the reel ess

That's funny and ridiculous. It's due to the length. I'm an estimator, among other things, for a company in the construction business. It costs us a min of $250 to ship anything anywhere on a LTL (less-than-truckload) freight carrier. Often we have a part that costs more to ship than it's worth in material. We usually tell the vendor to hold it and add it to a bigger shipment later. It sounds like they quoted you LTL freight when you wanted ground service.

light, fast, good drag. I use a Lew's LFS Tournament MB in 7.5:1. But they make one faster.

I've gotten some bites on several slower baits in colder water this season. The best has been the Trick Worm weightless and barely moving it. The chatterbait in warmer shallows worked one day when nothing else would. It was sunny and the only bites i got were around one log. A couple trips a plain weedless Arkie jighead rigged with a Berkley Chigger Craw got the better bites. This is a secret weapon of mine. Fish will take it all year, especially when inactive. Last time out a black/blue jig was the ticket, but the water's warm here now. Warm enough to wade into and not be uncomfy. Fish are stacking up and cruising the shallows. A spinnerbait with a Colorado blade and a jerkbait can both do well early in the season. Good luck.

1. Spook, Spook Jr with the rattle 2. Topwater frog (Booyah Pad Crasher and Popping Pad Crasher) 3. Pop R 4. Chug Bug 5. Torpedo (caught 50 bass on it once) 6. Buzzbait Honorary mentions: Rats, toads, Hula Popper & Jitterbug. And I have two Whopper Ploppers I haven't gotten a chance to use yet. I know that's not one, but I love topwaters so much I'd take fewer fish on topwater rather than more on other baits.

"I took the road less traveled and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost

I bought a kayak just for this purpose. You can go to a large public body of water and get to every square inch of it. There are bass in there that think they're safe because walkers can't reach them. WRONG, Mr. Bass! I even go to a friend's pond and get to fish he can't reach in his jon boat or sneak boat. He's always amazed at how many I can catch there on an average outing. I usually fish the areas I can easily walk before I get into the kayak unless I'm at a really big place. Then I just paddle. I have yet to get a snake in the kayak with me. LOL

Booyah! Popping Pad Crasher. My second favorite is the regular Pad Crasher.

I use a small food scale. If you or someone in your house has ever been on Weight Watchers, you have the scale you need. It has the word PRECISION on the button. It seems to do the job pretty well. Beyond that, a scientific beam scale would really do the trick.

I try to make it about 4X a month, but it turns into about 2 due to volleyball tourney's and whatever else life throws at me. I've been in a funk since my dad died last spring and it seems a little less important than it used to. Besides that I was really on a roll catching quality size fish for a few years, but I didn't catch any big ones last year. My last really good fish was 2 Novembers ago and it was a new PB. At least I got to show my dad that pic. Got skunked yesterday after a week of 60-70 degree days. My first skunk in more than a year, even in COLD water. Not a single bite in a pond.

Ditto that. I don't know how old the OP is, but I don't relish the idea of casting a heavier rod all day. I do understand that sensitivity is not necessary, but there will probably be times, especially in colder weather, you tie a jig on it.

More than a little pricey. LOL

After re-readng the OP, I'm editing my response. I have the Cabela's Tournament ZX Frog model rod. It's 7-3 and H-Fast. It's just right for the technique. I wouldn't want a lighter rod for this. I fish a lot of pads and some grass. You have to consider that the longer the rod, the less leverage you have on the bass. The shorter it is, the more you're dragging bass through the pads and not up, out of them. More bend in the end of the rod means a shorter lever when the rod is loaded up. This 7-3 Hvy rod seems a good balance.

Good article. I bought that TAC-40 reel, not because of this article, but because of the good reviews of the Mettle line. It is a reel you'd expect to see in the $130 range. A great deal at this price point.

https://www.google.com/search?q=carolina+rig+ideas&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0s8i-2qrZAhUPjlkKHZgXDv0Q_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=989 Here are ideas and diagrams. If it doesn't take you to images, click images at the top. Any soft plastic will work. Lately people have started using some hard baits as well like a jointed minnow. Bill dance did a show on this technique recently. That's one I want to try this year. The go-to baits for C-rigging are larger worms and lizards for warm weather. but the C-rig catches fish all year and when the bite gets finicky, a finesse type worm will get more bites ,although smaller fish on average. The weight varies depending on depth, but usually is between 1/2 oz and 1 oz., maybe a little more. I'll sometimes use a 1/8 oz for the aforementioned finesse worm in mid to shallow depths. Here's a tip. I like to buy the "bass casting sinkers" with the wire eye and cut the eye off. Then you have a weight like an egg sinker, but cone-shaped to a point toward the nose. It will get hung up a lot less. I was going thru my dad's fishing tackle and came across some Lindy style C-rig weights. Those look like they'd do a good job in weeds and even for drifting bait for catfish if you do that. Those are the ones I'd use for hardbaits because they look like they'd come thru and over limbs, weeds and rocks without snagging. This seems like an easy way to lose a hardbait. Another tip: The C-rig is the poor man's depth finder. It'll tell you about the depth, contour and composition of the bottom if you use a heavier weight. And as a bonus, you'll likely drag a bait past a fish that you wouldn't have otherwise. It really excels on hump, points and deeper brushpiles. Fish on these spots will be larger than average.

I was gonna give that 5 but I heard sax in it, which has become very rare. so 6.

I have a kayak and I love it. No boat will allow you to get into the spots you can with a kayak. There are big fish a lot shallower than I ever knew they were. That said, I still want a flat bottom jon boat with a good trolling motor and a raised front deck. I'm getting older and sitting for hours makes my feet fall asleep and my back ache. I'd go in the order of kayak first, then start saving and looking for a good deal on a jon boat. But that's just my personal preference. I fish a lot of smaller places.

Haha! Most people do. That's why everyone's recommending a spinning combo. I have a M 7' rod with the aforementioned Trion reel. I use this combo mostly for smaller treble lures. The rod is a lightning rod. If I were using it a lot for dropshots and other techniques that require sensitivity, I'd upgrade the rod. The reel is a good deal for $40, but for a little more you can step up the Pfleuger line and get lighter reels with a few more bells and whistles.

I'm in my later 40's but that doesn't mean parts don't ache. They ache just from normal fishing. Heck, I hurt my hip turning in the bed the other night! I have a truck. I just love using the Jeep as much as I can. It makes me feel close to my dad. The Jeep is a lot narrower than a truck. When I get into the truck it feels cavernous by comparison. I'm thinking of a light bar in front (without lights) and one of these in the back https://www.google.com/search?q=jeep+hitch+kayak+extensions&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=kfG55VS_RIo5IM%3A%2CL8Ey927I2-WpGM%2C_&usg=__YfJdfdIFeuUczGOWmfPupoqIBmE%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj43dnm8qDZAhURw1kKHWDCDcEQ9QEI_QEwAg#imgrc=kfG55VS_RIo5IM:

Saltwater if anything. But usually I just fillet them, wash them well and cook them within a day. I only cook crappie and small bass that i catch from the local drinking water reservoir near town or my buddy's small pond. I know that water is relatively clean and free of PCBs and mercury. And the bass from clean water taste better than crappie from polluted lakes.

Yes, 2-door.

I inherited my dad's 2013 Jeep Wrangler with soft top. And, of course, I like to fish. But the interior is so small it's hard to even put rods in without dropping the top or zipping out the windows, which is not always an option. I use a kayak mostly. If you've done something or bought something to make a Jeep more fishing friendly, show me. Pics would be even better. Thanks.

That's hard to read. My daughter's 13 and our only child.

There's nothing wrong with the Lightning line of rods. I have three of the base LR rods. Two are more than a decade old. They've whooped a lot of bass.

Lew's PowerPro Zoom Gamakatsu

My first experiences catching bass were with a Zebco 33 on a medium 5-6 casting rod throwing Mepps Comets, Rooster Tails, Rebel Wee R's and crappie grubs. Then came the T rig. The medium sized cranks, or even a Shad rap, were the easiest things for me to get a hook into bass.