the reel ess

What's your winter kayak fishing clothing? I have a SOT and don't want to stop fishing this year. I'm in SC and it doesn't freeze over. The water typically won't fall much below 50 degrees.

I caught plenty o' bass when I had a big mullet.

I said I strapped it to the roof rack. And yeah, it's a small SUV. It should have been strapped at each end as well. I admit the issue was mine. I also don't recommend doing it the way I did. But it was a one-time thing and we managed.

I did exactly as you're describing with a canoe on top of my wife's small SUV once except I strapped it to the roof rack. I have a truck but we needed shuttle service up the river. I sliced pool noodles and put them on the gunwales and put the canoe on upside down. It was sketchy at best. I still had to open her sunroof and hold on to the canoe and we went no faster than 35 mph. There was just not enough surface contact on the roof. And that car has a rack on the roof.

That's a decision only you can make. Obviously, you'll get better and better on your home turf. But it is quite an adventure for me to try new spots. A change of scenery is usually welcome. Especially during times like the dog days when you can't buy a bite or when the fishing slows for no apparent reason. If you have a friend who fishes the new place, get their advice. Lures that work for me everywhere, any time of year: T-rigged worms or craws, Spinnerbaits (you might need to adjust the blade, color and size) and jigs. You can usually get it done with one of these all year. A topwater in the dead of winter probably won't work. Honorable mention: Rat L Trap.

I've hired 2 guides in my life. The first one was a striper guide who wanted to set the hook on every fish and hand us the rods. I got wise to that and sat by the rods in holders that were getting bit the most and started grabbing one and doing my own work. He wanted us the get a limit early so he could cut out early. That experience was good because we caught 13 stripers, a bass and a big cat. And I hired a saltwater inshore guide once. We didn't catch the gamefish we wanted and ended up going to a nearshore reef and catching a few sharks. That was like saltwater channel cats. That guy told me after I shelled out the cash to catch redfish and trout and didn't that it was really a bad time of year for those species. Something he could have said on the phone when I asked him. Not worth the money. So I would suggest knowing when is a good time to catch your target species, researching your guide well and getting others' opinions on guides. And pick his brain about techniques. Tip him if you catch anything and tip well if you catch a lot.

The pond has a no-spawning rule? And the fish obey? LOL. Well, it won't have fish for very long then. Most bass don't live past 3 lbs.

Is it the reel hand? You can get the opposite-handed reel or use spinning. I have resorted to using T-rigs a lot more. You can use a reel with a burner ratio to limit the revolutions. You can also take up trolling for crappies. Or you can fish smaller waters where you know your bait will be seen by fish to limit your number of casts. On days when I have to crank it to get them, I just suffer later, but more so with shoulder pain from slinging the bait all day. If you're going to have *** worked on, you can do it now and be ready for spring. edit: I see the last post. Good deal and good luck with it.

More than once this past spring.early summer, they saved my day.

I use a MH/MF 7' older Falcon Lowrider. I have 30 lb braid on it. I don't use a leader as a rule, but I will occasionally take a Sharpie to the last few feet of line. Also, I use this for a C-rig on occasion and I'll use some mono for the leader then. I use an equally older BPS Johnny Morris reel with 5.2:1 retrieve. I bought it off Ebay and had it worked on and now it's smooth as butter and casts light rigs down to 1/8. I usually use 3/16-1/4 though. If I had it to do over, I'd probably have a retrieve in the 6.3 range, but I got what I got. Seems to me these days there's almost no need for a ratio lower than 6.

I hadn't either until about a year ago when I ran across it on YouTube and it coincided with a really good run of summer evening topwater action for me. I carried it through this summer and it has become my favorite way to fish the dog days. Sometimes I'll have three topwaters tied on. Summer lasts a long time in SC and I believe bass do most of their feeding at night during this period. I do tend to fish shallower waters though. If you're fishing a major impoundment, the topwater action probably won't be that great most of the time.

The Carolina rig is the poor man's depth finder. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are big fish lures. If you want to catch big fish, it's more important to be where there are some than to use a 12" swimbait. The hottest and most humid evenings and mornings are best for topwaters (night is good too, but most people aren't out then). Crappie jig under a float works for bass in the winter.

If you know a place with stunted, hungry bass, that's a good place to try a new technique for the first time. Using braid on spinning gear will greatly reduce the twists that eventually turn into knots. If you're careful, you can use the same line for years. Braid might seem expensive until you've used it for a loooong time with no breakoffs. When the end of your braid looks old and highly visible, you can reel it onto another reel and you'll be using the new end. You can go cheaper on rods where the technique does not require great sensitivity, like topwaters. It's easier to sneak up on bass in a kayak than in a boat.

Welcome! Is it 3:10 in Yuma?

I have the Lew's Tourney MB LFS reel in 7.5:1. I LOVE IT! I've used it for a whole season and don't think I've backlashed it yet. It's my frog and jig rod on a Hvy/F rod. I'll probably get another to replace my most recent worn out reel.

Pick a good one. At least one with a solid aluminum frame. If you don't, you'll probably not get great service out of it and you may become discouraged and end up yard selling it. You'll get recommendations to the contrary, but I'm right and they're wrong. J/K. You get what you pay for. If money is an issue, may I suggest the Academy line of BC reels. They have all the features available that the brand names have and they're so much cheaper you can afford the rod too. They happen to have 3 on sale right now and anything above $25 ships free. Look at the customer ratings. http://www.academy.com/shop/browse/fishing/fishing--reels?searchType=2&searchTerm=&facet=mfName_ntk_cs%3A%22H2O+XPRESS%22&beginIndex=0&orderBy=&pageView=grid&minPrice=&maxPrice=&pageSize=&

Get a wood cover and put the queen back in the garage. Even if you cover the boat well, you're still exposing the trailer and tires to the elements and exposing the boat to temperature swings, spiders, cockroaches, lizards, squirrels, etc.

I'm really sorry for your loss. My mom died a few years ago just a year shy of her and my dad's 50th. You could tell it never crossed my dad's mind that he might live longer than Mom. He's done OK. He's become much more sociable because he simply got lonely. He has a circle of friends he eats breakfast with every day and some family who check up on each other all the time. He's tried dating a few people, but always finds that they simply aren't my mom. Hang in there. You never know what the future has in store for you. And keep fishing, by all means. It's what keeps us sane.

The classic Spook. I caught 5 fish on 5 casts with this thing. I didn't retie because I was so excited and #6 broke me off. I didn't have another so I tied on a Pop R and couldn't catch cold. Then I proceeded to not catch a single fish on it for about 10 years. I started trying a Jr size with a knocker in smaller waters with some success. The chug'n Spook Jr has also been a good one for me. T-rigged craws. No matter the brand, but I've always had better luck with black/blue.

I bought a fish/ski when my daughter was very little with the idea that we could enjoy watersports as a family and I could also get my fishing needs fulfilled. WRONG! We've almost never used it as a family. My wife has only been in it once. Later, I bought myself a kayak and my daughter one when she was finally old enough to enjoy it. That has been a lot more useful. If I had it to do over, I'd have bought an aluminum bass boat of some kind for fishing when it's too cold for the kayak.

Go to small finesse baits. Google Ike's Panic Box. Especially the small finesse worm. Brand doesn't matter that much. I like a C rigged Zoom Finesse Worm with a lighter bullet weight, like 1/8 oz. You can also do a spit shot rig, but the weight can damage your line if it's mono or floro. Pick a more natural looking color like watermelon or pumpkin.You'll probably catch smaller fish, but there can be big ones mixed in. Good luck

What problem?

You look like Tim McGraw if that's your picture.

C-rigging a Rapala sounds like a big fish bait.

World's most dangerous baby mobile. I caught a bass on a T-rigged weightless Gummy Worm once just to prove I could.I also have a wrench rig I made, but I haven't used it yet. I've thought about dipping it in gold because there are golden shiners where I fish.