Bluebasser86

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

I think that's it. It even had the crusty old hooks on it. No telling how long it had been hanging in that tree. That's a possibility. This one doesn't rattle and didn't look like it had a feathered hook on it unless the original owner changed the back hook. Use to be quite a few K-Marts around here until they all died off.

During the winter I might go 2 weeks, that's about the max my mental health can tolerate.

What did I find here? It appears to be a Pop R but the mouth is different but doesn't appear modified.

I decided to fish a smaller, city lake today, the one where I caught my PB smallmouth, in hopes of finding another monster brown bass. Those hopes were pretty quickly dashed when I pulled up to the ramp and saw the pea soup green water from a heavy algae bloom. I pulled a couple extra casting rods from the locker, realizing I was more likely chasing largemouth now. I started not far from the ramp, flipping brush piles with a homemade finesse jig on my 7' 3" MH/XF St. Croix Victory with a 8.1 Tatula SV TWS and 15lb Tatsu. I made a pitch to an outside bush that hungup a bit and I pulled it back pretty quick when a large fish, I thought, ate it at the surface. Well she either spit it as quick as she ate it or completely missed it because my hookset came up empty. The day was a grind, I considered going somewhere else many times but it seemed like about the time I'd decide to leave, I'd catch another fish. Well once I'd finally about pulled the trigger to leave, I figured I'd be doing myself a disservice to not fish that little bank where I'd missed the big one, one more time before I left. My second pitch into the brush, I shook several times in the center of a big pile, pulled it out to the edge and shook it repeatedly before I felt a hard "thump". She was on the surface in a hurry, wrapped on a thin limp. Once she came loose, the fight was on. Water temp was 54*, so she had lots of life. Almost got me in the trolling motor before I was able to slip the net under her. One of very few fish this size I've caught in Kansas that didn't come from the power plant lake, and my biggest jig fish ever and biggest fish ever on a bait I made at 7.24 pounds.

Had a major "Victory", today!

I bought my dad one because he's a once a couple times a month kind of fishermen and it's worked out fine for him.

I have several SV Tatulas and use them from finesse baits to baits over an ounce. They work fine for all of it.

I got a St Croix Avid out of the Bargain Cave at Cabela's for $20 when it first opened in KC. Still have that rod almost 20 years later.

The Rozante is one of my favorites. I've got 12-15 in the boat, several in the kayak box, and about 20 NIB on the pegs in the garage. I have one, it's got a lot of hours on it. I'm sure I've probably caught a fish with it but I can't remember it actually happening.

I'm also running an Owner Beast 7/0. Better to have a little too much hook than not enough with a bait like that.

Yeah, leverage was the wrong word. The extra length provides a better angle to lift fish from cover.

Tennessee has both ?‍♂️ plus big walleye, striper, largemouth and smallmouth. It's kind of not fair what you've got going on there @TnRiver46 ?

I've always heard "guts" and "pockets" referred to as the same thing. Basically just another slang term for a cove or a cut.

Makes me think of this;

Man, your parents left you at the lake by yourself with no means of calling them in an emergency? They have cases for phones that are really water resistant. Going out underprepared is an easy way to end up hurt bad or worse. I lost a friend that was as big of outdoorsman as they get just 2 years ago because he didn't have his life jacket on or within reach when he went in the water. Being anything less than prepared is a potential for disaster. Sorry to get on my soapbox but the second annual memorial tournament to benefit his kids education is next month so it's at the forefront of my mind.

The 7' 3" will move a good bit more line than the 7' 1" on the hookset. It will also provide more lifting leverage if you're pulling fish up out of cover. The 7' 3" MH/XF I have is not a noodle at all, so I'm sure the 7' 3" MH/F wouldn't be either.

There's 2 7' 3" casting rods, both are MH. One is a fast, the other is an extra fast. There's different specs between the 7' 1" MH/F and both 7' 3" rods. I went with the 7' 3" MH/XF. IMO, the 7' 1" would be a better all around rod. The other 2 are better suited as specialized rods for bottom contact style baits. St. Croix Victory Casting Rod 7'1" Med Hvy/Fast Fast 12-20lb 3/8-3/4oz St. Croix Victory Casting Rod 7'3" Hvy/X-Fast Action Extra Fast 14-65lb 3/8-7/8oz St. Croix Victory Casting Rod 7'3" Med Hvy/Fast Fast 14-65lb 5/16-1oz

I hope you finished spooling it? It's a good looking reel but I think you'll be underwhelmed with it's performance with 20 yards of line on it ?

This are the same tires I have on my trailer and I've been very happy with them. Price isn't terrible either.

Congrats! Never heard of them but hopefully it'll do the job. I have a C-tug cart and it does a good job as long as I'm not pulling over anything too crazy. I'd suggest fishing out of a good bit before you go doing too much to it so you can get an idea where you want things first.

GP and black work in all water colors, you're good.