Ozark_Basser

Biggest one I caught out of the creek the other day. Pretty skinny. As you can tell by his coloration, the water was really stained and is way to high for fishing, but I can't just not go

I'd go with the okuma guide series 711xheavy so I could throw whatever I want. It will also throw what you have listed much better than the mojo.

It is definitely easier to snap an xf rod tip than a fast tip. Especially in a kayak where you are sitting down when you land a fish. If it were me I'd stick with the ***. Its up to you though. I fished with a 66mxf falcon original out of a canoe for a couple years and swung many 2-3 lb smallies into the boat without the rod snapping. Was that too wise? Probably my not, but the rod never broke.

The moderate action would still help with letting the fish grab more of the bait. Which is why I use moderate fast action rods for single hook moving baits.

Looks pretty cool. Show us some pics of fish caught on it when you try them out.

I'd say that's a matter of opinion. Maybe one guy needs a super light rod and doesn't care about the taper. Maybe one guy loves the taper which is exclusive to that high dollar blank. Its all opinion, but if one blank is more likely to break than another one, the one that doesn't break is obviously better. Id say some higher end blanks go through more extensive testing than lower end ones.

Don't slap any balsa bait on the water, you will break the bill off.

Its definitely a good idea, but if you want to throw big swimbaits, you really need the gear for it. For cheap, I'd look at a shimano cardiff reel and the okuma guide series for the rods. Also just because there are big ones out there and you are throwing big baits, doesn't mean your gonna nail one on your first, second, or even after a lot of trips. They take some patience and dedication.

For sure. I'd love to hear how it went.

A-jay....you're kinda dark lol.

Bass will get lighter colored in stained water.

Quite frankly I do not agree with this. I think a swimbait is good anywhere there is a bass big enough to eat one. I'd even try a hudd in ponds if it had big bass. If you have big females moving up to spawn and feeding up, I'd say swimbaits are a go.

If you get them unpainted with weedguards already molded in, you will have a hard time powder coating them yourself without really messing up the weedguard. You can buy (or make them yourselves) some sleeves to put over the weedguard so you can heat the head without the guard fraying out too bad, but you wont be able to heat cure the paint.Either way I'm not completely convinced the fish care if they are painted. So if you want to leave them unpainted its okay. I do it all the time. It's just fun to paint them so they match up and look pretty lol.

I have heard good things about the Elks River as well. I'm planning two trips this year, one for the Kings and one for the lower Buffalo where it meets the White River. Both will be multiple day floats where I'll have to camp on gravel bars. Lookin for that five pounder or at least another four lol. Can't wait.

I'm no pro lol, and as a matter of fact, I'm only two years older than you. I live in NW AR, and the farthest south I've fished is the Arkansas River in Little Rock. What I can tell you that will help is to find places where bass can spawn. These places need to have a hard bottom. Pea gravel, lilly pad root systems, etc. Do a lot of research on that and compare it to the cover or structure you have available in your lakes. That is the first step. I would then look for breaks outside of these areas such as points, grass lines, transitions such bottom changes (boulders to chunk rock), humps, ledges, etc. These are the places where the big females will stage up before moving in to spawn. As to when they will be staging in these places is hard to pinpoint. A general way to figure this out is by water temperature. Generally, but not always, they should be staging at around 55 degrees and moving up on beds at about 60 degrees. Again, this a general observation to be taken with a grain of salt. They might move up when the water is cooler or warmer. Also, they tend to move up in waves, not all at once. So there will be some early and late spawners. The only way to know for sure is to get out there and catch them and observe what the bass look like. A female full of eggs caught on a break outside a spawning area is obviously in prespawn. Make a mental note of conditions. Better yet write it down for later reference. A female with her tail scraped off and bloody is obviously on a bed. Again make a note. Baits are really subjective if you ask me. I prefer to use a search bait like a crankbait, jerkbait, chatterbait, top water, etc to probe likely prespawn and spawning areas. Then work the area thoroughly with a bottom contact bait like a jig if I think I'm on some fish. If I see them on beds, I prefer a bait I can see well, a white jig or soft plastic usually, so I can see if they eat it or not. Sometimes they can suck a bait in and spit it out way before you ever feel it so a bright color helps to be able to see them suck it in so you can set the hook. Do a lot of research and try this link to see if you can learn a thing or two about the structure in your lake. http://webapp.navionics.com/ It might not have a topo of your lake if its real small, but its worth a shot. Good luck.

My pb smallie was just over 4 lbs on a hanging scale and was caught on a black spro bronzeye frog. I was skipping it under an overhanging branch in a shaded area with a bunch of wood cover underneath it. That four pounder came up and went, gulp! Didn't even make a splash. However I wouldn't go around trying to pattern smallies in heavy cover, but I'm not complaining.

...seven!!!...???

I think that means he was banned. Whether that's for a period of time or indefinitely I don't know. I wish he'd come back. I appreciated his input.

Where are you fishing? What lake(s)? I would start thinking about prespawn and spawn patterns. I would take a map of the lake and take a look at all the creeks and look for staging areas for prespawn bass such as points, ledges, transitions etc. And pattern my way around the lake where I caught fish.

Reapers t rigged or on a split shot.

7mhf jig rod, 7mf plastics rod, 7mhmf cranking rod

Temple fork outfitters signature series in 7mh or 76mh is only 100 bucks. I've been fishing with my 7mh for about six months and I like it a lot. Has a super soft tip but with a lot of backbone. More backbone than most mh's.

Why do you think we will not see a 20+ from Florida?

A nice one? More like THE nice one.