coots

Knew I would forget something in my original post. I have checked my guides and everything looks and seems ok to me. I even had dad look at them with me to make sure. I've thought it may be the overrun, but I mean, at what point am I willing to have to deal with the hassle of going all the way down to the "knick" when / if that happens, just to be able to fish this stuff? I will try some of your other ideas as well. Thanks for the response.

I just switched to flurocarbon last year since I really started trying to get better at fishing. We joined a bass club and started taking it more seriously. I read a lot on here, did a lot of research for which is the best for your money etc. I honestly don't know what I am doing wrong here. I thought I solved one of my problems at the end of last year by reading that I should stop tying the Polymar knot and use a knot like Grigsby's no-name knot... or the San Diego jam knot. My line isn't breaking at the knot.. it is breaking in the middle of the line. Now I'll be the first to admit that I have a "professional overrun" from time to time. But I mean... I don't think this shoudl be happening at the rate at which it does. The line breaking that is.. I've tried several different ones so far and Seaguar AbrazX seems to be one of the worst ones. This past Saturday I fished with Sunline Sniper and it broke off in the middle of my cast and I got to ticked off to try it again.. I just left the rod untied for the rest of the day. I'm at a loss... I love the sensitivity of Fluro, but I think I may just have to go back to Mono. That or learn how to tie a leader really well. I have a hard enough time trying to tie the San Diego jam or something now due to my limited sight... I can't imagine trying to tie a leader. Any thoughts?

When you're walking through the store and you think to yourself... I could pitch a jig into that empty spot on that shelf. I could skip a jig under that bottom shelf... and you know there's a bucketmouth in there... it's just to sweet of a spot. I could pitch a jig up over and around this display.... land it in the empty mop bucket.... no problems. If I maintain this amount of space between all the aisles... I can flip my jig all day.... no problems. Anybody got a jig?

My dad bought some Crankbaits at a yard sale and I was wondering how to tell how deep they dive? This is a crazy mixed bag of cranks, just wondering how I would know what depth they'll dive so I know I can get bottom contact etc

Thank you for your reply sir. I've got to find me a good contour map for Lake G... apparently one online isn't as easy to see as I'd like to find. Maybe I can get one good enough to read in person. Another thing I've been reading about is secondary points, points on the channel.... *sigh*.. so much to learn.

Hello guys, I am trying to develop my skills and knowledge about structure more and some things aren't really clear to me. I have read several articles from this website in fact, but I am still kind of having a few mix-ups that I am hoping someone can talk out with me. I was reading this article about fishing the pre-spawn: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fishing_the_pre-spawn.html That got me to thinking about the "highways and roads" of the areas that I fish. It is still cold in Alabama with water temps in the high 30's... MAYBE a low 40's if you get lucky. So they are still deep, but some have started moving around on the 40 temp days... 5-8 foot deep on grass lines running A-rigs, Little john square bills etc. I have grown up with the understanding that "points" are the juts of land that you can physically see. In particular there's a creek we fish a lot called Roseberry creek, and you can literally see a jut of land that comes out to a point that would block the current etc. So is this a point? Or is there points that are underwater that you can't physically see? If so, can someone please explain what to look for on a map? A link to a pic of an explanation would superb. My next question is, as I am learning.. I have learned that they move deep in cold water... pre spawn they use the roads and highways to stage into these "staging areas"... toward "flats" to spawn. Well, what is technically a "flat"? We fish out of a place called Scottsboro Municipal Park this next Saturday and I was going to study the map and just look at some creeks / channels etc on the map to see where they would lead to "flats", then realized I really don't know what a "flat" is. Is it just shallow water with cover they would like to use to spawn? And its my understand that the fish like bends and turns in the channels and creeks they use to move up in. I read MikeIke's philosophy around the red and blue marker to circle these areas and then connect them to try and figure out the path that they would most likely travel on to get where they are going.... but first I've got to figure out what exactly the terms mean. Anyway, thanks to anyone who would further my education ont hsi subject.

Talk about a bummer! Fishing on the Lake that is literally 5 minutes from my house, only to want me to drive 2 1/2 hours to the weigh-in... no thanks

I like on Lake Guntersville. I'm wondering.. or actually I heard that the weigh ins will be down in Birmingham. Can someone confirm this for me please?

The bass club I am in, it's a small but tight group of guys (16 of us) is C&R as well, but once a year we have a fish fry. So we keep what we would consider the best eaters during the tournaments (never overkill) and we all get together during the summer and have a fish fry & swim party at one of our members house. It's always a good time to spend with the guys and have some fish. We always batter and deep fry it in a big fryer... it's fantastic. Leave it up to the Alabama boys to batter and fry it!

Any of you guys ever tossed this thing or something like it on those Owner JigRig's? Seems like an interesting technique...

As many of you on the forums may know, this is my second year of "trying to get serious about fishing and competing in my local club" campaign. I have learned some very priceless concepts, tips, techniques and other things on the sight along the way. I've been reading about lipless crankbaits and talking to several guides and some others around my local area, the fish on Lake Guntersville are hot on the Aruku Shad's right now... along with some other baits like Missle D-Bombs and other things. They all just tell me when I ask about colors (which I know is highly debatable), just fish the forage. So I've been trying to read and study about what forage is dominant on Lake Guntersville, and then equating that to what colors I should buy my lures in. This is where I hoping to get some type of ideas/help from you guys on here. I know, just from experience as a kid on the lake, that there is a plethora of panfish in our lake here. Bluegill, they chase Minnows all the time, Crappie, Shad, Shellcracker, "Bream"... and I've caught maybe two, what we call sun perch in my life from the lake just to name a few. So as I'm looking at the Aruku Shads to throw on Lake Guntersville and trying to implement the forage of my lake to what colors I should throw in certain conditions, do you guys have any help or ideas? I've read several people say to just stick to the basics and don't get caught up in the fancy colors. So let's take the Aruku Shad for an example for now: http://www.***.com/Spro_Aruku_Shad/descpage-SPAS.html Just glancing at the colors on that list, I know that i've got to have some colors for different situations (clear days, muddy water, pre-spawn, spawn etc) I'm looking at colors like: Cell Mate - maybe a baby crappie? Chrome Black - Clear water? Chrome Blue - Clear water? Chrome Shad - Clear Water? Clear Chartreuse - Dirtier stained water Gold Black (seen a guide post on FB about the gold one wearing them out the other day.... but I don't know why gold would induce a bite? Stained water?) Magic Tiger - Pre-spawn / dirtier water? Purple Rain - a guide told me about this one, curious why or what it would resemble in my lake. Spooky Shad - ? And then, I've fished Texas rig my whole life... I can slow fish and out wait anyone in the world I think. I just remember as a kid sitting in the boat, slow fishing those summer days... finessing those worms until I thought I was going to die. Thankful my dad taught me that as a kid, because it's one of the things that in my opinion, you can always catch a bass on if you're in need of one. The saying in my family is "Look, you give me a rod and a reel... a Black worm... we won't go hungry today" Black always seems to be a good color where we usually fish. Not saying other aren't... but black will catch a fish. But how does the equate to forage? I want to try some missle D-bombs and expand my arsenal this year. T-rig those puppies and fish the grass/docks etc. How does forage equate to soft plastics like worms etc? I know this is a long post, but I really am trying to educate myself here. Just kind of talking it out.

A couple guides I've read and talked to on Lake G have been ripping BIG lips on the SPRO Aruku Shad and this MIssle D-bomb... but I've never in my life fished a beaver or creature type lure like the D-bomb. Do you use this thing to hook it on a jig? Texas rig it? If so, do you just pop it off the bottom like a texas rigged worm? Finesse style? Thanks in advance!

So at the start of this year, I was sorta h e double hocket sticks bent on sticking to just 6 rods this year. It was going to break down something like 1. Texas Rid / Bottom contact rod 2. Spinnerbait Rod 3. Flipping / Pitching / Top Water Frog 4. Top water - Spooks / Buzzbaits / Poppers etc 5. Crankbaits 6. Spinning combo for light plastics. AKA Shakeyhead etc Putting all this together and reading a good bit has made me realize that, while this is pretty darn flexible for 6 rods on tourny day... I just may have to add a 7th rod. Splitting the crankbait category into two seems pretty legit at the moment. A shallow diver, lipless rod and then a deep diving rod. Right now I'm going to run the Denali Rodewood Custom Crankbait rod for my shallow / lipless baits. Thinking about snagging up a 7' 6" or 7' 10 or 11" for those big deep divers and throwing a Winch on it. What's ya'lls thoughts?

Thanks for the info. I'll look into the different actions for the baits. I'm really going to try to adopt the technique of ripping it from the grass, and in other water semi-yoyoing it off the bottom. Do you happen to know what size hooks come on the 1/4 and then on the 1/2 Red eyes?

Being on Lake G, we're all waiting for those warmer temps to come around to warm the water up and get us into pre-spawn, which everyone in my club is talking about running those Red Eye Shads. Talking with a few guides around and a few buddies... it seems like the SPRO Aruku is pretty hot right now too. Just wondering your opinions on each of these. One guide said he's really ripping them on the SPRO Akuru Purple Rain... Also, do the hooks need changed on either of thse if purchased? If replaced, what size and brands do you guys like/

If you give the guys a little more specifics about what your new rods will be used for, they may have a more specific answer for you. I just bought one of the new Duckett Ghost Rods after going to my local shop and holding one for awhile. But I got the 7' 6" Extra Heavy for Flip'n / Frog'n I don't know about the new Cabelas one, but I got a good year of fishing, and by a good year, I mean a GOOD year of fishing with the Abu Garcia Veritas Medium Heavy for Texas Rig'n. I really do like this rod, a lot. I paired it with the Revo S, and it's sensitivity is really good to me. That being said, while I don't have any water time on the Ghost series yet, but again from holding it, I think they'll be competitive in the $100 price point for awhile to come. I wouldn't hesitate to drop the coin on the Ghost either. So, Veritas or Ghost series I think you'll be happy with. There's also a few other names that get tossed into the $99 category, at least when I asked awhile back there was. *** *** series, Falcon, Shimano Compre, Denali Jadewood series... take a look at any of those too.

Thanks for the reply. Only problem I see with keeping them is that ol' Pops wants a pair of them haha. Can't turn ol' guy down you know...

A girl I went to high school with called me up and said "Hey my husband has some fishing stuff for sale, I know you fish a lot, and we're trying to sell some stuff off since we're moving. We could use the cash and get rid of some stuff at the same time." So I ended up asking what she had, which happened to be 4 brand new Denali fishing rods that he was wanting to get rid of that were collecting dust in his closet. Still had the plastic wrap on the handles. Anyway, I ended up getting all 4 rods for $200. There's 4 rods, two sets of the same rod. Two Rosewood custom spinnerbait and two Rosewood custom crankbait. Was wondering if you guys thought this was a decent deal and should I keep them and use them or just try to sell them off? I've never fished with Denali so, it'll be a first if I keep them. Right now I use Veritas stuff and love them so far. I looked them up and I actually had to call Denali on one set of them, because I couldn't figure it out, they are Denali Rosewood Series 842CB - TW has this one for $189.99 Denali Rosewood Series 782SB - $169 on Independent Tackle The reason I had to call is because the 782SB wasn't clearly marked concerning what edition it was, Jadewood, Rosewood etc. The gentlemen named Pete at Denali said that it is in fact a Rosewood rod, albeit the earliest edition of the rod, so the markings are different. So anyway, he looked it up and found it for me, it's a Rosewood model. Anyway, the scenario I'm facing is, I'm trying to get me together 6 decent rods to attack my monthly bass club tournaments with this year, and these two fill two of those spots in the Spinnerbait & Crackbait roles, going to let my dad have a couple of them to use as well, or at least he wanted them he said. 6 Rob plan consist of: 1. Flipping / Pitching / Punching / Frog 2. Topwater / Jerkbaits 3. Crankbait Rod 4. Texas Rig / Some Jigs (Abu Garcia Veritas / Abu Garcia Revo S 5. Spinnerbait 6. Spinning Rod for shaky heads/finesse work As you can see the bold is all that I have so far. Got it last year and love it. So these rods would fill two spots for me. I'm leaning toward keeping them unless somebody has a different rod I should sell these for to replace these two. Being I've never fished with Denali, I don't know to much about them. Whether I should keep them and put them to good use, or should I sell them off and get me something that you guys would recommend? Any advice is appreciated. And while we're at it, does anybody got any advice for what gear ratios etc I should get for Cranking and Spinnerbaits? 7:1:1 - 6:4:1... any ideas?

Our local monthly club tournament 1st place finisher had 126lbs to win it for the year. That's on average around 10 pounds per tournament, plus our two away tournaments. My goal is to try to catch that 10lbs a tournament.

Thanks everyone!

I seen those two colors and both caught my eye.. I just didn't know about them for my particular spot of water.

Hey everybody! I am thinking about getting a few / several of the red eye shads to fish down here on Lake Guntersville. I was looking through all of the colors, there is so many, it's making it hard to choose from. I know I should go with what I think is in my area as far as bait fish is concerned and probably a Chartreuse / Fire Tiger colors for those dingy murky water days. Anyway, I was just sorta looking for some other pointers in the right direction. The colors I thought about getting were some of the following. I'd like to cover most my bases from this lot, without spending a ton of cash. And another note is I know we got a good bit of carp, sunfish, bream, bluegill etc around here, I've just never fished or seen a lure named baby carp.. so I added it just in case. 1. Sexy Shad (probably all year around color) 2. Bluegill (spring time shallow water / pre-spawn type environment) 3. AYU - This colors seems to do well on an Alabama Rig / Swimbaits for us down here) 4. Chrome / Blue or Black 5. Chartreuse Baitfish / Fire Tiger 6. Baby Carp 7. Chartreuse Sexy Shad 8. Orange Craw 9. Sexy Sunfish And should any of these be bought in the "bleeding" series of the color vs. the normal color? I'll probably try to cover most of my bases with 4 colors.. which I think is doable, if not, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance! -Brad

Hey guys, our local club is heading down to Logan Martin for a club tournament at the end of October. Does anyone have any advice or places to check around on? I'm not asking for your lunker spots, just would like to try and catch a limit. Any hep with what they are biting on or where to try out is greatly appreciated.

P.S. They were about 100% they were going to want to launch out of McFarland.

Man road I can't tell you how much that would mean to me. I'd be glad to meet up with yah and buy you a couple lures of your choice or whatever for your time and effort. I just know i can't go in there blind (pun intended, it okay.. laugh at it)....