Shadcranker

The grass in March is not really flippin grass. It's really too early. Most of the grass is still emerging at that time, not toppped out, so you're more fishing over the grass (thus the CB, trap, jerkbait). You can pitch plastics and catch fish for sure, but most of the time you're better using search baits until you find them. Then you can slow down and pitch. The fish on Big G seem to group up on key spots on the grass lines and ledges, so you have to hunt them. The docks are shallow and some fairly deep on the main channel and the creek channels. Most of the docks I fish are back in the bays and creeks shallow in March. This pattern is best around the spawn.

7/16 oz Eakins Finesse jig in Green Pumpkin (with a Zoom small salty craw). dip the pinchers in Chartreuse, spray with bang Pure Craw, and hold on.

Big G can be very intimidating due to it's size, and I would definitely agree with the post above, and recommend choosing an area and picking it apart. If you are in a small boat, I'd focus on the areas near the State Park. Siebold Creek and Osa Wintha are right across the channel from the park, and they are both really good areas in the Spring (lots of grass flats and spawning bays). Mill Creek is just North of there, and it also has good Springtime habitat. If you want to go down lake from the park, I'd look at Big Spring Cr, Brown's Cr, Honeycomb Cr, and the bay and islands in front of Alred marina. There are a lot of docks in these areas as well as humps and numerous flats with grass on them. If you choose to fish up-river, look at North and South Sauty Creeks along with Mink Creek and Roseberry Cr. Way up-river you have Mud creek and Crow Cr, and it's more like a river system. The main river islands and flats between South Saulty and Roseberry can be really good too for pre and post spawn fish. I fish G'ville around 20 times per year, and we're going at a great time. We should have fish in at least two phases of the spawn (pre-spawn and spawn), and depending on the weather, we may have a few fish moving off. As far as baits I'll be throwing: My general rule on Big G is pre-spawn is hard bait bite (jerkbait, cb, and trap), spawn is time to throw plastics, and post spawn is a spinnerbait, crankbait, and plastics out on the ledges. The trap bite usually dies after the majority of the fish spawn (plus the fish have seen a blue million of them). Pre-spawn fish: - Strike King Series 5 CB or Fat Free Shad in shad patterns over emergent grass (most of these fish will be in 6-10 ft) - Rattle Traps in red and royal shad colors - Carolina rigged baby brush hog in watermelon candy - suspending jerkbait in shad colors - Tx rigged Plastics (tube or lizard) - 5" swimbait in shad color - 1/2 oz spinnerbait in chart and white Shallow spawning fish (1-5 ft around grass, docks, and wood): - 6" senko in green hue - chatterbait - Bayou Boogie in Shad or red - floating worm in bright color (white or sherbert color) - Tx Rigged lizard - 3/8 oz jig in green pumkin and blue If there is a post spawn bite, it will be spinnerbaits, crankbaits, topwater, and plastics more than likely. You might want to consider hiring a guide for a day early in the week. Tim Chandler is the best down there IMHO. He stays on the fish, and he's a really nice guy. One stop you need to make before you head to the State Park is to Waterfront Grocery on the west side of the lake near Goosepond resort. The bait monkey lives there, but he's a kinder-gentler primate. This is IMHO the best bait shop in the South. The food is good, and all the local guides hang there. They have the best selection of tackle around, and they will actually tell you what the fish are doing. One final tip- the shallow fish will be getting pounded hard in late March, so if you can find some grass fish out off the banks (staging areas), concentrate on those fish. You can hook a TOAD if you find the right stretch of grass. Last year in March, I had around twenty five pounds in five fish in about 1 hour. The fish came out of 6-8 ft in the grass. It should be a lot of fun. I look forward to meeting you guys.

Great baits but quite spendy. I own several of the Sammys and a few Pointers. I fisgure I shouldn't ever lose a topwater bait. can't get up the nerve to chunk a $15 crankbait.

I'm baised towards Shimano b/c I've had such good luck with them over 15 years of hard fishing with little if any maintenence. I think the Shimano product line has stood the test of time from a durability standpoint. The old Garcia stuff (the old round reels, 4600's etc.) were great values for the money, but they're fairly new to the low profile, high end game. I would say Shimano is a safer bet based on their track record, but both reels are comparable from a performance standpoint. I've handled the Revo, and they feel very nice. I just have a hard time pulling the trigger on anything but Shimano because of the luck I've had with them.

Do the guys over there use the WW at certain times of the year? With the wide wobble, is it better later in the year? We typically use a shad rap over here (TN) early in the year bc of the tight wiggle. Is the WW best in certain water temp range? Also, what type of depth do you get out of the bait (the regualr size one - 3/8 oz I think)? Any other advice as far as when and where to fish it is appreciated.

Any of you Ark or Mo guys out there (or anyone else): What is the deal with the Wiggle Wart? It seems to be all I read about as far as CB fishing in the MO- Ark area around Table Rock, Bull Shoals, etc. What is different about this bait and any other CB's like Bandits? Does it have a unique action or dive deeper than similar sized baits? Just curious if I'm missing out on something here. May of our lakes in TN are similar to those lakes in that we have litte cover, fairly clear, and lots of rock. Thanks

For the money, the Shimano Crucial Crankbait rods are great ($129 at BPS). If you want to step up a bit, the Powell Crankbait series is outstanding for the $ (around $179). I own two of the Crucials and two Powells, and I like all of them all a lot. I would sugget 7' length in both. If you are casting a deep CB (like a DD22) the added length helps in casting ditance (which = depth) and is key in playing the fish. Good luck.

Really depends on the line size you are using. I almost always fish 8 lb, so the 2500 is perfect. Shimano gives a line capacity rating on each reel, so you can use that as a guide (2500 is rated for 6,8,10).

I have a pair of the Bass Pro Fishing gloves (Neoprene with the long cuffs and cut out fingers). These work great when coupled with a light pair of windstopper gloves underneath (got them at REI). I run wide open in the cold, and this combo works great.

If you can squirrel away some money for a couple of weeks, the Shimano Crucial CB series is a fine stick. I have 2 of them. They're around $129. Otherwise, look into the St Croix premier line for around $100.

I bought some of the spider jigs (5" twin tail skrted grubs) a year or so ago, and I went to throw one last weekend, and the tails were basically stuck together as like they were folded up in the packet. I fished with one for an hour, and the tails never straightened out to their designed position. I assume it's the way they make their plastics,but it's frustrating to spend that much $ and have the bait that's out of shape. I assume the same problem exisit with their Creatures, Ika's, etc. Looks like I may go back to the Chompers or Gene Larew spider grubs. Never had this happen before with another manufacturer.

Shimano reels (mid to high end stuff, and throw in the Symetre as the best value reel made IMHO) A good custom rod Lowrance GPS / Sonar color unit High end gore tex bibs and rain parka (mine are BPS version) Mustang automatic inflatable PFD Thinsulate and Goretex hiking boots for fishing in the cold

SK Bitsy Flip in 1/4 oz size. Zoom everything (10" Ole Monster, 6 and 8" lizards, Baby Brush Hogs, Finesse Worms, Super Flukes, Super Chunk Trailers, Ultra Vibe Speed Craws). Norman DD 14 and DD 22 for deep cranking Bandit 200 and 300 series Chrome and Blue Rattle Trap (change the crappy hooks!) Smithwick Suspending Rogue (4 1/2 ") These are all "go to" baits for me. Only higher end stuff I buy is Senkos and LC Topwater baits (plus a few high dollar swimbaits I'm not sold on yet).

Curious why you are off of the Powell rods? I love them. I've got five, and the quality and value are great IMHO. Just curious if you had quality or customer service concerns?

My local Dicks has the Avids on sale for $99! You might want to check at yours. I understand they are redesigning the Avid, and these are closeouts. I just bought one (7' MH worm-jig rod).

I am a reformed glass rod fisherman. I have an old lamiglass blank 7' crankin rod, and it's heavy and dead feeling compared to the graphite sticks I'm using now. I have two deep cranking rods that I like- the Powell CB series 7" heavy action, and the Shimano Crucial 7' MH CB series rod. They are both light, with parabolic action, and I can fish them all day chunking a DD22. I doubt I would go back to glass, unless they could really lighten the blanks.

In the $75- 100 range, I'd look hard at the Falcon line and some of the lower end Castaways. Another great deal right now- if you have a Dicks' SG in your town- They have the St Croix Avid rods on sale for $99!!!!! (a $160 rod). I understand they are redesigning the Avid, and they're on close-out. I just got one,and it's a sweet stick for sure.

yep; I've been the last four weekends in a row with mixed results. I've found three patterns working: 1. Way up the Stones R on cranks, SB's, and jigs- better LM coming up there. I was on a strong Buzzbait bite until last weekend, when the front dropped the water temps down to mid 50's. You may have to flip a jig all day for three-five bites, but you have the chance to catch a hog. 2. Back of the major creeks and major flats close to the river channel- shad are everywhere in the backs of the creeks, and there are some fish chasing. These are mostly smaller fish, but thy will eat a trap or SB. Just look for shad flipping, and start chunking. This pattern will dissolve as soon as the Corps pulls the lake back down, which won't be long. 3. Deep ledge and hump fishing with jigs in the lower half of the lake. This seems to be working better on high pressure days. Fish the deep bluffs, points, and humps slow with a shaky head or jig. Most of these fish are in 8-15 ft, near deep water. You'll catch a lot of spots and an occasional good LM doing this. Smallies are nowhere to be found for me lately.

Yes I'd consider it deep cranking. I fish a lot on Ky and Barkley, fishing crankbaits on main lake and secondary creek channel ledges. Most of the catchable fish on the drops are positioned in 6-14 ft of water. I may be sitting in 25 ft and throwing at a slight angle up on the ledge. Ususally the bait is going to hit water in 4-6 ft of water, and the lip of the ledge is in 8-12 ft, where it then drops off to 20-30 ft. If they're drawing current or the shad are active in that 8-12 ft range, the sharpest edge of the drop is the key zone. A DD22 will really run about 14 ft deep on a long cast on 10 lb line. A DD14 will get to about 10-12 ft. The real key for me seems to be banging the bait off of the key structure and triggering a strike. For that reason, I like the 22 for fishing that key 8-12 ft zone (I can fish it slower, and stay in contact with the bootom).Once the bait gets out off the lip of the drop, I usually don't get bit, unless the fish hits it right at the boat in a last ditch effort to eat it.

I say gimmick. As with any other scent deal, if it covers up human scent and if it gives you more confidence, go for it. I prefer the BANG Pure Craw, just bc it's rendered from real crawfish, and I have had dozens of crawfish claws spit up in my livewells. Never seen any coffee grinds in there.

I buy the Sammy's and Cavitron Buzzbaits (around $6 vs. $3-4 for others), but that's about it. With the LC topwaters, you should keep them forever, b/c they're almost impossible to lose. I just can't see throwing a $20 crankbait 15ft deep, banging off stumps on 10lb line. My Norman DD14 and DD22's work just fine for me. As far as other cranks go, a $5 shad rap, a $3 Rattle Trap, and a $4 Bandit 200 and 300 series works just fine for me. I may buy some higher end topwater stuff, but that's about it. In the interest of full disclosure, I did buy some high end plastic swimbaits (only around 10) to try in 08, but I haven't sold out on them yet. Got soem 3:16 shads and California Swimbabe Baby E's. They look great, but we'll see.

Find the bait, and the fish are near. best lures: rattletrap, 3/8 oz spinnerbait, 1/4 oz cb (Banbit 200), and a peral fluke. Also, I love fishing a buzzbait early around wood, and if the fish won;t chase the shiny stuff, I'll pitch a jig all day in stained water around cover. Primary pattern for me is to find baitfish.

As far as trailers go, I like the Zoom Pro Chunk, Sr size. if that hangs up, try the Gambler Cricket craws.

I use three: 1. Scott Martin's Grassmaster jig by All Terrain 2. Lunker Lure Rattleback Monster Grass Jig 3. Choo Choo Lures Custom Tackle Titan Series Jig All are proven winners at punching the heavy mats at Guntersville. All come in the heavy weight sizes to allow you to punch the mats effectively. Also, all of them have high quality components and great color selections.