the reel ess

We are thinking of a last move. I love FL. But I know the wife won't love the heat. I think we may end up compromising and heading toward the SC coast.

It was good. I loved it. But I knew I would. I like westerns, modern westerns and western scenery. And I had already read the novel series. The showed pretty much followed the novels.

I fished with a FL guide once who said he had to shoot one in his entire career. He said it got bolder with every visit. He was pretty sure it was the same one because it was uncharacteristically bold. Eventually, it tried to get onto the aft deck.

I use Tactical Anglers clips on everything I want to be able to change out quickly. That's pretty much all treble baits. I haven't had a problem with any fish bending them yet. They're rated from 50-175 lb. I'm in the kayak so versatility is key.

What used to ruin a trip for me was too many other fishermen or other rude boaters. When my family still owned a lake house I used to go over on Friday evening, put the boat in and make sure it ran fine. I'd get up before the rooster crowed and get out to whatever spot I thought was going to be most productive. It got to the point I was usually the third boat into some of those places. Or I would have to take a weekday off to avoid crowds. Then I was down to plans B & C. That got old. I know people think it's cheating to fish private waters. But I didn't change to catch more and bigger fish. I changed to keep the hobby fun. It was becoming a lot of work for little reward.

My normal and best spot is less than 2 miles from my house. I can load the kayak and gear and be on the water in 15 minutes. I have three other regular places within a 15 min. drive. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

I have all these rods plus a M-F spinning for those lighter treble baits. I will sometimes take up to 8 rods because I might want different baits of the same type tied on. Then there are times, like right now, that I only take 3 rods.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Are the exotic species in them as well as largemouth?

Can you just pull off the side of the road anywhere on Everglades Parkway (I 75) and walk and fish? I see YouTube videos of people fishing canals beside the highway and I would guess it's there.

Hear Here! Big Game is one of the best bang for buck products in all of fishing. I keep a 900 yd spool in my bag. I use it for backing on reels spooled with braid. I have had to cut the braid off my jig reel due to a very bad backlash and I just filled it back with 15# BBG until I got home. I was on vacation and it saved my fishing trip. I also use it for spinnerbaits/buzzbaits. I've gone to braid as my main line on most combos and it seems to be working well. I may end up with braid on all my combos.

Pegged is fine. Just keeping the weight and the bait in one smaller package. I use the bobber stop.

Bass are pretty resilient. You just don't want them to swallow the hook. If that happens, there's a thread on one of these pages about how to deal with it. If all else fails and you kill it, eat the bass. They taste alright. When your hobby is sticking hooks in fish, a few are going to get hurt.

It looks a little light on the hookset to me. But it was obviously good enough. My dad taught me to "cross their eyes" with the hookset, just to be sure. It's not as necessary when using light wire or treble hooks. Now, when you start using jigs or flipping hooks, you have to set it hard. The thicker the hook, the harder the hookset. I should also mention you don't need to set circle hooks or finesse hooks hard. Just reel into the fish and it will do the rest.

After Hurricane Hugo, the water level rose about 8' over the dam of Lake Wateree, SC. My dad was fishing from the bank (the dock was several feet under water.) He hooked one that went under the dock and got stuck. I was with him and told him to hang on. I went up the the house and got into my bathing suit and I got that bass for him. I have also gone swimming in winter to retrieve the sideplate of a reel I dropped in. I couldn't find it. I emailed BPS rod/reel repair and they sent me the part for $19.95.

@roadwarrior Awesome fish! Was she caught on a live shiner?

lipless cranks (I usually fish the CC Spot), spinnerbait & jig.

Try them on spawning bass.

They generally perform better on grassy flats than around wood cover. I never had much luck with them on the bigger lakes until I started fishing a grassy reservoir. It's one of my top 3 lures in this place.

Everything upstream ends up in the lake. If you had a pond, and upstream there were other ponds, you probably wouldn't need to stock yours. If you've ever fished a spillway, you know what I mean. The only way I'd see this as unethical is if your lake didn't already have largemouth. I find that highly doubtful in So. FL. legal could be a different story.

That looks like a killer idea for a "dropper" behind a topwater. You should sell them.

Whatever scent that have on them in the bag. Some of them, Berkley Chigger Craw for example, have a scent that lasts. They smell like a seafood restaurant dumpster. Others, have a scent on them, but not in them. I've been using the Rage Craw and Rage Bug lately. I don't notice any difference in bites or quality. They still usually bite it and swim around with it until it dawns on me the line's moving. But I like the smell of anise. I also like black licorice. Maybe I should use a T rigged licorice whip.

I got tired of trailering 20 miles to the lake, competing with people with better equipment than I could afford for 2 lb. bass and trailering home. So I bought a kayak and never looked back. You're right except for one place I fish. But it is a little bigger than the average pond, maybe 30 acres. But it's worth getting skunked occasionally to have a crack at 8 pounders. And It's really good exercise to paddle the whole thing. And it's 2 miles from home.

A lot of these lures we don't catch squat on are much more productive in a smaller pond.

Me either. I've caught 0 fish on the glide and a total of 1 on a big swimbait. A few times a year I'll make up my mind to fish one of these baits all day with no success. I find I have much more success with larger bass using the spinnerbait and jig.