BigAngus752

This is a very large cove chock full of these old trees. The trouble I had with it is that these trees are 20+ feet tall. The center of the cove is 40 feet deep. When I took the "selfie" pic I was in 28 feet of water. Shoreline is a near straight drop off. Fishing at this lake is very tough right now. It was sunny/sometimes cloudy and very flat today. Water temp is still high (75 out in the middle and 76-78 in the coves). I occasionally saw suspended fish in this cove and it was getting a little bit of surface feeding. I used both lipless (Rat-L-Trap) and lipped (Rapala Deep Runner) with no success. Also had my usual weightless Senko floating along with me as I drifted and at the end I tried a Zara Spook on the surface. I didn't get a bite. This is a new lake to me. Would you expect this area to be productive under these conditions? How would you fish it?

Is this Center Hill? We are headed their for five days on 10/7. It needs to pick up before then!

I have actually considered buying her an 8:1! That's how slow she rolls, LOL. And she is the perfect woman so I don't have any issue giving her my SV if it helps her. But I do love that SV. I have to say that @Quarry Man does have a valid point. I don't want to create a bad habit for her. The big thing is I can't afford another SV right now or I would prob buy her a 6:1 SV. I can get two Tatula CTs for only ten bucks more than one SV, but I think the SV spool will be so much more forgiving that she will have a more positive experience with her first baitcaster if it's the SV.

So you've never been married?

Abu Garcia Vendetta ($50) brand new. Fenwick HMX ($35) brand new. Zara Super Spook Jr. two Shur-Set football jigs (Made in USA, awesome) my son ONLY fishes Rooster Tails so he got two This is from a mom and pop tackle shop 45 minutes away. Prices and selection are incredible. Their tiny building literally has more selection than our local Bass Pro. You can barely walk through the place. And when she has a sale it's really a sale as you can see from the cost of those two rods.

I've read all the stickies and I know what the "typical" good fisherman would use for a crankbait/spinnerbait setup but please read along and let me know if I'm on the right track here. I just picked up a Fenwick HMX for my wife. It's going to be her first baitcaster and it will be a crankbait/spinnerbait setup. Normally I would be putting a 6:1 or slower on for ME to fish these lures, but my wife is currently using a Zebco Omega Z03Pro and she turns it WAY too slow. I mean like a glacier. She barely gets action out of Colorado blades. I currently use a Tatula SV in 7.3:1 on my flipping/pitching rod. I don't need the SV spool on the flipping/pitching rod so I'm thinking I will put it on my wife's new rod. The SV will make learning a baitcaster much easier and although the 7:1 would be way too fast for me, I think it will be perfect for her with her natural, molasses-like retrieve. Does this make sense? Am I on the right track? I have some gift cards and I can replace the reel on my flipping/pitching rod with a Lew's Tournament MB in 7.5:1. I'm also picking up a Tatula CT 6:1 for my crankbait/spinnerbait rod. Thanks in advance!

Right-handed guy. Left-handed baitcaster. Glad to hear I'm not alone!

I know you said $100 and, yes, I'm gonna be "that" guy that suggests a more expensive reel...but...you can get a Tatula SV on eBay for $132.95 free shipping. That puts you in a reel that is on par or better than many reels in the $200+ range for only $33 more than you are talking about spending. Of course you didn't mention the type of fishing techniques you want it for so maybe the SV spool isn't as important, but just FYI. Of course right now at Academy you can almost get two CTs for that money so perhaps that is more to your needs.

I fish with my wife and she has never been wrong in her life so....

I should have recognized that since I live so close to the Illinois River.

Yes. That is a gizzard shad. And you catch shad that are bigger than the LM I catch so I'm not speaking to you anymore. Good day, sir.

You're gonna tell me you don't have no whistlin' bungholes, no spleen splitters, whisker biscuits, honkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker don'ts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, or one single whistlin' kitty chaser? Credit: Joe Dirt

To echo what the venerable @A-Jay and @snake95 have said, as I grow into this sport (which isn't a sport at all, it's an addiction that consumes every dime you have, every waking thought and gets me into trouble at work for repeatedly getting caught on bassresource.com) I have found that when I try to copy others it doesn't always work out well for me. Also, it's frustrating to find my perfect rod for a certain technique, one that feels just right to me, and then shopping for another rod of similar specs/build but perhaps a different length made by a different manufacturer and finding that IT DOESN'T FEEL THE SAME AT ALL! There is no MIL-SPEC for fishing equipment. You must seek and find your own way, Grasshopper.

Spinnerbaits are about the only thing I'm good at as far as fishing goes, LOL. I would suggest you find a rod that has a moderate tip but a strong backbone. Something with some give but sensitive enough you can clearly feel the blades turning. Look for more of a M or M/H with a moderate tip. You want to be able to feel the lure whether you are running two willows or a single Colorado. That's important because different spinnerbaits fish at different speeds. As far as your reel you can run any ratio you want. If you run a fast reel you will have to learn to slow way down when needed. If you run a slow reel you will have to crank your wrist off sometimes. I generally fish a slower reel on my spinnerbait set up just because it works great for buzzbaits too, but if I'm running willow blades then I'm cranking hard. I don't have any heartburn running braid with spinnerbaits. I like to run them parallel to weed lines and the braid is tough as nails in the rough plus I like the sensitivity. But I also have another set up with 10lb mono and I do okay with that also but it doesn't feel as good in the weeds. I generally run the slower stuff (Colorados, buzzbaits) on braid. Just like the way it feels. Personal preference. And killer hooksets. I can't help with the kayak thing as I fish standing up but my educated guess would be that braid would be more likely to give you the solid hooksets you are looking for rather than mono. If you are going to use a mono leader just use mono. Now teach me how to catch something with a jig!

I agree it's a lot of pressure, but this lake gets these tournaments every weekend and I don't think they get near the 40 boat limit. It's pretty consistent pressure on both lakes yet the smaller one keeps turning out bigger bass. Does that make a difference?

I can see that logic! Thank you

A recent post in Tournament Talk by @mattkenzer got me thinking about our upcoming weekend. We are going out on Sunday evening. Which lake would you fish and why would you pick that lake? Lake #1: 11,000 acre lake. Water level is steady for this time of year but the water is muddy right now. Overall current fishing report is "fair to good". This lake is extremely popular for crappie and is well known for that species but we would be going for bass. Bass rating for the lake is "fair". It does host regular bass tournaments and there are two scheduled on Saturday but they are small for that lake (a 40 boat and a 20 boat). Lake #2: 730 acre lake. Water level is steady and water is normal color. Overall current fishing report is "fair". This lake is known for bass and muskie. There is a bass tournament on Sat morning (40 boat). Current bass rating is "good". Water temp, depth, topography, and shore detail are similar for both lakes. The smaller lake has more cover per square acre and a lot more docks as the larger lake has almost no docks. We are fishing Sunday afternoon/evening. #2 is our favorite lake and we are leaning toward going to that lake and hitting the area around the tournament release site. What do you think? Too soon for the bass that were caught on Saturday? Is there other info or details that you would take into account? I suspect I will learn a lot from your advice so thanks in advance.

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

Spiderwire on spinning gear and Sufix 832 on baitcaster.

Feeling like you are a "master" at one type of lure is actually detrimental to being a good fisherman. I should know. I very much WANT to become good with all bass techniques but my fallback is spinners. I can always catch something with a spinner. I could pull something out of a puddle with a spinner. And that's my problem. I go out with the intention of practicing another technique and then when I'm not doing well I tie on a spinner. I have never caught anything on a plastic worm. Never. I hate that. I need to focus on soft baits and jigs. If I was smart I would start leaving the spinners at home. Not even put them on the boat.

My boat. Without a doubt. I have been a shore fisherman all my life. We just bought a boat so now we do all our fishing from our boat, but I do very little fishing on the boat. I can't drive it worth $#^!. When we are on the water I am trying to learn to use electronics, trying to learn to use a foot-operated trolling motor, trying to learn how not to run us aground (I've done it already), trying to remember to put the plug in (I've forgotten that once already). Since we are shore fishermen we were most excited about being able to approach points and cover from the water side using the boat but I spend all my time trying not to drift (or get pushed by pleasure boats) into the rip rap or downed tree that we are trying to fish. All this on top of learning new fishing techniques that we never bothered to try from shore. But my wife gets to fish a lot while I crash the boat! We have only been out five times in the boat but I have to admit this last time I was much more relaxed and more comfortable in the boat. I caught two bass, a LM and a striper (first time I've caught bass with the boat). My wife hung a spinner on a downed tree we were fishing and I used the foot TM to back her into the brush so she could pull the lure. I was proud of that maneuver. I sat behind the passenger console to eat a sandwich and gave her the bow seat and TM. I then watched her fish and troll her way into a huge brush pile up against shore. It was hilarious. No scratches on the boat either and I felt much better. Practice, practice, practice! I'll get the hang of it. In the meantime it's a very, very entertaining comedy to watch me try to get this shiny, new, bright red Ranger back on the trailer. 3 tries minimum and that's if it's not windy. LOL I like to come in sideways.

Thank you!

This is what I assumed, but we were barely moving when I saw it and then I couldn't get back to it. But much of that may be my lack of experience driving the boat. But what about my front unit? When I see this, is it in front of me? Or does it matter which way the TM is pointed since the transducer is mounted on the bottom of it? Thanks

We are trying to get used to our new boat and electronics so help would be appreciated. We have a Hook 7 on the console with the transducer mounted on the stern. We have another Hook 7 on the bow with the transducer mounted on the TM. We saw something very similar to this today. So as we stop and see this on the console screen, where is it? Already behind us? What if we see it on the bow screen? Is it in front of us? Does the view change as the trolling motor rotates while steering? Sorry for the really basic questions but we are stumped. We saw a great drop off with some big fish and couldn't figure out how to drop our lures to them. Thanks much.

Never in my life had I used any kind of "fish attractant" on my lures until this year (not including catfishing). I didn't want to mess with the sprays or gels getting all over everything. I just kept thinking about how bad all of my catfish gear used to stink all the time. Then I was in a store and saw BioEdge makes a "wand". It's like a small stick of deodorant. Goes on with no mess at all and never leaks. My bites have tripled (That means I get three bites in a day of fishing instead of one LOL). I'm sold. We have one at the front and one at the back of the boat. So far we've tried "shad" and "crayfish". Perhaps better fisherman don't need it. I'm not one of the better fisherman so I cheat whenever I can.