Bluebasser86

This is my favorite smallmouth color. I like the half of a pink trick worm or a pink grass pig Jr.

Their colors have changed for sure. Their sour apple color has way less green and purple and the purple is much lighter. I was thinking they were made in Missouri? I know the G5 was at one point.

I have the 65lb braid and 25lb fluoro and like them both very well. The braid is black, which I like because I normally color the last few feet black anyways so it saves me doing that. It's small and stays round so it cast well and cuts through weeds very well. I like it well enough that I have another spool of 50lb on the way. I was afraid what the memory would be like with the fluoro but so far it has been a non factor. It's very abrasion resistant as well as I've pulled some nice fish out of some nasty laydowns with it.

I've had good luck with Predator bass baits. Only one I've had that I didn't like was the Trick Darter blank. It's a straight floater, not a suspender like the Megabass version is. Also seems to be bigger than the Megabass.

50 degrees is kind of the magic mark for getting the catfish active, 55 if you're after flathead. Carp I have no idea but I've seen them in water so shallow their backs are sticking out and it's only in the low 50's here.

Nice! What bait were you fishing?

I've got that friend that never pays or thinks that $10 should cover it when I drive an hour both ways and run all over the lake. I've got that friend that borrows tackle and then forgets to give it back at the end of the day. I've got that friend that's always later than he says he'll be. I've got that friend that never mentions he has to leave early until we get to the lake. I've got that friend that as soon as I catch a fish he's digging through his box to find the exact same thing. I've got that friend that asks a million questions on what he should do, then does the exact opposite of the advice I give. I've got that friend that no matter how many fish I'm catching refuses to take any advice or baits I may offer. They're all still my friends though. Nobody is perfect and I'm not going to let minor things ruin my day or my friendship with people.

War Eagle spot remover has been good for me lately. I've been using a 3/8oz tandem Colorado/Indiana blade combo. War Eagle is about the only spinnerbait I fish with the exception of a few Booyahs for ponds/yak fishing or dirty water.

I'm guessing your water temps are still pretty cool right now since they are most places still. A spinnerbait with double colorado blades or tandem colorado/indiana blades is a good one for those conditions.

Which store?

My favorite head for swimming a grub or small paddle tail.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your career! We have several LEO's on the forum, myself included

Welcome!

For those of you that like fluoro, is line memory an issue? The Maxima I've been using has the slightest bit of memory and it's making it impossible to feel anything unless I'm actually moving the bait. It's possible I need to go to a heavier weight I think but the zebra mussels make it almost impossible. I've been using 1/8oz most of the time because I'm fishing fairly shallow water (less than 20'), but I'm thinking I might need to bump up to 1/4oz so I'm not moving my bait too much and over working it.

I'm trying to learn the drop shot better this year. Currently using 5lb Maxima main line but haven't been a fan. I'm thinking I might go brain main line with a leader. Wanted to see what others are using for a main line before I make a switchange though. A new reel should help this learning experience also if anyone wants to chime in there. I like Pfluger or Shimano, looking to keep it under 150.

Yep, he won that one sight fishing and blind casting a 6" Junebug YUM Dinger.

He actually used a jigging spoon and a jig to win the Classic at Hartwell. He mainly used a jig at Grand this year also. He's a slow, soak the bait kind of guy, so a senko suits him well.

That was 1 of the 2 fish I caught today though. Doesn't to do any good to catch a pig when you don't follow it up with anything.

Sot

Have not fished the Scorpion yet, but I will in about an hour. I'll try to remember to give a report on any differences I notice between the two. The Curado feels great, already has me thinking about picking up another one. The 50s were too small for me, my hands would end up hurting by the end of the day. These 70s fit in my hands perfect and hold about the perfect amount of line for bass fishing. They're obviously different retrieve speeds and will be used for different techniques though.

Just think of it like this. How many times have you seen a bright chartreuse baitfish? Or a black and blue crawdad? Or anything that looked at all like a buzzbait? I will say that swimbaits are one of the baits I feel are most important about looking natural, but I still feel like it's mostly the baits size and profile that makes them so appealing to the fish.

It's called a Rock Crawler because it's designed to be fished around and through rock, mainly since it's designed to emulate a crawfish (like a Wiggle Wart). It doesn't do anything special to actually come through those rocks though, just where they want you to fish them.

It doesn't fit Shimano reels unfortunately.

Water was just a little warmer when I went in about a month ago. I'm really thankful for my survival training from work and the mentality that has been beaten into me. That feeling when you know you're going over sucks. The water took my breath away instantly and all I could think to do at first was try to find somewhere to hold onto the kayak to keep myself up. Once I got a grip on my kayak though, I calmed down and assessed my situation and what I needed to do. I knew I had to get out of the water fast. I was in the middle of a bunch of standing timber so swimming didn't seem like a good option because I wasn't going to be able to drag the yak too and I was afraid I'd get hung up on a limb and not have the dexterity to get myself loose. My first attempt was unsuccessful, but the second time I got it righted. My big mistake here was I'd never tried to do this before. I know I should have gone and practiced flipping my kayak back over from the water before I ever used it, but I got lucky and managed to do it live. I used one of the trees to help steady my kayak and managed to get myself on top of it and out of the water. By that time a guy in a boat had got to me and was helping me get steady and was collecting any gear that was floating for me. After I sat for a minute and collected myself and my gear from the helpful boater, I had to collect my poor dog that was soaked and watching me from the bank at this point. Surprisingly, she jumped right back on the kayak with me. My loss wasn't nearly that bad though. 2 rods were missing, and the guy in the boat managed to snag one for me, so the only rod I lost was a St. Croix Triumph with a Shimano Slade. The Virb hurt for sure, I thought I had it secured to my seat with a flexible tripod but apparently not. My phone was in a water resistant case that I thought floated, but again I was apparently wrong. Glad you made it out of your situation alive Semper. Good job wearing your PFD (I know I was glad I had mine), and sorry to hear about your gear.

My last boat was a Lowe Roughneck. Not exactly a bass boat, but that's primarily what I used it for. It was a very good boat for what I needed it for and got me around just fine. I just had to graduate to something bigger with much more storage than I had in it. If it was in the budget to keep it I would have though.