bryand82487

I've got 2 sols. One on a shimano cumara rod for worms, jigs, etc. and one on a G. Loomis crankbait rod. I absolutely love them. I think I will go with a core on a cumara rod for my next setup though.

my buddy hooked into a monster with 1/2 oz black and blue jig with a blue berry candy baby paca but unfortunately it broke his line when he came to the top of the water

I'm using a spinning setup. I will have to find some of that line conditioner and give it a try. Does it keep the memory out or just fix the problem until you catch another fish or two?

Went and fished below the pickwick dam this morning on the Tennessee river and caught my first smallie. The current was pretty strong. They had 1 out of every 3 flood gates up emptying in the river. Lots of fish were hitting the top of the water. I ended up with 2 smallies and caught a variety of other fish. I think I'm hooked on the smallies now though. One of the smallies I caught almost put up as big of a fight as the hybrid stripe I caught and was not near the size of the hybrid. The best bite was while it was raining.

I used the yozuri hybrid ultra soft #8 today and it performed well. My only complaint was that when split shotting the line between the hook and weight begins to get memory in it after catching a fish or two and gave me some tangling issues.

Does a significant increase in water levels over a week period hurt the smallmouth bite

I'll give the jigs and live bait a try. Since I don't have a throw net do you have any suggestions on a bait store up there? I've never caught any smallmouth so I'm not to concerned with size quite yet mainly just getting the techniques down and learning how to find them. What size weight do you use on your split shot rig?

Glad you guys had some luck. I'm going to try to get over their this Saturday and give it a shot if the rain lets off. Did you guys do better with the live bait or the jigs?

Do you guys fish worms, lizards, etc. mainly with your rod tip up or down or both? I've always fished with mine up but have started having a problem setting the hook this way. If a bass hits it while I'm pulling the worm off the bottom and I am at the top of my pull I have no way of jerking up any farther to set the hook, or If I do it will be to late. I normally wait until the second hit or after the first hit when he starts running with it. I was thinking though that if I fished with my rod tip down I could set the hook easier and on the first hit but wasn't sure if it would still give a good lure presentation.

Wish I had known that years ago. A buddy of mine had to push the hook through his skin, cut the barb off and pull it back through! ouch