Turkey sandwich

That's it! The Recon feels to definitely be on the faster side. Teaching yourself to fly cast is a trip, lol.

Off to practice casting tomorrow morning, then...

Well, until I stop sucking at the streamer thing... My 8 tweet is an Orvis Recon and I'm using Orvis's Bass floating line. Without the larger streamers and poppers, I'm able to shoot a solid 55-65' consistently. I should also be using a short leader for my poppers, right?

What at do you need more than 50-70 yards of braid for? There is no good reason to run lighter line on a baitcaster than on a spinning reel. The small diameter is a HUGE part of what's causing your problems. Spool with 30lb braid and tie a leader of the 8lb Hybrid and you'll get he best of both worlds. What you're doing right now will only sour you on casting gear, hinder your versatility, and set you back a TON of time no energy.

The smaller braid actually makes the backlashes worse becaus the small diameter settles and cuts in all over the spool, causing weird pockets of tight and loose line (the best I can describe it). I do not spool baitcasters with braid under 30lb test. Put the 10lb braid on a spinning reel and spool your casting reels with 30-40lb braid. You'll notice a HUGE difference.

They can be tricky to get a feel for, but as a PA guy, I can tell you they still work, but you need to practice the technique and know the limitations. I'm assuming you mean Crankbaits and lipless crankbaits. Lipless crankbaits are my preference out of the two in grass, and fishing them well requires you let them sink when they begin to snag in the grass. Following this with ripping them immediately after the fall can trigger HARD strikes and will often clear much of the salad from your hooks. A lipped bait works the opposite. A pause will allow it to float out of snags, and ripping it may clear the hooks. To me, the lipless is my preference in heavier grass because it tends to be denser, and can still throw vibration/action even if it's dragging some weeds (which can typically be freed with a rip and pause retrieve). Also, this isn't for light tackle. If I'm cranking in or around heavy grass, I'll be running either straight braid or braid with a 12lb or heavier copolymer leader.

What I don't understand is the the idea that expanding a market for profit is a bad thing. Companies being profitable in this industry is a very good thing, but that's even short sighted. Obviously if companies will be making longer rods, the rest of the industry (if they become popular) will have to adapt. If this drives innovation in presentations and the equipment needed to make them, that's huge. My biggest concerns would become transportation and storage, but I guess that means I either buy 4 piece rods like my fly rods, or finally get out of the city and buy an SUV with more space. Maybe this is another way the universe is telling me I don't belong in a big city.

It just happens sometimes. Be it wind, size/weight of lures, trying to be over aggressive with the tension and braking, awkward casting angles, etc.. Some reels are just more prone, too. I have some reels that may not backlash over an entire weekend on the water and others that I'll be pulling line from several times throughout the day. I have a Speed Spool BB1 that will cast crankbaits a mile, but I have to stay conscious of it because of it's proneness to be be kind of a jerk. On the other hand, I have Shimanos that I can all but forget about the brakes unless I'm trying to skip.

This trip looks awesome and I may be able to make it... But it's one heck of a drive from PA. Does anyone ever fly for these? Anyone have experience flying 1 piece rods?

It's good being single! Only Harambe can judge me for my fishing habit! Seriously, I have a 15 year old 7' M Fast action Premier that still sees use for river smallies. They've always been a good Rod for the pricepoint, and as much as I like the Loomis rods I've handled, that graphite and age would make me reluctant unless it was a Rod I wanted for something very specific.

I can't wait to get out in a few weeks.

I had no idea this was done. I would love to see some for, of this happen again - with legit fly anglers.

Punching is a lot of fun, but I would love to have that kind of confidence growing big flies. Big flies hate me. (Read: I suck at casting big poppers and giant streamers)

Even with my 8wt, I see myself cursing A LOT trying to do this.

Nice post! The fall is an awesome time to be on the water. Fishing aside, most parts of the country are absolutely beautiful, the leaves make a killer backdrop for the wildlife, and it's just comfortable all day. Oh, yeah, and everything is biting. Bass are packing on weight, trout are comfortable and active again, and the weather/shorter days don't typically require you be up at 4:30 AM. Your fall smallmouth arsenal looks a lot like mine. I'm a huge grub advocate so long as the water isn't heavy stained - th catch fish everywhere and it's silly more people don't learn to fish them. I'm hoping this fall to invest more time building confidence in suspending jerkbaits, so I'll be throwing perch colored X-Raps a bunch once I can swing a free weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to get some quality pictures. I haven't picked up any bronze over 4lbs this year... Fingers crossed that the fall is bountiful!

There's definitely a money making side to this, and despite the added inconvenience of storage/damaging the rods, I can definitely see advantages in chucking lures a hell of a lot farther. I can't imagine they changed the legality of fly rods or trolling on the Elites, though. Trolling would change tournaments tremendously, and while opening up the Elites to fly anglers would be interesting, I just don't see B.A.S.S. pushing for guys to be waving around the whippy stick.

I fish grubs a lot, and I'm much less particular about ball head jigs for grubs than I am any other jig head. So long as they have a size 1-2/0 hook (matched to size of grub), I'm pretty much ok with them. I keep a hook sharpener and pliers on me, so even if they bend/dull it's an easy fix. I don't see a reason to spend a fortune on them. If I had the space to make jigs, I would probably just start making my own.

Nice! Out towards Bloomsburg? What is the water temperature like?

Check your knots, line for abrasion, and guides. I'm not a betting man, but if I were, at least one of these is your issue.

Yeah, Senkos will do that. I don't fish them as often as a lot of forum members, but when I do, I typically fish them wacky/weedless wacky with crossed rubber bands holding the wacky/circle/octopus/mosquito hook and while they may last an extra fish or two, they still get shredded. I'm pretty sure there's just no way to keep them from getting destroyed.

Welcome to the forum! T-rigs are your best starting point, not only because they're versatile and catch fish, but also because they'll teach you how to feel the bottom. Learning to fish a T-rig or light Carolina rig will help you actually develop a lot of techniques that will come in handy later. For less than $100, you can get set up well with what you'd need for most conditions. 7" curl and straight tail worms, and a few packs of Rage or Speed craws will go far. Pick up colors like green pumpkin, pumpkin red fleck, watermelon, junebug, and black. A jar of JJ's Magic or Dip'n'Dye in chartreuse to add SMALL chartreuse accents to claws and tails will be cheaper than buying extra packs of all of the above with chartreuse accents already on them. Those colors and baits will cover most conditions on most bodies of water and won't break the bank. As for weights, a general rule (worry about when to break it later) is to keep them just heavy enough for good bottom contact. For this, 1/8-3/4 oz is common, with deeper water or thicker cover typically requiring more weight. As a beginner, just use lead and don't drop the extra money for tungsten. Do, however, spend the money on good hooks. Gamakatsu, Owner, Mustad, VMC, all make solid 2/0 to 4/0 wide gap worm hooks made for T-rigging that are affordable. Good luck!

There's lots of good advice on here already. The biggest part is to make it simple. Make sure everything is prepped and ready to roll when you need it to make the day smoother. This includes a good night's rest and a thermos full of coffee for the water if you need it. You know that lake well, and have caught fish there before, so you have no reason to not be confident. Fish your style and remember that it's the lake you're fishing against and not so much the other guys. If you're having a tough day, remember, most of them will be, too. Similarly, if you're crushing it, keep that in mind and realize you probably won't be the only one on good fish and use it as motivation to keep pushing to upgrade your limit. Lastly, enjoy the competition and have fun. Good luck!

The short answer is that there will likely be good numbers of active smallmouth anywhere that provides quality feeding opportunities and oxygen. Sometimes the bite turns on and off, but generally with low water conditions in he late summer/early fall, you're still going to be finding them at the heads and tails of pools, fast current meeting wing dams, ledges, boulder fields with current, etc. Also, pay attention to weed beds. If you were catching them 2 weeks ago while the weeds were green and lush, and now they're starting to brown, that's your change in conditions. Similar, sometimes even a 6" drop in river level will change where they position (remember, that change not only effects depth, but also current).

Welcome to the forum! Jig and Texas rig fishing are almost essential skills. There are a few things that can heavily influence the feel. A sensitive fast or extra fast action rod is helpful, as are low stretch lines like braid and the appropriate size/shaped weight for the depth and he cover you're fishing. There is also a big difference between say, an inexpensive Wal-Mart rod and a gen 2 Mojo Bass or Tatula, Aetos, etc. and that better stick will most definitely have a lighter feel with a more responsive blank, but.... the technique to fishing bottom contact baits is much, much more important and once you get the technique down, you'll appreciate the better tools much, much more. I (like many other forum members, I'm sure) learned to fish jigs and T-rigs with old fiberglass and cheap slower actioned graphite. The rod you're working while not a Cadillac, is still much better than the Ugly Sticks lots of us used and can make a decent rod to learn on (it being shorter than 7'-7'3 rods might sacrifice some casting distance, but it'll make accurate, close presentations and skipping much, much easier). When fishing a jig, C-rig, T-rig, drop shot, or any other bottom contact bait, you need to remember that it's a bottom contact bait. I've spent a lot of time over the past few years teaching friends and family members to fish and the biggest mistake I see them (and tons of people with lots of experience get lazy/distracted and do this, too) making is relying on the reel to move the bait. When fishing these techniques, the general rule is that you should be moving your bait with the rod, and not the reel. There are exceptions, but this is the general rule. The reel is essentially just there to collect line and reel down quickly once a fish strikes to remove slack before the hook set. With the bait on the bottom (and I suggest learning with something like 3/8 oz), lift the rod tip slowly, allowing the jig to bump into the gravel, sticks, roots, tires, or whatever is down there. You'll feel every time that jig hits something. Over time, you'll learn to differentiate a soft bottom from gravel, wood, weeds, etc., it just takes patience and a little practice. Another mistake I've seen and have been guilty of is losing a good connection to the bait (which will mess up your sensitivity badly) and it can happen a few ways. First, a relaxed palmed grip on the reel will allow you to feel a lot better than a death grip. This isn't typically a fast moving bait with resistance like a spinnerbait or crankbait where you really have hang on. Relax, you'll feel more subtle bites and bottom features. Second, don't allow too much slack to build up. Even the best rods fished with braid will have zero feel if the line is totally slack. This is where terms like "semi-slack" and "tight line" come into play. Third, keeping the rod angled up or to the side will transmit more "feel" than if you're pointed straight at your jig (remember, use the rod to move your bait). The fourth way that I was guilty of losing connection was that for years I failed to consistently watch my line. When fishing a semi-slack presentation, line watching is the difference between detecting subtle bites versus feeling the bottom. For this, braid has made life way easier. I know this is a lot, but it should troubleshoot most feel issues. Also, as @adrenalizd mentioned, spooling with braid and fishing a FC or Copolymer leader is by far the most cost effective upgrade that will make a noticeable difference.

I use the Owner twist lock hooks with Super Flukes and they rock. They stay centered well, the hooks don't slice up soft plastics like the Trokars do, and they stay Texposed well, even if you're skipping them across the surface, banging them off of cover, etc. They're currently my favorite keel weighted hooks.