OkobojiEagle

It doesn't really matter if I've got a new Terrova that is working just fine... if yours is broken, you need to get it to a service center. oe

I believe your local ecosystem will survive... oe

Apparently you don't want to share the light... oe

A lipless crankbait is a good alternative to the spinnerbait... oe

Still a beautiful place to call home! I have a wonderful wife... but smallmouth fishing is my mistress! Hope you can find your way back up here some day! oe

I don't consider myself a rebel... or even a good fisherman. When I'm actively retrieving a topwater bait with the line on the surface I don't find a significant difference between a monofilament fluorocarbon line and a monofilament nylon line. I do prefer the monofilament fluoro for it's slightly stiffer property which lessens bait walk-over and seems to aid my hook sets. I carry pony spools of 6lb and 10lb fluoro. The 10lb is on my topwater/hard jerkbait rod and 6lb is used when I'm fishing light hair jigs. I can't think of other situations where I use either a fluoro or nylon monofilament leader. oe

Well, maybe most but not all. A 10lb fluoro leader is tied to my topwater rod... oe

We don't... oe

Trench Diggers? Is that one of the new Berkley cranks? oe

An active smallmouth will rise to hit a crankbait so I don't throw many really deep divers. Also I throw cranks on 20lb PE line which allows 1' - 2' more (than labeled) depth per bait. If you look inside my hard bait box you'll find DT 4', 6' & 10'; X-Rap shad; Wiggle Warts; Bandit 300s; and Fat Free Shads. Colors in my box are Perch and shades of brown. If I need to be deeper than these will call I'll throw a drop-shot or vibrating jig. Good fishing. oe

Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro might be a better fit for your fishing... oe

Line visibility lessens when the line color closely mimics the background color... from the bass' perspective. Mid to dark brown/green when seen against a weed bed, pale light color when seen from below against the bright/cloudy sky. Probably a more important factor to line visibility is line diameter. Very thin lines of any color are less visible than larger diameter lines. I catch more bass using 6lb test hi-vis yellow PE line than when using a 10lb test mono leader tied to twenty test braid... Preferred bait size and silhouette varies from season to season, as well as from bass size to bass size. I try to fish a bait size comparable to the currently preferred bait size... in a likely location... with a slightly more visible color or action. Sometimes I can't buy a bite! oe

I bought a package of the Rib Snake last year thinking it might be a good alternative to Lunker City's Ribster... it wasn't. oe

I guess they'll stay in the box for a while yet and I'll try to have them tied on more often... oe

I've been spending a little time this afternoon winnowing my jerkbait box and I'm stuck not knowing what to do with the Shadow Raps that are laying beside my assortment of LC Pointers, Staysee and X-Raps... I haven't been particularly successful with them when compared to the others I mentioned, but I'm not certain it isn't a confidence thing and I haven't given them enough time to prove themselves. Weigh in if you've been successful with your Shadow Raps! (I'm thinking through my Spring/Fall fishing and not suggesting July/Aug is the time I'm fishing them.) oe

Can you tell me if Revo Gen4 has reduced the gear box that was enlarged (too much in my opinion) in Gen3? oe

Color... dark. Retrieves... steady swim just above bottom or mid-depth, but keep the retrieve horizontal at a consistent depth. Or -- lift and hop along the bottom. Or -- throw it along/into outside weed edges letting it fall until it settles on the weeds then pop it off and let it fall until it hangs on the next weed. These have all been successful retrieves for me, but the most important factor is fishing a grub where there are fish. I'd also suggest using an exposed hook presentation as often as possible. I like fishing a lightly weighted swimbait hook dressed with a 4" grub... that rig can be fished exposed hook on one cast and texposed on the next. oe

Now that you've established the probable longevity of your PE line, perhaps you should begin a discussion determining how often you should be retying your baits... I'd be running low on available line yardage on my reel much sooner than 8 years. oe

Guys... there's this piece of fishing equipment called a spinning reel. It's pretty good at preventing those over-runs. oe

... but the arrow does need to be straight and strong. oe

my opinion... Pflueger spinning reels -- excellent quality, excellent value Pflueger casting reels -- acceptable, but many comparable reels are as good or better. oe

... and pull the line taught from the reel before you start the retrieve. oe

20+ years ago Dick Bengraf, a legendary smallmouth angler from New York state who fished the waters of NE U.S. and SE Canada, suggested that swimming a light weight jighead dressed with a broken half of Senko through the bottom 1/3 of the water column was a successful smallmouth presentation of his. As a longtime member of this site, I know Dick's presentation can't be considered a Ned rig, but I have to wonder if the bass in your lake will make such a distinction... oe

...and nose hooking flukes if the spirit moved you. oe

All three "techniques" are variations of the same theme and pretty interchangeable. When I wacky rig it is most often drop-shotting. Occasionally I rig a worm wacky style and put a nail weight in the head, today people are wanting to call this Neko rigging. I slow swim finesse worms, grubs and hair jigs in the same manner as some swim "Ned rigs"... the difference is...? Dragging or lightly hopping a small worm on a light jighead has been happening pretty much since Nick Creme began molding his plastic worms, but sometime between then and now it became a shakeyhead (I've referred to it as a jigworm). My point is anglers have been catching bass for years on all three riggings so pick your favorite and fish it. If you're not catching bass, rig your worm a little differently and give it a go. oe