Anglers represent!
Okay, so on the pier I use a Nordek 3.5-inch Glassweight without double hocks but with a spline tackle—unorthodox, but more intellectual, I find. That’s if I’m going for loach or smelt. Otherwise, it’s a Tennyson Halfpiece, plain, since the only other fish around here worth catching are pink. In all cases, I like to lowball my line strength by about thirty percent. Bait’s a matter of freshness, although I’ve had good success with kelp-farmed herring.
On the water, I cruise in a Mirada three-hull kingfisher with dual Evinrude 550 horsepower sterndrives on the pontoons and a Chevy Herodotus 9000 on the main hull. All the steering is hand-wired, because that’s how I swing. For the fish, I use a Jelethon 8 Fast Sonar when I’m catching bass. For marlin I use the weather report. For tuna and lingcod I just go where the sweet spots are. I use a number of rods, but my runaway favorite is the Nordek Oceanpole, 7-inch version. I usually fish on 30-, 50-, or 80-pound line with triple hooks and whatever “Velveeta” I think the fish I’m after are going to most enjoy that day.
If I’m freshwater fishing, I’ll just take a piece of wood, tie some string to it, and skewer a worm or some fisherman’s cheese to a single- or dual-hook on the other end. Whatever.