Spankey

I fish a wiggle wart at times. A good lure but not on top of my list to throw. They come factory with the snap, no ring. I would bet the majority of the ones I have do not have a snap on them anymore.

Floaters, pop-r’s and some jerk baits I use that loop knot. I’ve been throwing out many round split rings as of lately and switching to the oval type. Knot lands in a better position when tied on.

Spinning reels I primarily fish Shimano. Do not own a Vanford. I fish an older and newer Stradic along with Symeties. Had always felt the Symetre was the best reel for the money. It was discontinued and replaced by the NASCI. My opinion only but it is as good if not better than the Symetre. I fish a few of them now.

I won't really know until Christmas. My family pretty much knows me and the TW Black Friday Sale. I put out there a few things and wait to see what I get. This year I put out there Abu Ike Delay Rods and a couple of Revo Series reels. Whatever they pick I'll make that combo work. I hate to buy a rod unseen or untouched but fishing a couple Abu Winch setups I feel pretty good about liking the feel. Moderate action will work for my crankbait fishing. Threw out there a few SPRO, Lucky Craft and 6th Sense Crankbaits. I'll be happy and use whatever comes my way.

I guess everyone's river is different. But we all have the same makeups of fast water, rocks, dams, points, wing dams, etc. along it in different sections. I do fish some 7 ft. casting rods on the river but I prefer shorter on the river. 6 ft. - 6 1/2 ft.. Medium w/ Moderate action. Crankbaits are a huge part of my fishing. Slow drifting the bank and encountering alot of overhangs makes it much much easier. I'm not that tall so it makes the underhand casting easier. A longer 7 ft. rod works great for me at points, rip rap and open type docks. My spinning rods get quite the workout also. I try to cover all my bases.

I could be wrong, I could go back and check the charts but I believe we were 20 ft above flood stage. But as bad as it sounds, and seeing dead smallies (I can’t let that surprise me, the event was a catastrophe) I’m looking forward to getting back on it in the spring. I believe the smallies and largemouths will be there. It was great getting back on my home waters this past season. Was a great feeling. I’ll try to find out some good ramp info. Gonna keep optimistic everything will work out. I guess a bass is a bass is a bass but I don’t want to loose being a river rat. I love it there.

This past season I went back to my home waters. The river. Mother Nature had been hard on it over the last handful of years. Was not sure if I’d ever live long enough to see it rebound some. I’m pretty sure by the numbers and some nice fish I caught this season it is trying to. I could not finish my season on the river this year. Had high expectations of doing so. I know all of you guys have to get past what Mother Nature deals us. The recent hurricane silted my ramps that I put in at. Could not dump the trailer. Not gonna shed that tear and hope the state and local counties can get them back open for the upcoming season. There was some major destruction that went on along the river. Some major structure changes for sure. Maybe for the better when it comes to the fishing. During my river walks I’d seen my share and more than I wanted to see of some dead smallies. Seeing only One would have been enough but nature is cyclical I guess and those fish will rebound. The river rat that I am is gonna keep the faith that this upcoming season will be more promising than last. I’m gonna put some feelers out there to see if I can help in anyway to do ramp work. Needs to be done to get to them.

This time of year I throw out there a bit of a Christmas list from stuff at TW. They all know about the Black Friday sale. I never expect it all to be bought but do like what I receive. Put out there a few models of the Abu Ike Delay Casting Rods, some SPRO, Lucky Craft and 6th Sense Crankbaits. Looking forward to using it. I generally would not buy a rod unseen or untouched. I’ve been pretty happy with Veritas Winch Rods I’ve been using. Thought by chance the Ike Delay rod might fall in line with those.

The Abu Garcia stuff I threw out there for potential Christmas presents was 20% discount. Just have to wait and see what’s waiting under the tree.

Don’t underestimate the Tiny Trap. Will catch nice size bass. I’m not one to associate finesse with crank fishing but it’s a nice light bait for shallow casting toward the bank at rock and wood structure. The Mini 1/4 oz. Trap is my primary size for river smallies. 1/2 oz. for lake and deeper water associated with it. The Spot is equally as productive just doesn’t give me the options for colors. Blue back, black back and gold w/black back is all I really need though.

Abu Garcia Veritas Winch

I’ve heard the same thing at the lake about them. I might give a couple a try next season. Been fishing frogs more and more the last few seasons. Good fishing.

I use it. But never use it on PowerBait worms, craws, grubs or tubes.

I don’t have much of a desire for LiveTarget lures. I don’t find them to work well for ME. No dis to them because I’m sure some guys can set the world on fire with them. The Hollow Body Craws in 3/8 oz. I do well with. The pincers hold up pretty good. They are very steep priced but they can be had on sale a lot of times. That’s the only way I buy them. I don’t generally have great results with baits that are real realistic. I usually walk away from them.

Have caught many smallmouths. But the red eyed type have been few and far between.

The Cowboys can move that ball with minimal time left on the clock. They can hold themselves against anyone in the league. They can come out on top but have to keep penalties to a minimum. The penalties created the situation they were in yesterday. Boys are showing all the signs of a good team. Many weapons.

I only have a few Guido Bugs left. My all time favorite craw. 3” version. I remember that craw you are describing. Shame they quit making them. Had all the crawdad characteristics but not overly lifelike.

I hold a certain amount of respect for a pros opinion and as well as all y’all on here. Enough of a respect that I’m going to reach out to pretty many here after I retire to see if we can hook up and go out. This site does have a lot of good info on it. Let’s say it is all factual. Most of us on here with a reasonable amount of experience can can pick out parts of a thread and maybe try to apply it to your normal routine. Some of these threads and posts can be a bit overwhelming to someone new. Steer in many directions but oh well poster asked for opinions. A little trial and error for a new guys is a good thing. Keep it basic. The problems start after you start going in too many directions too fast. There are a lot of Trolls here also. Falls into a different category. A newbie and a Troll are not the same thing. There a guy on here that not all that long ago was green as grass and had a million questions. I don’t know him personally but wish I did. He become a for real smallmouth guy. Put in a lot of hard work to get where he is. Good things come from this site. Very true. I’m always picking up something new or trying a new variation of something. We are spread out pretty far and wide. All fishing different types of water. In the Smallies section you can pick up on it a lot when rivers are discussed. Maybe certain characteristics are the same but overall picture is way far off from one to another.

I dissect the river every time out. Not that every time out for me is a new section but something that is revisited. Or pick up next time where I just finished up on. Not all river systems are created equal. Not all the picture perfect spots are the prime spots. My river is starting to make a bit of a come back. Glad as heck about it. Feel more at home on the river vs. the lake. My nicer river Smallies generally have come off the lazier parts of the river.

Took a skunking yesterday also. Thought I might of been able to pull off a couple after that rain we had late on Saturday. When the wind picked up I packed it in. The few hours I was out I was glad to get in. I might try during the week later. Winds are Suppose to calm out some.

Taking away Japan. Is there that much of a difference. Put it in a brown bag shake it up and dump it on a table top and it’s all about the same. Bandit, Bomber and a few others use to have a heck of a product line. What is it down to now? The last few years I’ve been using some products from Japan. Like the quality, the overall differences, and they catch fish. A little more/a lot more pricy but they catch fish. Wish they were more readily available on a local scale. Price may be the reason for local availability.

I don’t own this reel. And this is coming from a Shimano guy who generally would put them first on most if not all accounts. But I recently got to touch, play and cast around the Lew’s KVD 200. It’s a friend of mine and I didn’t take advantage of using it for a lot longer that day. Could have. My bad for not doing that but for my short time with it, it is smooth, light, tight as in not sloppy, and the anti reverse switch is nice and crisp, I manually close my nails and I loved the feel of it. You have a million options. Just another. But coming from a Shimano guy I’d buy one.

Are you lucky enough to to have real tackle shops?

I’m 62. I am electro/mechanical in heavy industrial. Sort of feel compelled to do as much as possible. But have more of a hatred toward doing my own stuff sometimes. This coming spring I’m retiring. But I’m looking forward to doing all the home and vehicle stuff. I’ll treat all the home stuff just like the job. Looking forward to it. Can’t wait.

There are two patterns of the Frettside and one of the new Chick Magnet I like and feel good about. I’ve done well with a couple of the OG Slims. Only river runts but I don’t care about that. Smallies are hitting it. Cold water/winter there might be something in it about the bait but I’ve been basically throwing the Slim all season. Treat it as a change up to the DT. I’m gonna install rattles in some. Don’t see how it will effect it in a negative way. Unless you totally screw up the bait when you drill into it. I don’t foresee that happening.