the reel ess

I go places that aren't really pressured. IDK if you have any small rivers or streams you can wade, but most people won't go to that effort. Aside from that, I've asked permission to fish a bunch of private places where I know the fish are not pressured. Fish early and late, or even at night. Big fish in pressured waters might not eat in the daytime. Throw something no one else is throwing. Show them something they haven't seen.

I'd have to say no because almost all the bass I see sitting alone on beds are under 2 lbs. This makes me wonder if older male bass even spawn or if they don't usually live far beyond the 2 lb. range.

I left a rod leaning over a baseboard heater for a few weeks once. The mono line on it was brittle the next time I used it. There's no telling how many cycles of heating and cooling it went through. I'd try to keep it out of direct sunlight for sure.

No, because it usually happens the other way for me, which I do feel bad about. LOL. I rarely fish with anyone else. But I went with my uncle to his inlaws' pond last summer. I caught several bass, including a 3 pounder. He didn't get a bite and went and sat on the tailgate of his truck while I fished. I told him you can't catch anything without a hook in the water. That's what a lot of novice anglers don't get. Some of us are better than others because of the effort put forth. Many times I've been told the fish aren't biting, but I go catch some anyway. I'll throw the kitchen sink until something works.

It's already summer here, so the usual summer rigs. Buzzbait-spinnerbait, Spook, Pop R, frog, jig, T rigs. When I went Saturday the fish were on the deep end of wood cover, near deeper water. I got a few bites on the lilies on the frog, but didn't get a hook in any of them. That tells me they were either small fish or just not committed.

Brace or cast maybe. A jigging pole? When I was a kid I saw a guy with one arm trolling past our dock. He was using a crankbait. He had a rod holder on his belt. He would cast, put the rod in the holder and retrieve. I was impressed. I told my mom about it and she said "That would be you if you lost an arm".

When I was dating my wife we went to have dinner at her friends' farm. He told me to bring a rod and we would hit the pond after dinner. I caught a 6.5 lb on one of the Snag Proof frogs with natural looking legs. We weighed it and returned it to the pond. That was about 18 years ago. In all the years since I've hardly caught a bass over 1 1/2 lbs there.

Yesterday: Buzzbait/spinnerbait. I like to start with the former early then switch to the latter. Spook Whopper Plopper Pop R Frog Jig I caught 3 on the jig. Fish were on wood near deeper water. I was stubborn with the topwaters, as usual. I did miss a couple on the frog and one on the WP. But I'm pretty much a shallow water specialist.

Haters gonna hate

I like to use a Tactical Anglers snap with my topwaters. I like to take my topwaters box on the kayak with me and I will change them out if they aren't working. Some snaps won't work with a popper due to its concaved face, but these will. They allow a little more erratic side-to-side action of the lure.

It was probably fine. But then, simply catching it could have killed it. So don't sweat it. It's part of the hobby.

I flip and pitch with straight 30 lb braid now and catch fish, even good ones. I use straight 50# for frogs.

So it was a record, no matter what it weighed. Just likely not 22 lbs.

My question would be what was the record before his, if there was one kept? It was a huge fish and might have still been a record at the time even if it weighed a little less.

I've got a big, privately owned spot. I have a gate key. A few others can get in there, but some of them just troll for crappie.

I wouldn't use 6# mono in anyplace I thought there might be better than 3 lb bass. I have 30# braid on my baitcasters, except my frog rod, which has 50#. And fish still get off sometimes when they bury up in weeds. I use 20# braid on spinning.

I stayed in the mountains at a resort once that had 3 nice ponds with crystal clear water. I couldn't buy a bite until the sun got low. Try other baits early and late.

Big Game is also a good, cheap backing for braid or fluoro if you want to use those. It's what I use as backing for my braid. I also keep a spool of it in my bag. It has saved the day for me when I hopelessly backlashed a reel full of braid. It'll do for most techniques I use in a pinch.

I really dislike Fluoro. Even if I used it, which I don't, I would only use a leader of it, with a braid mainline. It's stiff with a lot of memory. I have braid on all my combos except for my spinnerbait/buzzbait rod. But I'm reconsidering that one as well.

Rebel makes the Bumblebug in cicada pattern. I have one and another in Junebug.

I guess I'd throw the hell out of a spinnerbait. LOL. No, I'd throw topwaters until I got bites. But I'm just stupid like that.

Whenever bass won't take more of a reaction type bait like a buzzbait, WP or Spook. I prefer to cover water quicker if they'll bite. I don't usually go to the Pop R first, but rather the Chug Bug. It's sort of a hybrid of a walking bait and a popper. So you can work it slower, but still get an erratic action. The popper is more of a target lure than the Spook, etc.

I don't notice any increase in bites by making the retrieve erratic. I do notice more bites when I make the bait touch cover. And retrieve speed make a difference. I usually prefer to reel the bait so fast fish have to make a split second decision. But that depends on water temp.

Big ones fall for the skirt too. I caught this 5.9 Monday at the boat landing before I even put my kayak in on a Cavitron with skirt in ghost minnow/gold.

I use a Tactical Anglers snap on just about every treble lure for the convenience. I tie direct to jigs, T rigs and spinner/buzzbaits.