We have all seen the angler with a bobber, snelled hooks, a package of worms and a large tackle box containing jitterbugs, big red-and-white spoons, a de-liar, a blue-and white stringer and a fish scaler arrive at a fishing spot. There's an old caveat about hunters: "Beware the man who has one gun. He knows how to use it." Same goes for anglers and the guy with one rod and a small box of flies.

I agree with that. I have been to lakes all too often seeing the newbie angler using his Walmart rod with the tags still on it. The best is seeing someone using a spinning rod upside down! I have seen that too many times to count especially on head boats.

My focused fishing is stripers/blues. I have enough diamond jigs and soft plastics to kill a horse but I know how to use em all!

My thing the last year, since building rods (I don't build anything fancy). Is going to the trout streams near me, with a few UL rods and pair them with 204 or 308 Mitchell reels. I have people come up to me all the time, after hearing the clicking of the reels. Most tell me how they had Mitchell reels as a kid. The reason I take a few, is I look for a young angler. If they have a sub par rig, and I see they are interested in fish. I give them one of the rigs, tell them it's a custom rod, and the story of fishing a vintage Mitchell. Very rewarding for me! So many time I've been fishing a stream catch a couple fish, only to have the person come in the hole. I just go to where they were and most times pick up a few more.

This spring I decided to challenge myself to using 100% artificial baits for a full year. Targeting walleyes and panfish mostly, 90+% of my fishing previously had been done using 1/6-3/8oz ball head jigs, or a 1/32oz jig under a bobber, tipped with a minnow, leech, or worm. Although the challenge could have been kept fairly simple and focused by using only a handful of artificial analogs of those live baits, the experimentation bug hit me hard and I've found myself with a huge collection of new soft plastics, as well as trying out new specific techniques like drop shot or ned rigging. I went from one small bag that held 4 Plano 3500 boxes and my essential tools, to a milk crate that holds 15 3500 boxes, as well as the small bag that now holds a variety of scents/attractants.

I've learned a LOT over this past summer, and had a blast doing it. A buddy originally scoffed at my endeavor, saying that it was foolish to spend so much on different plastics when a leech under a bobber works just fine. While that may be partially true, I have found plenty of new techniques that I can try out when they aren't biting on leeches. I haven't gotten out in a while, but I successfully went the whole summer without being skunked on a single outing, something that I can't say about past years using only live baits, so I see my experimentation as a huge success by my own standards.

However, although I have a lot of new tools in my toolbox, my tackle setup is much too cumbersome now for how I want it. Some favorite techniques/baits emerged throughout the summer, my favorite being a 3-5" plastic on a drop shot rig. I'm hoping to focus my efforts this next summer on whittling down my selection so that I'm only carrying 4-5 plano 3500 trays in a bag that also holds my essential tools, so that I have a compact package that I can take anywhere and know I can catch fish reliably with something in it. It'll be a challenge, as there is a lot of new stuff that I tried that I had success on and like using, but I want to get back to only having a select few things to keep track of and replenish each spring/throughout the year.

I'll also be fine-tuning the rod side of things as I'm just getting into building. Just completed my first rod, a MH ice rod for my dad to use for lake trout this winter, and I'm loving the build process so far. Learning lots from this site and getting my hands on a build myself. This spring I bought a St. Croix Legend Elite Panfish that covers the lighter end of my tackle and I love it, but I think it might be the last production rod that I'll ever use. Not that there isn't a place for production rods, nor that there isn't a production rod that would work just fine for my purposes, but I like the appeal and pride of building it myself and being able to make the handle, blank, and components exactly what I want, versus trying to find a production rod that checks most but not all of my boxes. So, I'm planning a build with top notch components and a handle setup that just isn't available on any production rod to cover the "heavier" side (the 1/4 to 1/2oz range) of my fishing before this next summer, and I'm really looking forward to that one.

Here's my version. Bass fishing in Florida, native shiners along with mud-head minnows on the bed can't be beat. I opt for lures. Hired a guide in Okeechobee 2 years ago, begged me to fish 'em. The deal was lures only, well, his fellow guide had a son and dad party, anchored near us. 60 bass!! Mostly buck males but still. We caught 6. There is something about the journey that interests me more than the result. I've taken back up with Buck Perry's Spoonplug method thanks to Don Dickson's reintroduction of the method on youtube. Tight lines to all.

Phil,
Your post are always interesting to say the least and I look forward to reading them. You have left me no room to comment with your quote,”Beware the man who has one gun. He knows how to use it”. Can’t say it any better than that!!!

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

All that I can say to that is on one trip we all used purple rods with blue jigs and came home with a livewell full of fish. Next time out we tired the same thing for an hour or two, but caught no fish.

So, we changed to something else, and came home with a livewell full of fish for dinner.

As with many things in life, needs change and it is up to the provider of the needs to be on tap to provide the particular item to fill the need for the activity being pursued