Dwight Hottle

Steve the ony reason we kid you so much is we all feel soooooo inadequate seeing that parade of pigs you all are catching down there.

I have both elites & xtremes. I prefer the full cork on the elite versus the xtreme but I have grown very fond of the xtremes with the split grip & recoils. If you can buy the extreme for less money than the elite go for it. The split grip versus full cork difference will dissipate with use. The recoils guides have a slight advantage with their built in flexibility making them more durable than a standard fixed guide. There is no insert to fall out either. The fuji sic guides on the elites do dissipate heat better if you are using extremely light line. The medium power is a very versatile stick unless you are fishing for trophies in cover.

Steve that was kind of a weak hook set don't you think? Great video clip.

As usual a very informative post Roger. Glad to see your back!

$16 over your budget but wll worth. Get the 55lb model. http://www.scalesgalore.com/salter_electrosamson_hanging_scales.htm

No. Dual axle trailers do not easy move because they cannot pivot like a single axle trailer.

You should be fine . Check the wind forcast before you leave. West winds rough up the bay pretty good since it is situated west to east from the head of the bay to the opening into the lake.

The finished product looks really good. Scott did an excellant job. I like the contrast between the blue/gray & the brownish blank.

Loved it!

I'll use a light action action rod for jerkbaits sometimes just for the fun of hooking up big smallies on ligher tackle in open water. It's a gas.

I used the gami EWG's and they seemed to balance out fine. I switched out the split rings as well.

Steve, after a 13.55 you deserved a free adult beverage. I might have had more than one after that big girl.

Nice bass especially from shore. Try a free program like VSO image resizer for smaller pics.

WTG Chris. I knew we would be hearing from you soon. Can't keep a good man down!

That's a real big bonus.

Thanks, I just hate the Yankees.

I use 10lb braid on mine. No problem with line twist or birdnests.

Hey Mitch I could like you a lot more if you would just lose the hat or at least turn it around like the 2nd photo. LOL. Congrats on the great day.

The 2500 series reel has a bigger spool & will help with line management if your using mono or floro. I do have a c14 and they are a nice reel for the price.

Keep it up Eric. The cravings continue for about a year but diminish in intensity as time passes.

Shimano conquest 50. I have fallen in love with it ever since I took it out of the box.

Hey A-Jay it was a real pleasure to meet you in person & spend some quality time chasing those smallies. The smile on your face after the last pb was priceless.

A-Jay are you sure that big girl only weighed 6-4? She looks mighty plump.

Alright Shimmy I'll share a little bit about jerkbaits. First of all my jerkbait fishing evolved around pike fishing. Big predators. My favorite jerkbaits were made out of wood or plastic & weighed about an ounce to 2.5 oz. . I would practice jerk bait strokes along side the boat to see what kind of action I could delvelop with each bait. Some baits would dart 90 degrees to either side like a walk the dog motion but under water. Other baits would glide forward or sideways & some rare baits would almost turn around like in your face mr pike. Hard violent jerks or strokes would elevate the motions. Then you have to incorporate a pause period or let the bait rest. Usually the baits will get eaten while your pausing or just as you start your next movement. Remember jerk baits work on all species. Now to jerkbaits for smallies. Typically when you first start fishing you use a search bait until you find fish unless you know exactly where they are. Then once you find fish you switch to your favorite presentation. I fish big water with lots of suspended fish spread over lots of rock structure. I seldom find lots of big fish in a small area. So my approach is to cover water with a jerkbait as my search bait until I find some big girls. Once we find them we work over the area. We put in waypoints when we get bit so we can revist each spot. When drifting on lake erie the waves cause the boat to surge & pause just like a jerked bait does when you are working it. Boat motion adds motion to your baits. I always prefer to drift downwind with the wind hitting my stern. I work one rod while i dead stick a second rod in a rod holder. When my forward progress is between .3 to 1.0 mile an hour drifting with the wind at my back it all works. Most of the time my worked rod out fishes the dead stick 3 to 1. But sometimes the dead stick rod is extremely effective all by its self because the boat is working the bait. This tells me to slow down the worked rod. This approach also allows you to run a deep diver suspending jerkbait while you are running a shallow suspending bait. Then you can decide to use all deep or all shallow baits depending upon the conditions. My prespawn smallie fishing is between upper 30 degrees to 65 degrrees surface temps. The colder the water the more subtle the action. As the water warms I use more erratic movements. I also select baits with more subtle action for cold water & more erratic action for warming water. You have to learn the action of each style bait you use and develop an understanding of what works best for the conditions you are facing. Colder water with poor visibility finds me using loud colors with subtle action & loud rattles. Warmer water with good visibility finds me using subtle natural colors with more erratic action and softer rattles. Smallmouth bass are extremely curious about noise & erratic action. Remember that statement. Your jerkbait represents a dying bait fish to a smallie if properly worked. Smallies will come up thru the water column to hit a jerkbait. How far they will travel depends upon water visibility & sound. When I can see the bottom in 15 feet of water I will not hesitate to work jerkbaits out to 30 feet. I try to use a bait that will get down to the depth I want to fish based on overall water depth & visibility. If your marking fish or marking bait you can key into that depth. My jerkbait inventory covers baits that run from 2 feet down to baits that run 20-22 feet down. Now I can fish jerkbaits effectively in forty feet of water with good visibility. Since i'm fishing relatively open waters I use ten pound braid with a leader on spinning tackle. And I use ten or twenty pound braid with a leader on casting tackle. The thin braid adds up to five feet of extra depth on the baits. Now when casting jerkbaits your depth is based on the bait, line diameter & the length of your cast. Maximum depth on most baits is increased by letting out more line up to around 200 some feet with diving bills. So I run my baits back from the boat about two to three cast lengths to achieve more depth when needed. This also allows you a more stealthy approach. I find that smallies move during the day between deeper water to shallower water based upon changing conditions. So I try to target different depths until I can observe a pattern of where they will be. I do not limit myself to just one manufacture of jerkbaits. I find that on some days a particular bait from one manufcture will out preform all others. Especially on a tough bite day. So I carry about four different manufactures jerkbaits. Now within just one manufactures line of jerkbaits there can be five or six completely different baits by action, size, depth, sound, suspending, floating or slow sink & tilt. They can all shine based on changing conditions. Generally I prefer suspending jerkbaits with rattles. Then I look for level suspenders, nose down or tail down attitudes. Lucky craft probably covers the most diverse offerings of all jerkbaits manufactures in my experience. Just remember when fishing a jerkbait that you are trying to excite a neutral fish into striking it because it mimics a dying baitfish. The more action you can impart to the bait the more fired up that big smallie gets. It is very similar to teasing a cat with a mouse on a string. Some times they want it barely moving and other times they want it fast and erratic.

I think I said it once before but welcome to the six pound club A-Jay. Looks like you found a good photo man.