wonkyrig

Keitech Tungsten Fine Guard Jig Head I'd highly encourage you to try this instead though - rig it texas style on a light drop shot and pitch it or drag it fast.

I think they may be due for a deep clean quicker than my other reels, just feels like they've lost some casting distance. The weight thing is probably just down to ergos, it's not a big difference. They're all good reels, get whichever feels comfy in hand.

Why not just throw chatterbaits on your current mh rod and pick up a cranking rod? The st croix victory mhmf mod-fast 7'2" "cranker" is a great rod for rock crawlers and DTs and some jerkin.

IMX hands down. Have both these rods, the rip-n-chatter is a great rod for me for a couple things (lipless and jointed swimbaits) but I'd never try to hookset a chatterbait with it. The IMX is awesome for chatters, spinnerbaits, and lipless.

I'd personally take a curado mgl over either. I like spool tension knobs that are supposed to be used. I like quick access to open the reel to add a drop of bearing oil. But I also don't want to spend time finagling and tuning. My jdm zillions seemed to bog down really quickly. The tatula elite feels heavy in comparison to both others. I have all 3 reels if you have specific questions.

The new GLX feel considerably better than last gen to me.

Could make better suggestions if you define the weight and depth of the crankbaits or type of crank, eg squarebill, wart, flat, 6xd, etc. I personally think it's only a low percentage of rods that cross between crank and chatter well. Driving a 5/0 ridiculous wire single hook and size 4-6 rb trebles have completely different necessities to me. Casting distance is a big factor on my lake too.

You're talking about right outside it at John A Pattern island? Chart says there are some 6 foot spots there and the lake is down 5-6 below full pool right now so that makes sense. Do you think I'll be good so long as I pay attention to my charts? The only thing I'm concerned about is trees/stumps. The corps capped trees at 35-40 below pool on Lanier, but I've been to some other lakes where they draw down and tops of trees are just under the surface or poking above.

Probably heading up to Chickamauga this weekend, super excited. Not yet sure where we'll launch, but maybe Dayton. Are there any areas where we need to be cautious of stumps or unmarked obstructions? Running navionics mapping, just curious if there's anything I need to be aware of when off the main channel. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, would certainly appreciate it as well. I primarily finesse and crank on Lanier so hoping to get outside of my norm a bit but still do some stuff I'm confident with. Thanks!

Here's a local podcast with the founder Allen Brooks if anyone is interested. Lots of info included and clarifies some things.

Spot choker makes a great underspin. Also use dirty jigs and occasionally coolbaits.

What weight is it taking to get in the money over there?

I've fished this lake a few times without much success other than an 8 lb hybrid which was fun, but not what I was after. Of largemouth and smallies, which is more predominant there? Saw lots of hybrids, striper, and brown trout, but not as many green ones, especially tournament weight ones.

Thanks Tom! Lots of good points.

Hahaha true.

The method that seems to be the most successful on the lake I fish is run and gunning offshore brushpiles from post spawn to fall. Some days a spinnerbait is the deal, sometimes a crank, sometimes a fluke, topwater, etc. If I'm bouncing around and not getting bit on one or two lures, are you saying it doesn't matter much what I'm showing them so long as I show up at the right time? Do you find active fish and then start playing with presentation to maximize? I know there are some people around here that have so much confidence in a fluke that they'll pull up and make maximum two casts to a brushpile with a fluke and if it doesn't get bit, they leave. And they'll do that all day. I'm just trying to avoid running around everywhere with a fluke or whatever and not getting bit for however many stops when those fish would have eaten a crank. But I also don't want to sit there and throw 5 or 6 different things if the fish have become suspicious after the first 1 or 2 things they didn't eat. I guess what I'm trying to understand is should I be thinking of all the fish in the lake the same, like if this group is eating topwater, all the fish in the lake are. And if they're not eating topwater, none of them are? Or should I be treating each new location/group of fish as a "fresh start" where I play the game and figure them out? From observation it seems like if I can get bit a couple times on a lure, the probability of that presentation working elsewhere is high. But I also don't want to dismiss fish as inactive if they don't eat it, because I don't want to miss shots I didn't take. I hope that makes sense. Maybe overthinking it.

Let's say you're on new water, or your home water but patterns have changed or it's a seasonal transition period. You can find the fish, but you're trying to figure out what they'll eat. When you're rotating through lures, how many will you present to the same fish before rotating holes? I can usually get a beat on whether they're feeding up or down and whether they'll chase or not, but sometimes I struggle and wonder if it's more efficient to keep working an area over with different stuff or if I should rotate to somewhere else when I change it up. I guess when I'm not getting bit, there's always a question of are these fish just not active or am I showing them the wrong stuff or presenting it poorly? Thanks!

Fish some new water, put my friends and my Dad on some good fish, and try to share what I can to give back for all the good things fishing has done for me.

Huge bummer. I was watching those at night to chill out before bed and try to absorb some info.

TM is on its own breaker/switch up the other gunwale. This for chartplotters only and the specs check out with blue sea's charts and circuit calculator, plus headroom.

Went with 6 gauge, a blue sea breaker/switch, and a blue sea 6 circuit fuse box. Now to do some tidying and get the graphs mounted and connected to it. Thanks gents.

Planning on running 8 gauge marine wire up to a blue sea fuse box in starboard rod locker, then a couple Garmin 106 and a live scope black box off of that fuse box. Do I need a negative bus? Are there any pros/cons to using an on/off switch versus a circuit breaker in the battery compartment to turn everything on and off while I'm already back there turning on the TM and cranking battery connection? Thanks!

Found the boat already rigged with what I'm looking for and none of what I don't at a great price. Lucked out a little bit. Thank you all for the suggestions and info.

I'd really like to see more vids where the angler has a scene from the beginning of the trip briefly discussing the conditions and what their loose plan is. Footage of driving to the ramp or backing the boat in and all that is really unnecessary. Throughout the vid maybe including some brief commentary on what's changing, how are the fish set up, thought process on what they're doing or where. Show some quick bit about what's tied on. Don't be afraid to fail on camera. Not everyone puts a 20+ bag together everyday and that's fine. Vids that are 40% sponsor discussion or chatter unrelated to fishing get closed pretty quickly. Audio is more important in vids that many realize.

Long time listener, first time caller. Appreciate all the knowledge shared from the hammers here.