Who's ready to go fishing???

[Zoub]

Yellow Line........the 1980's are calling! The real
issue is what does the line look like under water. If you are fishing shallow, clear water for bass they will be cautious on sunny days and yellow line won't help. If you are fishing murky water with bait or jigs and line watching helps you spot light bites, yellow can be good. It's good for working a bait slowly on a drop and all of a sudden the line goes limp sooner then expected, a fish may have caught it mid drop and is just sitting there with it. If you don't react and set the hook, the fish will spit it out before you set the hook. Also if a fish hits swimming up you can see the line react to that and set the hook. These are all light bite scenarios or a fish moving in a direction that creates slack line between you and the bait.

In 40 years I used yellow line once, it was Stren and I think it was free. There are hi vis lines that are not hi vis under water, just above.

 

[sbz]

Local shop finally got some minnows in! Going to try a little today, since tomorrow is looking to be colder.

 

[SigFan07]

Just got back from bank fishing at city park. No bites. I did try my new yellow line in six pound test and compared it to low-vis green eight pound test mono on my other reel. Last year all I used was clear colored line. Wow, that yellow line is easier to see compared to low-vis green. Low-vis green is much harder to see. So that is one plus for yellow. But did it scare bass away? Since I figured I would not get a bite because it's still too early to bank fish - I can't say. But the yellow line is definitely easier to see for me.

Also, I tried Carolina rigging for the first time with a Z-Man floating lizard. Wow, it was very cool! I'm planning on Carolina rigging more this season but after seeing that lizard float up off the bottom a little bit, I think it might be my main rigging for the year.

 

[gunsisgood]

Local shop finally got some minnows in! Going to try a little today, since tomorrow is looking to be colder.

Good Luck !
It would be interesting to see how long a bait shop minnow will live once it hits the water.

 

[manley82]

Took my 4 yr old son out with his "Papaw" today and he got his 1st (3) bluegill and joined the ranks of grand kids whose fished with grandpa and has pictures for life... and one satisfied grandpa too. Good day

 

[SigFan07]

I could crush any BassMaster pro with this rod and reel! Oh yeah!

Ronco Pocket Fisherman - YouTube

 

[Zoub]

I still have an original 1971 pocket fisherman.

I was out back grilling and watched a lone snowmobile come from downstream. Later I saw him coming back so there is no open water around here yet!

 

[Brandon812]

Anyone have any tip for catching crappies without a boat? I dont own one. Mostly fish from shore. Only been to Monroe res, and patoka lake. Never any luck. Used jig, minnows. I might try Walls lake ramp when it get warmer. Searching online it show they have a fishing pier or ramp there. When I use night crawlers, always end up with bluegills. Getting tired of bluegills..
Any tips would greatly appreciated.

 

[Zoub]

Anyone have any tip for catching crappies without a boat? I dont own one. Mostly fish from shore. Only been to Monroe res, and patoka lake. Never any luck. Used jig, minnows. I might try Walls lake ramp when it get warmer. Searching online it show they have a fishing pier or ramp there. When I use night crawlers, always end up with bluegills. Getting tired of bluegills..
Any tips would greatly appreciated.

Switch to jigs and minnows. There is a lake near me that has a huge overpopulation of gills, not bad size, but no huge ones and they are everywhere in the lake. I will run a slip bobber with worms or whatever for the gills and a jig and Gulp minnows for crappie and perch. The Crappie are the biggest panfish in the lake and I didn't know that until a full day of fishing a couple rigs and seeing the results. Yo might want to try two rods, one with a slip bobber so you can be precise in depth control and cast it out to the first drop off or any deadwood you can see. The other rod a longer, light rig that can throw light baits pretty far, again using a jig and minnow. In general longer, light rods will give you more casting distance and better ability to play fish from shore versus shorter UL rods or stiffer medium rods. I do a fair amount of bank fishing out back of the house and I have hauled in up to 10lb fish on a light rod with 6lb test while fishing.

I tried gulp minnows for the first time last year due to limited space in a kayak and wanting the ability to switch over to minnows without hauling live bait. I caught every species except Musky on them.

Keep an eye open around marinas for any open slips set up for crappie fishing. That is more or a Southern thing but look for it.

 

[SigFan07]

I bought one of those Crappie kits at Walmart last year for ten dollars. I didn't do much Crappie fishing last year but when I did I used a bobber, one of those small Crappie jig heads, and put one of those colorful Crappie tubs or grubs and cast it in. The jig head would float under the bobber. I slowly reeled it in or twitched it worked pretty good. I let my nephew go for Crappie using that rig while I went for bass. He had good results with it.

 

[Brandon812]

Thanks for the tips. I will give them a try when I can find some free time next Sunday.

 

[bwframe]

Yellow Line........the 1980's are calling! The real
issue is what does the line look like under water. If you are fishing shallow, clear water for bass they will be cautious on sunny days and yellow line won't help. If you are fishing murky water with bait or jigs and line watching helps you spot light bites, yellow can be good. It's good for working a bait slowly on a drop and all of a sudden the line goes limp sooner then expected, a fish may have caught it mid drop and is just sitting there with it. If you don't react and set the hook, the fish will spit it out before you set the hook. Also if a fish hits swimming up you can see the line react to that and set the hook. These are all light bite scenarios or a fish moving in a direction that creates slack line between you and the bait.

In 40 years I used yellow line once, it was Stren and I think it was free. There are hi vis lines that are not hi vis under water, just above.

I bought a spool of this 6-7 years ago:

Crappie Maxx® Super Vis Fishing Line | Bass Pro Shops

Haven't used anything since. Five bucks for 3190 yards of 4# test. It's as tough as anything I've used, (still 4# line though, not immune to knot breakage.) The panfish seem content with the color and I've hooked a fair amount of accidental bass.

 

[Zoub]

3000 yards for $5?! I may have to toss some on my next BP order.

For SigFan: it seems these days spinning reels don't come with free spare spools but you may want to buy one for yours. It will give you a way to easily switch between two different types or weight of line. Sometimes the only difference between a pan fish rig and a Bass rig is the lb test of the line. With some of my borderline rigs I may have a spools of 4 & 6, 8 & 10. On a long trip or just long day on the water it allows me to switch up or down without carrying as many rods.

 

[bwframe]

[video=youtube_share;Md7I8ZPTc6c]http://youtu.be/Md7I8ZPTc6c[/video]

INGOer AGarbers gets another mention in this one!

 

[HICKMAN]

Tried something new today:

I'm gonna love being able to fish all the ponds around my office.

 

[bwframe]

Tried something new today:

...I'm gonna love being able to fish all the ponds around my office.

Love that setup!

Man, you got more guts than me. I'm skeert going out on water that cold in a boat that can dump.

I've been thinking very hard about investing in a sit-on-top, designed to fish. What kind of yak is that?

 

[FishnHunt]

Tried something new today:

I'm gonna love being able to fish all the ponds around my office.

Sweet! Love to see more kayak fisherman out there!

 

[gunsisgood]

With The water still extremely frigid falling out of a yak would be just about as bad falling out of an airplane.
Be VERY careful, but most of all have fun !

 

[spainy79]

I happened to watch a video today and the lure that was used really appealed to me. Found one at Wal-Mart for $7.50. At least it's top water and I don't have to worry about it getting snagged under the water...hopefully.


Here is the video I watched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDIGyozPnKI

The lure in the water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYSdeHVmCfk

 

[Zoub]

Love that setup!

Man, you got more guts than me. I'm skeert going out on water that cold in a boat that can dump.

I've been thinking very hard about investing in a sit-on-top, designed to fish. What kind of yak is that?

I am no kayak expert but 40 years of canoeing and last summer with my first Yak I never dumped once, and that includes a fair number of class 2 rapids and one run through a class 3. With the mid summer drought we had, the river was down and boulders were all over, it was like playing Pachinko and I was the ball. I am also not going to say I was dry after those rapids. At one set, some locals even cheered me after watching the show. Even with my 60lb Lab in back, I never dumped. No I didn't take the Lab through rapids. GF is a former river guide, both rafts and kayaks, and she liked mine enough that bought a second one. Great multipurpose boats.

Add to that our yaks are only 9' long but wide and they are stable, track like a bullet and designed for both hunting and fishing. If you get a similar design sit on top, you will enjoy it and you won't dump. You plan for it, but you won't.

At 9' long and 49 pounds, true joy to load, unload and portage. Do it! Most fun I have had in years and I see a ton of game from them as well. Also there is a lot of "gear" on kayaks for fisherman that push a lot of them up over $1k, dont fall for that crap. You dont need most of it and what you do need you can DIY.

My yak body
[video=youtube;wV0FhuQoa9Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0FhuQoa9Y[/video]