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Something a little different. Megabass Orochi 13 Snake Slider balsa bait.

I just pulled the trigger on a new Shimano Stradic FK 2500 spinning reel! I. Am. Psyched!!! I also got a 600yd spool of 8# Yo-Zuri hybrid line too. It's (14.99 vs 12.99 for 275yd...seems like a good deal). After xmas gift cards and a few promo codes the $220 order was $127.

That looks heavy. I bet if GYCB made that it would be 29.99 for a pack of 5.

My new rod criteria is ............................... it has to be St Croix !

I've used jigs on the Susquehanna river and the main thing you have to remember is the drag on the line by the current. If its moving too fast it looks unnatural. Throw your jig upriver and across slightly so you get less drag on it. Also you can let the current do more work and you don't have to impart as much action to the jig.

The short truth is nothing beats time on the water. But, if you can spend time on the water with someone who is already an above average angler you will learn more in a single outing than you will in a dozen by yourself. Even on the slow days there are plenty of things to be learned.

The senko isn't deserving of a $500 setup!

I personally have never had a tungsten jig. Having said that, a couple years ago, I switched to Siebert Outdoors jigs exclusively and have had more success on the water than ever before. I am a firm believer in Mike's products and wouldn't even be considering another brand. Without even looking up the prices, I can almost assume his prices will beat the competition, AND you will be getting a hand tied quality jig, not something mass produced. Secondly, in less than 15 hours(this instance), and most of the time much quicker, you got a reply right here on the board from the man who hand ties these himself! Nothing like customer service! BTW- these 2 fish were caught on his hand tied jigs in the last 2 weeks! Jeff

I have added more tungsten jigs to my site. I am working on adding more non lead products do to some state regulations. I also have Mega Strike lead free jigs.

If ya aint fishing tournaments out of it why ya need livewells?

First of many I hope...

Guys, have a read here - the Chic report is partway down the page: http://blog.wildlife.virginia.gov/outdoor-report/2016/02/fishin-report-19/

For valentines Day the GF bought me the TRD and jig heads for the Ned Rig. She knew to buy me two of every color of everything, I trainer her well.

I believe you could state a budget of one million dollars, and there will always be someone tell you that you need $10.00 more...lol. Hootie

You can't have too much information and a larger display is better with the imaging technology. I have a 16' boat with a 9.9 HP outboard and was set up this way when fishing Tuesday: I have another 10" unit also.

Yeah if I was drinking I had a cigarette guaranteed. It was just the way it worked for me. I quit smoking and the drinking went with it. Had to reevaluate my friends list as to who was going to help or hurt my choices/chances. Can't run with alcoholics and expect to quit drinking successfully mentality. There is no doubt it is extremely hard to quit addictions. But it can be done. When the person decides they want free they will quit with the excuses. That is the early tale tale sign they really get it and are serious about getting better. All the chit chat to justify an addiction is just a way to try and hide the problem. Once free from the addiction you see the excuses stand out like Trump on a good hair day.

Got a chance to talk to the reigning Bassmaster Classic Champion, Casey Ashley. Hope you enjoy it!

Anyone fishing barefoot in a bass boat is a hellava lot neater person than I am. Ain't no way I would go walking around in my boat barefooted when fishing.

I throw jigs in the Susquehanna river, and I throw smaller profile jigs as I'm dealing with clear water most of the time. A jig and trailer is actually a great bait for smallmouth but it needs to be used during the right time and in the right places. For my river, I'm normally targeting slack water behind a boulder or an eddy close to the bank and the jig is normally 3/8oz and less. When the water is low and clear the jigs I use will be between 1/8oz and 1/4oz, when the water gets high with some color, then I will use something around 5/16oz to 3/8oz. As Gundog mentioned, moving water will pull on line and you need to watch current so if you fish the jig in current, it need to be moving with the current down stream, not upstream but try smaller jigs with a small craw or chunk trailer next to a laydown or boulder in slack or slow moving water.

What helped me was reading the articles on this site, then going out on the water. What you read may not work the exact same way where you are fishing, but it can give a very good starting point.

like alot of the others I use big game on a lot of my reels for alot of situations. I fish high school tourniments an don't have alot of money an I'm fairly picky about how often I change my line so anything other than mono realy hurts my pockets. an i do recommend big game it is the best mono I have used it proved it self to me at Kentucky lake for nationals when you had to turn the trolling motor on high an it would about pull the rod out of your hands befor you could get 14 pound mono to break.

Whopper plopper KVD square bill Red eye

Google earth then look for wet stuff! It's amazing what you can see from the sky. Best of luck!

I believe that many different things contributed to me becoming better than average (I still Have a long way to go). The biggest would be confidence, you have to go out believe you will catch fish and believe that you are a great angler. Another thing that I believe helped contribute to my success was going out and using either a certain pattern or a certain lure for a couple days to a week. This way I built confidence in several techniques and not just a select few so when the fishing got tough I could adapt.

Watched the trout stocking at Wyco this afternoon. There were some nice sized ones came out of that chute.

My philosophy varies with the wind, but I basically always have to feel like I got a good deal and/or value- and that is wholly personal. I work hard and I buy what I want. I have both MB Destroyer and NRX rods and both are worth every penny of the great deals I got on them. My En-vee rods I paid full retail for and would again in a heartbeat.

Good deals are my kryptonite.

-war eagle McClelland Finesse Spinnerbait -strike king mini king -terminator to in your preferred size I like smaller and lighter spinners personally. They still cast well and trailers can add bulk. But that's just my preference. You may be better off with a tradition 3/8-1/2oz bait if you catch big largemouth.

Hack attacks are pretty big jigs with a huge fat hook, I like smaller profile jigs without such a stout hook for smallies. My favorite is an all terrain tackle rattling jig in 1/4 and 3/8oz, I trim the skirt to give it a smaller profile and trim the weedguard so it's not so long. Either a 3" pit boss or half of a regular size pit boss threaded onto the hook is my favorite trailer. Works good for flipping laydowns or hopping/shaking in rocks. I typically don't fish for smallies in muddy water because they are so hard to find when there's a lot of water in the river. Even in floods/high water I have more success with smallies on green pumpkin than a black and blue jig.

a lightning rod is one of the 3 rods I've ever broken. they seem very brittle to me I think there are 2 schools of thought if you're semi-serious and don't have unlimited budget. 1. you take care of your equipment and plan to keep it a long time so you buy a few high end rods with lifetime warranties 2. you like new things every couple of years and buy a bunch of $150 and under rods. if you break one it's just an excuse to buy a new rod

The river is finally fishable again. Went for an hour in the snow after school, caught two small ones. Happy with that!

My preference is left hand reels. im right handed and prefer the rod in my right dominant hand.

I had pretty good luck on Amazon. I bought two revo stx gen 3 for $147.25 minus $20 Abu mail in visa rebate for 127.25 a piece. I also bought a Veritas 2.0 for 79.00 and they accidentally sent me two in the box and told me to keep the second one!!!

As stated before nothing beats time on the water. What worked for me other than time was going a local club. Getting the time on the water with people who knew WAY more than me was a great teacher.

ww2farmer hit the nail on the head, in my opinion.

First was to understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, & the fish it effectively. Attended a 5 day seminar under Elwood "Buck" Perry & then studied everything he & others wrote on this subject. Second was to understand the predominate prey species were in my bodies of water & how those species relate to structure morning, noon, & night...with each passing season. Third was to understand that next after location was timing; just because I didn't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or I had the wrong lure tied on. Fourth was when I stared to understand that the answers to my "catching" dilemmas were not the tackle but me. Bass anglers are a gullible crowd if you appeal to their belief "it's the tackle not the angler"! Fifth: The human tendency is to respond to failure & frustration by over complication rather than simplification of technique & theory. K.I.S.S.!

All you turds leaving for the Classic today, y'all have fun now, y'hear?

I fished a pack and never had any takers. Kinda looked like a tree twig in the water. Like fishing 5 Senkos at one time.

I hate to admit, as much as I've tried otherwise, I'm pretty much "that guy". I've accumulated more rods and reels than I actually use, and more tackle than will fit in the back of my Jeep Commander. There are rods and reels that haven't been out of the house in three or four years; maybe longer for some. And baits that have never been wet. I seem to have a problem. I've been trying to cut back, but except for the last 18 moths or so, the collection has been growing. In the last year and a half, since I made the decision to stop growing the collection, I've spent almost no money on tackle. No new rods, no new reels, and only restocking baits and terminal tackle. I am determined to stop being "that guy". Wish me luck. It's gonna be a struggle.

Just picked up my custom painted order for the classic! Man I can't wait!!!!

City Limits Fishing with Ike was one of my all time favorite fishing shows. I just liked the format and a lot of it reminded me of the places I fish. He wasn't constantly hawking some product and I find him to be quite likeable most of the time. Maybe not so much when he'd throw a tantrum be it was entertaining so, in a way, even that was likeable.

Also been adding to the crank and topwater game. I gotta say, I like the looks of these new Koppers squarebills. And some Shellcrackers (Thanks, D!) And some more mid-weight stuff for the new combo A couple heavier entrants into my arsenal. Still looking for a Roman Negotiator or Trick, 8" Lunker punker, and a Bullshooter 160 or 190, but I still got ice, so I still got time.

Ole Catt = Ole School! I don't walk around with my phone attached to my ear, heck most days I don't even carry a phone. I don't do selfies with every bass I catch; when I typed this on my computer I had to add "selfie" to the dictionary. My two favorite Calcuttas are 30 plus years old, don't see a reason to change, may upgrade bearings this year. I've got Stanley spinner baits that are several years old, hooks still sharp, changed skirts a couple times & they still catch fine. I've thrown the same cinnamon pepper neon junebug laminated ring worms for 25+ years. I'm a Texas Rig freak; straight shank hook, non-pegged weight, on Big Game. I still cast with one hand; overhead I still use a hand controlled trolling motor I still catch Hawgs on the same structure I fished 45 years ago. I still wear Wrangler boot cut jeans, Cowboys boots, & a ball cap with the bill facing forward!

I'm curious to see how others make choices in purchasing rods. What guides your decision in choosing and purchasing a rod? I believe rods are most the fragile things we carry on boats and have seen a few destroyed. So the idea of shelling out 250+ for something that can be ruined with an errant cast, livewell lid, careless foot step, tungsten weight, or any of the other various hazards founds on boats is rather unnerving. For me, the rod has to have two particular qualities. First, the rod has to on the light side in its tier. Secondly, it has to be cheap enough as to not ruin my day WHEN I break it. That being said, all my rods on veritas that were heavily marked down when the "new" ones came out. So, I'm not really bothered when they explode as I boat flip a 2 lb fish or when I close a lid on the tip of one.

Lots of interesting posts. I enjoy seeing others though processes on things. Thanks for the suggestions. I've only personally broken one rod and that rod had 4 seasons on it. Eventually everything breaks down with enough use. Most of my rods have guides or hook keepers missing, but that's just free weight reduction. I know durability and weight aren't usually to traits one that coincide, so I sacrifice longevity for comfort. Personally, I don't think I'm too particularly hard on gear, I think I'm honest with it. It seems sensitivity is a trait that is highly sought after, but how does one empirically measure such a characteristic? I bought the veritas rods thinking they were fairly light but there's a huge variance between them. I weighed identical rods and one weighed nearly 3/4's of an ounce more than the other. So, if I can't even trust a company's specs on weight, I'm not going to trust them on their claim of having high sensitivity, something I can't even measure. I've tried rods that were touted for their sensitivity, but I was never really wowed. I was admiring their design and build quality, but never noticed any marked improvement over my garbage rods. In fact, I preferred using a veritas over a orochi xx when used for pitching. Simply, for the fact that it was noticeably heavier. For me less weight=speed=efficiency.

You really want to handle the reels in a store in order to get a sense of how they feel in your hands. Years ago I had completely decided to go the President route based on the numerous excellent reviews on the product(s). And there's no doubt they're excellent reels. However, in my hands, I didn't like how they felt, reeled, etc. Completely subjective. I tried a similar sized Shimano, Quantum, Daiwa, Abu, etc. The best *feeling* and reeling to me were Shimano. So like it's been said, if you can take your rod in to a store and try several different brands on it, choose the one you feel fits you best. It was Shimano for me, but you may feel some other brand fits your style better.

I know were all about to nail them shallow. but if anyone wants to teach my dad and I how to fish some deeper in fall summer or early spring I can offer free room and board at Six Mile. Ive got that mid range depth down but neither one of us really know how to nail them deep. We have electronics from 2009, I forgot lowrance model number. we can put you up in six mile through out the year especially if you are a tournament fisher. not on the water but really close to launch. good luck. march is going to be awesome!

This dude nailed it. Literally what I would've said!

Yeah, I buy some of the latest and greatest in baits (Gotta get me some Shadow Rap Shads!) and have collected way more gear than I'll ever need. What's important is that I'm enjoying all fishing related activities. I don't have to pre-order say, a Duo Realis Pencil Popper - I've got plenty of topwater baits already. I'll do this one from Duo in due time. I also don't have to have a bigger boat or catch more and bigger fish than you do. I'm well satisfied with the size and number I catch from a rental boat on my home water. Being relaxed rather than driven is the way to go. I'll go so far as to say you'll be a better fisherman if you don't get neurotic about it. So what changed to make me lighter and brighter? Experience and maturity. I can look back five decades as a fisherman and remember the days when I had a "Gotta get 'em!" attitude. I'm having more fun now - and catching more fish. So. . . Go fishing, all. Bring your sense of humor.

Well, I am definitely "that guy". Man, i can hardly fish with lures that don't compliment my rod, reel and line! I love technique specific gear, too! So what? Fishing is my hobby, my passion and I am a collector. I think I might actually fish 5% of my lures, but probably not. Does that mean I didn't "need" the Next Big Thing? Gotta have it!