Turkey sandwich

Great trip! What stretch of the river were you on? Pretty sure you should update that PB on your profile.

it's not my favorite topwater to fish, but I've seen smallmouth destroy them and not touch anything else. You can almost think of it as a buzz bait you can pause. I keep a few in the box anytime I'm fishing for smallmouth and think there may be a top water bite.

@Delaware Valley Tackle and @smalljaw67 more or less explained it. Even if you were just throwing crankbaits, you want a rod rated for the weight and with enough backbone to allow you to turn fish and to feel comfortable cranking the deeper running baits, but also a slow enough tip flex to launch your bait a mile and keep fish pinned on treble hooks. Also, each company's weight and action ratings can be pretty different from the next.

For medium to deep diving baits, I'd also suggest the MH. Throwing anything running 8' or more on a Med weight stick gets rough fast.

Welcome to the forum! My .02. there is no single all around rod and reel, but given that you fish a lot of bottom contact baits, I would very strongly suggest a Med heavy Fast or X fast rod. The Aetos rods are fantastic rods, and possibly the best value rod under $200. I would have zero hesitation picking one up for $100. I paid 90 or so on clearance last year and absolutely love mine. For a reel, I strongly advise you to choose a quality reel that is very user friendly, and while I don't own one, most members on this forum would likely suggest the Tatula out of that group. I do own Lew's reels that cast a mile, but are far more tempermental than my Shimanos, and since a Curado or Chronarch is out of your price range, the Tatula is probably your best option. I also advise you to buy something you'll be using for a long time as your collection grows. The Aetos and Tatula are likely that.

Man, anywhere with perch or golden shiners some variation of yellow should be a staple. Up north, bass love perch, and golden shiners are pretty much everywhere. Is it sunny/clear water conditions? Throw perch or yellow with a brown back (root beer). Is the water more stained/darker outside? Throw firetiger or clown colored baits. There are reasons why bass, walleye, and pike fishermen all love firetiger.

I have a Lure 13.5. It's a pretty stable boat and can haul a ton of fishing and or camping gear. The seat is a lifesaver for a guy with a messed up back, and probably the primary reason I went with it. The center console makes setting up a sonar extremely easy and it's generally a pleasure to fish out of. I'm very eagerly awaiting their electric/pedal drive. The negatives (of any big, heavy, wide kayak) - paddling into current and head winds can be a workout. It is not a blazing fast boat and having a rudder kit seems to make the tracking much, much better (to what I understand). It is extremely difficult if not impossible to car top it with most racks unless you are Sasquatch. (If you are Sasquatch, read the Sasquatch thread because several forum members have been spending a lot of time searching for you. It would be nice to meet them for a coffee.) As for the ATAK, I have not paddled one, but they look like stellar kayaks and I'd very much consider one if I were back in the market.

That's awesome that you guys got into fishing on your own. Most folks either grow up with the outdoors or don't ever really get into it seriously. So, there are a ton of threads on knock off baits on here, but here's my two cents... Right now, it's important to really enjoy fishing, but also to learn as much as you can. Learning on the water now while you have the time to spend is HUGE. I wish I could get out as often as I could when I was younger. The more you learn techniques now, the more it pays off. So, my suggestion is to buy inexpensive baits that will cover your basics because you'll be able to fish more conditions well. Right now, get on the water, learn how to feel things, but also learn how to fish basic conditions with what you have. As for Senkos in particular, I don't throw them nearly enough to have the opinions some on here might, but there are other options for stick worms that are still excellent baits. Still, like all other baits, Senkos are great in some conditions and less than ideal in others.

Man, it's such an incredible misnomer that smallies only strike small baits. While there are times that may be true, generally, they're aggressive fish and willing strike whatever mimics the forage. I can't tell you how many I've caught on Super Spooks, 3/4 oz 4 blade spinnerbaits with trailers, bladed jigs with 5"+ swim bait trailers, etc. Getting it to look similar enough to the forage isn't typically that hard with smallmouth. It's usually just a matter of finding the active fish. Bigger baits give a much bigger profile, and I think, that alone can make them better search baits at times.

My suggestion is to really learn to fish basics like Texas/light Carolina rigs, jigs, grubs, etc. I grew up pretty broke and it was a while before I was able to afford to stock up on the expensive stuff. Ironically, being broke paid off because it forced me to really learn how to feel changes in the bottom and gauge depth without having sonar. I credit being a decent jig and t-rig fisherman to spending a lot of hours as a teenager dragging worms and learning to flip jigs in grass mats and pads. My suggestion is to invest the time learning to fish what you have well and then purchasing better gear and a Jon boat or kayak as you can afford it. Money definitely helps, but gear on it's own doesn't catch fish.

Cliff's Notes version: Yes. You will always "need" more tackle.

That's definitely a coelacanth.

Size is generally a good a fast ID. If you're catching bass over 16", odds are very good it's a female.

A jig of some sort A crankbait of some sort A 2/O Clouser Minnow I like catching fish a lot of different ways, but those are amongst my favorites right now. That'll likely change by June.

The only times I've had lures snap off of braid were because I was silly enough to spool a casting reel with too light a braid and the resulting backlash described above or because of bad leader knots. Braid is not a great choice for abrasion resistance, but it's otherwise pretty indestructible. If you're losing lures on it, I'd make sure you're running thick enough line for a casting reel and check the knots. If you're dragging lures across rocks or shell beds, using FC or copoly leaders would be a good suggestion. Other than the above, I can't imagine any way this is likely to happen unless you're magical or something. But, like, have the worst magic powers ever.

I simply rely on my sharp wit. (see what I did there?)

This is huge. A lot of folks miss out on quality careers in sales because it isn't the traditional "If you want to make money become a Dr or lawyer" route. I opted out of law school and do not regret it for a minute. If not for the weird back injury nightmare, I'd have been swimming in free time while still making great money for the past three years. As of now, I work a 4 day work week and have an absurd amount of flexibility. I am much happier than 80% of my lawyer friends. Part of what kills people, drives them crazy, or otherwise just makes them miserable is the idea that pursuing a job for the sake of making money, or at least the idea of making money, is what enables happiness. It is exactly the wrong solution to the wrong problem. Money is totally a renewable resource. You will always make more (though, learning how to make it efficiently is a very valuable life skill because...). Time, on the other hand, is not. You will never be able to create "new" time. So, really, any job that provides you with time and the freedom to do whatever you want with it is a job worth creating. This is what is never taught in school, and probably the most important lesson I've learned regarding creating a meaningful life.

I work in home remodeling sales and when I'm not totally broken/recovering from back surgery I teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts. The regular gig is awesome - I help people solve problems, have a flexible schedule, enjoy most of the people I work with, and the company culture rocks. The Jiu-Jitsu gig has allowed me to travel and teach and compete all over the country. When I'm not all kinds of messed up from back problems, I genuinely have two jobs that I really enjoy. If only being an adult lent itself to allowing more time for fishing and hiking, I'd be thrilled.

I'm also a big fan of Bitsy Bug Craws. They're great on the tiny jigs and they're also easy to cut down if you really need to mimic something tiny. They aren't big on action like the Rage Craws or Speed Craws, which I've found to be preferable for finesse fishing smallmouth when the forage is small and the water is clear. If I want a similar profile and more action, I'll usually just use/trim down a chunk profile bait with bigger claws. I'll likely be throwing a lot of these once I can finally get on the water in a few weeks for pre-spawn/spawn smallmouth.

really good advice on here. Black/blue combos along with green and brown (sometimes a little orange) will go really, really far. I also like Dip'n'Dye to add accents to claws/tails without having to buy more colors. This will cover most of your crayfish/madtom/sculpin/etc patterns. Also, most bodies of water will have several species of crayfish in different sizes and color patterns. I've found it best, generally, to match colors to the conditions with the basics than trying to match all of the crazy specifics of crayfish color. The only time I really use a wider variety of colors is when I'm trying to imitate baitfish with a swim jig.

I don't keep many bass, but this usually determines which ones end up filleted, stuffed, baked, sautéed, or fried. If the gullet or gills are badly damaged, odds are good that fish becomes supper.

So, I bought my brother his first casting reel for Christmas (200 size Curado he'll use primarily for striper fishing 3/4-2oz baits on the Chesapeake). He's never used one before and has since ignored every bit of good advice I've given him and bought a Med power Mojo Bass and spooled it with 10lb cheap braid. I cannot wait to see this disaster unfold.

EXACTLY!

Nothing says good morning like a Skulpzilla whizzing past your head. Similarly, nothing says goodnight like a Skulpzilla stuck in the back of your head, lol.

I'll also recommend a 7 or 8 weight rod to help with throwing larger streamers and especially poppers. I have a 6 weight that's great for throwing woolly buggers and some smaller streamers, but I have an 8 WT Orvis Recon that makes throwing the bigger stuff much, much easier. Also, prefab tapered leaders are cool for some bass flies, but most of my bass flies are thrown on either straight mono, hand tied short tapered 30# to 15# leaders, or a sinking leader with 8-15lb mono tippet. Also, throwing big flies takes some practice. Practicing technique can save your shoulder.