T-Billy

All of 'em I catch right after ice out are very pale. I get the same way by the end of winter. ?

40# 832 is what I throw in that kinda cover. Best I've found. Plenty strong and abrasion resistant.

Give those baitcasters a whirl after dark. With a little practice you'll be glad you did. Your ears will tell your thumb when to start slowing the spool instead of your eyes.

Trilene XT works for me. Almost as good as Suffix Advance IMO for a lot less $$$.

Papajoe nailed it. A little preventative maintenance goes a long way, and bearing buddies are your friend. I give mine a top off every third trip. Don't feel alone. I learned the hard way too.

Someone told him BFS stands for Big Freakin Smallmouth!!! He's all in!!!

You'll be a light bait throwin, big smallmouth showin, son of a gun baby!!! WHOOOOO!!!

You'll be glad you did. Very versatile rod. It'll throw that pad crasher plenty far. Mine almost never leaves the boat. Frogs, toads, jigs, T rigs, tubes, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, wobbleheads.... Dobyns rods run on the light side for their rating IMO. The 735c isn't nearly as stout as my other heavy actions but it's got plenty of backbone and a great tip. There's a reason it's so well liked by pretty much everyone who owns one.

Right gear for the right job is important. 3 or 4 trees piled up? That's what I'm looking for. I'm going in with a heavy flippin stick and 40# 832. Chances are that bass is coming to the boat. Giant Flatheads are another story. I got my butt kicked by another one today. That's twice in three trips my flippin stick and I got manhandled, and wrapped up by one of those beasts. They seem to like T rigged beavers. I'm begining to think you need Goliath Grouper tackle to winch a big flathead out of a log pile. Todays fish had me wrapped up about 6' down. 80 and sunny, I thought what the heck, I'm going in. I emptied my pockets, pushed the thumbar, laid the rod on the deck, and went after it. I followed the line down to the limb it was wrapped on and managed to snap it off. Climbed back into the boat, reeled the slack out and @#$%^&*!!!. That son of a gun swam out deeper and wrapped me up again. Wrapped the braid around my plier handles and gave a pull. Braid gave before the limb. Catfish 2. Me 0. Oh well, it was quite the fun calamity, and a refreshing dip.

I feel about the same with my rod and line selection, 1/8 is about as light as I can throw and still get good distance and accuracy. 1/4 is about as heavy as I want to throw on it. This is the range I was looking to throw with this setup though so, WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!! LOL. Side note: The One Eyed Jack is a sweet rod.

I bought a Curado BFS, but not really for the purpose of throwing tiny stuff. I just wanted a light duty baitcaster with a shallow spool for throwing 1/8oz - 1/4oz or so stuff with braid. I paired it with an Ark Tharp, One Eyed Jack rod, and spooled it with 15# 832. It's proving to be a sweet and versatile setup. Small cranks, jerkbaits, grubs, tubes, wacky, light T rigs, topwater... It's awesome for my intended purpose but, I'll stick with spinning for neds and other really light stuff.

I'm in the "controlled slack" camp. How much slack is bait and cover dependant. I tend to let ribbontail worms or other baits with an action tail fall on a fairly tight line, so that it swims back to the bottom. I let tubes and beavers fall on a pretty slack line because they need the slack to get that erratic spiraling fall that fish love so much. Thick weeds I always want a straight fall, so I give it a fair bit of slack, and use weight size to determine fall rate. Rate of fall can be critical to getting bit. So, I guess when I think about it, I always give a certain amout of slack. That amount can vary from just a slight bow in the line, to completely slack on the fall, but it's always controlled. If it's slack on the fall, it's barely slack. I'm watching the line, and I'm not out of touch for long. I also try hard to stay in my batting stance. Rod in that 9-10 o'clock area, so I'm ready to swing the instant I feel/see a bite.

Atta Boy!!! FULL CONTACT FISHING!!! I'm gonna wade my local river for some smallies and saugeye this afternoon.

ALWAYS have a ned and aTrig on deck. Other stuff comes and goes with the seasons and conditions.

I still have a few IR4's on my catfish rods. I reckon they'll likely outlive me. As J Francho said, built like a tank. Great for pulling big cats out of log jams.

I make a habit of fishing the stuff most folks won't throw into. My local lakes get a TON of pressure. 90% percent of people won't throw into the thickest most tangled cover. Those same people generally make a cast or two to the obvious more easily fished stuff, and move on. Slowing way down and picking every inch of it apart, and making repeated casts to the high percentage spots pays off.

I'll second this. Big Game has great impact and knot strength, and the price is definitely right. I also argee with WRB. Fishing grass, no leader needed or recommended.

Every... Single... Time!!! Been at it more than 40 years. I'm excited to get out there on the water, or in the woods everytime.

I'll second this. I've never had an issue with Mustad. Consistant high quality at a fair price.

I have several Abu's in the Vendetta, Veritas and Veracity series. They're all stout rods for their ratings. Dobyns on the other hand seem to run light for their ratings. My 7'3" MH Veritas is a pool cue compared to my 735 Fury witch is supposed to be a Heavy action. Both are quality rods but I like the action on the Dobyns better. To me the Dobyns feels like a MH MF. Very versatile rod . It gets lots of use.

Bill, Rowland, Babe, Al, Jerry. My grandpa started me fishing when I was just a wee little guy. Watching these guys on tv Saturday mornings after cartoons got me chasing bass. I looked forward to watching all week long. Bill was always my favorite. I still enjoy his show 40 years later. I recently got an autographed Tennessee hat from him.

I'm 52. Been bass fishing since I was a kid. PB largemouth weighed 6lb 10oz. Caught it when I was 44. Released it. Personal goal is 7# to go up on the wall for a LM. Smallmouth goal was 6#. I caught a 6lb 4oz when I was 48, and got it mounted. Big'uns ain't easy to come by in OH, but I love the challenge of chasing them in our highly pressured little lakes.

I couldn't agree more. Nothing like a Heron taking off out of a tree above you, screeching at the top of it's lungs, to cover you in goosbumps. A territorial feeling beaver slapping his tail sounds like a bowling ball being thrown into the water. When one does it 2' from the side of your boat it might make you pee a little. ? The night sky is amazing if you can get on a lake far enough away from human lighting. When your vision is limited, your other senses are hightened for sure. Here's how I approach it. I mostly target either weeds or structure at night. Chatterbaits are my #1 choice. 3/8 for fishing over and along weeds say 8' or less. 1/2 for doing the same in deeper weeds and bottom crawling down to 10' or so, and 5/8 for bottom crawling deeper than that. Z-Man Goat has become my #1 trailer. Fast start up is extremely important for fishing chatter baits on bottom, as is a blade that thumps a slow speed. I either crawl it along just fast enough to get the blade working, or use a stop and start, giving the reel a few turns and letting it pendulum back to the bottom. The fish will let ya know in short order which retrieve they want. I make my own using the turbo blades from Barlow's. These start instantly with a slow turn of the reel handle. No need to rip or burn it to get it shaking. When fishing weeds where I need to keep it moving, I just roll it along, and several times during the retrieve I'll give the handle one really quick turn. This triggers lots of bites from following fish and keeps my rod in position to set the hook. Top waters are big players too. For me it's a buzzbait if there's a little wind, and a toad if it's slick. This brings me to another thing I've found. As productive and versatile as the chatterbait is, when it's slick calm and quiet, sometimes it's just too much racket, and they won't eat it. Those nights I'll fish the same spots, the same way, with a more subtle presentation. Football jigs or a big worm on structure, a swim jig or swimbait around weeds, and a toad on top. I keep it simple. I've fished lots of different stuff at night. This is what consistantly works for me.

Do you ever sing about kicking a dead horse when you're out there on slow days? ?

Rut Roe Raggy... Sounds like somebody's gonna be buying a punch rig!!!