kgstitan

Many thanks! That's a cool site I hadn't heard of before.

The first question I'll have for him is whether or not the conditions I listed above are ripe enough for the Rage Tail topwater stuff I have. Seems like it's a little too cool/early still. One of my biggest faults, I think, is that I lean too heavily on T-rigged worms to avoid getting snagged. I really want to do some topwater, but the conditions may not be ripe for it.

You're right about that, no question. We've fished together some, and he's a very heavy spinnerbait guy. I just wanted to get as many opinions as I could from the knowledgeable people here. Another question I had is, if you took someone in the boat with you, and they were far less-experienced, would it irritate you at all if they copied everything you did? I'm thinking most people would say no, but I'm not sure.

lol. I'd rather not give him the satisfaction. One of my goals is to have him asking me for advice by the third day.

I'm headed to Toledo Bend for 3 days, and I can't wait to hit the water . I'm gonna be riding shotgun with a tournament-experienced friend that fishes here regularly. I need a little advice on what lure(s) to start with, though. Here are the (expected) conditions, according to the Weather Channel: 55 degrees, mostly sunny, 12 mph winds, and about 55 degree water temp. (The air temp. will be in the low 70s and rainy for 2 days prior to us getting there). I'm going to be in the lower part of the lake (around Lowe's Creek) and the water is mostly clear there. I think we'll be in the creeks, though, where the water is more stained and just a little warmer. I want to start with one of the following: -Strike King 1/2 oz. white/red spinnerbait with silver double willow blades -YUM watermelon/red flake wooly bug -Rage Tail Smoky Shad weightless -Rage Toad -Strike King Red-eye Shad silver lipless crankbait or -Zoom pumpkinseed crawfish w/orange claws What do you think I should do with my first cast? Thanks for any advice.