38 Super Fan

https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Harlan-County-man-sets-largemouth-bass-state-record-509115771.html I never would have thought Highsplint Lake in Harlan County would have a state record swimming in it!

First off, welcome to the forum! I'm not too familiar with Pro Crafts, but it sounds nice by your description, and would certainly be worth $4800 if everything is good with the boat. Just make sure the motor is good, drive it, or have a mechanic check it out if you can. That's the one area where it can get expensive very fast if issues creep up. It won't be a burner by any stretch, I don't know exactly what top speed would be, but it probably be roughly 40MPH, and that's if you're travelling light.

Buckeye lures J-Will series are good ones too.

Nice! Gotta love the buzzbait bite.

Welcome aboard!

Toads and frogs on Norris? Who'd have thunk it. I haven't been down there in about a month, but I'll give that a try next trip. I did OK throwing a Whopper Plopper around that "sandgrass" the last time. According to my graph some of that stuff was growing down to 7 or 8 feet deep, so there should be some left at least for a little while longer.

I also didn't realize it was the stuff I've heard called "sandgrass". I know I've seen anglers on TV looking for that stuff. The highland reservoirs I fish rarely have vegetation, but Norris Lake has had steady high water since late April and a decent amount of it has grown in. It will disappear once the lake drops for Winter pool, but it was an interesting thing to see around here. How much it will actually change/help fishing I couldn't say, but I don't see how it could be anything but good for the ecosystem. I could certainly see how it would help the crawfish population.

Interesting. It has grown in pretty well in one of the lakes I fish, I never knew it was algae though. Skunk weed is a good name for it, it's stinky stuff.

Loaded question for sure, but I'll take a whack at it. Different lines for different applications, I've got reels lined up with all three, and several with copolymer as well. Just a general idea of what works for me: Mono: Floats well, but least sensitive line, also least expensive, I'll use it for: Topwaters, good for cranking and jerkbaits too Fluoro: Sensitive, tough, it's dense and will sink so it's not a good topwater line, also it's expensive: Draggin' jigs or plastics Braid: Maybe the most versatile line. It floats, it's the strongest, the most sensitive, somewhat expensive, but it will last years on a reel without memory issues: Heavy topwaters, frogs, buzzbait, punchin', sometimes spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and cranking. Many people (just not me) like it for dragging jigs and platics too Copoly: Also versatile line, neutral buoyancy, mediocre sensitivity, inexpensive: Topwater, cranking, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, jerkbaits When it comes to leaders, I don't use them on casting gear anymore. For me, they're just more trouble than they're worth the majority of the time. (On spinning reels I'll still use them though)

Nope, even the best trebles wear out. And yes, upgrading will absolutely help. While fishing always keep a close eye on how sharp your trebles are, and check for bends and bad barbs too. Sometimes you need to change trebles quite often...grinding them around rock, hang ups, and just unhooking fish with pliers can all cause problems.

What lure Co. doesn't offer a large variety of colors in almost everything they make? It's just good business.

I like the various Picasso rigs, good quality, reasonable prices. I typically use 1/4 oz Buckeye Lures light wire jigheads.

Now that's a big topwater bite!

Clear water, dingy water, heavy cover, no cover, a buzzbait stills outfishes a WP for me almost every single trip. And yes, I usually have both tied on, and throw them both quite a bit. (I'm a die hard topwater guy) The buzzbait consistently has a better hook-up ratio for me too. I like the WP, but the hype around it still surprises me.

I do think Ranger is the one brand who can charge a little more just because of their name. Good answer. Rangers definitely hold value better than any of the others.

I know you have to qualify...but their criteria to qualify seems very flawed to me. FLWs angler of the year doesn't even earn qualification? I know they're rival tours, but I'd still like to see the top 10 in FLW AOY standings qualify for the Classic. It's the biggest tourney in fishing, lets get all the best anglers in there.

I'm betting they'll stay separate, but who knows? I do like the changes coming from FLW. I'd like to see BASS make some changes too, invite more FLW guys to the Bassmaster Classic each year. They advertise the Classic as the best of best, but guys like Thrift, Morgan, Rose etc. aren't invited? Tough sell.

I suppose it varies from lake to lake, but the WP is actually one of the least productive topwaters for me. A buzzbait will outfish it almost every single trip, and I mean outfish it by a wide margin.

I wonder how much it actually costs to build one.

Go with a buzzbait, simple and fun as it gets. I like the whopper plopper, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Right now my favorite lake is just full of schooling fish, so topwater is really the best way to go. That's fine by me because there's nothing like throwing a walking bait into a pile of schoolers breaking shad on top and watching them blow that thing up, knock it 2 feet into the air, miss it 3 or 4 times before they get it, and catching doubles. I don't know how fishing could be better than that.

Man that was a grinder. Congratulations to Clent…what a final day.

I'm sure it's a much better lake than its shown here in the cup. Watching a little FLW live earlier Scott Martin described it as an old school lake. Just throw the big worm, a spook, and a buzzbait, and forget the rest. I like that, sounds like the lakes around here.

Nope. Doesn't look like anyone will light it up in this one. I like these tough tourneys though, I'm glad the FLW does the cup in August. With the low weights any of those guys going out tomorrow are gonna have a chance.

Nick LeBrun is a good story...I've gotta pull for a BFL guy. Skeeter guy too.