I need some advice!!!

[waterinthefuel]

My nephew is turning 13 and is now big into fishing. He rides his bike to what my sister describes is "between a pond and a lake" as far as size. What species are in small freshwater ponds/lakes in northern Georgia? Any advice on some inexpensive lures that would work well?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: I need some advice!!!

I would get him a Mepps set in a small plastic case...... good for bass, crappie, sunfish and just about anything hungry.

 

[aspeck]

Re: I need some advice!!!

You can't go wrong with small plastics ... 1/16th to 1/8th oz. Chartruese, white, purple ... shad, worm, tube, twister tail. They will all work on pan fish, perch, bass, etc. I can outfish people with real worms with them. And the best part is they are inexpensive. Have fun with color (I do prefer the red hooks ... the look of blood just seems to add that little extra to the bait.

 

[Bass Man Bruce]

Re: I need some advice!!!

With all due respect to the refined, respected, incredibly intelligent and darn good looking gents who posted above (whoooooo - boy!!!!!!) since it sounds like he is still a newbie give him worms and a bobber . Ya just can't go wrong with that.

 

[JB]

Re: I need some advice!!!

At that age I was catching largemouth bass, bluegills and other panfish on a flyrod. Sometimes with bait, sometimes with inexpensive artificials like popping bugs and flies.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: I need some advice!!!

Get him some lures and show him how to use them. A little worm on one of Bob's Mepps (above) will catch way more fish than hanging bait under a bobber, which is akin to winning scratch-off tickets with scratch-off tickets. (IMHO) Keeps you busy but you don't really gain anything.

 

[Starcraftguy1]

Re: I need some advice!!!

My first lures were a Mepps Killer kit.Trout,lol.I still remember buying it at a little hardware store in town,with my own money that I made shovelling sidewalks of snow the winter before trout season.That was 36 years ago,and the Mepps Aglia silverblade #2 is still my go to lure for anything.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: I need some advice!!!

I ended up getting him a box of the Yum brand plastic crawfish and hooks and attractant tackle box pack sold at Wal Mart. I think he'll have fun with that.

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: I need some advice!!!

Black and silver rapalas, smaller sizes. They are killer on bass and crappie.

And in my 30+ years of fishing, a worm under a bobber or on the bottom always gets results. Somthing will always take that bait.

 

[mars bar]

Re: I need some advice!!!

The main thing is "get him more into fishing, than into drugs". I'd try different baits, sometimes they not active enough for lures. Live bait is the best bait. knowing how to fish it, is the thing.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: I need some advice!!!

No matter what else the kid takes to the pond, he should always have some worms and a bobber with him. When nothing else is working, hook a worm and hang it under a bobber. Something's going to eat it, I guarantee.

I took a kid fishing last year...his first time. So I had him fishing with plain old garden worms under a little red and white bobber. He was catching nice bit sunnies and crappies like crazy the whole time we were out there by the big lily pad bed. I was watching him mostly, but I had my own rig set up the same way.

While I wasn't paying attention, I heard my ultralight rod click against the gunwale and turned around to see the bobber down. I set the tiny hook and all heck broke loose.

On the other end of that line was a three and a half pound largemouth! 2 lb. test mono and lily pads everywhere. It took a little while, but I finessed that bass back to the boat and lipped him.

The kid's eyes were as big as saucers, and he really started fishing in earnest.

Moral of the story: A guy never knows what's going to turn up on a worm.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: I need some advice!!!

By the way, when the fish aren't biting, even on worms, I have one more trick that will guarantee you'll catch fish, if there are any where you're fishing. You'll need an ultralight setup, with no more than 4 lb. test line.

Tie a small hook, like a #10 or #12 on the end of the line and nothing else. Take a small worm and hook it once through the collar. Let both ends dangle and wiggle.

Cast that out, gently, into any gap in the weeds and let the line stay a little slack after it hits the water. Watch the line, where it enters the water. When you see the line move sideways, set the hook by just lifting the rod tip. There's not even a chance the worm will sink to the bottom.

The biggest panfish in the area will have rushed in and grabbed that weighless worm and you'll have it on the end of the line.

This also works when you're getting killed by the little ones and not catching the big ones. The smart old big fish will just shove the little guys out of the way to grab a weighless worm.

Try it!

 

[deerslayer303]

Re: I need some advice!!!

I'm with everyone else on the worms and bobber. I always carry a bucket of worms fishing with me, no matter what sort of fishing I am doing. Believe it or not Spanish Mackeral will eat a weightless nightcrawler. Worms are one of the most natural food sources for fish.
As far as artificial lures go my favorite (next to plastics) is the ROOSTER TAIL I have a large selection in all sizes and colors. I've caught all sorts of species of fish on them, saltwater and fresh.
Now as far as to what SPECIES should be in the lake, well lets see, CRAPPIE, ALL SORTS OF SUNFISH (ie. bream, red ear, war mouth, etc) Large Mouth Bass, Catfish, Pickeral, Gar, Carp.

 

[ebry710]

Re: I need some advice!!!

With all due respect to the refined, respected, incredibly intelligent and darn good looking gents who posted above (whoooooo - boy!!!!!!) since it sounds like he is still a newbie give him worms and a bobber . Ya just can't go wrong with that.

Yep. Putting them on the hook and reeling it to see if they are still there gives him something else to do while fishing....and they catch fish. Mepps and rooster tails are fun for trout and popping bugs are fun for bass.

 

[flydown]

Re: I need some advice!!!

I'd say go to the local Wal-Mart and by an assortment of different sizes and colors of Split tail beetle spins and plain beetle spins. Also Strike King Bitzy spin in chartruse and in white.

My first bass was on a white with red dot, split tail beetle spin. About 4 pounds and I was about 10 years old. Try something like that only if you want to get hooked on fishing.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: I need some advice!!!

On the other end of that line was a three and a half pound largemouth! 2 lb. test mono and lily pads everywhere.

That ought to be a MN state record or close to it, did you check?

That Yum crawbug set is not for an inexperience angler I'm afraid. Get him a couple bags of Yum curly tail worms in Junebug color, some 1/8oz bullet sinkers, #3 Gamakatsu?s EWG (Extra Wide Gap) Worm hooks, 10lbs test Berkley 100% fluorocarbon line. All of this can be had for 30 bucks and he can fit worms, hooks, sinkers all in his back pocket. Teach him how to fish with a plastic worm. It's weedless and can be fish at any depth and the best part is he doesn't leave any trash behind. The problem with lot of peoples using worm is they leave the worm container behind and litter the bank with it.

 

[Don Dickinson]

Re: I need some advice!!!

naw, the minnesota state record is a little of 8lbs i think. i pulled a 5lb out of minnetonka a few years ago. i don't usually fish bass after musky season starts (early june), but i was musky fishing and it hit a topwater

-don

That ought to be a MN state record or close to it, did you check?

 

[CATransplant]

Re: I need some advice!!!

Minnesota doesn't keep line weight records, so not much point in looking, and I'm quite positive it isn't even close to the world record.

That said, I'd like very much to get a state or world record of some kind before I leave this planet. To that end, I do fish for weird species quite a bit of the time, and with light tackle.

Also, if you look at the world records for some freshwater fish, there are empty spots or low fish weights for some line weights. It's almost worth going after one of those oddball records with that line weight.

But, heck, I just fish for fun. I have the freshwater world record book in my tackle box, though, just in case I catch something big and rare.

This year, my goal is to catch large bowfins. My favorite lake has a good population of them, and they're in there in the mucky water. I always make a few casts for them.