mod479

Cannot kill the thing, its been packed with mud, blood, and left in the back of a truck for weeks. Still puts the line back on the spool somehow.

6'6" Quantum "Tournament Grade" rod ($30) with a mitchell 300 ($25). Bullheadin' gear.

Already well into the fall up here too. Forecasted for 29 degrees tonight........but I'm in the Adirondacks. When they follow each other, grab a 2nd rod. Here's a recent pic, the 2nd fish (left) was completely oblivious, and wrecked the tube i dropped right in front of my raft.

The blanks might be different in the casting models, but I've found the difference between my Champ 703SF and DX703SF is slight.... So slight that I regularly choose my old champion over my newer, more expensive champion extreme when I fish light tube jigs. The champion is a well balanced, sensitive rod, not sure why those above are calling it a reaction bait rod as if its got a dead blank. I have to disagree after using a number of different offerings from Dobyns in the past 2 years now. My opinion is that if money is tight, stick with your champions, the extra $ buys a lot of tackle. For that extra money you're getting a different (slighter stiffer) blank, upgraded guides, a better reel seat, more cork, and color changing paint.

I like full size ones, super flukes and D-Shads. Caught 3 dinks yesterday fishing them nose hooked on a gammie dropshot/splitshot #1. 6" smallies hitting 5" baits, so theyre certainly not too big in my opinion. 4" work good too, I just think the 5" ones cast farther and skip somewhat more predictably.

This is a good tip, ruined a number of reels over the years setting them down in a hurry for one reason or another. probably got some sand in it, sounds like something is binding up in there. I'd tear it down and have a look inside, but if you're not comfortable doing work on your own gear, send it out to a professional.

If the water level dropped suddenly, bass sense this and may have moved to the safety of deeper water until things stabalize. With time they'll probably come back to those areas, depends on current, oxygen levels, water temp, forage...etc. I'd start exploring new areas of the river since you can wade it. The bass will move around over the course of the day, they will tend to seek out cooler, oxygenated waters (think deep pools) when it is real hot. Be stealthy, wear camo, and always be moving upstream. The big ones don't get that size being dumb and will spook easy in little rivers. One tip: You've got lower water levels, when this happens up here in NNY, I break out the topwaters. Grab a skitterprop in the frog color, or a clear zara puppy. (swap out the hooks)

Green pumpkin or watermelon tube with a bite me goby head.

If you look around the forum you'll notice commonalities. One being that smallmouths will smash big baits, including those some may find too large for brown bass like full size spooks, magunum jerkbaits, and muskie size spinners. If they think it'll fit in their mouths, they'll probably make a swipe at it.

Got a few this spring on the 5" model, haven't got another fish since and I've tried them in 3 different tournaments this season. They look amazing and are very durable baits. I like to fish them on a DS rig, but also nose hooked them and tossed to surfacing fish too. Try a pack of the dace color.

Casting: Dobyns Champion 704cb / Core 51 - Jerkbaits, topwaters, cranks Dobyns Champion 704c / Curado 51 - Texas Rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, 3/8oz jigs Spinning: Dobyns Champion 704sf / Stradic Ci4 2500 - Weightless flukes, jerkbaits Dobyns Champion 703sf / Sustain 2500 - The perfect tube setup and all I use it for Dobyns Champion Extreme 702sf / Stradic Ci4 2500 - Split shot, grubs, shakeyhead Dobyns Champion Extreme 703sf / Stradic Ci4 2500 - Small swimbaits and football jigs Shimano Cumara CU72 M/XF / Sustain 2500 - Dropshot setup #1 Shimano Crucial CRS70 M/F / Stradic FJ 2500 - Shakeyhead G. Loomis DSR 822S / Stradic FJ 2500 - Dropshot setup #2 Dobyns Champion Extreme 763sf / Stradic Ci4 4000 - My pike / steelhead setup.

Dobyns Champion rods Shimano Core Yo-Zuri Hybrid and Sunline Sniper FC Gamakatsu hooks Strike King Coffee scented baits Megabass, LC, and Duo Realis jerkbaits

i like fluoro for almost everything except topwater. Manageability is not an issue anymore with quality fluorocarbon lines. Sunline Sniper, and Seaguar Tatsu are both amazing when put on the spool correctly and treated with a line conditioner.

How much distance do you usually run between the hook and weight ?

The reason I use internal tube heads is for the spiral on the fall. You can adjust this by changing how far forward or back you pop the eye out of the tube.

I'd say more noticable in smallies, but I have seen some big largemouths with very faint black markings along their lateral lines, maybe they can lighten and darken them as smallmouths do? Not sure though.

This. Freshwater chameleons. Seen them black as the ace of spades in certain bodies of water, only to stripe back out when in the livewell for a while.

No it hasn't...I even made a psuedo order, no option to get a discount yet.

Yup, I'm goin back to Zebco 33s on all my Dobyns extremes too.

Aarons Magic, holographic shad, marg. mutilator, ehlers edge, prizm perch, black grape. I have an entire box filled with those 6 colors and they get me by well enough wherever I go. My pb smallmouth (5.52) was on a 4.5" Aarons Magic straight tail fished on a dropshot. Big fish will eat those little worms.

Seen this as well, up north we got pumpkinseed sunnies and I've seen them gang up and chase bass out of the group of beds they were on. Also seen the smallies ambush the smaller ones while they did their thing. Dragging and hopping a melon/gold tube around the edges got me bit by a few bass, but most were just too busy watching the sunfish orgy to care.

I've also found this to be true with both the sustain fg and ci4.

Anyone care to share some info on what the bass are doing right now in terms of the spawn and/or water temps? Club tournament this Saturday outta Chazy, had no oppurtunity to prefish and will be staying in the Northeast section as I am not familiar with the lake. (1 prior tournament here...did not do to well either)

It's not legal to use live frogs/lizards/salamanders in certain states like here in NY, so check your local regulations. To answer your question though, live frogs are fish crack.

Some of the most fun fishing I've ever done has been in creeks and small rivers using a 5'6" Med-Light action rod and 1000 size abu cardinal spinning reel with 4lb copolymer line. A 3 or 4 lb river smallie (There is a difference, they fight current their entire lives and are stronger/leaner) will test your angling abilities with such a setup and you will have lots of fun fighting the smaller ones too. Get yourself some 3" yamamoto chub tubes and some 1/8-3/16oz internal jigheads.