Find out what days and times they stock. go and get their just before they stock. Once they dump in a netful of trout use a small hook and small crawler. You'll get your limit within minutes.
watch a youtube video on how to tie a loop.
They are territorial fish and will eat other northerns. except for maybe when they spawn. even then I'm not so sure they don't still distance themselves. I think the females lay eggs and then the male comes along and fertilizes them.
For fun I took out my fly rod and tried it for bluegill. I caught a bunch and mostly bigger sized. It's fun.
Otherwise my go to is a small hook and a wax worm or their is a jar of man made bait that looks like maggots. That works really good and its cheap and doesn't go bad. Don't know what its made of but it smells kinda like fish food and minnows.
I used to have this problem. I finally learned that using a barrel swivel is worth the investment, or leader with swivel. You can change lures faster anyhow. Line gets beat up as you fish. I quit buying expensive lines. I find line in a big spool made by trilene at walmart for 2.00 a roll. I fill my reel 1/2 to 3/4 of the way. then each time I go fishing I cut 12 ft of line before I start to get rid of any weak beaten spots. If line gets twisted again eventually just respool. I can fill a reel 3 times on one spool.
I did some research on chigger bites since I got them a couple times. You can't suffocate them with nail polish or vaseline because they are not inside the bite. The itchy spot is from the venom. The venom liquifies your skin so they have something to eat. The chiggers will then hide in your clothing until they get hungry again. The only thing you can do is take all of your clothes off and put them in a clothing dryer on high heat. The heat will kill them. I do the dryer first then wash and dry again. That takes care of the bugs. Then for the bites you need to dry them out with calamine lotion. After a good hot shower.
Use a very loud air horn and shake your fist! This should stop them and also any others nearby before they try blasting by you.
When fishing I have found that 10-15 minutes in one spot without a bite means it is time to move. 10% of fisherman catch 90% of the fish by fishing around structure and going a little off the beaten path when you fish. Don't fish where everyone goes.
I catch lots of huge largemouth out of a lake that is completely overgrown with weeds. I used to have a hard time and hated fishing. I found something called "The Worm". I buy the 8 inch version in a snagless natural color, also grape color. These are plastic worms that have hooks and line run through them already. They somehow shorten the line in spots and it makes the worm curvy. place a small cone shaped weight with the point coming toward you on the line first, then tie on a swivel leader. the swivel is important because the worm wriggles like crazy and will twist your line. then at the end of your leader attach the worm. The ones I order have 3 hooks in them. its a much longer worm but I found the shorter ones with just two hooks lose too many fish because the hooks are in the head and middle. the 3 hook versions have head, middle and rear snagless hooks. cast it out into damn near anything and let it fall. after about 30 seconds slowly lift your pole upward and back about 3 ft then stop. wait a few seconds and watch your line. if it starts running it means you got a fish. if not then reel in a couple cranks slowly and repeat the lift wait crank steps. If you don't catch the bass with these they just aren't biting anything. I find dawn and dusk at first and last light are the best times. https://customjigs.com/products/the-worm-8-magnum.html
Another bait you can use is a topwater hula popper. They have two sizes. I have the best luck with the bigger size in green and yellow. you cast it out and wait a few seconds, then pull jerk your rod so the hula popper pops the water. I do three to four quick pops then wait 10 seconds and repeat. Topwater fishing like this is a blast with lots of action.