Leeches are the easiest to put on a hook Joey...unlike worms and minnows that squirm or flip around, leeches just grab hold of your hand while you put the hook in them...take hardly any blood at all... sorry...off topic...
When going carp fishing I like to tie up several hair rigs in advance and use a piece of swim noodle to keep them from getting tangled...a small nail with a head big enough to keep the swivel in place...wind it around the noodle then insert the hook...
This also works well for keeping Lindy rigs and worm harnesses from getting all tangled together...
Mental therapy...what else can you do where the only thing you got to worry about is that some stupid fish gets caught on your hook?...And if you don't put any bait on it...you don't have to worry about that either...just sit back and take in the sights that God hath wrought...
Sounds almost biblical...No?
Before I was fortunate to have been given a 11 ft. carp rod and a baitrunner reel I used a 7 ft ugly stick and a an old saltwater Zebco spinning reel (thanks CPH) which had a large capacity spool...
To hold it in place I pounded a horseshoe pitching stake in the ground and place a 3 ft pvc pipe over it then stuck the handle of the rod into the pipe...then loosened off the drag a lot...
I purposely let a carp run with the rod still in the holder to see if it could pull it out...nope...not a chance in hell...
PM sent
I was going to suggest the public launch at Tiffin St in Barrie if you're thinking of fishing Kempenfeldt Bay but it may be closed some days...
Maybe Misfish can fill you in on the status...
Phenix 2 1/2 inch salted tubes in smoke color...
Jitterbug in leopard frog color...
Rattle Trap type crankbait in fire tiger...
Senko worm in white or watermelon colors...
If in real boggy type cover...small white rubber mouse...
Never mastered the flippin' technique with a 'pig and jig' ( probably because I can't stand to fish) but Misfish and Terry have good luck with it...
If I hollered..."who wants to go fishing with dear old dad "...I had to stand back or get trampled in the stampede from my second oldest son and my daughter...
Our first born liked fishing as long as there was fast action...if it was slow he would rather be elsewhere...
Unfortunately my daughter died of a rare disease eleven years ago...but oh my, how she loved to go fishing...
Maureen (my step-daughter) has just taken up fishing seriously in the past five years and I couldn't be happier...Hell, she owns more and better tackle than I do...That last baitcasting rod she won that Speil made is a beauty...too bad she lives so far away from here or we probably would be out in her boat every chance we could...
Don't know how to entice kids to like fishing...take them when they are young and hope they get bit by the bug...
We did that when I worked at Toronto Iron Works...six of us threw in $2 each and bought a trophy...a chap by the name of Frank Shields won it...we named it the Knarf Trophy...Frank backwards = Knarf...
Several years later we added a bigger base to add more name plates...the winner got to keep it for a year...My son won it before I did...