Fun - but not what I had in mind

[Newt]

Temperature and humidity here has been brutal this week. Above 95º (35º for you folks) and humidity above 70% so day time sessions involve lots of sweat and discomfort.

 

So I decided to fish an evening session. Got to the lake and launched by 6:45 so I could catch some sunfish for cut & live bait for catfishing. Dark isn't until after 8:30 so plenty of time. I thought.

 

Decided to have some fun catching the bait and rigged an u/l rod with 1/8 oz spinner baits. Perfect sunfish rig. Caught 5 largemouth bass and no sunfish at all. Finally had to quit so I could set up before dark. Dang largemouth usually ignore small lures and sunfish attack them. Usually. But as several on here have pointed out, fish are notional and do what they please.

 

Not a touch the rest of the evening until I finally gave it up and headed home about 1 AM. No carp, no catfish. Ah well. Good being out any way and there were always the bass earlier. They are seriously exciting on a limber 4½ rod and very light wire, single hook lures. Good thing the ones I was using were inexpensive because the first lure of the day got torn completely up. Skirt shredded. Spinner knocked off. Hook bent out quite a bit. But at $0.69 for the lure and $2.50 per 25 skirts, no great loss and the second one seems to have survived.

[Vagabond]

Newt:

They are seriously exciting on a limber 4½ rod  

Glad you enjoyed the session Newt, but I have a language problem here

 

"Limber" ??? Is that what we call "Through action"?

 

Also, I have come across an American expression that described a certain rod as "Noodly" I can't think the author meant soft as boiled noodles !

Enlightenment please.

[The Flying Tench]

Why do americans only seem to fish with lures? What would happen if someone started maggot fishing like over here? Would they bag up with big roach which had never got wily because the Americans never fished for them?

[Jeff S]

Sounds like good fun Newt. Catching big sunfish on lures is a blast. Especially the ones that are as big as your hands. Only we called them Pumpkinseeds.

 

Not sure I've ever heard of a place in the States that sell maggots by the pint though. Let alone a vending machine that has them... The only Roach I've ever seen had legs.

[Newt]

Vagabond - Limber is the opposite of stiff so a rod with lots of action. Can be through (slow in US terms) but not always. Noodle rod is one that is very whippy. Through action, long by US standards, very light T/C.

 

The particular rod I was using is e-glass with a pistol grip and rings for casting. I was using a spincast reel. The rod is tough but you can easily pull the tip around past the handle. Fun with smaller fish. Too short to class as a noodle rod though.

 

johnclarke - lure angling is fun and I suspect that is why so many of us enjoy it. No maggots for sale where I live. Most bait anglers use crickets in season (spring thru fall) and worms at other times.

 

Since the vast majority of US anglers have no clue about baiting up, crickets work well since they do the job for you. Their bodies are somewhat brittle and the sunfish (broad category that includes Dvarcet's pumpkinseeds, bluegill, and maybe a dozen others) is good for hard takes. So each take and the cricket sheds some parts while others are blown from the gills as the sunfish swollows the insect. Self feeding bait.

 

I think the sunfish is our equiv. to the UK roach in terms of it's place in angling.

 

I have used maggots on occasion though. Take a large tin and remove both ends. Fix a piece of screen to the bottom and strings in the top so you can hang it. Put in a nice piece of meat and hang the thing from a branch over the water. The tin contents get a little smelly but the maggots dropping thru the screen into the water really draws the fish.

 

[ 28. June 2003, 12:49 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Vagabond]

Thanks Newt - your description of "noodly" now makes sense in the context of the article I read.