Shadcranker

Symeter- best $79 reel ever!

For a jig trailer- Zoom Speed Craw (Green Pumpkin or Blue sapphire) For Tx rigged flippin craw- the Gambler 4" Craw (same colors) For shaky head or finesse applications- Baby Paca Craw (watermelon candy) Color depends on water colors- stained - dark; clear- lighter translucent colors

A good frog rod is going to be 7 ft Mh or H action, extra fast tip, and your going to want to throw braid, so it should be well made with good guides. A good buzzbait rod is probably more like 6'6" MH moderate to fast tip. So I suppose a good in between rod would be a 6'10" MH Fast. St Croix Avid or Shimano Crucial should match up nicely with the CU 200 or the Diawa.

ok if it's confession time- just got in the mail, 3 dozen hand tied jigs from a shade-tree jig tying master in the Carolinas also, just got an e-mail that 12 custom made Spinnerbaits are being shipped to me tomorrow that's about all for this week

Talking about unique sites with not the same old big name stuff (Strike King, Yum, Zom, Pradco, etc- and yes I use tons of their stuff too). A few of my favorites: www.coosatackle.com (baits, specialize in shaky head stuff) www.tfbass.com (great jigs they make themselves to order) www.backwatersonline.com (good tourney grade stuff) www.conquistadortackle.com (quality hand tied jigs and unique trailers) www.driftwoodlures.com (hand pours with unique finesse bait shapes) Please add here if you have any good ones. Goes without saying that I love BPS and Cabelas. Just find the smaller specialty on-line shops have different stuff you can't find anywhrere else.

Depends what series Loomis you're looking at. I own the Crucial, and it's a fine rod for the $$ for sure. Hard to compare that blank to a high end Loomis blank though (apples and oranges- huge price difference too). For $170 ish the Powell rod mentioned above is a sweet stick. I am a huge fan of their BC rods; don't have a Spinning rod from them yet. If money is an issue, the Crucial is very nice. Slpit handle design, innovative DS weight hanger, very light.

Sorry Mitchell and Zebco; you're out. My personal favorite every day reels (work-horses that I own more than one of): Shimano Curado CU 100D (love the size and it's super smooth) Shimano Symetre Spinning Reel 2500 size (best $79 reel ever!) Honorable mention: Diawa SS 1300 spinning reel (drag is awesome) Lews Crankin Reel (Baitcaster)- the old black crankin reel BB1N I think

Guys- it's about ethics- Most people know the right thing to do when you learn a spot that someone else has found pre-fishing. The guy who brought you there does not own the water, but if he has another tournament on that lake next week, you should probably respect that and leave it alone. If it doesn't feel right in your gut to fish that spot, then it's probably not the thing to do. If you develop a decent relationship in the boat with the guy for 8 hours, just ask him- "hey do you mind if I fish here some?" Most guys won't care unless they have a tournament upcoming, and they'll probably respect you more for asking. If they know you have a boat, and the spot is really good, they probably expect you to come back there. The other huge thing is to not tell all your buddies where the spot is. If he's willing to share it with you, he probably doesn't want you to tell 10 other fishermen. Another big part of it is that it should be a two way street. If you're willing to mark your map with "his" holes, then you should be willing to give him a couple of your spots too. That's fair. If you're not willing to show him your stuff, then you should not go back to his. If you use common sense and let sportsmanship be your guide, you will (and SHOULD) do the right thing.

Bud: How are you fishing it on KY- Barkl? I mainly fish KY in late spring and early Summer when water is up in bushes (flipping), and I usually ledge fish Bakley in Summer (deep structure fishing with CB, CR, Big Wm). I usually fish Priest and G'ville in spring. I want to try the Yellow flower deal in Spring on Barkley, but I'm usually not over there until Summer. I imagine it would be good there around the spawn.

I have fished as a non-boater for three years in a National Trail's local weekend series, and for me it's been an incredible learning experience. At that level, you fish with the best anglers in your region, and if you accept your role for what it is and do not expect to have control of the fishing locations, you will get a lot out of it. There will be times that you're frustrated, but you have to take the good draws with the bad. Also, if you stick with it, you can win $ and advance to regional and naional events (I made it to the Nationals this year as a non-boater, based primarily on very good draws in the last few events). Not to mention you will meet a great network of guys who are willing to help you (if you hit it off in the boat and don't cast over their shoulder all day). I feel like I've gotten a masters degree in tournament fishing in the past three years. I feel I can compete cast for cast with most of the boaters in our area, but where I cannot compete is in pre-fishing and practice time. I have a full time job, and I cannot pre-fish enough to compete. Therefore I fish as a co-angler. It really depends on your expectations. If you're fairly new to fishing or your area lakes and cannot devote time to scouting, then you should start as a non-boater. The only exception to this would be if you are a control-freak type, who has to be in charge. In that case, go boater, but do not expect much in the way of results (depending upon the strength of the competition). As far as the club setting goes, it depends on the club, and what it's mission is. If it's a low-key club that is set up for everyone to truly share info, and for each member to learn, then going as a boater would be ok. If you're fishing the club just to compete and "beat" the other guys, then you really need to figure out the level of competition and whether you can compete with their experience and time they have to pre-fish.

Depends on the fishing situation: 1. Open water, grass beds, deep slow rolling. I use a 6'6" or 7" Med or MH, fast action rod. The extra length and backbone help set the hook on a long cast or out of the grass. 2. Fishing tight to cover, pitching to creek bank cover, upriver, roll casting under trees, willows, etc: I use a 6' Castatway Spinnerbait special. I would agree with the prior post and for $150, step up to the St Croix Avid.

Coosa tackle has a great selection, and excellent ervice (small indepepndent guy). Also, he carries realy good shaky head supplies.

Main issue with me is that most of the lakes I fish in Middle TN are void of cover. We're just fishing rocky points, flats, etc, and we have to move around a lot on the TM to find them. Once I find them, I won't leave em. Kills me too, when I fish with someone, they stick a fish and crank up the big motor.

Thanks- that's what I was afraid of. I just can't sit still that long. I may get some to have when I know there are fish there, but I fish a lot of long flats and have to cover water most of the time.

I've never fished it before. I've read the threads and can't really find what I'm looking for, so here I go: 1. Do most people fish it weightless, and deadstick like a senko or TX rig it? Is it heavy enough to sink on its' own? 2. Is it more of a flipplin bait like a flippin tube or creature, or is it an open water finesse bait? I tend to fish too fast to slow down and work a senko properly (unless I know I'm around a bunch of fish). I usually cover water with a C Rig, tube, or grub, and then when I find a group of fish, I'll slow down and milk the area with the senko. Is this the same type of deal, or can you get good enough action out of it by fishing it TX rigged? Thanks

Shimano Symetre is the best reel out there for the $. I have 3 Stradics, and I actually like these better. All I'm buying from now on.

Write in votes welcomed. I did not include swim baits, creatues, craws, flukes, jigging spoons, chatterbaits, etc. Couldn't fit everything. I realize that it depends on conditions and time of year, but for this, let's assume it's late spring, stable weather, and the fish will cooperate with most any presentation.

I own a Powell Bass Max rod and personally love it (683C Baitcater). Just curious if someone owns one of each (Powell and Kistler), and which they feel is better. Price b/w the Powells and the Kistler Magnesium TS is almost identical. Design, weight, features appear nearly identical as well. I do not want to step up to the Kistler Helium series due to price, and that's not a fair comparison vs. the Powell. Interetsed to see if anyone had compared the two. My sense is you can't go wrong with either, but I'm looking to buy several rods to replace older ones, and I want to be sure before I load up on one brand. Thanks

Danny Joe's Original Floaters are really good if you can find them.

Dang Bud- didn't mean to touch a nerve. I'm new here. Maybe I'll dredge up a few of your LC's with my mis-tuned DD22's over at Barkley, and I can try one for free.

I use the Sammys, pointers, etc., and I don't mind paying $15 for them, b/c you hardly ever lose a topwater. I just can't bring myself to throw a $15 crankbait and root it along the bottom. Are the high dollare CB's worth the $$$? I'm considering buying a few hand-made balsa baits to try, but they're around $20 each. I have good luck with bandits, shad raps, strike king series baits, and the whole line of Normans. It hurts bad enough to break off a $5 shad rap. Your thoughts please.

I try to keep it simple. I usually fish these baits (DD22) in mid to late summer on deep ledges, and you're trying to imitate shad. Clear= shad Stained= chartreuse / blue back, or firetiger I use craw colored cranks in the smaller, shallower divers mostly in spring and fall when fishing 10 ft or less.

Thank you Natural! I thought I had a problem, but dude, you take the cake! Very impressive collection. I would strongly suggest you schedule (list in categories by numer of each type) all of that tackle on your homeowners insurance. if you ever have a bunch stolen, they'll never believe it. I'm sure as organized as you are, you probably have it all on a spreadsheet. if the day job goes bad, you could open a bait shop.

Roland and Charlie Ingram (Fishing U) are the worst! I also quit watching Bill Dance b/c all he does is fish private strip pits in FL that no one else can fish. All he catches is 5lb fish, that heaven't seen a lure in 10 yrs. the best shows IMO are: 1.Bassmaster 2. The new BPS outdoors fishing show (KVD, Evers, Woo, Quinn, etc.). 3. Bass Edge 4. Ultimate Match Fishing w/ Joe Thomas (love it b/c they file on 2 of my favorite lakes- G'ville and Ky / Barkley).

Keep it simple: Green pumpkin Watermelon Pumpkin pepper Black and blue Black and red I own variations of each (i.e. watermelon candy, pumpkin pepper with chart tail, etc.), but if you're building a basic plastic collection, these are fine. Otherwise the "bait monkey" will move into your garage, and you will confuse yourself. Only exceptions: 1. if I'm really trying to imitate a shad with a fluke, tube, grub, or swim jig trailer, then go with white or pearl 2. fishing a foating or trick worm, and needing to see the bait around beds, throw methiolate, pink, yeoow or white floater. 3. have a variety of 6-10" worm colors for summertime fishing- red shad, junebug, purple, black)