Captain Rhino

That thing has some awesome movement on it!

Wow, that's nothing to mess around with. It's good to hear that you got a safe distance away from that lightning strike.

In some of the smaller ponds that I fish, I find it more productive to keep it slow. So I usually use: 1. Senko Types (Black, Green Pumpkin, Redbug) 2. Kinami Baits Palm Tree (Black w/ any colored tail, green pumpkin) 2. Yum Ribbontail Worms 3. Gary Yamamoto Creature Baits 4. Scum Frog Topwater Frog 5. Rapala Shad Popper 6. Heddon Zara Spook Jr. 7. Heddon Torpedo

I watched an episode of River Monsters the other day, and it happened to be an "airborne" special. When a fish would jump, the host would point the rod tip right at the fish. Personally, this didn't make much sense to me because it seems like you need to keep tension on the line or they'll throw it. But he is the one with the fishing show, not me. Like many have said here, keep the tip low and make sure to keep tension.

Congrats! Now you're hooked... (p.s. watch out for that pesky bait-monkey)

Try a chunk of hot dog as bait. Simple, clean, and easy... I usually use a 1/0 hook, split shot sinker, and a bobber (about 3 feet from the bait. Have fun!

Of course they are, but they are more for accessing pools than standing in the water simply because you can. Like I said, there is no point in causing a disturbance by walking around in the water, if you don't need to. The stream smallies are very observant, and will definitely get spooked if you make too much noise or kick up too much sediment.

I usually try using a small jighead (1/8 oz) on a small sized plastic craw. I find that with these stream smallies, they are hard to hook sometimes. Therefore, I like to leave the hook exposed. I drop it right under rocks or bring it over the top of them, letting it drop off of the edge. This has been very successful for these types of "ambush" fish. As for the idea of spooking fish downstreem, you should definitely cast upstreem or parallel, where the fish won't be disturbed by your walking. A friend of mine said it perfectly, "Waders are not really for fishing IN the water, they are for crossing it or accessing pools that are not reachable without them." What I'm trying to say is, don't get in the water unless you HAVE TO. This will greatly reduce the chances of you spooking the fish.

I bought a pflueger trion last year and it is a very durable and versitile (not to mention inexpensive) reel. I highly recommend this for farm pond fishing.

Sounds like you need a new combo. I have gotten a few pflueger combo's and am more than happy with them. I haven't had any issues with them. I'm not sure what kind of fishing you are planning on doing, but if you are shooting for a starter bass rod, this would be a good route IMO.

Like others have hinted at or mentioned, I find true senko's to be well made, but least durable of the stick type of bait. Wacky rigging senko's is a good way to rig a bait, but there are cheaper baits that you can use if you are fishing this technique; The other baits will be just as effective, IMO. I also find that senko's dry up faster than their counterparts. From my experiences, you can choose any stick type (imitation of the senko) and it will work exactly the same (make sure it's not a floater or fast sinker first though ). If you want to stick with the senko's, learn the O'Ring technique. There is actually another thread ( http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1236855515 ) that shows how to do it using cheap elastic bands. I think it is a good idea for an extended life span of a senko. Hopefully this helps!

Wow, look at all of those grasses... Looks like a dream of a spot. Congrats on the catches! Keep up the good work!

x2

Jig with a senko...?

Very cool! Keep up the good work Big (little) guy!

In Kentucky, from what I have read and seen, this is only illegal in the Cumberland River, below the Wolf Creek Dam. If somebody knows that this is illegal in Laurel River Lake let me know, and I'll stop. Thanks for the heads up though.

Nice smallies you got into there! I am jealous.

Nobody has any trout experience?

I only tap into the juice when I'm bait fishing and the fishing is slow. If I'm lure fishing, I don't even bother because I'm not putting the pole down. A few beers won't hurt anything, just don't let Johnny Law catch you. :-X

Very cool! I really like the tie dye grip. I've never seen that on a rod before.

I recently went fishing with my dad and brother in-law on Laurel River Lake, in Kentucky. We were night fishing, targeting brown and rainbow trout. My grandpa used to go often and catch lots of fish almost every time. We caught a couple of decent sized fish, and we know a little bit about fishing for this species in the lake, but I would like to know if anyone else has any advice or tips for catching more of these fish. From what I understand, these fish stay very deep in the daytime (70+ feet), but come up a bit more shallow at night (20 to 40 feet) to feed. We were trying to target these fish around 30 feet with minnows, night-crawlers, and corn. We chummed the water with canned corn before and during fishing. We also used lanterns over the side of the boat to attract bait fish. Thanks for your help, Ryan

To many more...!

I am very impressed! That's pretty awesome...

Those are some healthy looking fish there! Congrats on the catches!