Turkey sandwich

I've had a lot of success with Skitterpops and Pop-Rs, but really it's a confidence thing. With enough time, you can learn how to make most poppers do everything from chug, to walk, to spit, etc, though some are just better for for one of those specific presentations over another.

So, my approach might be a bit different than telling you to go buy a $400+ reel from either Daiwa or Shimano.... If we were to switch places, (and if I could go back to learning to make a baitcaster work for me) I would stop worrying about the most expensive/top of the line options and I'd simply shop for 1) ease of use, 2) dependability, 3) consistent handling, 4) something that will last a long time. Curados and Chronarchs have reputations for just that and you can get them for $200 or less new in 200 size that will handle virtually anything, and will taking a lot of frustration out of learning. Also, if you want to upgrade their performance once you learn all of your basic casts and your thumb is used more than brakes, you can upgrade things like bearings and outcast $400 reels.

If you can carry gear - carry it and learn how/when/where to use it. If I'm in a boat, I'll approach this a lot differently than if I'm wading. It's always better to have and not need than need and not have. Exception #1 If I'm wading a river with either medium or medium light spinning gear for smallmouths, I may only carry grubs/tubes/flukes and poppers in a variety of colors along with jig heads, and basic terminal tackle if I need to travel light since space is at a premium. Also, this only works if I know those basic lures will produce under the likely conditions. Similar, if I'm fly-fishing (and I'm still pretty green with the long rod, but it's a similar idea), and I can see the hatch is going to be a brown caddis in a 16-18 size... I'm only going to worry about carrying the handful of flies that are going to best match what's on the water and not necessarily be as concerned with lugging along boxes of every streamer I own. Exception #2 If I'm trying to learn a new presentation/bait/technique/cast/etc, I might only take the few pieces of tackle necessary to learn and practice it to force myself to improve that versus immediately switching back to something I have a ton of confidence in.

Dude, you need to disregard this reason immediately and pick up musky/saltwater rods, ideally with roller guides and Penn casting reels with dual gear drags large enough to spool at least 400 yards of 40lb braid. Why? Because, let's face it, toys are fun.

Lots of guys like it for leaders for toothy critters in 25-30lb test. I don't really like it because of the reasons listed above (absorption, stretch, and memory). One suggestion that might save money (probably more so just time and frustration with frequent respools) would be considering a braid mainline and a flouro/co poly leader for the T-rigs. The braid will cast easier and give you better sensitivity and something like Hybrid is cheap leader material, incredible strong/abrasion resistant, and in 5-9 foot leaders can add some stretch/forgiveness to your line. The real cost benefit to braid is that since it doesn't take damage from light and time on the spool the same way mono does, it can last much, much longer.

All good advice. I'll jump on the heavier line/baitcaster train. I bought a Lews SS BB1 earlier this year and wanted to smash it. I spooled it with 20lb PP Super Slick and expected it would help with crankbait depth. Nope. It was catching on itself and causing hellacious backlashes, damaging line, and actually broke mid cast. I was fuming, but didn't want to give up on the reel, so I've since switched it to 30lb 832 and while it's still fickle compared to my Chronarchs, it casts a mile and the line comes off smoothly. Braid 20lb and under ---> spinning reel Braid 30lb and over ----> baitcasting reel Also, you might want to consider what you're dragging your braid over. While heavy braid (40lb+) can cut vegetation, anything smaller will get damaged, and even at that, braid is not the most abrasion resistant option around rocks, nasty wood, etc.

It's been toasty here in PA and I've been on the river mostly. I don't know anything about your lake other than what you've mentioned re:catching fish deep, but the above suggestions are all good. Forage is important also. Do you have schooling baitfish like Shad, alewifes, etc in the lake? Creeks will provide current and often cooler water and shade near the shallows. If you can run them, you may find fish. Cool water, and ambush opportunities are what active bass are looking for when it's hot. If the lake has Shad, look for deep water access near flats and keep your eyes open in the morning/evening for boils on the surface. Schooling bass will follow those schools and pop them from below. Heavy surface vegetation (the green stuff, avoid anything dieing/dead) will provide a,bush points and shade. Flipping, pitching, and frogging is pretty money, but don't be afraid to work the edges with walking baits or popper in the morning/evening or T-Rig during the day. Also, let the fish dictate your retrieve/presentation. Sometimes when it's hot, they want their food moving fast (reaction) and sometimes they're sluggish and want to stare at a dead sticked worm for 5 minutes before sucking it up.

d**n! This is crazy. I was thinking that if conditions got tough, he odds of seeing guys run the river for smallmouth would be higher for the sake of just grabbing numbers. I was not predicting Ike getting skunked on a familiar tidal river/bay.

Bingo. When I find that I'm having issues breaking off, it's almost always that 1) I'd fished through snags/fish/cover without checking the line for scuffs or 2) I tied a **** knot and it came undone. If you check your line and make sure you're tieing good knots, you'll alleviate this 90% of the time regardless of whether you're throwing 30lb Yozuri Hybrid or 6x tippets. We all hate to admit it, but user error accounts for 90% of what goes bad on the water.

Two weeks ago wearing a protective long sleeve, hat, bandana covering my neck (beard does a good job covering my face and luckily despite the greys, my hairline is pretty steady), and shorts I managed to get sun poisoning. After getting the boat on the trailer, I had to pull over 10 minutes down the road to dry heave. It was horrible. I was so focused on keeping us on fish, that during the drift I didn't eat, drink, or I guess apply enough sun screen to my legs and I was a mess. The sun is not kind to my Irish/Slovak/Russian genes.

I have an Avid X ML XF that I use for drop shots/really finesse plastics, light poppers (less than 1/4 oz), etc. For what you've mentioned, Kschultz is spot on. Anything MF/MXF Rage series or above would be a good fit. Feel them at a good tackle shop if possible.

This makes me hate you guys in the south. Lol My biggest limit here in PA was 26lbs and I damned near got struck by lightning trying to get off the water. It was absolute craziness. A buddy who was on the water with me also put together a bag in the 20lb range. I've also had some weird/freak days on the Susquehanna where we'd catch 20-30 smallmouth, a handful of channel cats, hook into a 20+Lb carp on light gear, and have a musky blow up a spook.

Most of my rods are St. Croix, so I might be a bit partial... Their MH has a lot of backbone and throwing poppers and jerk baits on it wouldn't feel right (to me). I have a 6'9 or so medium fast Rage that throws all of those lures well (mine is a baitcaster) and a 7' MF Premier spinning rod that I still really like as an "all around" type rod. If you are going to go St Croix, a few suggestions. The SCII blanks in the Triumph, Premier, and current Mojo lines (rumor is the Mojo lines will be ugraded to SCIII soon) are solid blanks for the $100-$120 range. However, the SCIII blank is a huge upgrade. If you check the St Croix website, the Rage series may still be on sale for $89 (nearly 50% off). If not, the Avid (full cork grip) and Avid X (exposed blank w/ cork grip and microguides) are great rods in the $200 range. Legend tournament/elite/extreme are all great higher end options, but the biggest jump in quality is from the SCII to SCIII blanks.

Congrats!

Welcome!

The thumb trick, or if that doesn't work (and especially wih braid) just keep pulling line until it catches. When it catches, pull the "catch" or loop preventing the line from flowing freely. All of this can be done from the top of the spool. One reason I prefer braid (in addition to all of it's casting benefits) is that it's limpness prevents it from getting crimped and weak in the event of a nasty backlash. Having to cut damaged line from a spool sucks.

Good luck, and speedy recovery. I have 5 herniated discs from a car accident 2 years ago. I had injections in the cervical as well as nerve eblasions (burning the nerves off the facet joint) and am going in to have my L5-S1 fused on the 31st, so I'll beright there with you recovering. Good luck, and keep mobile the best you can.

I have a Veritas 1.0 "winch" crankbait rod that I was really positively surprised by. It casts great, it's light, and it's comfortable to throw all day. I've felt the new 2.0s and they feel really similar. Either way, for the $100 mark, it's a pretty killer stick. Normally, I don't like foam grips, but the Veritas is kind of an exception.

River size influences who choices, but I've caught river Smallmouth this summer on: 3-4"tubes 5" senkos 3" grub on 1/16 oz heads X-Rap Pop (Perch) Baby torpedo A variety of crankbaits Lipless crankbaits Spinnerbaits Walking baits Fluke Dropshot (roboworm) They tend to not be super finnicky. Just match what they're eating, or throw reaction baits on current breaks, eddies, boulders (create eddies), wood, etc. Do you know how to read a river?

Congrats, man! That's pretty sweet.

Glad to hear the river is looking good out your way. I've been on the north branch the last two weekends and we've been boating 20+ a day.

I remember trolling a spoon or crankbait in the boat with my dad fishing for walleye when all hell broke loose. I hooked a 36-40" musky in the tail, and to this day, one of the weirdest fights I've ever had. Getting the hooks out was ridiculous. Treble hooks on one end, and teeth on the other with a whole lot of angry fish in between. I've had musky/pike bite off twister tail grubs on 1/8-1/16 oz jigs fishing for smallmouth. In a bigger river system, you really never know what you're going to catch throwing something as simple as a 3-4" grub.

That's awesome! There's a lot of info on here and a lots of folks with tons of experience willing to answer questions. I lurked on here for a while before registering when I got back into fishing a few years ago, and this place helped me a lot, too. Also, remember, any problem you're having now, some one (or likely all of us) has had it before, so always feel free to ask.

The drop shot flipping stick sounds pretty crazy. How large of a weight do you need to toss that thing? I'm still newish to drop shot fishing, and correct anything that seems wrong, but I've found a few things: - thin diameter line is huge, be it dealing with line shy fish, or being able to get good casting distance/accuracy with a spinning combo. - fast or extra fast tips make feeling the bottom and the strike a lot easier. Sometimes it's a pretty light "hit" - most places I've fished it have needed a light weight (less than 1/4 oz, typically 1/8) to get it down, but still allow me to feel the bottom. Also, to prevent the fish from feeling the weight, the lightest weight possible seems ideal to me. I just switched from using a med fast 7' premier, to a 6'9" AvidX med light x- fast and he difference was immediately noticeable.

For $100, it's tough. I started with a cheap baitcaster and an Ugly Stick, and really grew to hate that baitcaster. My suggestions - buy the best reel you can afford and spool it with something that has very low memory (buy a decent braid over 20#, if you can swing it). It's ok to have a cheap spinning reel so long as it doesn't fray line and the drag doesn't stick. Baitcasting is different. I liken baitcasters to fly rods - a bad one can ruin your day. Any of the used options you've heard above (for reels) are good options. If I were to start again tomorrow, I'd be looking for a used Curado/Chronarch/Revo etc rather than a brand new $60 reel. Braid will make backlashes fewer and easier to pick out (I use Suffix 832)without damaging the line compared to mono which can kink. So if you go cheap, go cheap on the Rod. Just make sure I isn't totally wippy with no backbone and you'll be fine. If you can shake up an extra couple of dollars, you can look into some of the more technique oriented Cabelas rods that are in the $40-$80 range.