JT_NCbassman

Hahaha. You gotta just eeeeease it in there.

Best - 55 degree Water? Grab your spinnerbait, don't take your foot off the trolling motor, look for light spots. - Dad Also, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. AND - Turtles on the logs? fish shallow. Worst - " If you keep hitting that Female with your white Lizard, she will leave the bed." ( Next time I bumped her, she inhaled that white Lizard) Also -- " These fish won't strike a topwater when the suns gets bright and the wind lays down" ( Filled my limit of spots on Lake Norman on a Sammy 65... then I gave the boater a Sammy 65) tehehe.

Yes, it sure is. I like the lip, is it completely clear? Looks like the old Bagley's lips. Is it wire-thru construction too?

I find the DD-22 displaces more water, has a more "erratic" wobble frequency and pattern, and doesn't dive hardly as deep as the 6XD. All these factors, along with the large profile, tell me to throw the bait in the summer looking for a big bite. Or in dirty water. Basically, I throw the DD-22 if my target structure is huge (like a football field) and the fish are spread out. The fish feel and "hear" it coming and they will seek it out. The XD really takes the more finicky fish, so If I KNOW where my spot is, and I want to catch numbers off that spot, I will throw the XD. MHO.

So you braved the vicious winds we had in the southeast yesterday? It was blowing too hard for me to throw a swimbait in Marion, NC yesterday. Nice Stripes!

Do yourself a favor and visit Lake Jocasse this spring. It would be a bit shorter trip for you, just basically come straight down the Appalachains (scenic driving) It's the most beautiful lake on Earth... hands down. And it very well may hold the State record Largemouth. Bring a big trout swimbait and a camera. The water is clearer than diamonds. Several species of bass, huge trout, waterfalls, rock cliffs, ect. ect. ect. I'm not sure what the state park situation is, but I'm quite sure there are some real nice areas nearby. If not on Jocasse, then Keowee. .

Lucky Craft jerkbaits are relatively cheap compared to other "super-duper Japanase magic" jerkbaits. But... that doesn't answer your question. Rapala X-raps seem to be good-quality and can be bought pretty cheap on E-bay. Husky Jerks are great jerkbaits. I strongly recommend that you buy a Lucky Craft Pointer 78sp in the color Chartruese Shad for 15 bucks though.

Anybody ever notice if you're going fishing, or are currently fishing at the time, the cops are more likely to go easy on you? For instance, my buddy and I were driving from Asheville, NC to Lake Murray, SC at about 4 in the morning. Going about 88 MPH in my Tundra 5.7 Iforce in a 70 Mph zone. Just for honesty's sake, I will admit that we had Adderal pills, a case of Coors, and I had an illegal .22 pistol under the seat. Ok.... cop pulls us over, we are wired tight as a Banjo, looking suspicious. Windows tinted black, and I had 22's on my truck at that time. (I thought I was cool) He approaches us VERY cautiously, and looks at us like we're the Mexican cartel. So I told him "we're in a hurry to get to lake Murray" he looks in the back seat, sees all the tackle, and then you see his expression change from " I'm gonna shoot these guys" to " I feel like I've known these guys all my life " He lets us off with a warning and tells us " good luck "

In response to your first question, I have found that most boaters will let you pitch at the fish, I always knew my boundaries when I fished the club tournaments. If I was fishing with a member that I wasn't really close with personally, I would never step on the front deck and never pitch my bait anywhere near the bed. Eventually, he will invite you up to the front deck to join the action. When that happens, don't leave your bait in the bed too long, and make every pitch count. Let him have 2-3 pitches to your 1. Make a comment like - "She looks ready to bite" and then pull your bait out of the water for a couple minutes while the boater is pitching. The reason you do these things, is so when you catch that 6lb. female, the boater will be less likely to try to drown you. lol. The first tournament I ever won in our club was as a non-boater on Lake Jocasse, SC in April. I gave the boater his space, and only pitched in when it really mattered. I would get those big females to nose down on the bait, and then give it a little "hop". I loved watching that white Lizard disappear. You gotta have balls to "hop" your bait straight up while an 8lb. female is nosed down on it. Most people will stand there and go "oooooh god please eat it" and shake their rod tip. lol.

Anybody here fish James? I've been fishing it a couple times a week with my dad since I was about 5 years old. (not as much when I was 16-19) I bought a truck and got a little wild for about 4 years, but now it's all I can think about..... getting out on those humps and rock ledges. I'm looking for somebody to fish with this spring. Dad doesn't get out much and my other buddy sold his rig. I will split the cost, of course. And provide some "special lures" And I would be happy to share all information I've acquired over the years if you ask for it. (We've won or been in the top five every tournament we've ever fished down there) But really... I would be thrilled just to sit in the back of the boat and cast all day.

Great suggestions already. I would say make sure you have a couple Pointer 65 SP's in Ghost Minnow and maybe a real natural blue-gill / baby bass pattern. If there seems to be any kind of "shad" in the pond then look for the areas where they're congregating and flicking on the surface. (probably near the deeper side) Cast that 65sp in Ghost Minnow and reel it down, pause, jerk twice and keep reeling, pause, etc. If there's no "shad" or baitfish congregating, I would go with the natural baby bass pattern 65sp and work some shallower water where the sunlight is warming the rocks, still reeling and pausing. Good Luck.

I used to have great days with the Bitsy Bugs with a trimmed Zoom Super Chunk Jr. Started pouring my own light and heavy jigs when I was about 16 with smaller Gamakatsu hooks for those finicky smallmouth. I can't believe more manufacters don't use high-quality hooks..... bravo to Strike King for using Gammies now.

I couldn't imagine going fishing or being in a remote area by myself without mine. I've got 500 dollars worth of gear with me on any given day, I've also accumulated a few enemies in my "cruising" days. A couple years ago, I thought about how easy it would be to sneak up on me while I'm fishing (if they could find me, and if there was a couple of them) Now, they'll have to run faster than 2,300 F.P.S. haha.

I'm going against conventional wisdom here. I would use a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait with a pure white/glimmer blue skirt from Stamina components. I would make it a single blade / compact arm design with a normal/small scaled willowleaf blade in silver. ( I mold and design my own spinnerbaits ) This is your basic large baitfish/shad spinnerbait. In cold dingy water here in the southeast, the bass are going to be in about 10 feet of water following the shad..... period. And I will trow that spinnerbait when the water is too dingy for a Pointer or other suspending jerkbait. If your fishing a pond, just slow roll whatever color will bring a reaction strike.

Interesting. You would think the D would be of better quality than the E. It seems like Shimano really put alot of effort and thought into the D. I'm sure they also put the same effort into the E series, with the other companies putting out great reels for less money, it seems logical that Shimano would make the E a high performance reel with a lower price, but it just doesn't appeal to me for some reason. Plus... standing here holding my CU-50E and my 100D, I like the way the D feels better. The clutch bar is positioned better and easier to engage, and the larger, rounder sideplate gives me more control and leverage. I dunno...... I would still love to get more people's opinion on this.