whoopbazz

1/0 is fine. Personally i use a size 1 mosquito hook. But have used a 1/0 on some bigger wacky baits.

I'm suprized how many people hate this lake. We live in PA and we do as good or better than VA guys, and we only go twice a year (for 20 years LOL). I took a new job and couldn't go this time...the guys are there now. I spoke to my dad he said Dukes and Sturgeon were doing good. All I can tell you is from this time of year experience. Take careful note of where you catch your fish. Depth, location in the creek (how far up the creek). We find that if you catch a few in one creek, lets say at the mouth or secondary point or back end, other creeks will pattern simialry. Hearing the water temps...I wouldn't go to far up. Maybe main lake points still or secondary points. Target the docks around these areas. Skip senkos or gitzits WAY UP UNDER the docks and fish the peirs. I have lots of good spots, and I can take you righ to them, but the names escape me right now.

BPS graphite series or a bionic blade.

I agree with the stiffer rod/ripping grass statements. But I still like a flimsy fiberglass cranking rod for lipless baits. Here's why: 1) Take a lipped crankbait and pull it through the water along side your boat...feel the resistance; how it drags? Now do it with a lipless bait. It comes zipping through with no resistance whatso ever. Point being on a stiff rod when you set the hook you can actually pull the bait away fromthe fish if he hit it poorly. A spongey rod is slower to react and gives the fish more time to hook themselves. 2) A spongey rod gives more play and shock absorbing. Helps with the hooks pulling out, and if the fish jumps to throw the bait. Lipless baits we tend to fish shallower, which increases the % of jumping bass. A more forgiving rod allows for better playing of a fish. 3) a spongey rod allows for lighter line since it takes the shock out of fighting the fish. Perfect example: by buddy fishes for salmon and steelhead, these fish are 15-30 lbs, in a river current. He uses 4lb line and catches them. Why? Cause he uses a 10' noodles rod with hardley any back bone.

Going back many yeas ago (15 or20) there was an aquarium store around here that was owned by a tournament angler. He used to make a specialized set up to keep bass. I don't know details, but it was a big tank. Not high, a big low square tank...like 20" high, but a 5 or 6 feet square! This would be a large volume, but even larger in squre feet. It was filled with living grasses and "weeds", stumps, rocks etc. To make it look and feel real for the bass. It had heaters, filters, and a huge lid so it wouldn't jump out. I know it had extra deep gravel on top of soil to help keep it clean. They were custom built tanks and the guy charged an arm and a leg for them. He would set them up and do "cleanings". It was a huge expense and you really had to want a bass as a pet to spend that much coin. He did have excellent results with it though. Keeping multiple bass too.

There's a lot to do around home here I'll probably have them up by Thursday.

We left last weekend for Zapata. Let me say first we were supposed to fish with Charlie Harrleson...but we got a call on the Tues. before we left tellingus he quit guiding! But, he did hook us up with Rob Mcfarlane and he is a great guide. We also were supposed ti fish with Jim Edwards another top notcher. We go to town on Saturday. We were scheduled to start fishing on Monday, but seein the water and all the bass boats were too much. Sunday we went looking for someone to take us out. We got Speedy Collete and had an awsome day. We had a cpl 6's and lost count of the 3-5 lbers. Probably around 30 bass. The other boat had a less than steller day. Speedy found some guy in is campgroud to take them out, and he wasn't on any fish. On Monday we fished with Rob. We had a 6's and again lost count of the smaller fish. Guessing around 30 bass. The other boat with Jim did well too the had an 8+ and a 7+. They got about 30-40 bass. Then the crappy weather started on Tuesday (as if you didn't watch the news). We went out around 1030 in 30 mph winds. Jim had 1 spot for us out of the wind. He said we'll get em or not. Well after we got soaked on the ride...we got em! We had a 9+ a cpl 6+ and i lost count of the 3,4,5's. We musta had 50+ fish and all good ones. The other boat got about 10 fish...with a big 5 and some other 3's and 4's. The water still stayed up near 70 that day. Wednesday was the worst day of fishing I ever had. We got 4 fish although they did way about 18lbs. The other boat only got 2 small fish. The water temp was 58...yes 12 degrees over night. We canclled on Thursday and headed back to San Antonio. Where we were lucky to get out on Friday and. And to top it all off I met Denny Brauer in the SA airport and we chattted and he signed my hat! I know it was not a Falcon trip you here about in size and numbers...but still great for us. I got my PB a 6.6lber. And held a 9-13. Zapata was way better than we expected...recommend the Best Western. Free hot b-fast and a happy hour from 5-7 with free beer and nachos! Ver clean rooms and freshened up everyday by a very cute Latina... . Fished Mexico 3 of the 4 days without any questions...felt safe, and only saw a few gill netters. Fished the Tiger on the cold windy day. Already planning on going back. Special thanx to Jim and Tom @ FLT for letting us drop off and send out our tackle from their shop. And would without out a doubt recomment Rob and Jim again. We don't blame them for the weather.

I saw the CNBC story too. I don't think it's left wing propaganda BS. Why single out just Remington? Why not BS on multiple gun makers? There are 2 sides to every story, but I don't think CNBC made up and BS'ed anything. If it was all made up BS the liable law suit would be huge. The fact Remington has been publicly hush-hush about the story leads me to believe there may be some truth. That being said... My family have always bought 700's and never had any misfire issues. Once on a single digit day my 308 did not fire when a pulled the trigger. I figured it was a bad load and racked a new one in. Under the circumstances I did it rather quickly and pretty hard. The next 2 shot fired. I found out the firing pin was gummed up from the cold weather. A gun smith cleaned it and never had an issue since. That was about 20+ years ago. Moreover, right over the mountain from my house is Hart Rifles (firearms whatever the actual name is). They build custom made guns...I've heard the best in the world by some guys. Big dollar guns. They use only Rem 700 actions in their rifles. They claim they are the best actions avalible. Now they do some "tweeking" to them.

I had a friend in college that had some old lever action rifle. He called it acivil war gun...but I don't think it was that old. But any how...it took black powder loads, not gun powder. He had somebody load them for him. But this guy (the loader) was very knowledgable on old guns, and knew how many grains to load. And this guy also said by no means shoot a gun powder load out of it. Be very careful shooting this thing, for that reason.

When it first opened years ago it was awsome...but it got kinda lousy back in the late 90's...quit going.

Gold and firetiger #3 vibrax work incredible for SM (and even LM) Have gone upto a size 4 and down to a 2 on occasion,

This makes it all the harder to wait. They've been catchin sum big uns down there!

You guys make me sick. I'll get back down there shortly. Good luck and waiting on your report. FYI, the water temps yesterday were running 63-64 so i bet you will be doing some bed fishing or the rockpiles on the main lake and secondary points this weekend. I'm fired up already! But yes keep me posted on your return. We planned on the trip based on the prespawn/spawn timing. Can't imagine a 10lber with extra egg weight o her.

It seems like only yesterday we were planning this trip and booking flights, rooms and guides. Lots of penny pinching for a rough year finacially. Loss of a job and high cost of living...but managed to save it all up. We booked Charlie H and Jim E. There are 4 of us going, fishing 2 guys with each guide 2 days (4 days of fishing). I have to feel we got 2 of the top 3 or 4 guides on that lake...and Charlie is for sure #1. I'd like to thank Fishfor Dollars for pointing me in the right direction.I know it may not be a big deal for some of you fellas, but for us "Yankee Bassers" a fish over 6lbs is a dream come true...let alone a 8 or DD. And I never went away on a trip like this...hunting or fishing. So I personally am on Cloud Nine. We are leaving on the 29th (Sat) and returning on Friday (4th). Staying at the Best Western. If any one is around please feel free to say, "Howdy". We'll be the ones with the funny accents....LOL.

I do not use the same rod. I use a heavier rod for c rigging with heavy line.

IMO fast reels are good for slow fishing (jigs, worms, senkos etc). Slow reels are good for fast fishing (cranks and spinnerbaits). You through a crank or a spinner bait all day with a fast reel and you'll feel it. There is no power to move a heavy bait with drag on it.

Sorry to chime in late on this topic. For the fisher-dude mentioned only arabica beans...all coffee is arabica it is the latin name given to the coffe plant. I laugh at these ads for coffee made with 100% Arabica beans...as opposed to what kidney or navy beans? As far as types of coffee, every day I like Dunkin Donuts. Specialty coffees...Jamacian Blue Mt or Kona from Hawaii.

Along a similar line. My son is one hell of a soccer player, he is only 12. He has dreams of playing division 1 soccer. This is truly in his grasp if he keeps going at his present rate. So we have spoken with college atheletes about grades and going to college to play sports. This general consesus is this. Now keep in mind there is virtually no such thing as a soccer sholarship. Most of the players were football players. If your grades aren't there you will be passed over for a sholarship. You need to be a "one in a million" type player to get that ride with poor grades. And in the event of soccer, where you are recruited to come to play (keep in mind no scholarship, just asking you to "choose us"), lousy grades no recruiting. A schools money to give out is too valuable to give to some player to flunk out, when they can give it to a player who make good grades. Now that being said...I better go kick my kid in the butt and get him studying....LOL

As a fellow PA smallmouth guy....Bandit in the brown/orange craw and the yellow/orange craw (we call it spring craw...but not sure that's the color. I can PM you if need some more help.

The original...Bobby Garland Gitzit. I also throw some BPS tubes...they have lots of different colors and are readily avalible at our local BPS, Gitzits are tougher to find. We use a special jig head for tubes...custom made and desinged just for them. They are 1/16oz with a 3/0 hook. The light weight gives them a VERY unique fall and the extra large hook helps with hook-up percentages.

The comment about if the guide is the owner or employee is a good point. Case #1....if you go for a hair cut and the owner of the shop cuts your hair she/he gets 100% of the profit. If it is an employee they get paid a hourly wage or commision. I always tip an employee not the owner. Case #2....you go into a restaraunt and and the owner serves you. They are already making money on your meal. Not like a waitperson who gets a small wage+ tip. I usually tip...but grumble about it, not thinking it is right. My ex wife worked for many years as a waitress (and family owns a diner) says you always tip your waitperson...it has just stuck. Case 3#...you get a guide for a day or two. I tip no matter what. Self employed or employee but not unitl the end of the trip...no the end of the day. And never grumble about it. The same situation each time but different out comes...LOL.

When owners, Gammies, and the like first came out in the late 80's it was known not to sharpen them. The angles and intricacies of the points could be duplicated as with the chemical sharpening processes. But I tried any how on a few dull ones. It took a very long time to get a point I considered fishable...and this was not like the original point on it. So I gave up sharpening these types of hooks. I do sharpen/touch up other "old" style hooks though.

Very good bait for me the last few years...watermellon candy, junebug, and pumpkin spice. Not too keen on the weightless t-tig though. 1/0 or 2/0 with a 1/8 oz weight.

My dad has a tica...bought on a whim. He likes it.

I have been watching this story very closely (as close as I can from PA), as I am going down there in Jan/Feb to fish with a guide for 4 days. And quite frankly I am going, anything short of a all out war would not keep me from going. I hate to play a cynic here...but I think her story is total BS. There are holes in her story and it has changed (albeit slightly) from time to time. Personally, I think she killed him, the other choice is it was a drug deal gone bad. Lets face it there are plenty of these stories about murders, kidnappings, etc that end up the guilty person is the one crying on the news.