WookieeJedi

Most units are waterproof, so a dumpover isn't the end of the world. One thing to look for is a screen panel almost flat with the rest of the console. If those two are different heights, water will collect there and ruin the LCD in bright sunlight. Mine is a Lowrance Max-4, and it gets wet every time out, not dumped, but wet. A deer feeder battery will run it for 3 days on one charge. It is a handy thing to have.

I have had a Filipino version of Tiger Prawn. Good eats. The only problem I could see with them would be their effect on the plankton and krill populations, and competing with native skrimps for habitat.

I hope you hit them this hard. It was my best day in a good while, on a new lake too. This afternoon I was just murdering them. Mostly SM, with some spots thrown in. Most of the fish were dinks, but every 5 or 6 was a good fish, especially when I downsized the craw and put it on a carolina rig with a short leader. I got one at least 4 today, by far my PB smallie. A lot of fish came to the boat puking crawfish. I really miss SM fishing, I'm gonna hafta do a Buffalo float soon now.

They make tiny rubber bands that will work for your lures. Look in the ladies' hair stuff at wallyworld. Having little girls has advantages.

Just in case y'all were wondering, the SM on TR are after small crawfish: Had to switch to small 2" plastic craws on carolina rig on 6# line. The area down by the dam is good, and also right in the Big Cedar cove. The bank opposite the marina and down in front of the resort in front of the tall foot bridge. Bluebird day not a problem so long as the wind keeps up a little.

Big Cedar no longer offers kayaks, and they don't allow fishing from the canoes. I called ahead to ask about boats, so I knew to bring my own. A little silly for a BPS-promoted resort, if you ask me. I'll post my fishing results in the other thread.

I fish out of a kayak, so my organization is kind of important. Back when I fished out of a bass boat, I took everything with me. That consisted of the old amber Plano Magnum and two other bags filled with 3500 boxes. I also had about 7 rods. All of it went on the water. Now, I have condensed my tackle load into one milk crate that holds the old Magnum and three 3500 boxes. I have my hooks and jigs organized into pill bottles that share a top to make one long storage cylinder. Those either go in the bike bag behind the seat, or in one of the 3500s. I obviously no longer pack all the tackle I own in the boat, instead, I pack enough to get me through the day. I only have enough bullet weights, hooks, jigs, etc. to fish for one day. All of that stuff takes up room, and adds weight. I even only buy black or brown undressed jigs, and keep a bunch of different color skirts in a bag. I only take the hardbaits I think I might need with me for the day. You start to look at lures differently fishing like this. It makes you appreciate a compact, versatile lure. Rat-L-Traps, spoons, grubs, and blades are lures that can do a lot of different things for you, and they don't take up much room. The kayak has made me a more efficient and smarter angler. The paddle helps keep you in shape, too. I also carry a maximum of four rods with me, and they mount to a vertical rig attached to the crate, or are kept in horizontal rod holders along the sides when I'm back in the jungle (I can only take three rods like that). You can see my rig in the water in the Show Your Ride thread. I only recently put it up, so it should be on the last page still. All the other tackle still goes to the lake, it is just stored in the truck or the camper. If I feel like I need a lure left behind badly enough to paddle a few miles back to the truck, then I'll do it. Hasn't happened yet.

I'm going up to Big Cedar next week. There are some good tips on Table Rock about 5 topics down in this forum. I'll post my results in about 4-5 days. I'm planning on kayak fishing down by the dam and in the arm by the resort.

He's somewhere between 4 and 6. Those things are hard to estimate. I got one like that on a fly rod once, I thought it would go over 10, but he was just 6. Ruined a good frog popper, too. We call 'em Choupique (CHEW-peek). I understand they are good to eat if cleaned immediately, then iced.

Stripers have saved many a day at the lake. Are they breaking the surface yet? If they are doing that in Sibley, a trip down to the Cane River might be in order.

Since a picture is worth 1000 words: These are just a few of the sizes and types of grubs I use. Most of them are H&H Coastal. They are designed for saltwater and inshore fishing, so they are more durable than some of the other types. They are also available in a wider variety of colors. My favorites for paddle-tails and split-tails are avacado/red flake, white, black, smoke, electric grape and clear/flake/red dot. For curly-tails, I stick with freshwater plastic, it has more action. As for rigging: My favorite method is just a straight rig on a regular jig. The only drawback is that it isn't weedless. I still use them in cover, because on this rig I'm usually just swimming it on the bottom, not hopping it like a plastic worm. On the top right, there is the basic curly-tail grub on a banana shaped head. I rig the curl down because I think it looks better swimming that way. Some people rig it facing up. I'm not sure the fish care. Under that, there are a variety of different jig styles that work with a grub. I'm liking the football style right now on the paddle-tail and split-tail grubs. I just rig it like the regular round jig. Also, there are the weedless options. The keel-weight keeper hook will give the lure a more horizontal profile as it drops, while the weedless jig works very much like a round head. I trim the weedguards down. I only use the weedless jig when I absolutely must, I just don't like the profile of the grub with the black weedguard sticking up. There are also two chatterbait jigs. I like to use those with the larger split-tails and curly-tails. I put flukes and slugs on them too. On the bottom is the scrounger. This is one of the best things to happen to jigs in a long time. I buy the ones with the longest lips, you can always cut them down to customize the action.

What a carp-load!

Like anything else, there is a learning curve to it. In the beginning, there will be mistakes. You will get the hang of it. I use a lateral, sweeping hookset with the Carolina rig. Good video: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/carolina-rig-video.html

I use Albright for any load-bearing line connection, even fly line. So far, so good. I retie if I hang up or catch a good fish. That may not be necessary,, but consider it an ounce of prevention.

Is that a chug-bug in his mouth? That may be the biggest topwater bass I have ever seen.

Not many companies out there who would do this. Gotta give G3 a big hand-clap. I have had two glass rigs, and my brother currently has aluminum. Overall, I like the aluminum rig better than either of my glass hulls. I also have not been in that aluminum rig in big water, so there's that. There are pros and cons to both. Before I went out and spent a lot of dough, I would take Lund Explorer's advice and start by replacing the trolling motor. Just having that aggravation removed might do a lot for your decision-making. It would for me, for sure. It's also hard to ignore G3's replacement of your hull. Do you think any manufacturers of fiberglass boats will replace your hull after 7 years? I have been considering getting back into fishing from a bass boat, and when I looked at what was being offered in the boat market, I found none of them does exactly what I want. After much shopping and surfing online, I have decided that when I am ready to get a boat, I'm just going to build it. I even picked out plans at Glen-L Marine.

That was a good link, I wasn't even thinking about smallmouth. The dam is a short paddle from where I will be. I already have all those lures they listed too. I might just take my LJ Hotlips out there. It has been a long time since I got into some smallmouth action.

I'm glad you got something. If your water temp is 68, you must have what, 15'+ visibility? I have done pretty well on GF with a live crawfish rig. Not a really exciting way to fish, though.

Slow-roll on the bottom, as per Crestliner. But also, remove the skirt and replace it with a minnow-type soft plastic and fish it similarly to a jerkbait, but obviously faster. I have even put bigger slug-type lures on it. I like the ones with the silver jighead for that, but it probably doesn't matter.

I would go with the drop-shot on 8 or lighter line. Try something small, then something big if that doesn't do it. If you are on G. Ferry, try some grubs or small craws or tubes off the underwater cliffs. Bluebird days can suck.

I can compare this somewhat to hunting. I hunt two different types of land, one is public land and another is private land where the lease members practice QDM. There are no fences to keep the deer hemmed in in either place, it is all fair-chase. Guess which place has bigger deer? Obviously, the QDM property! This isn't due to any kind of special forage or feeding, it is due to selective, managed harvesting. Fish work on the same principle, with a few obvious differences. Public land and public reservoirs and rivers get more pressure from us, the alpha predators. If you can eliminate a large percentage of those predators, and then regulate the predation of the ones remaining, you get a better product. Fishing a managed pond isn't cheating. Stocking a backyard pool full of 10 pound bass is cheating, just like killing a giant deer in a 4 acre pen is a canned hunt. I'm not going to hate on anyone with the resources and commitment to own and manage their own water.

I'm using identical setups on two different rods, alternating every 10 casts. The setup yesterday was a spot remover jig. Practically identical colors. I thought this contest would be pretty even when I started it, with the slight edge to the Rage. I'm beginnig to think my "juice" soak is making the difference. If that is so, then the playing field is not even and I will have to start over. I did use up the last of my old batch of Speeds yesterday. And remember, it is a long way to October yet. UGA was whipping my Tigers pretty good in the first half of the SEC title game too.

The Kalin's grub is the best curly-tail grub, by far. I still use paddletails more. I get the saltwater variety, they tend to take more abuse. The colors I use are mostly smoke, avacado, white, and black. I also use the saltwater spilt-tails the same way. The split-tails come in a clear glitter/ red dot color you can't get in paddletail. I just use all of them on a plain round jig and swim them on the bottom. They catch fish, and it is a lure the fish don't see 16 times a day.

Speed 8, Rage 1 I have a theory about the disparity here. My soft plastics soak in a little something I put in their bags. Those Speed craws have been soaking for four months, and the Rage a little less than a month. I got some new Speeds today, and used up the last of the old ones. If this makes a difference, I will revise the score.

I went in my local BPS today to get some more Speed Craws, and I noticed the amount of Zoom products on their shelf outnumbered all of the other non-BPS brands combined. Zoom even has more shelf space than the BPS soft plastics. That's a lot of shelf space for one company. The Rage Tail stuff was limited to two small spaces on two separate aisles. GYBC only got two rows on one aisle, and they don't carry Ikas. It would appear that there are influences other than customer demand shaping their inventory.