Steveo-1969

Rods: G. Loomis Reels: Shimano Lines: Braid - Sufix 832 / Fluoro - Seaguar / Mono - Not sure yet... Leader: Seaguar fluoro Hooks: Gamakatsu Soft Plastics: Strike King Jigs: Strike King Bitsy Bugs Hard baits: N/A (I'm allergic to treble hooks)

Whenever I lose a big fish that I didn't see, I always tell myself it was a catfish.......

Almost for me. I have a BPS Carbonlite (black) that sees less than 50 casts a year. The other rods I use are all G. Loomis.

I'm assuming the OP is asking about footwear while fishing in a boat? I rarely fish in a boat, but if I do and it's warm then I wear flip-flops (with sunscreen on my feet).

Apologies to @JustJames and your wife, but that looks like something contestants on the show Fear Factor would have to eat!!!!

^^^ This ^^^ If you give us more details on what size jigs you will be fishing and how heavy the cover, you will get rod spec suggestions. And if you give us your $$ budget you will get very specific suggestions.

New bait/technique/presentation for me this year was the good old spinnerbait. I'd never caught a fish on one before, so I bought a couple this spring and caught half a dozen or so river smallies on them this summer/fall. It's not going to replace my small paddletail swimbait anytime soon but it was fun to catch them on something new!

I think you might be onto something there Mr. Choporoz. Go Badgers!!!!

It's funny how people have different experiences with how much fight a fish has. For me in the river I fish, the Rock Bass has the least fight of any species I catch. I set the hook, get one little tug back and they come right to the surface and don't move. Those I ski in across the top because they don't fight back at all. Walleyes on the other hand give me a great fight provided they are 16+", often pulling drag. I love the heavy headshakes and steady pull their broad tails provide and how they dig for the bottom. Now if the walleye is a little 12-incher I can just reel 'em right in. Like a Rock Bass.

I definitely enjoy the fight and don't horse fish in. For me, the enjoyment of catching a fish is 1) sensing the bite, 2) setting the hook, and 3) fighting the fish. On the other side, I've read that if you fight a fish too long it will build up lactic acid in it's muscles and it may kill the fish. Or that you can exhaust or stress a fish out too much which could also be fatal. I'm NOT a fisheries biologist, this is just what I've read. I want the catching to be enjoyable but I also want to give the fish a high chance of survival after I release it. So I enjoy the fight, but also try to land and release the fish in a timely manner. Whatever that means...

I just read on another forum that Gopher Tackle is out of business.

Yup. I mainly fish smallies in a river and I use a 7' MF baitcasting rod for every lure weight and presentation that rod can handle. Jig, swimbait, T-rig plastic, spinnerbait, etc.....

I was born and raised in Wisconsin and I never knew anyone who owned a baitcasting rod and never saw anyone fishing with one. Everyone used spincast and spinning rods. Baitcasters were only used by Southerners, not us Yankees. So when I got back into fishing in 2010 I bought a spinning rod because that's what I grew up using. And it worked fine. But when I bought my first baitcaster it was love at first backlash. I now own more baitcasters than spinning rods and fish with a baitcaster the majority of the time.

Co-anglers have found it to be no 'big' deal...

I mix crawfish Smelly Jelly into my coffee every morning instead of creamer. Then when I want to scent a lure I just pee on it. I get coffee AND crawfish smell on it at the same time. I say GENIUS!!!!!

You mentioned talking to fishing guides for that reservoir. What lures did they suggest using during the pre-spawn on that particular body of water?

Thanks for posting this link A-Jay. Signed, The Only Person In The World NOT On Facebook

Post of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or the opposite. You pick it up and it feels like your jig is gone, it's not there any more. Set the hook!!!

Unfortunately my river smallie catching is done for the year as well. I've never been able to figure out where they go in the wintertime, although I've never really looked for them either. So from now until the water starts warming up again next spring I'm fishing for skunks and the occasional walleye.

Hells Yeah!! Just tie one on and go to work!!!!!!!!

My bad, you were very clear on the knot you were having trouble with. I just didn't read carefully enough. And oddly enough Kentucky Lake is where I spend my annual vacation. Good luck with your on-the-water testing, I hope you find a knot that works well for you. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving as well.

I agree that your brain needs to interpret what your hands are feeling, and this interpretation may be different for each person. BUT to say that a rod has NOTHING to do with sensitivity is just silly. I probably would have said that very same thing when I was fishing with only an Ugly Stik 7 years ago. I certainly did say "I would never pay $100 for a fishing rod, my Ugly Stik works just fine!!". Then I actually fished with a higher end rod and realized what I was missing in sensitivity, especially for bottom contact presentations. If you drag a jig across the bottom with your Ugly Stik, then drag that same jig with my NRX you will notice a sensitivity difference. If they felt exactly the same either your hands are completely numb or your brain is malfunctioning! Nothing wrong with Ugly Stiks. I still have a 6'6" MH 2-piece that is a great catfish rod. But I'm not fishing bottom contact with it ever again.

I want my finesse spinning rod and my bottom contact baitcasting rod to be the most sensitive in my arsenal. For horizontal moving baits I could probably fish an Ugly Stik and be perfectly fine... (sacrilege!! ha-ha)

Oooooh, look at the new structure you have in your pond! Oh wait, is that cover? No, it's a break! Er, a breakline? (Ah nuts, it's probably best you just pulled it out and called it a deer blind...) Big Ol' Melon Head!!!!!!!!