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The Brown Bass Tools were effective today ~ Report with some insane video to follow. I had a day. A-Jay

I always love a good photo of @Bluebasser86's tie-dye Crocs. I went to the pond this evening. It was low sixties all day and quite windy. I was afraid I wasn't gonna get a bite. Tried using a drop shot rig for a while but wasn't getting any action, so I switched over to the trusty Rebel wee-craw. I caught a lot of slimy weeds. Then a big gust of wind came up just as I went to cast and carried my lure way farther than I had intended, landing it in about a foot of water on the other side of the small pond. The water boiled as a fish struck and missed. I reeled the bait in just a little bit, and she chased it down. Fish on! Lovely, fat old girl, 16 inches long (which is a very respectable size for my small pond) and 1.84 lbs. Then I caught a dink from the same spot just to live up to my username, About a hundred fruitless casts later and I was done. A pair of Canada geese have nested in the same spot at this pond for three years running. This was the first time I've seen the nest without one of them on it. Usually they chase me away with loud hissing and spread wings.

I got out onto Lake Menderchuck around noon. It was clear blue skies but with a pretty stiff Southwesterly wind. Surface water temps were in the mid to high 40's. I was on this lake a few days ago and the fish seemed to be staging just a bit outside on the steeper drops. Very few had moved into where I like to hunt them. Well the warm sun & wind pushed a bunch right up into my lap. Action started around 1 PM and was a steady pick until I left right after 6 PM. It was jerkbait city. Other baits may have taken fish, but I have a bit of an addiction to the stick baits; so that's what I threw. There were a couple of big schools of 3 & 4 pounders roaming all over this one wind blown flat. I managed to weed through quite a few hoping to mine out some big bronze babes. My best 5 went 28.88 lbs, (5.02, 5.11, 5.35, 6.35, 7.05) including my 2nd ever smallmouth over 7 lbs. Fish was just a beast, I could barely hold her. Fish Hard A-Jay

April winds and warming sun has helped the fish I'm looking for get all fired up. Past two trips have taken me straight through Trophy Town . . . . A-Jay

I caught two small ones today, came right along the rip rap on a line through swim bait head. The small one came on a 4’ easy shiner and the slightly bigger one came on a 2.8 keitech. They both liked the crawl it and chop retrieve and would hit it close to the bank. Was a struggle to catch anything but I didn’t give up on catching something. Just have got to be creative and think outside the box sometimes. the rod was a dobyns kaden 745c and a slx xt xg was the reel with 30lb braid. The treble hook that I used was an extra megabass outbarb hook that I had lying around. I fish the river a lot and I don’t like leaving things behind. These hooks allow you to get your rig back easily if snagged and they definitely stick the fish.

This is how I deal with nesting geese. Dirty buggers. We have way too many of them around here. Filthy things crap all over everything. Flood waters are down about 2.5' and the lake is now about 4' high and dropping a few inches per day. Surface temp has held steady at 58 since last week. The receding waters have moved the greenies from back in the woods to the flooded shoreline brush, and there's a killer flippin bite going down. I put a couple dozen in the boat today. Best three pictured below. 5.35# with a cool tattoo on her tail. First 5+ of the year. 3.44# 3.38# I had another 8 in the 2-2.5# range. Best five would go about 17#. Best day of fishing I've had in quite awhile. Off the next three days. Fingers crossed this bush pitching mayhem continues all week.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO ? The age old question. The one so many bassheads, including myself, ask themselves at least once a trip and often times it’s quite a bit more than that. I’m referring to when we are on a spot, whether it was producing or not, we’ve given it what in our own minds is ample opportunity to produce and it hasn’t. So, do we stay or do we go ? Let me back the truck up a little here and say, since this is The “Brown Bass Tools” thread, the following thoughts will relate most in that direction. Also, I do not fish competitively so “Time” has a different meaning to me. Clearly no hard and fast ‘rules’ can be drawn upon during these deals but here’s my version of it. I am going to start off with a couple of ‘deciding factors’ that often cause me to lean one way or the other. Seasonal pattern and what I’m fishing, so boat position. Early season before and of course during the spawn, fish are looking & wanting to come shallow. Not exactly a new flash and something we don’t even need FFS to figure out. This can be one scenario where I am often willing wait it out on a known or recently producing spot or area. And if I do chose to relocate, I’m generally not going very far, like maybe just 2 or 3 cast lengths one way or the other; depending on what type of structure/cover I working with. If I’m feel particularly confident that the fish are ‘coming to me’ (eventually), I may Talon down, shut everything off (electronics wise) and have a sandwich while the area ‘settles down a little.’ Might be just enough to have a few more fatties roll right into casting distance. Sometimes it happens by itself if I need to retie or perhaps change baits or hardware. On scene weather conditions can & do play a role here as well. Especially is skinny water;10 ft or less. Increase or decrease in cloud cover and or wind speed can effect my decision making matrix. Forecast or not, if it’s been a sun’s out bite and clouds move in, I may wait them out if I can see an end in sight. Reverse can be said if it’s been a cloudy skies deal. Bites in the wind rarely get better if it flattens out, so I’ll usually not put too much extra time into an area if it and when it goes flat calm. But going from calm to windy is a whole different ballgame and one I like to play. Chuck & wind baby. As the season progresses and the spawn is done & over with, the local brown bass population on the bigger inland lakes, makes themselves very scares by spreading out all over the place. This goes straight into summer and is the time of year where I do The Most moving around and will only stay on spots very briefly. Except for some early morning or late afternoon topwater off the end of long deep main lake points, I’m almost always fishing deep(er). Trying to focus on targets of deep bottom cover (rocks/wood) that could hold bait/bass. If I can get a bait in front of them, they’ll usually eat. Maxscent flat worm is a confidence bait here for me. Need decent conditions, some sun helps, boating traffic does not. It’s easy to admit that this IS the toughest fishing of the year for me. Accordingly I don’t spend a whole lot of time on these bigger lakes late June thru most all of July. But sometime in the first week or two of August, things get much, much better. Bigger bass start showing up shallow again. It’s almost always on flats. They seem to be a bit more scattered/spread out but there’s some real brutes up there. And they are looking to EAT. As the shallow weeds die back and the bait fish become more and more exposed, the fishing just keeps getting better. Almost becomes the same type of deal for me as in the spring. Fish are coming to me so I don’t move much. But that’s sort of a relative thing, I still need to cover water, but it's just over one or two special flats. So I’m not running all over the lakes, just doing a lot of casting. From August to say mid September, it’s all about horizontal moving baits. Could be topwater early and just about whatever you want to throw after that, Vibrating jigs, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, swim jigs, A-Rigs, Squarebills & rattlebaits. Some of the best flats are also the biggest. A basshead could spend an entire day just crisscrossing one flat with different baits at various depths. And this one does exactly that. So in this case – I stay. Come October, the weeds have died back completely, the waters cooled off considerably, the bass start looking deeper for their winter time haunts. If the the weather cooperates, and I can fish the deepest flats that have hard cover effectively, this can be the best time of the year for me for sheer numbers of 3-5 lb smallies. Blade baits & swimbaits on a jighead are Big time players for me now. I’ll stay on a spot long enough to get a couple of biters and then hop over to the next spot and do the same deal. It’s usually late enough in the season where boating traffic is not an issue (everyone’s deer hunting) and the few boats on the water are targeting walleye and rarely on anything I’m looking to get on. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Fish Hard A-Jay

Caught 5 Spots this morning before a Kidney shut me down.

Examples Pre-spawn/spawn, the bass are moving, this Cajun will be moving. Dog Days of Summer with night time temperatures still in the 90s, the bass are lethargic & not moving. This Cajun ain't gonna be wondering around far. I've been known to sit on a single piece of offshore structure all night.

You're going to love my new sticker on the kayak then 😆

Highly-recommended reading for the scientifically-curious (if you can find them):

Thanks @T-Billy for biting the bullet and being the first to follow-up @A-Jay LOL Great job @A-Jay!!

I'm going with near impossible. And at 64 yoa, just standing up and staying stable on the rocking & rolling forward deck all afternoon is remarkably physically demanding. Loved every minute of it though. A-Jay

The You Tube videos I watch of bass in Mexico, only show giant bass being caught every cast on whatever lure the video makers are promoting. They don't show all the work the guides do to keep up with the bass day to day. They don't show how slow the fishing can be, and how at lunch time the guides all get together and exchange information in order to put the clients on to fish. Seasonal patterns in Mexico are hard to figure out mainly because the typical temperature related life cycle is off. Water levels, commercial fishing pressure and spawn cycles of Tilapia have more to do with where the bass will be than temperature or time of year. All the videos made here only show the fantastic numbers and size of bass, but don't go in to any detail, on where the bass are or why they are there. It is frustrating to get skunked in bass fishing paradise, but it does happen. Bass will always be around their prey, and some place safe from predator's, but that can be almost anywhere. Time on the water, and being observant is the two biggest factors to success. I try an be as observant as possible, but time on the water is very limited. Making a video while fishing with a guide does not in any way paint an accurate picture of what bass fishing here is really like. Yes the bass are big and plentiful, but they are also unpredictable and as frustrating as any bass in the States. I love watching bass fishing videos almost as much as the Bait Monkey does, and I am always trying to apply what I see on the videos to my fishing, but at the end of the day. I have to use the information that is right in front of my face on the water. Also there should be a law against showing giant bass being caught on lures that cost more than $10, on videos made available to the public. Videos showing bass being caught on Glide Baits should have to include a disclaimer informing the person watching the video, that glide baits are addictive, expensive and can be harmful to your financial stability, and or marriage.

I tend to fish moving baits towards cover of some type until I get a read on the fish for that day. If they aren't eating moving baits then that's my read that they are holding tight to something or offshore and I need to slow down and pick something apart. If I catch one from a piece of cover that looks like it will have more I'll fish it more. Usually a couple more casts with a moving bait and then throw something like a jig or texas rig in it. Then again, what do I know. I'm the guy that fish saturday for 9 hours, could show you tons of baitfish all over the lake on all of the different imaging, could see schools of bigger fish on side imaging (I don't believe they were bass), and only managed to catch two crappie in the process (albeit 15" fish that looked like bass on live imaging).

There’s a lot to be said about covering water and even more about concentrating on certain spots. Personally, I do it in that order until a fish or bait show themselves. Down here I’m methodical about covering water in specific, certain areas that have shown themselves to be productive, but at the same time stopping in likely areas when conditions have shown to be productive. I don’t use “finesse” tactics much at all as I’ve never felt the need to. I’ll change baits, speed and angles first and foremost. Mike

I got a tip about a small lake with giant bass from the owner of a local tackle shop. His wife had caught a bass that looked to be well over 10 pounds. They mostly fish for saltwater fish, and I don't think he realize what a special fish a 10 pound bass is. His directions on how to get to the lake were difficult to follow, but after half a day of driving I managed to find the lake. The first three times I fished the lake I only caught a few 2 pound bass, along with many 1/2 pounders. On my third trip to the lake the water level had gone down exposing the tops of a couple trees that were in deeper water. I ran a spinnerbait through one of the trees and hooked a big bass, but unfortunately it broke me off on a branch. My next trip to the lake was in early June three weeks later, and by then the water had dropped exposing many more trees. At the time I didn't have a fish finder in my kayak, so I had to guess the depth. I decided I wasn't going to fish the shoreline at all because I had only caught small bass there, and was determined not to get tempted in to chasing the dinks on the bank. At first light I went to the tree where I lost the big bass the previous trip, and made my first cast with a Rebel Jumpin Minnow. I started walking the bait back, and what I thought was a small bass swiped at the bait. I paused the bait to see if it would bite again, and the bait just disappeared. I new I was hooked to a large bass, but was not to concerned. Once I got the bass alongside my kayak, and couldn't believe how big it looked. I had to wait until she was fought out before I attempted to lip land her because of the way the lure was positioned in her mouth. I brought her in the kayak, and realized I had left my camera in my car. I didn't have a scale or a tape measure, so I cut a piece of my anchor line, to measure the the length. Took the lure out of the giants mouth, held it up for one more look, put her in the water and watched her swim away. I had never held a bass over 5.5 pounds, and even though I thought this one had to be a double digit, I assumed It had to be around 8 pounds. I couldn't believe catching a 10 pound bass could be so easy. The hooks on the lure were rusted junk, and the fight was short with zero difficulties. I fished that tree for another 30 minuets before giving up and peddling over to another tree. The first cast at the new tree with a spinnerbait was an exact repeat of the first cast of the morning. A giant bass hit midway through the retrieve and although it gave me a better fight was soon motionless alongside my kayak. I decided I had to have a picture, so I made a stringer, and slowly peddled back to the launch to get my camera. I was careful to go slow and made sure the bass was healthy by the time I got to the launch. I anchored the kayak in two feet of water, with the bass on the stinger. While I was getting the camera another car pulled in to the launch. I was a little nervous because there were no fishing signs all over the lake, and I hadn't seen any one sport fishing there in my previous trips. I was lucky the man in the car spoke broken English, was very nice and took a few pictures of me with my bass. The bass is the one in my avatar, and may be my PB but I do feel the first bass I caught was bigger, of course I will never know the weight of either bass. When I put the bass back in the water and was preparing to release her, I looked at the man and thought he was going to have a heart attack. Not wanting to upset him I asked if he wanted the bass. He gladly excepted the gift, and said it would feed his whole family. Later I learned he was the manager of the lake, and controls who can fish there. He hates bass, because they eat Tilapia, and if had released the bass I might have been asked to leave and not allowed come back. It was painful to keep such a magnificent fish, but when in Rome. After taking pictures and giving the fish away, I went back out to a third tree. On the first cast with a squarebill, I hooked another bass the same size as the two previous catches. This one acted like most big bass, and fought like a angry grisly. It jumped twice, wrapped my line around a tree limb, and swam off with my crankbait. Fishing was slow the remainder of the day. I landed a few small bass, but when the prevailing afternoon wind picked up I decided to go home. When I got home first thing I did was measure the piece of anchor line I had used to measure the first bass. The line measured 25 3/4 inches. I looked online to find a chart for length and weight of bass. When I saw that a bass that size could be anywhere from 9 to 12 pounds I realized my 8 pound estimate was way off. I decided I would call it 10 pounds , and even though I did hold the bass out toward the camera, everyone that looks at the pictures agrees it would be at least 10 pounds. My PB at the time was 5.5 pounds, and I had tried for over 40 years to get a 6 pound bass. I never dreamed I would catch two 10 pound bass, and loose another one in the same day. Here is a picture of the second bass, and man I gave it too. The picture in my avatar is of me and the same bass. I have had many great days fishing, but don't think I will ever top this day, and now I always have a scale, measuring tape, and camera with me whenever I go bass fishing. Since then I have had many good days at this lake, and caught bass I weighed that may have been bigger, but I have never had a morning like that one and probably wont ever again, but every time I go fishing I think of that day, and hope to have even better success.

Certain websites, like tackle warehouse, make it very difficult… Look at the American Legacy Fishing website… Laid out a lot better Re: models - the first two numbers is the length in inches- last number in the power so an 852s is 85” / 2 power and 783s is 78” / 3 power dig ?

I’ve never come across a study that directly tried to answer that question, but you can certainly find a ton of references to that saying, including people like Paul Johnson, who was Berkley’s head of R&D prior to Keith Jones. He was an avid diver and spent a lot of time researching all things fishing while underwater. But if you wanted to literally answer that question in regard to bass, the answer can be determined, and it turns out that 99.9% of the lake holds no bass, and they all live in less than 0.1% of the available water…and that’s just based on surface acres, not volume, and assuming a bass occupies 2 sq. ft. of space at any given time (like I said, literally). If my math is correct, and you back calculate out to bass occupying 10% of the available water, every bass in the lake could have their own 800 sq. ft. playground 😆

After going over our finances - the wife gave me a pre-season gifting....already spent most of it on this, which Scheels has on sale...so still no LiveScope...but YES to upgrading to side-scan. I'll still keep the Striker 7CV - use that split screen on 2d and Down-Scan, the 93SV will alternate between split-screen of Map and Side-Scan or just Side-Scan. The fun will be routing the transducer cables from the bow to the stern - get the 7CV's off the TM...work on that while waiting for the 93 to show up. Ya, I could have driven the half-hour and done pickup...but Nora and I are both suffering bronchitis and I didn't feel like getting dressed.

Finished 4th of 28 with a pair of 5 pounders and 1 "Squealer" The lakes fished tough as I am sure the high temperatures (92*) and 103 pros just being there did not help us.

When ever i'm fishing a big body of water on my boat I seem to find myself throwing slower baits for maxium catchability. Let's say for example you're on the boat fishing a set of docks or laydowns with a reaction bait. will you continue down the shoreline with the reaction bait covering water or will you stop and pick apart the area you just fished with something more finesse if you think the fish are there? Genuinely curious if anyone else gives up easily on covering water and picks apart the shoreline off the boat. I had this exact scenario this weekend on the water and found myself slowly working all the docks and laydowns I fished a spinnerbait with before to no avail.

Thanks Katie. I had a killer day that absolutely PALES in comparison to @A-Jay's!!! 😂 GOOD GRIEF A-Jay!!! Congratulations brother!!! What an epic day!!!

Had a little bit of redemption today. Managed 10 bass and my dad got 7. Most of mine came on spinnerbaits and most of his on chatterbaits. I got the biggest off a dock on a jig at 3-15. The fish were fat and definitely ready for the spawn. Water temps were 51.x to 55.x and we did find a decent shallow bite. But it seemed like the bigger fish were just a step back in those areas. Still looking for that first 5 of the year.

A few miles south of Lake Menderchuck.

Sweet Mother of God... 😳

Often you just have to play it by ear. I once went through a brushy area with a buzzbait and no takers. Conditions were pointing to buzzbait but you cant force bass to bite. I went back though with a Bomber Prop A, a more slower, finessey top-water and nailed them [first time using that lure] . I remember the year was 1987. Sometimes I remember years but cant remember yesterday. That lure has been a staple in my repertoire since.

Nice fishes, @A-Jay! I showed my wife and said "And here I was, happy with my 16incher!" Her reply: "Yeah. His name isn't 'Icatchdinks' " 😆 Always love seeing the fish you catch. Some beautiful smallies, for sure.

I once wondered the same thing, so years ago, I did a simple on-the-water test to see what would happen. Here’s the write-up I did at the time: “I pulled up to the boat ramp Friday afternoon to find a tourney about to head out. I hung around and waited for them to blast off so I wouldn’t get in their way before proceeding out. It also kind of changed my plans for the night, so at the last minute I decided to do another of those fun but meaningless on-the-water tests to see just what you can and can’t get away with when fishing for bass. In this case, power vs. finesse on the same stretch of water. I started on a stretch of bank that encompassed 2 small coves and 2 stretches of main lake shoreline. Total distance according to Google Maps was a little over half of a mile, about 3,100 ft., and this lake is lined with docks and scattered shallow weeds. I began with power, picking up a buzzbait and running the entire stretch of bank. My thought was hit the fish first with the fast presentation while they might be active versus making that the comeback lure after already beating on them once. And I didn’t just kick the troll motor on high and wing it either, as I throw a pretty wicked buzzbait. I just steadily worked the entire shoreline area til the end. When I was done with that stretch, I had caught 11 bass and missed 3 other strikes, 1 of which I’m pretty certain was counted in the catch when I threw immediately back to the same area after missing a strike and promptly got another blowup right in the same exact spot, only this time connecting. Next, I picked up the finesse rod with the small soft plastic and immediately turned around and reworked the exact stretch of bank I had just been through with the buzzer. It actually got a little too dark before I completed the entire stretch, but I was able to rework about 80% of it. The result...12 more bass, including the two largest of the trip. That made for a total of 23 bass landed in about 1 hour and 45 minutes. So take what you want from this little experiment. One thing that seems obvious would be that if you move through an area throwing one type of bait, odds are good that you didn’t catch everything, only whatever was prone to hit that particular bait. This becomes a good argument for having two guys in the same boat throwing two completely different baits until they get a pattern dialed in during team tourneys, or for co-anglers to make certain they aren’t trying to work the same stretch of water as the boater up front using the same lure. Use something totally different in most cases to better your odds of catching fish behind him.“ Bottom line, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. If you feel confident or comfortable in a stretch of bank and think there might be (more) bass holding in the area, then definitely rework it with another presentation. It won’t always pan out, but it will sometimes.

It's just the opposite down here in south Florida on hot summer nights. The bass are, well, they're lunatics! The will hit with an angry vengeance like no other, espeically topwater. Talk about a wake-up call. Goes to show just how different areas can be!

Here is where I second guess myself: Moving around the lake, hitting the spots that have been productive in the past...catching no fish...keep moving. When I finally catch a fish on a spot I know to be good...do I stay and pick it apart? Or move to another spot? Never leave fish to find fish...right : ) Or did I just catch the one fish that was active on that spot...and should keep moving to the next spot, looking for active feeders?

Yes. But not all day. I fished from a kayak for years before getting a boat. The limited mobility, compared to a boat, led me to be extremely thorough before big moves. So, I am predisposed to fish slow and I will do that on the first few high percentage areas. I often learn a lot about fish mood by starting with power and then scouring with finesse if power isn't getting bit. But....if the area seems void of bait and bites I will move on pretty fast. However, even that decision might be seasonally dependent. I used to bail out on creek arms, bays and coves if I didn't see hardly any bait in the first third or half. Certain times of the year bait can get so concentrated that I need to scan all the way back before moving on. One more but ....sometimes when I know I only have a couple few hours on the water, I will just fish fast and move around, looking only for active aggressive bass

More brake. Open the side plate and see how many tabs are on . I'd start with 4 and give it some spool tension and don't over fill it. That's some good line.

You have a boat use your sonar to search for bass and bait fish. The 1st things I want to know are what is the water temperature and how deep and what are the prey the bass are feeding on. This information should be found in it near the marina you launch your boat at. I never pound the shore line hoping to find bass unless that is where the bass are located, Tom

Outside of the possibility of having spooled it on wrong, the simplest answer that no one likes to hear is keep practicing to become a better caster. Fluoro is a stiffer line than mono, and much more so than braid - one of the many reasons I don’t recommend anyone starting with braid that is new to baitcasting. It takes some time to get used to. Adjust your brakes up along with the spool tension knob if you have to to start, and just practice making pitches and short casts initially using a little heavier weight until things get comfortable…but double check if you can remember if you spooled it on properly first. Braid doesn’t care, but fluoro definitely will.

@IcatchDinks this would be my suggestion with aggressive hissing geese.

They are mean nasty disease ridden birds. I've had run ins with nesting geese or geese with goslings more than once in the past and they will NOT back down. Consider yourself lucky to have gotten that close to their nest without being mauled by a pair of 15 pound rats with wings. There is a pair of them hanging around my neighbors yard lately. Eating grass, crapping all over. When they set foot in my yard, I release my dog. They fly off squawking.

Dr. Keith Jones did some pretty amazing research while he was working for Berkeley. Bass after dark has him on a scent episode, great listen.

No but the DC does reduce casting distance. IMO learn with baitcasting reel properly adjusted to reduce backlash and promotes correct casting motion. Start with a Medium power fast action rod using 1/2 oz casting practice plug, 12 lbs Big Game mono line and med range reel like Shimano SLX 70 MGL or Daiwa Tatula SV TW. Tom

Lots of times, what you read and watch won't apply to the lakes you fish anyway. Every lake fishes differently. The majority of LM in one of my local lakes spend the summer offshore chasing shad like brown bass are apt to do. No brownies in that lake. It's a good lake during pre-spawn, and fall, but brutal tuff all summer long. No other lake around me fishes anything like it. Ultimately, there's just no substitute for time on the water. Get out there and try stuff, and over time you'll figger out what works for YOU on YOUR waters. 😉 I'll add: There's nearly always some green fish up in shallow cover anytime the water's above 38 degrees IME.

I think there seems to be some confusion as to what the OP is asking for here, specifically. He's looking if others have noticed the bite shut down on a cloudy day as opposed to a sunny one as it specifically relates to smallmouth bass in a river during spring. Not a lake. Not in the summer. Not on Mars. My answer to that is yes.

I went out yesterday and only caught one dink in 7 hours of fishing. The wind was so bad I clocked the boat drifting at 5mph at some point during the day. The wind seemed to be blowing around 20mph all day in two different directions. The boat at one of my spots just turned in circles without me using the trolling motor. The water was really muddy as well with no visibility. About half way through the day I got snagged next the bank and fell in to about 10 feet water. Luckily I was able get a selfie. When will the water clear up? 😁

And a couple more

Hey, Just wanted to show my latest caught fish 😎

I'm going to pick up a bass tracker classic 40th anniversary edition tomorrow for many of the same reasons. I just want to be able to boot around and stand and pitch t rigs and skip docks without having to worry about falling into the water.

There are a few reels that would be great for beginners that rarely backlash and are easy to cast. 2 spools come to mind, Daiwa SV and Shimano MGL, i never had anything DC and dont have a need for it. They are great reels and people love them but im already very happy with the reels i have. Heres a few reel suggestions i own and have experience with. The Shimano SLX MGL (70 or the new A model) are currently running from between $100-150 for the price its unbelievable. Easy to cast regardless of skill level, excels at the lighter lures too. The Daiwa Tatula SV TW and Zillion 21 (between $150-210 for the Tatula and above $200 if you get the Zillion from Japan). The SV spools also cast ridiculously easy (like the MGL's) very hard to backlash too. Any of the above reels i would let my parents fish with them and be completely sure they would do fine and not ruin the line. But you really dont want to let the reel do all the work for you, ill often turn my brakes down very low just to keep practicing using my thumb. Always gotta be learning and improving.

Info sharing caught on camera. Must be OK with BASS. Scroll to 1:14:20 if it doesn't auto-start there.

Got a couple on the horny toad right before dark. Lost 3 also,including a bigger one. They absolutely clobber this bait , like they hate it…

I FINALLY broke the 5lb mark for the year, in fact I jumped right into the 6lb club with one of the thickest fish I've ever seen.

I fished a bog for the first time in 2024. My prior trips were ponds. I targeted big bass with a big Shimano swimbait and focused on drop offs adjacent to flats, points, and wood. I caught a few, but nothing big. So, then I started poking around and discovered some bass in a summer location, i.e. relating to structure against the shore. I caught 14 in all and lead with a photo of the bog, then four of the bass. I hooked and lost three nice ones at the end of the evening. My hands were just too cold at that point to work well. I saw three eagles at once, two immature adults and likely one of their parents. I also saw loons, geese, and ducks.