the reel ess

All the usual winter stuff. The blade bait has been the ticket.

Well, the boater can be a bank angler, the bank-bound angler can't be a boater.

If you can get a hook to every spot on a body of water, you could be right. If not, then advantage boater. Then there are different levels of "boaters". There's the tourney bassboat type, Bass Tracker type and the Canoe/kayak type. Different types of fishing, but they're all related. Now, do I think the bassboat guy who runs and guns the local lake catches more or bigger fish than the kayak guy who seeks out smaller, remote waters? No, because I've done both. I've also been the bank fisherman. Whatever works for you and gives you enjoyment is what you should do.

We had a guy on our home lake when I was growing up who was a dedicated structure disciple. He had a 16' V bottom Tracker boat with a 60 HP motor and trolling motor. I never saw him use the electric motor. I never even saw him standing to fish. I only saw him anchored near structure and usually casting away from shore. He only used T rigged worms and deep diving cranks as most of us did back then. It seemed he won about half the tourneys on that lake in the era when big, fast boats and electronics were becoming the standard. I guess his opinion was there should almost always be bigger bass offshore. I suspect he sweetened those structure spots. He was rumored to sink old appliances at night.

I know you said mono or fluoro. But you can get away with a much higher lb. test braid as your main line. I use 20 lb. braid on that size reel. You can simply use a leader of mono or fluoro in whatever size you like because it won't be on the reel. Fish aren't smart enough to look 5' up the line to see the braid. Braid also has the major advantage of almost eliminating twisted line problems. To cut down on the cost you can fill the reel halfway with the cheapest mono you can find, then fill it the rest of the way with braid. Just my $0.02. I did it and never looked back. I have serious doubts bass in my waters even care about straight braid, no leader.

Whatever the reel says the upper size is.

I am subscribed to about 20 YouTube channels related to bass fishing. I watch videos as often as I can when I can't actually be fishing. When I see a technique that looks useful to me I'm likely to give it a try. If it's successful, it gets added to the arsenal.

Have you caught anything on them? I've tried them with no success. Try them prespawn this year in water that's colder than you think a topwater should work. The strikes are vicious and the bass are usually big. I got 3 over 5 lbs. on one this year. A 7.93 and a 5.75 same day, same spot.

Here's what I use. The 6'10" pitching stick. Everything you need in a jig/pitching rod, nothing you don't need. It skips baits and even handles lighter lures pretty well. A big part of skipping the bait is in the bait you use. The Trashmaster jig skips better than conventional jigs. The "bug" style trailers, like the Rage Bug skip better than the more classic craw-style trailers. https://www.falconrods.com/product/bucoo-sr

Apparently, I go fishing on the latter days.

Jigs, T rigs or spinnerbaits near shallow wood cover. In very muddy water they have a tendency to hang on to a piece of wood. If you can add sound, do so. On the T rig I like a bead between the hook and weight. I have a "nighttime" spinnerbait. It's heavy and black with a big black Colorado blade that works sometimes. You can reel it so slow it's barely moving. Bump it off the wood cover. edit: I just looked at your 10 day forecast. I would find another hobby for a couple weeks. I'm still fishing here in SC, but eagerly awaiting late winter/early spring/prespawn.

Fast whenever the water temp allows. I'm a total junk fisherman so the quicker I fish, the better I do. But I have to do what the fish want.

The only ones I see anymore are the monster sized. I would have no reservations about using them. Caught a ton on them back in the day. A grape one was all my dad would use at one time. He would say if they're there and hungry, they'll eat that worm. He was usually right.

As far as most of this board is concerned, I'm a cheapskate. My rods range from $50-130 new. Though my $130 rod is more than a decade old and I actually bought it used for $50. I have 3 rods worth $100 or more. Can I tell the difference between $50 and $130 rods? Sure. Do I need extreme sensitivity to throw a spinnerbait or buzzbait? Nah. So, for me, returns become diminished when the sensitivity is not required. It would seem a waste for me to be throwing that lure on a $300 ultrasensitive and brittle rod. I have a buddy who routinely outfishes me and he didn't even own a BC combo until a couple years ago.

What's "smaller"? I use a Hvy-Fast 6-10 Falcon Bucoo with 1/4 oz. jigs and T rigs with as little as 3/16 oz. bullet weights. It works well. In fact, it can skip the 3/16 oz. T rigged Rage Bug very well. They also have a "finesse jig" model. https://www.falconrods.com/product/bucoo-sr

They don't produce big numbers for me. But they usually produce good size, especially during prespawn spring.

When it was determined the 90 had a tendency to spin. Some people don't know what I'm talking about because they fish standing from a boat deck. In a kayak your line angle is a good bit lower. I usually try to make shorter casts with a 90. I do prefer the 110 because it's more buoyant and won't spin unless it's fouled with weeds.

I can't imagine why that worm color is "tilapia".

I'm also open to the Pauleys Island/Murrells Inlet area. My sister has a house in Garden City Beach and we already have several friends down there. The Waccamaw and Black Rivers are just a short drive a way and the inlets are super accessible. I've already caught flounder there.

The H20 Xpress knockoff does a good job of staying shallower than the Trap or Spot. I find it's less likely to get the hooks fouled with weeds even when you rip it out. There is a "floating" Trap model that pretty much suspends during pauses. It dives down to maybe 3' upon retrieve and slowly rises if paused. It wouldn't be too difficult to get it almost neutrally buoyant. But I have yet to catch a single fish on it. It doesn't weigh or even sound the same as the standard. And where I fish, the Spot outfishes the Trap 2-to-1 anyway. I prefer gold in either of these models. https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress™-lcr-5-8-oz-lipless-crankbait?sku=multi-03 https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/cotton-cordell®-super-spot®-1-2-oz-lipless-crankbait?sku=gold

Central FL. But my wife is probably never going for that. I like So FL, but there are simply too many other people that like it. Aside from that, maybe around Charleston, SC. A good mix of slat/freshwater fishing. The wife and I are kicking around the idea of moving once my daughter finishes school. I'll find the bass fishing no matter where I settle.

That's what I thought. These are bronze. I still have an old smaller one in baby bass pattern from the mid 80s that has bronze hooks as well. I asked her for pics and said I might want to buy some or all of it and she said this was the only thing of value in it. The rest was rusty hooks and oxidized lead.

I had an old carp colored crankbait that was in my late father's tackle box that the bass really seemed to like. I don't even know the brand. Alas, I lost it right after catching a dink. ?

It has a "6ART 1/4 oz. Model A Deep Running" sticker on the end of the box. I can't imagine why a guy who never used a lure would change the hooks. If I were to change them it would be to a size bigger. But I just sharpened these.

I use cheap mono for backing. I fill the spool halfway then attach braid with a double uni knot. It's way cheaper. The one time I did use all braid on a BC reel, I just taped it to the spool then started reeling. No largemouth will ever spool you.