justfishin

Flechero, Thanks. These rods are worth checking into. A lot of the guys are sold on them here in Maryland. I worked a few top 150 tourneys on the Lower Potomac in the early 90's and a lot of the pro's used them as well, as I saw them on the decks of their boats. They are quality rods, for sure. Built well. I highly recommend them. I would say when the next bass show comes to your area this winter, check to see if a stand is set up for them. I know he comes to Baltimore and to the Harrisburg PA show. Hit the hyper-link in my post and take a look.

With out question, at least in my opinion, a Abu Garcia C3.

I had the tell tale " Bloody Thumb " yesterday, and thats how I judge a good day !!! ;D

Lets Jam.

How do you explain this to your insurance company?

Great job. Enjoy college, it will be a memorable experience. Now hurry up and get your Marine Biology Degree so you can give us some insights on the Bass !!! ;D

I am going by the strength. I have never broken a Older TAS rod and I have broken three on the hookset right at the same point, right a the second eye above the handle. That is my gauge for a before or after. It could be a fluke but, I have not bought any more of the newer ones and switched to Gator Rods, which are great rods for the price. A lot of us use them here in Maryland. I have a question for you Flechero. Do you know whose blanks Gator Rods uses? These really are great rods, and very tough. The owner is a stand up guy as well.

Tube, hands down.

Lol, so where did you guys find the Black Hash? ;D

You have my prayers.

I have quite a few Team All Star rods and really like them. Good rods for the money, however, check out eBay for some rods made before the buyout. There is a difference, at least I can tell the difference. St. Croix rods are also a good choice and I highly recommend Gator Rods out of Fla., not so much for brown bass but, they are a real work horse for green bass. www.gatorrods.com

I just use a 2/0 wide gap Gammy. I buy them because you can use them for 6" worms too. They work great for me and I have never had a problem. If you wanted to be more specific for your Wacky rig ( I only use the 5 1/8 to 6 " ones ) you could use a 2/0 or 3/0 Mosquito hook.

Get below anything blocking the current and creating a break in the current. Throw a tube straight up river to the current break, not sideways but, STRAIGHT UP RIVER. Start at the bottom of the break and work your way up. Let your tube do the work. Just stay with the basic Green Pumpkin Tube and a 1/8oz jig head. You will catch some. Just hole hop. Work each hole for ten minutes or so and if you do not get any bites, move to the next one. Good luck.

Just my two cents. RW gave you a good bait. I would also try a small no. 10 floating Rapala or a Bomber Long A but, up your hooks to no. 4's. Also, try a Zara Puppy or Spittin Image and don't forget the Senkos. Try a dark melon/gold flake on #8 test and spinning gear.Good luck.

For one thing, listen to what RW said. Also, some days smallies can be just persnickety, if that is a word and just be tail biters, I call them,lol. Today was a good example. My buddy and I fished from day break until around 2pm and only had 18-20. It was tough today. Our best ones were his 3-6 and my 5-6. I can tell you between us we must have missed 15 or so. I would get bit and set the hook only to come back with the tenticles tore off of my tube, lol. Its just that way sometimes. Aggravating?, yes, but, its just how it is sometimes. Hang in there and always have sharp hooks on. Good luck.

LOL, ;D ;D ;D

Catching largemouth is like dating, catching smallmouth is like the wedding night,lol. Just kidding you, nice fish and good job.

Yes, you guys are right. Its a good practice after every fish, even green bass, and if you are fishing wood, rocks, etc., and anything else that will wear your line. Its the only thing between you and the fish. It only takes a second to run your fingers along the line.

He is my all time favorite. He was certainly the king of the one liners. I saw a special on the comedy channel about him and they said he was one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. He evidently helped a ton of people get started in the business and coached them along the way. Rodney, you were one of a kind. I hope you have them laughing in heaven.

You got that right Frogtog. Good stuff,lol. ;D

I though I would give some of you younger guys or guys just starting out smallie fishing a heads up. I cannot express enough to check your line after every fish. I can't tell you how many times I have had guys in my boat lose big smallies for lack of maintenance on their line during the day. Smallies are notorious for head shaking, fighting you back and making erratic runs. They put the hurting on your line. Every time I catch a smallie I run my finger up the line and check for abrasion areas. If it feels a little rough I take the 30 seconds it takes to clip off the line and retie. Its just a good practice and will lower your chances of a break off. Good luck.

Thanks for the tips RW and Flechero on this line. I am always open to experimenting with lines. I am not a fluorocarbon line user and absolutely not a braid user. I am a mono kind of guy but, I think, at least so far, this YS is pretty good stuff. As far as lines for the type of pad field fishing I described its hard to beat XT in my book and I even go up to #25 test. I just have a feeling that this flouro coated line might give me a slight edge on the Zebra Mussels. Again, thanks for your opinions, as always, this site can give you a lot of heads up info.----Jim

You are right, grubs can be the ticket for smallies a lot of times. My favorite for the grub type bait is a 5" in the Bluegill color. Its a smoke with black,blue and gold flakes in it. A great producer around here and if you are having one of those days when you cannot buy a bite, a pearl white grub always seems to boat a few.

Thats the male inducing the female into dropping her eggs so he can drop his sperm on them. You were lucky enough to witness a wonderful part of life, procreation. Its the birds and the bee's my friend. Pretty neat you got to witness that. I had my granddaughter at the park yesterday feeding the geese, swans and ducks and it was pretty active, if you get my drift. She said " Pap, those ducks are playing piggy back ". I just said, Uh, huh. I will let my son have to explain all of that,lol. Its his turn,lol.