Bluebasser86

I would probably suggest trying to find a used pair of the higher end glasses if possible. If not, Solar Bats have great reviews and aren't terribly expensive. The Strike King S11s are very popular with some guys as well. I have a pair of Costa Fathoms I bought used for $100 so if you keep your eyes open you can get some really nice glasses for a reasonable price.

My wife and I are planning on vacationing in this area the third week of May for our 5th anniversary. Interested in some suggestions on where to stay, things to see and do. We'd like to stay close to the beach as possible in a safe area without breaking the bank (4 nights). I'm also interested in getting into some peacock bass and snakeheads as I've never caught either and would really like to. Wouldn't mind doing some inshore fishing as well. Tons of guides out there so I'd like to hear any suggestions or if there's areas I might be able to do without the help of a guide that would be even better.

I've only gotten to fish it twice. I did have a hit on it Friday but it didn't hook up. There's always white bass in the hot water that will swat at anything and I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's what it was. Bait looks amazing in the water though, good enough I bought a second one without even catching a fish on the first one . Like Sam said, water was high 50's to low 60's in the warm water discharge. Yeah, like I said on the water, you never looked real comfortable with a spinning rod in your hands. Having not fished with one in a long time though, that's kind of to be expected. We'll get some big smallies at Melvern once it starts to warm up, great chance to learn how to fish those jerkbaits too. You're really not going to like me later in the year if starting at 7 is early though I've usually been on the water at least a couple hours by then. It could be a really long wait. I'm hoping this boat will be around long enough to give to my son if he decides he likes fishing. I found a really nice one in North Carolina though that I'd considered going to look at when I was on the hunt though.

I used to catch a lot of fish on a 7.5" Fire and Ice Culprit. Other good colors are black, junebug, red shad, and tequila sunrise.

I use heavy bull nose pliers and bend them down. It makes them vibrate harder and during a slower retrieve and if you know how to do it right they'll also kick out occasionally during the retrieve, a bit like the hunting action that is so desired in squarebills.

I wish it was that easy to skip a jig on the water!

If you ever get bored and want to see lots of pictures of Ned Rig fish, check out from about page 50 of the 327 (and counting), pages of the KC area guys thread. Lots of reports on there are of fish that were caught on it which is fitting considering it's the same area that Ned Kedhe resides (the video of Ned on the first page of this thread is filmed at the ramp at Gardner Lake, 4 miles from my front door). It is a scary effective way to catch fish, especially smallmouth. I easily catch more smallmouth on it than any other rig each year, and not just little ones, I'm positive that I catch more keeper sized smallmouth (18+ inches), on a Ned Rig than anything else, maybe more than all other techniques combined. It isn't a big fish technique, but it certainly isn't the dink catcher I expected it to be. and my largest Ned rig smallmouth of 4.80 pounds, caught during our spring get together for KC area members, that was also big bass of the day. I've spent some time in the boat with some of the guys that helped perfect the rig and techniques and have spent a good deal of time molding it into the vital tool it's become for me. As far as gear goes, most dropshot rods make excellent Ned Rig rods. I use a 6' 10" ML/XF LTB with a 25 size Pfluegar Supreme XT and 2lb diameter/10lb test super slick braid with a 8 or 10lb fluoro leader, tied to a 3/32oz mushroom style head. For me the braid is a vital part of the setup. I feel I get far more bites, that it presents the bait better, and I hook way more fish. While the regular plastic stickworms do work, they Zman Zinkerz or TRDs and similar baits like the Strike King Zeros work best on this rig, especially once they start to get worn out (in?) and float really well. The biggest downside is you have to glue them to the jighead or they'll constantly slide down the hook on you. I find that a smaller hook seems to work best also. Longer hooks will work but make the bait more rigid and limit the ever so subtle wobble and wiggle that the bait has with the smaller hook. Set your drag fairly loose and use a similar hookset to a dropshot (a quick lift or just reel into them), and you can another site on the small hooks. The heads that I pour have a #1 size hook. I think one of the biggest issues that most bass anglers have with this rig (myself included), is the constant need to feel your bait or be in contact with the bottom. A lot of times with all the wind we have I feel very little during my retrieve. In fact, a lot of times, when I start to feel something it's time to set the hook. The bait is often hovering just above the bottom and scooting along slowly like a small craw or baitfish meandering along. I'm far from an expert on this rig, but as I'm sure you all can tell, it's earned a special place with me. I tried to keep it a secret at first, even from my fellow KC area guys (who I normally share everything with), but now the proverbial cat has been let out of the bag so thought I'd share my experience with it. This rig is a terrific equalizer too. If you're a non-boater, beginner, or if you take your wife/kids fishing with you, this is an excellent rig for them. They don't even have to know what a bite feels like or how to set the hook because they can just reel into them. Plus, when they lose one, and you're going to lose them, it cost less than $1 each time. My wife has become pretty proficient with a Ned Rig and I've had many days fishing with her that I spent more time unhooking her fish than I did fishing myself. This is a terrific little rig, and it doesn't just catch smallmouth (or just bass for that matter). It pains me a bit to see it getting the attention it is now but I knew it wouldn't stay a secret forever. Give it a try if you haven't, I think you may just be surprised how many fish, and how big of fish you can catch on this boring little rig.

I was going to say if you didn't to make sure and check if your plan covers fishing tackle. Some of them don't cover anything that didn't come attached to the boat. I've got an extra 10k of coverage just for my fishing gear and electronics.

It will work fine. I wasn't able to find any mushroom style with a weedguard either so I had to start making my own.

I used a 20lb digger style anchor for my last boat that was a 16' aluminum bass boat and it held even in river current on mud bottoms.

Good luck to anyone who enters!

Welcome!

IMO, yes, but everyone's eyes are different. I've owned several pairs of polarized glasses from Oakley, Wiley X, Costa, and several cheaper brands. None of them come close to a pair of Costas with glass lenses for me. I did recently pick up a pair of Revo sunglasses (retail for $180, bought them new for $30). They seem like pretty nice glasses but haven't gotten to use them enough to give an honest opinion yet.

Zman has the patent On the coffin shape blades. You can pretty much buy the same shaped ones with or without the holes in them. I bend mine to change the action and vibration though.

Thank you, I was really happy in both cases I didn't think so either. He really looks like he knows what he's doing sitting there doesn't he? Put him in the captain's seat and he gets excited and starts trying to crank on the wheel. Can't wait for it to warm up so Lake and momma can come out in the boat with me!

I have a free Photobucket account. Easy to upload to from my phone and easy to post pictures on the forums, and it's free. You can do different albums also if you're wanting to organize them.

Menu looks great, maybe a dinner location for Friday or Saturday night.

That's constantly happening on our lakes with zebra mussels. Sometimes you get the whole rock too and think you have a fish for a few seconds.

If I was just after smallies and looking for them with a Lucky Craft jerkbait, I'd be fishing a slender pointer, so I'd vote for the flash pointer of your two options.

Jerkbaits fished very slowly with long pauses and soft twitches, adjust your retrieve as the fish deem needed.

A hard earned PB at that it sounds like!

I've caught 1, my PB of 10lbs 2ozs from Lake Commendero, Mexico on an 8" Watermelon Zoom Lizard. Kansas state record is only 11.80lbs, but I'm trying to break that DD mark in Kansas. Hi Salenity came close this winter with a 9.25 pound fish so there's fish that can do it living here. Smallmouth record isn't even 7 pounds but a couple 6 pounders are caught each year it seems like.

Welcome!

That's crazy, I guess I thought they just drove through it? Wouldn't think snow would have much effect on something as heavy as a train.