Shadcranker

It is not twice the price. I think it's $50-60 more than the Curado. It's a good price point IMHO, b/c you pay $60 for a reel that is super light. SC

Really depends on what you need. If you need more than one more reel, then the Citica for half the priceis a great value; you could get two. If you're looking for a sweet reel to fish all day, the MG is awesome, b/c it's so light. Citica, Curado, and Chronarch are all great. Just depends on the price you are willing to pay. I have an MG and love it. For the $ it is a good value, but I already had most everything else I needed before I stepped up to one. I have three Citicas, around 10 Curados, and one MG to put it in prespective. The Curado is my everyday workhorse.

I am a hard core Shimano posse member (own about 20 mid to higher end reels by them). Only one I wish I hadn't bought is that 200 sized 7:1 reel. First, I think a 7:1 reel is overkill for almost all applications. The onl bait I use it with is a buzzbait, just to get the bait on top ASAP. If you only own a handful of reels, I would not make a burner a priority. 6.3:1 is fine. If you're a cranker, a good 5:1 reel is really necessary, but a burner is not IMHO. Secondly, that 200 size is big and heavy. The gear casing is huge, and unless you have really large hands, it is not comfortable to fish with all day. I love the 100 size in the Curado and Citica. Just my two cents worth, but I would put your money to the high capcity 100 CU reel in the regualr gear ratio. SC

If he puts some P-Line on it, hell has indeed frozen.

Riskkid's guide at Big G on Monday had an 8 1/2 lbr on one over grass in about 4 ft.

Yep; hammered Alreds area for two hours Wed late afternoon with the tube. Not a bite. I backed off, figuring the fish had just moved out a bit with the dropped H2O, and I found a bunch of fish on the deeper grass lines in 5-9 ft. They were still in the area, but the water had dropped over a foot Wed night alone, so I'm sure they were freaked out from leaving the bedding areas! My timing as always was perfect! Such is life. I still had a good time, and I appreciate your help on what was happening late last week. I'll definitely be back in there late pre-spawn and spawn in the future. The silver lining: I did learn what kind of areas to look for around the spawn down there. Between the banks you suggested and where RK whacked the bigguns on Monday, I know what to look for down there now that time of year. All of my fishing there in the past has been early pre-spawn or post spawn through summer, so the shallow bite was new to me. Just goes to show that even when the fishing is tough you can still learn a lot from time on the water. Thanks again for the tips.

Chris: Good meeting you guys as well. Good luck at KY-Barkley this year. Maybe we can get together with Carl and whck em up there this year. How did you do Thursday? Later- SC

Got down there Wed afternoon and fished for a couple of hours and caught 3 shorts, then met up with Riskkid at the cabin. I knew it was going to be tough when I called RiskK and he told me that the lake had been dropped almost 2 ft since they whacked em on Monday > thanks TVA!. We went to the dinner last night. Glenn and the gang did a great job of planning the evening. Nice goodie bags and raffle prizes. The speaker was great too. He's a fisheries biologist specializing in pond and lake design, construction, and management. RK and I headed out at first light with high hopes this morning, and it just never happened. We went to a few of my favorite Spring time spots and several of the spots he and his guide had caught fish on, and I got skunked. RK had one around 2.5 lb LM, a nice 3 lb spot come unbuttoned by the boat and lost one that could have been a new PB for him. Fish was digging hard by the boat and SNAP :'( > :(. All in all a tough week for most of the guys. It wasn't just the group that struggled. I talked to Doug Campbell, owner of Waterfront Grocery (awesome bait shop), and he said that since Monday the bite had been way off. the fish were trying to make their way to the beds, but the fronts late last week and the water falling really had them confused. Oh well, that's fishing. Later- SC

Find a bass club who's accepting non-boaters. If you help out with gas, help clean the boat and are a nice guy to fish with, some of the boaters will take you along on days when the club is not having a tourney. Affiliate with a Federation club, and you can fish the stae team, qualify for Nationals, etc.

I'm a big jig tinkerer- Depending on the jig out of the package, I usually: - thin the weedguard - trim weedguard to in-line with the hook point - trim the skirt to in-line with the hook bend - turn the skirt so the secondary color is centered on the jig (usually right in line with the hook shank) - if the skirt material is not laying right, I'll often replace the skirt Some others: - always add trailer hook to spinnerbiat and buzzbait - usually dip tail of tubes and lizards in chart dye - always change hooks on traps - always put a red hook on the front ring of a topwater bait - almost always insert a nail weight in a fluke to keep it from jumping out of the water - always use a swivel when fishing a floating worm to make it fall a bit faster and reduce line twist - always spray craw imitations with Bang Pure Craw - always add a small glass bead in front of Horny Toad type baits to keep grass from balling up on the nose

Speed Craw is great Tx rigged or as a jig trailer Finesse Worm and new Shaky Worm great on a shaky head Trick worm is great as a floating worm in spring, also good on Carolina Rig Super Chunk and Super Chunk, Jr. awesome jig trailers 10" Ole Monster Worm is the bomb for deep structure fishing in Summer 6" and 8" Lizards are great for TX and Carolina Riggin Super Hog is a terrific Creature Bait for flippin grass Centipede is a killer on a Carolina Rig when the fish are off the Lizard. Zoom has the best line-up of plastics on the market IMHO. Great variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and they are a good value. Loaded with salt. Only baits they make that I don't use are their tubes, mid sized worms, and the Horny Toad. I prefer Prowler Tubes, Culprit worms, and Stanley Ribbit toads.

Couldn't resist- not by talking about fishing tackle on the WWW! ;D

Guys- one bit of safety advice on Big G: When running your boats, stay in the channel when on plane. The river channel is well marked, as are most of the major creeks like N Sauty, South Sauty, Big Spring, Siebold, etc. The old river channel comes up quickly, and most of the flats right off the channel edge come up to within 4 ft of the surface, and many of those flats are littered with scattered stumps, and shallow shell beds. Most of the map chips like navionics and fishing hot spots show the channels well too. Where people get in trouble is coming off the main river channel, and trying to head straight ito the mouth of the creeks or onto the main lake grass flats. In most cases the creek channels snake their way in. Good example is Mink Creek. Look on your map, and you'll see what I'm talking about. You have to enter the creek about one mile South of the Creek mouth on the West side of the river. If you try to run straight in to the creek mouth, you're going to have a hard time staying in deep enough water. Also, many of the main lake grass flats and bays on the East side of the river are way off of the river channel, so you need to find that 8-15ft ditch to run in, or better yet, just idle over. Just stay b/w the green and red bouys when running wide open, and you should be fine. If you venture on to the flats, just trim the motor up, and idle slowly, watching the depth finder. Good luck, and be safe.

I threw one the other day for the first time, and I found it much easier to swim the bait with a 1/8 oz screw-in weight in the head. SC

I've caught frof fish on Guntersville in March, so it's not too early if the fish are in the shallow grass. One way to find out, fish it.

Um; not so sure bout that. Don't worry about the trolling motor Herschel!

For that price range, the Crucial rod is great. Only thing you may want to look into for the rod is if you have a Dick's SG in your area. A couple of months ago thy had St Croix Avids on sale for $99 (regular around $170). As far as the reel goes, the Citica by Shimano is nice, but you'll have several good options for $150. Actually, if the Shimano rebate deal is still going you could get a Curado for $150 after rebate, paired with the Crucial rod, that would be sweet.

My guess is that you may have a rod problem or you are not taking the slack out of your line before setting the hook. Rod- you need a lot of backbone to drive a jig hook in well. If you are not getting the hook all the way through the fish's mouth / jaw / skin, then the rod is does not have enough backbone, or your simply not setting the hook hard enough. Slack- if you do not reel down and take out most of the slack, you are setting the hook with way too much slack, which doesn't allow you to pop the hook through the fish's mouth. Make sure and reel most of the slack out, and then set it hard. Only other thing I can think is the fish may be spitting the bait. Try a good craw scented attractant, like Bang Pure Craw, They may hold on longer with the taste and scent of real craw. As far as the weedgaurd goes, they come full, meaning they are intended for thick cover. I always trim the guard up to in-line with the bottom off the hook, but I thin strands only if I am fishing more sparse cover. If you need all the guard, trim it up to the hook bend, and simply fan the fibers out to where they are not all in one area. SC

I might be able to make the dinner Wed and fish Thursday. If so, I'll bring my boat, and Riskkid and I will fish out of my boat Thursday. Carl and I are paid up for the Wed dinner anyway, so hold my spot open, and if I can attend I will be there Wed evening. Thanks, and I hope to see you guys mid-week. SC

If you want to gain confidence in the jig, tie on two SK Bitsy Bugs with Zoom Super Chunk, Jr. One Watermelon and one Black. Fish high % spots all day. I.e. run main lake points or primary points in the creeks all day. As long as you are not in super stained or muddy water, you should get a bunch of bites. Also, if you have spots in your lake, target them. They love that little watermelon jig.

Gammy EWG 3/0 here. not too long for a 4" Flippin tube. Works just fine for me.

I'd say most universal is a tandem willow / colo in 3/8 oz. Willow on end with a small Colo blade spinning on the shaft (gold willow and nickle colo). Real spinnerbait gurus (not me) carry tons of extra blades, skirts, trailers to customize the bait as needed. SB's are not a confidence bait for me most of the time, so I keep a basic selection from 1/4 oz to 1 oz in basic colors (white/ white-chart, and chart).

TX Rig ans C-rig are very different. TX Rig is more of a verticle presentation. I usually Tx rig to flip or pitch specific targets or to fish stump fields or grass edges. I usually just fish it with a 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz bullet wt. If I'm flipping bushes or grass, I'll peg the weight. Carolina rig is my go-to presentation in the Spring and early Summer to cover water and locate fish. The great thing about the rig is that you can feel everything that's on the bottom while moving fairly quickly. Carolina rig is more of a horizontal presentation, while keeping bottom contact. It's also a great tool for fishing off-shore structure fairly deep.

I fish them both ways. TX Rig ans C-rig are very different. TX Rig is more of a verticle presentation. I usually Tx rig a lizard to flip or pitch specific targets or to fish stump fields or grass edges. I usually just fish it with a 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz bullet wt. If I'm flipping bushes or grass, I'll peg the weight. Carolina rig is my go-to presentation in the Spring and early Summer to cover water and locate fish. The great thing about the rig is that you can feel everything that's on the bottom while moving fairly quickly. Carolina rig is more of a horizontal presentation, while keeping bottom contact. It's alos a great tool for fishing off-shore structure fairly deep.

7' med action. I had a Silaflex. It's really heavy and will wear you out if cranking all day. Good action for a fiberglass stick; just heavy feeling. If / when you can upgrade, look hard at the Shimano Crucial CB rod. It's a special graphite blank mader for CB's and at $130, it's a great value. For most applications I'd go 7'0 M action rod. The longer rod will let you cats longer meaning max depth.