papajoe222

I put a lot of time on the water and I change out mono twice a season and copoly once even though it likely wears out faster. I couldn't tell you if or when either 'needs' changing. In the grand scheme of things, the cost of line is right down there with hooks. I won't chance missing, or loosing fish to an affordable, replacement item. Kind of like replacing the tires on you car. You can hold out to get the full 60K out of a set, risking failure, or change them out at 45K and not concern yourself.

When it comes to cranking, a floating line makes absolutely no difference in the running depth of the lure, line diameter is the determining factor. Matter of fact, most manufacturers use 10lb mono for their suggested running depth. Mono, however has more stretch than fluoro, so many anglers prefer it. I've used fluoro for cranking, but issues with memory and line breakage turned me off. I now use 10-12lb. Yo-Zuri Hybrid YltraSoft for all my cranking applications. I even have one reel spooled with 6lb. It's breaking point is well above the listed lb. test.

As good as a jig and pig is, there are times when bass will ignore them. The first thing I try then is adjusting the fall rate, either by going lighter or heavier with the jig, or just switching out the trailer. If that doesn't work and I want to continue targeting the same cover, I switch to a worm with the weight pegged. It's basically the same presentation, but a different profile. If I'm targeting deeper structure, I'll grab the old ball and chain and start with a tube or other plastic that resembles a craw and switch to a worm if that doesn't work. Sometimes all it takes is getting the bait up off the bottom. If you haven't guessed, I'm not a big fan of drop shotting.

I have one and dislike the clacker also. I didn't cut it off, just haven't used it. I don't even use it at night as both the black buzzers I use give off plenty of noise squeeking and churning up the water. If I ever run into stained or muddied water, I may give it a go, but the waters I frequent are rarely, if ever, off colored.

Whatever one you get, make sure it's up and down angle adjustable. I had a cap light I thought was a great light with two different intensities of white and red light. The problem was I had to tuck my chin to my chest to get the light focused on what I was doing, and having bifocals I couldn't focus. I looked like a bobble head doll every time I went to retie or get a hook out of a fish. I went back to using a pen light and holding it in my mouth. The light points exactly where I'm looking and it has a pen style clip so I can keep it in my shirt pocket along side my hook sharpener. If I do loose it, I'm only out a couple of bucks.

The water level was way up there, especially compared to most of your pics. I love that big belly on that one. That doesn't look like a largemouth, though. Are smallies fairly abundant at TableRock? I'm looking forward to another trip down there or to one of the TVA lakes and if I had my druthers, I'd rather get into some decent small mouth.

Welcome and don't be a stranger here. There's plenty of good information and good folks here.

I just returned from a trip to Table Rock Lake. I haven't been there in 30+ years. All I can say is; I wish I knew then what I know now. I likely would have moved the family down lock, stock and barrel (when was the last time ya all heard that?). Structure.....endless Fishing pressure......non existent Wildlife......abundant Scenery.......breathtaking I haven't experienced schooling 3lb.-4lb. bass anytime in my lifetime, but enjoyed it a few times in my short stay. As far as fishing pressure goes, I can not fathom it being a factor in fishing a lake of this size even with multiple tournaments on week-ends. it's just too big for that to become a factor to have to deal with. 200 boats on a 1200 acre lake for a two day tourney is what I consider a pressured fishery. Any of you that live near or fish a big reservoir, consider yourself blessed. If you can compare Kentucky Lake to Wilson or Wheeler, you know what I'm talking about. Now I just gotta talk the other half into yearly trips, or it may be another 30 years until I get back and I'm pretty sure I can't fish from 6ft. under.

It's beginning to be a yearly ritual for me, three years running. Twice last year andonce this year already. The last four times I popped the hook out, or had someone at the launch do it for me. It freaked one guy out so much, he pulled rather than giving the loop a quick pop. He got it right the second time. Each time I was back fishing in no time. I now carry a loop of 60lb. braid in my on board first aid kit. I also started using a gripper to hold the fish when unhooking trebles.

With spinnerbaits, I'm a believer in the K.I.S.S. line of thinking. One 1/4oz. ***/8oz. and one 1/2oz. White/Chart, double Colorado blade. Choose a brand, get two pkgs. of skirts, one black or black/blue and one in a craw color. Then get a pkg of willow leaf blades in silver and one in gold. You now have 18 different spinnerbaits at 1/4 the cost. Just switch out the components and you're good to go.

Fast (reaction) bait.........spinnerbait bottom presentation........jig, or true Texas rigged worm finesse...........................2.75in. tube bait You can present a spinnerbait at most any depth, a jig can be hopped swam, or dragged along the bottom and a tube Canberra rigged any number of ways to cover from top to bottom.

You'll find a lot of right handed guys that do, if only for the fact that they don't have to switch hands after casting. I tried one once, kept trying to crank the rod while holding the reel handle steady. Looked like I was auditioning for a clown act,drunk, or both.

Most copies are less expensive than the original and there's a reason. Some originals are expensive for no reason other than the name on them. I've caught fish on cheap imitations, but I've also paid the price of loosing fish in doing so.

The problem with the open shank double hooks is that very few LSG stores carry them. I've just used a treble one size larger with a split ring, cut off the front hook and left the rear hook off. If you fish it similar to me, allowing it to fall to the bottom and then ripping it up similar to stroking a jig (an awesome summer retrieve), cutting that front hook off will save a few baits from getting hung up and lost. Most guys only use them in cold water, but they'll produce throughout the year

The best advise I can give you when fish aren't committing (and this applies to daytime fishing as well), is to change something. Anything from retrieve speed to lure size or type. Sometimes a subtle change is all that's necessary and other times changing the type of lure/presentation may be necessary. In this case, after trying different retrieves, I would have switched to either a buzz bait, or a wake bait like a Minus 1

Although a C-rig has been a staple, deep water presentation for me over the years, a 'bubba' drop shot has all but replaced it. I'm casting it most often and a short (18in.) drop to the heavier weight keeps the bait just off the bottom for the majority of my retrieve. That's where I prefer a C-rig's bait, but bite detection isn't only easier to detect, I feel I'm missing fewer bites now. I'm still covering water as quickly. The only downside is I used tungsten or brass weights for C-rigs and I'm using all lead for the 'bubba' rig so I sacrifice a little of the bottom information.

Add a cup of vinegar to the wash. That should take care of the smell. I won't comment on the stupidity because of the glass house thing.

Walking is easier if you maintain a timed rhythm, but you'll get more blow-ups if you change cadence or stop it occasionally during the retrieve, at least until you determine what's working best. Changing the rhythm is a little more difficult to master for beginners, but it's the best way to determine how the fish want it. I'll often revert back to doing just that when the bite dies off only to discover they wanted it with a wide slow cadence, or a quick start up after a pause when I'd been catching them with a steady quick walk earlier.

So, should I recalibrate my arm to tenths of a pound? If so, which eye do I press to go back to the default setting? Wait the eye is for zeroing it's the belly button for resetting, right?

My sentiments exactly. Actually, I don't like it for mainline for anything but cranking. Any line will break at its weakest point and although the knots would be the obvious places to be suspect, but a kink anywhere along its length will give out before a well tied knot will.

Four weeks! I'd have half a mind to give up half. I'm an OLD fart and I think I'd loose it if I got skunked four weeks straight. Maybe it's your bait?

Is this happening right off the get go? If so, simply thumbing your spool before the bait hits the water will solve the problem. I fish Spooks all the time with 30lb. braid and never run across this. If it happens somewhere during the retrieve, you're jerking and not twitching the rod tip. You can get a lure to walk three times it's length to one side or the other with just a twitch. Jerking the tip raises the nose of the bait and when it turns, the nose will cross over the line often times catching it on the front treble.

Beautiful, if I can use that word to describe a fishing rod. Give me ten years, or 100 builds and I still couldn't put together one that nice. Congrats Kent.

A little more info will get you more specific replies. I will say, however, that there are a few things you can do to make things a little less frustrating. The first is to cast either directly into or with the wind. Second, keep your rod tip low (as close to the water as possible. Both actions will help keep the wind from moving your line and lure.

What stage of the spawn/post-spawn are the fish in? On the lakes that I fish, the topwater bite is non-existent during the post-spawn for a couple of weeks. Four weeks is longer than I would expect. What are the weather conditions like? Water temp. is only one of the factors that influence an active bite. Are you catching them using another technique? Are you changing speeds with your topwater or trying a more subtle or aggressive style lure? Then there is the all important factor; LOCATION The more information you can give, the more specific your answers will be.