the reel ess

Try to catch a few fish in a stiff breeze.

I tried a blade bait for the first time Saturday. It paid off with 2 bass and a big crappie. But I discovered how easy they are to get hung up. They should come in packs of 3.

I have to admit there's no rip rap where I fish them. It's almost all wood cover.

Since this thread has been resurrected, I'd like to mention the Game Changer Lures Trashmaster jig. I like the 3/8 oz. with a Rage Bug. It's the best skipping jig I've found. It's also, by far, the most weedless. I bought two about a year ago. I'm still using one of them.

Debit cards

Yes. It is my habit to do some cardio for about 45 minutes per day, every day if I can. On days I fish I don't do the cardio. I paddle the perimeter of a 30-or-so acre lake. If it's windy, I really get my workout in. I'm always tired afterward so I know I did something. And I only drive 2 miles to and from the lake. I don't eat the entire time I'm fishing. I'm alone so there's no temptation. I don't even think about it. I just drink water. Now, I have one buddy that rarely goes with me who has to have a cooler of beer. In that case, it's the opposite of exercise. But still better than sitting on the couch drinking those beers.

On my spinning combo I use 20# PP and 15# mono leader. It seems to work fine.

Pre

Ol' Mexico. If cost is an issue I'd go to Okeechobee in late winter.

Back in spring I posted in this thread. I had a day when bass were taking the claws off my jig trailer. I managed to catch a nice one but went through a bunch of plastic. I had the same experience yesterday. I missed at least 4 bites before I stuck one. They were swimming off toward deeper water with the jig and I'd set the hook and get my jig back minus the tails. The one I finally caught I let swim around for about 5 seconds. And I still barely hooked that one at the edge of the lip. I could have had a pretty good day for cold water fishing if I'd caught all that bit. Instead it was the usual cold water day. 1 bass. Maybe next time I'll rig up just a craw on a T rig to see if they take it better. On a positive note, the bass did seem to want the craw on the retrieve, not the initial fall.

Depends greatly on the bait, or more the type of hook it has. If it's a trebles lure, when I feel the weight of the fish I just sweep the rod a little and start playing the fish. You can yank trebles out pretty easily if you overdo it. Then there are baits like a jig with a big, fat flipping hook that will not bend out. I set that about as hard as I can. I have had a good, hard hookset only to see a bass come to the surface and spit the lure. There are baits with lighter wire hooks, like the shaky head, that I do a solid hookset. But the drag is a little looser so I don't ever straighten out the hook. Just know the type of hook you're using and plan your hookset before it happens.

While I totally agree with this statement, there's one place I fish where gold will outfish any other hardbait color. Darker gold will outfish lighter gold. I didn't think it made any difference until my buddy made a believer out of me with his dark gold Super Spot. this place has gold shiners. I've also caught some very nice crappie on the gold Spot. That's not to say you could never catch a bass on a shad or chrome bait. The place does have all manner of minnows. But I'm playing the odds. And I've caught bass on gold in places I know the forage is shad.

And bubble gum and limetreuse. You can get that color on Zoom Trick Worm. I also have some Fish Stalker brand.

nm

Generally, if you can navigate it, it's public water up to a certain high water level. That's the law in SC. So you can get out, take a leak, stretch or even camp. That doesn't mean the landowner will be alright with you doing all that. A lot of landowners don't know the law. One in SC shot an killed an unarmed paddler who was camping on a sandbar in front of his property. The landowner is in prison now. I would have just moved along before I got into an argument or fight with the guy, right or wrong. Weigh the dangers. But I'd go for it too. I have been down a river that's really just a creek at its average level. There were places we had to get out and walk or drag our kayaks. You might also have to get over or around some logjams. Take pics and post them here.

In warm water I'll take a box with most of my favorite topwaters. I'll throw in whatever hardbaits I think I might want. In cooler water I'll do the same, but with cranks. And I'll take a bag of whatever soft plastics I might need to replace. ie: I always take some jig trailers. If I'm using worms or any other soft plastic, I take a bag of them. That's about it. I take 6 or 7 rods with me most of the time so I have a good variety of what I think bass will bite already tied on. I don't lose many lures because I fish a mostly shallow lake and I'm in the kayak. So if I'm snagged I can just go retrieve the lure. I recently dropped a rod in for the first time in my 51 years on this planet. Luckily, the water was about 2' deep and I was able to snag it with another hook. I didn't really drop it though. I had it in my crate rod holder and took another rod out. This one snagged the other and in it went.

My wife fished with me once when were dating. She caught all the crappie while I baited her hook. She never went again. I did buy my daughter a kayak but she outgrew that activity. She said I stay too long and fish too hard. So I sold her small kayak and bought myself a new one. I still have my old one if anyone wants to come along. But most of my friends are just too lazy for that.

It tells me that monster probably eats bass. LOL. The OP would laugh if I told how long I fished before I caught a bass over 5 lb.

So many variables. But there are many, many ponds that have just a few or no big bass. I have a friend who has a pond that I caught a 6.5 at about 18 years ago. I haven't caught a bass there over 2 lb. since. And I have fished it many times in those 18 years. A 4 lb. pond bass is a big fish. The smaller the pond, the more you need to harvest bass. 20 lb. per acre per year is a rule of thumb. That will allow some fish to grow larger.

The only thing I've done that you don't have is a crate. I got a free milk crate and zip tied in 6 PVC rod holders that I bought at Walmart. It's held in place by bungees in the rear well. That gives me storage for 8 rods, including the 2 flush-mount ones. I actually had to put those in too, but you have them. I like the KISS principle. I have no extra rigging or electronics. I had all that and a motor on my last one and it was just too much.

Perhaps they farm it out and don't have control over that.

Looks like I should have gone hunting this fall. LOL. I can't complain. This is my best year EVER for size. I could have stopped fishing in April and it would have been. But the last few trips bites have been very difficult. The ones I got were smaller fish. I zeroed last trip. To answer the OP, I use big bass baits all the time because I want to catch bigger bass. Spinnerbait, jig, T-rig for flipping, lipless crank. But there are times in colder water where I could get away with two rods. The jig and the lipless crank.

The place I fish is so close to town you can hear the train there. I see deer and turkeys aplenty, rabbits, snakes, ospreys, eagles , hawks and owls. What I haven't seen in quite a few trips is a big bass though. They seem to have moved out.

I have tried to do bass in the air fryer twice. While it did taste good, it didn't look great. It's not really fatty enough.

They have all those colors, but they mostly sell 3 or 4.