YaknBassn

I'll rig up a little jig, chuck it at some bushes and spend some time catching bream. It takes away the sting of saying "nothing" when my wife asks if I caught anything. Sometimes, I'll stop fishing altogether, pull out my binoculars and bird watch. I've got a book that I use to identify species. Everything from Kingfishers to Bald Eagles.

I have this thing about using something different than everyone else, so I made a blind buy on an Ark Rods Invoker. I'm glad I did. I've since acquired at least one from each series, except the Sniper lineup. I love the feel and finish. Another rod I have that I love is the Daiwa Aird. Feels so much better than a $50 rod. I use mine as a topwater rod, so I can't speak on sensitivity, but it does exactly what I need it to dom.

I enjoy using it. Very refined for a $130 rod. The Invoker rods are my favorites. Well worth the money with a solid warranty backing them.

I had an older fella blow up on me for fishing too close to his dock. I simply apologized, told him I meant no harm, and would move on. As I moved away, he got my attention and apologized to me for acting the way he did. Come to find out, he found a jig stuck in one of his boat seats with a sizeable tear. Maybe the property owner was being completely unreasonable, but I figure the fishermen didn't help the situation. If someone causes a stink, it's easier to just move on. There's plenty of water to fish.

Hard limit of $200 on a rod and $150 On a reel. I don't get to fish often enough, nor am i financially blessed enough to warrant a $600+ combo. If I were able to fish daily and had money falling from my rear, I still wouldn't because I'm not skilled enough to reap the rewards. I have wondered though, is the difference between a $200 rod and a $500 rod as drastic as a $200 rod and a $30 rod?

I use them, abuse them, and love them. I made a blind buy and glad I did it. I've got two Invokers and a Tharp series rod.

I've been fishing maybe a half dozen times. It isn't going well.

I guess I got lucky. My wife tells me to go fishing whenever I start to irritate her just a bit. For me, fishing is an acceptable excuse to get out of nearly anything. "My parents want to do brunch Saturday." "I was planning on going to the lake." "Oh, well...I'll just tell them you had to work."

As mentioned, a drop shot. If traditional drop shot baits aren't working, I'll rig up a drop shot fluke.

1. Lake Guntersville is one giant pet peeve. I love the lake, I really do, but some of the people who fish it are just nuts. If you're seen landing a bass, there's suddenly three boats within a 100 yards of you. At the least, one is going to troll by and waypoint the spot. 2. People who fish IN the ramp. This is an issue with less popular launches. Fishing from the dock is one thing, but don't set your chairs up and stroll your tackle all over the ramp then get pissy when someone needs to use the ramp. 3. This is a kayak issue. When boats come by on plane, then quickly throttle down when they come by. I'd rather you stay on plane and go. Even in a kayak, I'm aware of where the channel is and stay clear. 4. Pleasure boaters and jet skis.

Bought a few items.

I try to be a minimalist. I guess I am with rods, as I'll only bring 5 or 6. I struggle to keep tackle to a minimum. Even though I have a general idea of what I'll be fishing, I still bring everything. I wish I could keep it simple and only bring a couple different sizes or colors of whatever I'm throwing.

Work sucks ?

I wear long sleeve UPF shirts, buff, gloves and a hat. I just lather sunscreen on exposed skin like my legs and feet. I find I stay cooler with sleeves on anyways.

Thanks for all the input. I guess with the frustration, I never even stopped to think that they weren't there. I need to learn to be more versatile and stop dialing in so hard on unproven water.

I struggled all last year, but finally realized that I wasn't really taking time to properly fish an area. So I picked out a stretch of water that has a little bit of everything so I can attempt to break it down and fish effectively. There's lay downs, humps, cover, and it meets the river channel with a steep drop off. This the area I fished yesterday and today: The water in the shade was around 66°, Water was slightly stained with visibility around 3-4', and max depth was around 8'. I started with a Chartreuse/White spinnerbait. I worked in down the bank, hitting isolated bushes, etc. Nothing. Then I thought the Chartreuse may be too much, so I swapped to a Bluegill pattern. Nothing. Swapped over to a Black/Blue flipping jig. Worked it down the shoreline, into bushes and laydowns, fished some submerged timber and stumps. Nothing. Switched over to a dropshot, fished the same stretch of timber and got nothing. I need some direction. Im at a loss and it's getting frustrating. I guess it could be that they didn't want to bite, but the only consistency is me not getting bites.

My favorites are 1. Ark Rods 2. Falcon 3. Daiwa They may not be the "best" but they do what I need them to do and I enjoy using them.

Guys, I'm in the market for new sonar unit. I really want something with Downscan/Sonar and GPS capabilities. I've narrowed it down to two units, Humminbird Helix 5 G2S or Lowrance Hook2 5 Splitshot. Id just like to know some pros and cons of each, which has more useful upgrades, and which one you guys that are more experienced with sonar recommend.

Alabama isn't as cold, but the weather sucks just as much. 60s & 70s and clear through the work week, followed by torrential rains on Saturday, and cold on Sunday. Fished a tournament in early March and haven't really fished since because weekends and weather won't get on the same page.

I've got two Cabelas Tourney ZX rods and I love them, especially with the $70 sale price. Both are finesse spinning m rods though. I just bought a Dobyns Colt cranking rod. I haven't used it yet, but it feels great in hand. I don't do a whole lot of cranking, so the $80 price sold it for me. Take a look at the Revo X reels. Great reels at their price point

I've got a 6'6" M/F that I use for small topwater poppers and such. It's a decent rod for its price, but wouldn't be at the top of my list for a bottom contact rod.

I'll spend more on the rod. Most of mine are fairly balanced as far as price goes. $100-200 rods paired with $100-200 reels. I've got no problem with putting a Black Max on a $200 rod, but I will not put an MGX on an Ugly Stik. Any reel will cast. Even cheap ones will launch a lure and retrieve it, but a $20 rod is like fishing with a piece of lumber.

Ark Invoker 7'4" Mag Heavy is an option if you're willing to get a rod just a bit longer. For a rod with It's rated specs, it's a long way from a broomstick. I use it for punching but I think it could easily handle frogs without problem. If I'm not mistaken, they're still on sale for $120. Excellent buy at that price.

I may pick a Lighting rod up for those purposes. I've got an H20xpress Mettle reel that isn't doing anything. Thanks for that suggestion.

So, I've been trying to slowly build my arsenal to point in which I can pick and choose what to take out. I currently have four setups, with a 5th rod on the way. These are what I have and what I use them for. Feel free to point out anything you would do differently. Daiwa AirdX 7' M/F - Traps, Soft Jerkbaits, Topwater ARK Invoker 7'3" MagMH/F - Frogs, Texas Rigs Falcon 6'10" H/F - Carolina Rigs, Jigs Abu Vengeance M/F Spinning Ark Invoker 7'4" MagH/F(ordered) - Punching I would like to replace the Aird, but I'm not sure if I should do that or order a cranking rod. I've never really enjoyed cranking, but I've never had a dedicated setup. You guys tell me. You're better bass fishermen than me. My budget is around $150.