Ozark_Basser

Sorry Mike if I'm spreading misinformation. I was going by the the sizing on the Getbit website. Its the only place I've bought guides from.

People tend to forget that spots are actually river fish. River spots compared to lake spots are beasts though.

It should say the size of the guide (5 or 5.5 for example) and the diameter of the tube in mm. It should be a snug fit when slipped on dry without the tip top adhesive. What are using to measure your tip diameter? Calipers work great. Digital calipers are even easier. Try some different sites if it doesn't show both measurements.

Jerkbaits are a lot of fun to fish with. I use a jerk pause jerk jerk pause cadence with bigger pauses in cold water. Once the water gets over about 55 degrees, i only pause about one or two seconds. Make sure you are jerking on slack line. This is key if you want the most action out of the bait. Braid with a fluoro leader makes this a lot easier. Jerkbaits are the only treble hook baits I like with braid.

As far as sheer pulling power, I feel it goes to the spot. But if they got drunk one night and took it outside, I'd say smallie.

It can, but I like mono on most topwaters due to its stretch. It's all about preference though.

Very true. Although not as chunky, even though that spot I caught was much chunkier than your average creek bass, every time I catch a 17" smallie in current it feels like a beast.Well winter's over now. No four pounders but caught some decent creek bass. I figured if I put myself on blast haha I'd put in the time to make sure I caught that twenty incher, but that wasn't the case. Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. I'm making it a mission to catch that 20" 4 lb smallie before the end of the year. Its happened before so I don't see why not.

Which Ozark stream were you fishing?

Power fishing in the heaviest cover available.

You at either braking off or retying more than your buddies. I like to use braid with a fluoro leader. This will slow that down a lot.

This is pretty interesting to think about. However, in my opinion, the only time braid possibly could be less sensitive than fluoro is on a long cast in deep water. Due to the buoyancy of braid, the line would have a bow in the middle of it, but then again, fluoro will have a bow in the opposite direction due to its density. So I still say braid is more sensitive due to less stretch.

If you aren't going to be fishing extremely heavy cover with frogs and jigs or super deep water with heavy jigs 5/8 oz or heavier, a 7MHF with a good tip will work just fine. I do it all the time. However, I have two different set ups for each. I use straight braid for frogs and braid/fluoro leader for jigs. I don't like having to cut the leader off and tie on a frog every time I want to use the frog, so I have two different set ups.

http://www.mudhole.com/Rod-Building/Rubber-Butt-Caps-Gimbals/The-Balancer-Removable-Butt-Cap This is what I would use.

Dangggg. That was nice. I think I'm going to start pretending I'm a little kid and joining forums to get free stuff.

You definitely know more about bass spawning behavior than I do, but I am not so convinced that water temperature has less to do with spawning periods than photoperiod, at least not in my waters. I'll use Bull Shoals Lake and The Buffalo National River as a comparison. On Bull Shoals, I'll find fish on beds in late March and April every year. Forty five minutes south on the Buffalo, it is always much later. I've even caught a smallmouth full of eggs in mid June more than once. The Buffalo never gets as cold as Bull Shoals does in the winter, nor as hot as Bull Shoals in the summer due to constant moving water. In other words, it takes longer to heat up and cool down. This leads me to believe temperature has to play a major role in the spawning cycle. Perhaps it's regional. In Florida and Georgia, where the water temps can stay suitable for spawning, the bass use photoperiod as an indicator more than bass accustomed to colder water temperatures. But what about places in Florida where bass can spawn twice a year? How would photoperiod play into that?

22" and healthy = +/- 5 lbs for spots and smallies.

Solid 5. Nice fish!

I'm going this weekend. Water should clear up a lot more by then. I'd hit up the lake, but the boat is in need of some TLC, so the creek it is.

Pitching with my left hand is definitely something I want to learn this year.

I don't come across this sort of situation often, but I did last weekend. Got a bite fishing parallel to the break with a chatterbait.

http://webapp.navionics.com/Learn to read a topo and do some reading on seasonal patterns. If you have a lot of heavy cover on your lake, there will be fish there all year day and night.

Depends. For fishing heavy cover no one in their right mind would use a medium powered rod, but more than anything for me it depends on the technique.

I tend to forget scissors and pliers when I go bank fishing, and a tape measurer. Any combination or all of those things. I havent forgot the camera though in quite some time. Ive learned my lesson there. Just last season I finally learned to force myself to let a jig fall on completely slack line. It definitely pays off.

Custom painted hardbait? Maybe a spook or a crankbait? I don't know if that would exceed your budget though.