inches


Silly cat






Funny thing is, they all ate the exact same fly, a clown Clouser minnow I tied maybe 15 years ago. So did the three white bass I caught that day, though for some reason I can't find the pics of those fish. Post when i find them.

Truly amazing array of fish caught off a fly, even got a channel cat to bite I mean wtf... thats some wizardry right there

[Megatron96]

Found one white bass pic: