Rattlinrogue

I personally like Minn-Kotas better,but more thrust for less money is hard to beat.

Chartreuse spinnerbait

Thumb,believe me.I know what you like to fish.7'0 MH rod pitching and flipping a blue jig and trailer.Me too!!!

Favorite technique=floating jerkbaits from late Spring to mid Summer.Bait=Smithwick Rattlinrogue in gold or chrome.Rig= Quantum Accurist on 7'0 MH rod,spooled with 12 lb test Yo-Zuri Hybid.Technique= Fish lake from 5:00 AM until the bite stops(actual time to be on the water varies.I like to be on the lake ready to fish in my favorite spot of the moment at least 30 minutes before the sun even thinks about rising!).Fish the bait as a topwater bait.Depending on what they want,it can be twitch,twitch;jerk,jerk;or rip,rip!I fish in stump filled flats that are over run with submergent grass beds in water from 2 ft to 6 ft.There it is ! My favorite way to catch 'em.It is an exciting time to be bass fishing IMO.

LBH,hope it all works out for you.That sounds like an exciting experience on the horizen.

J-bass,I live about an hour from the Bogue Chitta River.I cross it about twice a month(on a bridge...we have bridges down here...really...LOL) going to Natchez to visit my in-laws.I've never fished it,but it sure looks good!

I have a 25HP Yamaha ,and I love it !

Yesterday was a good example of conditions that I have no confidence in.Post cold front,bluebird skies,and the wind was so strong coming out of the North I couldn't control the boat.Even in the coves the wind was taking you where it wanted you to go.Worst conditions I've ever fished in.Needless to say I got skunked.

How true! About 80% of my fishing hinges around submerged vegetation.

Yes we'll be going back over there in the near future.I'd like to sample some of their fine trout fishing....but the main thing I want to do and see is to play a round of golf at St.Andrews.They live 5 Km. from" The Royal and Ancient" St. Andrews.

He's right about that.I do everything right except for one thing.The way I hold the rod.What you just said describes me to a T. I catch a few good bass on a c-rig,but I'm probably missing just as many.

At least once every two weeks if good looks and pride of ownership mean anything to you.

Carolina rig,deep diving crankbait,drop shot rig,slow roll a spinnerbait,spoon,yo-yo a lipless crankbait,yo-yo a Little George,etc.

I've never hated Ike.In all honesty,I think his trademark "tirade" just adds a little spice to the whole thing!

They drained mine about 1/3 of the way down to kill off the pervasive grass that we have.I got some pretty good pix of structure I could use.I don't have any pix as good as yours as far as a complele picture of the structure though.

It's pretty much already been said,but my top two spring baits are a plastic lizard and a spinnerbait.

In the past I've just weighed 'em,measured 'em,and taken a picture.If I just had to have a mount,I'd probably get a replica made.

Way to go,Craig.First John works at BPS.Now you at Orvis.What's next? Congrats to you!

Let me guess...12" swimbait in a trout pattern? Right?

We catch a bunch in the rivers around here on small H & H spinnerbaits in white or chartreuse.A really small river I fish on(so small it's called a creek) the # 1 bait is a 4" finese worm in white.

Everything IS bigger inTexas!

I've always been a pretty fair shallow water fisherman.Of course,I'll continue to fish shallow,but I'm going to continue to try and become proficient as a deep water angler.I've been working on this from late Summer into Winter.I've learned a lot about it from being on this forum,and hopefully I can continue to learn.I'm much better at it than I was last year at this time.I'll try to do the things I do best and work on all of the new techniques I've learned.

I'm in,JT!Looking forward to all your bassin' info and thoughts on the subject!

There are probably more big time pros from Texas,Florida,Arkansas,and Alabama(each state individually)than from Cali.That's not to say that there aren't lots of fine pros from the North,Midwest,Pacific Northwest,and yes,even Cali.That's not a scientific theory just names that pop into my head at the moment.

Nice rig !