Summer bait fishing

By Rennie Phillips

From the time I could barely walk I've gone fishing. Fished in the summer wading with a pair of tennis shoes on to fishing through the ice when it was seriously cold out. Caught northerns to bluegill to bass to trout to catfish to bullheads. All of them are fun. Most of them I caught on a fly pole as well as a regular fishing rig. Some we ate and really enjoyed but some we'd toss back. If we could fillet them we'd normally eat them. Some were so boney we just didn't bother. I hated bones back then and still do today. I'd rather eat a hamburger than a bony fish.

This time of the year we'd normally head to one of the shallow sandhill lakes in Nebraska and catch a mess of bullheads. The yellower the bullhead the better it was to eat. If a bullhead was grey colored it wasn't much to eat. We'd eat it but we were after those yellow bullheads. Bullheads weren't picky about the bait so about anything would work. Sometimes we'd dig some fish worms and use them. Other times we'd take the .22 and get a bird on the way.

After skinning them Mom would fry them up crispy in lard and they were just pretty good. Most of them were pretty small, say less than 10 inches, so they fried up real good. Basically a bullhead has the main row of bones down the backbone and that's about all. Basically boneless. Since most of these lakes were spring fed they stayed cool, even in the summer months, so we'd fish for bullheads all summer.

It wasn't real technical fishing either. We'd tie a sinker at the end of the line on our poles. Then we'd go up about a foot to 14 inches and tie a one inch loop using a figure eight knot. Then up another foot to 14 inches and tie another loop. Dad always bought snelled No. 6 hooks so we'd loop them on the two loops on the fishing string. All one had to do was add some bait and toss it out in the lake. Didn't really matter how far out either. Seemed like close to shore worked at times and out a ways at other times worked. We'd lay our poles along the bank on the grass so that when the fish would bite they'd pull on the rod tip.

Dad used this same set up whenever he was bait fishing no matter what kind of fish we were after. The only difference was at times he'd put a No. 6 snelled hook on one loop and then a No. 4 on the other. The No. 6 was smaller than the 4 but both worked. When we were fishing at Lake McConaughy in Nebraska he'd put the 4 on the bottom and the 6 on the top loop. Many times he'd put a worm on one hook and a minnow on the other.

The fish in Lake McConaughy normally were walleye, white bass, catfish, northern pike and occasionally a ring eyed perch. All of these would bite the worm or the minnow. Dad never did sharpen the hooks but he'd change the snelled hooks after bullhead fishing. He figured the bullheads would dull the hooks so he changed them. When I did a lot of fly fishing I learned that a sharp hook was a fisherman's best friend.

Kind of interesting but I use this same setup all through the summer even today. I like to go to Lake Girardeau and bottom fish for bluegill or catfish. I tie a small sinker on the end of my line and then add a snelled hook up about a foot and maybe another snelled hook up another foot or so. If I'm fishing and getting hung up I'll only use one hook. Then all I have to do is add some bait. I like the red wigglers best of all. Night crawlers work but not as good as wigglers. The only difference is I use a No. 6 or a No. 8 hook on both loops. I think two No. 8 hooks work better where they are smaller especially when I'm fishing for bluegill.

I'm a real novice when it comes to fishing the river but the times when I have fished out there I used this same setup. Only difference was I used a heavier weight and bigger hooks and a lot more bait. And then instead of using 6 or 8 or 10 pound line I probably had 20 or 30 pound line. Rods were heavier as were the reels but everything was the same only stronger. I find it relaxing to chunk a bait out and lean back in a lawn chair and enjoy the view and the experience. When I take my boat and use lures I am constantly on the move. At times I want to relax and enjoy.

The one thing growing up that I look back on with fond memories was the simple but effective way that my Dad and Granddad fished. They used the weight and two hooks when bait fishing. Always did it this same way. Always. And when they were fishing for bass they always used a Johnson weedless spoon in silver or gold color and a pork frog on the spoon. Always. Dad had a tackle box and there were lures in the box but they stayed in the box. Never saw him use a one of them.

Many times we make things too difficult. We have 20,000 different lures to choose from so we need to buy one of each just in case. (At least this is how it seems.) We have tackle box after tackle box full of lures and still don't have enough storage to get all our tackle in them.

One of my favorite memories is fishing up at Spring Valley using a cane pole. Dad helped me get the cane pole set up with a weight and hook and a bobber. I added some worms and simply set the bait in the water. No reel whatsoever. Caught some bullheads. Had a good time.

That old saying "Keep it simple, stupid" is as true today as it was back then. This applies to life and work and gardening and fishing and hunting and cooking and on and on.