the reel ess

I always tell people that hunt and don't understand the draw of fishing that I can throw it back and let it live, maybe catch it again. And I can go right away and look for another. When they take that shot and kill that deer the fun is over and the work begins.

Yeah, MD is certainly an acquired taste. I've heard Mustaine described as the Bod Dylan of metal. Writes good songs, but can't sing them. But he's better that any guitarists in any of the other Big 4 bands, and the other guitarist currently in the band is better than him. IDK, they embody thrash to me. I still listen to all the old bands. I like some more modern bands like A7X, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, etc. I'm still stuck on Deep Purple, Rainbow, UFO, etc. I even like a few hair metal bands, mostly the bluesy ones.I saw Metallica and Greta Van Fleet last October with my daughter and we have tickets to GVF again this October. What is any metal band whining about?

Have you listened to the new Megadeth album? It's good.

Rage Tail & Rage Bug are about the only craws I use anymore. I tried Zoom and Berkley also with good success. The Berkley were not durable, but fish held them a long time.

@Rora Nice bass! All these things will come to you. You'll learn to sidearm cast a lot. I find that I instinctively go around a small body of water clockwise because it's easier for me to cast that way. You'll learn to use a paddle with one hand to make adjustments with a rod in the other without thinking about it. I can do it while fighting fish now. You'll learn how to bring fish to your strong hand and land them. You won't usually need a net. I have a net that I only use when I'm landing a big bass on trebles, so not very often. I do lose some smaller fish that shake off at the boat, but no biggie. I wasn't going to eat them anyway.

T'is the season bro. It's gotten really slow here and usually does in the dog days. Sometimes it doesn't rebound for a while. Lately, I've been considering live bait.

I have one that's probably 20 years old. So old it was made in USA. I bought it used from a coworker for $50 about 15 years ago. The line guides are a tad flimsy, but I just bend them back out. They've stayed on with a lot of use. It hasn't had any issues with the finish though. It's my most sensitive rod by far. Therefore it's my favorite. I've used it for everything from frogs to crankbaits. I settled on T-rigs with it.

Their guesses are better educated. I've caught fish in front of less experienced anglers and they'll say "How did you do that?" or "How did you know that fish was there?" The answer is usually so complex I can't explain it adequately. They just get that glassed over look in the eyes when I try. I'll just say I knew from experience, seasonal patterns and luck that a fish might be there and might bite this lure.

Like with baitcast reels. I sent a Lew's reel to BPS to be fixed. It was making a terrible racket when cast, which I assumed was a bearing going bad. They called me and told me they had no contract with Lew's so they didn't have parts for it. But they wanted to offer me an exchange for the Carbonlite 2.0. I took it. It came back and looked cosmetically almost exactly like the Lew's reel, just shiny, flashy colors. It even has that little window on the underside to oil the gears. I find it hard to believe they didn't have a bearing that would fit the Lew's.

@NorthernBasser They can even vary greatly in the same body of water.

The fact of the matter is that a light color frog casts the same shadow as a dark color frog. And the back of the frog is not visible to bass. That pattern is only there for the angler.

How about Falcon Bucoo or Lowrider?

I'm all for the big baits until I don't get a bite three straight trips. This is my philosophy. Big bass will bite small baits or large baits if you present them an they're hungry. My 2nd biggest bass, and very close to my biggest, came on a 5" SK Ocho. My big bass baits are jig, T-rigged worms and craws, spinnerbaits, bigger topwaters.

Yes. In most of my experience, pond bass are not "schoolers".

It probably would work just fine. But since this is a state managed fishery, the DNR might frown upon it. On the other hand, they encourage people to put out Christmas trees in the big lakes.

I had a canoe, a 13' Old Town. I found it difficult to paddle from the rear in any breeze and too wide to paddle from the middle. It was more exercise because mine wasn't as light as yours. Traded that canoe for a Browning Buckmark pistol, which I parlayed into an AR-15. I'm getting sidetracked. I loved the canoe for 2 people, not so much for just me. And I like to fish alone a lot. I'm my favorite companion.

My current kayak is a Perception Pescador Pro 10'. I bought it for the stadium seat. But I saved $200 by not going with the 12 footer. Both my older kayaks were 12' and they tracked better. I've wished I got the 12 since I bought it. It's stable enough and easy to paddle and maneuver. No stable enough for standing, at least not by me. I see your canoe. Do you also kayak fish?

September is just summer pt II in SC. ?

Variety is the spice of life, especially when your usual water hole becomes the Dead Sea. My buddy texted me he caught 2 tiny crappie at the usual location. I have another small pond I have access to where the fish are stupid and hungry. It's a good place to get your mojo back when you can't buy a bite. Dog days are tough in SC unless you night fish, which I do not.

This. It's pretty common in the south. Just stakes driven into or anchored to the bottom to allow loose cover/structure for fish in a body of water that's devoid of any. The cool thing about them is they're easy to find and they concentrate fish. But DNR should have done several of them in the deepest area.

That stake bed was in about the deepest spot, probably in the creek bed. I can see why they had a fish kill. I could have caught all the fish in 30 minutes and gone home in time for dinner. ? I imagine they spread out in cooler water. A place with that much shallow water would probably be fun around the spawn. Well, I had the place to myself (I see why) and got my exercise in. The fish were very healthy and didn't know when to give up.

It's a 25 acre public, DNR lake (think big pond) that's about 7 miles from home. There was a fish kill there years ago and they restocked it and added stake beds and concrete drain tiles. I started off by fishing a stake bed. Caught two and got hung up on some old fishing line. I figured I'd spooked any remaining fish out so I paddled on. I discovered that at least 23 acres is 2' deep or less. Went all the way around the place without a nibble. Went back to that one stake bed and caught 4 more off of it. It's just funny to me the only piece of cover/structure I could get a bite off of was that one stake bed. There were others. They just didn't produce a bite. I probably won't go back.

The problem with your friend's stance is they were always biting yesterday. You should a been there! You know, to each his own. Most of us on this board are pretty much fanatical about it. But the vast majority of people don't get a lot of enjoyment out of grinding out 3 bites in the dog days heat or 1 bite in the winter.

Feed at night. I would try to punch the mats because I'm better at that type of approach.

South Carolina's pretty nice for fishing and weather. But leave California behind if you come to stay.