Triton_Mike

Hey that design looks familia ~. Nice rod there Justtrying . Thats the ONLY way to build a spinning rod in my opinion . If thats your first rod that is an EXCELLENT job! Tee.

Matt, I don't think George said anything about tournaments in his entire post?? What part of his post do you disagree with?? I thought Georges post was pretty accurate. He just described the difference between the two types of deals to be had. Some companies do interchange the 2 terms loosely as in your case with Okuma. Another term that can be used is Field Staff. Nothing to get riled up about over what company uses what terminology as it varies from company to company Mike

To build on what Chris said, I know people that don't even own a boat that have sponsorships ie not paying for product. If you can put baits in a store your worth more than a guy that just fishes tournaments IMHO. Although these cases are rare but they do happen. Mike

Here is a picture of the thermocline with some fishies within it another site Mike

Chris, I certainly understand your thoughts. I had a 1248 all welded jon boat with a 30 HP for many many years. I caught more big bass out of that boat than I will ever catch out of my Tr 20/ 225 EFI. Something about small boats and big bass??? T Mike

replica, There really isn't much any DNR can do about the problem other than manage what is already there. One thing that can and needs to be done is keeping the small spots. We are in a day and age of Catch and Release and unfortunately catch and release can be a BAD thing in some lakes. Ernel, I have seen similiar things in what you have described with smallies vs spots. They don't seem to coexist very well. Blue Ridge is another example. I've always wanted to fish Chatuge and the other lakes up in North GA but I keep putting them off. I hear great things about some of those lakes. I might have to disagree with you about the Largemouth not being affected by the spots as much as the smallies but that might be a close coin toss. The spots have pretty much holed the largemouth to the very backs of our creeks for the most part. We have gone from 50/50 to 80/20 and I bet it's probably closer to 90/10 now. I try to keep in tone with the largemouth by visitin other lakes that are more suited to the largemouth. The heads and spots are 2 completely different fish with different habits and habitats that they like to be around. Great discussion! Mike

As a spotted bass guide here in Georgia and having fished for them for 20+ years, Chris pretty much hit the nail on the head. Spots are and can be considered a nuisance fish similiar to Crappie in the way that they over reproduce and also due to their aggressiveness. Spots definitely don't need clear or deep water to survive. All of the Coosa chain lakes are not clear nor deep by my standards and have tons of wood cover. Lanier and Allatoona are somewhat clear and deep. I loved catching them in the Pearl River of Mississippi and that place gets muddier than a rancid Yohoo. Typically what happens is once you get spots in a lake they slowly but surely take over their market share of the lake. There are some lakes that are exceptions to the rule with Wheeler being one of them. Wheeler harbors a great population of Smallies, Spots and Largemouth primarily because the lake can easily be divided into 3 different lakes due to it's makeup. Spots love the current and river portion of the lake, Largemouth like the grass portion and the smallies seem to like the River portion as well as the deep bluff wall portion of the lake. Also, Both Lanier, West Point and Allatoona used to be GREAT largemouth lakes and you caught spots every now and then. Now both lakes are probably 80% spots and 20% heads. Granted if you catch a largemouth it's usually a pretty good fish 3lbs +. Now Lanier is what I consider probably the best spot lake in the world. There might be some Cali lakes that can hang with it but nothing else here in the South, East or Midwest can even come close to holding a candle to it. I will say that some of the extreme north GA lakes are coming on strong. We enjoy or spots here in North Georgia but we certainly don't want to ruin some good largemouth lakes just to catch a spot here and there. Just my .02 T Mike

Thanks Earthworm for the compliments. I can't say I came up with that design on my own but several custom builders I have seen have variations of this one but I am one of the first (that I have seen) to use a button on either end of the reel seat. My good buddy George Roth had one with a button up front but a longer grip on the back of the seat along with the split grip. He's the one that put that bug in my head for the 2 buttons. But I love the design. Rumor has it a new rod company is going to come out with a spinning rod design just like the one you see in the pic . I'll know something after Icast I agree the butt end on the hypalon is HUGE!! I'd personally trim it down some. T Mike

Chris, I very much enjoy your writings and even your website over the years. One thing I have learned like you said is it takes a very special attitude and dedication to do what you do and I would believe that that dedication and attitude does take some getting used to to form it to where you are right now as a strictly trophy hunter almost 100% of the time. The one thing that I had to learn the hard way is if your looking for a 15lb you need to fish where there are 10lbers. If there is 1 15lber in your lake your gonna get discouraged really quick fishign for that one fish. Granted hearing about one or 5 fish over 10lbs over the course of 10 years really isn't such a great spot to look for a teen fish. So what I am attempting to do is just increase the size of my catch and try to catch 8-10lb fish. Granted these weights don't appeal much to me because my home lakes are Spotted bass lakes where a Trophy Spot is 5-6lbs. Chris, Tell me about some of the swimbaits that you are using to catch your bigger fish? I am getting into the bigger swimbaits pretty thick and heavy and I have some Triple Trouts and Hudds and wanting to expand my selection some with some more variety. I do understand baits are only a small portion of the equation of catching fish but I am looking at what are some quality baits that you use day in and day out. Thanks for your time! BTW will you be at Icast in Las Vegas this week?? If so stop by the Triple Fish International booth I'd love to introduce myself. T Mike www.tritonmike.com

George you SHADDUP too!! . Nice fishies!! Randall I will quit work when you say the fishing is getting good on Lake Walton I am going to try to PLAN vacation around the spawn at Lake Walton next year. Tee Mike

You really don't need any weight in the back of a jointed lure. Put your weight in front of the belly hook to ballast the bait. The less weight you have in the tail the more wiggle you will get. Just my opinion. T Mike

fishnbear. I had that exact same boat for many years except I think mine had a 48 inch bottom. Weldcraft makes an AWESOME rig. Stability is OK. If stability is what you want you need to look into a 1448 instead of the 36 Wider = more stable. You can certainly put a deck in the 1448 no problems! T mike

My biggest is 34lbs out of Ray Roberts in Texas. All caught on a buzzbait. Broke my personal best twice in the same trip. 10lbs, 9lbs, 8lbs, 5lbs, 2lbs. I could have culled that 2lber if a big summer texas storm wouldn't have thrown me off the water. I caught these 5 fish in a matter of an hour prior to the storm. T Mike Randall shadupp!!!

Thomas, A wider beam will almost always be more stable. I had a 36 inch bottom for years and it served me well in tight and shallow places on the river but it was less stable than a wider boat. It just depends on what you are using the boat for. T Mike

Riddle, With a 1648 boat you can put a TON of weight in it and be just fine. I used pretty much all plywood and sealed it. Here is how I did my 1648 Grizzly Jon boat www.tritonmike.com/boat.html T Mike

Heck I got brushpiles bigger than that ~ LOL T Mike

I honestly believe that if you aren't taking notes/journal your learning curve will be much much longer in becoming a better angler. To the guy that says he only records trips of fish 3lbs or better. I will say that not catching fish is very good information. FOr example if you suck in the summertime and throw DD22's along bluffs and don't catch nothing. You need to take a note to remind yourself that DD22's in the summer don't work and to try something else. Bass patterns run in cycles EVERY YEAR!! Yeah there are some guys like ouchita that can find them but I promise you if you take notes you can find them better! If your good thats good. But being great is better. It's all about improving upon what you already know. I can't tell you how much my notes have taken me to fish and reminded me of things I needed to try. The single most important thing you need in your notes is water temperature. Match up the water temperates from year to year (within the season). If you match up week2 February with next years week2 February you WILL NOT be as accurate as weather changes (some years colder/warmer/rainier than others). T Mike

I can't believe how many people are missing out on Bass West and Yamamoto's Inside Line!! Those 2 are the best of the best. Both of these articles in these magazines are written by serious anglers who are outdoor writers. I highy reccomend them both. All of the articles appeal to pretty much all areas in the US. www.insideline.net www.basswest.com T Mike

Any small hobby lathe will work. I personally have a Jett. T Mike

anglerintraining, Honestly I would consider hiring a well respected guide for you and your son on the lake that you fish often. This will give you the opportunity to see how he approaches the lake vs how you approach the lake and will open your eyes. This will also give you the opportunity to ask specific questions that you need answered about anything fishing. By hiring a guide for just one trip, will knock YEARS off your learning curve to become a better angler. T Mike

Thomas, There is a huge market for custom lead molds similiar to Do It. One mold that comes to mind is a hidden weight spinnerbait that NOBODY makes a custom mold for. That to me is probably the most sought after mold at the moment. T Mike

Sorry Low Budget I'm not into making Porn ;D T Mike

Thomas, Let me know if you get into making lead molds. I can send you TONS of business. T Mike

justtrying, George Roth can most certainly and does make this type of design on a spinning rod. He actually put the idea in my head for this design. He had a rod designed similiar to the rod I have there but he had a bit longer hand grip and I just put a button of cork on both ends thinking that hand grip serves no purpose on a spinnin rod anyway. I don't know what extension your referring to whomever asked that question??? Can you be more specific?? A little bird told me that an up and coming commercial company might be offering a rod similiar to the design you see above . It's not carved in stone but it might T Mike

I'm not touching this one with a 8ft swimbait rod LMAO!! T Mike