roadwarrior

We fished Pickwick on the lake and below the dam. We wacked 'em! Largemouth on the lake early with a Senko and Red Eye Shad. Later on the river it was all smallies: Rage Tail Menace, Rage Swimmer, BPS Tender Tube #71 and live bait. Surprisingly artificials were the best producers. Best largemouth was caught on the Red Eye Shad and my partner caught a 6 1/2 smallmouth on a Menace. My best was 4 1/2 on a Rage Swimmer.

Well, you don't need a Lexus to drive to the store and you certainly don't NEED a Stella to catch bass. However, it's not just about "catching", most of the time it's about "fishing" (cast & retrieve). I have owned a variety of Shimano spinning reels over the years, but for the past decade or so I have added to my collection of Stella. They are like holding kitty cat in the palm of your hand.

Nice fish, great pics!

GLX MBR 844C Jigs and weighted soft plastics. Perhaps the best "all-around" rod GLX MBR842C Swim jigs, small swimbaits and Cut-R. Mine is matched with a Core 50Mg and #10 Tatsu. Perhaps my all-time favorite production rod GLX BCR893 Weighted soft plastics, especially the Rage Tail Menace and Structure Bug

Excluding soft plastics and jigs, I don't think I have lost a single lure in several years.

Nice fish, great pics!

INCREDIBLE!

Just got back and heading out again on Wednesday. Fish the shorline from the TVA ramp to the power lines about two miles down. Alternate both banks, left and right. Position your boat about 5 yards out beyond casting distance. ALWAYS retrieve with the current. The hottest lures right now are the Rage Menace and BPS Tender Tube #71.

Really... Ande is recognized as the standard for fishing World Records. #6 has the same diameter as Yo-Zuri Hybrid. https://andemonofilament.com/pages/line-specs

CONGRATULATIONS!

CONGRATULATIONS!

To round up to five right now I would add a jerkbait set-up and The Rig.

I have a couple, but more importantly Gary has built several for our Warrior Project.

WOW!

Rage Tail Menace, T-rigged.

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing_lures/DHC7-761-CAHFS-primmus-review.html

I still prefer the Baby Craw. BTW, a few years ago we had a BassResource RoadTrip at Pickwick. On Sunday we had The Storm Of The Century, 18" of rain! The only boat on the entire lake to leave safe harbor was Big O and two soldiers just back from their third tour in Iraq. The long version of this story is pretty interesting, but I will just cut to the chase here: 144 smallmouth including two Personal Bests! They caught a few on the newly released Red Eye Shad, but the vast majority were fooled by the Rage Tail Baby Craw (watermelon/ red flake).

All four of my rods have different Power and Action, so I cannot make a direct comparison, but in my hands the sensitivity is about the same.

I have two Rainshadow Immortals and two Eternity2. My hands really can not distinguish between these blanks and the G. Loomis GLX series. That said, I will recommend the Eternity2. I am quite sure you will be VERY pleased.

That's a fact, Jack! However, it looks like a mud puddle to me and I doubt there are any bass calling it home.

I use#3 EWG Worm Hooks, weightless with Rage Tail Menace on the outside arms. For the inside arm try both a Rage Swimmer with a 1/4 oz swimbait head or a Johnson Silver Minnow. http://www.yumbaits.com/yumbrella-r-flash-mob-jr-willow-blade -Kent

If you are looking at the high end, custom builds are actually less expensive. I have 5 customs that cost less than $400 each. Contact Mike at DVT and discuss your dream rod with him. http://www.delawarevalleytackle.com/

Mike has tweaked several of my reels including Stella, CTE200, Core and Curado. I am sure you would be VERY happy with his work. http://www.delawarevalleytackle.com/