the reel ess

Welcome from the Piedmont region of SC!

LOL. Yeah that pic came from someone taking the sign off one display and placing in that kayak seat.

Sam's Club has this Lifetime Kenai for $249. That's $150 less than the one Academy is selling. And Sam's price includes a paddle. This seems like a screaming deal. I've seen them in Sam's. They appear to be the same, though the one from Sam's may be an exclusive and made cheaper. If the only difference is a couple of flush mount rod holders, that's a $20 fix. I would buy the Sam's kayak in the store because it might very well arrive with damage if shipped. https://www.samsclub.com/p/lifetime-kenai-10-feet-3-inch-sit-on-top-kayak-91146/prod26712614?xid=plp_product_21

"can" and "will" are two different things. But yes, docks and other shallow wood can produce year round. In colder months, it helps to have deeper water nearby. You might be talking about main lake docks rather than cove or creek arm docks.

I have an older MH 7' LowRider as well as a H-F BuCoo. I LOVE these rods. The LowRider is actually an older heavy cranking rod. The Bucoo is their heavy 6-10 pitching stick. It's my jig/T-rig rod and it has a great backbone, but the tip is great for pitching. I use it for plain old T-rigs. It's very light and sensitive. I feel certain if you choose your power/action well, you can't go wrong with either Falcon line.

I frog fish a lot and have a dedicated combo. The reel is a Lew's Tournament MB in 7.5:1 I think. It was a $130 retail reel. It's very durable as I've used it for 5+ years with 50# braid, an XH rod, with the drag tightened all the way down. I liked this reel so much I own 3. But they have replaced it in their LFS lineup. The last reel I bought for jigs was the basic $100 LFS model in 8.something:1. It's a fine reel and I love the extra high speed retrieve. I would go with it for frogging too. My rod is a technique specific frog rod from Cabela's that they have discontinued. It's 7-3 HX-XF. It's great for frogging but not great for other techniques. I'll use it for an extra jig/T rig rod in colder water. Honestly, if you have a heavy flipping rod, it will do nicely as a frog rod. As for frogs, I own a bunch of them, including a couple of mouse/rat baits. But I almost always have a Booyah Pad Crasher or the popping Pad Crasher tied on. They do everything you want a frog to do, they're durable and they won't break the bank. If you reach a point where you know there are bass in the weeds and can't get one to bite, you can try a toad or a Johnson Silver Minnow spoon with a trailer. The frog seems to produce better than average bites. Happy frogging!

Rebel Deep Wee R crankbait. It was my first crank and caught a lot of bass for me. Buit I probably wouldn't use it much anymore. Where I fish is a lot weedier now. I use lipless cranks a lot more.

Well, you could...

Well, it wouldn't be most people's choice. But the closest thing I have to a can't-miss is the jig/T rig. I just feel like it'll pull a fish if you can put one in their face.

Lipless crank, spinnerbait and jig have been my go-to's lately. Yesterday I only caught 3, all on a gold spinnerbait. I changed my T-rigged craw over to a lizard today and I'll give that a try tomorrow. I've already caught one on the Plopper though.

Bass is king. But I could also get addicted to stripers, inshore species and even peacocks if I lived in So FL. I've never been the kind of guy who could be good at a lot of things, so I decided I would specialize in bass. My buddy fishes the same reservoir I fish. If he doesn't have a bass in about an hour he'll bust out the crappie rods and troll. Nothing wrong with that. But I get little satisfaction in trolling for crappie. I only do it when I'm with him. Plus I don't have a Bass Tracker with a variable speed trolling motor. I don't even have electronics.

I use superline EWG hooks for most applications. But when I don't, like a finesse situation, I use one of the premium brands, usually Gamakatsu.

I fish a 30-40 acre reservoir. It's not here yet, but coming soon. I've already caught one on a Whopper Plopper in February. That usually doesn't happen until late March.

Lately, I've taken the skirt off and used a toad. In retrospect, I should have just put the toad on and left the skirt. I generally go for the Whopper Plopper before the buzzbait. I just really enjoy the WP more. They both have their places though.

That is certainly step 1. You can catch a big fish on a Ned rig if they're there. My friend caught an 8+ trolling for crappie with jigs. I've caught many bass over 5 lb. and up to 8.02 lb. over the years in the same place. None were on giant baits. The PB was on a gold spinnerbait. My 2nd best fish there was on a Plopper. But, of course, you can throw giant swimbaits at guppies for days without a bite.

Winter fishing is always a search for one, maybe two bites. I went to So FL in December a couple years ago and caught 50+ bass/peacocks two days. Came home and zeroed twice. We've had a mild one this year and I'm averaging 4 or 5 bites a trip. Ecstatic to get them. I made myself a promise I was going to fish through this winter in hopes of a huge prespawn female. I don't have a big fish yet this calendar year. By big, I mean 3+ lbs. Got a 4-1 the day after Christmas. I got the fish in my avatar in December about 4 years ago.

Big gals won't tolerate a big ol' lizard.

I love the mom & pops, especially at a lake. They always have what works there and they'll tell you what's been producing lately.

A lot of people have asked me over the years where I catch most of my fish in pictures. I tell them it's private. If they have a boat I'll take them in and fish with them Or they can ask the landowner. But this is one of only two gates that lead into the place. Thus far, not one person has taken me up on the offer. So the place stays pretty exclusive.

This is my dumbest story. My motor knocked off once on the water. I had my dad with me. We checked the battery connections and still nothing. I got a tow back to the dock from another boat in the area, loaded up and went home. I read up online and decided maybe the oil injection had malfunctioned. I let it sit for about 6 months because I didn't have the money to get it fixed. My dad called me up one day and said "Go check the kill switch". That was it. Sadly, I'm a pretty decent mechanic, myself. I got that way daily driving a '66 Mustang. So it should have occurred to me to check the free and cheap things first. Your story's better though.

Who says global warming is all bad?

Anybody got a preferred rigging method for Gambler Big Easy standard size, about 5" long?

We used to fish a part of the lake that was like this when I was a kid. We called it The Rocky Bank. Basically an immediate dropoff to 30 feet or so. If there's a laydown or a cut in, then there's a chance to hold fish. But most of the time there was nobody home. We would occasionally run across stripers, white bass and crappie there though.

I had to yank a Chug Bug away from an owl not once but twice.

I'm from the south man. It's Duke's or nothing. It's in the prenup that my wife has to keep Duke's mayo in the house.