the reel ess

These are 8-12" stocked fish in shallow streams. Coming from a bass power fishing perspective it's hard for me to think light.

I went trout fishing yesterday and caught 3. I have the fever. Reading online, I see the optimal line is about 8# braid mainline with about a 4# mono or fluoro leader. Who can recommend their favorite setup for spinning? I like artificials.

Yes, in a pinch. But I like a little longer, heavier rod. My frog rod is 7'3" XH-XF. I kayak fish so this helps me lift fish out of the weeds. Before I had this frog rod I used an older MH Falcon Lowrider that was actually a heavy cranking rod. You do what you have to to get by. On the other hand the 6'10" pitching stick will cast better. It has a much better tip. As such, it would be better for open water.

They'll work anytime of the year. But late winter through spring is fantastic. I used one last summer with some success on a light C-rig when the bite got incredibly slow. You can use them on a split shot rig as well. This spring I used them on a T-rig on bedding bass. They can't seem to ignore them. I caught the same male bass off a bed twice with one.

If there's a color that matters less in fishing than the blade of a buzzbait I don't know it.

I bought one of these Crixus 2 pc rods for travel. I have no real complaints. It is a slightly more moderate action than I'm used to for a MH, but it still has enough backbone. It's primarily my spinner/buzzbait rod. I like the golf club grip so far.

I have that Pitchin' Stick model and I love it. Light as air, very sensitive and tough. It has a great tip for pitching and a lot of backbone for pulling fish from heavy cover. I like the shorter length. I fish from a kayak and get pretty close to the cover I pitch to. I've been using it a couple years with zero complaints.

I have a pond I go to where the bass average about maybe a pound. I like to take an UL combo and use a small Rooster Tail. It catches bluegill as well. And the bluegill are big there. It's an ancient Eagle Claw rod and an UL Pflueger Trion reel. I also do this in a small stream nearby. It's close enough that I can go on my lunch hour if I want.

50-65# braid, heavy rod, cinch the drag down on your reel. When you set the hook don't let the fish play at all. Drag it out. They're very good at digging into the lilies or mat and working that hook out. I didn't like the first braid I tried either. I use plain old PowerPro, 50# on the frog rod. If you want to save a few bucks you can fill up half your spool with the cheapest line you can find, I use Big Game, and finish the spool out with braid. I use 30# PowerPro on my other combos. I use braid on all my bass combos except for spinner/buzzbaits. When the end gets old and bleached out looking, I'll just reel it onto another reel and I'm using the new end. The stuff lasts forever.

Bet they'll gladly take your order and payment, then tell you it's on back order...forever. I see these on Facebook a lot. The comments are usually about how long they've been waiting for their order.

Be careful what you order from them and read reviews. I do order a lot. But I've ordered a big Whopper Plopper and gotten a 75 knockoff. I ordered one 90 and got two knockoff 90s. They weren't so cheap that I knew they'd be fakes. I complained that the seller is calling his product a trademarked name and Amazon refunded my money and told me to keep the fakes. I haven't used them yet. The 75 works pretty well. On the other hand I ordered some replacement Gamakatsu hooks. It was supposed to me one small box, but they sent a large box, which consists of 10 small boxes. So I have a lifetime supply of #2 EWG trebles. I was only charged for 1 box. Some picker or robot didn't recognize what constitutes a box.

Our local Dick's seems to have a purchaser who doesn't know what fish we have in the area. And they seem to jump all over whatever new gimmick bait comes along, like the bat and spider lures. But it's beside Ulta, so I always make a stop in there when the wife or daughter go in there. Though they are bit clueless as far as their normal stock, there's always a good bit of stuff on clearance. They also take half of the fishing area away for hunting season, so they have to put stuff on clearance. And pawn shops.

Maybe they can't see the entire spectrum, but crappie can differentiate between all the colors. Somethis as simple as green/white vs green or white can be the difference between getting bites. Then there are times they'll bite them all and times they won't bite any.

I just watched this video earlier today for the first time and it nearly brought a tear to my eye. My wife said the same though she doesn't even fish. Bill is such a national treasure. I especially like the way Bryan worked in "it's gonna be a beautiful day..." near the end. I don't really love his music or bro country in general. But Luke Bryan is a good human being.

I don't think quality is the aim. Maximizing profit is.

My local lake is usually tough. I mean 10+ fish days are unusual there. There have been days I only catch one, but it's a big one. But I wouldn't catch nearly as many larger bass at other places.

Yes, the piedmont region of SC not far from the NC line. And the surface temp is about 60, maybe a bit higher. I don't have a temp gauge of any kind, but I have the barefoot feel test.

Not to hijack, but I think it's relevant to the OP. I fish a smaller lake, say 25 acres with a max depth of 20' and an average depth of about 10'. The fishing has been terribly slow. I caught 5 bass in 3 trips, 4 in one trip. Coincidentally, there has been a brown scum on the water and lots of tiny bubbles. Is that an indication of lake turnover?

I fish a lake that has no shad that I've observed. It does have golden shiners. I've caught one before. But I don't think there are any baitfish that school up the way shad do. Therefore, the bass don't school up in large groups to pursue them. The lake sometimes turns into the Dead Sea in the fall and doesn't recover until late winter. Last fall was OK. This one has been very tough so far.

There is no shame in fishing the way nature intended it. We don't feel shame when we fish for other species with live bait. I would probably use a finesse, octopus or some kind of circle hook to avoid gut hooking.

I would expect the bream to destroy every crawler I cast. They bite the claws on my jig trailers, sometimes taking them off. Vicious critters, they'd be dangerous of they had some size.

I caught over 50 one day in a light drizzle. They were annihilating the Tiny Torpedo on a steady retrieve. I had to adjust the blade several times because they kept smashing it. Of course, there are other variables so there have been rainy days when I got skunked.

It wasn't for me either. I just tied a jig on my rod and never took it off. I fished every piece of wood cover with the jig. I got better. It also allows you to skip, a skill that's not possible with a T rigged worm, unless it's weightless.

The shaky head sure does work.

I'm guilty of not using big worms enough. I wanted to learn to use the jig so badly I just tied it on and never went back. Lately, I've been using shaky head with a straight worm though.