Evans

Normally-Spinnerbaits & cranks early or when overcast or windy, Brush hog or rattleback jig in cover when the sun gets up. This year-Hudds.....no other rods on the deck.

Not sure about up north, but in the south it works great once the water temp gets 55 and below. I like to use craft hair flies from 50-55 and for 49 and below I use mainly duck feather flies. Only explanation I can give for the reason this works is because the craft hair has a lot more movement in it than the duck feathers. Fish dope is a must on the duck feather flies. You want them as stiff as you can get them. As far as equipment, 8-10' rod(I prefer 9'6"), decent spinning reel, and quality 6lb fluorocarbon for the leader. I actually use 10lb braid for the main line and tie it to a swivel and run the fluoro from there. The only part that most people disagree on is the bobber(float, cork, whatever you want to call it). I use bob's bobber(you can make your own but this one is the best straight out of the package) and just clip the bottom part of it to the part of the swivel that is tied to the fluorocarbon. I don't wrap the line around the bobber like most people do. One of the main things with this technique is understanding your bobber and how it reacts. Obviously if the bobber goes underwater, you need to jerk and set the hook. However, a lot of the bites I get are lift bites. The bobber will just turn over on it's side. This happens when a fish bites it and comes up in the water column instead of taking it down. Adjusting your leader length will also play a big part in how many fish you catch. Sometimes it can be as simple as just making your leader as long as the depth as the fish you are seeing on the graph, and other days nothing seems to work. I use as short as 8' and have fished as long as a 16' leader but usually stay between 10 and 12'. If you're not graphing any fish, try changing your leader every 20-30 minutes if you are not catching anything until you find out where that magic depth is that puts the bait right in their face. My suggestion to anyone that is learning how to float n fly fish is this:start out by using flies that you can buy, but ulimately start tying your own. It's not that hard(much easier than a tiny trout fly), not very expensive, and you can match the hatch and water clarity on your lake a lot better than flies that were tied for other lakes. I actually use a mixture of craft hair and feathers most of the time. I tie the craft hair first then duck feathers on top to make it look like light reflecting off a shad's scales. I think you will enjoy the float n fly. My dad showed it to me and several other people about 5 years ago and now all of us look forward to Decemeber and January, more so than any other month of the year. I have yet to find anyone that doesn't like the technique if they have been using it properly. Now for some, it does take a year or two to figure it out, but if you have a good teacher, it shouldn't take more than a few trips to get the hang of it. Just have patience and only take that rod with you. I used to try to fish it and a spoon at the same time and learned real quick that I missed too many bites on the fly and didn't get enough on the spoon! Best of luck to you.

This is now my background picture. That is the most beautifully marked fish I have ever seen! Is it a meanmouth? Everyone I showed the pic to seems to think it is, but they also had to wipe the drool off of their chin too!

Just accross the GA/NC line is some pretty good lakes for smallies. Lake Hiwassee has the NC record for smallmouth(10+lber caught in the 50's and only 1 of 2 over 10lbs not caught in Dale Hollow), although I don't think there is anything that big swimming in there now, but it still has some really good smallmouth in it. My biggest is 3.5lbs but I've heard of and seen pics of 5 and 6lbers that have come from it. Fontana isn't that far away either and it's probably one of the deepest lakes(well, it and Carters are probably close) you will ever fish. Spots have taken a hold in both lakes but the smallies seem to be surviving pretty good. Also some other lakes that have smallies in them around here, Blue Ridge as Randall mentioned, Santeetlah(I call this lake dinkville!), and Nantahala(small lake but decent fishing). All have smallmouths in them and are pretty close to north east GA. I definately think Blue Ridge and Hiwassee are your best bets for good size smallies. Fontana definately has the potential and the fish, but the lake is so huge and deep, it would definately be a lake you would have to put a lot of time into it to find em good. My favorite time to fish for smallies is winter. I keep one rod on the deck, 9'6" float n fly rod. Anything else and I just feel that I'm wasting my time. I'm sure you can catch em on different stuff all year long, but I love the float n fly and tying up my own flies. Kinda like making your own jigs and catching fish on them, but it's even more rewarding with flies because it takes me a lot longer and more concentration to make the flies. All you need is a 1/16oz minnow head jig head, some thread, craft hair, and feathers. Best of luck to you! Hopefully we can share pics of our smallies come winter. Last winter wasn't a good year at all for me and I plan on making up for it this winter!

After having so much success with the flick shake in 2009, I jumped the gun and bought some of the nose jig heads and I shads from Japan hoping it would be as good as the flick shakes. I used them about 4-5 times and never got a bite so I just put them in the bag and figured they just didn't work. However, I decided to try them when nothing else was working a few months ago on a lake where there were lots of fry running around. I ended up getting bit on what seemed like every cast! There were lots of smaller fish thrown in the mix, but I did manage to land a few nice ones in the 2-3lb range. It now has a more permanent spot in the tackle box for that time of year, just hope I can find a few other times that it works!

I bought this net about 3 months ago. Absoluely love it. It takes a little practice opening it one handed, but I usually just leave it extended if I'm fishing by myself. Definately reccommend it to anyone.

I know everyone of us has heard how to fish a jig 100x and when you first start fishing it, it is a very difficult lure to gain confidence in. There are so many different ways to fish it and all the different colors etc. I have caught hundreds of fish on a jig but there are days that even I lose confidence in it. Just like murphy posted in here and many others have said, fish it SLOW. Sometimes they will bite it if you hop it, but I just like to slowly crawl it most of the time. If I'm flipping it into cover, I like to let it soak for about 30 seconds before I even move it. Then I will just barely move it once and let it soak a little more, then start slowly crawling it back. I absolutely love pitching into trees with a rattleback jig and 20lb fluoro! Just keep it in the water and you will eventually get some bites. I also started catching a lot more when I started paying more attention to what a crawfish looks like. Here's a link of one in my area: http://www.crusta10.de/templates/index.php?sideid=galerie&showpicture=1154&galerie_id=280&lang_id=2&showid=154&katid=2 I started using a Green pumpkin jig with same color of trailer and took one of the spike it markers and accented the jig with some orange. It works pretty good around here in march-may. Charlie Hartley, during 2008 Classic, said that most people's biggest mistake with a jig is not keeping it on the bottom. Not sure if this is an issue, but make sure it's always on the bottom(except for swim jigs etc.). A jig bite feels a lot different than other bites too. Sometimes I never feel them bite, it just feels heavy or "mushy". I've found that most of the time when I feel the bite, it's usually too late. One last word of advice, if you can't find the jig you want, make it. Plenty of jig heads, skirts, and other components you can buy on the net and make your own jigs. It has helped my jig fishing tremendously being able to make the color of skirts that I want and not relying on factory jigs. Best of luck to ya and tight lines!

This has always bothered me too. Why do the reel companies not make all of their models available in left handed models? I'm like most everyone else here that has posted, RH using a LH reel. It makes sense to me, why throw right handed and have to switch your hand over to reel right handed????? I know of 1 of my OLDer fishing buddies has been doing it for years because of the lack of available left handed reels, so he is used to it now and couldn't throw a LH reel. I was throwing my dad's Shimano Bantam(deep spool added) at age 8 and reeling it LH, so I am a little biased. However, it makes no sense to me to flip a bait into heavy cover and have to switch over to your other hand to reel and set the hook. I would think that would cost people a lot of fish(and probably big fish if you're flipping!) over the years! Not to mention all of this bites on a buzz or spinnerbait that you get when they first hit the water! My only guess on this problem is that the reel companies don't sell enough of the left handed models so they are afraid to make all of their models in LH. It seems to me that they would make even more $$ doing this! I remember about 8 years ago when I really started getting into fishing and was looking around to buy my own gear, I had a hard time finding reels that I wanted in LH. I had a lot smaller income then so I was mainly looking at reels from Bass Pro. I couldn't believe that Browning had ZERO reels in LH. I ended up buying some Extremes and Rick Clunns and ended up being pretty happy with them. Same thing happened when I wanted to get a good cranking reel! I really wanted a Shimano(because I had grew up throwing them and my dad always told me they were the first to make LH reels!) but yet again, no Curado in LH in the lower gear ratios, but they had the 7.1 in LH????? Instead, I went with a Revo Winch and couldn't be happier with it. But still, why do these reel companies do this? Every person I know in my small bass club uses LH reels if they are RH and RH reels if they are LH(except for the one guy that made himself throw RH reels). I could be wrong but I've always thought there were more rightys in this world than leftys?

Can't say enough good things about the new Lew's reels! I went to the tackle store a few months ago wanting to get one of the basic speed spools, walked out with it and a Tournament Pro. So glad I made that decision. Also went out and bought another one of the Speed Spools and the Tournament reels. If you are thinking about giving one a try, I don't think you will be disappointed in the Tournament Pro. The Tournament and basic Speed Spools are great reels too, but the Tournament Pro is on a totally different level, it's definately worth the extra $$ in my opinion. My only complaint with the reels is the basic Speed Spool, it doesn't have the audible click on the drag and tension knobs. After using them, I don't think I really need it, but it's just nice to have and most reels in the below $100 price range has the feature. I haven't even utilized the centrifugal braking system on the Tournament and Tournament Pro reels, but it's nice to know it's there if I want to.

I think all drag and tension knobs should click except for the basic Speed Spool Model. I have 2 of the normal speed spools, a tournament and a tournament pro, so far I am still really impressed with all of them.

I've only fished a frog some, but plan on fishing it a lot more this year. However, I gotta agree with the jig fishermen. There is nothing like pitching into a mess of brush or any other type of cover and feeling that THUMP. Because you know as soon as you feel that, the fight to get the fish out of that mess has begun! Gets my adrenaline going just typing and thinking about it!

1.5" GP Senko 2.1/2 oz White Spinnerbait 3.Zoom GP Trick Worm

Good morning Travis. We also sell the carbon fiber kits. They are $39.95 ea, freight included. Carbon fiber handle bars with paddle posts are available but at $32.00 rather expensive in comparison to the kit. We can accept orders just about any way you have ease and comfort … phone, Fax, snail mail, or e-mail and accept VISA, MC, Discover, AMX, check, cash, money order, etc. We just say no to COD’s. If you elect to use a credit or debit card, we will need the card number, exp date and the 3 or 4 digit security code in order to process your payment. I always caution people not to send credit card info via e-mail. You can give us your order via e-mail and we will send a total and invoice number back. Then, a phone call with your credit card info usually works best. Have a great day. Rick Collins Lew's Service Manager 2333 E Bennett Springfield, MO 65804 Ph 417-881-5390 FAX 417-881-5387 rcollins@dooutdoors.net Wow, not as bad as what I thought it would be.

I've got 4 of the Lew's reels, 2 speed spools, 1 tournament, and 1 tournament pro. So far I have nothing but good things to say about them! I have heard some really bad things about their customer service, so I wanted to share my experience with them. I've had zero problems with their reels, but since I use left handed reels, I wanted to know if I can get some of the longer 95mm cranking handles for my reels. I sent an email to their customer service on saturday and got a message back today. Mr. Rick Collins answered all of my questions that I had(including that you can't make the normal speed spool's drag star and tension knob clik and sound like the others) and also gave me a lot of information about the reels. Here is his reply: Hi Travis- I’m glad you are excited about our reels. You aren’t the only person interested in different gear ratios for left handed reels. We are tallying the interest to see if it is feasible to make them available. Minimum production quantities can sometimes keep great ideas from becoming a sensation. I’ve added you to the tally, and we’ll see if we can make it happen. I’m on your side. 95mm handles are available. We sell them as kits. Kits include the handle, nut, nut retainer and screw for $24.95 each for either the Speed Spool or Tournament Series Bait Cast Reels. Freight is included. Another option is to order just the 95mm handle bars with paddle shafts for either the SS or TS reel for $$7.00. You would reuse the screw caps, screws, bearings and paddles from your exiting handles. Additional parts are available for the reels directly from us. A number of the parts interchange between the reel models; however the star drag and spool tension adjustment knobs have limited interchangeability, especially between the SS series reels and the others. Unfortunately, neither of the clicker systems in these two parts interchanges with the SS reels. The tension knob assembly comes close, but will not full tighten for heavier weight lures. There are a number of variables that prevent the clicking star drag assembly used on the TS, TP and TL reels from interchanging onto the SS series reels.. Let me know if you would like any handles, or have any other request or questions I can help you with. I’ll be glad to help. In the meantime …. Good Fishiin’ Rick Collins Lew's Service Manager 2333 E Bennett Springfield, MO 65804 Ph 417-881-5390 FAX 417-881-5387 rcollins@dooutdoors.net So needless to say, I am really pleased with Lew's CS after this email from them. I just hope that I am as pleased with their CS if I have any problems with their reels. I also sent Mr. Collins a reply asking about their carbon fiber handles. I will let you know what his reply is.

I like the Boss EWG football heads, very good hooks and a quality paintjob.

I had an older accurist PT and an older accurist 2. Both are pretty decent reels but the accurist PT did not hold as well as I thought it should have. It started making some funny noises on casts about a year after I got it and would not cast as far. Oiled it and greased it up and it still did it. Also the older quantums seem to have a problem with the casting button sticking when you try to engage the reel. My dad has one of the older Energy baitcasters that was absolutely horrible for this as well. The accurist seems to be a little better than his old energey, but it still has some issues. The red accurist 2 that I got is still doing great. It's a little bit younger than the pt, but it casts really well and the guy that has it now has done nothing but praise it as well. From a budget standpoint, hard to beat those $40-50 prices on ebay for the accurist models!

Lowest quality baitcaster I would buy would be a Bass Pro Extreme. Many different gear ratios in right and left hand to choose from. I believe they are on sale right now as well. Our local shop sells them for about the price you mentioned. I've owned 3 of them and have yet to have any problems with them. I have replaced them with Lew's and Revos, but the guys I sold them to have yet to have a problem with them either. The paint doesn't really hold up on them that well, the oldest one I had that my co-angler got from me has ZERO of the markings on it. No numbers on the braking, the bass pro emblem on the side plate, all of it is gone. But it's still holding up and runs as smooth as it did on day one!

Have you done any good on them Chromedog? I've got some tied up with Satin Blue Glimmer mixed with Ghost Minnow and a little smoke and chartruse on that top. It looks good, but I think the 6" long trailer is killing me. I'm definately gonna take the advice from the other guys and put some rage craws on a darker colored jig like a blue gill color.

That is a very nice looking jig. Gonna have to get me some of those colors and try to make one like that. Thanks again for your help.

ok....i see some rage chunks in my future! Thanks to everyone that has answered. I've only got some white skirts tied up, but I guess I will need to try some bluegill colors too.

See this is also what has me really confused. I'm thinking that I am trying to present a swim jig like a baitfish and everyone is talking about chunks and crawfish imitation baits. Am I missing the point completely here?

Thanks for the ideas and comments! Vinny, I'm not looking for the right answer, just looking for some ideas. I throw jigs a lot and I throw spinnerbaits/swimbaits a lot....but this crazy bait that falls somewhere in between, well it just has me all sorts of messed up! I really love the way the swim jig is like a finesse weedless spinnerbait. The 2 bites I did get with the swimmin fluke on it was around tree laydowns fishing it like a spinner bait. Any opinions on the Keitech Swing or Optimum Double Diamond Swimmer?

I put the trailer on, mostly lizard tails and the zoom spinnerbait trailers, then put the trailer hook on over the hook so that it can swing freely. Then I throw on the little piece of tubing to keep it on there. Before my friend showed me this, I put the piece of tubing over the trailer hook eye and put it on the spinnerbait. After I started putting it on so it could move freely, I started hanging on to a lot more fish.

As far as I know, TW will match prices, however, the price has to be from an authorized dealer of the items I think. I asked them about matching the price of Navionics platinum map cards from Cabelas for $30 off, and they said they would. The email said that I would have to call them to make the order. There was also a smaller website I found the cards for like $169, but they didn't mention that one, they just said they would match Cabelas' price.

Finally made a few swim jig skirts and put them on some boss swim jig heads. I love the way they look, but I really have no idea what I'm doing with them. What kind of trailers does everybody use? I tried a zoom swimmin fluke on one and it looks really good in the water and I got a few bites on it, but it's just such a large profile! I picked up some Zoom fat albert grubs from the local store because I really couldn't find anything else that would look that great on it. Also, this is the first time I have ever tried them. I know that right now is a good time to throw them, but I'm not real sure on where and when to throw them. I live in western NC and all of the lakes here are mostly deep and very clear. I appreciate all of the tips and ideas!