Armtx77

That is a good looking spot! That bottom would have me looking at brown/cinnamon colored lures. I would start off with some type on inline spinner(I roll Rooster Tails) with a copper or bronze blade. Look for those deep holes and sharp bank turns. Fish dont need much of an obstruction in the current either. I have caught dozens of fish, with their nose hiding behind a broomstick sized stick and nothing else in sight. The nice thing about wade fishing, is that I pay more attention. Im not looking for just the Bass Hotels. A lot of effort is exerted, staying stealthily quiet while wading. Im casting at everynook and cranny I can get to.

This time of year, the bass are deep in the lettuce. Bust out the broomstick casting set up, heavy braid and start punching with Trigs and Frogs accros the top.

Diawa BG for the win.

8lbs Sufix 832 is my cutoff for throwing light stuff(1/16oz). Anything larger than that and I get absolutely no distance. 1/8oz lures can be tossed a long ways, but 1/16oz, you have to really get into a cast and Im using a 7' ML-F spinning set up, even with that, I dont get more than about 40ft on 1/16oz lures and 8lbs Sufix I have had no issues with 8lbs NanoFil, as far as casting length is concerned. NanoFil is a more "delicate" line to tie up lures though and when compared to some of the braids out their, it is pricey. Although Sufix does not come cheap either. I

I got back yesterday from a 4 day Float/Fish/Camping trip in Northern Arkansas. I spent yesterday afternoon setting up all the hammocks and camp gear to dry out, eventhough it was packed in waterproof bags, it still gets damp from humidity. Today, I have cleaned all the rods with warm/soapy(Dawn) water and the reels have had the covers taken off and blown out with compressed air from a can(keyboard air). I have taken the spools off and cleaned them up as well. I, nor my wife had any gear get dunked, but we spent 6-8 hours a day in a canoe and stuff gets wet. I didnt notice any water intrusion in any of my reels, but that doesnt stop my OCD from telling me water got in there and I just cant see it. Gear does not come cheap, a little bit of leg work every few times out. Not only prolongs the life, but gives you the chance to correct things, before they turn into costly repairs. As stated earlier, I have OCD when it comes to my "gear". Whether that is how I clean my $2k canoe, vacum out the debris in my Hennessey Hammocks, clean rods/reels or air dry plano boxes full of lures...etc. I want my stuff to work, the next time it gets used.

UPS delivered my Fenwick HMG Spinning travel rod, Monday of this week. I have two HMG one piece rods in ML-F and when I compare the travel rod, with the ML tip on, it feels more like a M-F and to be honest, I can not see much difference in the M-F tip either. Not a deal breaker by any means and maybe a "fish on" experience, will help sort things out. As far as fit and finish, spot on Fenwick. Exactly what you expect for a 100.00 rod. The carry case is very good. I have to take the handle off on by BG 1500, but you can easily get a 3000 sized reel into the integrated reel pouch. When Fenwick says the case is semi ridged, they mean 80% ridged. My only real beef, the rod parts are loose in the carry bag, but the bag appears to be pretty crush proof. I gave it to my 2 1/2 YO son(EMPTY) and let him put it through his paces...standing on it, chasing the dog while banging it off the walls and than a toss down a flight of stairs. I would pay 40-50 bucks for the case as a stand alone, if I decide to have a custom travel rod made, sometime down the road. Im heading to Northern Arkansas for a 5 day fish/float trip tomorrow and will post up my experience with the rod next week.

I would like to think the composites of today are world class. When compared to their cousins of 30 years ago. I have caught more 10-30lbs Redfish on composite spinning reels than I can count. I never noticed any flex or had one break...as always YMMV. Look at all the polymer framed handguns that can withstand 10's of thousands of bombs going off on top of them. Am I saying composite reels are being made of Glock or HK composite...NO, but composites are so incredibly good these days. That one should not hesitate to buy a composite reel, from a known company.

I would be looking for that warm water in and around the creeks and the south facing banks. Late morning/mid day fishing might be beneficial as well. Do you know of any drop offs/shelfs in the lake? The rip rap is enticing and faces south from the looks of it. I would also work all those points. They should have some "shallow" water on them and that will also mean warmer water.

I have been using NanoFil in 8lbs, for the past 8 months. I recently tried some Sufix832 in 15lbs test/6lbs diameter and it has been a fail in casting 1/16oz lures. 1/8 oz lures it casted like a missle. Im going on a 5 day float in a couple of days and have a spare spool of 8lbs test Sufix832, that Im going to try out. I like everything about NanoFil, except its abbrasion resistance and price. Any input is greatly appreciated. ETA: Im using a 7' ML-F Fenwick HMG, with a Diawa 1500 BG hooked into it.

Tatsu is next on my list. I assume you backfill your spools? At $40.00/300yds, it is roughly the same as NanoFil. How do you feel it holds up to abbrasion? I have read on line reviews and they are glowing. I use spinning gear 98% of the time. I throw LIGHT gear...1/16-1/8oz. Do you think 8lbs Tatsu, will let me sling the light lures, better than braid has? Because braid has been a dissapointment, with the 1/16oz lure I throw.

I have been using NanoFil a bunch in 8lbs. There are wear/abbrasion issues, but I typically get 6-7 fish in shallow river conditions befor needing to retie. I bought a 300yd spool last fall and have been able to get 4 spools worth out of it by backfilling with cheap mono on my BG 1500's about 60/40---mono/nanofil I tried some Sufix 832 in 15lbs/6lbs test dia. this weekend and it would not throw a 1/16oz lure more than about 20ft. I get about a 60ft cast with the 8lbs NanoFil and 1/16oz lures. I tie direct to the lures. I may have to swallow my pride and try a flouro leader at some point.

More of a bow IMO and most likely, not an issue long term. Im OCD on stuff like that. I would send a picture or two off to Abu Garcia and see what they think. You can always try a Metric Crescent Wrench. I have been told they work well on matters such as this...I jest, I jest.

Polarization, is polarization. The process involved in the rest of the lens is where more exspensive glasses come into play and outshine the cheap stuff found in the $20.00 and under rack at Wally World. If you were to look through a pair of Oakleys with their Prisim Glass/Plastic lenses and than look through a pair of cheap 20.00 glass. There is a drastic difference in what can be seen. If you can not see the difference. You should set up an appointment with your eye doctor. The ability of the higher end glasses to bring opitcal clarity is part of the price tag and people can bag on higher end stuff being no better than the lower end, but they have a hard time, providing scientific proof. Anyone who uses a scope to hunt with, knows there is a difference between the high end glass and the cheap glass. The glass being used in a 1k scope, is infinetly better than one in a 200.00 scope. Like a bearing, you can only grind something so far, before the cost makes it impossible to sell.

A few times I have set the hook a second time. Recently, in a shallow, clear, river that I fish. I had about an 18" spotted bass, follow a inline spinner, with the current. I watched him speed up, crash the lure and I set the hook, after dropping the rod, reeling and than brought the boom. The set felt odd and the fish didnt turn. I reeled some more and set a seconed time and it felt right aan turned the fish. I think it happens more than people admit.

Wait, you did what?

At $200.00 for your "upper" range on a reel. You have a world of selections at your disposal. You made the comment that you were looking for balance and IMO, the only way to that, is to walk into your local tackle shop or big box store with your rod and start test driving reels. The sales associates will be more than willing to help a guy who walks in a rod, looking for the perfect reel. Rod, tackle shop/box store, test drive aka "nuke them from space, it is the only way to know for sure". REREAD THIS FROM BRAD!!!! "I don't consider "balance" as being a reel mounted on a rod and balanced so that it teeters at some magical point on an extended finger. I want the feel and balance to be optimal for the position where it'll spend the most time: lure and line out in the water looking for a fish. In that position, there is most often some tug down on the rod tip which, at the farthest distance, means the lever creates a different balance point." THIS should be GOSPEL and is one of the reasons, I went with heavier Diawa BG spinning reels, for my ML HMG's. The weight if the reel makes the whole set up just a touch heel heavy and it balances perfectly with line in the water. Thank you for posting it up.

I have had issues with durability in the past with Natives. If I got a year out of them, than I was lucky, but they are inexpensive and were optically clear. I go with Costa, because they have given me great customer service and like their styling. Steepandcheap.com typically has some smoking deals on natives,smith,oakley and costa.

Do you have price point or range you are looking at? How about a specific technique you might use it for? I have bought a couple of Diawa BG 1500's in the past 10 months and I am happy with them.

Im turning into a Fenwick HMG snob: 7' ML-F 7' M-XF 7' Travel Rod(On the way) For my budget and buying new. I have no complaints.

My set up is similar. 8lbs test, 1/16-1/8oz bullet, #1 EWG and a 2.8 Keitech FAT Swim Impact. I have no xpectations of breaking a state record. Just give me that tap-tap-tap and get to breaking heads. So, the smaller lures T-rigged are no issues for me.

I will break from the norm and reccomend NanoFil, in the 8lbs test. Outside of the cost of it and paying close attention to your knot tieing skills, it has been a good line for me the last 8 months. I use about 50yds of mono backer and than get about 100yds of 8lbs NanoFil on top of the backer on the Daiwa BG 1500...helps to stretch out that $15 spool a little ways. As far as the knot. Tie the knot Berkley reccomends(Double Palomar?) and you are good to go. Let your drag and superior fish fighting skills, do the rest.

I used to fish strip mines back in Central Illinois when I was in my teens through late 20's. I used the same gear in those mines, as I was using on the MS River for large mouth. The only difference, no boat. So, I was limited to how much I could carry.

Good on you Eric. 58 years old and running up mountains.? I went to the McKinley Range 3 years ago to hunt ram and it about killed me at 38 years old and I drop 24 min 3 mile runs, 3-4 times a week...the altitude is hard to prepare for at sea level

I can always find something good about a bad day fishing or catching a wet butt while hunting and getting skunked. Being in the outdoors, being part of nature, getting up at zerodarkthirty and having most of the world to yourself. That is why I fish, why I hunt. We watch the weather. Buy the gear. Practice. Research. Have wives that hint at us and than flat out tells us we are spending too much money and too much time, fishing/hunting/etc. I could never be a pro or a guide and I have the utmost respect for both of them. How you guys grind it out like you do is beyond me. I fish to relax and to beat mother nature every once in awhile. What do you do when you are not fishing?

-Use a dry Q-Tip and check the guides. -How old is the mono? If new, you may have got a bad batch...it happens. It is odd that you are breaking off that far back.