Flashpoint

When I used to fish the Hatchie Bottoms in Hardeman County, TN back in the day with my dad, Cottonmouths were bad to fall out of low-lying tree limbs and into the boat. Nothing quite like having a 4 1/2 foot Cottonmouth land less than 3 feet from you. We carried a shortened baseball bat and a Ruger .22 for "disposal" of the intruders ;D If given the chance, most snakes would rather run from you than attack you. During mating season, and during the molting period, snakes are likely to be more aggressive towards intruders. The bottom line is watch your step. However, a small snakebite kit isn't expensive, and wouldn't take up too much room in your tacklebox. Another word of advice is: take the time to learn to identify the indigenous species in your area. Especially the difference between venomous and non-venomous species. For instance, if you find Kingsnakes around your local honey hole... leave them be. A Kingsnake will kill and eat other, nastier specimens (such as Copperheads, Cottonmouths, and Rattlesnakes).

Me too. After I cast, I'll let the lure sit in place for what seems like hours. Once all the ripples subside, I'll give it a twitch-twitch-pause with the rod, and then let 'er sit still again. I repeat the process varying the number of twitches, and the length of the pauses. A good number of strikes come when I'm letting the lure just float in place. I've also done a straight retrieve, using the Torpedo like a buzzbait, and just ripping it over a weed line. You just have to experiment with it. If you're workin' it fast and you're getting no action, slow it down a bit.

Well, like you, the weekends are about the only time I get to fish. Every now and then I'll take off on Friday just to give myself three days to fish! It's funny, I'm almost late to work every day, but I'm NEVER late to the lake ;D A typical weekend for me: Friday night: prep the boat, set out my gear, prep my cooler, and pre-rig a couple of lures Saturday morning: up at 5:00, get dressed, toss back a quick snack and some oj, out the door by 5:20, and at the lake by 5:30. I repeat the routine for Sunday morning as well, rain or shine.

I use the Uncle Josh #11A pork trailers most of the time, but that's just a personal preference. I also use twin-tail grubs, Zoom chunks, and Zoom baby craws. If you really want to add some bulk to your jigs, put on a double-tail hula grub (skirt first).

He's either a turtle fan or a sailor who's crossed the equator

Travlin_Man... it's a tattoo machine.

I was out on the lake with a buddy of mine a few weeks ago. We had been getting "skunked" for the first 4 hours of our day, when we got bored and decided to play around with the trolling motor. We each tied on a blue/chrome Rattlin' Rapala, let out some line, cranked the motor over on high, and took out across the lake. We landed 3 bass, and a pretty healthy pickerel this way. I would have never thought it would be such a successful technique Other people on the lake were looking at us like we were crazy... up until we started yanking fish out of the water!

Yup, I've used a Cotton Cordell Grappler Shad this way. Had more luck with it than most of my other crankbaits.