Chris W

I use them in clear water this time of year for smallmouth with good success, also in the early spring with rattletrap style baits with good success.

One of the best reels on the market for the money. You made a fine choice. ;D

There were very few smallmouth weighed in for tournament, biggest I saw was a under the slot fish that weighed about 3lbs did not see any over the slot at all. We did not get bit on any of our smallmouth spots at all. But bluebird sky with very little wind is not a good day on DH. Water needs to get a little cooler before I go back.

Should start hitting crankbaits anytime. Stephen Headricks tournament is this weekend should know more after that.

Hard to beat seafoam

It has been phenomenal on Dale Hollow, the quantity of 4lb+ smallmouth has gone up tremendously. I know some of the guys hate it but it has been great for the fishery. By the way are you talking about Tims Ford?

What year is the motor there were problems with the Ficht motors for a while. I had two that were 99 and a 01 that gave me lots of trouble. I have had a 04 and an 07 since with no problems whatsoever. I usually keep my boats about 3 years so usually any problems come up by then, that would be my only concern with this boat.

Those trebles are great, they are a little more trouble but, put them on a rat l trap type bait and you will increase your hookup to landing ratio greatly.

The new Trokar hooks are American made if I am not mistaken.

The length of the rod has nothing to do with what size baits you can throw, the action of the rod is what determines that. Also the line size, reel selection etc.

If you are going to use it for Flipping a Moderate action works the best in my opinion, if you are going to use it for something other than flipping a fast or extra fast is better.

I had issues last year with the Ewg's bending badly and breaking on a few of the lighter wire hooks. The lighter wire hooks I would expect to bend but when they started breaking I switched brands. Never had an issue with them in the 15+ years of using until last year.

Black and blue with a Sapphire blue chigger craw trailer.

They are changing blank manufacturers and switching to micro guides, this has been announced for several months now.

They are changing their rods again these are closeout models to make room for the new ones.

I fish Old Hickory all the time, while I have never fished specifically for Smallmouth on that lake anywhere around the Dam is pretty good. I have been fishing O.H. all of my life and up until about 10 years ago you used to never see smallmouth at all. But in the last 10 years they have been showing up. We won big fish in a tournament last year with a smallmouth that went a little over 5lbs. Look for offshore structure down near the dam and you should find some smallmouth.

Agreed

Pink is one of the most productive colors for me for smallmouth, yellow is probably second. I have never tried pink and yellow together, but could only think it would be good.

Same here I have tried others but cannot beat the originals

Best way to gain confidence in a jig is go fishing with nothing but jigs. Do not take anything else with you. A jig is one of my favorite lures but it used to not be that way, about 10 or 15 years ago one October everytime I went that is all I took, I gained confidence in it and have been using them alot ever since. It works if you will take the time and stick with it, it is not a big numbers bait but you usually do not have to measure the fish if it is caught on a jig, 90% of the time it will be a keeper.

My go to bait when fishing is tough, 1/8 oz to 1/4 oz shaky head with trick worm in green pumpkin. This combo has won me alot of money in the last 4 or 5 years.

Same here I have upgraded several reels with better bearings Zpi, Boca's and the bearings from Big Green Fish, and in all instances they were a noticeable improvement over stock bearings. Is it for everyone probably not, but it is a fairly low cost improvement for more distance and less work. Also the ceramic's have a whirring noise that some people may not like, it has never bothered me but have fished with guys who said it drove them crazy.

I use them both regularly on a shaky head and tx rigged. I like the Trick worm better for its longer length but if they are not biting it well will switch to the smaller finesse worm. I see alot of guys using the trick worm weightless and wacky rigged.

It is a fantastic rod one of the best ones in the jig and worm line up, works good for almost anything. I have not used it much for senkos, but use it alot for t rigs, lighter jigs, Stanley Ribbits, etc. If you buy the rod I have a feeling you will find more uses than just senko's.

I have had great luck with the Gulp Alive minnows with Smallmouth, I have not noticed that Largemouth like them any better than any other bait.