the reel ess

Or strong

If you're fishing a big lake, you might not find them for a while. They're likely on offshore structure during the day this time of year.

I never really liked video games and always considered them a waste of time and money. When you're done with it, you have no more to show for your efforts than when you began.

I wouldn't mind less competition for a finite number of bites.

I'd ask them to make all soft plastics and cranks in golden shiner patterns. I fish a place with shiners and I have to improvise a good bit to get bit.

I used to pack a plano box, but I got tired of always changing it out. My kayak has a flush-mount rod holder and I put 4 more in a milk crate. So now I can take 5 rods rigged. Then I throw a few bags of soft plastics behind the seat. If they won't hit any of that, I'm just out of luck. Or I can paddle back to the truck, where I left the entire tackle bag, and unload what they aren't biting and tie on something else.

I hear you on the cost. But you could get pretty deep into bass fishing with 2 spinning combos. Then add on as you improve and learn new techniques. When I was a 13-18 year old, all I wanted was fishing tackle and equipment. My mom had to drag me clothes shopping and could never get me to tell her anything I wanted outside of fishing.

But probably not a decline from when I stopped fishing public waters. I probably wouldn't notice a difference. And I imagine boating and jet ski traffic is up since development is.

I don't know about that in SC. But when I stopped chasing small fish around a huge reservoir it seemed to me to be at record high levels. That's why I stopped. I couldn't even be alone on a Monday anymore.

I caught a lot of bass on them when I was a kid. Bill Dance endorsed them and I idolized him. I also asked for a Daiwa BC reel because of him. He has probably switched brands of reels/rods 10X since them. Back to Bagley's...I'm sure there have been innovations since 2004, but if they were decent then, they'll catch fish now.

What do you have to lose? next time you're out and things aren't going great, throw it. edit: I was thinking of a fluke when I said that. For me, they seem to shy away from the hard jerkbaits after late spring. But they'll still hit the fluke, I guess because it's a little bit slower and it sinks. I'll also still try the Trick Worm, weightless, fished as you would a hard jerkbait. As a bonus, if you're on a lake with stripers, they'll also hit the fluke when you happen upon them on the main lake structure where you're bass fishing. I caught a few once as fast as I could cast and unhook. I was throwing them in the floor of the boat and casting back out.

I have a buddy that used to be that way. Everything was a competition, complete with smack-talk. If we went out fishing and I landed 2 nice bass, but he landed 4 eyeball bluegill, he won! And he wanted to keep EVERYTHING-even got angry with me when I didn't. Over the years, I got used to his smack-talking and ignored it or engaged in it myself, while he was becoming a better angler and learning to catch bass and enjoy the fishing almost as much as hearing himself talk. He recently caught his PB from a kayak fishing with me and he released it. My work is done there.

Someone on here told me if it bothers you, put a dab of SuperGlue on the knot. It bothers me.

Get a sit on top that's made for fishing and it probably will never dump you. They're more stable. I bailed out of mine once in 3 years-my fault-and the rods all stayed in and it never flipped. You get what you pay for. If you want to stand in it, I think the cheapest you'll find is about $600-700. Mine is a 10' Perception Sport Pescador, which is a decent little fishing kayak, but toward the cheaper end of the range. It's $500 every day at Academy. You get used to casting and hook sets from it. Try some out before you decide on a model. It would be good if you could fish for 3 hours in one before buying. They can hurt your butt after a while. A good seat is a great feature.

I don't get skunked a lot. Usually, when it happens is in the winter or after an early season cold front. But to me, it's more about expecting a bite. I missed an early spring/late winter monster this year because I wasn't expecting anything to hit. My dad used to call that head up the butt syndrome. He wasn't a fantastic bass fisherman by far. He only used a crankbait or a 6" worm most of the time. But he did have patience and concentration that he instilled in me. Pay attention at all times if your hook is in the water! When I started fishing he would get mad at me for losing one. He was late to the fishing just for fun party. I don't ever really get a negative attitude about fishing anymore. I can usually take 5 lures and get a bite on one. After all, there are at least crawfish, bluegill and/or minnows everywhere I fish.

My family had a lake house when I was growing up and we would clean them and drop them off the end of the pier after dark. Everything would be gone the next day, but the catfishing would be good that night. The air bladder in them can cause them to float if you filleted them and didn't cut into the abdomen. Stick a knife through the abdomen so they'll all sink. People get a little bent out of shape about filleted carcasses on their beach. If there's a size limit, don't fillet them before you get home. Game wardens will probably fine you if they see that.

I don't. I don't fish for toothy critters or catch them by accident. If the hooks are that bad on a lure, I replace it. Usually, if you have a lure that good, you tend to lose it before the hooks require replacement. I don't know of any lure I have that comes with hooks so bad that I'd go out and spend more $$$ to replace them.

I throw them in the woods behind my house. I live in town, but the entire block behind me is undeveloped hardwoods. Coons an possums appreciate them. Take them in a bucket to a location with no residents and toss them into a deep ditch. Then fire your pistol a few times, yell "YEE-HAAH", and speed away before deputies come. That's what I'd do.

Mine are very old

I went to a private pond yesterday that's just a bass fishing postcard. I know there are bass there because I got a bite from a tiny bass that shook off. And I spooked a few while paddling the kayak. But that was the only bite. They just weren't doing it. Tried the T rig, jig, topwater and frog. Even the can't-miss Trick Worm missed. Sometimes there's nothing you can do except experiment.

What makes white perch a nuisance to me is that they flare those gills and can slice your hand if you're holding them like a bluegill. And they tend to get all three hooks of a treble inside their mouth. Then sometimes they'll get the other treble in their tail or side, making it very difficult to get unhooked. Personally, since they've eradicated the white bass, I like to catch a whole lot of them at once. It's better than not catching crappie where they used to be.

If it's a native fish, like a gar or a bowfin, I would just release it.

In SC white perch have overcome the white bass wherever they've been introduced and are fierce competitors with crappie. DNR says they weren't stocked. They have lifted the limit and ask people to take as many as they can and don't return them to the water even if you waste them. They make good catfish bait. And they taste pretty good too. You tend to catch a bunch crappie fishing or bass fishing with cranks.

NM

I use the Trick Stick by Big Bite. I have some old purple Kinami stick worms. But I understand they're really made by Yamamoto.