volchuck

What is your normal go to on big grass beds? Fished pickwick last weekend and we spent most of the day in the grass. I caught a few on the spook but that was about all we could get without constantly hangin up. Tried a spinner bait and very limited use of the jig, just a little too hairy where we were. I was wondering if you guys had a go to lure for grass bed fishing on the river Chuck

West Tennessee Elite Bass Club out of Memphis - WTEBC.com I joined up this year as a co-angler. meets once a month at Bass Pro Memphis, has a tourney a month. Its a draw tournament format with boaters vs. boaters and co vs. co. Points based on cummulative weight and the top six on the year (7 tournaments) go to TBF state tourney. I enjoy it, great group of guys that love to fish. The tournaments are a fun atmosphere, one day saturday tourneys, and usually a group of guys are pre-fishing or staying an extra day, or hitting other lakes almost every weekend. Competitive but fun and most all guys are sharing what worked, where they hit, etc... Meetings are 1st Thurs. of the month at Bass Pro, feel free to come out as a guest! some guys are also members of MBA - Memphis Bass Association. From what I hear its another great club. Little bit different format, I think teams or pick a partner..but you can search and read up on their site as well. Im sure they would love to have you as well!

hey folks, watching the BASS Arkansas River tournament on TV the other day and Aaron Martens mentioned dragging very slowly on his soft plastic versus the normal 3 jerks or hops a normal person retrieving does. Said it was mostly because it appealed more to overfished bass in very heavily fished areas. Which happens to be alot of what I fish not having a boat yet... I went out the next day and tried this on a local pond and absolutley tore it up. Fish after fish, and all just lifted the worm/lizzard and slowly swam away before I set the hook. I was catching almost none before. I feel like, in my mind the light bulb went off and I figured out something I may have been doing that prevented alot of bites. Question I have is, do you think its a matter of a place being over fished and me changing the presentation or just that I slowed way way down during a time when the fish are still prespawn and slower to react on a bait? When would a faster retrieve be more conducive to getting a reaction bite? Has this worked for any others out there, and when you are having success on a jig or plastic are you always slow dragging or do you hop the bait most of the time?? Thanks Chuck

I got a 6.4.1 and have it currently on my duckett heavy. Loaded it with heavy braid and was cracking the A-rig with it over the weekend. I'm actually gonna switch it to my medium heavy setup and switch out the braid to lighter floro. Casts great, handled a heavy a-rig and braid, just felt too light for that setup, and I want it on a rod I use more often.. I put it on par with my citca, if it holds up it will be a favorite for sure being so light and casting very well, as a prior poster said it lacks a "quality feel" and I agree the foam grips are lacking, but I do really like it overall so far. I think its a good price to give it a try, time will tell on the quality I guess...

I picked up a Duckett 7.0 MH this past weekend, they gave me the rod trade in a little early since I took in a combo rod/reel for trade!! Super light and love the feel, 20 year warranty too. Im assuming the fuego is the spinning reel, so cant speak to the Duckett spin rods but Im sure theyre worth a try if in your price range, BPS carbonlite is a little cheaper and on sale and has the micros at least on the baitcasters. Pretty good as well

My avatar is from Grove as well, and she still swims with her cousins!!

I second RW on the Yo-zuri 12# hybrid. Loaded it on a 6.4.1 and fished it over the weekend, had 100% trilene 15# on another. Both are good, I thought the yozuri 12 had a little better feel & castability, the 100% trilene I could pull a tank out of the weeds, got hung up a couple times and had to clip the line at the rod it was so strong and flexible. The yozuri seemed a great balance of feel and still very strong. I also loaded P-line floro clear on a finesse rig and really like it as well. Yozuri and the P-Line are my favorites

I've caught them all the way around grove, never a lot of bites but some decent fish. There are some good fish off Humphreys, I fish mostly the first pond across from the heart clinic, mainly cause it closest to me and the first I tried. Good fish in there but the bank can be hard to walk, and wear snake boots in spring/summer scary snakes all over it! I haven't really tried it this season other than testing a reel out, so I can't say if its fishing good yet.

fished the grove about a week ago during a warm snap. The bite was great, they were crushing the shad, in fact caught one with a huge tail in its mouth 3-4lbs.. Slow rolling the spinner bait for me, another guy caught a big one swimming a jig. Tried a new rod out across Humphries a few nights after work, nothing there but I didnt spend more than 20 minutes each time...

very much appreciate all the feedback! Its all very helpful. First tournament is this weekend on Pickwick. Im hearing alot of Alabama rig reports but honestly havent tried it before. Im just looking forward to getting on the water!!

I am fishing as a co-angler in tournaments coming up this season, just a local club but am pretty excited to try something Ive always wanted to do. It is my first tournament experience though… Ive read a few searched posts on coangler rods and tackle and wanted to get some thoughts on what I have in my 4 rod setup currently and what maybe I should change up or add. I am going right now with a 4 rod set-up 1 spinning rod 6’6 – with 10lb floro. For finesse, drop shot and shaky heads 1 baitcast 7:1 ,med/heavy 7’0 – 15 lb floro, has been my main go to with spinnerbaits and heavy cranks (am I too heavy on line?) 1 baitcast 6:2:1, med/heavy 6’6 – 65lb braid – was gonna use it for a bama rig, possibly heavy spinners or heavy brush jigs. I plan to start with this rig with the bama rig tied on at about 1.5-2oz. 1 baitcast med/heavy 6’6 (little more flex) – 12 lb floro I think but Im not sure what I want to put here? - this is for some cranking, suspended jerks That’s what I have right now. Am I missing anything? On the right track? Would you add a rod or change/swap a line?? This will be a tennessee river system tournament if that makes a difference! Thanks for the help and hope this helps others

Sounds great Kent! Look forward to hitting the fish together! Chuck

Hey folks, Been reading a while and soaking up all the wisdom from the site and forum. Im from Germantown, grew up in middle TN, and went to UTK. Fished all over TN and Arkansas, mostly pond and small lake hopping. Back of the boat for me right now, just joined a circuit as a coangler so looking forward to much more bass fishing! Chuck