the reel ess

Given those choices, probably Monkey Butt. But really, how much of the bait can be seen? The bottom half of all of them look pretty similar.

They probably aren't completely gone. But consider this. If they were overharvested, the ones that wouldn't bite are the ones left. And they're the ones that can discern between real food and a lure. Now there are fewer fish for the same amount or more of bait. They don't need to bite a fake lure. I used to know a man who ran a nearby state DNR hatchery. He said you can't fish a pond out. Some of them just won't bite. Even if you put a major dent in the population, they would get bigger on average and eventually rebound. But them getting bigger on average might mean there were more experienced fish. It might just mean they had more forage. Also, if the small pond feeds the big pond, some fish will probably take a ride to the big pond after a really big rain. Fish also aren't smart. They don't think much. Everything they do is from instinct.

I have a Palmetto State Armory AR15 with a couple enhancements like nicer fore rail and a 3X Sigtac scope. I traded up from a canoe to a Browning buckmark to this rifle. The person that sold it to me built it and said it's only been fired 20X to sight in the scope. I haven't even shot it in the 2 years I've had it. It's the cleanest AR around. I just wanted it because some political powers told me I didn't need one. Well, I don't NEED to own my house, truck or boat either. I don't need 5 baitcasters or a huge HDTV. In America we buy what we desire. I bought a 10 round mag and some hog ammo for it. It's my intention to actually hunt with it.

To that I add, as I always do, weightless Trick Worm. Drop in those holes and just let sink on a slack line. But you'll have to go get some of those fish because they'll bury up in the mat and a MH spinning rod ain't gonna drag them out.

Well, our winter came really late, with a vengeance. We even had "hard water" on all the ponds. There was ice on the big lakes in certain areas and on moving creeks! I've never seen that before and I have a few years on me. So I just kept fishing the same things until it turned really cold. Then I didn't fish for a few weeks. Went Sunday for a couple hours and caught one on a jig. I got two bite on it and one on a weightless Trick Worm. My fault that I only caught one. In bigger waters, the lipless crank has been good to me in the coldest months.

I finally got to use the reel yesterday. I can't imagine what more you'd ask from a $100 reel. It operates pretty much the same as the $130 Lew's Tournament MB's I own. It doesn't have the mag brake, only the centrifugal one. But it casts just as well. I can set the cast control so the bait slowly drops and cast fine with no backlash even if I don't stop the spool. It's quiet and smooth. There's only .5 oz. difference in weight, but the TAC-40 just feels a good bit lighter. It also feels smaller in the hand. I used it with a 3/16 oz. jig and did catch my first bass on it. I even practiced skipping the jig with some success and no (major) overruns. It's just the first outing, but I see zero cons, only pros. I would certainly recommend it. I would buy another later if this one holds up, but it should be a long time before I need another one. I have three of the Lew's reels.

If you'd hate to lose it, that means it works. I Have a gold Trap I'd climb a tree with a hornet's nest in it to get back. I have three more like it, but they aren't it.

I don't. I usually kayak fish and would hate to lose it. Stowed away in a waterproof box is the same as not having one if you actually needed one quickly. And, normally, I'm on a private reservoir or a friend's pond. If I still used the big boat on public lakes, I'd probably open carry. I looked at that pic for a good 30 seconds before I saw the fish. Nice piece. Are those morels? Is that the correct word?

There was a period of 5 or so years that Mann's Jelly Worm was the only bait my dad would use. When we discovered purple, he didn't buy another color. As for the topic, I don't have any baits I'd be afraid to use. It's only $$$, right?

Second that motion. And I get what I can off Amazon Prime. it's easy to get a lower price there if they have it.

I hear you. My PB was caught on a BPS Uncle Buck's spinnerbait two Novembers ago. I'm certain it was bought for about $1.50. I still have it. Most everything about it is cheap, but it has tandem hammered nickel willow leaf blades, which you don't see as much these days. In response to the OP, my favorite is a War Eagle 3/8 oz in gold shiner pattern. It has replaced most of my other SB's.

This is about a pound and a half bass that had another bass down its throat when i caught it. I weighed it after I pulled the little bass out. It looked like it swallowed a softball before I pulled it out. So smaller fish will eat bigger baits. You can see the small bass was getting digested but it had to be around 8" long. This is at my buddy's pond that is full of small bass. It's actually the fattest fish I've caught there in a few years. I threw it back to grow some more. What he said. I've caught a bunch of small fish on the size 40 SPRO Rat. So there's no need to worry about going without a bite.

edit:Never mind. I see this has been discussed OP, as for color preference, I don't think that matters much. I would use darker colors in thick cover and lighter ones in more sparse cover. But I don't think bass think these are really frogs. They're just being territorial and attacking what's in their zone.

Poppin Pad Crasher is my favorite. It walks easily and disturbs the mat well. But I caught a previous PB on the one in my avatar and it still catches them.

Well, I haven't fished yet. It's been too cold and I've been too busy. Honesty, if it wasn't so windy, I'd go. I did take it out in the back yard and toss a small spinnerbait around. It seems very smooth and casts a light lure well. That's all I can report yet.

I have three of that Lew's reel and it's a great reel with a lot of features at that price point. But yeah, Daiwa has so impressed me with customer service I'd buy their reels if I could justify the cost. The sent me free parts three times on a very old Procaster reel. They didn't even reply to the emails, just sent the parts free.

Yeah, this. Once you get good at it you'll want a rod specifically geared toward it. The reason I settled on 50# braid is it has better manners than 65, but it won't dig into the spool as much as 30. Ido love 30 for the other BC rods. Sometimes I have to just yank the frog/fish out of the slop.

Just when you think you know what you're doing and have it figured out, the fish show you otherwise.

In my estimation, it takes longer than 47 years.

I use 50# braid. I've never had a need for any heavier. 50 casts more easily than 65. The neat thing about braid is, when it gets old and dull looking and you want to remove it, you can reel it onto another reel and you'll be using the new end. It doesn't go bad. You can also mitigate the cost by filling half your spool with some cheap heavy mono like Big Game before finishing off with braid.

With the frog, that's not much of an issue. They're heavy enough to bomb a long cast and the braid has excellent manners. I have it on 3 baitcasters now without any problem. And I'm thinking of putting it on the last 2 BC combos.

I used to use a MH 7' rod for frogs until I started using them a lot on lily mats. I found I was always cutting off a frog and tying on a T-rig and vice-versa. Once I got the dedicated frog rod, It was on. I caught more because of better hooksets and got more of them out of the salad. You don't need one, but they're nice to have.

black/blue

Check this out. Apparently, All Star and Lew's have some rods in that range. https://www.academy.com/shop/browse/fishing/fishing-rods/casting-rods?facet=ads_f10510_ntk_cs%3A"5'6\""&facet=ads_f10510_ntk_cs%3A"5'9\""&facet=ads_f10510_ntk_cs%3A"6'"

I'm starting off with the War Eagle gold shiner, which is gold tandem willow leaf. Since I bought this bait, it has replaced most of my SB's. I use it almost year-round, changing to a black/blue with Colorado blade in the winter or really unclear water. I think most fish I've caught on a SB would have bitten no matter the skirt color because it's such a reaction type bait. They don't know why they bit it. Instinct made them do it.