senile1

I don't know why but I have found that this technique works better when the bird in question is a Blue Heron.

I would add a jig with a compact trailer pitched under the docks to the suggestions already given. Also, I would find the edge where these grassy flats drop-off into deeper water and fish there as well or I would look for a channel or slew leading to the flats if there is one. Is this a natural lake or a reservoir? And what is your general location?

Fence Panda? LOL. Awesome fish, Big-O. And congratulations on your induction into the Master's Hall of Fame!

I read about this previously. It's kind of cool that it happened to Keith Bryan, president of Powell rods. If you want to see a sow belly of a California spotted bass, look up "Fish Chris" in the members section and look at his avatar. I think he has caught a few spots over 8 lbs, and maybe more.

Nice. So you add the GCV 10 Scanning Sonar Module for almost $600 to get SideVu and then you have everything for $2600 retail. Not too shabby.

Nice fish, Mainebass1984! One can't argue with that.

My three biggest bass this summer have been caught on Siebert jigs with Rage Tail craws. (One was a DB craw.) Two were caught on blue jigs with black/blue flake craws and one was caught on green pumpkin. A little bit of JJ's added to the craw seems to help at times, as well.

If you are happy with braid, there is really no reason to change. However, if you think you are missing out on something then give fluorocarbon a try. As RW stated, you will like the Tatsu though you may not like the price. FC does have more stretch, but is dense so it transmits vibrations quite well despite the stretch. Since you are using the new setup for "light" plastics and jigs, fluorocarbon might help these lighter lures to sink on windy days as well. If abrasion resistance or ability to sink are among your concerns you should try out FC.

Sweet!. That's a nice healthy fish.

Goose, I've been away awhile but it sounds like you've been nailing them! What was that you said in my thread about only catching dinks? I beg your pardon sir!!! Nice pigs all around.

Nice fish.

Nice fish. Congrats!

Nice chunky fish there.

I am very far-sighted and can see things at a great distance but tying knots without prescription lenses is almost impossible for me. So I buy prescription sunglasses from my eye doctor pretty much out of necessity. They sell a couple of brands but I buy Maui Jims. They are awesome, and with the price of the lense prescription, their price is somewhat higher than what everyone is quoting. The lense is progressive with a narrow section at the bottom for tying knots and then it progresses to normal in the rest of the lense for looking at everything else that isn't up close. My insurance covers one new pair of lenses/frames every year. Every other year I update either my sunglasses or my regular glasses so quite a bit of the cost is covered.

Same here. I rarely take a picture of a bass less than 5 lbs but a few tough fighting small bass are better than none at all.

Tom makes a good point. You could still have a few fish in prespawn, a number doing the dirty thang, and some in post-spawn with those temperatures.

Nice work, Raul. Thanks for bringing this video back up. It is a classic and is still very relevant.

I hear you. All the lakes that I fish take 30 minutes or more to reach. Also, I store my boat about 20 miles from my home because my garage doesn't have enough room for it and the housing association won't allow me to keep it in the driveway for too many days. It takes a bit of work to get ready for a trip. I do have a 10 foot jon boat leaning against the inside of my garage that I throw in the back of the pickup for smaller lakes, but when I take the big boat there is work involved.

By the way, the Powell website mentions that this rod can also be used for spinnerbaits, carolina rigs, frogging, and small swimbaits as well as the soft plastics and jigs that I am using it for. I may try some of these techniques in the future and will update this thread as I do.

Blue, I have seen your pics and descriptions of your trips and it is pretty obvious you are a better stick than I. It just takes some time to learn Smithville. I have caught some good fish there but those days have been interspersed with days that I don't like to talk about. I'm sending you a PM on a summer pattern that you might want to try out there.

Well, Goose . . . . common is a relative term. I'm catching at least one or more that big just about every time I am out which is better than I usually do.

When I have the time, I'll be out all day, especially on vacation. Generally, I don't have that much time due to work and keeping up with my responsibilities, so I take what I can get which is anywhere from 4 - 8 hours usually. It is probably split evenly between 4 - 6 and 6 - 8 hours.

I went out to Smithville Lake today with my Grandson. Right after sunrise I caught this 6 lb 2 oz bass off of a rocky point with grass. Duh . . . . . . what does this weigh? The temperature today was very cool for July and barely broke 70 degrees before I left around noon to avoid lightning. The bite was very slow so I tried to work my Grandson into the best spots to catch fish but he wasn't very happy with his productivity - one smaller bass. The bass only seemed to want slow moving jigs today and he is still working on his jig technique. I hooked into another good bass that looked to be similar in size but it shook my jig within a few feet of the boat. Within a half hour of losing that bass I hooked what I believe to be a huge catfish. I fought it for a few minutes of tough runs on the bottom of the lake but it eventually shook free as well so I never was able to see it. I wasn't too happy with my ability to keep fish on the hook today. I'll say this for JJ's. I've caught or hooked a few catfish on jigs when using it so it appears to be good catfish bait as well. So far it has been a good year for solid fish. Though I haven't caught anything to challenge my PB or make my eyes bulge out of my head, 3 and 4 lb'ers have been common and my largest fish the last 3 months continues to climb. There is still a lot of time left in July to up the ante. Largest in May: 5 lbs 6 oz Largest in June: 6 lbs 0 oz

I have seen a thread now and then asking about the Powell Timax but I haven't been able to find any reviews using the search function. I bought a Powell Timax 734 HCF in December of last year and this is my review of the rod. I know some of you could have used this earlier but I don't like to review anything until I become accustomed to its idiosynchracies so that I can determine if such things are faults, or something that may be to my benefit once I become familiar with it. First of all, the rod is built of high quality components and my rod doesn't have any blemishes whatsoever. The rod is 7' 3" long with a heavy action and a fast tip. Of the 10 line guides, the last 9 are micro guides. I tie a fluorocarbon leader to braid on this rod using an Alberto knot and, surprisingly, I have had no issues with the knot hanging on the micro guides. At first glance, some have complained about the aluminum handle but I like the look, myself. This blue rod looks absolutely brilliant with my green Curado 200 E7. (LOL, not.) I have been using the Timax for soft plastics and jigs, and for me, the functionality of this rod makes one forget about looks. I place it in a class with the G.Loomis GLX series for plastics and jigs, which, considering its price, is to be expected. In fact, I think it might be slightly more sensitive than my MBR 844C GLX rods. I can feel everything my lure touches and until you get used to the rod, it can sometimes be a bit disconcerting. I am so used to my Mag GLXs and how things feel with those, that to feel anything different has led to some unwitting hooksets into things other than fish while becoming familliar with the rod. If you are one to fish brushpiles and like to work a jig or plastic through thick branches, this rod is almost like having eyes underwater to see exactly what the jig is doing. I don't have a GLX JWR rod to compare it to, though I do have an NRX 854C JWR which I haven't used much at all yet. I expect the NRX to be the sensitivity king, but we will see. This Timax could give any rod that I have used a run for its money in that regard. One complaint I have seen and heard about quite often with Powell rods longer than 7 feet is the heaviness of the tip. I have noticed this as well but it is not an issue with the 734 HCF. With a Curado on board it balances at the hook keeper which is 1 3/8 inches in front of the reel. I measured the length from the butt of the handle to the middle of the reel and it is practically the same for the MBR 844C GLX, the NRX 854C JWR, and my Timax. The GLXs balance at approximately the same point as the Timax, while the NRX balances almost 2 inches in front of the reel, though I haven't noticed any tip heaviness with any of the rods I used in this comparison. The GLXs and the Timax are fitted with the same model Curado while the NRX is fitted with a standard Shimano Chronarch. In summary, for $349.99 this is an awesome rod. It is 40 dollars below the standard price of my MBR 844C GLX and $85 - $100 dollars cheaper than a G.Loomis GLX JWR rod in the 7' 1" length. It provides similar performance to these rods in my opinion. For you Powell afficionados, this rod can hang with the big boys.