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.

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.

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.

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" .

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.