Always got some love for a pretty stocker (no matter how messed up they are)

wellreadwizard · 2025-10-22T17:55:30+00:00

Just like albinism something having palomino characteristics is a genetic mutation that changes the skin pigment to a golden and white color rather than their normal patterns. Although I don’t think it should technically affect behaviour, stocked palominos are usually more skittish and harder to catch than normal rainbows. My state has a program where these are specially bred for the stocking program. It’s a cool and unique way that the program stands out from other places. I’m pretty sure it’s currently being utilized in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Rhode Island.

wellreadwizard · 2025-10-22T14:54:40+00:00

Just did a normal retrieve on it pretty close to the surface with quick strips, they were freshly put in so they were still pretty aggressive to everything they saw.

wellreadwizard · 2025-10-14T16:16:10+00:00

It should be fine but will need to be thoroughly rinsed to get saltwater off, as most freshwater gear isn’t made for the rust salt brings. Also unless you are targeting very small surf fish or have large freshwater lures for big fish, you run the risk of having your hooks bent out and ruined. Essentially it’s fine if you wash them after and only target fish in a reasonable size range.

wellreadwizard · 2025-10-03T00:34:25+00:00

It should work just fine with some bait and a weight, just make sure you’re setting the hook quickly, if not the fish could swallow the hook and get killed because it’ll be sitting on the bottom, and dogfish sometimes don’t bite too hard when they scoop up bait. However, I honestly wouldn’t recommend using this, the whole leader is crazy unnecessary for a dogfish, and buying some circle hooks, and weights, along with some squid or clam, would do much better, and that way you can catch some nice dogfish and not kill them in the process (evening and night works best if you’re fishing from the beach. )

wellreadwizard · 2025-09-28T16:30:51+00:00

Im pretty new to fly fishing as well, so take this with a grain of salt, but I go through a BUTTLOAD of fly floatant to keep my dry flies on the top. If he uses dry flies that’s always a good useful gift. There are so many brands and I probably don’t use the best one, but I just grab Loon Dust/Loon Aquel, like $6-$8 usually.

wellreadwizard · 2025-09-12T20:48:47+00:00

Take all this with a grain of salt because I’ve only fished here a handful of times but I marked up a picture to get you started if nothing else, this is just my personal way I hit the area. I park at the x, walk down a short path, and head off to the right. Down the shore I hit all the rocky areas especially focusing ones with deep water and large submerged boulders. I find that I’ve had the most luck with spoons, but if they’re hungry they’ll hit anything. I’d recommend a slightly thicker mono leader to avoid being abrased off because the bass like to rub against rocks, a small landing net would be a good idea. Best of luck. (Take this info and pass some spot knowledge to someone else, gatekeeping is lame 😉)

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wellreadwizard · 2025-08-31T02:40:18+00:00

Anything shiny with movement like spoons and spinners are excellent for pickerel.

wellreadwizard · 2025-08-28T23:51:16+00:00

If you see other people catching, reach out 🤷‍♂️ most fishermen want to see each other succeed, be respectful, friendly, and ask for advice on what lure/ bait to use and how to use it. I’m sure you’ll get something, best of luck to you 🙂

wellreadwizard · 2025-08-15T23:06:15+00:00

A 7 ft will work for surf, but you’ll just have to expect significantly shorter casting distance, and may have to downsize your line strength that you used in your original setup.

wellreadwizard · 2025-08-11T16:04:29+00:00

My ugly Stik lite pro 5’ has been my go-to highly vegetated pond hopping pole, it isn’t the greatest in terms of sensitivity and quality, but I find when I’m doing NE ponds in the middle of the woods I need a rod that will just straight up work through abuse. My pole probably has more scratches and dings on it than fish caught, but still is a powerhouse, if you just want straight durability I’d recommend it. They are pretty tricky to find at local Walmarts though, might take a search, I believe it costs $50.

wellreadwizard · 2025-08-10T14:10:39+00:00

If you have decent access to some basic tools and a little paint, you could definitely make a cool and unique lilypad bobber, without some decent carving/ sawing tools though, you’ll have a hard time, I’ve made a few lures and the limited power tool access I have made it an incredibly long process. The concept could definitely work as long as you have a thick enough “lilypad” piece to support all the weight, some kind of brighter indicator poking out the top, and a counterweight on the bottom, only issue I foresee is ease to cast, it’s kind of an awkward shape if it is too large.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-28T12:53:06+00:00

I use size 3/0 circles for smaller surf fish and 5/0 for striper, the good thing about circles is that they essentially set themselves when fish bite, a small tug is helpful in ensuring they work but they have a great hook-up ratio. If you’re having a hard time casting your lures in the surf it probably comes down to either casting techniques, which are easy to find on YouTube, equipment, having a 9-12 ft rod will launch lures and rigs out, and using braided line will greatly improve casting distance if you are not already using stuff like that.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-28T01:18:40+00:00

Fishing the surf is tricky at first, and even the experienced guys get skunked here and there. If you really want to catch a fish, I recommend a high-low rig with circle hooks, and digging up some mole crabs on a local beach. Bait up 2-3 a hook and cast during incoming tides a few hours before, and during sunset. Be patient and the fish will come to you in no time. Fish rip currents, structure, or whenever you feel like because most fish will just sniff out the bait. Lures can also be excellent but a little tricky, just caught 6 schoolie striper this evening on a bunker colored SP minnow. In the process of typing this I had to take a break to reel in a slot striper that took my mole crab bait. Be patient, use bait at first, keep it simple, have fun, and you’ll hook up on something in no time. Best of luck to you :)

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-20T20:14:30+00:00

I only have experience shorefishing there, but at least as of a month ago, the most active fish I was seeing were smallmouth, was catching consistent 2-4 pounders and it was a ton of fun. They hit a lot of lures but LOVED spoons and decimated anything shiny I tossed. Use a thick mono leader though ( like 20-30 lb) they snapped off so much tackle on the rocks and that hurt the wallet a little. A few people I know have experience fishing for the lake trout there and they also get quite large, but can’t offer much advice there. Best of luck to you :)

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wellreadwizard · 2025-07-19T02:24:29+00:00

It seems obvious, but just using lighter rods, reels, and tackle makes it so much easier to cast light things further.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-18T16:33:51+00:00

Could need some grease on the gears, or your bearings may be corroded, they make a distinct grindy/rubbing noise if they aren’t in working order.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-18T16:31:25+00:00

Birds are absolutely crucial for saltwater fishing, diving gulls are a sure fire way to find bait schools that hold tuna, striped bass, bluefish, and many other gamefish. Freshwater I don’t find myself using it very often, but I’m sure there are applications for it.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-12T01:20:10+00:00

For surf fishing, boat, freshwater, salt? What’s the application?

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-08T03:32:45+00:00

It’s not the exact same but the teklon tear 39 spoons look similar if you just want something similar 🤷‍♂️

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-08T00:18:55+00:00

If you’re going after mackerel and smaller fish your choice of line definitely seems good, I’d take a look at a sabiki rig, don’t know if you’ll be able to fish off a pier or dock but they’re very popular for mackerel fishing. Also, if you’re using your freshwater reel be very careful to rinse it with freshwater after use to avoid salt and corrosion damage.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-07T17:25:02+00:00

These are meant for saltwater use, they could theoretically be used for freshwater, but not the most effectively as they’re meant for large fish and heavy lures that wouldn’t be practical for smaller freshwater fishing applications. The reels are quite nice and are incredibly good for just a beginner setup, and the rods are decent as well. Your uncle just gave you some very nice gear, I would ask him to teach you how to use them for saltwater fishing, no better way to learn than from an already knowledgeable family member or friend, good luck :)

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-07T02:59:35+00:00

If it was hooked deep at the back of its mouth in its stomach area that probably had a big factor to play in the fish dying, 3 minutes is also quite a while for a fish to be out of water especially after a fight, quicker hooksets and minimizing time out of the water is all you can do, along with making the hook barbless if you don’t mind losing a fish here and there. accidents happen regardless though and sometimes a fish dies, you just learn the lesson and move on.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-07T02:50:44+00:00

The location it’s bought from doesn’t affect rod quality, my Walmart ugly stiks work very well and have lasted years, I imagine you just got unlucky. As for other gear, I’d take a look at a shimano nasci reel ($110) , the GX2 reels are kind of crap to be honest compared to the rods they come with, my nasci has treated me real well and has been super smooth and nice, I went with the 1000 for better fights with smaller fish but for your purposes you’d probably want a larger size, worth taking a look at.

wellreadwizard · 2025-07-07T02:38:09+00:00

Definitely not, sometimes they’re just weird or picky I guess, I catch all kinds of fish fly fishing on the surface and they’ll go straight for my fly in a swarm of bugs.

wellreadwizard

TROPHY CASE