VolFan

Not knowing how old you are or your work situation, I would put that $1300 (ok maybe $1000) per month into a savings account until after the wedding. Then reassess. Life changes a lot in those two years surrounding a wedding.

Go Vols! i second the Topside Rd suggestion above. Look for areas where the road dams the lake and there's a flow age between. If they're pulling any water those spots will hold fish. If they're not, the steep banks around them still hold fish and the bass and wipers will be pushing shad in the corners.

Either of the above and there's also a great smallie fishery in the New River. Bass Lake in Blowing Rock also has (shocker) a good bass population of largemouth.

"Potomac Pike" are in the Potty to stay, and are a fun fishery. 0% chance of getting them out of the Potomac. Could a brutal winter limit the population and push it south? Probably. I just hate the bucket biologists that move a clearly invasive species to inland lakes.

Somebody put them there. That sucks, isn't Burke the brood stock for musky and walleye?

I think for for what you're asking, you need a spacer under the platform, either by stacking plywood or whatever to make it rock solid. Pics of your actual boat would help a lot. Do you have a front casting platform or no?

Right where she should've been...

If you're going 100s of miles on the highway, I would center it for the drag characteristics if nothing else. But I don't think it's that big of a deal for short trips.

Depending on where you are on the TN border, I'd be thinking more Lake Ocoee or Oconee, or fishing the Hiwassee from NC into TN. Should be several shuttle services if you go that route.

My Nats are the Nots so far...

On my Okuma Citrix Travel rod the other night, the top 3 sections worked their way loose from the reel section, and a horrible noise was heard on the cast as the small piece of the upper end still in the lower ferrule cracked the female ferrule for about 1/4 to 1/2 in (and then went flying 30 feet into the water). The total length of the ferrule is about 1.25 in. Would y'all think I can get the ferrule re-wrapped and aggressively epoxied and be ok for a while?

For smallmouth - pink or chartreuse with a dark head if there's any color to the water, green pumpkin with copper or gold flake if not. Or the reverse.

That elongated shape and the white stripe is what made me hesitate too. But apparently buffalo are just giant suckers. I think the fight better than drum, but they're harder to unhook. Never going to mistake one for a striper though.

I think that's a smallmouth buffalo. Used to catch one every once in a while below Ft Loudon dam on crank baits. Tough angle on the pic to tell. 10 lbs would be ginormous for a native TN sucker. Fun stuff.

This conversation starts and ends with George Strait. Everyone else can fight for second.

A couple hudd 68 specials, a 9" slammer, and a Deps slide swimmer 175. Throw in a bullshad or triple trout and you can handle most anything. Switch the SS for an S waver and all this can be yours for under $150 or so.

I. Am. Shocked. but I would've bought another rod anyway!?

From what you've said above, I'd almost guarantee its not the rod. You may just need to find the right stroke.

One more - check you line to make sure it's not crossed after that 10-15 yards. If you spool braid as tight as you need to, sometimes it can dig in.

That sounds like a reel set-up problem more so than a rod problem. You could lob that on an actual broomstick and get more distance. Also- check to make sure your line's not wrapped or looped through a guide or threaded through a guide base (been there on all of those).

Chock the wheels very well and then use pieces of 2x6 under the jack.

You've got Jordan and Sharon Harris immediately available, and the coast to the east or mountain smallie said to the west. Don't sleep on the Yadkin chain either...you're gonna be ok!

Any chance it's just a spun prop?

I'd do ROF 5 if you're in shallow, weedy water.

Hudd 68, 7" or 9" Slammer, and an S waver (178 or 200). Learn to fish those and you'll never truly need anything else.