Chaz Hickcox

X2, I've got an inexpensive Tourney Special and it is smooth and comfortable, easy to cast and very affordable.

Ok, so I have a Quantum Surge Baitcaster (It's basically the same thing as a burst but is coated with salt water anti-erosion stuff). Its one of the burner 7:1 reels and it has been making me mad as heck for the last few months. I cleaned the heck out of it, oiled everything, but could not get it to run smooth. I usually use braid, and on this one I had 50# Power Pro for use in heavy cover and grass. Anyways, I was out yesterday and lost a couple of really nice fish (one was a 24+ inch Chain Pickerel noted for being about twice the size of my Minn Kota lower unit) because I just couldn't get a good hook set due to friction. I thought the friction was in the reel and was ready to trash the darn thing when I, for some reason, had pulled the line from by the reel in. at that moment I felt the exact amount of friction I thought the reel was giving me. I immediately ran my fingers up the line and felt how rough the Power Pro was. I have Spider Wire on my other rod and felt that too. The Power Pro felt like a band saw, whereas the spider wire is smooth and silky. That's when I went back to the marina to see if they had any spider wire. They didn't (only carried Power Pro Braid) so I bought some Trilene 100% Fluoro. As soon as I had the line changed and the Quantum back in the water it ran smooth as silk, like my older Quantum. Who would have thought line would make a difference. Another bass landed with the Fluoro and I could tell that the friction really kicked my butt. So, in short, if you're gonna buy braid Spider wire is the way to go.

Stop whining, I caught a bass last year that was 21 inches long with a 6 1/2 inch head that I was sure was at least 5-6lbs. When we weighed the skinny thing she was only 3-14. Just maybe you have been catching bass a lot smaller than you think. How are you going to judge the weight over a, as you said, verified scale?

Are Shimanos really all that? I am ready to secede that my quantums are ticking me off. Gear monkey keeps whispering about the Abu Garcia Revo series.

Whatever you do you have to find cover and fish around it. By that I mean the wind is providing current. The predators, any and all species will be sitting behind the cover out of the current. Cast the 45 degrees into the wind past the piece of cover you think is holding fish. Then bring your bait behind that cover. You should get nailed then. The predator is waiting for ambush back there (I say predator because I do the same thing here and will pick up LMB, pickerel, white perch, and unfortunately the occasional bowfin). I would say find a lay-down at one of the windswept points of the islands. Anchor on the protected side, and cast into the unprotected side to drag your unsuspecting bait that is running for cover right into the jaws of your sly little ambushing bass.

I have been using Castaic Swim Baits for about 11 years now. I would say go with their rock hard series. For right now all they have are trout, but don't let that bother you. I have no trout in my waters, but I have caught more bass on that little 4 inch thing than anything else. They have every type you could want, soft, hard, paddletail, huge muskie swimbaits, etc... check out their website at www.castaicswimbaits.com, when it comes to swimbaits in clear water don't go with that paddle tail crap. A true swimbait should be able to get the forage to school with it. I have an original hardheaded threadfin shad (I bought it in 1999), and have had shad school with it. The whole body actually swims, not just the tail wiggling like a grub. I also have used the tru-tungston, but have yet to have any luck with it.

Good Lord they're doing well down there. Wish our bass were that healthy.

White Perch according to the State of Oklahoma you should have killed it, and report the catch to your fish and game. http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/whiteperch.htm "ODWC is asking anglers to destroy any white perch caught from Kaw and report any catches of white perch outside of Kaw to (405) 521-3721. We would also ask anglers to freeze any specimens for confirmation by an agency biologist. The following diagrams will help distinguish white perch from white bass."

Frogtog, first of all you rock. You are the only person to respond with any useful info. I sent you a PM for some specifics. If you don't mind of course.

http://www.bbbac.org/club_news.htm This is the closest thing I can think of. My club was out there and one of our guys prefishing on Wed caught this 7+. I believe it was a spinner or a trap for the bait, but I don't remember. I know it was on the sun side of a dock in 60* water on the north end of Pea Hill Creek.

Where are good spawning spots on the Chowan near Edenton? All I have ever heard about are around the island at the north elbow, but that's 25 miles from Edenton. With that being said, I was also wondering who has fished it recently and what they have to say about spring on the Chowan.

Castaic Original Hardhead Threadfin Shad

http://www.aa-fishing.com/nc/north-carolina-fishing.html This is the NC website for it. I think since it's technically a reservoir you would have better luck searching by saying reservoir instead of lake. Some other sites have some conversations about it. If you search for it you should find it. According to one guy the reservoir had/has a lot of milfoil and the bass at in the well defined points. Hope this helps. This is what I typed into google: fishing shearon harris reservoir nc

Not a clue. Most guys around here throw live or cut bait. So with that being said, I have had to kinda guess with lures. I would guess at some kind of swimming jig or lipless crank.

Put your 'yak in at Owl's Creek. There should be some puppy drum or redfish there. The flounder should be coming up too. This of course is a little old news, the last time I spoke to anyone about that was a few weeks ago. If you want the best advice I would say to go to Bruce's Bait Shop a little south of the intersection of Dam Neck and General Booth. There's a kid down there who 'yak fishes all the time (even in the ice of January). The last time I spoke to him he was telling me how good the puppy drum were hitting in Rudee Inlet. I don't salt fish much so I dunno. If you want some freshwater stuff go to Sandbridge Road and there's a bridge that crosses Hell's Point Creek. Put in there and you should be able to hit the best parts of Back Bay. I was walking over a foot bridge near there and found a floundering 2 lb Pickerel. They're there.

X2 To compare these two baits is to compare Apples to Oranges

If you notice all the new bassboats have high gloss paint on all of the flat serfaces on the gunwhales. Personally I fish the whole boat, if I am in a tight spot and I see some activity, I won't turn the boat around I will walk around to the stern. Because of that, the high gloss is super slippery when wet. So I got some paint on bedliner stuff and put that serface on all of the flat serfaces around the top of the gunwhales. Now I don't have any issues with slippage that I used to.

I guess it would be nice if my electronics worked.

That's just what I was thinking, just instead of a senko I was thinking c-rigging an eeliminator. Or I have some lizards too.

I am fishing a tournament in Lake Gaston next weekend. As I have never been there before I was wondering if anyone has any tips, locations or presentations they would recommend.

GET A SWIMBAIT!! Not that paddletail BS, a REAL swimbait. I personally prefer Castaic Swimbaits, if budget is an issue go with their original hardheaded series. 14 bucks a pop and I still have one I bought in 1999. That's how I used to catch them patrolling bass.

Done that a time or two, but the worst part here is cotton mouths. The guy at the marina wouldn't let me jump in and threw me an oar and told me to chase my boat with one of his canoes.

50 Lb Stripper! You'd probably need to drug test that one.

X2

Question: What if I get my wife into fishing with me? The whole familiarity thing would not necessarily apply as I am usually gone 7 months out of the year (Unless the President decides for us to lose our day jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan). I took her out this weekend, before we left she was asking for the quintessential, "Just one more cast, please." Also, I told her before we went out that the water is far too cold for the fishing to be great. Yeah with a slow presentation and a good location we would have done alright, but too much slowness to be able to teach her well.