mikeeasttn

I have the Caleblas Guide suit and was pleased with it. After hearing from many people how good the BPS 100mph suit was I purchased one of them They are really great and will keep you warm but really no difference in it and the Guide Suit. They are both top quaility suits and well worth the money. If you fish cold weather this is one area you do not want to go cheap on. You can not enjoy fishing if you are not comfortable. Do not forget good socks and some type insulated footwear also.

I buy my swimbaits from the makers of the baits and most of the rest is from Tackle Warehouse or Caleblas. I try to buy locally when I can but most of the time they do not have what I need or want.

Welcome Pater. I am not from the Memphis area but went to Medical school (UT) there. Good to see some more people from Tn on this site. I am from the Knoxville area.

Welcome Dylan. Glad you found this site for you can learn alot from the members. We are from the same area but fish different waters so give me a pm sometime.

Without a doubt the PQ. It comes in both right and left hand and 4 or 5 different line return ratio's. Even the PQ spinning reels are good. My grandson use the PQ 50 Spinning reel to fish the large hard swimbaits with braid.

Go with the 6.4. I fish up to 3/4 oz swim jigs and it is not that tiring. It is also fast enought for you to burn the bait if necessary and slow enough for you to fish the lure slow if need be.

Thanks JD96

I need to ask a question. It has been so long since I have fished with my Curado reels I have forgotten how to set the brakes. Is up on the plastic on or off. Thanks

When I started fishing swimbaits I had the 300 and 400 Cardiff's. They are budget priced large round reels but from their performance you would not know it. I used the 300 for medium swimbaits up to 6oz baits and the 400 for larger baits. They are great reels for their price and are built like a tank. The 400 should give you years of service even throwning the big heavy baits.

Last Sunday water temp was between 82 and 83F and no action. Today the water temp was between 73 and 74F and was catching a few bass on crankbaits so fall is approaching and the way the water temp is dropping fish should be on fall pattern next week or the week after at the latest. Can not wait until fall pattern takes over and fishing starts getting better.

Taking my grandson fishing and watching him catch a 8.5# LM. He is a dedicated bass fisherman now and goes with me everytime I go fishing. Fishing with him and watching him catch fish is one the the greatest blessing the lord has ever given me.

I have used several different brands of Braid and settled on the 832 and have been pleased with it. I use it from the 30# up to 80# strength as I fish mostly swimbaits. Using the 30 and 40# 832 I can use smaller low profile reels such as the Zllion for throwing the small to medium hard swimbaits and the larger Hudds. I use the moss green without a leader.

I am in LaFollette which is 40 miles northeast of Knoxville and live 5 minutes from Norris Lake.

I have a Rapala Digital Scale with the grip. I have weighed a 5.7# LM and the grip held the fish without any problems.

Swivels and snaps will make some baits actions change. Especially swimbaits. If you must, use a snap as there is less chance of them breaking and coming open and then only use the Owner Cross lock snaps or their welded snaps as they are made from stainless steel and less likely to break or come open.

I thought they were the same as the C3's and purchased one to send to have tuned and I thought bearing replaced to use for swimbait fishing. I was told by the man that does my work for me that they were not good enought to stand to the rigors of swimbaiting and even the internal parts of the reels are not interchangeable for the same model reels and were very cheap made. To make one stand up to the heavy load of swimbait fishing I would have more money in it than just going out and buying a C4. I had already purchased the reel so decided to use it for Ala Rigs fishing only. In Tn we can use only 3 baits at a time on the rig. I fished with it one afternoon and after about one hours fishing the thumbar completely came apart and broke on one end and of course no way to get the reel to work after that happened. I really do not know if the above is true about the reels internal parts but i know they will not stand up to much heavy use or at least mine did not. I have and use the Models 5500 and 6600 in the C4's for throwing the big heavy swimbaits for a couple of years and they are great reels and will stand up to just about anything you throw at them. They are especially smooth after having the better bearings installed and the shafts or whatever they polish on the inside. By the way I also purchased mine at Walmart.

A year ago I went to braid on most of my cranking and swimbait rods. I use Shimano Crucial rods and custom glass rods for cranks and the same for swimbaits. One thing I found that helped me was to go down one step on my rods actions. For instance I would go from a heavy rod to a med heavy rod. This will keep you from tearing the hooks from the fishes mouths and bending out swimbait hooks. This is more important with the compostite rods than with the glass rods but it also helps when fishing the glass rods for myself. I use Suffix 832 in different strengths but have also left some rods with the co-polymer and mono lines. I tried loosing the drag on my reels before I went this route but for myself I felt I lost something when trying to set the hook. Most fisherman I think do not have this problem but in some cases I was not getting a good hookset. Also I gained more distance when casting using the braid. In some cases with the heavy swimbaits when not using a large cap reel I would have to be careful not to spool the reel when making casts.

Get him whatever it takes. My 8 y/o Grandson started fishing with me when he was 3 y/o. In a couple months he was using a spining reel and by the age of 5 he was using a baitcaster. At age 5 he caught a 8 and 1/2 lb LM. He now is into large swimbaits such as the 8" Hudds, 10" Triple trouts. I had him 2 custom swimbait spinning rods made to keep from getting backlashes and breaking off the expensive baits. He has not bettered his 8.5bl LM but has come very close with a 8.3, It was tough at first fishing with him but I was never happier and more proud than when he landed his PB LM. The boat is not allowed to leave without him in it and I would not have it any other way. Teach him to fish and take him fishing all you can. This will be the best fishing time of your life.

I have fished one in the black and silver since they came out but yet have to catch a fish on one. This is surprising to me since the orginal Shad Rap still catches fish for me. As others have said I think it rolls to much also and this may be the reason I have yet to hang a fish on one.

I started fishing swim jigs 2 years ago. Since that time I have caught numerous LM and SM on them using different methods of retrieves. Now they have become one of my go to baits.

My most successful crankbait has been the Rapala Shad Rad in black and silver. There are days when other cranks will out produce it but overall it seems to produce a few fish no matter the conditions.

I use the Rapala DT 20. They have changed the name but it is the DT crankbait with the metal disc in the bill. Depending upon your retrieve and the line diameter this bait can be worked from 10 feet to 20. With long casts and 10# line I have fished it a little deeper than 20 feet. I use it in one of the deep, clear, mountain lakes of the TVA.

I found this video very helpful. I've since ditched my lure retrievers.

Welcome

Welcome. You will be able to find plenty of information here.