the reel ess

Yeah, nothing's really free. But to make it worthwhile to pay shipping to a site like TW, I'd need to order a lot and I rarely do. I haven't gotten anything that seemed counterfeit yet though.

About 90%. I go to Amazon Prime first and if it's no there, I look to Academy next, both due to the free shipping. Then I look to other sources like TW.

I can't keep fish off them. problem is, they're usually tiny fish. That's why I always start with the Trick Worm. Once you downsize just to get bites, you're mostly fishing for dinks and hoping for an exception. But that's better than no action at all.

I started using the Trick Worm (7.5") or the Zoom Finesse Worm (4") for wacky rigging. I tried it once when i was in the kayak and didn't want to go back to the truck to get stick worms. They work great, I think because they're less bulky, it seems you get a better hookup ratio.

If it's mid 70's in the middle of February and the bass start cruising the shallows like they think they'll spawn, take advantage, but expect another 3-4 weeks of winter before March is over.

I would also add: Don't go too cheap with your equipment of you won't enjoy yourself as much. If spinning is you thing, decent reels start at about $40. The same is true of rods.

Start with the old Texas rigged 6" worm for bottom. Get a spinnerbait for medium depths. And get a Pop R for the topwater. You've got the whole water column covered. I couldn't agree more with the fishing log. I wish I'd done it sooner. There was a time when I could remember the specifics of every bass I ever caught, but that was years ago. When you go and get skunked, and you will, make it a learning experience. Read up and watch videos on every seasonal bass pattern you can. Information that we used to have to glean from magazines is now free on the interwebs. Read this board and search it for topics and don't be afraid to ask anything.

Chad Hoover Kayak Bassin', Bass Resource and Brian Latimer are the ones I watch the most. I try to get my instruction from a wide variety of sources then adapt it to mostly fishing from a kayak in small places.

The list of techniques I do use is shorter than the ones I don't. But dropshot is the most glaring omission. Big swimbaits, A rig or most any lure than cost more than, say, $15.

What I might have forgotten to bring along because I got the cart a mile before the horse. But really, Water temp. Seasonal patterns that might work and what baits to use for them. And where I might go to do the best with those two factors in mind.

You routinely find used soft plastics in the driveway and bed of the truck.

When you know how Trick Worms taste (salty).

Same here. We've seen bass cruising and one on a bed. I went last Saturday and caught 5, all very shallow.

You can't go wrong by buying all your plastics in black/blue, pumpkin and/or watermelon. If they're going to get a long look at it, naturals are my go-to's. There are exceptions. Fish imitators should more closely match the hatch, but maybe with some variation to trigger bites like chartreuse. Then there's the old standby purple worm. For years I never bought any other color for Lake Wateree. I was so convinced of it that it took me a couple years of fishing other places to buy different colors. I still have packs of them and they still work. And then there's the Trick Worm and stick worms that seem to do well with brighter colors. These seem to trigger reactions. So I guess the deciding factor is if you'e trying to imitate a craw or fish.

I use a braid main line. Split shot will slide down it. If I'm going to the trouble of tying on a leader just to crimp a split shot onto, I'll just tie a real C rig. Then i can make the leader whatever length I want without sliding a split shot up and down it. I've had fish break my leader when it wasn't damaged.

You can just use a small bullet weight on the C rig. You can get them all the way down to 1/64 oz. I just like the tiny C rig because you don't have to crimp a weight on your line. Sooner or later that's going to affect the line.

It will get bites when they won't take the usual offerings. If you're using a smaller worm, they'll be smaller fish on average, but that's better than no bites at all. I really prefer a C rig with a 1/8 oz. bullet weight. You can also get more bites on a small craw, tube or Ned Rig.

Those do look pretty cool though.

I see a lot of people have had better experiences with graphite framed reels than I have. I've owned two and both eventually lost some alignment to the point they would slip, momentarily freespool or bind. I got rid of both as soon as I could afford to replace them because I knew one day they'd fail at the worst possible time. I made a conscious decision to stay away from them thereafter. I hear a lot of good things about them these days and manufacturers might have worked all that out. I even see some of the Lew's reels that are kind of pricey have graphite frames. I'm just not ready to waste money on another one.

While I was still not legal to drive,, my dad would leave the truck on the ramp with the boat hooked up and let me back it in and use the boat in the summer while he was at work. We had a lake house. I would go scout the spots during the day and take him back after he got home.

My daughter caught 3 white perch and a crappie when she was 3. But her attention span was so short, she was finished right them. Her fishing career was over by about 10. Good idea. I had surpassed my dad's desire to fish by age 12. So after that, he would let me run the trolling motor and he would sit back and enjoy. I was allowed to take the boat out on the lake by myself by 14 as long as he knew about where I would go.

Spinning reels on el cheapo rods are really good for light treble lures like Rapala minnows and Shad Raps

I started trying to piece together most of these combos years ago and finally succeeded. Of course back then, it was a 5-combo system - 4 BC and one spinning. I actually take 4 BC, 2 spinning and sometimes other spinning rods to cover some panfish as well. It looks like you have all the baitcast combos covered if you assemble them the right way. Of course, there are other schools of thought and this list leaves out the big swimbait. If you wait a few years, everything changes.

I fish topwaters from as soon that they'll hit one thru fall so i had to get one. I bought the size 90 in Dick's and then read reviews that it has a tendency to not work as well as the 110 size. So I bought that one too. Last time out i tried them both and the 110 works way better. The 90 needs to be reeled slowly to keep it from submarining. The 110 is very buoyant. If you'e only going to get one, I'd get the 110.

I used to have two of their Spook knockoffs. They were weighted poorly and would not cast half as far as a Spook. The action was alright. They looked great and seemed to have good hooks. I gave them to a neighborhood kid. Lesson learned.