papajoe222

Trimming definately stiffens a weed guard and there are times when that's advantageous. Wood and rock are two. Other times I'm in the same group as others; spread it out and leave a V. One thing I don't do is thin out the fibers.

If you have a reel that never had noise and has developed it, something is either worn, or loose. Bearings normally wear over time, so noise from them would have started out faint and gotten louder with time. Brass gears will wear over time, too. Again, it isn't a noise here today that wasn't there yesterday. If that's what happened, something broke or a spring failed somewhere.

If that is a closed line tie, it could be a Northland Tackle Reed Runner. Kind of hard to see in the pic. If it's an R bend line tie, I would venture to say it is either a store brand, or one made by an individual and sold at an LSG.

I throw them from ice-out until the lake freezes back over. I start out light and go heavier during the summer. I stick with the heavier ones until they stop producing, sometime in late October here. My two most productive retrieves are stroking them off the bottom and letting them fall back to the bottom and counting them down to a certain depth and using a burn/short pause retrieve. The only variation is in the early spring, after ice-out. Then I go light and slow with an occasional twitch of the rod tip.

I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t make a difference. I tore up my last Rage Bug on a dink and switched to a 5in. tube, same result, another dink.

Fixed docks have stationary pilings, many are made of wood. Regardless of the material used, they collect moss and algae and in turn create a food chain in addition to the cover of the dock. Floating docks don't have that attractant and only offer shade.

Feeding windows change daily, but we all know you can catch fish that aren’t feeding. Personally, I go fishing when I can. That being said, I find that as the water cools, the fish move up in the water column to warmer water until the lake turns over. Although the sun doesn’t warm the water as well in the fall, I still feel that later in the day gives you a slight advantage.

Manufactures will normally suggest a retail price of 150%-200%+ over what they sell an item for to their distributors. Retailers will 'slash' prices 50% and still make a profit. The manufacture even offers small discounts to them if they order a certain quantity or pay withing a set time period. Personally, I, too, can't figure out how Bagley can produce a balsa bait that is as affordable as theirs are.

I don't know about the TVA lakes, but in the fall I concentrate on crawfish imitations. Red lipless cranks, soft plastics and jigs. Even with topwaters, I avoid shad patterns, opting for dark underbellies or all black. My reasoning being that the fish are there looking primarily for craws and gills and not out chasing schools of baitfish.

It depends on the presentation I'm using. I tune crankbaits to run left or right and use them similarly for both types of docks. For most other presentations, I'll do my best to get them under suspended docks, or along any shade a floating dock offers.

Mainline. I had Invizx on two of my combos and wasn't impressed with the amount of stretch, expecially compared to Abrazx. I've also used Sunline Sniper, but didn't care for the stiffness. It always wanted to jump off the spool and the little thumb pressure needed to control it would cut into casting distance.

I'm in need of some fluorocarbon line for my three crankin' combos and was checking out some different brand's offerings when I came across Sunline Crank. According to the ads, it's designed specifically for cranks and jerkbaits. One of the attributes cited was more stretch than conventional fluorocarbon lines. I'm assuming it also has less memory. Has anyone used it and what is your opinion?

Rocket Shad

I lost my favorite black, double blade buzzer last night, but not after catching 4 LM and a smallmouth. I couldn't retrieve it fast enough for them to miss it. Sometimes speed kills and sometimes slow and steady does it. I can't remember the last time I threw a 1/4oz. one, but I have a few 3/8oz. with big blades that I can crawl along to top.

For a day trip, I limit it to two hours driving and there are an abundance of lakes within that range for me. I take one 400mi. trip every year and usually one trip to the Ozarks (about 9hr.), but I skipped that one this year due to gas prices.

I use a MH/MF 7'6" baitcaster paired with a 7.1 ratio reel. I use 40lb. Suffix braid and that bit of extra give in the tip section helps with hookups. MegaStrike Cavitron Black/Black (1/2oz.) and a War Eagle, same weight Chart/White are my best producers, but I also like an in-line like D&M offers.

Par 3 with a wedge and a putter

Almost included it in my list, but that doesn't mean it's forgotten.

For big shallow baits, I like Boooyah XCH 5/8oz. and the Mann's 1-Minus. My favorite shallow cranks are Norman's Fat Boy and Live Target Flat side. Med. I like the Spro Little Jon and Norman's Middle N. Deep is relative as I rarely crank any deeper than 18ft.-20ft. but the Bomber FatFree Shad and Switchback can reach down there along with a Storm Hot N Tot. For shallow and med. runners I use cranking sticks that I've built on Med. and MH-Mod/Fast action blanks and 6.3:1 Daiwas. For the deep stuff I pair a Daiwa 5.5:1 on an old St. Croix MH that is closer to a heavy Mod/Fast.

The sexy dawg is easier to walk, but the spook has more drawing power for me. I use the three hook for a slow, wide walk, when I want less forward movement and for walking around a stump or stick-up and the two hook when I’m looking to speed things up.

You see a lot of YouTube videos and articles about pro's top bait choices for this time of year. I'm curious if your choices mirror the majority that you see or hear about, or do you take a different route? I pretty much ditch slow/finesse presentations in favor of faster moving ones unless I'm faced with tough conditions. My top choices are a short arm/single blade 1/2oz. spinnerbait (it's a killer drop bait), white swim jig with an action trailer, 3/8oz. blade bait, tube jig and a buzzbait, or Spook for topwater. I may switch the blade bait for a lipless for fishing vegetation. If I feel I need to slow down, I can work the jig on the bottom, or go with a lighter tube that i can swim slower, or switch to a Colorado blade on the SB.

The first thing I do is check the weather reports for the days leading up to that day. I'm looking for stable patterns, wind, barometer, day/night temps, etc Then, I'm checking fishing reports looking for any changes in fish locations, water level, productive lures, patterns; basically whatever others are willing to 'share.' Then, I break out a topo map of the lake and check out potential spots based on whatever info I've obtained. I keep my rods in my vehicle, so I don't rig the ones I'll be using treble hooks on. For those, I just make up a small assortment in a Plano. The single hook presentations get tied on the night before. As for structure, I look for transition areas that will likely have some form of cover or bottom composition change. I base my starting points on the season. along with many of my lure choices.

Are you looking at a casting, or spinning rod? The only St.Croix multipiece rod I have experience with is their Trumph casting rod. It performs exceptionally well for a four piece rod. It's an SCll version, whereas the Avid Treck is a three piece SClll

It sounds to me like the anti-reverse isn't engaged completely. If it's a Daiwa, push up on the thumb bar to make sure the gears are fully engaged. It isn't the drag making the noise, it's more of a clicking noise and that has to be from something hitting ever so slightly against something else internally. When was the last time the reel was cleaned?

Strike King KVD 2-Blade Scorcher Baits | Bass Pro Shops StrikeKing also makes a bait with Razor blades, I can't remember the actual name, but both are excelent 1/2oz. baits that don't roll on their side when burned just under the surface.