Here are some techniques from our 'extreme' bank fishing. After 1 and 1/2 years learning and changing we finally got a system that is kinda working like we need. By extreme we mean hiking 2-5 miles while fishing.. hiking over cliffs and trees and through sticker bushes and snake infested stuff.

These technuiques may not work for everyone, but thought it would be fun to share.. and it is always interesting to see how other people fish.

Green: Why green? No gas, no boat, no electronics (except cell phone). Hunt for the fish by skill / instinct. Hoof your way around. Get exercise. Keep some fish. Cheaper the driving to store to buy some that was shipped in from 8k miles away

Back Pack: Why a pack?... because we hike a long ways over some pretty rough terrain. Can store and carry lots of stuff and take it off if we are gonna fish a spot for a while.

Cooler insert: We use a cooler insert taken from some ice chest from wally world.. this keeps the ice, and any other liquids, away from the gear. It also helps keep the ice and drinks cold. My fishing buddy uses those cooler bags from the super market.


Rods: We found we need 2 rods, one for lighter lures/worms and one for heavier lures. Boaters can carry a dozen poles but that is just not feasible for extreme fishing. 3 poles are starting to push the gear mangability. I carry a 2 super light loomis rods. The weight may seem insiginificant.. and maybe it was just an excuse for me to get a loomis!.. but.. after hiking 5 miles.. ozs can add up. My fishing buddy uses Waterloos (he loves it). The rods have to multi task, which means they are not perfect for any one thing. We went through a LOT of rods to find the ones we use. I brought 5 rods to the lake once.. and changed them.. to me loomis is the king.... but, my buddy caught fish like crazy on a $6 rod on sale from Academy .

Reels: I use the super light Chronarch 50 Mg. They are ultra light and seem to handle anything but the largest baits. My fishing buddy uses curados.

Line: We use Power Pro 20# green braid. We found through trial and lots of error.. we need the strength of braid as main line and leader next to the lure. We found with extreme bank fishing we snag a lot.. and with pure mono we were always having to replace line cause it was breaking off, plus the PowerPro braid it will cut through anything including your finger if it happens to be in the way. As with the rods.. we went through a LOT of line. Once I brought 10 or so spools to the lake and changed and cast and change and cast. Power Pro rules!!!

Leader: We use Pline 20# flurocarbon leader... about 6' of it. We tried several and it seems to be the best. We use leader leader (rather than just line) because according to the marketing leader material has a harder surface to resist abrasion. After using it in some really rough fishing.. I believe that to be the case. We change leader every fishing trip.

Knot: The one and only knot that has worked for us when using braid and flurocarbon is the uni knot. We use double unit for leader knot and on the lure... the other knots seem to slip too much. There are instructions for the uni knot in each box of power pro braid (a little booklet inside)

Rod ruler: We use a rod ruler that you peel and stick to your rod. This allows you to measure the fish as soon as you catch it and release if not of the legal limit.

Gatorade: The difference between good day fishing and a long day fishing. At LEAST 5 gatorades per half day fishing. We freeze them ~8 hours before fishing so they are just slushy with ice... then they thaw as we hike and fish. When it is 104 out side and you are in some cove with no wind.. icy gatorade is a life saver.. or at least it feels that way. Oh, btw.. always carry extra gatorades so you can give to your fishin buddy when he consumes all his the first 4 miles.!!!!.. haha

First Aid: ALWAYS carry first aid kit.. no telling if you are gonna slice your hand while fileting fish, or stab your self with a fish hook, or your buddy eating his cilantro and mayonnaise sandwich gets attacked by a cougar. I also carry a snake bite kit .. just in case! We also carry a compass and my fishing buddy carries a CD for a signal device. So far he only uses it to flash the boaters that run over our lines!!.



Rod holder: We sometimes use those plastic rod holders you can get at Academy . My buddy uses it on his belt with good results (sometimes he has two.. looks like a police car with 2 antennas), and I attached mine to my backpack... with mixed results (if you go under a tree with your rod sticking up.. it can be interesting to get untangled). We also stick the butt of the rod in our boot if we are standing and casting.



Stringer: We have lost fish off a weak stringer. Academy has those stringers that have the 'lock' sliding thingy. I bought 2 stringers and moved all the loops to one, so I have a 20 or so hoop stringer. We also attach a 10' rope to the stringer as sometimes it is hard to find a branch close to the water.

Ice: We use double quart bagged ice so it melts slower. With the half frozen gatorade and 3 quart doubled bags of ice...the ice can last a long time.

Lure box: We use the plano ones..I use the ultra thin one that you can adjust the width of the lure slots. Ultra thin because I have the cooler insert so the wide ones won't fit behind it. The adjustment allows you to adapt as you change lures throughout the season. On a boat you carrry all your lures, extreme hiking.. not the case. See first picture above.

Boots: We use rubber boots with insoles. Academy .. they are awesome.. tough as nails.

Some 'rules' of extreme green fishing:
1. Never lay your pole on the ground while fishing.. or your buddy might step on it
2. Carry at least 5 gatorades per half day.
3. Watch behind you for trees and your buddy before casting.
4. If you loose a fish.. it was a big one.
5. Don't cast over your buddy's line.. that is the job of the boat people.
6. If your buddy looses a fish... it was a small because you saw it.
7. Always split the fish...everyone has good and bad days, everyone should try to go home with at least some fish.
8. You are fishing.. not working.. don't sweat the small stuff.
9. If fish are biting.. don't leave!!!.. hike again another day
10. It may take the 101th cast to catch the fish.

Lastly.. never fish alone if you are doing extreme fishing. IF you sprain something, or get hurt.. you are a long way from home with a lot of gear. Take great care if you are alone leaping down cliffs and bouncing off steep ledges... one wrong turn and you could be crawling back. No way to call the wife and tell her you are next to the brown tree with the rustling leaves....

Results:
Largest fish we have caught: 22" black bass, 24" stripper/hybrid, 16" white bass, 3 ft carp , 13" crappie (darn hard to find). We can typically catch black bass consistently, when we can find the white bass we catch 30 or so, sunfish(bream) are limitless..etc.

Anyway.. thought I might share this.. I will try to add some pictures..hope the info was useful

FISH ON!!

btw.. any one with any ideas on how to find crappie? They seem rather illusive.. we have only caught one on shinner... and only that one

Very good article............but pictures didnt show up.

Thanks!.. I can neither confirm nor deny that was a user error.

I don't see a location on your posts. Around where are you guys fishing? And do you ever take "guests"? This looks like a blast. I love to go out and do stuff like that, but I find it hard to find people who want to go. All my friends either don't fish, or the ones who do don't like being hot and walking long distances

We mostly fish lake georgetown.

As far as taking guests.. I guess it would depend on the 'guests'. We are still trying to get our wives to join us!! :-)

Ahh, a little far for me then. Although I do make it down to Austin probably 3-4 times a year

But I am going to modify my backpack to carry an extra rod like that. Good idea. I had talked it over with my fishing buddy last weekend, just hadn't been out to look for stuff yet. Thanks for the tip!!!!!

Nice -

I'm in Round Rock and would love to try out some "extreme" lake g fishing. might be more interesting than hitting up old settlers!

If you are willing to share locations/bring someone out lemme know! My wife won't go either, and my little girl is too little.

Man this is neat makes me wish kinda i didnt have a boat but when you have been with-out for so long its dif. But i defantly know what bankfishing is all about, i cut my teeth on creek arms and banks durring spring spawn on slab crappies. Today theyre are all kind of tackle packls available from flambeau to who nows what really neat way to transport your gear and the industry has gone to 2 pce spinnibng set-ups just for those that like to pack into tite places.

Keep up the good work!

So you might be interested to know that we took different bent on the two piece tight space set up.

We both use 7' one piece rods :-).. and we can cast them 60 yards while hanging off a cliff with one finger on one ledge and a big toe on another. We have spent hours and hours casting in the front yard trying to learn to cast the lure in a recycle bin at 50 yards.. (we heard people can do that in a tea cup). Btw.. we have yet to be able to cast with all the VBS weights set to the 'off' position.. man.. anyone who can do that must be amazing!..

With extreme bank fishing you have to get into tight spaces.. and with a long rod you can just flick the rod and the lure can fly nicely, with a short rod you are stuck trying ot swing (cast) it... so we learned through trial and error.. that the longer rods are just better for what we are doing.

Now.. hiking through texas scrub with 2 7' rods...now that is another story to tell........

sound like yall got it together!

Another bank beating rule, make sure you don't use hooks that are too strong! Yes correct. Chances are you will get snagged on something 15% of the time (more if you are like me). With the 20-30# braid and 20# leader, you need something that will let the hook bend when constant pressure is put on it. You can always bend the hook back. I learned the hard way and have many nice lures wrapped on rocks or trees. Sometimes the sparkplug trick won't work.

Righto you are!!! Sometimes I think the lure itself gets wedged in the rocks too.

It is so bad with us that we started looking for cheap lures that look the same as the expensive ones. We found the cheap ones means the paint will peal off after the first day.

Lucky craft lures are the worse.. those hooks don't bend for nothing. I quit buying them. I guess boaters can fish more open water and avoid snagging.. but man.. we have lost some lures.

They do make those ring release things.. although we have never tried them

Rule:#11 No pics of fish, when you lose last lure on the 100th cast.
Rule:#12 Do not try to take pictures of PB size fish, close to the water.
Will drop $100 camera, before dropping PB size fish.

Rule #13 (just the right number) - when standing or sitting on rocks, be sure to check them out before you sit down and constantly while you are sitting down. Check them out for snakes. Guy next to me tonight suddenly jumps up - SNAKE! He had been sitting on a large boulder and the snake was 1 foot from him. Gads.

I'm a big fan of what you call
"extreme" fishing, mostly on feeder
creeks of local lakes. Because of
the trees/limbs overhanging, I like
to use short ultralight rods.
I'll take along a 2 pc 6' rod
sometimes, just prefer the shorter ones
while casting a narrow creek or crawling
thru brush and such. I'm glad to read
there are others out there like me. Most
fishermen I know don't have an appreciation
for exploration.


PK