the reel ess

Count the days. I usually keep trying to fish. But this year, circumstances have conspired against that. Family obligations have dictated my activities. My daughter is also involved in an activity that will take up a bunch of Saturdays in Jan & Feb. I will try to get some Sunday afternoons in in February though, weather permitting. I'm replacing the trolling motor on my big boat with a spare one my buddy has. It's a Minn Kota foot control 46 that comes with the Bass Tracker. He replaced it with one with variable speed control. And I'll buy and set up a new combo.

Especially in rocky areas. Don't be afraid to retrieve it over logs and limbs. A lot of bites will follow.

I've floated down a local river a few times and always caught bass behind wood and rock current breaks or behind an eddie. Look for places that completely block the flow and drop a bait right behind them. You won't catch many largemouth in a rapids section. They prefer places where the flow is slower. Bass will be hiding in the slack current watching for bait to wash by. I've mostly used cranks for this. They love the Rebel Wee Craw.

There was a time in my fishing "career" where I thought Lightning was a top quality rod. I have older MH and a M 6-6 BC rods and a newer M spinning rod. All of them are for presentations that don't require sensitivity. In fact, you can benefit from the lack of sensitivity.

Fish more often Get a new PB. Meaning, fish more for large bass.

Cinder blocks make good, cheap pontoon boat anchors. If you lose one you're out about 40 cents. On a really breezy day, use two.

The first time I ever used a Spook, the classic one, not any variation, I caught 5 fish on 5 casts and the 6th broke off. I didn't have another one so I tied on a Pop R and didn't get another bite. I think a Spook is a good search bait. It hits the water like a brick so you probably don't want to cast it at targets. As mentioned above, poppers are a little more spot specific. So I really don't know what it is that would make fish differentiate. A Spook is a quieter bait, so I think it needs to be calmer for fish to locate. A Pop R will sit in place longer if you want to make shorter or less frequent pops with it. However, I have two Spook, Jr's now with knockers and one has a chugging face. I think it helps draw fish from distance. Sometimes, when i really think I'll be getting some topwater action I'll tie a Spook on one rod, a Pop R on another and a Frog on yet another. Or I might use a buzzbait or a Chug Bug instead of one of these. That way the fish can tell you. If you are with another fisherman, don't be using the same bait as he is until you're sure fish want it more. And vice versa. The Chug'n Spook, Jr and the Chug Bug are hybrids of these two baits.

Kayak, paddle (you will eventually forget this), paddle leash, PFD, Homemade crate with rod holders. tackle box I leave in the truck. One small clear Plano box in the crate. As many combos as I think I might need already rigged with what I think they'll bite. I have holders for 7, including in the crate. Usually I take 5-6. A few bags of the soft plastics I plan on using. Pliers. A weight scale. Sometimes scissors if I plan on cutting braid. My phone in a waterproof, floating case my family gave me. I have a T-rig combo, a crankbait/topwater combo, a spinning jerkbait combo, a frog/hvy jig combo, a spinner/buzzbait combo and a spinning combo that I usually have a weightless Trick Worm tied on. These will cover any presentation and I can go back to the truck if I need something from the tackle box.

Well, I've always made that assumption because it's a "floating worm" but I just Googled it and it said it made the bait denser and therefore easier to cast.

I love these! This past summer the bite got extremely slow around here and my buddy turned me on to the old do-nothing 4" worm. He had a few in the box. We rigged them like a finesse C-rig and caught some bass and salvaged the day. I got home and started digging around in my box of surplus soft plastics and pulled out two bags of these. I rigged them up just like a down-sized C-rig with an 1/8 oz bullet weight and a straight shank offset worm hook one size smaller than normal and they did the trick for a couple weeks when bigger worms wouldn't work. And this was much more weedless than the old 2-hook do-nothing.

I had to get back to basics this summer with the ol' Do-Nothing worm rig.

I have a bigger boat, just don't use it. That's a matter of opinion. I can load it by hand and put it in anywhere I like and it burns no gas, requires no battery and give me exercise. Plus I know that I catch more and bigger bass from it since I mostly fish smaller waters. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have what you have for fishing a little bigger places. But for now there seem to be other toys I want more. If I did spend the extra, and I probably will one day, I'd get a better kayak. It's my thing.

I use a cheaper graphite 6-6 M/MF BC combo with a fast reel for pretty much all my trebles because sensitivity is not required, maybe not even desired. Sometimes when I just about know I'm gonna get some topwater action, I'll use another MH rod just because I don't have 2 M BC combos.

Pfleuger Trion is the best spinning reel for the price ($40) I have seen, IMO. When the end of your braid gets old and highly visible reel it off one reel onto another and you'll be using the new end (for maybe three more seasons as it lasts as long as you can stand to look at it). Use cheap mono for backing of course. No need to use up the whole spool of braid on one reel. Berkley Big Game!!! 1/2 or 3/4 oz spinnerbaits are all you need. If you try you can get by with just a few and mix and match skirts and blades as needed. I don't mean that's the only bait you need. Just that a couple SBs will suffice. I use a kayak. $600 vs whatever you can stand to pay for a bass boat that depreciates faster than a new car.

I do 1, 3, 4 & 6. Except I don't use leaders for the most part. My topwaters, cranks, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits rods are Berkley Lightning Rods that I bought on clearance. Light and insensitive.

When using Trick Worms, the nose of the worm will get chewed up after a couple catches. Just bite (or tear) off about 1/2" from the nose and re-rig the worm for a couple more bites. Fish really don't care. Use thin gauge wire to tie around skirts on baits so the rubber band doesn't rot off. Many times I've pulled out a spinnerbait that hasn't even been used and lost the skirt soon thereafter. If you do lose the skirt, grab a fluke or soft swimbait of the same color make do in a pinch. You can use a toad or craw on a buzzbait. The Carolina Keeper is a small section of what looks like very thick weedeater cord with a slit cut down the middle. You compress it with pliers and slide your line through it. It acts as the swivel on a C rig and you can adjust the leader length without retying any terminal tackle. If you break off you only lose the bait instead of your whole rig.This is maybe more time saving that $.

WOW! Some of you guys have been fishing a long time. I;m still young by comparison! I might still get into the 10 lb club before I expire.

You came along at the best time yet. Heck, when I started you ad maybe two combos and relied on the advice of a few old timers and the 1" thick BPS master catalog. Now there is so much info at your finger tips as well as decades of research and experience. That's a great memory. People have always told us our daughter talked to them on an adult level.I think it's because she was cared for a lot by my mother and father before she was kindergarten age. We were talking politics and world events when she was 5. Having someone around to give you some culture is irreplaceable.

I've been concentrating on bass for maybe 35 years. I'm 46 now. I got my first baitcaster for Christmas at about 12 years old I think. But I've been fishing since before I have memories.

I have a buddy who fishes several times a week, so I get the report on a regular basis. Sometimes he'll text me that I better go if I want to get in on it. I plan what I think might work and tie those on about 6 combos. Then I use the kayak that I have a crate rigged with holders. I usually fish a local reservoir that's private. This decreases the competition and means the fish are rarely pressured. It's a smaller place so I know I'lll drag a bait by some fish while I'm there. There are some really big gals in the small lake. It's small enough to paddle around once in 3 hours. But I usually cut it in half and go where I've had success during similar conditions. It's also big enough for more than one pattern to work. If it's bitterly cold like in Jan-mid-March, I'll go with a buddy who uses his Tracker or I'll go to one of a few ponds that are small enough to walk the bank. I may use my fish/ski if my buddy's working or busy. As soon as it's not deadly cold in the water, I'm back in the kayak. I have a bigger boat but it's such a hassle compared to the kayak and I've caught more and bigger bass since I started fishing from it. And it replaces my cardio exercise for that day. In warmer water I prefer topwaters early, late and whenever they'll produce. I like spinnerbaits and other reaction baits. When they won't work I'll slow down with bottom bumpers. In cold water, I'll throw a t-rigged craw, small worm, jig and black spinnerbait with Col blade.

A Carolina Rig is the poor man's depth finder if you're on water and have no electronics. It'll also tell you the bottom composition and if there's structure besides the depth change. And it finds fish!

All said and done, here's what I use mostly: MH/MF 7' / BPS JM reel 5.1:1, 30# braid for jigs an t rigs MH/MF 6-6 / Cheap Ebay reel 6.1:1, 15# mono for spinner/buzzbaits and other heavy single hook presentations. M/M 6-6 / BPS reel 7:1, 15# mono for topwaters, cranks, etc. H/F 7-3 Frog rod / 7.1:1 reel, 50# braid. This one can whoop a bass in heavy cover and drag him across the surface of mat or lilies. I use jigs on it in cold water. MH/MF 7' Spinning old BPS Viper combo I got about 12 years ago. Just won't quit working. 20# braid for lighter single hook. M/MF 7' Spinning / Pfleuger Trion, 20# braid for lighter trebles. Light 6' el cheapo Spinning / Academy UL reel, 6# mono. This is a catch all for tiny bass in creeks and ponds as well as crappie and other panfish. I have maybe $28 in the combo.

My first 2 combos back in the 80's were a MH (first) then a M. Rods were mostly 5'6" back then. Now I'd go with a 6-6 to 7' M/MF and a 6-6 to 7' MH/F. The M will cover the trebles and the MH will cover the single hooks like T rigs and jigs. These will also cover spinner and buzbaits. A 6:1-ish retrieve will work, but you can get one in the 7 range for fast presentations or just to cut down on effort. I like 30# braid on the MH and 15 lb. mono on the M. Then you can get a couple spinning combos for lighter presentations of single and treble hook baits. 20# braid works well for me. Finally, you can get a broomstick (H/F) for flipping/frogs. A fast retrieve is nice for these to skate fish across the surface when you get them up. I have braid on these. Sometimes I take 7 combos with me on a kayak. You might notice I have no floro line. I hate it and the water is stained here. You have to do what you have to to catch fish.

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If you're going to cover all those techniques with one rod, probably a MH/MF. I have this "big cranker" model Falcon. http://falconrods.com/lowrider20.html But honestly, I use it for t-rigs because it's by far my most sensitive rod. Has a springy tip but is 80% backbone. The 7' is long enough for all medium to large cranks. I use 2 6-6 Lightning Rods for the baits you mentioned. I have one M and one MH to cover all those bases. I reason that these baits don't require extreme sensitivity so I can get by with a decent quality rod of the right action that's light enough to cast all day. They're quite old and some of the cork is coming off the fore grip but they're functional. When I replace them, I'll go with a better quality rod, but at the time I was getting over a divorce and was not flush with cash. There are plenty of rods between $40-$100 that will do a fine job for you.