Teal

Zoom fluke is good start. I also like a rage menace and gycb zako.

I dont change them on the mb vision until they need changing. I havent had any problems with them

Yes. I would have spent more time fishing! Although I fished more this year than in the past 6 years. I would have spent more time fishing waters other than my local waters.

I think you would be fine with 10 to 20 lb braid. With FC I'm less concerned with water clarity. 15lb braid with that 10 lb FC would be a good setup. Just make a good knot.

I really wana make a day trip up there next spring. I'm only 15 mins from the va state line. Maybe one of you gents could fish with me and show me the river. Good stuff Toxic. nice fish.

Another vote for the rapala subwalk Really you can go with any fast floating balsa bait and dial it in from there. Sometimes in the situation I'll go with a fluke jr on light line. It wont float but you can keep it high in the water column or under the surface. I have one tied on a spinning rod now with 8 lb mono. Its light enough that I can pop it few times and it's high then when I pause, it sinks slowly till I pop it again. If you feel like you need it suspend look at a hard bait I have a few x raps that I fish alot in late fall. Old school long A bombers are good too.

I sent you mine. I'm in. Gotta try to figure this zoom out now lol

I really think a 7 foot rod would be the best option. I think u can modify how you are working the frog from the bank to work for you.

It may be a little difficult to find a heavy action rod under 6'8 and under your price point. I'll look and see what I can find. I know megabass makes several shorter heavy action rods that would fit your needs but they blow the budget up. Lol. Gonna have to look around at the 99.00 price point and see what heavy rods are out there in that length. Dobyns Fury has a 6'6 heavy. I havent heard any bad thing about the furys. Dobyns makes good stuff. I have an Xtreme 744 They are 119.00. May catch them on sale but I dont know. They are a best seller at TW

We have small lake in town that is between Gaston and the roanoke river. (Separated by damns) that has a good mix of hydrilla and millfoil, sometimes together. That lake is the reason I went to mostly braid and 1/2 jigs and heavy tRIGS. J rig works ok there.

If I'm not mistaken, someone made a thread on that very topic

No and yes. This is is topic that comes up a few times a year and the easy answer is no. But there are some lures that I dialed in and have very specific actions, hooks, and colors that are flat out fish catchers. I.e. megabass and lucky craft hardbaits. And by the same token, there are some more affordable lures that offer great results and are truly gems. The Old Luck E Strike jerk baits were dynamite. And could be found for 7.99. Rapala and Spro makes a great product and most of the time costs alot less than the JDM lures. I could get by with them. Then there are old faithfuls like the rogues and bomber lures that are fairly cheap and still catch fish. Its alot to figure out. Soft plastic lures is a bit of a different animal to me, it's still hard to beat anything made by zoom, yum, and strike King and Rage (also strike king) there's alot of soft plastic out there that are more expensive and some that are flat out cheap, you have to find what works best for you in the way you present the lure. However, with a little time on the water. You can easily sort it out. Like most anglers, I began fishing the less expensive lures and found what I like. In some cases I found some high cost lures that seem to get bit more on certain techniques and the way I fish them, but I've also noticed that there are some cheaper classics that I keep coming back to. For example, I've tried at least 7 or 8 frogs, and I honestly just went back to buying the Pad Crasher. Its one of the cheaper ones, cost has nothing to do with it, it just performs better IMO than it's more expensive counterparts.. Lures dont have to be expensive, there are several cheaper versions that will catch fish. But sometimes you just wana drive a Cadillac, i.e, the Vision 110, a Bling Spinner bait versus a SK, jackal TN 70 vs Sk red eye shad (which is an awesome bait) Certain baits like swimbaits and A RIGS, tho I would pay a bit more and get a quality lure that would last. So my answer is yes and no. At the end of the day, you have to be one the fish, and you have to present it to them in way as to get a strike. they dont care whether that jig is 2.75 at walmart or 6.00 dirty jig with custom paint.

Hey man, have you given any thought to a custom rod? Call Mike @Delaware Valley Tackle he can definitely put together an idea of what you want and come under the budget.i paid a good bit less that your budget for a crankbait/trap rod. With very high end components and high end blank Gonna get my thoughts together on another rod and get him started again in the next couple weeks.

Skipping is made out to be hard but it really isn't. It's one if those things that can be made easier by simply dialing kn your equipment. A rod with a soft tip and the right amount of weight in the lure will zip that lure out easier with little effort. I think the mistake I see alot is guys trying to skip a bait that is too light for said rod, and a combination of playing it to safe with the reel too tight or to too heavy on the breaks. Something I skip that shouldn't be skipped is a jerkbait, sometimes it hit the water wrong and is a pain, but if I can side arm it and roll cast it to a dock, I can normally get another 10 feet under the dock. DEADLY... FISH ARENT USED TO SEEING HARD JERKBAITS UNDER DOCKS. For me I mess it up some, but when it lands on its side its money.

I seldom use a 1/4 oz. Most of the time its 1/2 or greater. I like the red eye shad but lucky craft makes some in the 1/2 size body, but 5/8 and 3/4 weight. I like these. Both for bottom burning, ripping out of grass, and bottom bumping kinda how russ and ajay described.

It's not a must. But I do like to keep it in my CRANKING rods as opposed to mono. Most of mine are braid to mono. But I do have 3 jig rods, one of them has straight 16lb fc. I also have one worm and moving bait rod with straight FC as and option too. It's a confidence thing for me

Yall may have seen me mention a few times this summer and fall that I was working with @Delaware Valley Tackle on a custom crankbait rod. Specifically for bigger squarebills and rattle traps. After a few months of us going back and forth on ideas. Its finally done and ready to ship. I'm soooooo stoked. The rod is a 7'0 MH Mf 3/8 - 1 Rainshadow JUDGE blank. With fugitives Sic Ti guides and G2 carbon trips. With Teal color thread wrap. I cannot not contain myself right now. Mike @Delaware Valley Tackle was awesome to work with it. im looking forward to another build. Hopefully we can start another one soon I really urge yall to reach out to Mike and get a rod built. And in all openness and honesty, the price was very good for what you are getting. I will post pics when it arrives. I have a Zillion Sv Tw waiting on it to arrive.

I fish probably up till late december. Typically january is month that I'll skip, I'll start back in February if weather permits.

These are the types of threads I like. We really get to dig in and dial in a specific technique and the OP already has a good handle on it Me personally, if I'm carolina rigging, I'm using one of my flipping sticks. Only because it's long, can cast a mile, and already had braid as a main line. Powell 764 with 50 lb Daiwa J braid. Typically with 12- 16 lb Sniper FC. If I'm using a small bait like a finesse worm, robo worm, or baby brush hog, I'll go 2/0. But if bigger worm, I'll go as big as I can get away with. I have a love and hate relationship with the c rig. But it can be a year round fish catcher.

This

Location. Period. Mic drop. If you can solve location on a consistent basis. You will be able to figure out the rest on your own. Find the fish and then you can see what they like best. I've heard of guys saying they never catch a fish on a certain lure, same guys aren't on the fish, and they ones they do catch are isolated loners.

Smoking can be bullet proof too, but there's a couple of little things you have do right and keep in the back of your mind. First off, I use a pellet grill that allows me to set my temp and smoke digitally. I brine my turkey over night in cold salt water and seasoning. I let the turkey sit on the counter and get to room temp in the early morning. You dont want to be counter productive by putting a cold, wet bird in. Typically I wont go over 12 lbs. A bbig bird is a disaster waiting to happen. I'll smoke 2 or even 3 10 lb birds on the grill if needed. Typically I smoke them for 45 mins per pound. But I don't rely on that. Ill check them an hour before I think they will be ready, if i dont have my probe in one. 165 degrees in the breast is what you are looking for. I dont stuff my turkeys when I smoke them. I dry rub and inject them after they come to room temp on the counter. Once they are pretty close, I'll turn the heat up to 350 for 20 or 30 mins for a crispy(er) skin. I can honestly say iv3 never made a dry bird by smoking. Brine is the key there. Extra injections of butter or vegetable oil based seasonings also help. I've tried a ton of different pellet flavors ( I used to manage a pellet mill, so I've had access to a ton of them ) hickory is probably the best to my tastes. Pecan wood is sweet and has a pretty full bodied smoke flavor if that's your thing. Good for poultry

Yes...smoked Turkey. Deep fried is awesome too tho! 20 lbs is huge, what ever you do, do like Low N slo did, have your set up isolated away from the house on a hard surface. Be careful, use common sense, and never ever attempt to fry a frozen turkey.

I gave up on live target after I tried their frogs 10 years ago. I think as a company they are pretty innovative, you see them doing things that are different and ourside the box, however I think their overall execution of their products just fails. I'm sure other companies have taken a few ideas from them over the years and just made a better product. I would get 2 A RIGS. One with flash and one with out and just focus on finding the fish, then you can really fine tune how you best fish it. A rig has become a staple for me certain times of the year, but I have one tied on, or nearby year round.

Always works...ummm none. Most productive that work for me from January to December, jig, spinnerbaits, lipless crank and A rig are staples for me. I can keep them rigged up year round. I do hit a slow spell with the lipless in winter, but it's such a good search bait I keep one on. Jig and spinner bait easily my top two. Jerkbait doesnt always work from January to december for me, but just the same I keep one tied on or close by