Choporoz

Interesting handle. Was pot1115stirrer already taken? J/K ---

LMB on the river were biting well yesterday. Nothing worth taking out the scale or camera, but good numbers. Nearly all of mine came on lipless and Cut-R. I did notice that nearly every bass boat was flipping jigs and plastics...and appeared to be hitting them, also. I just haven't mastered flipping/jigging from the yak...at all. Edit: I haven't been clear about the O River - I've been putting in at Occoquan River Park - BELOW the dam. I haven't been on the O River above the splits in my kayak

Your title reminds me of this study: http://www.seafwa.org/resource/dynamic/private/PDF/GILLILAND-144-149.pdf It isn't going to tell you much about your pond. AND, it doesn't really talk to the title question so much, since the bass in the study were 'unnaturally' moved. But, it does track tagged bass for years and every time I read it, I am astonished by the two that made it 12 km in two weeks. So...I guess some put down roots and might become territorial...others appear to be serious travelers...but, I suppose even the travelers might become territorial when they find what they're looking for. Oh...and maybe the most important thing to take away is don't ignore the areas around tourny weigh-ins.

I, too, have used $1 Walmart spinnerbaits....a lot. The biggest difference that I've noticed since going to 'higher-end' spinnerbaits is the action on the fall. If I was only going to use them for steady rolling, or cover thumping, I'd go back to them. But, Sieberts, War Eagles, Terminators, and others have great spinner turn and 'flutter' while falling. The Walmart spinnerbaits I used just sort of sink.

Have you noticed that 'only the hecklers and non believers' includes every single person except you and perhaps two others? Not trying to be judgmental....just an observation

I'm just glad you're thinking about it, Joey B. Thanks.

I hear you, Riva. I had the kayak on the Occoquan river Sat and had a great day. Getting old for back-to-back 6hr kayak days, though, so I rented a boat Sun. Wish I'd sucked it up and gone back to the river....

Cabelas Tourney Trail 7' M Fast Shimano Symetre 2500 8# Yozuri Hybrid Outkast Money Jigs - Love these jig heads

20# PP with 8# Yo Zuri Hybrid leader. Love the 'manageability' and the visibility of the braid.

Culprit Fat Max in Okeechobee and original Culprit in Motor Oil flake. I'm sure there are other colors better at times, but those have worked for me in the past.

PJ, Well, I, for one, would appreciate it if you didn't. Or at least, if you didn't write your 2nd or 3rd hand opinion it as if it were some sort of uncontroverted fact. At the very least, I'd respect and value your 'opinion' a LOT more if you would specify how you came by it. But, maybe I'm just an old fart who doesn't understand how this newfangled interweb forum stuff works.

^16...SF, I've read your post a couple times and it still cracks me up...not sure what you meant to say exactly...nor what came before the ****, but it makes me laugh....hope your worm made it through ok

Most unfortunately, experience is not a prerequisite for offering opinions that MUST be derived from experience in order to have any value.

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful review, FB!

^I'm a bit oblivious to the sections 99% of the time. I just click on 'New Content' every time I come in....and rarely notice the sub-sections.

Thanks for the tip. $80 shipped - wow. Now I'm stuck and even more indecisive, however. I've had an $89 Mojo 7'4" MM in my Bargain Basement shopping cart for a week....I may end up flipping a coin.

Thanks, Quan. While I do wish you'd done better...truly....I am (shamefully) somewhat less distressed about yesterday's outing.

Spent about 5 hours yesterday - all within about 3/4 mile from Fountainhead. First time I got skunked in a long time. I had exactly one fish on (came unbuttoned) and two other missed strikes. Unbelievable. I threw deep cranks, med cranks, squarebills, spinnerbaits, trig, spoons, football jigs, finesse jigs, swim jigs, beavers, rage-rigged worms, shakey head, drop shot, blade bait, lipless....most everything I had except topwater. There were some big fish feeding on the surface, but they were in 'random' spots and it was too choppy for me to see/chase surface baitfish schools. I'd have thrown topwater, too, if I thought I could get on surface feeders.

Good answer. I much prefer shorter handles (behind the reel) when in my kayak. The forced 'unnatural' action of holding my arm out farther away from my body (with longer handles while in kayak) causes fatigue and sometimes pain in my forearm and shoulder. Seated position causes much of the difference, but the fact that I always wear PFD in the yak (and not generally while trolling in boat) means that the PFD floatation (even just 3/4" or so) makes a difference in how I hold the rod to cast with longer butts.

I have two Smokes (and a Smoke spinning.) I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. Search around, though. I got both of mine for less than $100 each. They blow away $100 reels from any other company that I've used. I know that's apples to oranges since Smokes are essentially $200 reels. But I want to be part of the argument here and so I throw 'fair and balanced' out the window and make my proclamation. I love my Smokes.

I haven't kept stats, but I'd guess that between 1/3 and half the time (at least in calm-ish water), my first sense of a bite is seeing the line move.

effectively? How far can you cast?

Glenn beat me to it. Most of what you need to know. If you're still curious, check out this: And for even more info use google to search 'ned' on bassresource...unfortunately, the BR search tool doesn't work well with three letter words

Fishing flea markets are fun, but with respect to the OP, I don't see them as a 'good way to save money on tackle' You've heard the old joke, "A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs......A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.".....well, fishing flea markets turn us into the latter

Got out for a few hours on Sunday. Couldn't buy a bite on jigs or plastic. I did get a few between 3 and 4.5# on spinnerbait, lipless and deep cranks. There were a bunch of local tourny guys out there 'not doing a tournament' that came in with some good fish. Consensus seemed to be that LMB's are quite scattered - from grassy shore spots to 20' ledges.