HoosierHawgs

Save your money and get a Laser MG. Or just the regular Speed Spool SSH1 Baitcaster would be my recommendation. Graphite frame reels will flex. I own a laser MG and like it though. That's the one I would buy. Lew's are the best at their price range though. I will never buy another brand of reel as long as Lew's is going strong.

Interesting. Will check up on this. We do not have any close, which is an annoyance. It still irks me they did this, as well as the fact that they bought out Gallyans. They were great stores, with a great selection of outdoor gear, fishing, camping, kayaking, boating, they had it all. Even their own store brand fishing gear. The closest thing to Gallyans now is Academy Sports near where my family lives in Jacksonville, Florida. I make trips to it each year. Just not a fan of Dick's At least the ones near me.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/75803-are-bass-color-blind/

Nice! I wish I lived that close!

Has anybody fished it this year? I have fished it previously, but didn't get out to it this year. I had a pretty good year elsewhere though! I will be getting a SOT fishing kayak for fishing Eagle Creek and Raccoon Lake exclusively next year, so I wanted to start gathering info on them now. If you have fished either lake, did you catch anything? What were you cathcing, and how were you catching em? Any help is appreciated!

I refuse to shop at Dick's as their selection is hopeless. Also, my firm stance on the second amendment is problematic with the way they sell firearms. After taking all of their AR's down, but leaving the ammo their, which is what makes them the most money, for the sake of "political correctness" irks me off.

Gander mountain has a deal w/ a $30 rebate on Lew's tournament MG. This is seperate from the Lew's manufacture $30 rebate. That makes it a $80 reel. It is $60 if you order it online from their website and use the code SAVENOW, and then apply both rebates.

8# is my preference for leader. I assume this is being fished on spinning tackle? Also, use a double uni knot. This is the only knot I ever use to connect line to line, it hasn't failed me yet.

Depends on how dirty it is. I would send it to a professional as well. I normally would not recommend putting a reel in water, as moisture causes a lot of problems, but if it has sand and mud in the gears, and has already been sitting in the water, then it probably wouldn't hurt that much. You want to make sure it is dried very thoroughly as water in the gears and bearings will cause major problems. I clean my reels using rubbing alcohol (Because it dries fast), very selectively.

Plan on doing some trolling from the yak next year. Kinda different for me, so hopefully it causes some exiting action. There is a great article about trolling from a kayak along the lines of "The Backcountry Downrigger"

I would insert the rattle anytime the water has any type of stain to it, and there is some cloud color or overcast. Soft plastic lures are a bait that the bass have to visually hone in on, so when visibility is reduced, inserting the rattle can give the fish another way to locate the bait, even though its only hearing the general direction, not the exact location. When the water or skies are clear, leave the rattles in your bag. The fish will be able to see your bait, and inspect it thoroughly, so you want to make it as natural as possible. Real bait doesn't rattle when it crawls, swims, or slithers by, so your bait shouldn't either. I would take this philosophy with all of my lures. W/ cranks, I fish rattle less models in clear water, rattling models in dark water. With spinnerbaits, in dirty water I fish a colorado blade, sometimes a coated kicker blade, or a bladed swim jigs. In clear water I fish a double willow blade, or a swim jig w/out a blade. I have caught my fish this way, and it may be different for everybody. Just my 2 cents.

To answer your question, absolutely not. Bass are partly colorblind, so color is not that big of a deal in my opinion. When you are fishing dirty water, contrasting jig and trailer can help highlight each other for visibility to the fish. If you are fishing clear water, try to match closely what the forage is. It is all about what you are doing. When it comes to fishing a football jig, I will often match both the skirt and trailer color to crawfish I find in the area. If you find one in a basses mouth with a different coloring, take a felt pen and make an on the spot color change. With a flipping jig, if in clear water, or green tint water, my favorite combo is an Okeechobee Craw Skirt matched w/ a black chunk w/chartreuse pinchers, which most wouldn't think matches, but it works. For swim jigs, I fish 3 combos. Black and Blue Skirt w/a black, blue, purple trailer, an Okeechobee Craw Skirt W/a green pumpkin or orange and blue trailer for imitating a bluegill, and a white skirt w/a pearl w/silver flake colored trailer for imitating shad.

This summer was the year of the weightless stickbait for me!! I caught most of my smallmouth on a wacky rigged stickbait in a watermelon red flake color. I also caught some on swim jigs.

The stick bait is the bait of choice for me due to it's versatility. I can make long cast, but I can also cast it accurately on a shorter rod. Just by changing the cadence of my retrieve I am also able to give the fish a different look. You can pull schoolers up from deep water, or fish it around shallow grass. It also represents many different things smallmouth eat, from shad and other baitfish to snakes.

Stay as far away as possible. If you can step back behind them and take a weightless stick bait an cast it slightly behind or in front of them quietly on light line you can get them to bite. If you position the bait so the current carries it to them also helps. But making long cast with spinning tackle and weightless stick baits is how I catch most of my smallmouth in a clear, shallow running creek by the house.

Seems to be! I am looking into Kayaks myself. I would love to get a used boat, and just saw a really clean looking 2005 Bass Tracker Fully Loaded for $6,000. It's too bad I don't have any room to put the boat.

Do you make a trip to Guntersville? That's a ways away!

Noticed this also. I really like my 10 bearing Prolite. It's a smooth reel, durable, versatile, and extremely light and well palmable.

What was your opinion of the Ascend? I've heard mixed opinions, but it has the features I want, and is a good price! My worries are leaking (which if it does I can seal it easily myself and tighten the vilts no problem) and weight, as it is slightly heavier than other yaks. I'm more interested in stability than maneuverability.

I fished from the bank, and from a yak, and I never flip or pitch from the bank. You just can't get close to the cover and have the leverage you need. When from the shoreline I always cast past my target and fish through it.

All of those listed above are important classification. Base your selection on current conditions. Hot summer day? Deep diver w/ a wide wobble (round sided) and lots of sound will pull fish out of the depths. Blue bird fall day? Silent squarebill in natural colors is your best bet! Murky water conditions? A large 5/8 oz squarebill in a bright purple bluegill hue w/a big rattle will present a large assuming profile for bass to hone in on. And lastly, I think to winter, where a deep running, silent bait w/a tight wiggle (flat sided) will end winter lockjaw. This is also a great option as a springtime bait if you add a suspend strip to it, and give it long pauses.

Analysis Paralysis bro!

Short fatties are my favorites!

I would definitely harvest any undesirable fish you catch. Whether they are small, or are u desired species, take them and fry em up! But I would not take every dunk either. Take enough so that the population is no longer stinted, but not so that you take all of them. Just keep the population below the tip population limit

Definitely worth $70. I just bought one off a guy for 65. Great reel for that price, or the original price