NathanW

X2! Pick up a new bait and don't put it down until you have complete confidence in how and when to use it.

My opinion. You only need three colors. A Shad pattern. A ghost pattern. A bright pattern. Build confidance in those three and buy spares of each. If i had to choose only 5 baits for my waters it would be so easy. Sk 3xd, sk 5xd, rapala dt4, dt6, and sk red eyed Shad. Good luck with your search.

WFN is no good anyways... Its mostly all fly fishing, deepsea fishing, Salmon, trout, and infomercials

i have a 788ci HD Di. I believe its a single processor. It is compatible with lakemasters (the one I tried was the North West region) but runs so ungodly slow that I cannot use it. I have updated my unit to the latest version, have tried the latest version of the chip, and also use north-up on my map like you are supposed to. Still runs painfully slow. Also, to make things worse the non-HD maps for the lakes I fish are equal to, or far worse detail than my stock maps. I would strongly suggest that everyone try before they buy.

I dont think Manning is going anywhere soon. Would he really quit after a best ever, not just for him but for anyone, regular season? If a team like the Panthers, Cardinals or Eagles sneak by SF/Seattle/NO and make it to the Super Bowl Denver would have a pretty good shot at winning it.

I have been waiting for this for 29 years! Watching and rooting for a team with my family growing up I am an emotionally invested fan. A blowout of this fashion, even against a great all around guy like Payton, every minute of it felt good!!! I am sure that most of you have the same type of bond to a sports team. I truly hope that you HAVE or WILL GET TO experience a championship win like this! (Unless you are a 49ers fan of whom I wish nothing but season after season of disappointment....)

Do any of you guys thinks its worth it to spend the extra $150 to get the Gen-2 Ipilot with the updated remote vs. the Gen-1 Ipilot. Just curious...

Thanks guys. I think the belt loop holster seems like a good idea. I think Ill give the I-Pilot a shot.

So you pretty happy with the Ipilot upgrade so far? Also wondering how it is to use a remote while bass fishing, is it no big deal? Do you guys use lanyards around the neck or attach it to your boat, or what? Does the remote ever become a hassel in your opinion?

When you say I would be disappointed are you referring to its inability to hold in that 5' radius or more referring to how silent power poles operate up shollow? When on the water a 5' radius is very tight, so if it could do that I would be impressed. One of the lakes I fish is mostly offshore angling in current, I drop a lot of marker buoys and try to hold on them while fishing. Cruise control is autopilot but run by GPS correct? Thanks a lot for the response.

Going to revive an old post here because I need to make a tough decision and I was hoping you fellas could share your thoughts. I have run a Terrova AP for two seasons now and we have had our ups and downs. I have convinced myself that I was going to downgrade back to a cable steer but a salmon/steelhead guy in my office is telling me I should try the Ipilot first due to its spotlock feature.... So how good is spot lock? Does it malfuction ever? Also are there any other features Ipilot (non-Link) offers that bass guys actually use? Right now, for me, there are a lot less Terrova "pros" than "cons" . For instance, my autopilot has gone out three times, I have personally solered the ribbon back together now that its out of warranty. Right now its broken again and there is not enough ribbon left to solder. Also, the head can be too slow (when compared to cable steer) around cover and there is no feel for direction in the pedal. You folks ovbiously like the Terrova and lately I have been considering to myself how fabulous Spot lock would be if it worked well. Also the Ipilot install means my autopilot goes away and becomes GPS Autopilot. Detail on how spot lock performs would be great! One last question. How is the durablity of the Ipilot head? If I get it I will also be installing a RAM mount stabilizer because we have some very rough water on the Columbia River.

I agree. But anymore I do not think stepping it up means spending more. The 30 ton Toray blanks are just as sensitive and crisp as any high end Lamiglas or Loomis Ive ever owned, or at least very close. I will say that I have not fished new Loomis for the last couple seasons so I cannot really jugde how much better the NRX may have gotten.

Not sure how fast any of those rods are but tip speed is what I look for in a fluke rod. I learned through a couple of years of trial and error that it is worth it to sacrifice snappy casting on a rod that loads well for a better hookset from a rod with a faster tip. And I only say this assuming that we are T-rigging. I will also nose hook 4" flukes with a 1/0 dropshot hook at times but I would throw this on a spinning rod that loads on light baits. <- works wonders during the smallmouth spawn when they start getting too spooky to get real close.

Bass are hardy and resilliant fish. Not like trout who croak if you look at them wrong. Just handle them quickly and get them back in the water. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to avoid an occasional hook through the eye, in the throat, etc. Its fishing.

Yep. This is my world right now. A lot of traffic at the ramp and in the channel but zero bass fishing pressure. Get the funniest looks cruising by in my bass boat, they think Im nuts. But I think their nuts for owning a boat they keep in the garage most the year.

To add to this, most of these pros who talk about starting with search baits are looking at it from a perspective that they are fishing a 4 to 7 day tournament. 2/3 days of practice followed by 2/4 days of competition. On a giant body of water they have not been allowed to touch for a certain number of days prior to official practice. So yes, the concept of starting practice with a search bait is very real and very necessary.

I used to a lot, don't anymore. I love them still for largemouth pitching docks and cover. I don't fish them for SM simply because I have gotten bored with them (stupid I know). I remind myself all the time off the water I need keep them in my rotation. Alton Jones and Chris Lane just killed it fishing tubes on Lake Huron (During Lake St. Clair event) doing basically the same thing I use to do all the time on the Coumbia. Using medium heavy casting gear, heavy line, just drifting with the current while keeping the bait on the bottom. Its a pain in the butt, and isnt very flashy, but honestly can be the best way to catch quality smallmouth. My PB smallmouth (6.25lbs, I know this is no biggy for all you great lakes guys) was on a Dry Creek Tube 3 years ago. Thanks for another reminder I shouldnt ignore this bait.

They advertise that at 3-5 foot which is why I didnt list it. Should have figured that Rapala is advertising its trolling depth. I gotta ask people, what color are folks throwing in this bait? I've always had a very hard time with Rapala colors for bass fishing.

I'll certainly take your advice on this. Thanks! Was not too stoked on the Spazz as it says you need spinning gear or the Max Rap as I have a hard time spending $14 of a Rapala. Been meaning to try the flash minnow anyways.

Yes, I caught LM and SM all season long on jerkbaits and plan to keep throwing them until November. This is the first season I have done this. How olds the little guy? I am counting the days that I can take mine out (only 9 months now). We've had him on the boat three times and it has not gone great, hates his little life vest. I have been obsessed with finding a jerkbait that works the upper 2.5 foot of water quickly, for basically the exact same scenerio you are talking about. Just like RMCGuirk mentioned I had numerous occasions this summer where I knew if I had the right jerkbait I could have really caught them. There are a handfull of jerkbaits I plan on trying that seem to fall in the "extra shallow category". Ive listed a few that could potentiall fit the bill on paper, I'll buy and test them all if I have too (I am serious) but was wondering if you, or anybody else has a no brainer bait I should be using. Smithwick Rattlin Rogue Bagley BangOLure Damiki Slim Jack Rapala Max Rap Rapala Flat Rap Lucky Craft Spazz Spro Mcstick 115

I have had so much success with an Pointer SP 78/100 that I rarely spend time fishing anything else. I will switch between two colors one is always chatruese shad and the other is some type of yellowgreenish ghost color. I would highly recommend LC Pointer SP 78, dont stress out about the price because its not like your banging it into the rocks to the same extent as a crankbait. You dont lose jerkbaits. By the time you wear a pointer out so much that it breaks you will not cry because of the price of the bait, but because of how much sentiment it has earned over its tenure. One thing I can tell you is that Xcalibur and Reaction Strike both made pointer clones XT3 and XRM100 that are very accurate. I believe both are discontinued but would be worth a look on the web. I own a few of each, most of the colors are reflective which is a feature I like in jerkbaits only when the weather is gray (not so common in eastern WA). I had a couple situations this season where I really wish I had shallower running floating jerkbait to stay above the rocks and grass, like in the 0-2.5 foot range. Anybody recommend anything for that application? A high running bait that fishes very fast?

Nope, never been to your state. Just using Bing maps to find areas that have the right ingrediants for what I look for this time of year, while keeping in mind shore angling. You may be able to sit on that bluff wall and drop shot the vertical structure.

Where I fish on the Columbia the current and water levels are major factors as they both take a dramatic fall right around Sept 1. I can always find good numbers of smallmouth this time of year, year after year on main river current breaks that didnt hold fish all summer due to high current usually in 15-60 foot. The problem I have is finding quality fish this time of year without running points and wing dam breaks (burn too much fuel). A lot of times I am guilty of settling for 1-2 pounders all day this time of year. Usually the weedlines have deteriorated and milking out a 200 yard stretch of weed line for quality fish becomes a bit of a chore. On the lakes I fish I dont have a great answer reagarding what works year after year for me. It usually takes me a few days to figure it out, and once I figure it out I have a few days to fish good fish. Next thing I know we get a good rain or frost and its all over.

This is what you are/where experiancing. Unfortunaly, on river systems shore fishing is usualy very difficult after the spawners have left the shallows in the spring and before the Fall gorgeing period begins. Between these stages I am typically probing deep weed edges and deep offshore current breaks. Maybe the deeper half of large main river shoal first thing in the morning if the weather is warm enough, but that is as close to the shore I ever get. These strategies are not easy without a boat and good depth finder. Luckily for you the Fall gorgeing period should be happening. Go find a spillway, wing d**n on the main river, a bridge to sit on and drop shot the vertical structure, or any other type of current break and you should find fish. Also, its not always the best big fish pattern but vertical shorline structure like bluffs become loaded with smallmouth in the fall. Not sure if that bluff rock wall by the Highway 52 bridge has any depth to it but that might be a decent place to sit if it does, a nice little chokepoint....

X2 on the note about the fish facing the current. Not that I havent caught em casting the otherway, but when fishing rivers I usually cast upstream, so I like a hard diving lip on my bait. Other than that I think that all these other water body specific attributes people are mentioning need to be considered. For instance, the river I fish is clear as glass right now but Young Guns is muddy...