the reel ess

So you keep 9 fish on a stringer and if you don't catch the 10th you throw them all back?

No, not where I fish. But then I primarily fish private properties.

I've actually caught them with crappie jigs in a local city reservoir.

I went years with no luck on Spooks. Now all of a sudden it's my best lure. Well, the Chug'n Spook, Jr. I got 2 fish over 5# in a week on it. I own 4 Spooks. I was thinking of going out one evening with all 4 tied on different rods. This is largemouth I'm talking about though.

He's like Satan like that. The greatest trick the bait monkey ever pulled was making you think he doesn't exist.

Me too, but that's still not a $600 reel. It's a BPS Johnny Morris I bought off Ebay and then sent to BPS to fix. Got $70 in it. Even if I bought it new today it would only be $159. But you can really feel the quality in it. That thing's bearings have bearings. I think I'll buy another when I need a replacement. Now I just need to wait for one to break. I never considered it before, but that's a great way to save some dough. Buy someone's worn out junk and get them to fix it for $20.

I guess I don't have as much as you guys, but why would you want to avoid the bait monkey? There are still techniques I have yet to try because I haven't BOUGHT into them.

The first two times I used them late spring I couldn't keep fish off the hook. Now that they're in a summer pattern, they can't buy a strike. But I think part of the reason is that most people simply don't use them so they're new to fish and fish are curious creatures. After every fish in the pond has either bitten or seen one they won't produce as well. They're a great bait if you're in the back of the boat. You'll get some fish that just ignore the more traditional baits he's throwing.

I have a place a friend lets me use that's overpopulated. I keep everything per his wishes and put half in his basket he keeps at the pier. What I consider too small I leave for him. If he wants to release them, they're his. I caught my (at the time) PB, 6.5#, there years ago. But since then it's been all less than or right at 2 lbs except for a couple. I try my best to cull with the lures I use but I still get dink bites all day.

in SC, you won't get away with that very long because there seem to be so many game wardens. And if they have any idea you're an illegal they won't let you leave until you or someone else pays the fine on the spot. I went down the Wateree R last May or June and the stripers were off-limits (spawning run). There were some guys taking pics and releasing them. There were wardens all over the boat landing in Camden, SC. I got a written warning for not having a whistle in my kayak. I later found out it's illegal to even attempt to catch stripers with traditional striper lures during that season. Taking the pics was illegal too. I caught and released one on a craw crank.

Get an electric knife and get some practice with it. It'll go fast.

I don't "bleed" them. I just try to either keep them alive or on ice until I get home. Stringer, livewell or cooler. You can leave them overnight on ice if it's too late. Then I fillet them and they go into a freezer bag and in the fridge. If, after a day I haven't used them, they go into the freezer. My friend soaks them in a little brine overnight. But that's all I do.

I've been going last two hours of the day and doing quite well on a Chug'n Spook, Jr. in frog pattern. Caught a couple on a Booyah Pad Crasher and a whopper on T-rigged Zoom Speed Craw.

I have a crush on Gamakatsu

I might have caught a new personal best on the Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed craw Tuesday evening. I didn't have a scale or even a phone to take pics. But it fought harder and looked bigger than any bass I've ever caught. So my 3 biggest fish have come on...drum roll please... Zoom Craw, T rigged, black sapphire Snag Proof Original Frog Zoom Trick Worm, bubble gum

Are any of you anyone doing this? at about 11:00, he explains the snell knot. I just tied one and I can tell it would definitely increase the hookup percentage. Seems like it might also have your weight crooked against the hook all day. I guess you need to pull the nose of the plastic over the hook eye. But I've been using a black glass bead between the tungsten weight and the hook knot to avoid the weight cutting the knot.

First time I ever used a Spook, I caught 5 fat bass on 5 casts, then the 6th broke me off. I didn't take the time to retie. I didn't have another so I tied on a Pop R and managed one more bite. There is something about that action when they key in on it. Then...nothing for years. Now, in just the past week, I've caught 2 over 5# on a Chug'n Spook Jr in frog pattern. It's my new favorite lure. I still have 2 big ones and 2 juniors. I may go oiut one evening just before dark with all 4 tied on. If there's a better lure of this type I don't know of it. I know the Sammy was big a few years ago, but at $17 most people stuck with Spook. Everybody else is just a "me too" IMO.

Booyah rules! If you need one smaller than the Junior size, you need a new fishin' hole. If they are grabbing the legs, trim them a bit.

Does your Pocket Frog work well? I have one of the small ones and a med sized. I've only used the medium. It sucks. It fills with water by the third twitch. I complained on their YouTube video and they suggested I Superglue it at the nose and that plastic button on the belly. How long could that work? You shouldn't have to tune an $8 frog when there are cheaper ones that work better.

Gama 4/0 EWG period. Best hook ever made. Equally as important are your line and your rod. But I can still cross their eyes with heavy mono using this hook. I hooked a pig through tissue so hard the other night it took me probably 5 min to get it out. I cut the line and pushed it thru the jaw. I had that thing hooked 6 ways to Sunday on a single hook. I kept having to dip the fish in the water to get it some oxygen.

If the bluegill are eating bass eggs during the spawn, they're taking the whole slot limit to the extreme. They're lowering the number of bass before they are even hatched. Fewer bass means bigger bass.

My best pond (has monsters in it) has people taking fish from it. Some of us won't keep the big'uns, but some will. Sometimes I keep dinks up to 3#. My buddy keeps a lot of them. What causes them to grow big is probably a combination of people taking fish and better than adequate water quality and abundant baitfish. Rest assured most of the fish taken by the aforementioned latinos are probably not trophies. I have this discussion all the time with a friend. He says a fish hatchery employee told him you can't "fish out" a pond. He thinks if you want to have more big fish you have to make room for them by taking some. I say just the opposite. Take the dinks, and leave the big ones. When you take one, that's one less you have. And they don't grow over 5# as a rule. Ponds don't need more dinks, they need more monsters. So I tell him a 5# bass has a lot better chance of being a 6, 7 or 8# bass than a 1# bass has. Most 1# bass won't be trophy size even if left alone.

Yes, that's how you do it. I ALWAYS use a trailer for buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. Can't tell you how many times I've caught one on the trailer that I probably would not have known was even there. This late winter I lost a very good fish on a SB and didn't have a trailer. It was the only bite I got that day. I can't be sure it would have caught the fish, but it certainly would have given me a lot better odds. I kicked myself and went home and put one on every BB & SB I own.

"It's OK to eat fish cuz they don't have any feelings" Nirvana On the other hand..."It's OK to C&R fish cuz they don't have any feelings." Me

Bamabass on Youtube says he uses straight braid except where he knows there are trophy fish, then he uses straight heavy mono because he thinks the big fish shy away from braid. I don't see a reason to add one more knot and weaker line than you already have on your reel. That said, I had a leader of 15# Big Game on for T-rigs and a main line of 50# braid recently and got hung up. I straightened out a Gamakatsu EWG hook.