Be Prepared...

Minnows. You can catch anything that swims on about any style of a minnow rig. A jig and a minnow, a minnow fished weightless on a hook, a minnow under a bobber with split shot are all great methods. A minnow fished with a three-way swivel and barrel sinker or fished with split shot is also very productive. Keep in mind there are many different types of minnows. It is common to see tuffy (or fathead) minnows and bass minnows in bait shops. Tuffy minnows are smaller, and you are more likely to catch crappie, small catfish and other smaller fish on these. Bass minnows are larger, sometimes 4-5 inches in length. If you are simply out to "get bit," smaller minnows will definitely produce more bites. Your minnow gear should match up with the body of water you are fishing. If you are fishing a clear river or lake, then you should use lighter line (6 or 8-pound test) with spinning gear. Minnows work great in tandem with Thill balsa floats. Thill Crappie Corks take the guesswork out of which size weight to use in tandem with the float. Weights between 1/16 of an ounce to 3/8ths are printed on the float. Simply use a jig combination or weight combination suggested by the float, and you will have the right weight to make your float sit upright and correctly signify a fish strike. Thill Premium Bobber Stops allow you to change depths easily, which is important when minnow fishing. ou can move from 2 feet to 20 feet by simply sliding your bobber stop up your line. The bobber stop can be cranked down your rod guides and into your reel without affecting casting. This gives slip floats a HUGE advantage over fixed floats. Hook-wise, you need a No. 4 or No. 6 bronze hook with smaller minnows. Try a No. 2 or 1/0 hook with larger minnows. With minnows, it is best to tie the line directly to the hook instead of using a snap swivel. Also, you need to be ready to keep your minnows alive through the course of the day. You can use a minnow bucket, or you can go next level and put your minnows in a Lindy Bait Tamer. The Bait Tamer can be held in the livewell, where minnows can be aerated in recirculated water, or you can attach the Tamer to a stringer or rope and place it in the water beside your boat. However, if you are trolling or moving a lot, the livewell solution is the best. Be prepared: If you are familiar with creeks in the area you are fishing and have the resources, you can take minnow fishing a step farther by using a seine net to catch your own minnows. Many times, fish will key on minnows native to their body of water (such as particular shiners). There is also the chance you could net up some hellgrammites or crawfish, depending on where you live. Hook hellgrammites (or grampus) through the collars on their neck. Crawfish can be fished alive, or you can peel off the tail meat and fish it on a bare hook. This is a deadly tactic for rainbow trout.

- Worms / nightcrawlers. Almost every species of fish will eat crawlers and worms. They can be utilized on snells, spinner rigs, underneath a float, with a bottom bouncer, on three-way rigs or with a variety of sinkers. Smaller worms will catch bluegills and trout, and larger nightcrawlers are favorites of walleyes and many other fish. The classic Lindy Rig allows anglers to fish with nightcrawlers with a very natural, finesse presentation. The Lindy Rig can be trolled or drifted. Keep it contact with the bottom and let the fish take the bait for up to a 10 count before setting the hook. You may want to have a different spinning rod and reel set up for worms. Being prepared means being able to fish minnows and worms at the same time and being opportunistic. Worms and nightcrawlers can be fished the same way minnows are fished under bobbers. Smaller pieces of worms are recommended for panfish. Also, try to use smaller spinning gear with 4 or 6-pound test when panfishing. Use No. 8 or No. 10 hooks with long shanks to present worms. Worms are deadly for rainbow trout when fished in tandem with kernels of corn. A good rig is a No. 8 long shank hook with one piece of corn on top, a small piece of nightcrawler rigged in between and another piece of corn on the bottom. This bait can be presented on light line with a few pieces of lead split shot and either drifted or fished in holes on the bottom. It never hurts to have a can of corn in the boat when multispecie fishing. It is great used in tandem with worms and can be fished alone for trout and panfished. Be prepared: If you want to take worm fishing to the next level, become a scavenger. Find areas around your house or in nearby woods where you can roll over rocks, limbs, logs or leaf piles. You may find grubs, meal worms, red worms or night crawlers. Sometimes grubs and meal worms are trout and panfish dynamite. They are not as durable as nightcrawlers, so make them count!

- Spoons: A casting spoon, such as a Lindy Viking Spoon, is one of the most versatile lures you can have in the boat and should be taken on any multispecie trip. A quarter-ounce spoon used on a spinning rod with 6 or 8-pound line will catch trout, white bass, stripers, black bass and many other species. It is equally at home for cold water and warm water species. Spoons are great tools for schooling fish. At some point during the year, especially during warmer months, game fish will chase after baitfish. When you see baitfish flying out of the water and "toilet flushes" and other commotion happening on the surface, you can cash in if you have a spoon on standby. Be prepared: Always have a few extra replacement treble hooks and a pair of split ring pliers in the boat. Bigger schooling fish such as stripers, hybrids and white bass can wreck treble hooks. You can be out of business if you are short on spoons or replacement hooks. These are good things to keep in a boat’s glove box. Be prepared II: If you are chasing schooling fish, it is a good idea to have a Lindy Fish Handling Glove in the boat. Stripers and white bass are notorious for having lots of fins and sharp gill plates. Your hands will thank you later.

- Crankbaits: Crankbaits are versatile in that they can be cast or trolled for just about every fish that swims. Lindy Shadlings are shad-bodied, tight-wiggling crankbaits that can be cast on a spinning rod and reel for bass and other species or can be trolled on a baitcasting outfit for walleye, crappie, white bass and other species. Crankbaits allow anglers to cover lots of water quickly. Fan casting shorelines or trolling multiple lines will allow anglers to find fish more easily than casting or trolling live bait. Crankbaits allow for faster retrieves and will cover a multitude of depths easily. Using bait casting reels with line counters allows anglers to control depths. For instance, if a Size 5 Shadling is cast on 8-pound test, it will dive around 6 feet. If it is trolled with 100 feet of 10-pound test line, it will dive 10 feet. For panfish and smaller bass, it is always a good idea to have a spinning outfit or a spincast outfit rigged up with a classic ultralight crankbait such as a Rebel Crawfish or Crickhopper. These little crankbaits are shallow runners and catch just about anything that swims – trout, bass, panfish, crappie, walleye, white bass, stripers – you name it! Be prepared: Using Lindy Crankbait Snaps allows the angler to change crankbaits easily without having to re-tie every time. Sometimes you have to experiment with colors and depths, and Crankbait Snaps are a hassle-free way to make this happen.