the reel ess

I haven't used it. For one, it's a very weedy bottom over 90% of the reservoir I fish most of the time. I feel it would be buried in the weeds. Second, it's not weedless. I guess it would be OK to use it on a light shaky-head jig hook to help with the weeds. But to keep it from being fouled with weeds, I'd probably have to use a steady retrieve.

That's good info about Eagle Claw. I stopped using them maybe 15 years ago because Gamakatsu was so much sharper and superior quality material and my hookup percentage, esp. with a Carolina rig using monofilament, went way up. Then I switched to braid on spinning gear and it went up more. I may give them another shot. Some time back, I purged all my EC hooks out and gave them to a buddy who doesn't fish that much. But I know he catches fish on them. My dad, ever the cheap skate where fishing is involved, bought a lifetime supply of Eagle Claw 3/0 offset worm hooks from Wally World and told me to use them up. I said OK, but never touched them.

Put a trailer hook on the spinnerbaits. Some on here wil disagree. But I can see no reason you shouldn't. Fish at lower light times of day. They take baits better then. I can't comment on FC. I don't use it. But it may help you take up slack before setting the hook. Lighter mono will have a good bit more stretch than 15#. If there's any slack line out, you have to take that up AND the stretch before you can set. I have a light combo with some BPS select mono that can be tough to set hooks on bass with because of the stretch.I mostly use it for baits with trebles.

When I was new, I only had one rod/reel combo and so few lures I wouldn't switch them. Now, I like to take several combos with lures for the 3 zones: bottom, middle and top. I usually start the day (early morning) on top or middle if the water temp is above 72. If that fails, after a couple hours, it's all T-rig bottom-bumping unless I see some activity that makes me think bass are getting more aggressive. But there are many variables. Top: topwater baits, of course Middle: Trick Worm, weightless, jerkbait or maybe spinnerbait Bottom: T-rigged craw or worm. Crankbaits. So I switch baits and presentations all the time depending on what I see and whether I'm getting any bites. As for moving, I fish either from a boat or kayak in a smaller reservoir. I'm always moving unless the fish are just killing it in one location. Hope this helps.

It's the first artificial I ever used with regular success-for crappie. But I know bass love bigger ones too. I still use small ones in ponds on a Roadrunner head to catch finicky bass when bigger baits fail. I use them on a light combo with 6# mono. You can also catch big bluegills on them as well as the occasional crappie.

I went to Wateree last Monday. It is much better, but I expect it'll drop soon too. They usually draw down in the winter to kill weeds.

My problem with SB's is mostly keeping skirts on them. They just aren't made like they used to be. Where I fish most of the time, SB is not an everyday bait. It seems that every time I really start catching them on it, the skirts fall off. Same with buzzbaits. And replacement skirts seem to be even lower quality.

Realistic looking frog at dusk. Tiny Rebel Crick Hopper and Bumble Bug. Small wacky Senko. Live worm or small panfish under a bobber. I had a place like that I sneaked into when I was a kid. I only caught one fish ever there, but there were big'uns that never would bite.

I'm too uncoordinated with my left hand to back reel. Jimmy Houston will disengage his BC reel's spool to avoid a line-stretching surge at the boat. I had to do this once, but it was because the fish was taking too much drag and I needed to slow him down.

The guy in that pic has unlimited access to as many rods as he can break. I don't.

I have 50# braid on BC reels because it digs into your spool when you set the hook or yank it out of a snag. 50# is the same diameter of 12# mono. A 20# braid will be thinner and dig into itself on the spool worse. Just remember if you lock down the drag on a cheaper reel (one with a graphite or composite frame) and horse really big fish in you could damage the reel. 50# braid is suitable for fishing frogs in thick weeds and slop. This is a situation where you would normally cinch that drag and yank the fish out. I'm not knocking the Black Max or lower budget reels. One of my reels has a composite frame too. Just keep it in mind. An alternative to that is 15-17# Berkley Big Game mono. I've caught a bunch of big bass on that line.

I'm from nearby. When I floated down the Wateree, I've had good success on the Rebel Wee Craw crankbait. I just cast it behind logs or rocks that were breaking current on inside bends where the water was a little deeper. River bass are fun and strong. Do you fish the river just behind the Wylie dam? I've been wanting to go wade and fish around Landsford Canal. Maybe put the kayak in and float down to Landsford.

Curious...do you guys up there eat northern pike? The closest thing we have are chain and redfin pickerel and they rarely reach eating size. I've never caught one.

It's worth a look. I still found plenty to spend my $$$ on.

+1 that. I've seen an awful lot of bass and other species with that on them in the big public lakes with miles and miles of runoff upstream. But I've seen NONE of it in the private ponds I fish.

Zebco 33 when I was about 7. Later I got a Daiwa UL spinning combo. Then when I was 13 I asked for my first Daiwa BC combo for Christmas because I saw Bill Dance using one. I was always leaning on my dad to buy me more and better fishing equipment. I would have dressed in rags, but didn't want to be caught without the right combo for every fishing opportunity.

Thanks for the responses. Just using the boat once I'm reminded why I like the kayak so much better. Such a hassle to haul it to the big lake and catch one dink bass and lose a small striper at the boat, then haul it back home. I also had to gas (and oil) it up and rig up a drain plug because mine broke the night before on a Sunday night.

Thanks for the reply. No. In fact, I have the ear muffs for running it on land. I'm thinking it's just too big a coincidence that the thermostats were out when I got it. During lunch I went digging thru a bucket of things the guy gave me with the boat and there are two old ones in it. I must reasonably assume there's my sign. I'm not immune to doing something stupid though. I was ready to take it to a mechanic once because it wouldn't crank. My dad suggested I check the kill switch. Bingo!

The impeller has been replaced and barely used since.

Thanks, Yeah, it seems to be "peeing" with a sufficient stream. The impeller has very few hours on it as well. I had it changed by the same Merc mechanic that did the rest of the work a few years ago and haven't used the boat 5 times since. I'm not certain I agree that it should pump the same volume at idle though. The impeller speed is directly tied to engine RPM, correct?

No it was pretty much weed-free. I was slow trolling at idle though-not much water circulating thru the motor. Like I said, when I got the boat the thermostats were missing. Now I must assume that's why. When I took it to a mechanic he asked me if the motor was cold-natured. I said it was, extremely. It can sometimes run the battery down cranking for the first time. He wanted to return it back to stock at the same time the oil injection was disabled. I guess I need to remove them. I guess I should have known better because I bought the boat from a car mechanic who had been the only owner. But I figured a Mercury mechanic's opinion was better than a car mechanic's.

I should mention that the oil injection system was professionally disabled by a Merc mechanic and I premix 50:1 fuel, so I don't think the alarm should have anything to do with oil injection operation. And the water pump impeller was also replaced at the same time. There has been very little time put on the motor since then.

Yesterday I got this alarm after trolling at idle for maybe 15 minutes. I switched off for a few minutes, cranked it and it was still alarming. I sped up and it went away. Is this overheating? When I got the boat, there were no thermostats in it (If I remember correctly, there should be two). I had a mechanic put them in.

One way of fishing in the summer slime without always being fouled is a weightless Zoom Trick Worm, Texas rigged. But that'll require a spinning combo. May I suggest you start writing down what happened on your trips, what worked, what didn't and the results. Also include what to remember for next time. When the season rolls around next year, the details will give you a have a head start. The summer doldrums can be really tough. You can fish all day for a couple bites-maybe. Everything you thought you knew from spring/early summer just is not working. Bass in ponds can find a spot in the vegetation on the bottom and hunker down for a long time without biting. You have to put a hook in their face to get one. They're being opportunistic and only eating what gets close to them. I bought a kayak as well and use it to cover more water. I can tell you all the big fish I've caught this year came from the kayak, not from the back of my buddy's Bass Tracker. When they're not chasing bait, making a lot of casts to specific targets with slow-moving, bottom-bumping baits gets more bites. I also like the last couple hours before dark. I'll use a T rigged craw with 3/16 oz bullet weight and topwaters.

I was taking pics of every fish I caught over 5 lbs, but I realized they all really look alike because the biggest this year was 6.3#. Taking a phone pic from the kayak is difficult and I don't have a GoPro yet. So I just write them down when I get home.