EmersonFish

I've fished it quite a bit and I like it. I use it for pretty much every finesse application I can't use a baitcaster for, so I actually like the action of it being a bit lighter. I find it works well for how I fish a drop-shot rig. I frequently will cast it and work it bank down slopes, and the action is better for dragging the weight over obstructions than a true drop-shot rod would be. I don't fish shakey heads over a 1/4 oz very often, and if I did, I'd use my baitcaster, so the Shakey Head rod is just kind of in my wheel house.

I have not used the Owner Shakey Worms yet, but I hope I like them because I just ordered a whole bunch of them from TW. Usually I just use Zoom Shakey Head or Finesse Worms on Owner Ultrahead Shakey Head Jigs. Pretty much any color, usually involving Green Pumpkin or Watermelon. I'm not super picky.

White Bass seem most likely to get me. Small channel-cat are most likely to give me a poke that I truly regret.

That's the one. I'm going to try the Orochi XX rods because they are known for their versatility, and I'm trying to put together a set for fishing co-angler/back of the boat situations where I need to keep my rod count down. Already have the Shakey Head spinning rod. Also considering the Flatside Special and the Perfect Pitch. Won't be able to wait until next Christmas to fill out the lineup though. I'll probably have to sell some stuff this Spring.

I didn't really get anything significant. Money has been as issue this year, so my wife and I took one for the team so my kids would have a normal Christmas and not know any different. However, my wife understands that I am owed a Megabass Extreme Mission Type F. I owe her a remote starter for her minivan. I win that deal.

If you need a chair, take the lightest, most convenient chair that will actually function well enough to be worth while. Why not? My other bit of advice, as someone who bank fishes quite a bit; keep it simple. Have a game-plan, and take only what you will need for that trip. Most of the time, I can fit all of the tackle I am going to use into a fanny-pack style bag, and I carry one rod (usually either a M/F or MH/F St. Croix Avid, or a spinning rod, depending on what I'm doing). I can move faster, make more casts, and it's easier on me physically. I know a lot of people can't stand to use a "less-than-ideal" rod or line for every presentation, but to me the benefits outweigh the detriments when it comes to working the banks.

My only advice, no matter what kind of digital scale you have, is to find a place on your boat for a decent mechanical scale as a backup if the digital scale fails, or to confirm what your digital scale is telling you if the weight on the digital scale doesn't seem right. Trust me; a 15 lb. (in most parts of the country) spring scale tucked in the corner will eventually be worth the investment if you are a bass fisherman.

I don't know about the other lakes your college has sent you to, but Bluebasser86 is right about Table Rock. It's pretty well known for being as "fickle" as a lake can get. Throw in the fact that April can be pretty fickle itself in this area of the country, and you just have to be prepared for anything. I assume you'll get to do some pre-fishing. Sling that A-Rig and see what happens, particularly around the brush piles the corps places in the lake. You can find maps indicating where those are, and you'll see signs on the bank. But you have to come here with stick/jerk baits, cranks, etc. If a cold front comes through, I fish baits closer to the rocks in deeper water like football jigs, hardheads jigs, shaky heads, etc... If there is a lot of rain and the water gets muddier, power fishing comes into play, and you'll get left behind targeting spots in open water. If it's hot, bluebird skys, no wind, perhaps you have some skies in the boat you want to try out (just kidding). I guess all I'm saying is, bring a lot of eggs and a lot of baskets.

Hopefully, if the A-Rig being outlawed in these tournaments is a recent move, the tournament officials are making a point of stressing that at the meetings and elsewhere. Not that ignorance is an excuse, particularly when it comes to a controversial bait. I know if I planned on using an A-Rig, I'd triple check the rules to make sure it was okay given recent events. So it's on these guys, whether they didn't know any better, or did, and used it anyway.

Another factor is how you fish, when it comes to diving crankbaits in particular. I don't want to have to worry about bouncing them off of wood, or dragging them along the bottom or whatever. If I'm doing that, and am thinking about how much I would hate to lose that lure, I won't fish it as effectively, even if the lure itself is slightly better than the cheaper lure I don't mind losing as much. I can bang a $4 crankbait off of anything, and focus on fishing. Get hung up, try to get off, break off if necessary, reload.

If I wasn't married with kids, I'd had moved to East/Southeast Texas by now. So many great bass fishing lakes and easy access to the Gulf. I'm in Missouri, where we have some pretty good bass fisheries; but everybody and their brother, and his cousin, and their nephews, and everybody else, knows about them, and owns a bass boat.

I did some lengthy survey on line years ago that was supposed to tell me the best place in America for me to live based on my lifestyle, interests, climate preferences, etc... Every city on the list that came up was in the southeast except for #1, which was St. George, Utah. Kind of caught me by surprise, but as I looked into it, it started to make sense.

I wish I had $100 extra right now to go toward a baitcaster. Crazy deals on TW, and I'm stuck buying Legos. Bah! Humbug!

That 4.9:1, Lefty Lexa for 70 bones would probably be worth an order. My problem is these deals that come around in December are lost on me. With my wife's Christmas purchases made, my credit card would be soundly rejected.

That price point for reels is the same as the $100 price point for rods. A lot of competition has numerous companies putting out quality products. What one person likes more than another usually has more to do with personal preference, or what they have experience with. I have some Lew's SS reels that cost $90. They are darn good for the money. I could use them for many years and be just fine. But I'd be lying if I said I knew they were the best. I haven't tried a lot of other reels in that price range. I have quite a bit of experience with the BPS Pro Qualifiers, and personally like the Lew's better. I have picked up a lot of reels in that price range, and feel that some of the companies that excel in higher end equipment don't feel like they provide as much value at the lower price-point, but I don't have enough on the water experience to say. I just know I wouldn't buy those reels based on how they feel in my hand.

I know some others have said they had problems with it breaking. This surprises me. I have used it quite a bit and can't recall it ever breaking. In fact, getting it to break when I needed it to was a problem at times. It's plenty strong, but a little stretchy. Definitely more manageable than a lot of comparably priced lines that I would consider "strong."

Nothing wrong with a jon boat with a 9.9, but depending on the body of water, weather, etc, on the circuits you are considering fishing, of course there will be times it's less than ideal, and other times when it's even worse. Also consider that if you are ever fishing a tournament as a boater where there will be non-boaters, you'll have to be able to accommodate them and their stuff. The "second hand" boats you mentioned are what a lot of regular guys fish out of. You can find some pretty nice boats at reasonable prices if you are patient. Your issue is it sounds like your typical fishing is done on horsepower limited lakes, so a bigger boat might be an investment for occasional trips to tournament waters. You'll have to decide if it is worth it to you. And don't make that decision based on potential earnings from fishing. FWIW, when I fished tournaments, it was out of a 2000 Tracker Pro Team 185 with a 90 hp outboard. There were plenty of tournaments where we had the only aluminum boat. At the weigh-in line, when the fish were in the bag, no one could tell what kind of boat the fish rode to the weigh-in site on. I will confess however, there were days on the lake where a nice, wide glass platform seemed like it would have been worth every penny. But I still have that same Tracker.

I think a lot of people, and I may have been guilty of this I the past, see the BPS name, and everything they sponsor, and expect them to cater to the bass fishing enthusiast. The bottom line is, it's an outdoors/sporting goods chain, not unlike many others. Their bass tackle inventory, at their 'Outdoor World' locations, is certainly better than most brick and mortar stores around, but they still have to be discriminate about what they stock. I'd love for their to be a store near here where I could handle every quality bass rod and reel on the market, but it's not that simple. I do know a place that carries Dobyns, and another that carries St. Croix, and another Loomis, and so on. It's just a lot of shopping around.

My current most versatile rod is a St. Croix Avid, 7', M, F, casting rod. I asked for a Megabass Extreme Mission Type F for Christmas. A lot of people rave about their versatility. Hopefully I'll find out in a few weeks.

Most Shaky Head fishing I do is 1/8 to 3/16 oz on spinning tackle, so I go with 15# braid (PP) and a 6-8# FC leader (Sea Invisx). Always an Alberto Knot for me. I personally rarely go heavier with a Shaky, but I know others do.

QuakenShake is right. Google Earth is a great tool, and it can really help you plan an outing in advance if you are less familiar with a body of water. I find it particularly useful when I know I won't have enough time to do a lot of running around, or when I'm in my smaller boat, and have to move about as efficiently as possible.

I buy local as much as possible, and I understand that means they need to get a few more nickels out of everything to get by because they don't sell the quantity the big guys do. As someone who fishes a lot for a variety of species, I know the value of a good "bait and tackle" store, versus a "big box" store; and I want them to be around for a long time. I'd also recommend, if a local tackle shop isn't carrying the most "in demand" product, that you let them know what kinds of things you'd like to see in the store (or make a point of asking for it every time you go in). Trust me, if they know that what they put on the shelves will sell, most folks will be happy to put it out there; they just might not be as aware of what is popular right now, and they have to be very careful about what they stock. Some of these folks are a little older and "out of the game," so to speak. The bottom line for them is, they can't afford to make too many mistakes with what they stock, so they play it pretty safe. If you try and help them out, and they are jerks about it, that's on them.

Ha. It could be 2. What do I know? It's hard enough to tell when you have a good profile shot. At that angle, who knows. If the OP thinks it's 2.25, maybe it is? He he probably has better perspective than anybody.

That first fish has a crazy big head. Great fish. You might catch it again some day and it could be even more filled out.

1.56 lbs. That's it. The definitive answer.