the reel ess

Touche. Not many rocks where I fish. I can only remember a couple of times I broke 30# braid. I even use straight braid with blade baits to avoid losing several per trip. And my frog rod is a dedicated setup, so it always has 50 lb braid on it. If I were to dedicate a rod to C-rigs it would be this one. It's XH-XF so no matter the line, you get all of the action on the hookset.

I use braid and mono depending on the technique. It was mentioned that mono will suffice for every technique. Mono can have 10% stretch. So lets say you are using a C rig. You make a 70+ft cast. You get a bite out there and you swing the rod. You need to take 7' out of that length of line before you're getting all of the force to the hook. You might not get a good set. I was a believer that mono was all I needed until I tried different braids about 15 years ago. My hooksets and fish landed went up. It's a useful tool.

A friend of mine told me he only eats saltwater fish like flounder. I asked him if he knows where all that water from lakes and rivers ends up. You should be able to find these advisories on your state's DNR website, like thus: https://scdhec.gov/bow/aquatic-science-programs/fish-consumption-advisories

I use a net for trebles most of the time.

After Hurricane Hugo in the 80's on Lake Wateree, the water level went 10' over the dam. You could sit and watch trees float down the lake. It took about a week for the level to drop to the point you could put a boat in, but there was still floating debris everywhere. But my dad did hook a bass off the bank that got hung under our dock, which was still underwater. I swam in and got the bass for him. I think it's like any storm front that is followed by high pressure and bluebird skies...not the best. But after several days the bass should be catchable in the new shallows. Whenever there is flooding, fishing can be good in the new habitat. Watch out for debris.

No

8 lb. even on a stick worm June 25th at 9:20 AM.

Spinning reels, by their very nature, twist line. You can minimize it by flipping your bail by hand and giving the line a little tug to be sure you're not winding line over loose line on the spool before reeling. Using braid as the main line greatly reduces the line twist problem.

This reminds me of when I fished with a guide in So FL for peacocks with a walking bait with 3 trebles. I got 4 lbs. of angry peacock to the boat, expecting him to lend a hand. He told me to "control my fish". I said "I'm not paying you $400 a day to catch a hand full o' trebles on the very first peacock." I fish from a kayak and I lip almost every bass caught on a single hook. But I net every decent sized bass on trebles. Once in the net, I can dig the hooks out with pliers if necessary. But if you forget the net, cradling the bass against the boat, holding it upright, hand under the stomach makes it docile enough to then lip it. This is pretty easy in a kayak.

There are a few guys that used to fish from a jon boat where I fish. I call them the bucket brigade. They've asked me for a 5 lb. bass that they saw me catch before. I just said "Nope" and let it go in front of them. I'm sure they called me names. If you're gonna take 5 pounders out of my watering hole you gotta catch your own.

My dad was that guy. But I'll say we hardly ever caught enough fish to hurt any population. In fact, we helped, if anything, taking smaller bass out.

My pops was of this generation. Never threw back an eating size bass, crappie, striper or catfish. In his opinion, if you didn't bring it home it didn't happen. But then I've never known real poverty.

It looks good. But I need it to be a superline hook. That's all I use for pitching anymore. Can't tell from the website. You could easily do this with about any EWG hook.

Well, if they wanted it pronounced Sank-o in English they should have spelled it correctly. ? We say the same thing about crappie in the southeast. Someone from Minnesota made fun of my pronunciation. I told him to spell "crap" and spell "crop". I recently took up the old stick worm and it has been about the only consistent producer for me in the dog days. I caught an 8.0 lb. earlier this summer on it. I've been using it with an 1/8 oz. weight, pegged on straight 30# braid. Fish are just crazy about black and blue here. I was using SK Ochos because my bro-in-law gave me some in junebug. I burned through several bags of 10 that cost $6 or more. I found a bag of 100 Yum Dingers for $26 on Amazon. The real deal, not a knockoff. https://www.amazon.com/Classic-All-Purpose-Plastic-Fishing-Pumpkin/dp/B086TNY2BJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14RA71X8S6XYF&keywords=100%2Byum%2Bdinger&qid=1663159447&sprefix=100%2Byum%2Bdingers%2Caps%2C214&sr=8-1&th=1

Pop R, Whopper Plopper, Chug Bug. Pond bass are much more likely to attack a topwater than are bass in deeper waters. And they stay out of the mucky pond bottom. Add a spinnerbait and you have the whole water column covered. I would recommend a frog because I do so well in weedy ponds with it. But it works best with a heavier rod and braided line. This is usually a technique people pick up after they've experimented with the more conventional ones. The Trick Worm and its little bother, the 4" finesse worm, are also some great pond baits. I use the Trick Worm T-rigged, weightless. I use the 4" Finesse Worm with a 1/16 oz. weight. Hungry pond bass can't stay off this bait.

I've lost so many good bass on lipless cranks and other various treble baits. But it's a risk always worth taking.

I flipped a T rigged craw to a rock and the great beast devoured it before it touched the bottom. I set the hook well and it made a beeline for my buddy's boat and went under. I tried to force it back and it bent the Gamakatsu EWG hook out and escaped. Totally my fault. It probably would have been a PB at the time. I ordered some superline hooks later that same day. I've caught a bunch of bass 6-8+lb. in that lake since and I've possibly caught the same fish. I'm armed with a H-F pitching stick, braid and good hooks now. I still pitch to that rock every time I fish there. I've caught another 6 lb. off of it with a shaky head. I played it much lighter. It's easier to keep bass out from under a kayak than it is a 17' Tracker. You just use the rod to leverage it and the kayak turns. That's probably the most thrilling thing about kayak fishing.

Just tell him you were looking for all the fish he didn't catch and get video of the response. He's overreacting, if it happened exactly as you said. But a lot of people go fishing for solitude. Probably thought you weren't finished creeping up on his position. I fish a 35 acre lake and I'm disappointed when I see another boat. I'm just selfish like that.

Lew's LFS Tournament MB/7'3" Cabela's XT XH-XF Frog-specific rod, 50# braid. Lew's LFS/Falcon 6'10" Bucoo H-F pitching stick, 30# braid. Everything else is versatile. I'll also use the pitching stick for plain ol' T-rigs sometimes.

I've caught a good bit of fish on a Plopper in that temp range. If the big bass are shallow, a buzzing bait can draw their ire. Therein lies the entire rub. They must be shallow for you to catch them off the surface. I don't think bass are gonna charge up from 8' or more in cooler water to crush a topwater. But if you put it in their mouth, often they'll react.

We had baseboard heaters at my family's lake house. my dad left some rods leaning against the wall over one while we were gone. The thermostat was set as low as possible. The line was brittle next time he used it. I hypothesize that the constant changing of temps affected the line even though it didn't get very "hot" in the house.

@Glenn There were some of those Slug-o's in my dad's stuff when he died. I'm sure he never used them because he would have thought they were gimmicky. Most likely someone gave him a few. I keep saying I need to use them and keep forgetting to do so. You mean Pittsburd? That's what my old buddy calls them.

I haven't been able to buy a frog bite most of this year. I have one frog fish on my favorite watering hole in 2022. I've really had a better time with the toad and pitching Senkos in the slop. But I still kept a frog tied on. You're right about the misses. Sometimes, I doubt the bass even has its mouth open. I've hooked them in the side of the head before. I've had a big bass blow up on a frog up 3 times and still not get the hooks. But man, is it the most exciting thing when they're really choking it!

It could well be that a hook didn't cause that damage. But I do feel bad when I hurt an eye. I know it's not a death sentence. I remember I caught a 5 pounder with my dad about 20 years ago. 5 was a big bass on that lake. It had one bad eye and bleeding sores on it. I nonchalantly threw it back and he asked me why I didn't have it mounted. I told him I could never forget how bad it looked. I haven't kept a bass to eat in a couple years. Never had one mounted, just pics. I fish a lot of smaller places that could benefit from someone taking bass out.

But people around here hunt them like they're going out of style and we have coyotes and coyote-dog mixes and they're still plentiful. People plant food for them and throw out corn. I dare say there are more whitetail in the US than there were before white people got here. https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/huntingtactics_naw_maturebuck_200808/263957