tnbassfisher

This is true. We always need guys that "actually know what their talking about."

x2. All of those are good choices. You might also want to try some Slider worms along with the jigheads.

You could go to a 6/0, or try an EWG. But I think you will be fine with most big worms sticking with your 5/0s.

Sorry for bringing back up an old thread, but you can also pm me if you have questions, and I'll try and help to the best of my ability. You may have bought one already at this point, but if you haven't then the first thing that I will tell you is to stay away from sit-in kayaks for fishing for the most part.

Always great to see another Tennessean!

We'll claim you as another Tennessean!

Guess I've become pretty spoiled with having an Academy in town.

Rods- Abu Reels- Shimano Line- P-line CXX and Floroclear, Stealth Braid Hardbaits- Norman, H2O Express Softbaits- Zoom Storage- Plano boxes in a milk crate for the kayak

Humor still seems to be pretty well in place at most golf courses/country clubs.

Just bought some of those to try out myself.

I've never fished it, but pretty much all the rivers around here are the same for the most part. You can catch a ton smallies on them, especially if you can find a creek that's wadable.

Not bashing the Shimano posse, but there's an awful lot of "monkey see-monkey do" going on around here. There are lots of good reels out there, but you're about to covered up with Citica/Curado recommendations. They make great reels. What's wrong with that?

X2

I knew that would come up.

The size really isn't the key for me, it's more about a very slow presentation. But I don't do too much Winter fishing, so I don't have a huge opinion on the topic.

Was he telling you "Daddy, you need more tackle" or "Daddy, take me fishing"! I think it was "Daddy, I shouldn't be able to sit in here, it should be filled with more lures."

Nice stuff!

That big presentation should work pretty well for you!

Good looking stuff!

Many times you can find them in the same places as Largemouths, but your approach must be a little different.

When I was crunching my numbers, I started with hard baits but couldn't make the math work for ME. It all depends on how many fish you think you can get out of a hardbait before you lose it or it becomes unserviceable vs. how many fish you think you can get out of a bag of plastics. If you never lose a hardbait, and get more than a couple of hundred fish on it, then the math works out in favor of the hardbait. For me, I recall I had 1 lipless crank that I got about 70 fish on before I lost it - so - $6.00/70 = 8.6 cents per fish - still more expensive than my grubs. Your spinnerbait example is good though - get one for $4.00 or less, if you never lose it you might catch many hundreds of fish (just keep sharpening the hook) BUT, don't forget to factor in the cost of the periodic skirt replacements... So, when doing the math on hardbaits, give realistic consideration to how long you use a single bait before it is lost or "used up" and also factor in maintenance costs for the bait (hook replacements, new skirts, repainting/touch-up, etc.) EDIT - after posting, I saw the top-water examples...that's true, you might fish one of those a long time without losing it and it might be the winner! Also, my grub math is skewed as I didn't factor in the price of hooks used over and above the one included in the bag... :-? All of these numbers are confusing. ;D But really, Zoom products always produce and are a pretty decent value. The same with Academy's H2O hardbaits.

Definitely a little jealous. I'm trying to find some new water this year.

I would be lying if I said that I have never had this exact same idea pop into my head. Such as, we both see something that is green, and we both agree that it is the color green, but we may see it differently.

For the money, you nearly can't beat a Shimano Citica.

Sean, those are the impressive pics that I was looking for!