Down on fake bait.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

It's been quite the weekend.

On Saturday I bought my very own fishing rod. I was looking for one of those "afraid of committment" starter packs - Where everything I needed was included in one package. Rod, reel, tackle, etc. Just so I didn't have to buy anything extra to get started.

Oh yeah, it had to be cheap too :) That's really the "afraid of committment" part.

Seriously, I didn't want to get to the pier and figure out I'm missing something. Like hooks.

The store I went to had (seriously) like 10 or 12 different kits you could buy. Thinking that there would only be a few, I didn't do my research beforehand so I spent a little while trying to figure out what was going to suit me best. I finally ended up with the Zebco Ready Tackle. It's a spincast reel and it came with with extra fishing line. Best of all, it's labeled "multi purpose."

Cause I'm a multi-purpose type of guy.

I figured I coudln't go wrong, right? With my multi-purpose fishing kit I was expecting to catch anything from a minnow to a whale - whichever came first. I wasn't going to be picky.

However, looking back (i.e., checking on the internet when I got home) I probably should have gone with the 202, which is supposedly "the world's most popular spincast reel."

On a more geeky note, I could definitely tell a difference in mechanicals from B's "more premium" fishing gear to my own.

Oh well, next time. It's hard to get a good idea of how something works when everything's hermetically sealed in plastic.

So anyway, fast forward to today...

My mom had this fundraiser to attend at Stony Creek today. It had been a while since I'd been there, so I agreed to be her chauffeur and go. As an added bonus, they have a fishing pier...

We spent a while at the park, from mid morning to about mid-afternoon. Got some good eats and relaxation time.

I even dusted off the old kite and tried to fly it. No such luck - the breeze didn't stay strong enough to keep the kite in flight for more than a few minutes..

The wind blows.

But it's ok, at least I know it still works. I haven't flown that kite in at least 5 years or so.

It's like riding a bicycle...

There was a dude trying to fly a kite as well. He was running his ass off to keep his kite up in the air.

Overall, the weather was nice. Cool and breezy in the shade, hot and sunny otherwise.

At the end of the day, we drove out to the pier and I tried my luck at fishing for about 30 minutes.

Nothin.

There were quite a few factors that contribubted. I had over 10 types of "multi-purpose" lures and not a clue when to use where. So I went random.

But man, there was this older dude on the pier that was using live bait.

That's the good hook.

(no pun intended). It seemed like about very other time he cast, he'd catch something. Nothing worth keeping, but it looked like he was just pulling them out of the lake.

I was just there with my rubbery gummy bait that smelled funny.

For real - it reeks of like industrial solvents.

So needless to say, I kind of lost interest. I'm going to have to ask B about what to use and how to set up my gear properly for the lake.

-Kirk