Columbia Craw

Dobyns Champion 705CB Glass is composite. My lower gear ratio reels are Lews BB1's but there are a several manufactures with lower ratios. Tackle Warehouse had some Zillions in L/H on sale. If you are a lefty, that would be a heck of combo. You can throw square bills to DD22's with that model.

My GS and I fished the river for the first time this year. Jay has never fished deeper than eight feet or fished a drop shot. I found a couple of isolated points, caught a smallmouth with a Hot Lips and set the Hot Lips down. We caught a couple dozen, nothing over two and a half but they were tuggers. Jay quickly became a smallmouth fan and he was amazed that some bit at 24 feet deep or deeper. It was an awesome day.

Well it really annoys me when I'm on the river and the smallies are all bunched up and biting a dropshot like crazy and I have to get another bait...re-rig, wash the slime off my hands, and push the way point on the GPS, and re-position the boat to catch another one. It would be sooo much easier if they wouldn't bite and cause me all that annoyance and look at how much money I would save on Dream Shots and Robo worms. It drives me crazy. I know....just fish a crankbait and save all that money but I would have to bend over, pick up the pliers, unhook the fish and risk getting some blood on my deck carpet. I can't win for loosing. I don't know why I even bother. I'm perplexed how Glen, A-Jay and Dwight have tolerated it all these years. Time to mow the lawn.

I have to be objective here. My buddy is a helluvva fisherman and does not like to spend much on his rods and reels. He bought a Kastking Assassin baitcaster. I't's not for me but at under 60 bucks, it was surprisingly tight. I don't expect it will have the longevity if an aluminum framed reel but it was a good casting reel. That might be an option. I myself would spend the extra dollars and grab a Diawa Tatula CT.

I would give a new Tatula for my old bassmasters from the 70's and 80's. Remember when a bass Pro Shop Catalog was about 24 pages ?

Rage Bug and Rage Craw

Awesome bait, both sizes.

There's very little that annoys me when i'm actually fishing. It's what takes place at the boat launch parking areas where the stupidity of man shines bright.

The Sierra series is not quite as fast as the Champion series. I skip 6 inch Senkos with my 703 Champion which is about 3/8 oz. I would lean toward the 704 SF. Call Dobyns direct, tell Gary or Richard exactly what you want to throw and add in the what where how info. Post what what you learn and your choice. It would be a great help to others. I think the 704 would be the deal.

Fished a little 35 boat club sponsored open at the urging of a young guy I know. The water temp was 41 degrees and the water was dirty. I caught a 5-11 and a 3-13 in the last hour and we won by an ounce. The Club's president told me all I could do from then on was go down. It was fun enough. I just go fishing and not get to serious about it. I've made some really good friends over the years as a result. That's the best part.

Quite a few years ago, I switched to a good quality E Glass series of rods and my fish landed ratio went up by well over 25 percent. My rods now are composite or a crankbait action graphite which are moderate. If the water temp is way up where you are fishing, remember the tissue on a bass mouth softens as the temp gets high.

My first confidence lure was a Mann's Jelly Worm in blackberry. Then I added a white 1/4 ounce Fleck Weed Wader spinnerbait. Simpler times. Now it's a Roman Made Mother Triple swimbait. I'm extremely confident i'll never buy one.

Did you buy it in a factory package at one time? It looks strangely like a Bandit that someone customized with a felt die marker. Iv'e never seen that pattern before. It is a Bandit and the color is called fried squash. New to me. There you go.

I have the 743 Extreme. It's paired with a Diawa SV103. The new Tatula SV looks very sweet and would balance very well with that rod. You have plenty of options but that would be wish model. Depending on the cover you will be fishing, 12 or 14 flouro should work well.

Never is an absolute. Stay away from absolutes.

The question implies you/I have several weaknesses. My greatest weakness is prioritizing which of my weaknesses I will turn into a strength(s.)

That's a good reel choice. You might look at a 7' rod to improve casting distance. A medium power. moderate action will do well.

I enjoy information about the history of the sport. My first exposure to the term wacky rigged worm was in 1978 in a magazine article and the context was it was and had been an effective presentation in Texas lakes. It never grabbed at the time. I can recall the first time I saw a package of Senkos. My first thought was, "What a dud." It's obvious I don't know squat.

Some things are like beating your head against a brick wall. It feels good when you stop.

From the opinions so far, probably too often.

I've never eaten a hot dog. Oops, wrong thread. It's just a color pattern for the Normans crankbait I throw often on the Columbia River. I couldn't come up with something that lead to a conspiracy theory involving the bass fishing, the Illuminati, the Free Masons, Hitler's bunker and Area 51 so this just had to do.

1/4 oz. flat bottom shakey head. Spot Remover or Maverick.

The reality is it happens. Fishing shallow target based lakes makes it even worse. I try to share the front as best I can but it is what it is. A-Jay is right, I try to make it fun. On deeper clear water things get a little more even, especially when drop shotting. There will be days when the wind is bad and trying to control the boat is a bear and the guy in the back will be focused and back end me. It's fair. What's even worse is when you're by yourself and you aren't catching them. Then you have to accept you front ended yourself. I guess if I hook a good one I can always hand my rod to myself so I can play it to the boat. Then I can scream at myself to get the net. Being that my hearing is bad....I wouldn't hear myself anyway. I think it's time to go to bed.

I worked my last last night and signed off for the very last time after 25 years. My God-son Talked me into going fishing this morning on zero sleep and when he pulled up at the park and ride I got the surprise of my life. His Dad, my best friend of 30 years had flown all the way from Ohio to spend a couple of days with us. To top it off, I caught a good one. This is how I wanted to start my retirement. I'm the one holding the bass.

Never use a public restroom that has a sign on the door that says, Please pi** on your hands after washing, the water here is filthy !