Columbia Craw

Crankbait and crankbait.

A-Jay, your post is no surprise knowing you as well as I do. I started fishing in trout country and just liked to go fishing for anything that would bite. In my teens other sports rolled in including bird hunting. I stumbled into motorcycles and my hobby life was centered around moto- cross, which I miss even at my age. Family growth and a broken back led to my MC retirement. A move to SW Washington opened up an opportunity to fish but not for bass initially. I was bit by the steelhead bug and bad. I don’t dabble. I jump all in. I had a drift boat, started building my own custom rods and added fly fishing to the bucket. The progression was normal, tie flies, build fly rods, raft rivers. I met Big John and was invited to a bass club meeting. I met some very good anglers and two fished Classics by way of the Federation route. I liked the guys and joined. It was several years before I chose to let the cold water fishing go. It was too “predictable” and access had become a problem. I went all in with bass fishing. I tried to golf so my boys and I had a common interest. Golf and I don’t get along. My bass fishing became my priority of hobbies. I also like “the stuff.” Now I fell into the progression. Catch fish, catch lots of fish, catch big fish (5) and catch lots of big fish. Of course the desire to fish other bodies of water fell in line. But this is where it got fragile. My Dad was diagnosed with cancer, I lost my job and sold almost all my tackle and small boat. My Dad died three years later and I had started a new career that allowed me to rebuild. My wife was then diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I could not bring myself to fish at all. I fished three small tournaments in a four year span and that was it. A couple years later I got another boat and things took a turn for the positive. I could breath again. It was at this point that I got a real taste of what good smallmouth fishing was. That was juice for me. Then my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. I didn’t fish for three years or so. The last several years have been hit and miss. I’m retired now. COVID dumped most of this season. Now I just hope to fish. I signed up to be a coach for my club’s student anglers and help those kids out. My grand children are approaching the age to get out with me. I honestly don’t care about fishing competitions. I do like fishing certain techniques and will target smallmouth over largemouth. Oh, and I still like the stuff!

Those of us in the Pacific Northwest take our coffee very very serious.

I dated a girl named Karma in high school. Nothing good ever came of it.

The past few acquisitions. The Luvias is courtesy of Big-Bass.

Okay, I got more than Vicks and Beano. Yesterday was my b-day so I got I received a two occasion gift. A reel. Surprise!?

Anyone want to see my new Luvias or Lews skippin reel? Nah... I didn’t think so.

You are a lucky guy. Dworshak is an exceptional smallmouth lake that puts out the occasional 8 plus. You will find a half ounce egg sinker will work to as deep as thirty feet. Main line will be lighter at 12 to 14 and leaders at 8 pound but you’ll find it works fine. Get ready to hone your drop shot skills and jerk bait skills.

So several of you have mentioned the Max Scent Flat Worm. Some have even touted it to be “ the deal” drop shot bait. When I first learned about this bait it from Berkeley pros so the credibility was already in question. Now that folks here have endorsed it, those who buy their own, I’m going to risk making a bunch of my baits sit on the bench. My local tackle store had the green pumpkin only which is fine. It looks very similar to the Yamamoto 176 color. With the after Christmas sale , I couldn’t say no. Full report to follow.?

So let’s hear it! I’ll kick it off........ a brand new jar of Vicks and a bottle of Beano. Anything else would pale to such thoughtful gifts from my wife.

I’m going to try this and plan on listening to The Rubber Band Man by the Spinners during the installs.

Paul Mueller and Gary Dobyns. They would have to do because A-Jay is always busy. But that’s cool because I would want to go through his tackle boxes but that’s not necessary because he posts photos of everything........ which is nice.

I’m just happy that I have access to both species. They are exactly the same only different.

The little lights aren’t twinkling

COVID shut my entire spring down. By the time waters opened, it was into summer patterns. So, deep was dominant. Robo Worm, Dream Shot and an assortment of other drop shot baits came in first. The 6th Sense Curve 55 was a producer in crayfish patterns. In the fall, the Dark Sleeper was a sweet bait. The fish choked it! I also committed to deep cranking and had some good success. Normans DD 22, 6th Sense Cloud 9 and SK 6XD baits all came through. I expect to expand on this bite in 2021 and A-Jay was kind enough to sell some perfect deep runners to me so things look promising. I, like most of you want to get this year behind me.

That reel is sick !!!!

Tatula SV TW

That series is for all purposes a Champion 703C split grip with some cosmetic changes. The 703 makes a very good all round rod and should do well for your needs. To be fair and transparent, all Champions are on sale at TW right now. If you paid full MSRP for the Roumbanis you can return it and just order a Champion at 30 percent off and save a bunch. It’s your option. It could free up seventy five bucks.??

They are very different. The Kage has the monocoque body. No side panels with screws. Kage has mag seal bearings. Neither reel has a bearing on the spool shaft but do have large nylon support bushings. The Kage feels more refined and is lighter. You can have the cork knob. If it’s size for size, the Luvias is made in Japan.

As a reel goes, I have two. I bought one from a forum member. That price is really good. They are superb reels. The handle is large. That’s easy to remedy.

What is so utterly amazing is the diversity of it’s members. To think you can read or watch information from folks in Canada, Mexico, New York, the Great Lakes region, the Entire country for that matter is very very special. Even those around Toledo Bend.? I just love it.

I have the 743 C as well. The current generation has a boost of power in the middle third of the blank. During a trip in October I was a back seater with limited room and this was one of the models I relied on. I fished a wide range of baits a weights with success. It was fantastic with a 1/2 ounce Dark Sleeper. It’s funny to think I bought it to pitch unweighted Senkos which it does so well.

I hate line twist more that beets. Braid mitigates that so well it gets the nod. The Ned rig is the truest finesse tactic I fish so 6 FC does the majority of the work. We still don’t have zebra mussels so 6 does fine with the right rod and reel.

Just an FYI, The rotors can also get bound and canted. This caused a screech on a cast. I pulled the rotor out ever so slightly and let it snap back in alignment. Good to go.

I shared this last year. I want to thank everyone for all the information and interactions. I realize that duration doesn’t necessarily mean experience. I have picked up some great tips this last year that will make me a better angler. I hope I did likewise. This site and forum has been one of the few constants during a crazy year. Checking in is like having coffee and shooting the breeze with like minded friends. It’s more than stuff. It’s like therapy. Where else can you get that and not chuck out $200.00 bucks an hour except Tackle Warehouse? So there it is. I appreciate the tackle I bought on the flea market, the suggestions, sharing of experience an humor. Want a refill? CC