Jim Elam

This is a great collection of tales. One of the stories involves Ron Smalling, a local from the Ozarks. Worth your time. Jim

Nanofil 10 lb to InvisX 6 lb with FG for me.

Price drop to $250

Price drop to $175 for the rod and the reel with extra spool.

Have used Eagle for Ned for quite some time. It is on the light side but works great if you use sharp hooks and braid with FC leader, and really protects you from break offs using light line on larger fish. It won't cross their eyes or horse them out of cover though. Jim

Thanks for the info guys. Will likely contact you soon about rental Phil. Jim

Has anyone on here actually fished from one of these boats? They look sweet!

Combo comes with extra spool. Reel has a new drag by Orvis in the past few years and fishes well. Used for pike and bass in the past few years, but also a good steelhead or salmon setup. Thinning the quiver a bit. $225 PM me

Combo comes with extra spool, 2 fly lines, original aluminum rod tube plus sock, and the rod is in excellent condition. Have used this for bass on local lakes and streams and it works great, but my rod and reel collection needs thinning. This combo was pushing $1000 after tax when new, will sell all for $300. PM me if interested

What Ketchup said

Tablerock

Praying for your father's situation and for you. Jim

Late start at 9 out of MC. Went up the White and caught about 2 short fish an hour on PBJ Ned in 15-25 FOW, no bites shallow. Had more bites but harder to get a good hookset today than normal. No joy on a FB Jig or finesse jig early. Caught a few on split shot rig with PBJ finesse worm near docks midday. Then the wind really kicked up. Caught short fish on Nujig on windblown bluffs and better fish on WW on windy secondary points and banks with timber + chunk rock. Mostly brown fish. They hit the wart good after 3 pm. No big girls, no fish stories. Best fishing seems later in the day right now. Wind and clouds helped. WT 51.5 - 56.8 F. Jim

Bobby, for grins look carefully at your guides and make sure that all inserts are present and smooth. Same thing happened to me a few years ago and realized that an insert had come out and the guide frame was cutting my line when the angle and pressure were just right.

PM sent

Pre-kill LM 7.2 lb T rig James arm at night (1985) Long hiatus away from fishing TR after about 1989 until 2011 or so... Started fishing the lake regularly again a few years ago and my best LM since then 5 lb on WW. In all fairness, I spend WAY too much time playing around with that darn varmint these days to really give bigger bass a fair shake. Yes, it can catch bigger fish (have landed a few 19-20 " fish on the thing), but it is really a numbers game. I sure catch lots more SM these days than before, and not nearly as many Ks over 16" or so. But I'm not very good at deep water fishing. Need to set up a guide trip with Bill Babler sometime again to learn more about that game. I have to say that I really enjoy the finesse style fishing a lot. The increased catch rate with split shot rigging, Varmint, shakey head, etc is worth missing bigger fish opportunities in my opinion. I'm not trying to win money or show up anyone. Just having fun enjoying this amazing lake and reliving some childhood memories there. Jim

Picked up 2 of these at Academy for $29.95 each. One 6'6" M and one 7'3" Heavy. They are light weight and the fit and finish is similar to $100 + rods. Has anyone ever fished these things? Thinking of using them for river and creek fishing next spring. Jim

Gorgeous pics. Thank you gentlemen. JE

I am certainly not the caliber of many on this forum with JB, but I currently own a few Lowriders and a Cara and can honestly say they are some of the best feeling blanks I have tried. I have fished and own lots of rods, and feel like I can discern what fishes well and what does not fairly well. I can't really tell much difference between the Lowrider and the Cara when fishing a jig or spinnerbait. Sensitivity seems pretty subjective to me, and I personally can't see much difference in the two when it comes to sensitivity and overall fishability. I suspect the components on the Cara are lighter and higher quality, but I have had no troubles with my Lowriders using braid or mono/floro. Cork is very good quality, no issues with fit and finish, guides, balance, etc. They are well thought out solid performers. 20 years ago I feel like you had to spend pretty serious money to get a light, sensitive, powerful, and durable blank (especially if you wanted something longer than 6 feet ). Now we are blessed with lots of very fishable options even in the $100 category. A guy that is patient can occasionally find a Lowrider for $100, and that weightless worm model is an absolute steal at that price IMO. JE

LOL! I love catching those things! Strong pullers! Thanks for the report. Jim

Its easy to add wire to the push on skirts and they will last lots longer and pulsate better. Use the medium or large copper ultra wire 2-3 wraps, twist down and cinch up, re-twist once. Then trim the wire and tuck back. Works great on blade and jigs. Jim

Wow! Had no idea. You will be in our prayers at the Elam house, Bablers. Hope you bounce back soon.

PM sent

Had the same issues til I switched to the Xi5 with pinpoint GPS. It tames wind to 20 mph very well. Jim

Those will fish