the reel ess

Jointed Pikie I found in an antique shop in the mountains. It had a $20 tag on it but talked them down to $10. I replaced the hooks with new split rings and trebles. I've tried it once to no avail. It's a pretty big hardbait at more than 7", about 2 oz.

I fished with a guide two days in FL a couple years ago. I caught the same bass a couple times. It was clearly the same one because it was shaped like a "?" and looked like it had one fin in the grave and another on a banana peel. I told the guide to keep it. He asked why and I said it was obviously trying to end it all.

I bought one of those wobble football head weights and I've been trying it with a craw with no luck so far. I'll speed it up and see if that helps.

I've found Daiwa to be fantastic customer service. Now I haven't dealt with a broken rod. But they sent me free parts for a very old Procaster reel not once, but 3 times. They didn't even respond to my email. They just mailed them.

Simple. They were always hungry yesterday (you shoulda been there).

"It's a 2-part warranty. If it breaks in half, you get to keep both pieces."

I see it on the map. It looks like a pretty good spot. But it's a ways from me. I'm a lot closer to Lockhart, Leeds or Carlisle. They're about an hour from me. But I appreciate the reply.

Has anyone ever fished the Broad River in the piedmont region of SC. I'm talking about between Gaffney and Carlisle. There are smallmouth in there but I have no idea where's a good place to launch a kayak from.

I had a couple days lately where the bass were just biting the claws of the jig trailer. They would swim around with it for 5 seconds before I would set the hook and i still was getting back a jig with no claws. Switched to a T rigged Rage Craw and started catching those bass.

Yep, it's skunk season in SC. LOL. Now, if you were working in Florida, you'd still be catching bass.

Did it have an audible clicker? I have one of my dad's old spinning reels that's in good shape. But it has that clicker and it's quite heavy for its size.

Welcome. I live in the piedmont region of SC. And my sister has a place near the beach with a canal and a pond on it. I fished there a couple weeks ago. The water is a bit too cold for the frog. I haven't caught a frog bass since September. They just stopped biting it. I would see bass chasing in the weeds, but no interest in the frog. As for the other lures, it seems to me you're doing the right things. Right now I'm having a little success with a blade bait, lipless crank and T-rigged craws. I was getting bites on the jig, but they were picking it up by the trailer and not getting the hook. That's why I switched to the T rig. The bite really slows here during Jan-Feb. I might be fishing for one bite a day. But late Feb you can start catching good sized females and it just gets better through spring.

I still have a very old Mann's L'il George. I'll dust it off and give it a try one of these days. I'll probably lose it and it's my late father's lures, which will make me sad. But he would say "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". I caught a bass one one of his crankbaits recently and was all stoked about it, only to lose it next cast. I should really invest in a lure retriever.

Yeah, we fished that Mr. Twister Phenom way back in the 80's I believe. We caught a lot on the 6" black/firetail color. It was all my dad wanted to use for bass. We also bought a ton of those small crappie grubs by them. One day my dad handed me an 1/8 oz. white Mr Twister grub and I proceeded to catch all the crappie that day. Sweet memory. I caught everything on them for years. Then we just moved on the the knockoffs made by BPS and others. Then I moved on to fishing craws on T rigs, then on to jigs. I just moved away from worms. Even in springtime when they're on the beds, I'll pitch a lizard instead of a worm. I'm more of a power fisherman so the worm is excruciatingly slow for me unless they're really bunched up and munching it. I rarely use the Senko for that same reason. Oh, back to the original topic. I've caught more bass on the lipless crank over the past 10 years than any other bait. First the Trap, then the Super Spot. Always gold. Lately, they've liked my H2O Express gold lipless crank. They liked it so much I changed the hooks out on it. Then I rediscovered the Heddon Sonar blade bait. It has been doing the work for me since the water got colder.

My rule of thumb is to give them a minimum of 2 cast lengths. That goes for other boats too. That way my line could never touch theirs. I've had someone literally get my line caught in his trolling motor. This when I was there first and anchored 1 cast distance from the bank. Then the guy told me it's a big lake. Use your imagination for what I said. That's a bit too close. There are no bank fishermen where I usually fish now. There are usually no boats. And when there are, about half the time they're crappie fishing.

Straight 30# PowerPro braid for jigs and flipping/pitching T rigs. I have yet to break it. I use a 15# mono leader if I feel the water clarity calls for it.

I'm gonna do it until I'm physically unable.

I'm still catching bass, and the occasional crappie bycatch. I did have one skunk and a couple days with only a couple fish. The skunks come after New Years for me. I just can't seem to find or get the big gals to take since September. This year was phenomenal for me, size-wise, but definitely not for numbers. I'd still go if I only caught 2 pounders, but they aren't a huge thrill. I don't intend to stop fishing this winter.

Thanks. I was hoping to add to those big gals. Not much luck since September. The year's not quite over yet.

That's awesome because I've heard McBrain himself say that he wasn't always fun to be around in his drinking days.

I kept a big fish log this year. Dates, weights and baits. Notice the big fish trailed off a while back.

I read the book Monsters of River and Rock by Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith. He told the story of fly fishing on a tropical island. He walked the beach and someone shouted from his balcony. It was none other than Robert Palmer.

Don't go fishing in the rain. Cover your boat when not in use.

This is not such a large bill that we'll miss a meal. But they send you tax refunds for 2 years then tell you you owe and they'll levy your property or rights to ownership. They could have recouped some or all of this from my previous refunds. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you actually own property. They give you the right to own it and they'll take it away.

I get to pay some interest the IRS forgot to tell me about from 2017.