Bluebasser86

I would at the very least take it apart and let it dry but would rather clean and relube the reel. You've spent hard earned money to buy the reel, might as well take the time to take it apart and clean it throughly so it will continue to work for you down the road.

Mozingo is a fun lake to fish. Theres a few guys on here that fish there and Smithville pretty regularly. I'd suggest getting some 1/4 and 3/8 ounce bullet weight, 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hooks (I like the superline version) black cavitron buzzbait in 3/8oz, some Strike King KVD 1.5's in chartruese and black back, sexy shad, and crawdad colors, and a couple tandem bladed spinnerbaits, Booyah makes a good bait that isn't too expensive, and a couple bags of "beaver" style baits. As for jigs, swimjigs through the trees and over the weeds at Mozingo can be really good but flipping jigs in the timber and football jigs along the creek channel can all work well also.

I have a spool of 14 and spool of 17lb of their new floro and have been pretty impressed with it so far. Gave the 14 a real test fishing FB jigs in 20-40 feet of water at Table Rock and it performed really well. It pulled a nice 3lb smallie out of a tree in about 35' of water and was plenty sensitive for me to feel spots pecking the bait. Their orginal live had too much memory for me but it wasn't bad at all on this stuff. It did break right at my reel on one hookset but not sure what caused it.

Yes I just pull really slowly, just fast enough to make it wobble and keep the bill down. The bill helps to keep the hooks away from the cover and a lot of times the fish will catch the bait right as it gets to the limb. It's almost more like dragging a C-rig when I'm fishing a deep crank through trees, really trying to feel my way through the trees. You're still going to get snagged, just not nearly as much.

I was referring to fishing deeper cranks when I said I stop reeling and pull the bait over the cover with my rod. It lets the bait float up a little but keeps it moving forward. You have to pull it slowly so it doesn't roll over the limb, that's when the snags happen.

Terrible news for all involved. At least the little guy will be staying with his family and hopefully is young enough that he will have no memory of such a terrible event

If you've got the room I'd get out and practice casting with no leader, just the flyline. I practiced on a frozen pond so I had real targets I could cast to so I could get the hang of it. I don't do it much but I've managed to catch both bass and trout on my 6wt. I just bugged the experts at the flyshop at Cabela's any chance I got to pick their brains for info.

I'd agree that the Avids are heavier powered than what they are rated but a 7' H would work just fine for swimjigs. Personally wouldn't use it for spinnerbaits unless you are fishing big baits like Hooligan said. Just means you might have to get a second Avid

Seems like you're asking a lot from one reel. I use a 50E for all my topwaters except frogs and buzzbaits, mainly because I like a heavier, longer rod for frogs and buzzbaits than I do for poppers, spooks, and propbaits. The 50E will fish plastics just fine but I wouldn't even consider fishing a 6" Hudd on mine, I'd rather use a bigger reel with more line capacity for longer casts. I don't have any personal experience with the Lews but the Curado is capable of doing most anything you could ask it to and if you look around you can find them on sale for a good price.

Curado 200E7 for me also. Smooth and picks up line fast if a fish is coming at you or if you just want to reel in quickly to make another pitch. Personally I hate the flipping switches and see no use for a twitching bar. If I want to move the bait I'll use my rod to move it.

14-25 pound floro for me. I hate braid with jigs unless I'm flipping grass. FatG-We fish 1/2oz football jigs down to 50ft on 14lb floro at deep pits, Table Rock, and Lake of the Ozarks. I've stuck fish up to 8lbs and never felt like the stretch was a problem if that helps your confidence with using floro for jigs.

That top bait looks a lot like the same color as one of the jigs I tie. Something about it is magic around here. I've got 300 heads poured, painted, and baked, now it's time to start the fun part Definitaly helps pass the winter months a little faster.

I don't think anyone is going to decide not to give you info because they think you're going to "dig info and run." Most of us on here just like to help people out catching fish and to tell lies, errr, stories There's nothing wrong with giving someone a "good job" comment, just as long as you aren't doing it just to run up your posts count. Just make sure you're offering some info and asking questions along with those attaboys. As for nobody responding to your posts, if it's a general question, or one about tackle and not a specific body of water you might trying posting it in one of the boards that get read a little more often. If you're asking for someone's secret spot on a lake you might have a little more trouble getting info. If you have questions about a lake you might try just describing the lake, time of year, conditions, and what others would do. That way you'll get input from others without anyone feeling like you're trying to get their spot that they worked hard to find for nothing.

The stuff is great because it knocks me out but man I just feel drained the next day too. I guess it's better to sleep and feel drained than stay up all night sick and feel drained Hope you get feeling better man.

I hate braid but if I'm doing something I have to use it for I use Sufix 832 or Stren Sonic Braid. I only use it for C-rigging and fishing grass, neither of which I do much of.

Don't have any pics but I got a great deal on some baits from BPS last weekend. Rick Clunn LC baits were on sale for 9.97, plus my wife works there so I got a discount on top of that. I bought 6 squarebills and one DD, some skirt material for tying jigs, and an Excalibur Erratic shad for $80. It's a good thing I had Christmas shopping to do or there might not have been any of the 1.5 size left

I didn't have a chance to make it because I was working but I heard he said something about being glad to be back in Texas??! I guess the snow on the ground wasn't a giveaway that he wasn't in Texas

I usually estimate unless the fish is around 4 pounds or so, then I usually weigh them. It's a good day when I have a 5 fish limit of fish big enough to be worth weighing. My 5 best, excluding trips to Mexico, went 30lbs 2ozs 2 years ago in February from a powerplant lake in Kansas on a swimbait.

St.Croix Pro Glass, 7' MH/M. I use it for all my cranks except my deep runners.

I'd want another, shorter rod like a 6' 6" for topwaters, jerkbaits, or spinnerbaits. A crankbait rod would be another I'd want to have.

They are a good bait and the bass really seem to eat them up. They are soft though and when I'm pitching them in heavy cover I seem to only average about a fish per bait with them.

A couple of my best baits to finesse fish on baitcasting equipment are Zoom Magnum finesse worms and magnum trick worms or a Baby Brush hog. I fish all of the on a 4/0 EWG hook and either a 1/4 or 3/16 ounce bullet weight. Fish them really slow and try to really visualize what your bait is doing.

That is a great feeling! Wait until you stick a hog on one! It's a pretty awesome feeling.

When I'm cranking wood I really try to concentrate on what my bait is doing. When I feel it about to contact a branch I stop reeling and use the rod to pull the bait forward. This slows the bait down to a crawl so it can float up a little bit but keeps it moving forward over the limb.

Did it have a spot where the other half should have been or just a rack on one side? I shot one that had half a rack on one side but didn't even have a bald spot where the other half should have been. We have seen some strange antlers this year.