Lucky Craft Man

I actually wish they didn't either. It would have been great to have that as the record and CA is the only state I know of that has that "hooked inside the mouth" law.

That gets my vote. The kid as Darth Vader is my second choice

Having your team not even make the Superbowl or to have your team make the Superbowl and lose? I get to emotionally invested in the Steelers and I just hate when they lose (especially in the Superbowl). I'm still not over the Steelers loss to Dallas in Super Bowl XXX. Now if the Steelers had lost two weeks against the Jets, I could have actually enjoyed watching the Packers win, but today was like 4 hours of tourture. Just wonder how others feel. By the way, Congratulations to the Packers and their fans. If the Steelers had to lose to someone, I am glad it was Green Bay.

x2 I have bought and ended up selling so many rods and reels, because they didn't feel just right. I am also constantly switching reels with rods just to fine tune that "just right" feeling.

I went through many rods and reels to find what I would consider the idea jerkbait set-up for me. I use a baitcasting outfit with a 6'9" Moderate-Fast action rod that is Medium-Heavy in Power. I like a moderate-fast action for treble hook lures (since switching from a fast action rod to a moderate-fast action rod, I seem to lose less fish by the boat). I also like a medium-heavy power, because I inevitably hook a few muskie in the Spring and I wanted something with a little more power to get them in quicker (it's never good to play a muskie out for 20 minutes). The reel I use has 28 IPT. I've used a reel with 26 IPT and 30 IPT and found that with the cadence I jerk that bait and then return the rod back to the original position for the next jerk, the 28 IPT reel winds in the slack perfectly. The 26 IPT would still leave a little slack, having to wind in more before the next jerk and the 30 IPT would actually wind in the slack and then some, thus pulling the bait a little. I think almost perfect slack management is needed (without moving the lure), because I have had smallmouth hit the bait as soon as you stopped after a jerk and if you were not in touch with your lure (i.e., winding in loose slack) you would not be in a position for a good hookset. Therefore, a 28 IPT reel is what I settled on. As you can see, everyone out there has a totally different approach and none of them are wrong. I found the outfit that really has increased my success with jerkbaits and has worked for me. Over time, you will find what you like.

Nate, Congratulations! I love that guy. Maybe as a perk you can go on a trip with him and Zona. Maybe as his media manager, you can suggest a contest where that would be the prize.

I'm in.

what does it flat out suck for? No doubt I would use fluoro over braid in certain situations, but I have yet to find a set up that braid "sucks" at. Freezing air temps Concrete and or steel structure Zebra/quagga mussels Coontail on certain lakes - has zebes growing on it Deep smallie fishing. You simply get more bites on fluoro.Pretty much any treble hooked bait. I find this one interesting. I use braid with about a 10' Fluoro Leader for Drop Shot fishing for deep water (and shallow water) smallmouth. Since switching to braid, I feel that my set-up is more sensitive. Do you surmise that the braid 10' up the line could turn off Smallmouth?

Let me express my opinion with a picture...

I can at least make it through a Roland Martin program. Charlie Ingram, host of Fishing University, is too much to take. That guy does everything short of servicing the salesman he is fishing with when pushing a product.

Using Live Bait.

It could be a combination of my eyes and the shade of my polarized glasses, but I have a terrible time seeing red line. I can see clear line above water better than I can see the red. Also, as others have said, it bleeds out. My line is more of a pink now than a red.

I also remember my first Lucky Craft. It a was Pointer 100SP in Ghost Brown. I used it so much that the hooks wore a groove through the plastic and it took on water, making a sinking lure instead of a suspending one. Unfortunately, I lost that lure in the jaws of a Muskie. You will be very happy with your purchases and I hope they catch you as many of fish as mine have caught me.

RW, great article and unbelievable fish! So you held a 10 pound Smallmouth. What a run of big fish you had in the Fall of '04 and the Winter of '05. Have you still been catching fish that size or has the fishery peaked (much like how Fish Chris said his fishery peaked in '07)? I am a little afraid Lake Erie has peaked and maybe on it's way down. My biggest several fish from Erie came 3 to 4 years ago and I haven't caught any in that size since. The good news appear to be that I catch more fish, but they seem to peak at 5 pounds. Maybe in 4 to 5 years, all these smaller fish will grow up and continue the cyclical process.

Unfortunately, the Patriots have been caught cheating (on several occasions) and if the NFL had any balls, some of those victories (and Superbowls wins) would have been stripped from them. I used to be a Patriots fan (particularly when they had Drew Bledsoe), but with some of the illegal antics Belichick has been caught doing (and then acting ignorant to the fact the what he was doing was against league rules), you can't have much respect for that organization. As far as if Pittsburgh can go all the way, I would love to think so, but I am not as confident as I was in years past. I guess time will tell.

Beautiful fish, Dwight. I have spent many of hours on Erie looking for that 7 pounder. I knew if anyone had pictures of one from Erie, it would be you. Thanks for posting and I can't wait until Spring to give it another shot. Maybe I'll see you out there.

The streams in Central PA are in trouble now with three Follmer's on the scene. Congratulations!

WOW...thanks Fish Chris! These are the kind of pictures I was hoping for. Really great looking fish. I don't know what I would do if I caught an 9 lb. (or 8 lb. for that matter) Smallmouth. I might just sell off all my equipment and give up fishing, because it can't get much better than that. Thanks again! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have been fishing for smallmouth for sometime and have developed a mild obsession with wanting to catch a 7 pounder. I have caught several in the 6 pound range, but have yet to eclipse the 7 pound mark. I was wondering who here has caught a smallmouth over 7 pounds and if you have, please post a picture along with where you caught it and any good story that might have gone along with it. I think seeing these pictures will help appease my obsession in this quest for the time being and I think would be entertaining for all who hunt for Smallmouth. Thanks!

Now that right there is funny.

Well, at least there is a next week. The regular-season-losing-record Seahawks still have to win tomorrow to have a next week. By they way, I heard a story of a kid in Seattle who wore a Steeler's jersey to school when it was Seahawk appreciation day. They made the poor kid leave school, because he wouldn't change out of his Steeler's jersey. Actually, they should have just given the kid his diploma, because he appears to be the smartest kid in the school.

I have some older Bionic Blades that I thought were not bad. Though, I hate to see Bass Pro go to the split rear grip. I have one rear split grip rod, but with some pipe insulator and Rod Wrap, it is now has a full rear grip.

I'm sure there are laws against this... On the other hand, having a Musky in a tank would be awesome.

HAHA...this is funny right here. Good one.

I have 32 G Loomis Rods, 15 Cabelas Rods, 10 Bass Pro Shop Rods, 6 Shimano Rods, 3 Pflueger Rods, 2 Berkley Rods, 2 Diawa Rods, 2 Sage Rods, 2 March Brown Rods, 2 Abu Garcia Rods, 1 St. Croix Rod, 1 Gander Mountain Rod & 1 Jarvis Rod. Of all these rods that I have fished with on a somewhat regular basis for the past 15 years, I have only broken one. That one rod was a Bass Pro Shops Bionic Blade. Therefore, from my personal sample size, I conclude that Bass Pro Shops rods break at an infinitely higher frequency than G Loomis, Cabelas, Shimano, Pflueger, Berkley, Daiwa, Sage, March Brown, Abu Garcia, St. Croix, Gander Mountain & Jarvis.