Champ188

Did you have to use those two things in the same sentence?

Shoot, he won't throw the 1/8 unless the wind is gusting to 45 mph. He's more of a 1/64 kind of guy. LOL

Forget your knee. You need to get your eyes fixed. No way could that have been a LM bass. Stripers only eat baitfish, not gamefish.

LOL, a spinnerbait and a shaky head finesse worm. I could bite it off short enough to pass for a Ned rig if I had to.

Maybe Mr. Babler will weigh in. He's a very strong jerk bait fisherman and one I have shamelessly tried to copy.

You could very well be right, Mitch. I'm no chemist and shouldn't have relied on my weak memory to state why fluorocarbon sinks. My point is that fluorocarbon does sink (density makes more sense) and will take your lure with it.

I bought my jerkbait rod directly from Mike McClelland, as he is a friend and neighbor in Bella Vista. The model I bought is the Falcon Cara Weightless Worm rod. It is 6-9, medium power, fast action. Mike explained that he designed his Cara Jerkbait rod off this blank, so the rods are very similar. He himself still fishes jerk baits on both rods. So if you go with Falcon, you can't go wrong with either of those sticks. As for line, I would not personally not even consider braid. Braid is a tool for certain applications but not the solution for everything. You also don't want fluorocarbon unless you want your bait to sink or the nose to be pulled down. Once fluorocarbon becomes saturated, it sinks and takes your bait with it ... or at least the nose. Like most things in fishing, there is not one simple, clear-cut answer. We all like to do things certain ways that have worked for us in the past, and so therefore we see them as the right way. My line choice for jerkbaits is either P-Line CXX or Maxima in 8-pound test. Both lines are monos and both are probably a bit larger in diameter and greater in tensile strength than their rating, i.e. I doubt they would pass IGFA examination for 8-pound test. If you use a softer line like Trilene XL or some of the Sufix monos, you'd probably do well to go to 10-pound test.

That's good to hear big c. My bad experience with them was several years back when they were first re-entering the reel market. Sounds like they've corrected their problems.

Darn tootin' I had a starring role in this derailment. What the heck is winter for anyway if you can't talk about fishin' and golf in the same thread?

I was God's own drunk and a fearless man And that's when I first saw the bear He was a Kodiak lookin' fella `bout nineteen feet tall He rambled up over the hill expectin' me to do one of two things, Flip or fly, I didn't do either one, It hung him up He started sniffin' around my body tryin' to smell fear But he ain't gonna smell no fear `cause I'm God's own drunk and a fearless man It hung him up. Jimmy Buffett, God's Own Drunk

You, sir, just make darn sure that anything that even LOOKS like an arrowhead goes right back into the dirt from whence it came. Those Indians -- er, Native Americans -- did not leave those behind for your personal pleasure. If the Corps didn't have to concern itself with hooligans/scalawags plundering its properties for artifacts, they could do a lot more in the way of managing our water levels, improving our ramps/parking, keeping the parks/RESTROOMS open year-round, providing courtesy docks, and on and on and on. See what you've caused by kicking around in the dirt scouting for "lures?" Disclaimer: This in NO WAY was/is/ever will be a cheap shot at our Native Americans. Rather, it is an obvious suggestion that the Corps could do better things with their time than persecute folks for picking up an arrowhead or two and taking it home.

I don't know that Missouri keeps records for individual lakes. Arkansas does not. However, I do know that Dan Morehead from Kentucky caught a 6-pound, 12-ounce spot a few years back when the FLW Tour stopped at Table Rock. One of the prettiest fish I've ever seen.

Thanks for the report and Merry Christmas back atcha.

Merry Christmas back atcha, Sprint. And thanks for the report!

My swing speed is 88-90 these days. I was a fan of the Chrome Soft until I found these Superhot 55's. They are low spin off the driver, too, but I can stop them pretty darn quick even hitting a 4- or 5-hybrid into the green.

She hasn't been over 45 mph since the temp dropped below 60 unless she's "fishing around on me." I have a throttle and I'm not afraid to use it, unless the fear is on the side of going too fast. I'm a lot of things but a fast boat driver is not one of them unless it's balmy out and I want to feel some breeze while I blow out the carbon. heck, one of the reasons I run full synthetic oil is I was told it won't build up carbon as bad for putt-arounders like me.

Are they intended for higher swing speeds? I've run the gamut on balls from Pro-V1's to Velocities to Srixons and I'm hitting a 55 compression Callaway ball right now that I love better than anything I've ever hit.

Dang, that's darn near down there at disposable price. I pay quite a bit more than that for a dozen golf balls.

Well, the cat allergy might be a deal breaker. We do love, love, love our cats.

I knew that would wake you up better than day-old chicory! Just kidding. Mean it. Promise, I do. Well, except that those motors really are funny looking. We seem to have similar taste in golf sticks. My irons are all McGregor Nicklaus Golden Bear forged tour blades of 1970s vintage. I tried some cavity backs once but scores in the 60s were coming so effortlessly that I did away with them before I lost every golf buddy I had, including Donna. I don't even recall what my woods are ... I quit carrying them because I can hit the Nicklaus 1-iron about 260 off the tee, which is pretty much all I need except for the occasional visit to Bethpage Black or Doral. My putter is a Scotty Cameron that was once owned by Raymond Floyd but showed up on eBay one day. I got a certificate of authenticity from the seller, so I know it's the real McCoy. Boy, it's gonna be a looooooooooooooong winter at this rate. LOL

Pretty, pretty fish. Thanks for posting.

I'm starting to see what happens with this aging process ... you keep buying new boats (a good thing) but you don't use them as much and you get funny-looking motors on them. Are you using a broomstick putter or one of those as-seen-on-TV "miracle wedges" yet?

If you had a guitar and a keyboard, you'd have a band!

Thanks for saying so, Ham. Maybe someday. Would be a sweet place, for sure.

Stripers! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy ...