buzzed bait

Was on Lake Norman in the kayak over the weekend and got into some fish! It was overcast, cool and drizzling but the fish didn't care neither did I... The best part was that I was able to pick up on a pattern early and stuck with it. They were all over my SK 1.5 in sexy shad and especially in white/green back shad. I caught one early on the buzzbait and then managed another 8 in the boat on the 1.5's. I also lost 3 fish so there's that, one of which was easily the big boy of the day at around 3-4 lbs. All of the fish were small spots around 1-1.5 pounds but all fighters! Almost every fish caught on the main points in about 8-10 feet of water.

NIce fish on the swimbait

If you are in Canada, it may be different.... In the Southeast, there is no permit required. I would suggest trying a few kayaks if you can to determine what size, style, etc. you like. Craigslist can be a great place to buy a used kayak

Lake James is about 30 minutes from Black Mountain, I suppose it depends on how far you'd want to travel.... but there's some good fishing in that lake

a bunch.... BPS, Gander Mtn, Academy, Dick's, WalMart, Amazon for online it's pretty much Tackle Warehouse. awesome selection, good prices, good service and the higher quality items that i'm looking for these days

Terribly sad story

Pop R

Cool, congrats!

Is 35lb braid too small for pitching a 3/8oz jig into moderate or heavy cover? Would 50lb be a better choice?

That would have been a dandy spotted bass! That's a good looking fish either way! Where are you fishing at since you don't have the location in your profile?

nice fish

jigs, jigs, jigs.... i need to understand what the jig world knows that i don't....

From what I've seen/heard watching fishing videos, many of the pros are using the thumb technique and they're fishing reels far and above that $100 price range.... I think you start doing it and you never really get away from the habit of it.

I live in Atlanta and want to make a weekend trip to Guntersville. It's about a 2.5 hour ride from my house so I'll make a weekend trip out of it. Couple questions..... 1. Any advice on where to put in/fish from a kayak? Not to say I can't cover some ground, but don't want to launch at a place i have to paddle far to start fishing... 2. Any suggestions on a good spot I could camp in the tent close to or even on the lake? 3. Is there a "bad time" of the year to go there? 4. What is your go-to bait/method for fishing Guntersville? Thanks for the input!

Agreed, you've put forth a better effort here than most of the other posts in the sponsor section. At age 14 you've got a bright future! Strive to do well in school and start looking at colleges that have fishing teams/clubs and aim your sights on the higher prize.

Also tried the wacky rig senko, but did not have much luck nor enjoy the technique so much

I've never had any luck with floro myself. I only have mono and braid on all my reels, except for last night i spooled my new (used, but new to me) calcutta with 20lb CXX so hoping to have some good results with that as my small/medium swimbait reel

frog and it was the most fun i had all year

I just bought a couple of used rods and reels from a local guy and feel like i got a good deal on some good stuff. I got 2 falcon cara casting rods, one is 6' Medium and a 6'6" Medium Heavy both are in good shape with some obvious signs of age since they're a couple years old but overall good condition! Along with the rods, I got a Shimano Curado CU-200 and a Shimano Calcutta (i think a 201D). I just picked them up on my lunch break so haven't had a chance to fool around with them much, but am stoked to get home and set them up tonight!! I ended up getting all of this for $180 so I'm pretty pleased! Now i just need to figure out the whole centrifugal brakes on this Curado so that i can set it up for pitching a jig. If anyone has a link to a helpful post or article about setting that up it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

i have a much easier time walking all sizes of spooks and easier time working with the sammy's, but for some reason just having some difficulty with this guy. perhaps you're right about needing some more slack. i know that the last time i tried the bait (last saturday) it was very windy and that didn't seem to be helping me out.... i'm just frustrated by it because of the raving reviews about the ease of use! i suppose practice makes perfect

Ok, I appreciate all the input guys. I believe I just need more practice with it and maybe trying it out on a couple different set ups to see if that makes a big difference for me. I've heard great things about the bait and am looking forward to catching some fish on it! I believe the ultimate answer = USER ERROR

May have forgot that little bit.... Model is TRC66MF so Medium - Fast

That's pretty much why i had to post this topic, every review i've read says it's the easiest bait to walk period. I'm using 14lb mono, 6'6' St Croix Triumph and a 6:4:1 Revo S3. when i was able to walk it (slow) it had awesome action, but just couldn't get the same when i tried to speed up my retrieve....

Thanks for the input guys, sounds like it's almost a personal preference. Although i like the thought of how it comes is how it's supposed to be fished....

I wouldn't get all too caught up in that. Those are just someone's best guess based on the weather predictions which is just someone's best guess