Bluebasser86

Ford V Chevy, it all depends on what you like in a rod. For $200 I'd go to a tackle store and handle as many of the rods as you can and pick one you like, bring the reel you're going to put on it if they'll let you so you can feel what it's going to feel like as a combo in your hand. I've fished very few $100-$200 rods that I couldn't have learned to live with.

I haven't had much luck with the finesse rigs, just don't think they spread the baits out far enough I guess. If you find a big rig with a resin head and just add lighter heads you should be able to fish it just fine on the rod you have. I pour my own heads and fish the Zoom swimming fluke or swimming fluke JR a lot.

Been cut by my line a ton of times, always takes forever to heal and it seems like I'll re-cut it several times before it finally heals all the way. I might have to try that next time.

It is

My parents place is over by Blue Eye, nice area, can be tough fishing though.

The Bass Pro power handles fit them nicely so you don't have to use the short handles, well worth the $10 to upgrade the handle IMO They also fit the Lew's reels so I don't have to try to use those Mickey Mouse ear paddles.

I keep beating this dead horse, Pro Qualifier hands down. I use a 5.1 PQ on my deep cranking reel. I was on the fence if I should get a PQ or pop for an Abu Winch. I went with the PQ because our lakes are pretty shallow so I don't get to deep crank a lot. Since then I've become a much better deep crankbait fisherman and that Pro Qual has a lot to do with it. The thing launches them a mile and makes cranking even 6XD's really easy. Doesn't hurt that I boated a 7 1/2 pounder with it last January either

I've had a lot of luck with the Academy H2O brand EWG hooks. Nice and sharp out of the package and at $5 for a 20 pack if I roll a point I just throw it away. I've started playing with the new VMC Ike approved EWG hooks too, wow are they sharp! I really like the Gamakatsu superline EWG's but they're getting so expensive anymore I can't hardly afford to fish them. I think the VMC Heavy Duty hooks will be a good substitute for them though. I tried some of the straight shank flipping hooks this summer. I was really excited about them but after missing my first 6 bites on them I cut it off and went back to catching fish with my EWG's, if it ain't broke I guess.

I think that's a big part of what I really like about them. I've fished for them in some small rivers in the Ozarks and it never ceases to amaze me how you can look all over a shallow area and think there's no fish there but you run a fluke or Sammy through and a solid fish materializes out of nowhere to slam the thing. I think it's really cool how you can catch fish off the exact same spot and one will be almost black while the other might be tiger striped or sand colored, not many other fish I know of will vary that much off the same spot. Thought I'd add another picture of one that was really neat looking I thought. It was really dark overcast and I was fishing clear water. It really looked like she was glowing gold when I was fighting her in, one of most uniquely colored smallmouths I've ever seen.

I had a 30 fish day in January last year on a number 6 Xrap in a pond that was partially frozen. I was having to pause 10-15 seconds then the line would slowly start to tighten up or I'd feel the tick. If the water is clear that's how I'd be trying to get them.

I'm hoping my wife and I end up either on Table Rock or Bull Shoals. We go to the Rock at least once a year and both love it. What part of the lake did you move to? I'd like to be somewhere not too far from Kimberling City so it isn't a long drive into town whenever my wife feels the need to go shopping or whatever she wants to do. My parents just got a vacation home but it's down by the dam, not my favorite part of the lake to fish at all. Congrats to both of you!

I'm not sure the exact weight. I caught it on a day in early November last year fishing with my wife. We caught a bunch in the 17-18 inch range that weighed from 3-3.5 pounds so somewhere in that range. Fish Chris' smallmouth pictures are some amazing looking fish. They do light up after spending some time in the livewell. The one in my picture was lit up like that when she came into the boat. It wasn't big enough to put in the livewell, they have to be 18" at the lake I caught that one at to keep.

Mine isn't, it has plastic plugs at the nose and belly and tubing running through the middle and braided wire running through the tube. I know mine is fixable, it's just a little off, just haven't taken the time to fix the thing. Now that it isn't even supposed to make it above freezing until Wednesday I'll have plenty of time though.

And then they buy bread, eggs, milk, you know, the essentials if you're need food that will stay fresh for an extended period of time It was 7 degrees on my way to work tonight

I believe it was just an XPS swimbait. I still have one of the exact swimbaits he was using but the tail got kinked and I haven't taken the time to try to fix it yet. They were a great bait and really cheap and durable, it's too bad they stopped making them.

I tried to fish today, while it was 11 degrees out with a stiff 20mph wind from the north. Caught a couple small channel cats on a jigging spoon before my reel and guides were so iced up and my hands were so numb I couldn't take it anymore. Boomer, thoughts and prayers your way man.

It seems like every year I read several articles on smallmouth and once in a while the author will mention something like for what they lack in looks a smallmouth makes up for in fight or they're fighters not lookers?? Am I the only one that thinks smallmouth are an awesome looking fish? Granted they can look really plain at times but if you get a tiger striped, bright red eyed smallmouth they're about the prettiest fish in freshwater IMO. What do you guys think? Am I crazy or are these writers just more attracted to bright colors on trout? I just don't think it gets much better than this.

I catch a lot of smallies out of a local lake on a bright white 3/8oz chatterbait with a chartreuse trailer. It stands out big time in the clear water but they slam the thing for some reason. I've really become a fan of the Havoc Beat Shad for a trailer on it.

I prefer bigger jerkbaits for trout. I catch stockers all the time on MR97 slender pointers and 78 pointers. I love going to the White River in Arkansas and throwing jerkbaits for big browns down there. Never caught any monsters but we've caught a bunch of healthy browns. This last year they were all over a Lucky Craft Spazz, the year before it was a MR97 slender pointer and an Erratic shad. If I'm targeting stockers I prefer Little Cleos or a micro jig under a bobber. I tend to catch more fishing those baits and it keeps me from potentially losing an expensive bait fishing for trout.

Went out Wednesday to an outlet below a local lake to see if any walleye had moved up to the deep water in the outlet to winter. I was standing at the top of the wall and giving the bait short hops and following it back down when I felt a tick. I set the hook and thought I'd missed and snagged a log for a minute, it just sat there. Then it slowly started swimming off and pulling drag! I was pretty sure what I'd just hooked and knew I was in trouble. The top of the wall is a good 50' off the water and runs out into the water 20' past the bank, making it almost impossible to land a big fish like that on my medium casting rod and 15lb test. The bank drops off very fast as it goes down to the water but the wall stays the same height the whole way out, so it took me awhile to come up with an idea on how to get my line past the wall so I could keep fighting the fish. Thankfully, the water temps were really cold so once I quit pulling, so did the fish. I finally figured out that I could use the strong wind to my advantage by feeding out line and letting it blow my line out and around the wall. Once I finally got my line to clear the wall I walked down to the water and got to the best position I could to keep my line from rubbing against the concrete. Once I started cranking I had probably 50-60 yards of line out and a lot of obstacles to try to steer the fish around. Again the cold water temps worked to my advantage because even though he fought hard it was nothing like what it would have been a month ago. I had no way to get a weight, measurement, or a good picture of him unfortunately. I do know his head was about as long as my size 12 boot thought and I'm guessing in the 30-35 pound range, my crappy cell phone picture does it no justice. It swam off strong after I got my quick picture.

Round bend gammies or mustads in 8's are what I fish on my 65's and have no problem with hooks bending. A light rod and soft drag will both help also.

One of my favorite dirty water colors, especially with a beaver bait or tube.

One of the lakes I fish a lot the bottom is visible in upwards of 20' of water, and they love a chatterbait at times. Any time there is some wind or clouds I can usually catch a ton of fish on a bright white 3/8oz chatterbait with a chartreuse trailer. I fish it very quickly, just below the surface. The largemouth and smallmouth both slam it when it's on. It's one of those techniques that either seems to either really catch them, or they won't even look at it though.

I bank fish as long as there's open water during the winter at some of our local lakes. Most effective thing I've found is find some deep water with rocks and drag a small plastic or jig slowly along the bottom or parallel the drops with a slowly twitched suspending jerkbait. I've caught some really nice fish from the shore all winter long during warm winters doing this.