the reel ess

I got a $50 gift card for Cabela's and I want to put some with it and get a reel in the $80-$100 range. I wish it was for BPS because I'd get a Johnny Morris reel and be happy for 10 years. I have no experience with Cabela's brand, but the reviews seem to be at both ends of the spectrum. What are your opinions of their brand reels? One of the reviews mentions they're made by Daiwa. My experience is that Daiwa's bang-for-buck is just about over-the-top. What other recommendations are there?

I had a '66 coupe once upon a time. It was my daily driver at a time when I was flat broke. I had to carry spare parts, hoses and my toolbox in the trunk. It made me a good mechanic.

Start with a T rig, a spinnerbait, a crankbait and a topwater hardbait like Spook, Jr or Pop R. That should cover the water top-to-bottom. Get good with them using them at the right times and branch out. 90% of catching bass is being where they are. Pros say they'd rather have the wrong bait in the right place than right bait in wrong place. Fish that aren't there won't bite anything. To that end, don't worry as much about colors as the right presentation. Find them, then tune your presentation until you find the one they want. There will be fishless days. Don't get discouraged. Keep a journal faithfully. It will help to look back at what did and didn't work.

Love the Mustang.

I have a complaint about the AC/DC Rapala. I got one for a gift and waited a long time to use it. It only worked once. And wouldn't work with either power source again. No receipt. I got a Mr Twister 120VAC with the curved blades and love it. Curved blades help allow you to work on a flat surface with smaller fish, like crappie.

My very first spinnerbaits were BPS's bargain basement Uncle Buck brand and I caught a bunch of fish on them for several years. I bought one in white and chart in every combo of blades they had. Alas, they finally replaced that line with a one on par with premium brands with better paint, contoured shaped heads and realistic eyes. I still have the old ones and they still catch fish. I doubt it matters if a spinnerbait runs a little sideways. I'm usually not burning it like that because I want it to bump things in the water.

But driving to the lake is necessary to fishing. It only takes once. We're always hearing about someone successfully defending their life with a firearm these days. I have been walked up on before by someone who gave me the feeling I was being sized up. But I was left alone, probably because I looked poor at the time.

Yes. The firearm this SOB was carrying was 100% illegal too and the fisherman is dead forever.

Right. Some fish never go deep. And they're more likely to be shallow in winter than in the hottest part of summer, especially of the water is normally stained. In a pond where most of the water is shallow, most of the bass probably will be too. But shallow is a relative term.

They're only doing marginally better than the ones that line the walls there.

Then they'll die out. I can't imagine people putting that many stripers in a place, but there they are. They need some deeper water to find the right temps and oxygen content to make it through the heat of summer.

They won't be in a landlocked lake in large numbers for very long unless stocked by the state. While true that under the best conditions they can reproduce, in a lake where they can't get to a constantly flowing tailrace (almost any lake), they won't self-sustain. If they came over the dam, they'll probably die out. After the spawn, it's not uncommon to see larger ones floating as they attempted to fulfill their biological directive for the last time. I've caught stripers, white bass, white perch and what I would bet are hybrids all in one day. But hybrids were not stocked on that lake and white bass had long been presumed displaced by the perch. I asked an SCDNR fisheries manager about it and he told me they do go over dams in large numbers occasionally. My guess is same as yours. People know they aren't supposed to be there and tossed them. Check with DNR and proceed. You might be able to keep them all if you catch a mess. They taste great, like an ocean fish such as grouper. If they've gotten easy to catch it's probably because they're competing with bass for limited resources. But their time is short. Try the tailrace when the water temp is creeping into the 60's and the dam is generating.

Hey, NC guys. I'm renting a cabin on the Broad R a little below Lake Lure for the weekend of March 18. Can I reasonably expect anything to be biting then? Trout or small mouth or anything else? Are there special size, quantity limits or seasonal bans that apply? Thanks in advance.

Rapala Classic Minnow, gold Rapala X-Rap, gold.

I have a boat that's a pain to tow, unload, load and park, recover, etc. But I have a friend who will fish maybe once a week in the coldest weather. He's my real-time fishing report. And I'll go with him every couple weeks, weather permitting. Beyond that, I watch YouTube vids and buy stuff online for next season. I went today in the kayak. As long as it's sunny and mild, that'd an otpion.

My friend catches more on a CC Spot. It's shaped exactly like the Trap, but the metallic gold is darker. But I can tell you, I haven't caught any dinks on the Trap. All big'uns.

Well, I caught 2. One on spnnerbait & one on T-rigged craw. Missed 2 more on the craw. I really wanted to catch one on the swimbait. That'lll have to wait for another day.

I thought I might add a bucktail fly to the wrench to spice it up. I caught a bass on a generic Gummy Worm though.

One of my favs is a model A in craw pattern.

Cool. What are some of your fav dropsot baits? In off-color water, what colors would I be looking for?

I have only tried a dropshot once, to no avail. But the water's generally stained around here. From what I hear, dropshots excel in gin clear water, no?

It just so happens I usually take 5 rods with me on the kayak. I have 5 holders rigged.

I'm going Friday. What are your favorite baits for water in the 55 degree range? Probably full sun, 69 degree weather, northerly wind, permanently stained, but not dirty water. I'm thinking Rat L Trap, slow rolled Colorado blade spinnerbait, T-rigged Craw.

I only have three and I only use one: Bandit FlatMaxx. Tenn Shad

BPA, a chemical used in plastic for food packaging as well as many water bottles, causes cancer. Just don't eat the fishing lure and you'll probably be OK.