Cart Man

Great advice.

Wow, that is too cool. I've eating live octopus in Asia, but never like that!

What exactly is a drop shot rod? It seems you can drop shot on any kind of rod. It's in the tying of the rig not in the rod that makes it dropshot.

Wow, that is a great report. I have never seen fish like that! Especially like the full description of the rigs and bait you used.

I googled these fish, and they're for real. How would you catch something like that? What kind of hook or line or even rod and reel would you use? Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water.

I've seen ready-made rigs for sale online, but I don't really understand the advantage. I tie my own rig right at the shore. I have a matchman tyer and the hooks, floats, and weights. Sometimes I have to change the hook or replace one that got snagged, and it's no problem. Just whip out some leader material and put it all together right then and there.

I have the impression that these lakes are pretty shallow. Trout like cold water, and if there aren't deep waters where they can wait out the summer, I wonder if they can survive. Seems a shame though. Maybe they should put trash cans out so the litter and loose line can be disposed of, or do they already. BTW, do they allow drinking at these lakes? Public lakes around here mostly do not allow alcohol, and there are plenty of a-holes to go around anyway.

I've gotten a whip, pole floats, barbless maggot hooks, a matchman tyer, and I am growing my own maggots, and catching fish like I never dreamed possible. I would never have gotten here were it not for the information and help I have gotten from this board...and drowningmaggots.com. It may sound silly, but thanks to all. I love it.

Yeah. But it is definitely Al Read, and I still haven't found any recording of him saying it, so I still don't know what it's supposed to mean.

I thought "You'll be lucky.." was a quote by Al Read. I don't recall Foghorn Leghorn ever saying that. I will do more googling. Thanks.

Can anyone tell me what "You'll be lucky. I say, you'll be lucky," means? What's the context? I was listening on line to Al Read on BBC4 radio. I think I understand "right monkey." Well not really. Help.

Tried it directly from your link instead of copying and pasting, and it loaded just fine. Thanks.

I like that. I was looking for some way to keep the maggots off the smelly stuff. I will have to get me some wire mesh. I just grow a few at a time in a plastic bowl because even that smells pretty bad. I saw a video about a guy growing them for his chickens using five gallon buckets. I would do that if I didn't live in city close to my neighbors. For now I have to settle for me small scale operation or break down and buy some online.

Thanks, John, but for some reason that link didn't work for me.

Oh sure there is a lot of live bait fishing here. In California where I live it is not legal to fish with minnows unless you catch them yourself in the same lake you're fishing. Otherwise, nightcrawlers, redworms, mealworms, waxworms, and redworms are very popular. I grow my own redworms, waxworms, and of course, maggots.

I thought the blunt end was the head end. That's where I hook them. They stay alive a long time, and they stay on the hook for incredibly long.

Very insightful article Steve. Thanks. I would add, though, that the most popular game fish in the US is probably the Large Mouth Bass. At least that is true in my experience.

John, they don't sell maggots in any bait store I have ever seen or heard of. It just isn't done here. You can buy them online, however. I found a place that sells 2,000 for $15.00 (9 GDP) plus shipping. I bet they're a lot cheaper and easier to come by there, huh? As far as hanging a dead animal over the water, you'd pretty much have to find a private lake or a verrrry secluded section of a public lake to get away with that. Hmmmmmm, I think I know a good spot.

I have heard of hanging road kill over a body of water. The can works better. BTW, here is a place that sells maggots, and they're not prohibitively expensive. http://www.vadosbait.com/index.php/bait-store/maggots.html

I know this is redundant for English fishermen. There are a lot of ways that UK fishing is far more sophisticated than US fishing. Almost nobody here has even heard of fishing with maggots. Well, after so much exposure to UK fishing techniques I had to try them for myself. Today I decided to try out the maggots I grew. I put my first line in at 11:20. I left at 2:40. I caught 31 fish, 29 readear, one little baby bass, and one black crappie (I have a watch the keeps track of my catches or I would surely have lost count). Most were small (this is not a lake that has many big readear), but quite a few were not. I fished with a cane pole using 2# line and small spade-end hooks. The readear loved the maggots. I had a line with red worms that didn't get a bite, and I later changed it to wax worms, but still nothing. With the maggots I usually got hit as soon as I put the line in, and if not, just a little twich was all it took to get a bite. I am totally sold on maggots for pan fish, and they're free and easy to grow. I put three or four on the hook through the skin just behind their head. They are so tough you can catch several fish without putting on new bait. Amazing. Best bait ever.

What a great post! I felt like I was there fighting that monster myself. A memorable day for you, no doubt.

That actually sounds like great bait, Newt. I'm not sure what I would do with 50 pounds though. Maybe I could crunch it up and feed it to my redworms.

Sadly anglers in the US have no concept of fish handling.

I've been looking at a site that sells Japanese fishing poles and rods. They have 4.5m telescoping poles made of carbon fiber for around 40GBP. They look like great poles to use as whips though they are not elasticated. Does anyone have experience with using Japanese carbon poles? Can you recommend them? This is the site I found. http://www.allfishingbuy.com/ This is the pole I was looking at http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Fishing-Pole/...1-71-2-4508.htm Any advice appreciated.