the reel ess

I got them off by clamping on the hook eye with big side cutters and rocking the hook with another set of pliers until they snapped. I have hooks and split rings ordered.

2 angled flush mount rod holders and a crate with 6 PVC holders. I usually only take 6. But I might take 8 if I'm anticipating a mixed bag.

I use a coated cable that came from a small safe we bought with a keyed Master lock I had lying around when I use anything. That's mostly if I go on vacation and want to leave the kayak in the truck overnight in public places, like at a condo. IMO almost any will do. Whoever gets the idea to take it probably won't be carrying bolt cutters in their boat. And if they are, they're getting it anyway. If you leave it somewhere long-term, I'd take it up to the house for safer storage. I don't want to insult your intelligence, but just don't run the cable or chain through anything on the kayak that can be unscrewed.

One of these days I'll bag several other black bass species and a brook trout.

I have the magnum size Pop R. It casts great, but it doesn't sound the same or get many bites. I like the Chug Bug. It's 3/8 oz. I think. Other than that I have a Hula Popper. But the skirt always deteriorates on those over time.

One tool I do not own. I was thinking hacksaw, but they're not very easy to get to.

OK, I give up. How did you remove the original hooks? I've gone at mine with side cutters to no avail. You can see in the pic They're on loops, not rings.

During spawn, tie one on a T rig. They will not tolerate a lizard in their bed. And really who would tolerate that behavior?

I have never used it so I haven't done any damage with it. We throw a bunch of stuff in the water that rusts. Lead oxidizes.

It looks like a killer way to target bedding bass. I made my own using a big paperclip for the weight.

If you fish for big fish in cover and you don't have a good anchor you need to get good at holding the rod in one hand and operating the paddle with the other. I've had to do it many times. And sometimes I still have to go under trees to get a bass that's wedged itself in. I did this once and had so many spiders in the boat I had to go back to the landing and clean it out. But the fish was worth it. OP says he has an 8' kayak. Chances are it didn't cost as much as a Power Pole. I've always wanted one, but I can't bring myself to spend $600 for the anchor alone when my kayak was only $800. I can really see the need for it in current.

I prefer black and blue. But when I get a wild hair I go with blue and black. ? When I think about it, darker plastics like black or some shade of purple have always worked better for me anywhere in my region.

Whichever you choose, I would go with a wire hook one size larger. The biggest issue I have with the Pop R, besides the fact it's too light, is the hooks are too small. I replaced the front hook on both of mine.

I'm relatively sure I caught the one in my profile pic twice. Look at that gut! I don't catch fish with a gut that big just before spawn. It was 6.9 lb the first time and 7.2 lb the second. This pic was the first. It was December-January so it wasn't full of eggs yet. It's just a glutton. I caught it on a gold shiner War Eagle spinnerbait the first time and a black/blue jig the second, probably 50 yards apart. Aside form these two catches, I've caught a bunch of bass from 5-8 in the same body of water so there's a very good chance I've caught one twice. I also caught one off the same bed two days in a row this spring.

Exactly what I ordered. Thanks!

I've already ordered some Owner STX #1 trebles and some split rings from Amazon.

I absolutely caught the same dink bass twice in the same spot about an hour apart while I was fishing with a guide. It looked like it had survived some trauma because it was crooked as a question mark. I told the guide he should keep it the second time because it was obviously trying to commit suicide.

These are good points. Some folks can barely scrounge the basic charter together even sharing it with a friend. Then some folks won't bat an eyelash at a $400 day for just themselves. I had a striper guide once who wanted to set the hooks for us and hand us rods. He told us if we limited the trip was over. I was no kid even back then. I don't think a 20% tip should be expected from a guy who just stunk it up all day. I also think it is definitely expected for a great day or a new PB. I'd gladly tip well for a new PB.

I've wanted one of these since I watched a YouTube video of guys jigger poling with it. I found one in an antique shop in the mountains at a fair price (with no shipping cost). It's about 7 1/2" long and 1 3/4 oz. The hooks are pretty much shot if I want to actually use it. It's hard to tell, but a couple of the hook points are broken. They also look pretty oversized. What would you replace them with? I was thinking of using some Spook takeoffs. The stock ones seem a tad oversized anyway.

Frog, fist and foremost. Whopper Plopper, Chug Bug, buzzbait, whatever other topwater might strike my fancy. I'll fish them later in the day as well if I can keep getting a bite every so often. Hit every shady spot with one. The frog is an all day bait to me. My last two PBs came the heat of summer in the morning. One was on a Chug Bug and the other was a spinnerbait in shallow water.

My buddy keeps a few used gatorade bottles of water in the freezer for this purpose. But he keeps all his average size bass as well as crappie and bream of eating size. He basically has a slot of 1.5-3 lb. bass he'll keep.

I'm going to throw out 9. Could really be 10. That gut is big and so is the mouth, but the eyes are not "buggy" and he's long-arming it. I'm still jealous though. Could really be 10.

I just bought some #2 Gammy EWG trebles to replace some on my bigger topwaters. They look great. I ordered a box of 9. Amazon sent me 10 at the price of 1. So I have more than a lifetime supply.

You are young and life is long There is time to kill today And then one day you find 10 years have gotten behind you No one told you when to run You missed the starting gun Pink Floyd

I'd say 5, but my guesstimate is always a pound high. Congrats. What did you catch her on?