Has Been

My Dad lives at Bird Bay in Venice. I go down there once in a while & enjoy the fishing there. If I were you the first place I would try is the North Jetty . The Sheephead should be in Big time then . The Best way I have found to fish for them is live shrimp . I use a 9' pier spin rod . 20 # pwer pro & 20 # Vanish leader . Size 4 hook ,a good size shot  & wtd Popping cork.4-6' down & let it drift W / tidal current by rocks. You can see the schools if water is clear. They get prettty big & are fun to catch. Mixed in are snapper, snook , redfish , lady fishCrevale Jacks, Pompano & Spannish mackrel ,that will cut you off. Worst part are the barrnacles  rock that if you get snaged up , Kiss it good by. You need the big rod to haul fish over the rocks. Their mouths are supper hard so bring pliers & xtra hooks.

 I also like to jig w/ a 1/4 -1/2 oz white buctail or Pompano Jig.   a piece of shrimp. 7 ' med action spin 10# poer pro & 20 # floro leader. I do that on the South Jetty Ocean side when tide is going out . Have Fun.

  I don't know but I have gotten some GREAT deals on tackle at  Dicks. My fave place to buy rods& reels . They mark them down & then marks them down again. I like their Field & Stream rods for Bass & Pike.

 They have an OK selection of Lake tackle . Can't be everything to everybody.

You have to get the clear coat off the silver ones before you can polish them right. It can be laquer or epoxy ,which can be tough to get off. I soak mine in a soup can of zipstirp over night & it still can be tough. After that polish w/ compund or car wax & buff w/ clean cloth. You can get them like new. Rub off wax w/ paint thinner so paint or clear coat will stick.lay down on floor & spray paint edge w/ color you want by spraying away & sneak up on it a bit on each swipe.I use spary cans  Or take a green or blue Sharpie up the edge.  I clear coat w/ Rustolium Crystal Clear. Get tape at any of the good tackle shops.

 As for the white back ones, Clean in the sink w/ a brillo pad & repaint. white back /black front w/ glo green or a glo ladder or glo ladder w/lazer over is a great early morn pattern

 I would stick w/ the NKs or Pirates it looks like you have at first.

I  put some glow on almost all my spoons. Even if it is a 3/16 slice up the backside of the spoon . I think that glow absorbs the light that makes it down deep  and the fish  for some reason like it as I do well w/ glow when it is high sun.

 Also There are a lot of lures out there to catch fisherman more than fish, so I stick w/ the proven stuff . I buy one of  "the latest& greatest"  instead of a bag full & if it works ,I buy more. I have boxes full of  lures  I don't use before I learned that lesson.

This time of year I get all my lures out & hang them on buckets or the white insulation in my basement . I repaint, rehook , retape the worn or ones I don't like. I bought some glow spray paint & did some over. My son turned off the light not knowing I was down there & it was like a fun house down there. Usually pitch black,  I could almost read down there from the lures & paint overspray on the floor. So imagine what the fish see down there. Maybe in stained water you need a lot of glow but in clear I like faint.

 I also have found fully charged lures need to be down there a while to get hit.

SW-NW winds ,west being best. East = stay home. I find myself going into the waves mostly. When you go with, your SOG is double . When we hookup to a good one, I clear at least one Dipsy rod & turn the boat around to go with to land the fish. Land fish, turn boat back into it ,reset ,and get back onto the spot, which usually takes a few minutes. I find that I spend most of the time going into it.

 Tips for me

     Simple setup, I like flashers on my dipseys .

     Stow all gear not needed,learned the hard way.

     Have net  & pliers ready

     Leave sea sick prone on shore.

     I leave my buckets in as much as poss to stabilize the boat.

     Sit downor kneel  to play fish or reel clear rods .Only stand when nessesary & brace yourself.

     I also kick up the speed going into it quite a bit . I like to point bow straight into waves or just off.

     Very important to keep straight.Which is why I drive the boat mostly .

 Safety is key, got to know what your boat will handle . There can be OK 4 ftrs & Bad 3 ftrs.

 I also found that the wave action makes the kings mid day come alive ,during good weather conditions .

With Capn Vince's freighter, does it matter? In a smaller craft If I am going into it w/ one  other guy & I have pulled at least my dipsey lines for a big king, I swing the boat around and go with it & take the boat out of gear sometimes to land the fish.

I also have some of my best days for kings in rough seas. I  seem to do best w/ my dipseys on those days.  Driving the boat properly,especialy  into the waves is critical.I get as many hits going into it as with. I run 2 or 3 on riggers 10-15  ft apart & 2 dipseys for no tangles & easy to land fish, but that is my usual spread.

3 1/2  & 4 1/2 Jointed Rebels. Blk Siiv , Blue silv. Grn Gold Orange, Smelt, Green  Silver Orange, Rainbow Trout.. Best for water less than 6 ft.

If you have a small boat ,take a trip up here in late April & run the shoreline w/ stickbaits  for browns if you have a small boat. Easy fishing in close w/ no need for a lot of equipment to get you started. Just need to pick good days of little wind.

New Plug wires

My wife & I launched at the Coal Docks at the Cape & made our way up to A Bay . Stopped at Clayton for lunch & some shopping, went to Bolt Castle & stopped at A Bay for a walk   around town & Ice cream . Drove around the islands . Did a little fishing & was back at the dock near dark. Was a fun day,

 3 islands in front of the thousand island park . Drift between for pike & bass. My friend got a 52 " Musky there.

You don't have to get very far off the beaten path to need a new lower unit up there.

By the time you try to jimmy rig somthing, might want to look into buying the right thing the first time. I use single boards & use a  a boat rod w/ a pulley top & old penn reel on one & big spining reel on another w/ 40# mono. Works great.

I get them out a long way w/ that setup. I like the flex of the rod & mono stretch  to keep constant pressure on the board. I keep saying I will make a set of doubles ,but the ones I have work great

 450 # test could pull a small car out of the ditch. Overkill.

Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't

Too soon to judge what will be. Could get warm & rain a lot. Allways shoreline browns or lakers deep. Take what the lake gives you. THe fish are there somewhere. Every   spring for as long as I have been doing this is different from the year before. Part of the fun.

Every year or so Rapala comes out with what is supposed to be the latest & greatest. I must say IMO most of  these have been more of a bust than bang. The originals in straight  or jtd  are stiil  the best for me , Husky jerk the exception. I also liked the fat rap for walleye or bass.

Those charts are just a guide IMO. Don't try to be to exact w/ it.  Part of the deal w/ them is that they move up & down a little as you turn IMO. As long as you are  somewhat around the strikezone you will be OK. Start out short then let it click out or pull 10-15 of line out every 10 min or so. I check mine every 30-45 min .

 I never much liked divers. Then I switched from mono to braid. Like Night & Day. NO stretch & thin Diameter dives deeper faster.Better hookset & trip from boat.

 I use my slide diver on a dedicated rod w/ 30# braid, 25' of  20# leader to a bead then a swivelthen 5' Tippet to lure( usually a spoon) .30# will get you to flea season .

I only pull my side diver out when I am struggling for a hit. Saved the day  more than a few times.

Laws , Laws , Laws. Last time I checked, murder was  against the law.

 Enforce the laws on the books. These Senators bring up bills to add more laws to make you feel better & vote for them.

 Don't be a  chump  & fall for it.

Reinstate the death penalty  and FOLLOW THRU for a good start. Bring that bill  up.

Water clarity is a big factor for me  in terms of lure size /color  springtime.  I like mags in dirty or stained water & out deeper ,but I run 28's also & let the fish decide what they want that day.

12 rods for spring browns in water less than 10'? Really? I use 4  or 5   & do well.Sometimes I can't keep 3 in the water if the bite is on.

Some of the glows are way to bright IMO. I like a faint glow. I don't want the fish to feel like Richard Dryfus at the train tracks in " Close Encounters of The Third Kind" .

Everything I see tells me Seatle will win as D wins Championships but  I can't pick against two greats, Manning & Elway.

 I think they will have their team ready. If Payton can get into 3rd & short a lot, it will be a long night for Sea .  

Denver 31  Sea 23

If you are in water less than 12 ft , where most brown fishing is done on my end ,  you don't need added wt. In fact  when I put more than a small shot on , I seem to get less strikes.

All sticks do dive on their own , some more than others. I like tuned jointed Rebels in close, under 6 ' , Then maybe straight & 9 jtd raps & smithwicks from 6- 9 , Then 11 & 13 jtd raps out past 10'.

I like to mix in  deep diver after 15 ft if I am in that 20-30' range. Do very well with them at times.

If that's all you have RUN EM. This fall out of my little boat I used a 8'6" Steelhead spin combo I got at a garage sale for 15 bucks. Landed about 10 fish on it before It got caught between the rigger handle & broke.