Hyrule Bass

i would throw frogs and weightless t-rigged plastics. alot of times, you fill find bass hanging out under that shallow algae for shade

no idea about weber. but we got a Ducane gas grill from home depot. Its been great. only thing weve done in over 5 years or so is change the regulator and put in replacement burners. It was a $1000 grill, my uncle had noticed two of them sitting to the side of the other grills for a few months. one day him and my moms husband went in and asked for a manager about them. one was missing a knob and the both had a couple dents in the front doors on it. the manager sold the grills for $150 a piece, it was a steal really, since we pounded out the dents in the doors and didnt really need a knob for the rotisserie burner as we didnt buy the motor and accompanying parts for the rotisserie

Thats stupid, and im not sure if its even legal to refuse legal tender. the only time i see something like that as acceptable is late night in bad neighborhoods...

lol Sam is the King Of Lists. I think he about covered everything possible. he forgot one thing though that is usually on all of his fishing lists, "dont forget your pliers"

i agree with dropshotting for perch, except i use night crawlers as bait. ive caught tons of perch this way on Smith Mountain Lake. except it doesnt even have to be 10 feet of water or more. i catch them in 4-5 foot of water doing this from a dock. works for both white perch and yellow perch

i wouldnt ever super glue a knot. if your knot is going to slip you should be able to figure that out by pulling on it before you ever cast out...

must've been a bummer to see that. but having that scale myself, ive had the same thing happen but caught it soon as i unhooked the fish from it. now im sure to check it and reset it to zero if need be before i weigh anything. its commendable that youve adjusted the weight and let everyone know the issue, some guys wouldve found out but still defended the incorrect weight. dont feel down on yourself though, thats still a nice fish you caught and you have reason to be proud of it...

youre entitled to your opinion and can fish any way you please, its of no concern to me. you may have no use for mono or FC, thats fine if you prefer braid for all your bass fishing, but to say mono and FC and no place in bass fishing is just a flat out false statement. i only fish mono, except for one reel i have FC on. with the FC, ive never experienced knot or breaking issues, its been on the reel for 3 years now, still no problems. as for mono, i feel confident saying that the hook is already set before you reach the point of the mono stretching. a basses mouth isnt that tough to begin with. the rod will bend more before the line reaches its stretching point.

i have a booyah pond magic spinnerbait in white with a little bit of red on the head of it, it absolutely kills pond fish. also, texas rigged worms are a staple for any pond fishing arsenal. also rage tail lizards and baby rage craws and rage toads are great pond baits. shallow diving cranks work wonders as well, someone mentioned the 1-minus above, id second that. plus a white buzz bait...

while i doubt there are lampreys in your lake, they are found in more places than the great lakes

maybe you can get a local college to test the water for you if you take them a sample...

you sure that scale wasnt set to start at 2 or 3 lbs when you weighed that fish? i have that scale and almost made that mistake before. im not calling you a liar, and congrats for a nice catch, but them fish look smaller than what youre saying...

haha, i too have reeled in just a fishes eyeball. once i reeled in a fish and there was an eyeball on the hook but the fish i caught had both of its eyeballs, i have no explanation for that...

mono works just fine for bass fishing...

i have caught both bass and catfish with hooks in them, but never one in the eye. with the bass its usually in the throat and i will use the through the gills method to remove it. with the catfish a couple of times i caught them with hooks coming out of their ummm "waste hole"...

12# mono

try converting them to another type of video format other than mp4. or perhaps you just dont have the correct codecs to play them. do they play on the camera?

im sure youll find some nice quiet coves in no wake zones. you have two things going for you in that aspect, its not a major holiday weekend/week. and you will be there during the week so there will be less traffic on the water...

i find myself very super relaxed whenever i go to SML, thats part of why i love it so much. plus i can just sleep there like no where else lol. you and your family should have a great time. i always do, even if the fish arent cooperating. just remember to be mindful of all the idiots that zoom around that place on boats and jetskis, its like DC rush hour out there...

only time ive had this happen is when ive been snagged on an underwater stump or log and pulled my line really hard to break it and the hook bent and freed the lure. the only time i ever seen a fish bend a hook is when im using them gold thin wire abeerden hooks. im not saying big fish cant bend a treble hook, just that i havent had it happen personally myself...

yeah, supposedly thundersticks kill the night bite stripers on SML. another good bait if theyre schooling and busting shad or alewive is a pearl white fluke on a ball head jig. i dont know if theyre back to schooling yet though. last i heard they were still spread out all over the lake spawning, but if it isnt already, it will be coming to an end real soon and the stripers will be back in schools... some good colors for me there have been pearl/white and anything with a light to medium green color like baby bass or summer craw...

here is one from 2010 http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/60536-possible-world-record-snakehead/ i cant say for sure which is bigger, but both are impressive...

if youre in shallow water and can spot underwater stumps around you, fish them. ive never fished near the state park, but i hear there is lots of stumps in the area from people who have bank fished for cats there. also, fish the docks. dock fishing is one of the most popular methods on the lake. ive caught them under and around docks on a variety of lures. flukes, baby rage craws, senkos, jitterbugs, lizards, shakey heads and more. any downed timber along the banks are good too. to me the best fishing has been when they are pumping water back into smith mountain lake from leesville lake. do a google search for the smith mountain eagle newspapers website, travis patsel does a weekly fishing report for them. ive seen him post here and other fishing forums by the name of cats n' stripers. he runs a guide service for stripers and cats on the lake. he knows the lake very well. the lake is known for heavy boat traffic and lots of jet skis, so be careful and dont venture too far out on those kayaks. i would also recommend some night fishing from the bank with live bait for catfish and whatever else wants to bite, just for the fun of it. nightcrawlers, chicken livers, and cut bait will provide a fun night. ive caught a couple nice stripers doing this as well(liver and cutbait on the bottom). also the bass in my avatar was caught at SML while night fishing a drop shot with a night crawler next to an underwater tree stump that ive pulled bass from before... most importantly have fun, i love that lake, im hoping to get down there for 4th of july, dissappointed i didnt get to take my yearly memorial day trip there this year because work was too busy...

some people have made this way more difficult than it needs to be. first, i will start by saying ugly stiks work just fine for me with a variety of techniques, they are not good for jigs and carolina rigs though at all. there are two rod types i can use to cover all of my bass fishing excluding really light lures like rooster tails and small crank baits as i use a small spinning reel for these. i may have read wrong, but i get youre looking for two casting rods for your baitcasters. if thats the case, i would get two different sizes of rods. i would get one 6'6 MH rod and the other i would get is a 7' M rod. this gives you a little more versatility than getting two of the same sized rods... if i read wrong and you just want to replace the broken rod, go with a 7' MH as widely suggested... also, 2-piece rods arent all bad as some would have you think. i only buy two piece rods because i have a small car as well, and i can break them down and put them in the trunk. so as some have suggested, i buy them because theyre convenient for me. but i also catch my share of fish on them...

it could be possible the fish short striked and barely got hooked in the lip and it eventually ripped out. i never change out factory crankbait hooks just to change them. they work fine for me