Clark Stewart

I'm pretty tech savvy, so my recommendation probably won't help a lot of folks on here, but if you have an iphone or ipod touch then spring for the After the Catch app by Paul Woods Software. I think I paid like 5 bucks for it. It will pull weather data at the push of a button for your gps location, and also plot your location on a google map. This is helpful when you go to a lake often you can see where you catch the most bass. It can be pre-programmed for different species of fish, specific lures, rods/reels and anglers. The more detail you put in the better the app will work later on when you're stumped as to what to throw. I've used it 99% of the time I've been fishing this year and I like it. It also lets you take a photo of the bass you just caught and allows you to enter the weight/girth lure and conditions on the spot. I find it easier and faster to simply take the picture of the fish with the lure hanging out of it's mouth and then fill in the details "after the catch". The app also lets you run a filter and reports for just about any piece of info you could be after such as "what lure caught the most fish" or "how many fish have I caught at this particular spot". Hope it helps, and it's all the more reason to get an iphone! Truly the greatest invention ever!

Hehe. You make me laugh monster man.

I didn't know that was happening, but I don't see *** listed on the sponsor page anymore - sad for whatever reason. I doubt that you'll get any more responses to this as the folks that moderate this place are too classy to 1)bash an ex-sponsor if something did go south, and 2)mention that there exists a reason why he's not a sponsor anymore. I'd like to know too just in case I might have reason not to shop there anymore, but again they won't sling mud. Sad sad sad

My wife's uncle fishes BFL out of Falkville/Hartselle - he's a Smith Lake guru. I'm helping him practice tomorrow for the BFL tourney on Weiss Saturday. I'll ask him where and what, and post back as soon as I can. This time last year we were fishing the backs of creeks using jigs mostly. Rock creek (don't ask me where anything is on that lake - I've fished it 3 times and it's so big I can't tell a creek mouth from the main lake) produced for us. Basically points and the backs of creeks would be where I spent my time. Any point you can find that goes from the bank out to 40 or so feet of water with brush on it at various depths will work. I wouldn't concentrate on the boat docks too much because the vast majority of them are floating docks hovering over super deep water - some with structure nearby some without. If you must fish a dock then find one with brush around it over ledges - the floating dock themselves this time of year aren't gonna draw too many fish since they're looking for warmer water not cooler. Don't be afraid of the creeks - they never really end - they just kind peter out to something you can't get a boat in, and I'm talking like miles back. Smith is beautiful, and incredibly deep. If you don't get a single bite you can at least leave jealous of the upper crust who retire there! I swear one of those houses looks like UA's president's mansion x2. You can see the lantern's on the front porch for miles. Wife's uncle has a friend who dives there who found a gas station in 90 feet of water with the pumps still intact. There was still some old cans of food on the shelves but he got nervous when he saw some of the fish swimming around the store - big big fish. Visibility is usually around 10-15 feet deep as I recall.

Remind me to swing by your trash can next time you break a rod tip

I think I might make that rod a frog rod where sensitivity doesn't matter! I don't have any other heavy action rods, but several if not all medium heavy rods that I guess I could use. One is an all-star 7 footer that might fit the bill. We'll see. Thanks for the tips

I know that's extreme, but now you're reading! I grew up on Weiss on the lower powerhouse lake but never started fishing it much until this last year. I've searched the world over, and Weiss just never gets brought up in the conversation about bass fishing, and I don't know why. All the tournament weigh-ins I've been to have been won with 12 pound bags! I've seen pics of a recent guy who caught a 12 pounder and several 7 pound fish in the past couple weeks so I know it has good fish. I've tried this forum, and the North Alabama Fishing Forum and nobody wants to mention Weiss at all. Literally 3 posts on the latter forum mention weiss! I'm helping my uncle practice up there tomorrow for this weekend's BFL tourney, and I don't know where to start. The lake has good depth variation, is only 1.4 feet down right now, and 52 degrees. It's got humps, holes, brush, docks, and creek channels galore. I can't figure out why it doesn't get any more respect as a bass habitat. My guess is Guntersville just overshadows it so well.

If I'm not mistaken Road wrote an article on how to get bit using this and a senko and no other lures. Search for it or maybe he will be kind enough to find it. Gist was: carry a spinning outfit and cast the fat ika parallel to the bank. Drag/sweep it slowly along the bottom. Cast slightly further out from the bank - like 3 feet. Repeat. Do this in a fan pattern until you're eventually parallel fishing the bank to your other side - like right to left. It's slow. It's painful. REALLY PAINFUL, but you will catch fish. Article was designed as a confidence builder for newbies but it still comes to mind when I get frustrated with a senko. I go into roadwarrior mode, and start catching fish! By the way, does anybody else think that Roadwarrior's avatar makes him look like Dr. Cox from Scrubs with a mustache? I'm just sayin' he's a pretty man, or as we say in Alabama, you've got a pretty mouth! sorry...

I've never done the heating a nail trick, but I'm sure it will work. I just cuss it long enough and eventually it will give up the ghost! Another tip. If you ever use one on a shaky jig they are deadly since they float up in the water to twitch. I recommend keeping some crazy glue handy to keep it from sliding off of a jig head. This is actually easier than trying to get a screw lock jig to bite. One more thing. I've never seen a bass yet who could tear one of those baits! They stretch to eternity so make sure you have a fish fully on before you cross her eyes. No joke my yellow lab loves for me to punch a nail through one and thread some line through it and tie a not, then cast it out in the yard for her to fight with me. Literally stretches 3 feet before snapping out of her mouth, but not tooth marks! Crazy...

I'm going tomorrow to fish Weiss Lake in Northeast Alabama to help my wife's uncle practice for the FLW (BFL) tourney up there on Saturday. I'm gonna try to build a little confidence in jig fishing tomorrow simply because Weiss has a bottom pretty much devoid of slop (the main reason I seldom fish a jig). I've got an old Eagle Claw rod that used to be 7'6" that I inherited from my late grandfather. The tip was broken when I go it so it's closer to 7'3" or so. It's a broom handle but still has a nice flex to it. Strange thing about that rod is that it has gold lettering that looks hand drawn that denotes the weights and types of line to throw. It does say "wright and mcghill on it" Was this thing a custom of some sort? Also has a hand drawn Eagle simple to the logo they use now. I don't know may be junk. I think Eagle Claw made better stuff back then I don't know. It's easily almost 30 years old but still feels like a quality rod. Just my opinion. Seems like a quality rod. I'm gonna swap out the reel for a 6.3:1 and spool it with 50# powerpro braid. That's 15# diameter line. Should I go ahead and put a 12 or 15# fluro leader on it, or will straight braid to the hook be ok? Weiss is always either muddy or stained. Never clear. As far as jigs go I'm open to suggestions. I bought a whole plano box full of custom jigs off of ebay in just about any natural color combo imaginable, so tell me what ya'll recommend as far as head shapes and weights. I just finished reading JoeS' writeup on how he fishes jigs and am stoked to try it out. I plan on using rage tail craws for the trailers. Maybe tip the edge of the claws with some chartreuse JJ's magic. I don't know. Any opinions are appreciated.

Check out my post in the "how do you store your plastics" thread in the tackle section to see just how big a rage tail junkie I am. Seriously I've got track marks!

I like the anacondas, but the thumper worm is better to me simply because you can swim it straight back to the boat and the tail has more action - well maybe just a tighter/harder action. The lobsters should be renamed to LobSTARS!

You'd think with all the free press I give you guys I'd get an endorsement deal by now! Ya'll endorse attorneys right? Maybe just a sticker and a retainer fee? I'm just sayin! In all seriousness Rage Tail plastics are my ultimate confidence baits. I started fishing them last summer and I've never owned a brand of lures in which I had absolute confidence that EVERY SINGLE TIME I GO FISHING I will catch at least one bass on a rage tail lure. Matter of fact I've never been fishing with them when I only caught one bass! ;D For all you newbies out there who don't know where to start don't hesitate to buy these lures. I started with the space monkeys and shads. The best thing I've learned about these lures is that skill goes out the window since all of these baits are designed to be pulled through the water - no more wondering if you're pulling it too fast or hopping it too far off the bottom like with a texas rig. Another tip: Go ahead and shell out the 12 bucks for a bottle of Mend-It! These baits are great but they may seem expensive at roughly a dollar a lure, but the packaging they use really does make all the difference. In one season I've saved easily over 100 bucks on rage tails by repairing them with Mend-It. The stuff literally makes them good as new. Oh, and seriously I'm done gushing! Try the rage craws or lobster on a carolina rig around rip rap. Deadly on Guntersville lake!

I'm right there with you. Last year was the only time I ever fished a jig - smith lake alabama and caught one fish in two bites. I know they're supposed to be great but all the places I fish are too mucky on the bottom, and I have zero confidence in them. May need to try roads advice

Good. I'm glad it worked out for everybody!