McAlpine

I have caught a couple out of the Ohio upriver of Louisville. Pretty rare to encounter though. I have heard of a few coming out of some of the larger creeks that are known for smallmouth as well. Cool fish. The ones I have caught have been small but pull like a truck.

I like to fish them for a season out of the box and only break them down if something doesn't feel right. Then I religously give them a good cleaning and oiling every winter between seasons.

I just put a Abu MGX on a 6-10" M *** Black. Honestly, it looks like a corvette and weighs nothing. Super sexy combo.

I was using please release me until I put a little too much in and it killed a 4lb'er in a tournament. I have stopped any additive and instead make sure to run the fill/recirc in my livewell on a regular basis throughout the day to keep fresh water and oxygen in my livewell. I have lost 0 fish since then even durning tournaments with 90's heat and fish in the livewell all day long. Additives are pointless if you just keep the water fresh.

Dont know that I agree with the above wholly. They don't make reels like they used to. In the case of the silver/black max while I still whole-heartedly would suggest these reels as an inexpensive but solid performer for someone who only fishes intermittently, for someone who is out once a week they will wear out after a couple seasons. By wear out I mean there are just many plastic parts that will break or wear beyond repair and this includes the frame and the areas that support the spool and other high revolution speed parts.

I have one medium-light Elite Tech 6-10 spinning rod that I picked up for drop shotting. Great rod but I was stunned by the ***'s for the price. They are even better than the Fenwick. If you get a chance, try one out.

I had a Silver Max and honestly for the money they are a really great little reel but I put it on my primary squarebill rod which is alot of casting and something I use quite a bit. The reel lasted 3 seasons and was done. I replaced it this year with a Lews but for the average guy that wont cycle as many casts as I did, for the money it's a good buy. My recent favorite reel has been the Abu STX. Well...Gen 2 that is. I really believe this was the best bang for the buck on the market in a mid-range to low high-end reel. Then this year I went to get another one and Cabela's only had the Gen 3. I didn't think anything of it until I put it on a rod. Different reel, not nearly as good and I am thinking about taking it back. Too bad AG ruined this series. Hope there is a Gen 4 that gets back to the solid qualities of the STX. Just got my first MGX this week and was casting it off the dock last night. Very nice, very smooth. Not sure it's that much better than the Gen 2 STX yet for the large cost increase. It does appear to have a way different braking system so more info after I have a chance to really use it.

Go to Tackle Warehouse website and purchase a gift card for 15% off. Then use it to buy a *** *** Black 6'9" medium action for $85 with free shipping. No better rod on the market for the money and this rod will do several things succesfully for you.

I bought Frog Toggs as my first "good" rain suit and they worked fine for 2 seasons. However; that was about it before they started tearing here and there. For the price they are fine if you are only going to wear them once or twice a year. More than that and I would look for something better in gore-tex.

For $100 at Bass Pro I would buy a carbonlite rod. They are really great for the money. If you don't limit yourself to Bass Pro, then for the same $100 ***'s *** Black is an absolutly phenomenal rod for a c-note or less. For $150 the Ducket's are very nice all around rods. I just dont know that I am sold on micro guides. Tried 'em and don't like 'em. For a bit more on the rod, as mentioned above the Avid's are really nice but firm action. In my opinion the Avid is the point at which St. Croix rods get away from "bargain for the masses" and become "quality". Then find a reel that fits your hand and you like it. We all argue about them on here but honestly for $100-200 there are alot of good reels out there. Have fun!

Guess i'm alone in my number one but.... 1.) Time of year 2.) Location 3.) Weather 4.) Water Temperature 5.) Water clarity

Sounds like there is lots of structure. Your just not seeing it. ;-) Anything that breaks current is structure where there is current. Fish both the head and tail of current breaks. A small point that comes out or bend in the river will have a current loop behind it. That rock you are talking about is probably awesome. Anything hard bottom is always worth looking at. Humps that come up from the bottom have dead areas down current. Any time a creek comes in there is a counterflow and generally a flat. Think in terms of current flow and not the usual bank beater stuff you cast to on a lake. Brush on a river bank may be a waste of time or it may be the best cover around. It all depends on where it is in relation to the CURRENT. Good luck and just get out there. You'll learn faster than what you think you will. Start out with small chartruese and white spinnerbaits 1/8th oz, whacky rigged worms that can flow with the current past structure, small 1/8oz black buzz baits, shakey heads and finnese jigs for rock. Eventually you may want to try a squarebill but learn how to fish current first or you'll get frustrated. That do nothing whacky rigged worm will be a great way to figure out where the fish place themselves when you are learning. Then you'll quickly learn to read the water. Have fun.

Appropriate management of small water is extremely important. There just physically cannot be the carrying capacity to have limitless fish so if there is a finite number of resources and you either remove them all or severly reduce their numbers then you will absolutly affect the population. That's just common sense. I have seen this occur twice. 1.) My In-Laws had a great pond full of bass that they had trained to come up to the shore when you walked up and they threw bread to the them. There were a ton of fish in this pond and a few really big ones. They allowed their granddaughters boyfriend to fish the pond with the caveat that no fish could be removed. However; we found out later he was taking all the fish he caught home with him as we were trying to determine why there were less and less fish coming up to the shore when we took scraps to them. Eventually there were so few fish left that I think the opportunities for succesful spawning just became nill and the few fish left have either been removed or died. Nobody has caught a bass out of this pond for several years and we are now talking about stocking it. 2.) Greatest body of water I have ever fished is a pond in my neighborhood that the original developer has by his house that nobody was allowed to fish. When I moved in I became close with the owner and his wife and they allowed me and one other owner in our neighborhood to fish the pond. It was common to catch 50 bass with a few 3-4-5 lb's thrown in in a couple hours. Unfortunatly; the owners wife passed away and the stipulation of no fishing in the pond was lifted by the owner. There were a ton of people that didn't even live in our neighborhood that were allowed in and they were all taking fish out. Now, when I go to that pond I am lucky to catch one or two small ones. All the large fish that we caught on a regular basis just simply disapeared and we started to hear about some bragging size fish hanging on the walls of some of the guys allowed in. Yes, small water can be absolutly ruined.....and quickly....by idiots.

Congratulations on making the turn. Everyone enjoys their fishing in their own way but I have found that quality equipment backlashes less, casts better, feels better, lighter in the hand, more sensitive and just more enjoyable for me to use. Have fun!

TW. 3 *** Blacks. Definitely had what I wanted on sale. :-P

When it's tough I grab a 1/4oz Terminator T1 double willow or willow/Colorado spinner bait with a white/silver, white/chartreuse, or river minnow skirt based upon water clarity. Total confidence that I will find fish with this bait fished slowly around weeds or wood. Super disappointed that they stopped making the 1/4oz. I have been looking for a replacement as that 1/4oz is nice because you can fish it slowly and it just comes through the water at the right speed. I've tried some war eagles and picked up some new spinnerbaits from a local producer recently that I have high hopes for but haven't been out with them yet. Regardless; Rapala has lost my business on this bait by discontinuing the best of the line.

I'm at the point now that I almost exclusively have 10lb Nanofil on all of my spinning rods with 8-10lb flouro leader. Great line.

I can feel your pain...or at least used to. We moved from a lakefront house and live on the Ohio river now. Traditionally on the holiday's when everyone goes to the lake...we LEFT and went to visit my wife's family. Let the yahoo's go to the lake for the weekend and ruin it for everyone else. No reason for us to stay around. Now that we live on the river though I have learned that there is so much water that when the idiots are out I can go one of two ways. Upriver or downriver. Regardless; there will be a quiet place somewhere and the bloody thing is full of fish so it doesn't really matter where you are. So, here is my advice. When the warm weather holiday's hit, stay off the lake and go find a good river. Plenty of water to get lost on. Stay away from any town areas and you should have lots of quiet. Good luck.

I have used a few different knots but have settled on one of my own design that is an overhand with a second pass through the eyelet then back through the second loop followed up with a couple overhand's wetted and tightened. I was using a homer circle knot the last couple years but it kept breaking. My knot I have used for years without problems and went back to it this year. My line breaks this spring haven't been at the knot but in the line and when it pop's the line is frayed at the end like it exploded. I actually picked up some InvizX at BPS tongiht on the way home. 10lb for the squarebill rod and bumping up to 12lb for the spinner bait rod. I figured I would check in for some opinions before I opened it though. also...at least one did not get away this last week but the other two I lost were bigger, the one I had at the boat WAAAY larger. Still sick over it.

Ok, I know you guys are full of something...I'll assume it's advice. Over the last 5 years or so I have been bad about trying to save money on my line. Filling 10-12 spools every year is expensive. So I have been buying budget flouro. I tried berkley vanish only to find out it's junk and it breaks constantly. I tried vicous and found it is about the tougest ilne out there but the memory on it is horrible. I tried XPS and it broke like crazy, then I found out from one of the guys at the BPS reel counter that two years ago they had problems with XPS and it had nicks all through it...I felt pretty robbed over that. This year I tried Red Label and have the same memory problems as Vicous but it breaks. So this last week I lost what would have been my new personal best at the boat because the big girl was not as pooped as I thought she was and I had my darn drag too tight. She put her head down and ran straight down. Doubled over my smoke rod and my 10lb line snapped like it was nothing. A good ~7lb'er gone and now she's swimming around with a big spinner bait and trailer hook buiried in her. Made my stomach turn when the line broke and i'm still sick over it. The day before that I had reeled back and set the hook on one that was so big it barely moved. I felt a head shake and my line popped on my squarebill rod. Both of these rods had either Red Label or XPS. So, I'm ready to get some decent line. Not sure I am willing to go to Tatsu but open to suggestions. Need a strong but manageable flouro with a good reputation. Tired of the horrible memory problems even with KVD line conditioner and if I break off on another 5-6-7 lb fish I am going to toss something. Help!!!

I never pick up a rod without needle nose pliers or hemostats within easy reach. Go get some and keep them with your tackle.

Run around creek mouths with your sonar. Everything will be at the same depth. Find main lake points on those creek mouths and maybe secondary points going into the creeks that intercept these depths. If the weather has been stable grind a deep diver down the point to 'em. If your spring fronts have been in and out throw a shaky head down there and go slow. I consider this a post winter but pre-pre-spawn pattern. The waters cold with a late spring and the fish will be a bit behind normal patterns. If the water is clear you can try a deep diving jerk bait but let those pauses really drag on. You can catch some cows right now if you find them. Good luck.

Heck yeah I'm in.