Simp

Great pic! Can I hire you to be my personal photographer? ;D

Tnhiker44 I love the last one.

Two great lures for weeds are a rattle trap also called a lipless crank. Make sure you have heavy line tied on (the 14 you have should work but it's a little on the low side.) and a strong rod. Then try to tick the tops of the weeds and rip it out when it's caught. Usually the fish will strike after you rip it out. I'd also suggest a topwatter frog. I'd suggest a spro frog for matted grass and Rage toads for sparse grass. The spro is also usually best when fished with braid so you can set the hook better. Ponds can be a great place to learn and catch some nice fish. I've spent as much time on farm ponds as I have on lakes. The downside is they can limit you to what you can fish. That is unless you are on a boat. The downside to a lake is there is allot of water and most if it doesn't have any fish. Finding fish and learning there seasonal and even daily movements then becomes VERY important. Now you may find that the water you fish may be very different then most of us. Out west in Cali they have many deep clear lakes. Other styles have came about from the fisherman out west that many of us may not consider our strengths in fishing. So keep trying to find a fishing partner near you. I think all the advise you have gotten on here has been right on and a great majority of things I've learned has came from here. I find it very fun to take something I've read on here and then go out and practice it. Some things I find I can do right off the bat well (like frogging) while others are proving it's going to take some time (drop shotting). Listen to what you have read here and on other thing. Try other bodies of water!! I say that for a couple reasons. First it's just nice for a change of scenery. Second if you have put a good amount of time in that pond and it hasn't produced well and it continues to not produce. That simply may mean that pond has very few bass in it. While the other lake may be having tournaments on it all the time because it's a great fishery. Just look at out BR club trip to KY Lake. That place has tons of tourneys but many of us had days where boats where caching 100 fish a day almost. So keep at it and have fun! Remember there also isn't anything wrong with a bober and worms to feel the tug of a bluegill! They also taste great!

Why not get the gold that has cork?

I hate PI something fierce. I can still get it REALLY RALLY BAD! Earlier this year I had a serious case again. I had it in a couple spots and I didn't itch it at all but it wouldn't go away. Then finally something must have happened and it spread everywhere. It took a very long time to finally get to go away completly. So now won't even allow people to come over if I know they have it. I take it that seriously! >

No doubt Ikes a stand up guy who is great with kids. He also seems to be a bigger gear hand than many others on tour. Anytime I see him on his show or on the Elite series he seems to have double the rods out then anybody else. He certainly supports his sponsors who support him and we shouldn't hold that against him. It's not like Roland Martin trying to sell us evreything under the sun (sorry Megastrike sponsors). We as anglers should find the right tool for the job. I have no doubt that if the right tool for job is a light a tough rod for IKE instead of one that his name on it. Then he's going to use the right tool. It doesn't mean he doesn't stand behind his products. Just that he's not so egotistical that he has to use only his signature gear. On the other hand as much as I do like about him. He's got to control that anger some. I could care less about him screaming but I didn't like it when he beat the crap out of some nice gear on Guntersville.

Totinos frozen pizzas. and sometimes those $1 microwavable meals .

Well the prop shaft was bent so we had to take it in to be straightened. It's got a small wobble, but it's serviceable for now. A new trolling motor and a new boat is on the list of things to do during the winter months.

Rage toad on that day. BTW just incase my paint job on pic 3 didn't make it clear. The Trolling motor was left down and my dad tried to trailer it that way! ;D ;D

Ok so I've did some searches and research on Dobyn's Rods and have some additional questions. I've read a little about the stuff on the G1 versus G2 and wondered how do I tell the diffrence when ordering. For instance the Champion and Champion Elite. Now are they both G2 rods or is only the Champion Elite a G2 rod? Also how big of a diffrence is there between the two models concerning sensitivity?

Really? I couldn't stand their cranking model. I returned it after fishing it for a day. Was way to moderate action, guess I just prefer a mod-fast. Nope I love the action! I also have a Premiere Fiberglass in 6'6 and it's great for small cranks, topwater, and jerkbaits.

Congrats it's always great to win no matter how many boats!

They got a little small on us this summer. Not to mention on our best day when we got into a slew of 4 or 5 pounders neither of had our phones/camera. I'm hoping to land some 7 or 8lbers this fall! Rather at least one! ;D

Pops on a bad day! A Good Day! A big 10# cat I caught on my meduim action crankbait rod with 10# test. I thought I had a PB here after a 10-15min head shaking fight.

Pitchinkid here I am yet to catch a smallie and your catching them two at a time. ;D

I like Cabela's no vis and Seagur Invisx. Also just do a search we have covered the topic ALLOT!! BTW Welcome to BR!!

I have a Megaforce and have had nothing but problems with it. In fact I've actually had two! The first had a problem where the twitching bar would get stuck over and over again. It got to the point where I would go to reel and the twitching bar would start snapping down on it's own. So I exchanged it and the same thing happened again after a couple months.

I agree about the tip heavy part. I wouldn't buy these rods for flipping or jigging, but the cranks models are great. I have the 7ft MH cranking model and it's not that heavy and it fishes great.

I'm about to ship a rod for warranty repair and UPS gave me a quote for 10$ UPS ground. Just go to the website and use there calculator.

Nice smallie!!

Well thanks to all the help on here we only got third! :'( :'( ;D We caught them on shaky heads and jigs. We fished the river side of KY lake dam and I think what's called the Clark's river.

I've got a small club event in a a few hours at Paducah landing on the river not KY LAke. I've never fished the river before and so I signed up as a non boater. They won't be pulling current it sounds like either. I'm looking for any tackle tips or things to pay attention to that could help me out. Right now I have a spro poper frog, black/blue jig with rage craw, Chartreuse spinnerbait Indiana blade, and a squared bill balsa crank in orange and black. Any other suggestions or little tips where river fish position?? Thanks for the help I'm going to catch some ZZss and check this before I leave. I'll update it when I get back.

Sometimes a bad spot can develop after a backlash with braid. Braid usually has that hard stop on a backlash and that can do a number on the line where it kinked and stopped.

.....my sentiments exactly!! on a hot dog bro, really?? nice fish man! I love fishing for cats with Hot Dogs! You can't beat beat camping out and grilling some dogs, then using left overs as bait. I need do it again soon and dip them in JJ's also.