Mitch f

Well, I lost $400 worth of equipment in 5 seconds fishing a solo canoe I was not used to Gavin

You better get out in a canoe and practice before you start your trip.

The best, cheapest, quickest way to learn is to take a canoe trip with an experienced fisherman and observe. They can point you in the right direction quicker and save you a bunch of time and energy. I would also recommend a subscription to a good fishing magazine and read the articles involving patterns. Third, maybe join a local bass club or maybe the Missouri Smallmouth Alliance. You really don't need that much money to get started, just a willingness to learn.

Funny you should mention this, in the last couple of years I've caught quite a few fish on sand points in the winter. More times than not its been around logs in the sand. They also had the same color you described, and many had big lampreys attached.... a sign they are stacked up.

What I meant was that most people have a preferred side of the boat to cast and retrieve a walk the dog bait for example. For me the perfect cast would be going downstream and fishing the right bank. My rod tip will be pointing on a 45 degree angle toward the bank and downstream and walking it toward me with the rod in my left hand like doing wrist curls. This way the lure stays close to the bank in the strike zone longer. Down the left bank would be a completely different dynamic, the lure would end up either coming to the outside of the boat or I would be banging my rod tip against the boat with every wrist movement. Oh Yea, I forgot to mention I meant having 2 rods, one right and one left.

I've followed Al in a canoe enough to know that he practices what he preaches. The number of casts, and accuracy of casts in a day is greatly increased with a baitcaster. I agree that if I were a beginner starting out again today and were right handed, I would learn on a left handed baitcasting reel. Why waste the motion of switching hands for the rest of your life? Efficiency catches more fish at the end of the day. The best is if you learned to cast with both hands like a switch hitter in baseball, so you could work both sides of the river equally. Funny, I'm used to a right handed baitcasting reel but when I use a spinning rod, the reel handle is more comfortable on the left side.

Love the War Eagles as well, match the color to the water clarity. Keep in mind as others have said, a bass will more readily take a bigger shad than a bigger craw, so don't downsize too much.

Way to go man! A buddy of mine quit and carried a pack in his front shirt pocket for pne year just to prove to himself how committed he was.

I agree with Greasy, my wrist hurts after all day with a spinning reel but not a baitcaster. The side arm cast with a baitcaster is like turning a door knob. I think the accuracy is better with a Baitcaster as well. Now I do agree with Exile that there are some great fishermen like Woo Daves and Dion Hibdon who have certain cool tricks that they do with a spinning reel that are tough to do with a baitcaster.

Like Quillback says the BPS Pro Qualifier reels are great for the money. I was at Cabelas today and they had a Cabelas combo baitcaster, with a very decent 6' med rod for $59

The reason he's know Warts is that you took him out on the poositania often enough something had to rub off!

Yep, that video is very informative. Barker is the one who got Storm to put the snap swivels on the line tie.

I signed it! This is crazy

Someone mentioned on this forum one time (and I can't remember who it was) that they wished there was a walking, popping, prop bait. There is a guide on the Menominee river that brags on a bait called a Hubbs Chub that's supposed to do just that. I bought one based on his recommendation and I absolutely hate the bait. Maybe someday someone will create one that does all three things well.

The Kelly J is OK, you can have mine if you want it. The devils horse has always been good for me approaching the spawn

Nice fish Brian!

And I respect Phil for allowing that. As long as it doesn't get too ugly he lets it go.

If you want to see the Wiggle Wart master, here he is!!

Sometimes two people can fish the same bait and one catches fish and the other guy doesn't. I think it has to do with the ability of the fisherman to fish the wart correctly and be able to cause fish to bite and also be able to detect bites ( yes detect bites) to be able to produce year after year. IMO the answer is no that a fish won't hit a wart because he has already been caught with one. I can see maybe up to 1 week memory before they will hit it again. But maybe I'm wrong

Hey Soxpac, Walmart had the Falcon Bucco micro guides on sale today

Joe, I'm at Walmart today and I spot the poor Girl Scouts standing under a tarp in the rain selling cookies. I feel a little sorry for them so I buy some cookies. You're right, the Lemonades are outstanding!

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but they stock about 6000, 8" browns every year right? I hardly ever see people fishing at Cardiac or Suicide in the last few years. Where do all these fish go? Giggers usually won't take the small ones right? Can't understand where they are all going, unless the otters and gigging small browns is much worse than I imagined.

I hope you really don't believe that

Well, my black labs all died and I've had this girl for the last 6 years and hopefully she lives a long time. She's a Yorkshire Terrier that we keep clipped. She's a great pet for the girls.

I don't think that was JoeD who did that