the reel ess

Every bass I ever cut open had shad or some other kind of minnows in its stomach. There was one I helped out by removing a crawfish claw from its nether regions before I released it. Didn't even get a thank you.

It's pretty easy to remember and I can't see all that well anymore. I could do the surgeon's knot without looking.

Anybody use the surgeon's knot? I decided to experiment with leaders as I've been using either straight braid or mono. I went with a mono leader all this year tied with a surgeon's knot. Not one breakoff at the leader knot.

Under harvesting might be the problem as well. You have all these people catching fish and releasing them. Fish aren't bright, but they do know what's not a pleasant experience to them and they will try to not repeat it. Too many fish in an ecosystem equals smaller fish. And smaller ones are uneducated. People want more choices among gamefish, so you introduce stripers, hybrids and blue catfish. Actually, blue catfish have popped up a lot of places they weren't officially stocked. So this has to have an effect on bass and crappie.

Buzzbaits, topwaters and poppers! But if you know there are still fish there and they won't take a topwater, try the spinnerbait.

Let's define "necessary". They ate what they killed. And wild game was a nuisance to crops. But where I live, wild game is at it's best numbers in probably 100 years. Fewer and fewer people are hunting and the ones that are have the best lands leased, which doesn't help attract new hunters to take up the tradition. Fishing seems to be the exact opposite to me. More rude and inconsiderate people everywhere I go.

My dad and his buddy caught 180 crappie once jigging docks and only stopped because the sun went down. That lake has probably 3X as many people living on it now and 5X as many fishing it. It's downstream from a few cities and dirtier than ever. I stopped bass fishing it because I couldn't ever seem to be left alone on it, even on weekdays...even in winter. I'd find myself on secondary or worse spots just trying to get away. That said, I've had 50+ bass days in a friend's pond and caught more bass over 5 lbs in the last few years in a local reservoir than I did my whole life before. The good ol' days can be looked at different ways. I can't go fishing with my dad ever again and that's sad. And my daughter's not interested in fishing so I can't pass it down. Maybe she'll have a son or sons and I can pass it along to them. But I can keep doing it until I'm too old to enjoy it. In many ways, these days are the good old days. To quote Iron Maiden: "So understand, don't waste your timeAlways searching for those wasted yearsFace up, make your standAnd realize you're living in the golden years"

Nasty...but true. Only I'd try the bubble gum color first. If they won't take that or lime, I'd go to the old watermelon. On second thought, with the water so clear, I'd go with watermelon. And I might try to get there early or late and try the frog.

I cut grass. We had lots of pines around so I raked and sold the straw (needles). But my sister was the one who wanted and got clothes. She didn't even work. So my mom was usually willing to buy me something when we were in a store. I went fishing with my dad so he bought me stuff. But he certainly didn't believe in the adage "Buy the best equipment you can afford." When I turned 16 I got a real job and never looked back.

If you like Lew's, why switch. I have three of their LFS Tournament MB's now and one old BPS Johnny Morris reel. I'll replace the BPS before much longer. I'm replacing all with higher speed reels. It's funny how a 7.5:1 reel is now just a normal speed. I have a BPS XPS Rick Clunn edition reel that's maybe 8 or 10 years old that's 7.1:1 and it says on the reel "SUPER HIGH SPEED".

You got some good stuff here. You're off to a great soft plastics start. The biggest adjustment for me when I started using worms (many decades ago) was the hookset. I was just used to reeling in a crank or Trap and tightening the line. Fish hooked themselves. I had to buy a MH rod and practice to get better at it. Feeling that bite and setting the hook is one of the best feelings in all of fishing. Sounds like you're fishing for aggressive fish. There will come times when the reaction baits won't work and you'll be set.

Depends. Around here a summer low pressure front could be ignored. If you know it's coming, you can jump on it as the barometer drops and sometimes the bite will be awesome. When confronted with bluebird skies, I usually try to fish all the cover with a T-rigged worm or craw. I'm getting into the jig thing. I'll also throw a frog along the edge. Fish will sometimes hit it when they aren't hungry because it had the unmitigated audacity to plop down into their cozy living room. Anywhere two types of cover or structure and cover converge is a pretty good target when there's full sun. When all else fails, I'll bust out the wacky rig or Finesse Worm and hit every piece of wood cover. If I go out and get skunked or very close to it, I'll pay a visit to my buddy's farm pond. It has the hungriest small bass I know of and some very large bluegill.

I had one straighten out an EWG hook once that would have been a PB I've never felt a fish this strong My buddy got to the side of the boat to help land it and said he thought it looked like 9-10 lbs. I didn't get any sight of it. I had been fishing with a frog on that rod and the drag was cinched down. I switched to a t-rigged Hula Grub and didn't reset it. It was really disappointing because it would have smashed my PB. I sat down until my nerves settled and just started fishing again. I can't possibly catch a new PB without a hook in the water.

There are Rat L Traps, a Spook, Shad Raps, Some Rapala and maybe Rebel minnows. I don't see much "junk" in there. Meybe a few of the smaller cranks. I might yard sale them and the box, but I'd keep most of this.

Well, we drove about 20 miles to lake Wateree, SC and observed the 99.9% eclipse with no clouds. I took a rod and a Rooster Tail. I didn't see a sign of a fish, except for a school of shed, but it got pretty dark and cooler. We heard the cicadas and a whiporwill start up. It lasted maybe 3 minutes and it was over. But it looked dark on the horizon for another 10 minutes or so.

I forgot this one. My dad and I were fishing a flat one day and he hooked a catfish basket. He reeled the thing up and there was a big turtle and some rotten catfish in it. The turtle thrashed around and soaked us both with disgusting rotten catfish stench as we tried to unhook the basket. The fishing day was over at that point.

I should add that I've caught a good many bass over 4 lbs on this bait and one over 6 in this pic.

This little lake/large pond is the main way onto Oak Island, NC. You pass it on Middleton Blvd. I can't see any way in. It's right beside the Intracoastal Waterway, but there' a pretty tall bank beside it. I wonder if it's fresh or salt and if there's any way to access it. Does anyone know?

We used to pass Oyster Bay Golf Club on the way into Sunset Beach and it looked incredibly "bassy". But I could never tell if the public could fish there.

Love that area, Oak Island and Southport.

I'm glad you asked. LOL. I fish ponds a lot and this is a killer shallow water bait. I usually have it on a MH 7' spin combo with 20# braid and let the fish tell me how to use it. If I see fish busting near weeds or in shallow water, I'll just throw it over and let it sink and often a fish will pick it up-no skill required. If a bass misses a topwater it's a good follow up bait. If fish are active, you can use it like a jerkbait. You can just drag it around weightless. Throw it into the limbs of a laydown. The slow fall tears up the bass's nerves. You can use it as the traditional T or C rig. You can also wacky rig it. During spawn it's a stealthy bait so you can use it around beds without spooking fish away. It's my Senko because it outfishes the Senko, for me. My buddy who only fishes when we kayak only has one rod and only uses this one bait for bass and usually catches some. He just drags it slowly. The bubble gum is my best color, followed closely by limetreuse and methiolate. I have some natural colors I use for T rigs. I even have a bag of magnum size, but no luck with that one yet. It's the most versatile bait I have. And the Finesse Worm is just a smaller Trick Worm. Check this out:

WOW! You killed your PB. Need to update that. Congrats What was the lure?

A frog is a good lure in a place like that, either way.

Welcome Pops!

I have three LR's that I still use-one spinning. I find the actions to be great for lures you don't need a lot of sensitivity for. I got two on sale for $20 when they were switching to a new grip style.