Smallieguy87

They're definitely active! I stalked a local creek yesterday and saw plenty of them swimming around along with all the other usual suspects. I'm pumped man! Thanks for the pic and report.

I have actually backed off a bit on the real high end rods. I used to have some Loomis IMX and legend elite rods. They were sensitive but nothing dramatically better then an avid. There is definitely a diminishing return on weight and sensitivity past a certain price point.

So i normally fish St.croix Avids and some Falcon Cara spinning rods but i was at a local tackle shop and spotted the Dobyns Champion XP model 702sf. It will mainly be for split shot rigs, wacky rigs, and Yamamoto cut tails on ball jigs. Anyone have any experience with Dobyns rods? Any info at all is appreciated. Thanks!

That's awesome! The bait looks amazingly realistic but just looking doesn't do justice. seeing the videos of it in the water blows my mind. Keep turning them out man! you guys have a winner. excited to see the smaller version!

It won't end with the craws. These guys will be putting out some great stuff. I'm thankful i had the opportunity to fish the craw with HogWally last summer. The bite was very difficult and we didn't have much time on the water but we both managed to catch 5-6 fish each before calling it a day. I cant wait to throw a few of the 2.75' on some of my local streams. Looking forward to seeing what else TackleHD brings out in the future.

That's insane! I usually carry when i'm on the river as well especially if i'm going to be alone.

Awesome report Norm! would that darter happen to be the one made by poor boys baits? I use their darter and theirs tubes a lot.They make some quality stuff.

Yeah my moment of zen came about the same way yours did. I used Seaguar for awhile and had some knot issues and decided to drop it. I went through a couple lines before Yozuri. I tried Sufix siege,promix, elite, berkley sensation, berkley 100% fluoro etc.Then one day i found a 600 yard spool of yozuri on ebay marked down to 8 bucks with free shipping and that was the end of it. I actually just got a spool of #6 in the mail today that's going to go on a Revo rocket spinning reel.

I bought my first spool of Yozuri Hybrid 3 years ago and i haven't looked back. I have spinning reels spooled with their #6 and #8 and they run like a top. That being said I usually fish with fairly "high end" reels. Yozuri Hybrid has just preformed very well for me in just about any task i throw at it. Yozuri line diameters run higher then a lot of manufacturers so if that is an issue to you then you may want to consider other options. I fish A LOT of gin clear water and don't seem to have any issues. Definitely check it out.

Last i checked you could pick up a Diawa Lexa on ebay for under $100. I've bought two off there brand new for $79. They're sealed up well and hold up extremely well to wade fishing ( that's about the only fishing i get to do ) mine have been abused big time and dunked and they just keep kickin. The Proycyon EX is outstanding if you can manage to talk the financial adviser into giving you a bit more budget. If that can't be done then i'd say Lexa all day long. As for the Golfing...never done it unless putt putt counts.....

Last summer i had the privilege of fishing from a private put in near Blackwell bridge to the boat ramp at Washington state Park. It was the second time I had done a float on that stretch and i have to say that's been some of the best fishing I've had on Big river. The first trip produced a lot of numbers and a couple 17' smallmouth. The second time around it rained on us off and on for a couple hours but I managed over 30 smallmouth, 1 crappie, and a largemouth that came in at 19'. A friend of mine managed to do really well that day with a top water storm chug bug and brought in the biggest smallmouth which was right at 18'. I always enjoy reading your posts Al and that kinda took me back on memory lane as well!

Both Mineral fork and the Big river our mainly were do i most of my smallmouth fishing. I had been by F hwy bridge recently and they certainly are towing people when they see vehicles on the shoulder. I put in another call to our local law enforcement and they say it has to do with people partying and i don't doubt that but that's a small sample group and i don't understand why the section needs to be blocked off to everyone simply because a few groups party under the bridge. You have to know people to get decent access to either big river or mineral fork anymore. I'm also not a fan of the 15' requirement. If you want great smallmouth fishing then i personally feel the 18' length limit is the way to go. The main reason that i see this as a big deal is that larger smallmouth will typically have more successful spawns and will typically spawn a little earlier. They're also more likely to survive during and post spawn then smaller smallmouth. Some may disagree but honestly we all seem to have a common goal and that's a better fishing by providing safe guards and better conditions for smallouth to propagate.

Shoulda had a former combat medic on board lol Glad you're ok man!

I've found that if you fish huzzah on a weekend it's best to go early Sunday mornings and peel out of there around noon-1pm. Most of the party crowd are leaving or are sleeping off a crazy night.

great info Terrierman! I've seen Woodford Reserve around here a few times so that one i will look into. I never heard of Redbreast 12 until this thread but i will be looking into it more. The only Irish whiskey i've had is Jameson triple distilled and it was good.

That's 2 for Knob Creek. I've been eyeing Knob Creek for awhile now so I may have to grab a bottle this weekend. How's Makers Mark?

I've never put much faith in any sort of fish attractant what so ever. That being said I do try to keep an open mind and have tried a few with out any real difference. It's an interesting product to say the least. I learned that there is a lot of products out there that are meant to catch fishermen far more then they're meant to catch fish. In the end i may order some once i look more into them since i'm always willing to try a new product before i cast to much judgement. Not real sure how well its going to work in the streams and smallish rivers i tend to frequent but what the heck. If it doesn't work then maybe ill get a little extra entertainment watching it fizz and the jokes and/or comments that follow.

so as a fella looking to getting into sipping a good whiskey what do you all suggest? I don't usually partake in it but lately have wanted to give some a try.

Back when I still worked in a hospital i was in the ER and we had a small boy who looked to be maybe 7 or 8 years old being brought in with one of those $1 spinnerbaits that walmart sells hanging from his eye. His mom said he was running through the garage and the lure was hanging from a fishing rod when it caught him. Luckily the hook was in between the eye and the eyelid instead of being in his Cornea, Iris, Pupil etc.

If you've ever personally met Hog then you'd know right away that he is a very no nonsense individual. No beating around the bush. A very direct and honest guy who also happens to know his stretch of the water very well and is a hell of a fishermen.

Can i be a part of your fake group? Or am i by association because i've already fished with Hog? Is it required for me to live in STL? Or is it ok that I'm around 70 miles south? Do i need a river pro? and are there any club fees? How many MegaBass lures do i need? Enough BSing though.....Smallie we need to fish soon!

Beautiful fish smalliebigs. Glad he's still swimming today. I cringe when i see people keeping smallies like that.

Wow what a day. Glad to hear that turned out ok man. Its hard to trust strangers anymore. That being said i think they would have bit off way more then they could chew with you lol

you let me know when you got the beast up and running again man! I'm ready for another run with ya!

beautiful pics flysmallie! I've been in the market for a good camera and have had my eye on the Olympus for awhile now along with some pentax and Nikon. Decisions, Decisions.....