Pencils...easier than live bait?
 

I've often heard folks say live bait is cheating, but after careful reflection and observation for several seasons I believe a pencil is perhaps the easiest way to catch a fish, particularly a decent one....no catching bait, no mess, no live well, no getting up early, no jumping over fences and poaching herring...just cast the effing thing out, twitch it, and you're on... obviously there have to be fish available, but pencils are becoming the new googan technique of choice..even guys from Jersey can catch big fish with them:angel:...who's with me?

Other than rubber shads Pencils are a good choice

I like pencils but the arms get sore after a while.Need an automatic pencil rod.:rotf2:

Nah, Darters are easier.
Cast Retrieve
Cast Retrieve

Eben is proof of this.

we jersey guys have been fishing them for years state your case.

not sure about easier to catch with, but a hell of a lot more fun. You get anything on those skinny ones yet? I have not.

I think you should be writing this about your rubber shad fishing not pencils:)

I find it more fun and mobile for me to fish on the shore. If I was on the boat, I would prefer to liveline mackerels or anything. Either of them works fine for me, but I stick with lures.

I prefer spooks over pencils :D

I have seen my share of guys who do not know how to properly work a pencil but could live line??? It ain't all that easy for those who do not know how to use them! Me likey pencils!

I've actually seen guys struggle with catching on shads, but never on pencils. I think its pencil-shad-eels in this order for ease of catching...

I'm trying to raise the NIB.

There's a reason they are called "Jersey Death Machines" :biglaugh::biglaugh:

I give darters little pauses and change speed and also pump the rod. Darters are not easy. Needlefish are another story

Pencils are easy on days when all you have to do is hit the water to raise a fish.

They're also easy to hook fish on--landing them is another story. They're second only to darters in giving the hooks a bad purchase in a fish's mouth.

They're also hook-straighteners if a fish gets everything just right.

why did it take you several seasons to figure this out?

Well, I don't know really. Been listening to the plugophiles talk about how easy bait is until I really thought about it. I was just bored yesterday.

Plugs vs bait? Bah humbug. The real test of a good fisherman is who can catch fish without a cellphone.

Indubitably

that's good Mike, your brain is a muscle that needs excercise also :btu:

I think it's good to try to be proficient at several ways to catch fish. It's not as much fun just doing it one way, and that goes for surf or boat. I don't think it is always one way is easier than others. At times a swimmer will be easier to catch on than a pencil, different circumstances and bait available has an effect on it.

I just go fish and try to figure out what they want and how they want it. Of course there has to be fish around, but even that doesn't mean you'll get them to bite.

numbskull Best line yet.

I'm not very good at fishing eels, but I bought 1/2 a dozen last week and my hit to cast ratio was much much higher on those eels than on my pencils.

My past two mornings of non stop pencil casting I've had exactly 1 fish and 1 hit & miss, for who knows how many 100's of casts...

The ratio of landed fish will almost certainly be higher when fishing a single hook versus a treble.

Thing is though, if you were fishing with an eel its likely you were fishing at night.:uhuh:

Night fishing implies a level of difficulty most people can't or won't entertain, particularly pencil fishermen, who are afraid of the dark.:alright:

Thus, pencils are easier.

In the same vein, I am hearing that the bass fishing in Narr Bay sucks. Know why? Cause the Pogy Boats showed up and these nitwits who couldn't catch a fish 5 years ago when there were NO pogies, now can't because the mean pogy boats took all of em. I switched to eels 2 weeks ago because

(1) I was sick of the the BS of running to Prov and dealing with all the jerks trying to get a dozen pogies out of 1 small school.

(2) I like to fish in the middle of the night and

(3) Eels have always worked for me at night.

I don't think eel fishing, when done correctly, is easy. I see guys 3 way eels. It's not my style. I like to work a live eel like a plug only way, way slower. I like to throw Riggies. I like to throw skin plugs and I like to throw big metal lip swimmers fished real slow right under the surface. Nothing beats a really bg bass exploding on a swimmer.

Jigs are easy
I like to jig at night

nothing I do is ever easy

I fish nothing but wood and the top of the water column at the ditch....because thats what I like! I do pretty good! Its the way I enjoy fishing these days! I have fished live eels plenty with great success.....but tempting a striper with an artificial is what I like! Though the temptation to drift an eel always creeps in to my head! Do what you like....like what you do!!!:uhuh:

thats just because you suck on any rig that has lead and keeping said lead in contact with the water... :smash: I'll give you lesson mid summer when the fish are in 60ft of water.

Bryan, you are soooo right and I am ashamed of myself.:uhuh:

Did you mean to say bottom?

-spence

I used to fly fish for trout all the time. The best two flys to raise big fish were big foam flys and balsa wood inch worms. The key to them was the ripple they made. It disguised the leader and the fly. Give them a coulpe of pops and the fish can't help themselves. The larger weiry fish would often fall for these. Same thing with pencil poppers. The fish never gets a clear look at them - in their minds it is no doubt the real thing!

Amen, Brother - and THAT'S the Gospel truth, Paul...:kewl:

I'm starting on my recovery program from the Spring blackfish bender I've been on and I see a dozen snakes in my immediate future...:)

I'll tell ya Chuck it's slow. Midnight to 6:30 AM yesterday All I could scare up was 2 high teen fish.....on eels. I absolutely refuse to go to Prov anymore.

high teen inches? or lbs?

I never used pencils much/ with all the buzz on the net here I picked up a yozuri hydro pencil. didnt catch squat/ the bait was there too as I saw several comorants picking up a late lunch.

don't know if i was doing something wrong or the fish just weren't interested in my offerings yesterday.

tied the yozuri pencil on direct with a palomar knot.

it didnt really do much action wise/ maybe I was doing something wrong? id bring it in slow and twitch it like a sluggo or topwater popper..

should I have used something more like a perfection or surgeons loop (for more action?)

the lure sat in the water with its tail down and the head sticking up/ it was a floater. call me a googan/ but, how do you work guys work these in effectively?

I think most great fisherman should be able to adapt to any condition. Its always been my goal to learn and try any form of fishing weather bait or artificial. But theres nothing wrong with catching fish how ever you prefer....there is just no wrong way. I could care less if herring are ever allowed, for me does day were a lot of work. A plug bag full of lures is all I need and the days with fish out number the skunked ones so I dont mind one or two every now and then. Its good for a reality check. Pencil do catch fish and lots of fish. I haver always been a polaris man when it came to poppers, but i fished the beaches a lot then. Now that most of my time is spent in the ditch a pencil is more eficiant in the current tho polaris do work great while tide is crawling......By far my favorite way of all is the danny or swimmer...this has always been my thing and will continue no matter where I fish..I find it to be my easier then bait plug

I love it all. I fish for stripers with Chunk bait, live lining, plugs, plastic and, maybe most of all, flies. Same with trout....this past weekend , here in Vermont, was fly fishing a very promising section of a river. An hour later I had tried 4-5 flies and had missed one. Back to the SUV where I grabbed my spin rod and a couple of large spoons and spinners. 10 minutes later WHAM, a 20 " brown hits a spoon as I'm working it through fast water. I missed another hard hit 5 minutes later. I had to go at that point, but if I had stayed and they weren't hitting any more I might have tried a crayfish or crawler. I just like fishing!

pencils? I am familiar with the pencil poppers, or when you guys say pencils do you mean these yozuri types i got?

i know how to work the pencil popper/ whats the technique with the yozuri style?

INCHES????

I'm an old timer. We never talked inches. They were 17 to 20 POUNDS. I consider them schoolies at this time of year. We should be banging 30's by now.

atleast a lot more of them. plenty of teen to 20lb schoolies around agreed

I think those might be more of a spook
fish with rod to side and twitch

Pencils are not that hard to work, get a Gibbs canal special and try that out. Or even one of Mikes and Cape Cod Tackle, his fish well.