TENNESSEE NEWSOME

It would depend on the color of the water and how much light is actually penetrating the water surface, right?? I'd generally go with everything mentioned above. I like pumpkin seed for darker water and more natural colors in clearer water. But...I'm learning the whole color scheme myself too!

The water's gettin hotter, but that didn't stop this smallmouth from attackin' the plastic! Man, I LOVE smallmouth!! I'm gettin to like them better than the LM's. This one was 17 inches, but fought like he was a 20". Caught him in 10-12 feet of water on a plastic tube, t-rigged.

That's an awesome welcome man. Thanks. I love to fish at night too. It's not the only time I fish, but I'd say I probably go out more after the sun goes down during summer than any other time. I still consider myself an amateur, but I've become a lot better over the last year just by learning from others and by getting out as much as possible. I'm not very multi-tactical in terms of what baits I use, but that's the next step in my learning. I primarily use plastics. In both fish pictures that I've posted on this site, I used plastic tubes (3.5 inch), T-rigged with a 1/8 oz bullet sinker. I love using this bait on rocky bluffs in five to twenty foot of water on reservoirs. If the water is much shallower without the bluffs, I'll use a 1/16 oz. I'm looking forward to improving the equipment I have. My boat is a 14' alum and I only have a trolling motor. I don't even have a trailer if you can believe that! So, I just haul it in the back of the truck. Some day, I'll put some money into a better boat so that I can cover more water. I really believe I'll catch more fish when I have better equipment. Looking forward to learning from the real experts on here. Thanks for the warm welcome! ...oh, and if anyone has a boat trailer for a 14 footer for a really good price, send me a private message!

Finally getting around to posting this. I caught this biggun in six or seven foot of water off a point where on both sides it drops off to 30 feet or more. Ruler had him at exactly 20 inches. What a fight!

I highly urge you to check out the Zebco Omega ZO3. I've tried the new 33's (original, platinum, etc...) and none of them even come close to comparing to the smooth ZO3. I do own a few of the old, old 33's, and they are tough to beat, but only for light tackle and light fish. Here's a review for the Omega ZO3: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewzebcoomega.html I know most anglers go for the fancier baitcasters and spincasts, but I never made the transition. I'm sure there are advantages to the nicer, more expensive reels, but I doubt you'll be disappointed in the Omega. I think they run around $50. Hope you try it out.

I registered on this site only a few days ago. This is a nice first post. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you guys! This fish was caught at night in about eight foot of water (74 degrees) in a hole that has always delivered fish, albeit usually this big. Was a blast catching this fish! Settin' the hook makes me crazy! Really enjoyed releasing her back into the water too.