Don P

My favorite after years of searching: Knives of Alaska Jaeger for deboning and Steelhead for skinning.

St Croix Avid 7'ML spinning rod with a Shimano Stradic C4L 1000 F Spinning Reel for jig fishing. I know that is over your budget but your son in law will love you for it. The rod is the most important part IMO...although a reel that doesn't induce alot of line twist is important as well. So I would get him a good rod and let him buy the reel himself.

Im intrigued by this rig and can't wait to try it with a smallie beaver. Cabelas in St Louis has the owner tungsten version on sale (couple bucks off) Tacklewarehouse has a tungsten weight made by picasso...expensive but I prefer the feel and smaller relative weight size. The weights are cylinder shaped with a mat black finish and I m goin to give them a overcoat of green pumpkin. Plus the weights have a large line tie ring so they will work well with the split ring. They must be poplular weights because they were sold out but had a shipment due in shortly.

Well this post cost me some money. Bought some Megabass 110 +1's, some staysee 90's and even some Leviathans from Japan. Headed down the first weekend in March...then two weeks later headed to Dale Hollow....so if I can keep the swimbait rod out of my hand I intend to do alot more Jerkbait fishing this spring.

I haven't tried them on Tablerock yet but the 3" Big Hammer swimbaits on a 1/4 or 3/8oz shad head are my new favorite. Work best on grass points and flats that drop into deeper water but I have caught fish in 25-30 water on them. Just cast them out and reel them back in nice and slow and hold your rod tight because the smallmouth will take the rod out of your hands when they hit it. Basic shad colors work best but if the water has any color at all I will use a dye pen to add some chartreuse accents to the sides and paddle tail.

Bass Pro in St Charles is stocked up with them....including the Pro Blue. I bought a few to try out on Dale Hollow next week.

I have never understood the need for a fixed float and long rod for this application. Crappie fisherman have been using slip float and jigs for years. Seems like all you have to do is add some additional weight above the jig get the line to pull through and to balance the float (which would require using a little larger float). You want the float to ride low in the water so you can see any lift bites. The only negative I see is that the added weights may deaden the action on the jig when you twitch the rod. Also you won't be able to use a weighted cork...but casting 4ft of line with a slip float should still be much easier than a 12 fl leader with a buggy whip. Most articles you see say a slip float won't work: http://www.floatandfly.com/ ....these say it will: http://www.fishingclub.com/fishing/articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/829/the-float-and-fly http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/users/skippermark/blog/perfecting-the-float-and-fly-technique-for-winter-bass-52516.aspx

I fish Dale Hollow usually at least twice a year....they swear by the float-n-fly down there for winter smallmouth. I bought a bunch of phat flies last year to try but could not force myself to fish with a bobber. I'm more of a jig fisherman and to me a big part of fishing fun is feeling the bite. I primarily use silver buddys and jerkbaits along bluff walls and main channel points in early march then switch to grubs when we go back in April. My go to bait though is a footballhead and stickworm. I have never fished Tablerock but plan to try it this winter as soon as we get a weekend in the 40's. My dad will probably be draggin a fly from the back of the boat. Heres a link to some videos of the Phat flies in action. Hope this is legal. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/vlogpage.html?ccode=VLOG134 Heres a link to a good Dale Hollow forum: http://www.smalljaw.com/ Alot of good info on there pertaining to the float-n-fly and other smallmouth tactics.