rps

For well under $100 you can buy and build a fantastic rod. MHX blank S842-2-MHX, rated for 4-8 # line, 1/16 - 3/8 0z., 7', light power and fast action; add a CRB HKS-2 spinning handle and pac bay minima 4 guides. The end result will be the equivalent of a a St. Croix or Loomis.

Bravo!

I got lucky in 1970. She hasn't thrown me out yet. I hope you have the same extraordinary luck!.

Two or three years ago, I bought a fistful of Brad's Wigglers. Other than the line attachment, you cannot tell them from the Pre Normark warts.One in three ran true from the box and most that did not were impossible to tune.

denjac: I am over seven years smoke free. The first time I quit, I made it 5 years before I fell in with a bad crowd. This time I have avoided the traps that dragged me back. You will not believe how much better you feel. The sooner you quit, the less likely you will have the late in life crap. Do it now.

Now that is a quality fish. It may be your best of the year, but for many it would be a best ever. So I guess you are now confident in the STX?

They are beautiful and you will love yours. On the river I enjoyed every moment. Over here on the upper end of Table Rock, they got the job done, but other boaters kept trying to sink me. On my blog you can find a picture of the one I once owned.

The clicking is the transducer? If so, transducers do click if out of water.

Tried and true basics: original series warts, bandit 200s and 300s, Norman"s Deep Little N and DD22. You don't need to plow with them, but you do need to be in contact with the bottom. Have faith.

Welcome. You will find a very genial group here for the most part. And some excellent shared information. Good luck.

Welcome! I understand your preference. The deep water fish do not see as much pressure as those shallow. Most of the time, those throwing at the bank would be better served to turn around and throw out.

Very light. Throws beautifully. Abu's always have good drags. However, I need a few months of hard use to see if the new goes away. I will update after the Spring/Early summer topwater time.

When forced to fish jerk baits, I suggest the Xcaliburs. http://www.xcaliburtackle.com/hardbaits.asp

Excellent! Wonderful! Post fish pictures soon.

Seems to me the primary purpose will be lob the large bait, and the secondary is to fish large reaction baits. Neither requires great sensitivity. Based on that, the last option - the Revo SX with the rod - would be a great combo. I have fished a SX for a year and have found it reliable and quite easy to adjust to different size baits.

My wife and I have nominated you for Dad of the Week. Good Fun.

The new rod from Big Nasty Rods has arrived and I thought I would post a few pictures of the combo. The rod was made from a 6'6" MHX blank (SJ783) rated for 8 to 15 pound line. At my request Redd cut 4" from the butt. He attached the shown split grip, exposed blank handle. Again, at my request, he lathed down the foregrip to a smaller and more narrow 1". When a rod has no fore grip my index finger gets raw. Redd spiral wrapped the rod with Recoil titanium alloy micro guides. Hopefully the pictures will show how tiny they are. The end result is an incredibly light rod. To give some perspective, the line shown is Yo Zuri 10# and the lure is a 3/8 oz. Top Dollar. When it warms this afternoon I will take it down to the lake to cast. After that I will report.

" If my fiance didn't here the term "wiggle wart" for the rest of her life she would be a very happy lady." Now don't you go comparing the need to have every wart, in regular and magnum size, but only original series, with some dandified collection of individually filed and numbered jerkbaits. Real men throw and wind. They don't throw, look at their line like they are constipated, and then twitch.

Can't remember exactly when. Bill Babler gave a jerk bait symposium and praised the Daiichi Death Trap hooks. I put them on the top waters I customized last winter. Outstanding light wire hook with a nasty tendency to stick anything fleshy. Better yet, they do not bend out under stress easily. Last summers big fish was a LM over 23 inches and I did not need to bend the hooks back into place.

My new Revo MGX arrived today from Tackle Warehouse. Some may remember I had a tiny unexpected inheritance to spend and opted to buy the 2011 ICAST Best in Show Winner. This reel is 10 to 20 dollars cheaper than a Shimano Core and weighs .1 ounces less at 5.4. When you open the box, you won't believe how tiny the thing is or how light. The rod I asked Redd Hutchinson at Big Nasty Custom Rods to make for me is nearly done and I can't wait. BTW do not Google Big Nasty Rods with the filter off! Once I begin to use and abuse the rod and reel, I will report.

The piles up at this end are fewer. Once you reach Big M they look like they were strewn rather continuously. As Bill won't allow me down lake of Big M, I guess it is not my problem. ;-)

Martin - No worries. I could leadanyone there and show them and they will quit and never return the first time they try to fish it by themselves.

I have not fished the Black. This site: http://www.family-outdoors.com/missouri-walleye-fishing.html#streams-and-rivers appears to have information about that river. I fish the upper end of the White River below Beaver dam as it feeds into Table Rock Lake. I find the best locations fit one of two profiles. Look for bumps, turns, or other current blockages that provide ambush points near deep water OR try up on a shelf/flat near the edge that drops into the channel. On the lake itself the locations I seek are inside bend flats, channel edges, and timber on outside bends in which they suspend. Good sonar helps enormously. That is the 2 cent version. I wrote an article for the forum that Phil put on the Table Rock pages of the web site. It has much more information.

I love the fact that the lake has two reefs named Devil's Backbone. The one I fish is labeled as such on the maps and is formed by the oddly shaped confluence of Rock Creek and the White River channel.

There are several of us here who chase walleye. Welcome. Give us a hint what lake/river you are fishing?