the reel ess

I'm sorry. But you also have a much greater chance at 10+lb fish than we do. I'm thinking the live bait might increase my average size. Trying to bump that 8.2 PB up in another range.

I'm about to start trying some live bait in hopes of catching bigger bass. I'll be using medium (up to maybe 7") native gold shiners and/or bluegill. What's your hook choice and size preference for those?

I have 3 now. The first one, a size 40, worked so well, I bought another 25 and 20. They just keep working. I got the 25 in a pawn shop unopened for half price. SCORE!

Watch YouTube videos on increasing hookups. Bend those hooks out a bit. Trim the legs a bit so they're no longer than the body. Use a Booyah Pad Crasher. The body is just the right texture and very durable. I like 50# braid and cinch my drag down. I use a 7'3" X Hvy-X Fast frog specific Cabela's Tournament XT rod. Longer and stiffer the lever, the better the leverage. And you'll still miss a good many fish.

Hey, since I posted that, I caught a new PB Saturday in about 3 ft of water on a spinnerbait. You can see it in my post in the Fishing Reports forum. It is a bit unusual because it's in the shallow headwater of the reservoir in the heat of July, but it has rained a good bit lately.

I depends on a few things for me. In big worms like a ribbon tail, I like variations of purple, like tequila sunrise or plain black. In Trick Worms I like the bright colors in off-color water when you're working it like a jerkbait for reaction strikes. But if you're getting finessy with it, I like the watermelons and pumkins. I'm usually getting finessy in clearer water with the smaller 4.5" worm. There's no such thing as "clear water" in most places I go. I also like black/blue flake.

Thanks! It's how I always fish unless I'm in the back seat of my buddy's Bass Tracker. I sold my big boat last summer after not using it for a couple years. I find it easier to fight big bass from the kayak. If they make a run under the boat you just hold on and they turn it for you.

I took 7 yesterday because I have a kayak and crate rigged for 8. I went a while back with my cousin and uncle to walk a pond and took 11. My main combos for bass are 6 BC and 2 spinning. I also have a couple combos that I pieced together with my dad's stuff after he died. They're old but serviceable. A couple of my combos I carry just because I want to try 3 topwaters and don't want to be retying all day. I only have three combos with really nice rods. The rest are cheaper rods ($30-40) that can do the job when sensitivity is not terribly important. But I'm gradually replacing the cheaper rods with better quality as they wear out. I have three Lew's Tourney MB reels and an Academy TAC-4 reel. The rest are older ones I had for 10 years or so.

Thanks. It's actually my first big bass of 2020, not for lack of trying. Numbers have been good this year, but my biggest bass before today was about 3.5.

It only took me nearly 50 years, but I finally broke the 8 lb. mark. I had just lost a very good fish, maybe bigger than this one, that took a Pop R and peeled off drag into the lilies. I thought it was likely a potential PB. This was about 8:45. I had already fished for 2 hours and only had one dink to show for it. Just a couple casts later I had this big gal smash my 3/8 oz. War Eagle golden shiner double willow blade spinnerbait about 5 ft from my kayak. The fish never jumped, just kept digging and taking drag for about 30 seconds.

Rooster Tail, Beetle Spin, Trout Magnet, Rebel Micro Lures pack, crappie jigs.

Check out @cadman website. http://cadmansjigs.weebly.com/ Great guy and a member on here. He made me some custom wire tied jigs. He'll make anything you want or send you parts. I also ordered some plain jigheads. As for production skirts I like War Eagle's. But I have heard their inventory is low.

I go early or late. My PB came in July in water about a foot deep. I'm a shallow water guy. Usually I'm looking for places that are shallow with deeper water close by. But I caught that pig on a shallow flat.

Welcome. Where are you from?

Great story. I don't like to consider the person i would be if I hadn't gotten into fishing as heavily as I did. My dad had a coworker who took me fishing from time to time, even though my own dad took me. This man had three boys of his own, none of whom liked to fish as much as I did. I learned a lot about bass from him. I saw him a few years ago and he asked me if I still liked to fish as much as I did when I was young. I told him "More". I only have a daughter who really has no interest in fishing or even kayaking with me.

It changes for me from time to time. I hired a So FL guide and he had me walking the dog all day with a lot of success. The first day I ever used one I caught bass after bass, then nothing for a few years except the occasional striper. A fast retrieve seems to work best for me. It seems fish like for it to be fleeing. It's also a very warm water, mid-to-late summer lure for me. I'll sometimes give it a try early in the day and if it's not producing with 15 minutes, switch right on over to a Chug Bug or Pop R. Same with a Whopper Plopper. But...when you get a bite on one of these bigger baits it tends to be a good one. Bites from some of the biggest bass I've caught on topwaters tend to be very subtle. The bait just disappears.

My nephews called me from Walmart standing in front of the fishing lines and asked me what they should use for my dad's old 5000C reels. They live at the beach so saltwater is not off the table. I gave them the exact same advice. BG 12 lb. I told them it's so cheap they can backlash it a few times and still have plenty of line to refill. It's the "family size" spool.

It's all relative to what you're used to. If you get out in it now and stay hydrated it will seem like nothing when the humidity or the temp declines.

The shallower the pond, the easier it is to catch fish on topwaters. Also, a Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm t rigged with 1/8 oz. weight can be a shallow pond killer. Zoom Trick worm is another standby for almost any pond.

Good info here. That Lure is just way too much boat. I could almost load and unload a small jon boat, trolling motor and battery for the same trouble. It's defeating the purpose of having a kayak, IMO. The Light Tackle claims a weight of 75 lbs. Maybe that's without the seat. 73 or 75 still sounds a lot lighter than 104 plus battery and motor. And my Lure is almost useless without the motor because it doesn't have the rudder. I could get the rudder kit and probably be happier, but then I'm out another $250-ish. I'm just thinking of cutting losses. Thanks for the reviews. Just one more question. Does the UL take on water from the scuppers? I like to fish in all water temps and would prefer to stay as dry as possible in the cold. But I do have provisions for that.

It gets rather hot and humid here in SC. I'll go early or late, preferably late because I can leave after work in summer and fish a few hours before dark without losing any time from work. Coincidentally, dawn and dusk are the best bite times in the heat of summer here as far as the daylight hours go. I went yesterday morning and caught 12 by 10:30. It was a good day.

I use an older 7' MH/M-F Falcon Lowrider that's supposed to be made for Rattle Traps. I have a Lew's Tournament MB reel spooled with 15# Big Game mono. This is my rod for almost all standard size topwaters. The combo of the heavy mono and the rod action are great for topwaters when you have a lot of line out. I have another combo with a very worn BPS Johnny Morris reel on a 6-6 Lightning Rod with the same line that I'll throw the 110 size WP on. It's a 5.1:1 ratio. This is actually the perfect ratio for the speed you want with the WP. I only take it when I want to use the 110. Of course, the 90 gets more bites. But I fish from a kayak so the rod tip is lower than it would be in a boat. So the 90 has a tendency to want to submarine if the line is laying on the water until you reel up enough line to get it off the water surface.. The 110 is very buoyant.

It's a lot easier to be noisy in a canoe or kayak than on land. Especially easy in the canoe compared to a SOT kayak because there is only one layer between you and the water.

LOL. If I was going to try to tie what they're taking, it would look just like a worm. My buddy was catching them on those but I wasn't.

I horse traded my way into a Lure FeelFree 13.5 kayak with a stern mount saltwater 35 lb thrust trolling motor setup a year or so ago. I never use it. The kayak alone weighs 104 lbs. The trolling motor and battery add to the cumbersome package. I find myself going to my cheaper Pescador most of the time because it's light and easy to maneuver. I can throw it in the truck bed and get on the road in a few minutes. So I'm looking to trade down a bit. I'd like any feedback on Crescent Light Tackle or Ultra Light Tackle models.