Kelroy

Did a wee bit of reading this afternoon. Checked out some other angler forums, and found a poll in Texas where about 80% of respondents fished their dropshot....on a baitcaster. So, 'mog, you can just call it a "Texas dropshot" and be done. But it gets better. Seems there are quite a few on the pro circuit who dropshot with baitcasters, and some of them even refuse to use a "sissy stick" for anything at all. The two most common complaints are: the grip angle of a spinning rod, held horizontally for a few hours, can cause some really bad cramps, and reeling a ds rig up from the depths many times causes horrendous line twist, which is the bane of any spinning reel. The twist can be dealt with either by using those fancy swivel-hook rigs, or simply putting a small barrell swivel about a foot above the hook. Even then, it is sometimes necessary to remove the worm and cast the bare hook/sinker a good ways, and reel it back with the line pinched between thumb and finger. Aaron Martens and Byron Velvick are two of the most popular dropshot anglers, and they both use spinning rigs with 6-8 lb fluoro.....unless they're fishing near timber or heavy cover, in which case they use baitcasters. Yes, baitcasters, spooled up with 10, 12, or 14lb fluoro for pulling fish out of the sticks. When they do this, they don't call it dropshotting, they call it "powershotting." So there ya go, 'mog. You've been on the cutting edge all along. Fish on, bro.

My heart goes out to the brave father whose 17 yr old daughter was nabbed at the street by two gunmen and forced back into her home at gunpoint. They got into the living room and were confronted by the father, and his gun. One of them put his gun to the girl's head and tried to hide behind her. Dad shot both of those turds right there in the living room. One died there, the other slithered away to be caught at the hospital. Mom, dad, daughter without a scratch. "I had no choice" he said. "He had my daughter, I did what I had to do." Seems like a humble man, not likely an IPSC Master, SWAT instructor, or Navy SEAL. Just an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. One thing for sure, he was not in Hollywood. He was in Bevo Mills, south St Louis. June 10 of this year.

Actually, this is the type of rampant absurdity I was referring to. A 50 ft tapeworm seems entirely plausible by comparison. I must confess I just don't 'get' this whole zombie-killer craze. Everything from knives, machetes, ammo, even the guns themselves with stupid zombie or bio-hazard logos on them. Are they marketing to pre-schoolers now? $400 Nikon scopes? $1000 AR's? With the word "ZOMBIE" on the side?? Eugene Stoner would roll over in his grave. What's next? Ninja Turtle switchblades? Hello Kitty hand grenades? It's a miracle Schumer and Bloomerburger and Moms Needing Action aren't already all over this with congressional investigations. Could we please stop marketing deadly weapons to our children? They will discover them soon enough on their own, I promise. Shameful.

First off, what size line are you using? 8lb fluoro is my standard. Try 6 if you can stand it; remember to lighten up your drag accordingly. What is the main reason you are fishing? For money? Food? Fun? If 'fun' factors into the equation, consider how much fun you'll have shucking out a couple hundred for a new rod/reel combo which you already despise. Why? Every time you pick it up you will resent it, you will never get comfortable with it, and eventually it will get relegated to the bottom of the rod locker. After another six months of non-use, you'll end up selling it to a buddy for half what you got in it. Sound like fun? Point to consider- Those fish down there have absolutely no way of telling what the other end of that line is tied to. None. It could be a baitcaster, spinning rod, Zebco, Snoopy, KVD Quantum Smokin super-dooper tournament-grade wigglestick, a Huck Finn Signature Series cane pole, Popeil Pocket Fisherman, a broken pool cue, your big toe. They don't know. Furthermore, they are not even capable of pretending to care. They are only concerned with the 'bottom half' of the tackle equation- the line, hook, worm, etc. The 'upper half' of that equation is your option. Fish to your strength. Use what you use best, what you are comfortable and confident with. Good with a baitcaster? Use a baitcaster. Why choose to use something you hate? Just because it's what the rest of the herd says to do? There is no Book of Hoyle for drop-shotting. There is no magic recipe, except to use whatever puts fish in your boat. Mix it up. Experiment. When everybody thinks the same, nobody is truly thinking. Another point- fishing tackles' first job is not to catch fish, it's to catch fishermen. Where does this mandatory-spinning-rod notion come from? Well that's what KVD uses, or Mike, or Jeff, or blah blah blah. I read it in Bass Times. It's on their website, in the Pro's Corner. "Champion (insert name) uses a 7' medium-fast (insert brand) custom signature-series drop-shot rod, mated with a (insert brand) 2500 series spinning reel, spooled with (insert brand) super braid and a 2 foot leader of (insert brand) tournament-grade fluorocarbon, sporting a zircon-dioxide laser-etched chemically-sharpened #6 (insert brand) drop-shot hook, tipped with his custom hand-poured drop-shot worm of his own design. All available from our web store." It's the same tired script over and over. They use this stuff because they get paid to use it. Because if they can convince you that you have to buy their brand of Chinese mass-produced stuff, that's more profit for their sponsors, and a fatter check for them. Yeah, this will draw a lot of flack from the bovine-mentality herd-followers, but in the end, use your freedom of choice. You don't want a spinning outfit, you don't need a spinning outfit. You absolutely hate spinning tackle, that should settle it.

Absolutely. No harm in going heavier, since the weight basically just sits there. I use the skinny cylindrical weights in 1/4 to 3/8, and the cheap walmart round ones in 3/8 if I start losing a lot. As a co-angler, sometimes my boater doesn't want to slow down for me, so I'll use 5/8 bell sinkers to get deep fast, and for stair-stepping a bluff. I use baitcasters for everything but 1/8 shakys and weightless senkos/flukes/wacky stuff. Your reels should do fine.

I regret using such an unsettling image to make a point, especially since it didn't work. I wish I had used one of those embarrassingly stupid cartoon zombie attack targets instead, as it might have provided an acceptable degree of detachment to succor our more delicate flowers. It still would have reaped a sufficient amount of scorn and dismissive derision, while also failing to get the point across. But fear not, gentlemen, for the experts have enlightened me to the fact that such a frightening scenario, as depicted, cannot possibly happen outside of Hollywood. It is truly unfortunate those two gentlemen in Bevo Mills didn't get the memo back in June.

Holy cow. I was just trying to provide one possible answer to the man's question. Nothing more. Here's the question again for those of you who missed it the first time.. I thought the scenario depicted in the law enforcement training target would be one possible answer. I never said it was likely to happen, in Hollywood or anywhere else for that matter. It was a rhetorical question, about a hypothetical situation. Whether you agree or not, it certainly does not warrant any type of juvenile personal attacks. I was simply giving a sincere answer to what I assumed was a sincere question. I especially take offense at the notion that I am "feeding" anyone "this line of crap about how you are going to be prepared for all these Hollywood scenarios." Can you please provide any kind of factual reference in which I said anything like that? Of course not, because that is YOUR line of crap, not mine.

Something to consider in terms of 'home defense' If you were faced with this scenario from across your living room, in the dark, would you rather have... 1. a shotgun in one hand and a flashlight in the other 2. a laser-mounted pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other 3. both hands on an AR carbine mounted with a light and a laser Food for thought

Much too late. The IRS and ATF already have you targeted for their next roundup, Operation Fast and Flatuous.

I believe that would have to be spelled out in the fine print setting up the trust. Legally, it is the property of the trust, but who controls that is a legal matter. None of my Class III acquaintances have passed away yet, so I'm not sure how that works.

Technically, if it contains all the necessary parts for a true full-auto or select-fire conversion, then yes, it would be subject to federal transfer laws. Just having all the necessary parts, even if they are not installed, constitutes possessing a 'machine gun,' as defined by BATFE. There are also numerous gimmicks that simulate full-auto, such as spring-loaded fulcrums, cranks, and sliding stocks. Since they all require a separate pull of the trigger for each shot, they are still considered semi-auto. As such, they are unregulated.

Full-auto can be done legally, along with short-barreled rifles and suppressors, at least in MO. It just takes a bunch of law enforcement background checks (local, fed), permission from local law enforcement, a $200 federal tax stamp, and about a year for all the paperwork to go through. I'm not sure if personal ownership is allowed, most I'm aware of are licensed through a legal trust.

Very handy rig, JD.

Don't give up, Jimithy. I will not pretend to know all there is to know about fishing. The more I learn, the more I realize how much there is left to figure out. I will go out on a limb and generalize a bit, and say that based on all my experience, if you tumble a live craw down a riffle and into a pool and something doesn't absolutely hammer it, you are fishing some empty water. Same thing with minnows or worms. If you can't catch something on live bait, consider there is nothing there worth catching, and look for new water. Sounds to me like all the streams around Springfield have been thrashed already. And don't forget, it's been darned hot, the water is low and clear (making them easier to spook), and the bite has been tough everywhere. Another bait you should try, mentioned earlier, is a white fluke. I like a white or pearl Fluke Jr texas rigged weightless on a 2/0 EWG. Give it the ol' drift and twitch around some cover near a current break. Or drift it down a riffle into a pool. Sometimes they want it skimming fast on the surface. Play around with it, and if they see something they like, they will let you know.

Ditto on the Zara Puppy at walmart. Black, clear, and bone white are favorite colors, and a blue/chrome, baby bass, or bullfrog occasionally show up in the bin. At $1.50 a whack, get yourself a handful. I think the smaller size is a wee bit harder to walk, but once you figure it out, it's just a matter of practice. IMO the smaller size is more practical on a river. And as riverrat points out, don't be too quick to set the hook. If a fish takes it under, just reel down the slack and wait to feel the fish pull. Use a side-sweep hookset with only moderate pressure. If you pull straight back, you will get a high-speed set of treble hooks flying at your face.

Short rip n pause works well, sometimes just a foot or so. They seem to do better if there is some surface chop or ripples. They don't seem to work on smooth water. I like a zig-zag retrieve too.

Best success I had was running a Live Target BaitBall deep diver under the shad. The whites tore it up, but doesn't account for much when you're after LM.

Guess he'll miss the Bull Float this year

I noticed in the Cabela's flyer they list these in 12 and 20ga. Anyone have any experience with one? I've been hoping to pick up a 20 O/U for skeet piddling, and this looks like a good candidate.

Welcome to the forum! I agree, it's a tough bite lately. Most of the bites in our club are coming on small tx rig plastics, using a slow drag on the bottom, not hopping it at all.

Been a long time since I've done 6x. have you checked with wilderness ridge and rich's last resort?

So, are you saying that coffee and poptarts is NOT a good breakfast?? :-\

I would guess that Eminence to Two Rivers would be the better bet for fishing. Alley to Eminence gets pretty skinny this time of year, not a lot of cover. Further down, you find more eddies and holes to work. I like the stretch right above Little Shawnee campground.

So, you've discovered the addictive properties of bass fishing and kayaks, eh? Welcome to the dark side.... :-)

Welcome Grant! I tune in to KFVS every time I stay in cape. Have you ever fished at Bollinger mill? It's probably pretty low this time of year, I've pulled some decent smallies out below the dam. Beautiful spot and not much pressure.