Rule #12: Dogs are better pets, but cats are easier because they just don't care when you leave.
MOVING!!!
Over the next few days, I won't have much to report on the fishing front.
My Best Girl and I are moving to another home. We will remain in the same city, but are moving north and west, to the outskirts of town. One of the things about the neighborhood that I noticed right away is that 1/4 of a mile east of our home there is a larger than usual farm creek that cuts south to north through a soya bean field. As I drove by it the other day, I saw a man wielding a 7' (or longer) rod into the waters below.
Since then, Girl 2 and I have explored the area and it looks abundantly "fishy."
We're moving because Girl 2 is the only kid we have year-round. The Young Lady has lived with us this summer, but is looking for a job teaching elementary students and, therefore, probably won't be with us much longer.
The Boy also lived with us this summer--mostly, I like to think, because he loves my cooking! He is, however, renting a house with several friends for the fall.
Girl I is the most independent of them all. She has moved out of both our house and her mother's and now lives with a friend close to campus. I don't get to see her enough, but I'm so proud of how mature she is.
So, faced with having only one kid, where we once had four!, we decided it was time to go smaller. Therefore, we are moving from a home that is 4900 square feet to one that is 2400 square feet!
As soon as I can, though, you know I'll be back on the river.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
If you had to limit them to four, which lures would you choose?
Rule #23: Until they're about 25, most boys are too dumb to be worth much.
THE FOUR ESSENTIAL LURES:
If I had to choose only four lures to put in my tackle box--for all species and all seasons--which would I choose?
To answer this, you have, first and foremost, to determine:
For me, those factors are easily decided:
As I have said before--I fish for fun and for food. I like to catch big fish, but a 1 1/2 pound bass often fights better than a 4 pound bass, and it always tastes better! I like to catch fish. Period. If they're huge, that's great, but I will never fish exclusively for the enormous bass.
THE FOUR ESSENTIAL LURES:
If I had to choose only four lures to put in my tackle box--for all species and all seasons--which would I choose?
To answer this, you have, first and foremost, to determine:
- What kind and size of fish do you want to catch?
- Then, you need to figure in the kind of water and other conditions in which you generally fish.
- Also, you need to take into account what seasons you fish: only Spring and Summer? Or do you stretch it into almost a four season year?
- Increasingly, you have to determine how much money you're willing to spend. In a day when a Rapala can cost you more than $10, only the wealthiest of fishermen can ignore that factor.
For me, those factors are easily decided:
As I have said before--I fish for fun and for food. I like to catch big fish, but a 1 1/2 pound bass often fights better than a 4 pound bass, and it always tastes better! I like to catch fish. Period. If they're huge, that's great, but I will never fish exclusively for the enormous bass.
- I fish small waters. Abandoned gravel pits, farm ponds, the White and the Mississinewa Rivers. Small.
- Lately I have tried to stretch the season beyond the Spring and Summer.
- I am decidedly opposed to the prices major lure companies are asking for a piece of balsa and some treble hooks. Even the soft lure manufacturers have joined this price expansion: Imagine paying $9 for a small pouch of four or five plastic worms--I'm looking at you, YUM!!!
- In-line spinners--Mepps, Panther Martin.
- Pre-rigged finesse worms--Kelley's Pier Boys.
- "Safety-Pin" style, "Beetle Spinnners" with Mister Twister jigs attached
- Tiny crankbaits: 1/16--1/8 oz.--Strike King, Snap Peas
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Rule #1: The most important thing is God.
Rule #2: The most important thing is family. Figure that out--it's the most important thing.
Wednesday, 5/28/2014
I went fishing this past Monday: It was one of those days that just couldn't make up its mind. Over three hours, there were two downpours, and about 45 minutes of high blue skies! The wind blew consistently, but the direction was nearly impossible to predict. At one moment, I'd be casting with a good stiff breeze behind me and the light lures I was tossing would fairly shoot off the rod. The next cast would be directly into the wind, and I'd be lucky to get ten or 15 feet from shore.
I started at the lone Sycamore tree where I left off last time, and as usual, made my way upstream. I tossed the same lure I had on when I left that spot: a 1/8 oz. Beetle-Spin type lure with a pink head and 1 1/2" or 2" curly-tailed pumpkinseed body.
Nothing.
And that's surprising. That lure will, at the least, usually get a small bluegill or rock bass to strike. So, I thought, maybe something with a little more flash, and I threw a #1 Panther Martin in a black body with the gold blade.
Again, nothing.
Actually, less than nothing. I snagged that lure and couldn't get it free, I had to eventually break off . . . and you know how I hate that! I would have gone in after it, but it caught onto something in a deep pool (Deep for the White River, in this case was about 5 feet deep. Doesn't sound like much, but I have made that walk back to the truck in totally wet clothes too many times in my youth. It has lost its allure--hah!) So, I did the smart thing and clipped off my line.
Next, I tried a Rebel Tiny Craw. About 1 1/2" and maybe 1/8 oz., this can be an effective lure. But not today. The Tiny Craw is meant to imitate a crawdad trying to escape predators. It seems to be neutrallly bouyant, and a quick crank or two will bring it down to the bottom. It "digs" through the mud and muck, bouncing off rocks well, and leaving a good clear trail. The only problem I have with this tiny crankbait is the same I have with others of its size, the hooks become tangled with each other or they get tangled with the line. I would say one of every four or five casts resulted in some sort of tangle. I have heard that trimming two of the treble hooks from the front set will cure this. I've thought of taking the front hook off completely and replacing the back hook with a larger treble, maybe red.
The next 1/4 mile or so of the river is extremely shallow, wide, with almost no ripple areas to produce oxygen in the water, and very few deeper pools. There are fish in these shallow runs, but they're almost all very small and kind of spooky. Also, the bank is pretty high here, and it's hard to get close to the water--so I had to cast from well above the water and that makes the retrieve steep and keeps the lure from running naturally.
I finished the day when I caught my only fish--a smallmouth bass, maybe 5" long. Wonderful.
Imagine my pride. Go ahead, and yes, it is as small as it appears.
Sometimes you fish and can't do anything right. Your casts go astray and end up in the TOPS of trees, you snag every expensive lure you've brought with you, you can't manage to tie a decent knot, you lose every fish that hits--most right at the bank or beside the boat. And you know after a very few minutes that nothing good is going to come of your efforts. I have actually quit a fishing day after 10 or 15 minutes, because I could tell that everything was going to go to hell!
And then, sometimes, like today, you fight through the feeling and stick with it to the end. Sometimes, you can just take enjoyment from your surroundings, the trees, the waterfowl, the river itself. Today, though, as I walked through innumerable piles of goose shit, and listened to the traffic above me, I struggled to find deeper meaning in my day . . . to say the least.
The sad thing is that the section of the river I face next is dreadfully shallow, wide, and slow-moving. At least until I get another third of a mile behind me, there is really no discernibly "fishy" water.
Yeah, that sucks, but still, I'm fishing!
Rule #2: The most important thing is family. Figure that out--it's the most important thing.
Wednesday, 5/28/2014
I went fishing this past Monday: It was one of those days that just couldn't make up its mind. Over three hours, there were two downpours, and about 45 minutes of high blue skies! The wind blew consistently, but the direction was nearly impossible to predict. At one moment, I'd be casting with a good stiff breeze behind me and the light lures I was tossing would fairly shoot off the rod. The next cast would be directly into the wind, and I'd be lucky to get ten or 15 feet from shore.
I started at the lone Sycamore tree where I left off last time, and as usual, made my way upstream. I tossed the same lure I had on when I left that spot: a 1/8 oz. Beetle-Spin type lure with a pink head and 1 1/2" or 2" curly-tailed pumpkinseed body.
Nothing.
And that's surprising. That lure will, at the least, usually get a small bluegill or rock bass to strike. So, I thought, maybe something with a little more flash, and I threw a #1 Panther Martin in a black body with the gold blade.
Again, nothing.
Actually, less than nothing. I snagged that lure and couldn't get it free, I had to eventually break off . . . and you know how I hate that! I would have gone in after it, but it caught onto something in a deep pool (Deep for the White River, in this case was about 5 feet deep. Doesn't sound like much, but I have made that walk back to the truck in totally wet clothes too many times in my youth. It has lost its allure--hah!) So, I did the smart thing and clipped off my line.
Next, I tried a Rebel Tiny Craw. About 1 1/2" and maybe 1/8 oz., this can be an effective lure. But not today. The Tiny Craw is meant to imitate a crawdad trying to escape predators. It seems to be neutrallly bouyant, and a quick crank or two will bring it down to the bottom. It "digs" through the mud and muck, bouncing off rocks well, and leaving a good clear trail. The only problem I have with this tiny crankbait is the same I have with others of its size, the hooks become tangled with each other or they get tangled with the line. I would say one of every four or five casts resulted in some sort of tangle. I have heard that trimming two of the treble hooks from the front set will cure this. I've thought of taking the front hook off completely and replacing the back hook with a larger treble, maybe red.
The next 1/4 mile or so of the river is extremely shallow, wide, with almost no ripple areas to produce oxygen in the water, and very few deeper pools. There are fish in these shallow runs, but they're almost all very small and kind of spooky. Also, the bank is pretty high here, and it's hard to get close to the water--so I had to cast from well above the water and that makes the retrieve steep and keeps the lure from running naturally.
I finished the day when I caught my only fish--a smallmouth bass, maybe 5" long. Wonderful.
Imagine my pride. Go ahead, and yes, it is as small as it appears.
Sometimes you fish and can't do anything right. Your casts go astray and end up in the TOPS of trees, you snag every expensive lure you've brought with you, you can't manage to tie a decent knot, you lose every fish that hits--most right at the bank or beside the boat. And you know after a very few minutes that nothing good is going to come of your efforts. I have actually quit a fishing day after 10 or 15 minutes, because I could tell that everything was going to go to hell!
And then, sometimes, like today, you fight through the feeling and stick with it to the end. Sometimes, you can just take enjoyment from your surroundings, the trees, the waterfowl, the river itself. Today, though, as I walked through innumerable piles of goose shit, and listened to the traffic above me, I struggled to find deeper meaning in my day . . . to say the least.
The sad thing is that the section of the river I face next is dreadfully shallow, wide, and slow-moving. At least until I get another third of a mile behind me, there is really no discernibly "fishy" water.
Yeah, that sucks, but still, I'm fishing!
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Fishing: Alone or with Friends?
Rule #27: Never pose for a picture with booze in your hand.
Fishing with Company or Not
For me, there are really two different kinds of fishing: alone or with friends. They are almost completely different experiences.
I fish by myself most of the time. I'm not sure if that's because I prefer to do so, or because my favorite fishing partners are very busy people:
--The Doc is lucky to get a few hours now and then to spend with his family, let alone fishing!
--My wife is the one person I'd like to fish with more, but she is also the busiest person I know. Her dedication to her work, her Church, and her family is beyond compare.
--Of my children, Girl I doesn't enjoy fishing as much as I do, but she graciously does so because she is polite and likes hanging with her dad.
--The Boy is very busy also, but he and I have been fishing together more and more. I hope that we can keep this going. I want to take him to "Keep Out Lake" soon.
--The Young Lady enjoys fishing up at Kelley's Island, and has won several KI "awards," but her heart isn't really into the sport other than those days.
--Girl II is engrossed in studies and the intricacies of teenage life, but she enjoys fishing--and cooking fish!--a lot. More than anyone I've known for a long time, she understands the "Circle of Life."
Fishing with Company or Not
For me, there are really two different kinds of fishing: alone or with friends. They are almost completely different experiences.
I fish by myself most of the time. I'm not sure if that's because I prefer to do so, or because my favorite fishing partners are very busy people:
--The Doc is lucky to get a few hours now and then to spend with his family, let alone fishing!
--My wife is the one person I'd like to fish with more, but she is also the busiest person I know. Her dedication to her work, her Church, and her family is beyond compare.
--Of my children, Girl I doesn't enjoy fishing as much as I do, but she graciously does so because she is polite and likes hanging with her dad.
--The Boy is very busy also, but he and I have been fishing together more and more. I hope that we can keep this going. I want to take him to "Keep Out Lake" soon.
--The Young Lady enjoys fishing up at Kelley's Island, and has won several KI "awards," but her heart isn't really into the sport other than those days.
--Girl II is engrossed in studies and the intricacies of teenage life, but she enjoys fishing--and cooking fish!--a lot. More than anyone I've known for a long time, she understands the "Circle of Life."
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