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I broke down and bought tickets for the latest installment of the Twilight series. The bride is excited, and I'll get some movie popcorn out of the deal plus a few hours alone time, that's a rare thing when u have four kids, lol. Going to the 11 o'clock showing tonight.

I can honestly say that in the 4 days I was there, out of the 50 or so fish I caught, (I lost track) maybe 5 were under 4-4.5 lbs. My PB of 6-4 came on a Berkley Flicker Shad 2 minutes into the day on my birthday. I ended up with best 5 that went over 26 lb. I actually got dissappointed reeling one up and seeing it wasn't a 5. Phenomenal fishery to say the least. Maybe fall is less numbers and better avg. size and spring is better numbers and mixed size? Only Dwight could confirm this. Or maybe I need to come out in the spring and assist in the research. (hint hint)

My favorite rod is a St Croix legend extreme XC72MHM. I like this blank so much I had a custom rod built so I would have two. It's 7'2" medium heavy moderate action. Handles 3/8 to 1 ounce baits. I pair it up with a high speed reel of your choice loaded with 10lb braid suffix 832 and a maxima super green mono leader of 12lb or 15lb test. I work my jerk baits with the rod parallel to the water thus a longer rod doesn't hinder the action. I'm fishing from a moving boat not stationary.

My wife went with some friends and I stayed home with the kids.

Well, I have been fishing the Tennessee River for 13 years and have had a day like that! It's really hard for me to imagine fishing with that kind of production and consistency. Kudos to you Mr. Hottle! :respect-040:

It doesn't work unless you're fishing for drum . It's very simple to fish but you can fish it a ton of different ways. It's really surprising how many quality fish you can catch with it at times. The only bad thing is that it's so effective I probably don't give other baits enough time to work before I pick it up. I fish mine on a 6' 10" ML/F Legend Tournament Bass rod with a 25 size Pfluegar Supreme with 8lb Nanofil with a 10lb fluoro leader and a 3/32oz worm head jig or a 1/16oz ballhead. I like to super glue my bait to the head but Ned and his croanies swear sometimes it's more effective when the bait is slid down the hook. I just can't get myself to fish it like that.

For spinning reels any shimano in the 2500 series will serve you well. I can't comment on the rod but as far as spinning reels shimano makes a quality product, that when properly maintained will last for years. Also there are lots of videos and articles written on senko fishing. Wacky or "normal" Texas rig both produce fish. If you have any worries check them out as a reference point. Just make sure you close your bail by hand and possibly spray some line and lure conditioner on the line and you should be set. This will help reduce line twist and unneeded headaches while on the water.

The perch sinks about a foot per second. When I am fishing a slender(non panfish) 6in swimbait it feels kinda small. There is no bass worth catching that cant and wont eat a 6in bait. What I mean is that a 1 pound bass has no problem eating a 6in bait. I have caught a 1.5 lb bass on a full bodies 8in swimbait. An 8in bait is alot bigger all around then a 6in. I beleive in matching the prey that the bass are feeding on. If those lakes have perch in them then a perch bait would be a good choice.

So basically give Dwight 7 days and he will put you on a lunker or two......noted Jeff

I cast right handed, so that factor doen't change. I have been casting bait casting reels since the mid 50's when these reels were only made with handles on the right side to take advantage of the handle being positioned at 12 o'clock to aid in casting distance with the spool shaft riding on the bearing on the opposite end...the old knuckle busters! Reels have gone though a lot of design changes with multiple bearing, however still cast better with the handle upright. The biggest downside for me is in the way I hold my rod, hand mostly in front of the reel, so I can run the line between my thumb and index finger. 60+ years of training my left hand and finger to send feed back to my old brain can't be undone in a few years and why change when it works for me! I can keep up with anyone that I have ever fished and catch my share of big bass. If you are a jig angler or other soft plastics that require instant feed back that a bass has the lure in ti's mouth, you will never realize that fact faster relying on your sensitive fingers, instead of the rod. If you change to the left hand reel; try to learn to feel the line as it comes off the reel, this will improve your strike to hook set ratio, right or left handed.. Tom

I hope to make this one. But its 25 miles for me, so not sure. But as it stands now will wait toward the last minute before knowing for sure. Right now can't get out or walk, so it will depend on how I get from now until then. Also will be camping below the dam in our camper. Pete

I once bought about 10 really pretty baits from a Wally World bargain bin because the price was cheap. I swear, they really were sexy and they seduced me. But their actions truly stank. I'm now using one as a key chain (hooks removed) and another is affixed to a USB memory stick. The rest were pawned off to friends as additional ballast in their tackle boxes.

ah you beat me to it! you friggen hit the nail on the head even down to the color of my favorite.

Outstanding results. But the real question is how many smallies did you catch to get those 5's and 6's? Jeff

It's at about a dozen that I start to feel cramped. We're faced with so much diversity in our northern, natural lakes that it's hard to fish with less than three or four, even if you're dialed in. Even when I'm fishing deep smallies, which is somewhat specialized, I still have three drop shot rods out, a jigging spoon, a football jig, and at least one cranking or jerkbait rig on deck.

1) A shorter length that you can twitch easily downward. 2) A medium power with an extra fast tip for fast recovery after the twitch. 3) Any reel that feels comfortable. 4) Any gear ratio is fine, since you take up slack on the pause. 5) A balanced combo can alleviate fatigue when jerkbait fishing all day.

My wife has been telling me for years that my tension knob is set too tight.

Yes, most of the lures I've purchased have failed to catch fish. I do a lot of fishing, but not much catching.

Good bait for numbers. Think about it though, it's not even 4" long and not even an ounce. Swimbait? Yes. Big bait? Negative. Just get out of the whole "west coast" thing. Bass are bass, everywhere you go. They eat a jig out west the same as midwest and east. They eat baitfish the same in all those places. They also exhibit cannibalistic behavior everywhere they swim. A bass has a huge mouth and the attitude to eat anything that will fit in there. Don't be afraid.

If you are looking for a LP baitcasting reel that will handle baits lighter than 1/4 oz. Daiwa makes some of the best. The Daiwa Pixy is top of the line, the Sol and Alphas 103 series reels also do a very nice job with a few minor mods. The nice thing about the Daiwa reels is that there are a lot of custom aftermarket parts to make these things realy run well. The Shimano 50E does a good job and is quite a bit cheaper than most of the Diawa reels not as many aftermarket parts but they run good for what they are. I have not used one, but have heard good things about the Revo ALT and MGX with an upgraded spool, but again you are starting to get into some big money. As RW said, the reel is only half the equation, finding a rod to match is the other half. T

my mistake for not elaborating. Like Fracho mentioned, pitching is a form of casting and doesn't require a heavy rod and both the 893 and 844 would suffice- I use both. Flipping, on the other hand, usually isn't done with less than 50-65# braid and with 1/2-1.5oz weight. Niether of those rods would hold up.

I agree the 893 is more of a lighter jig rod, but the 844 always impressed me as having plenty of backbone

Not enough balls for the heavy stuff.

the guy is an ****hole in my opinion. unfortunately nothing you can do since it's private and you are taking the risk of losing your access to the pond. my best piece of advice is don't forgwet your pliers again and keep to yourself