I'm hooked.

[Peace]

So, I started fishing again at the end of last summer.  It is my favorite way to spend time with my son and daughter.  I have been collecting lures, rods, and reels getting ready for this coming season.  I am hooked on baitcasters... Here's what I have so far...

 

Crankbaits, Lipless, Jerk:  BPS Bionic Blade 7' Medium w/ a Abu Garcia SilverMax (6.4:1)  - micro guides,.15lb Flouro ..(it will later be switched over to a spinnerbait rod)

 

Buzzbaits, Poppers (temporarily Frogs, etc.): Falcon Jason Christie 7' MH (Moderate Action) w/ Lews Carbon Fire 7:1 w/ 40lb braid.

 

Spinnerbait: Abu Garcia Black Max Combo (6'6" Medium/Fast) w/ 17lb Mono

 

... I am (impatiently) waiting to pickup a St. Coix Mojo Bass Crankster (7'4", Medium/Medium) and a Lews LFS 5.4:1 to use as the Crankbait rig.  When I do that, the Bionic Blade rig will move to spinnerbait duty.

 

The last one I'll add this year is a heavy rig for flipping/heavy cover and a-rigs.

 

 

 

 

Alright.... what are you favorites for those duties?  Do you group your rigs differently?

[zmtd8]

I am still using the same open-face browning I had as a kid. I've caught my biggest and smallest fish on it. I don't know if it's lucky or not but it's still my favorite. 

[Rhodewarrior]

I love a baitcaster too.  I picked up a Abu Garcia Revo SX gen 2 mounted on a Vendetta 6'6" and love it. I have 10lb flourocarbon on it and use it for anything it will cast  :pleased: .  I use an Abu Cardinal SX20 7' spinning rod/reel with 6lb stren mono for anything else. 

[gl19gobang]

I use Shimano baitcasters, and love baitcasters too. The lures you mentioned are great, but  I never go fishing without a Texas rig & somes worms or lizards. My biggest percentage of fish are caught with them.

[bersaguy]

Well, I should know better than to get involved in this thread but will anyway, just a little. I got caught up in the bass fishing craze back in mid 80's. Talk about getting hooked, it was worse then cocaine and heroine for me. I finally was able to kick the addiction about 3 years ago. That was after 5 new Bass Boats, All Skeeters and about $40,000.00 in tackle and rod & reels. Also made all my own soft Plastic baits myself. Made and sold baits to other anglers. I was on the water an average of 3-4 days or nights a week. Fished Local and regional Bass tournaments winning many of them over the years. Only used Bait casting reels for every application of the art of bass fishing. Never had less then 10 rods on the deck when boat was in the water. My Son in law got the fever from me about 6 years ago and now what tackle and rods I didn't sell he has along with my last Skeeter Boat. All I can say is don't let it get to deep into you blood stream because Cocaine is like candy compared to Bass fishing. Here's a few of the boat my Son in law has now but pictures are from when I had it. All of the reels on the rods are Shimano Chronarchs and all of the rods for the most part are custom rods costing several hundred dollars to have made. Well, can't show all this and not add a few fish pictures........ :up:

 

[url=http://s218.photobucket.com/user/softbaitmaker/media/Misc/Skeeter%20Boat/DSCF0028_zpsd78e4f3a.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[url=http://s218.photobucket.com/user/softbaitmaker/media/Misc/Skeeter%20Boat/DSCF0027.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[URL=http://s218.photobucket.com/user/softbaitmaker/media/My%20Fish/DSCF0557.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[URL=http://s218.photobucket.com/user/softbaitmaker/media/My%20Fish/SM.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[URL=http://s218.photobucket.com/user/softbaitmaker/media/My%20Fish/DSCF0578.jpg.html][/URL]

Edited March 5, 2015 by bersaguy

[Dirtshooter]

Peace enjoy the time with your kids, they will never forget those times. I took my kids and have taken 2 of my 3 grandkids as the youngest just turned 4. Don't put so much importance on the equipment, not to say you don't need good stuff. I have had my share of bass boats, jon boats and now I have a fishing pontoon and a kayak. Put time on the water with as many different fisherman you can. It is similar to playing golf, you will never get to be a good golfer without playing with guys that are better at it than you. First in importance is having fun, especially when taking the kids. Next is trying to learn more about where you fish or the species you fish for. I quit bass fishing when my kids started fishing as some days bass are hard to catch and I started panfishing with ultralight tackle and it is my go to tackle most of the time.

[Peace]

You can see a pic of the boat here.  The kids (and I think even my wife) are as excited as I am.  We will have some good times, and no doubt will catch a lot of bass and panfish.  

 

The boat had always been used for panfish with about 16 rods hanging off of it.  For a 1973 Ranger, ... who sat neglected for over a decade and a half, she is in pretty good shape.  With any luck, she will have a new (to us) trolling motor on her, have the hull and deck scrubbed and polished, and (at some point) have some new seats.  I can be on the water running (Cumberland) in 15minutes (including launch), and the upper end of Percy Priest is only about 30minutes away.

[bersaguy]

I was taught to fish at age 6 by an old neighbor that was 81 years old and we fished in an old Flag stone pit behind our home. We had cane poles and old wine bottle corks for floats and dug our own worms. I can remember those days like they were yesterday. That old man and I fished together till he passed away at age 91. He taught me many things over those ten years. He taught me how to catch snapping turtles, how to catch the newly hatched baby painted turtles before they got killed on the road. He taught me how to get night crawlers at night after a rain. If  ya'll are wonder about my father at that time, he was a road driver for trucking company and that was long before super highways so he was gone a lot. I spent many a day fishing with my father after he retired.  I will tell you in another post how I became and young businessman from what that old man taught me......................... :up: :up:

[Dirtshooter]

Hey Bersa ain't it funny how you can remember times like that. I have always tried to live by the adage take your kids hunting and fishing and you won't have to be hunting them. I have as much fun fishing with my grandkids as probably anything on this earth. Over the last 2 years I have taken my oldest 2 bream fishing and I was the official cricket baiter and fish remover, those 2 can go thru 100 crickets pretty danged fast. I hope to break in my youngest which just turned 4, I can't wait til he gets his first fish. I am ready for this cold weather and white stuff to leave so I can get back to my fondest hobby, putting fish in the boat!!!

[bersaguy]

Hey Bersa ain't it funny how you can remember times like that. I have always tried to live by the adage take your kids hunting and fishing and you won't have to be hunting them. I have as much fun fishing with my grandkids as probably anything on this earth. Over the last 2 years I have taken my oldest 2 bream fishing and I was the official cricket baiter and fish remover, those 2 can go thru 100 crickets pretty danged fast. I hope to break in my youngest which just turned 4, I can't wait til he gets his first fish. I am ready for this cold weather and white stuff to leave so I can get back to my fondest hobby, putting fish in the boat!!!

 

Taking Grand children and children fishing has got to be the ultimate enjoyment but as you said, it's a lot of work also. If you really want to have fun take the time in late Spring like May and go hunting for a shell cracker spawn bed. Once you find one worms or Crickets will work. A 1 or 2 lb Shell Cracker on light or ultra light tackle is very exciting. My suggestion is take another adult with you cause your gonna be busy. A side note is Shell Crackers are very good eating. During the Spawn the beds can have over 100+ beds. During this time the big males turn almost black and have bright orange ears and can weigh 2+ lbs. I only kept the big black males and put all the females and small males back so the lake will keep a good supply of Shell crackers for years to come. Another note. The way you can spot a Shell cracker bed is easy. The males build the beds by gathering small muscle shells and they turn the shells shiny side up so the sun will re-flecked off the shells. It help in the hatching of the eggs and also makes the beds easier to locate in the 1 to 3 foot water. Good luck and have fun....................... :up: :up: :up:

[bersaguy]

Back when I was 6 years old I had an old man that lived next store
to us and he grew huge flower beds and people would come from
Chicago and buy flowers from him. In his spare time he took me fishing
with old cane poles in ponds behind our home. As time went on he taught me how to catch
night crawlers at night after a rain so we didn't have to dig worms and
we put them in a worm bed that old man and I built. We fed them old bread , egg shells
and coffee grounds.

 

As time went on and I turned 7 the old man taught me
how to watch the time of the year that the baby painted turtles would hatch
and I could catch about 100 or more that didn't get ran over crossing the road we lived on.
When I turned 10 the old man figured it was time for me to move up to the
bigger and better things and we began building cages all winter, getting ready for Spring.
Then I got my training on another turtle. The Snapper which took a lot more teaching.
Keeping all my fingers was priority 1.  A farmer about 3 miles down the road supplied us
with chicken guts when he cleaned chickens and we would put turtle lines out in the ponds.
I was having a lot of fun but was not aware that the old man was preparing me to
become a business man. Once we got the snapping turtle down to a fine science he
began to show me the business end of it all.

 

 

First thing we did was take a trip to town with my mothers help and made stops at both pet shops in
town with the little painted turtles. I was able to sell all I had for 25 cents each which added up to
$21.75 for 87 turtles. Then he had my mother take us around to several small grocery stores and we put
up a small sign on their out side note boards that I had live snapping turtles for sale and my phoe number.
In a few days I began getting calls from folks wanting to come and buy a turtle. We had 27 turtles in cages
and I sold 12 of them the first week. Depending on the size, the small ones up to 12 lbs went for $4.00 and the
big ones up to 20lbs for $6.00. I kept Turtle lines out to restock. Sent folks home with a big turtle in a burlap bag and
 a smile.  
Now comes the night Crawler business. We had a river that ran through my hometown and it was full of carp and bullheads and every weekend during the summer the African Americans would come out of Chicago to fish on Saturday and Sunday. They would buy their bait before leaving Chicago and paying top dollar for night crawlers.
I went up there to the river bank with a buddy of mine and took 20 tin cans of night crawlers with 25 crawlers per
can. I ask a few guys what they were paying for night crawlers and they said $.99 + tax for 10 worms.
I told them I would sell them 25 crawlers for $.70 with a $.10 deposit on the can. If they came back the next week
and bought baits from me and had the old can they would get the baits for $.60. In no time I had a really good bait
business with one problem. Bait was getting scarce cause it was not raining enough. The old man laughed and said that was the only thing he could not help me with is Mother Nature. Well, that is why I have always said it is great to have friends in the right places. One of my friends parents owned a golf course and they watered in dry spells everyday. I got permission to go crawler hunting on the golf course as long ans I stayed off the greens. in 1 night me and two buddies filled a 5 gallon pail with night crawlers and I put them in the worm beds. Never has a shortage of crawlers again.

 

 

If it was not for this old man my childhood would have been a lot like most others. When he passed away I knew I had lost my best friend forever. In the peak months of Summer I made more money per week than my father did driving truck over the road. I was able to give my parents money to help with house bills, food and even bought school clothes for my 3 older brothers which were for the most part lazy bums. They might cut a lawn for someone for spending money but to actually work was not happening for them. I just wanted to share what my childhood was all about and I grew up never changing my outlook of being a hard worker. I look back at those days with great memories. Mostly I remember my old Friend Mr Gueson.

[Dirtshooter]

That was a great story Bersa. I bet you were their favorite son!! Btw where did you grow up? I know close to chi-town but was wondering.