Fontana Finesse Man

Tru Trac Custom and Fat Ratz Custom. Blue Glimmer and Firecracker are the two colors I love. I also use some hawg caller multi blade spinnerbaits on occasion.

Pumpkin Salad Craw

I have 2 and love them. No comparison to other "quality" reels I own. They are so smooth. I was given both of mine, but if I could afford to buy them, hands down, yes!

Had mine serviced about the same day as you and my bill was $518. Had new plugs (cost about same as yours) new foot oil, no belt or pump, but had some other things fixed. Mechanic worked on it while I waited all told about 4 hours. He was upfront and told me that the plugs were expensive. Price was about what I had budgeted for it. Good thing is it doesn't have to go back for another 100 hours hopefully and then it will include a pump.

I like to fish texas rigged lizards in the heads of creeks during the spring and summer. Our lake levels fluctuate alot here and the debris will pile up in small creeks along the main channel and I love to flip them in the holes of the debris around these types of creeks. Also fish them on a carolina rig some when I fish one.

Looks like he needs a beverage refill! And I did like it!

Rod: G Loomis NRX 7'1 Heavy Reel: Shimano Core 100MG7 Soft: Strike King Rage Tail Craw-Junebug (Got to have a bait for the Loomis) Hard: 22nd Century Triple Trout Scaled Hitch 7 inch Wire: Wished Santa could get Strike King to reproduce their old style blue glimmer premier elite spinnerbaits in 3.8 oz with small colorado and small willow leaf blades.

Does anybody fish Lake Greenwood SC frequently or on occasion? Have a tournament in about a month, never seen the lake and understand that you have to be careful running the lake. Does anybody know it well enough to give me kind of a heads up where there are danger areas that may not be marked or buoyed? I had read on the internet about tree tops, shoals, humps, etc.....that lend themselves to dangerous conditions. Any information that anyone has would be welcome. I am going down there in a couple weeks to get a lay of the lake and last thing I want is a torn off skeg or busted lower unit. Thanks in advance!

I wear just a pair underarmour utility gloves (keep them dry) and keep a pair of those old big golf mittens with hot hands in them for when I feel my hands getting cold. The latex gloves are a good thing too, but I just never liked the way they felt.

Like Nitro above, I would concentrate initially on the cover along ditches or creek channels and then work out from there. Muddier water, my weapon of choice would be a spinnerbait with double colorado blades on it, probably a 1/2 to 3/4 oz first. Then I would drag a jig around these same areas. Clearer areas, I would fish the timber vertical same type areas with a big worm, texas rig. Standing timber, I have always liked hanging my line over a limb to present it at different depths and just shake it.

Defintely a magician here! Wear the same shoes, clothes, and hat if I did well. Have to have my rods in my box in a certain order. I do shower and change underwear and will wash the clothes, but if I it works, I ain't fixing it!

7'4 M action spinning rod and 8 lb test mono.

Fishing a point and threw a super fluke across the point, water boiled and fish grabbed it, set the hook and missed the fish and it got my fluke. Re-rigged with another fluke and made another cast to the same spot, water boiled and felt the fish, set the hook and got the 2 lb spot to the boat, netted it and the fish was hooked with the fluke and was carrying my other fluke in it's mouth.

I live not far away in Bryson City, NC. If you keep me posted and want to go out on Fontana Lake to catch a smallmouth or two, I would be glad to take you. I have boat, gas and ready to go anytime! Just let me know when you are coming down this way and I will give you my cell number and we can make plans and head out. Depending on the weather conditions prior to and during, you can catch some smallies in the Tennessee River, I usually look for deep, slack pools right after current. Throw a super fluke jr or a small jerkbait in those areas. Ideal for numbers would be minnows and wading.

Send it to DVT. Have sent them reels and always happy with the work and turnaround time! Prices are very fair. Plus if you are like me, you wonder why they put all the spare parts in a reel that you have left over!

Thank you all for the replies! This information helps tremendously. Wife won't be happy to see a rod tube delivered. Will give it a try next weekend and see how it goes. Guess I will pick some ugly docks with peeling paint and no boats to practice on and make sure no one is home! LOL

Figure it is time to learn how to skip jigs under docks with baitcasting equipment. What are your recommendations for the best rods for this application? What are your recommendations for reels for this application? Are there certain jigs that are more conducive to skipping? What weight?

The wide mouth toad hauler!

1. Tru Trac double willow spinnerbait in blue glimmer 3/8 oz with a 4 inch mister twister trailer. 2. Buckeye football jig in watermelon red 3/4 oz with a rage craw blue craw swirl trailer. 3. Zoom super fluke pearl.

Try the black one on dark overcast days or dusky dark. May lend to some success on it also!

I carry about 15-20 combos with me at all times in my boat, however, most of these never make it out of the rod box unless I need one of them for something different or break something. My main combos that are used: 2 Quantum Tour KVD MH 6'10 in spinnerbait rods, both with Shimano DC Calais reels 7-1, one has 3/8 spinnerbaits and the other 1/2 oz. 1 Abu Garcia Veritas 7' MH with a Quantum Tour Edition KVD reel 7.3-1 for buzzbaits. (strangely, for me that is the best rod I have ever used for a buzzbait, action is perfect for me) 1 Duckett Micro Magic rod 7' M with a Shimano Sahara FE reel specifically for flukes. 1 Old model Team Daiwa LT 7'6 H with a Quantum PT Energy reel for flipping. 1 G Loomis Crankbait Rod 783 with a Shimano Core 50 MG for square bills and medium divers. 1 Shimano cumara 7' Rod with a Shimano Stradic CI-4 for shakey head fishing. These rods are out pretty much all the time when I go to the lake, but if I need to go in the box there is everything from BPS extremes to custom deep cranking rods.

Like the others before, here in NC, August isn't the ideal month for LMB fishing. At night right now, I try and focus on points around the bluff type areas. My son and I have had some success flipping these areas with a zoom vibe craw and gambler mega craw on a texas rig, both in junebug colors. If the bluffs have steps or ledges, concentrate on walking the bait down these steps. If you haven't tried a heavy single colorado blade black (and/or red and blue) spinnerbait, fish one of these parallel to the bluff allowing it to drop more/less until you have some luck. Good Luck!

1. Zoom super fluke (pearl) nose hooked for surface fishing. 2. Zoom finesse worm (watermelon and green pumpkin) texas riggged 3. Zoom swamp crawler (cherry seed) shaky head 4. Gambler Mega craw (junebug) texas rigged 5. Rage tail lizard (green pumpkin) texas rigged or carolina rig 6. Reaction Innovations Trixie Shark (watermelon) top water frog/buzzbait over grass Give me those and a zoom or spike it chartruese marking pen and I will take my chances.

Nice Boat! Enjoy it and good luck! Hope it gives you years of enjoyment and fish catches!

Not sure of rules, regs, etc.....but if I wanted to give myself the best chance to catch a 10 lber in florida, would probably use live shiners. Just a guess and opinion, but may be worth a try.