buzzed bait

Tell me about it, even worse when you can honestly step back and say to yourself "what a dumb move" second rod i've broken and sadly the other one was a dumb move too.... i was snagged up and aggrivated with the wind blowing me all over the place and rather than taking my time to free my line, I tried to just jerk it loose and SNAP broke that rod...... I do really like the reel on the black max, so i don't feel like i'm out of anything.... just hope to learn from this one and not have it happen again!

Funny, I was going to ask about that rod in my post, but I wanted some un-biased opinions. Perhaps that will be the one….

unreal

Already in the trash ..... like I said I only had $13 invested so not a total loss, in fact probably still ahead considering I have the reel and that rod felt fairly cheap anyways. Any thoughts about what rod to pair that reel up with? Really don't want to spend a lot of money on it but would like a versatile baitcaster set up for shallow/squarebill cranks, buzzbaits, spooks, spinnerbaits..... Any ideas for a decent rod on the cheaper side?

Absolutely agree Kent, just please note that I mentioned no sides nor affiliation. Rather, I hoped to simply engage folks in the thought that they have the power to influence these decisions at the community level.

They get too much pressure from local governments to keep the lake residents happy.... They should be able to strike a balance with recreational boaters and fishers alike. Instead they will listen to all the belly-aching of the Home Owners Association and keep spraying and then years down the road realize that there are no fish, mosquito problems, lack of tourism without quality fishing, etc. and swing the approach the other way..... biggest takeaway from events like these should be for concerned Americans to make informed decisions at the polls. Especially at the local level of government. All the big Washington, DC political clowns are always in the spotlight and talking the loudest, but the biggest impact is always at the local level!!!

I had been eyeing this lake for a while and heard some great things about it so I went this past Saturday to see for myself. I definitely see that is a haven for bass with good cover, structure, food source, etc. Only downside perhaps is that it's very small at 850 acres. It is an electric only lake, so I figured less pressure and good odds right? Well I had a late start and didn't get to the ramp until 8 am. When I arrive there are already about 40 trucks/trailers there. All day long it looked like a long train of boats just following down the same lines fishing the same spots all day, over and over. Is it possible to just over pressure and out-fish at that rate? I'm sure through the week it's a different story, but still seemed like a lot of people on this small body of water. Fished for 6 hours and not a fish in the boat (missed one on the motor oil/chartreuse finesse worm and missed a nice fish on the bone color Zara Spook Puppy). Granted i'm not a good gauge in terms of fishing success, but disappointing day to say the least. Does anyone else fish this lake and do you have a similar take or totally different in terms of pressure on this lake? Thanks!

I was kayaking and fishing on the river this weekend and did the ultimate dumb move afterward. I was loading up my kayak along with my friend’s kayak and canoe when it happened….. I loaded the kayak with my new Abu Black Max Baitcaster combo sitting in the hull (I know, idiot move) and about that time I heard a delicate snap. Pull the kayak back and there is about 4-5 inches of the rod tip dangling on the line….. IDIOT!!! Only upside to this is the fact that I basically almost “stole” this thing from WalMart as it was priced for $13 (incorrectly I assume)…. So for the $13 investment I still have a decent reel, but mad at myself nevertheless……

Anyone have any experience mounting a trolling motor on a kayak? If so, what method did you use (there are dozens of different ways on the web) and what did you like/dislike about that method. I have a 30lb Minn Kota and a Deep cycle marine battery/box at home from an old inflatable boat I used it on. I would like to rig that same unit up on my Ascend FS10 Sit in 10' Kayak. This would allow me to cover more water on the larger lakes and get to the fishing hole quicker. Once at the hole, I would likely just use the paddle but it sure would be nice to use the motor to cover some ground. Thanks for your input!

Does anyone use dual lock snaps on buzz baits or does that mess with the action? If so, have you ever had a problem with them?

sounds like i am not even close to as organized as i need to be! i realized i had a problem last night when i couldn't even remember what line was on my newest reel that i just spooled up two weeks ago...

Does anyone keep a log for their reels and what they're spooled with or do you just remember? Having a hard time just keeping the 8 or 9 that I have straight. How do some of you do it with 20+ combos?

I fish from a kayak, so space is limited. But i recently created some rod holders out of PVC and they're attached to my crate on the back of the yak. Those holders plus the ones that came on the kayak allow for 7 rods. Although i generally take no more than 5. I will usually have 2 spinning rods and 3 casting rods. Again, you can get the job done with minimal number of rods but after time you'll start to acquire more and more gear.....

I believe it's over 6,000 surface acres, so it's a decent sized lake. i had my kayak out there, so i'm not certain about the bank fishing access.

Good point, I suppose that would vary with lighting conditions/lake conditions I always try, but without buying a handful of them for $10-11 I am looking to just get one or two colors to suit my needs

What would be your go to color for a Livetarget frog? There are some wild looking colors that I'm just not sure about, but if you just had one color to fish with what would it be?

Thanks Lou, no doubt I will!

Oh yeah I would research ahead of time myself but I'm thinking of those situations where there's maybe only one of them in the store and on clearance or something like that. A thing where it a great deal as long a nothing's wrong with it and you feel like you just can't pass on it...

Didn't catch a fish or even wet a line, but I got $150 in Bass Pro gift cards for my birthday! Now I just need to figure out how I want to spend it.... Any suggestions on a rod to pair with my new Lews speed spin 300a? I would like it to be a good all around soft plastics setup. Thanks!

Rods or reels that are on clearance in a store? Are you ever worried that something is wrong with them that you're not seeing?

Not true...... I had a lengthy conversation with the last bass that I caught and he said he checks the site daily to figure out what's hot and he knows to avoid that if it falls in front of his face.....

Interesting stuff here guys. I've been strictly mono and braid up until now and I just spooled my new Lew's speed spin with 12lb flouro. and of course i tied on my go-to Palomar knot which it sounds like was a bad idea??? I'm using this rig to fish soft plastics mostly and wanted the flouro for the better feel on a slack line. Sounds like i need to learn some new knots and start using them on the flouro....

your closest smallie lake would be lake james. from where you live that's probably about 1.5 hours. fontana is probably the best smallie lake in nc, but it's a good drive from south charlotte i'd say like ~4 hours. my mom lives in morganton about 5 minutes from lake james and it's a good lake to fish.

If you change out the treble hooks on a lure, do you run the risk of weakening the split rings? I replaced some treble hooks on a couple crank baits last night using a split ring plier. Afterward, it seemed like there was a slightly noticeable gap in the split ring. So I’m wondering if that may weaken those rings, or even if I just did it wrong altogether. Or perhaps they’re just lower quality split rings to begin with.

any day i can put my rods to use rather than rigging them and tinkering in the living room or the garage.... I can honestly say that getting skunked does not bother me, some skunked days i just start exploring which leads to better fishing the next time out.... also, i say any day that you catch something aside from a bass.... i mean bass fishing is what it's all about, but if i catch a trout and a crappie and a catfish all while targeting bass it just gets me excited for that day's prospects