BigSkyBasser

This is good to know. I find that most of the bass fishing literature I come across doesn't focus enough on the Smallmouth.

I strongly second the hair jigs and other small profile finesse presentations that look like a lethargic crawfish. The keyword is patience, so work these baits very meticulously through good ambush points over and over again. Another thing I've heard from certain people is that these early season bites can feel very soft and easy to miss, so a sensitive rod paired with braid to flouro would probably be optimal in these conditions. Good luck!

I'm building my Fiance her first custom rod with a painted rod geeks blank and really want to make it super Flashy. I however cannot find microwave guides with the holographic/nano plasma style. http://www.anglersworkshop.com/A-Frame/Ring-Lock-Spinning-Guides-with-Nanolite-Rings-Holographic If anyone finds these please link or let me know. Thanks!

I picked one up in store on Friday morning after eyeing them for a while. They look incredible on lighter colored blanks like my Fenwick. Can't wait to try the new President XT as well!

I recently switched from Gambler Ugly Otters to Missile Baits D Bomb and Baby D Bomb and the difference is night and day. They will out fish even a sweet beaver or a strike king rodent/river bug every day. However for a dollar cheaper a bag, Berkley does offer some very competitive options for creature baits that are very multifaceted and tournament tested. The Pit Boss like BB86 mentioned as well as the Devil Spear are very versatile and catch fish, plus the color options with Berkley plastics are enormous.

That would be our combined budget. This time around we'd prefer to either drive or boat in and avoid having to hire a plane to fly us in. And we aren't fussy about the specifics though personally I'd love to hire a guide for a half day on the first fishing day, then rent a boat for the rest of the week. I'm moot on lodging and accommodations so I'd probably would aim for as cheap as possible with possibly renting a room at one of the lodges.

Hey fellow fish nuts, I've been absent from the forums for a while but I come to you now asking for some help/advice on an upcoming adventure. I'm planning on taking my fiancee up to Northwestern Ontario this spring on her first guided fishing trip. There are myriads of blogs talking about the more popular lodges but I would love to hear some testimonials from smallmouth fisherman about their favorite lakes, guides, and lodges. We're not planning on spending more than $2500-3000 on a week of fishing.

I'm moving to the Detroit lakes area from Montana within the next 45 days or so. Any recommendations for getting some good smallies from shore?

I have friends who fish CJ Strike and pound on em throwing skirtless football jigs with hula grubs and drop shotting. Are you much of a finesse fisherman? Dragging a fat tube or creature bait across points on a Carolina rig is also a local favorite there from what I've heard. On another note. Have you fished Dworshak yet?

I have a friend who swears the same. He's caught a fish that weighed over 8 on an unofficial scale. The tough thing on Fort Peck is the lack of resources for weighing and recording those fish. I'm sure there's limits of state record smallies in that lake. This guy is one of my mentors in our bass club. This is a typical "slow day" on Fort Peck

How long have you been out of Montana? One of my friends on the B.A.S.S. state team still lives in Libby and so do my god parents.

This got me excited as a native Montanan living only 100 miles from this giant glacial lake. The locals however are furious because decisions about where to have the fish weighed lead to it's death while she was full of eggs. Flathead has the potential to turn into a world class smallmouth fishery. It's full of Lake Trout and mountain whitefish. http://www.montanaoutdoor.com/2016/05/reports-of-a-record-smallmouth-on-flathead/

I was sitting at work yesterday during the last hour of my shift which is typically quite boring, looking for something to do. I started by flipping through March's edition of B.A.S.S. Times and kept seeing all of these advertisements and thinking... "Wow, how sweet would it be to have them as a full sponsor?!?" Then I decided to make a wishlist of all the sponsors I could dream of being sponsored by if I were a pro angler to pass the time. This is what I came up with in my fantasy. Legend Mercury Minn Kota Hummingbird Nissan Progressive Rigid Industries Rayovac Huk Fishing Costa Del Mar Mudhole Rod Building MHX Pflueger Seaguar Lazer Trokar Eco Pro Missile Baits Z Man Fishing Would love to see everyone else's

Are these the only two you will settle for? There are an enormous amount of quality rods in that same price range other than the ones mentioned. Fenwicks are great. And the Denali Jadewood is on sale from a certain Warehouse that sells Tackle.....

I just recently received by Spring 2016 Bass Pro Shops Catalog and their new combo caught my eye. I've always heard from friends that BPS Reels and rods are a fairly nice bang for the buck, and when I noticed this new combo running around $240 I couldn't help but be curious what a high end combo from BPS would fish like. My curiosities we're instantly crushed when I hopped on their website and found only right hand retrieve reels. Has anyone else had an opportunity to pick one or both of these up and fish them?

I'm not discrediting the blanks. I love MHX and they do cast like a dream, and are unbelievably sensitive. But the comparison between the waveguide system and regular micro guides is a noticeable difference that deserves reiteration on this thread.

Christie took the loss like a real gentleman and sportsman and his response to the fan who fed the info about Evers shows that he's a class act. Was very impressed with him this year, and as I expected the OK boys dominated! I think it will be A Mart's to take next year.

He is fishing too fast now, he needs to slow down like they said and just keep fishing methodically like he has been. However it seems that he hasn't really adapted his pattern to the wind conditions that are supposed to keep getting worse. I hope A Mart gets on a roll in the last two hours like he's known to and come from behind!

I used the microwave guide set on my first MHX build. Using them on a bait casting set up I was interested to see the outcome, and it works amazingly! I did have to tweak the guide spacing a little bit because of how far off the blank the line was initially held by the wave guide. The thing casts farther than any of my regular micro guide rods by at least 20-30 feet on average with the same reels, line, and lures.

Christie has run twice since he found that out. I think he's starting to lose the head battle on this one. But only time will tell.

A redbull on my way to the ramp and some cheap jerky. I have a really hard time remembering to eat when I'm fishing, so I'll try to stuff my face while we're making a run between spots.

Anyone else really starting to like their Fantasy picks today?

http://www.bassmaster.com/video/bassmaster-classic-live Enjoy!

Streaming live for my second consecutive year!!! Woke up on my day off at 6:30 AM MST and will be watching all day.