the reel ess

I threw it away to keep myself from being tempted to try to reuse it. I kicked myself later, but if I still had it I'd try to use it and it would fail on me. I tried to put it back together for a couple days and the gears would not mesh anymore though it looked like it was back together correctly. You could hear it clicking and anti reverse was starting to fail before this. It was one of the last ones with a pushbutton spool release. Looked just like this. I caught more bass on that reel than I can count. Good times.

I like the look of their other lures. But I like double willow leaf blades on spinnerbaits when it's warmer. The cranks look nice and shiny.

I can't afford the new good quality Daiwas. But I just retired a vintage 1983 Procaster Magforce reel last summer that I had used rather heavily for 33 years. I did have to replace the levelwind pawl and they sent me some drag washers. They sent these parts completely free of charge in response to an email request. They didn't even charge postage. But the reel was finally so worn, when I tried to put the drag washers in, it kinda fell apart so badly that I couldn't reassemble it. But that level of dependability and customer service is almost unheard of in this age of disposability.

I agree with @Goose52 It looks like too much for one and not enough for more. lately, I'm intrigued by NuCanoe to fill this niche. You can rig with a motor, sit's up high enough and you can swivel 360 of you rig the seat right and supposedly they're stable. They also look a lot drier than my SOT kayak.

Right on! I bought mine along with the Cicada and Junebug looking cranks and Crickhopper popper before they were offered with the single hook. Panfish love these and always seem to get all three of the rear trebles. But they're an awesome creek fishing line of baits.

True. But I haven't broken any of my higher or lower quality rods since I was a kid except for shutting the tailgate on a 9' crappie rod. I turned it into an 8' crappie rod and gave it to my buddy who trolls for crappie so i could use it in his boat. $40-and-up rods should last a while. Granted I don't have any $200 rods and I probably never will.

If you buy some Berkley baits, it says on the bag what hook size and type to use. Then I go find the Gamakatsu brand of that hook. There are lots of premium brands of hooks that will work as well. I just love Gamakatsu. But over time you'll get your preferences figured out and deviate from what others like. We all do.

I might add re: rods... If you're going to be mostly fishing the frog, which is a sight bait, you could go cheaper on the rod. You can get good-casting rods for maybe $40. I say that amount because I've been using 2 Berkley Lightning Rods for a long time for techniques that don't require a lot of sensitivity. I use them for cranks, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. They've been very durable and are still sensitive enough to do in a pinch for a T rig but I have other rods for those. So if you're going to go cheaper on one component for a frog combo it should be the rod. Just my humble opinion. Not to say you should go buy a $9 WalMart Durango rod for your $100+ BC reel.

I have 2 Lew's Tournament MB reels that I've never backlashed. I've been using at least one for more than a year. It's my frog rod. The new one is my cranking combo. I liked it so much I bought another. They're about $129 new. You get what you pay for in BC reels. If you want a rod to do double duty get a MH/fast rod of about 7' length. If it's strictly frogs, Heavy/Fast. My frog rod is a Cabela's Tournament ZX Frog model. I also use it for jigs. The thing about a Hvy/Fast rod is it's a little harder to load up for long casts with lighter lures. The cool thing about frogs is most are heavy so you'll be able to set your reel a little tighter and still be able to get good distance out of it. I have the 7.5:1 retrieve reels and use 50 lb braid on the frog rod and 15 lb mono on the other for cranks and Rat L Traps. Practice in the yard or a field with a heavy weight, then back down the weight as you get better.

For the record, that's not my quote. I've caught more and bigger bass ever since I started kayak fishing. When I hook a big one in the big boat it almost always makes a run under the boat. When I hook a big one on the kayak and it goes under it just turns the boat. I do so love kayak fishing.

That! You won't get tempted to swing a 5+ lb bass over the gunwale if you're already at water level. And if you get hung, you'll just drag yourself over to the snag and get it off. I have braid on one baitcaster and two spinning combos. The spinning are not great quality rods and I've had no problems with them. The BC rod is a Falcon MH that used to be my frog rod and I had the drag as tight as it would go sometimes.

Take it back and exchange. I have two and neither make any noise whatsoever.

Much like the Sunfish from Live Target, this duck bait looks like something I could throw until I need a new shoulder without a single bite. I'm dubious to say the least.

That is exactly the kind of water I usually fish. Rarely is visibility more than a few feet to my human eyes. My buddy remarked that the water was clear for January and I stuck my rod in and could only see three guides. In late summer and early fall, it gets a little more clear. Southeast of here, in the coastal plain, the water gets "black" from the cypress tannin. I went for many years trying it with little success, but it really pays off in spades at this one place. Gold is really THE TICKET at this particular body of water. Other finishes just don't produce. Gold even catches crappie.

I have the Guidewear full-zip hoodie. I wouldn't have called it a hoodie. I's much more of a jacket, but very form fitting and flexible. It's marked down from $119 to $59 right now! That's odd because it's $89 in the little fishing essentials catalog that just came. I wore it Saturday and really liked it. No buyer's remorse. http://www.cabelas.com/product/GUIDEWEAR-MENS-XTREME-FULL-ZIP-HOODIE-W-PLTC/2208240.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FCQ_page%3D60%26CQ_refinements%3D~c1%3dClothing%26CQ_search%3Dguidewear%26CQ_st%3Db%26categoryId%3D734095080 I got the Windstopper Glommits too. Also on sale at the moment. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Guidewear-reg-Mens-Glommits-with-WindStopper-reg/2218976.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FCQ_page%3D60%26CQ_refinements%3D~c1%3dClothing%26CQ_search%3Dguidewear%26CQ_st%3Db%26categoryId%3D734095080

Yeah, I weighed one as well as a standard Trap. The standard was 5/8 oz, though they claim to be 1/2. The floater was 3/8. You can cast the standard a country mile, but in shallow water, you lose control over the depth it runs unless you burn it back.

I have to say, I've never had luck with them anywhere else as well as I do at this particular lake. It was one of those lures that just never produced for me before. But this place had grassy bottom for probably 3/4 of it's area. I guess that's the difference. And we've tried burning the bait and yo-yoing it, but the slowest possible retrieve that doesn't haul in a bait covered with weeds seems to be the most productive. And this bait will occasionally snag a big crappie. I could have taken one rod yesterday.

It's not very buoyant so it dives to a couple or 3 feet on a steady retrieve. I could see how it would work well on shallow flats. And I've tried it a couple times in that situation, but it hasn't been the ticket. It's also 3/8 oz vs the standard 5/8 oz. https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEVz57RI5YaOMAYY1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=rat+l+trap+floater&fr2=piv-web&fr=mcafee#id=1&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fart50.photozou.jp%2Fpub%2F396%2F125396%2Fphoto%2F127391578_624.jpg&action=click I have thought it would make a good search bait around spawning flats, but spawn hasn't occurred since I bought one. I will certainly give that tactic a shot come spring.

Have you guys had any luck with these? I've used one a little, but keep going back to the regular one because I need it deep most of the time. I can see a use for the floater though. I'd like to make it closer to neutrally buoyant. Has anyone done this with bigger hooks?

I just weighed a Horny Toad and a Stanley Ribbet. I would have guessed the HT was heavier because I can more easily cast it, but they're both 3/8 oz on my wife's small food scale. I have a MH spinning combo with 20 lb braid that I'll use with lighter baits like the Snag Proof Original Frog.

I went yesterday from 12:40-3:30 with my buddy. I enjoy holding down the back of his Tracker. Weather had been warm in SC for the last week or so but it had gotten to freezing at night and around 52 for a high the last two days. The water temp was about 51-53. We tried Trick Worm, I tried T rigged craw and a black spinnerbait. But we caught all 5 on a gold Rat L Trap. The biggest being this 4.5 lb that crushed my very slowly retrieved Trap in deep-ish water. She swallowed the bait and nicked one of her gills. It was clear most of the fish were on the deep side of the boat. And the bass were not biting on the sunny side of the lake.

This goes to the question that has been exhaustively discussed in the other color thread. But I have no confidence in red. I can't remember the last time I caught a bass on a red bait. I'm sure they work some places andthere is a reason. I know in LA and Miss there are wild red crawfish but they aren't here. Crappie will turn on to red sometimes though.

Some bags of soft plastics. I have to open bags and boxes of most things I get to play with them or smell them. I'm weird like that. My buddy has boxes of unopened spares in his boat, but I use a kayak when I'm alone.

I've caught a lot of weird fish in the dark ages before we all had a camera on our hips. One with a hook rusting out of the the roof of its mouth. Many with one eye that seem to be thriving. I caught one with a craw claw sticking out of his "butt" that I removed and sent the bass on his merry way. And for years, my PB was a bass with one eye, fins rotting off and actively bleeding sores all over it. But it was still hungry. Where I fish now that I have a smart phone, they all look very healthy. In fact, I stopped taking pics unless they're near a PB because they all look the same. A lot look like they have 6 lb mouths and 4 lb. bodies.

My buddy caught a 9 pounder on a crappie jig while trolling.