the reel ess

Could be that people cheated and got away with it. We had a builder remodeling our house that filled about 8 deer tags this year. He kept bringing me summer sausages and those meat and cheese sticks without being asked. I was going fishing from time to time and he kept asking why I didn't keep and eat the fish, even the big ones. So last time I went to my buddy's pond full o' dinks I kept 8 and gave them to him. It's just a totally different mentality to me. But i wasn't always this way. And I, too, will keep a few every now and then, especially crappie. I just don't want to fill the freezer anymore. My family doesn't like freshwater fish very much.

This is less of an issue now than it has ever been in the history of modern bass fishing. I was raised by an old school fisherman who though if you didn't clean and eat the fish, you didn't really catch them. Most people today don't need a trophy bass for food. Most people fanatical enough to fish long enough to catch lots of big bass don't keep them. And those are the only people who could do damage to a fishery. One of the reasons I fish instead of hunt is that I can catch that trophy more than once. I'm pretty sure I've caught the fat bass in my avatar twice because that gut is unusually large for my reservoir and they were caught close together. But even if people do kill their trophies, and a few will, there's no law against it. Hell, bass tournaments probably kill more big fish. I don't see a lot of arguments against weigh-ins on this site because it hasn't impacted the sport negatively.

Some heat shrink tubing would get that job done as well.

I think they slow it down in colder water. I'm either in the kayak or with my buddy in his boat. Either way, I'm usually moving and only get a couple pitches at best. 90% of the time, the fish will bite on the drop near the target. But if it's very calm or it's a pattern that's working, I'll fish it longer. The guide I fished with in FL told me to pitch it in, bump it twice and if there was nothing on it, pull out and pitch to another spot. But I've had bass bite the jig as I reeled it back.

I used to take part in the bassboat rat race at the local big lake. It got to be more work than reward. So I bought a canoe. After using it a few times, I wanted a kayak. I just sold the bassboat. Practically gave it away. I know the guy I sold it to. It's now his permanent yard art. I bought a Perception Sport Pescador SOT, which was really the previous generation Wilderness Tarpon. It was an entry level model I got on sale at Academy for $500. I still have it and use it for small or very shallow places. Its light and easy to throw in the truck and take off at the drop of a hat. But it has limitations. You can't stand and fish. It's a little less stable than the expensive ones, but not so unstable you worry about flipping. It has a molded in seat and thin seat pad, which I removed and a back rest (a must for fishing). I use a stadium cushion. Even so, it will put your butt and feet to sleep after a few hours. Another downside is, since you sit low to the water, you can get a wet butt in rough water or if you have to paddle hard. Not nice in cold water. I bought a Feelfree Lure SOT from a buddy for the bigger places. It has a stern mount, foot steered, 36 lb thrust, saltwater trolling motor with variable speed control. It keeps me from having to paddle for miles and is a bit more hands-free. You can stand and fish. It even has a standing brace, which I don't use. The drawback is it weighs almost double what the Pescador weighs. It has a wheel in the stern, but that's because it almost has to. It really needs a cart or a trailer (someday). I had to buy it because I got the whole package for less than the kayak alone costs new. But it's a load and requires some motor and battery setup when I put in and take out. It takes a little longer to get ready and I have to recharge the battery.

I saw someone said "taking the time to grind out the tough part of the day". That's something that's hard to do and a mindset you have to make yourself take on. When I go and don't get a nibble for 2 hours, it just makes me want to fish longer. The lessons you learn trying to buy a bite on tough days are more valuable than the ones you learn when you can't keep fish off the hook.

Zoom Trick Worm can be fished like a jerkbait.

Tying on a jig and not cutting it off-ever. Just making myself use it until I could consistently catch bass on it. And I still don't cut it off. Hiring a So FL guide for a couple days and getting pointers, catching maybe 100 fish along the way. It was expensive, but a good experience I can't get here, alone. I also have a bud with a pond full of dinks. Whenever I want to try a new technique, I'll give it a shot there first. It usually works because they're hungry there and it gives me the confidence in it to use it elsewhere.

Yes, it's the wastegate. There's a spring in it to relieve compressed air pressure before gets to a damaging level and causes detonation. The computer is supposed to re tard timing when that happens. It can happen so fast the computer can't stop it. By changing the spring, you can increase or decrease available boost pressure. If the car came with a tamper-proof wastegate, you can replace it with one you can that swap out the springs. Those engines were built for a certain boost level with a safety factor built in. Increasing boost on a stock rotating assembly is removing the safety factor. Simply swapping out the intercooler for a larger unit and a larger exhaust is good for some horsepower without risking the motor. The upgraded intercooler can decrease detonation risk because it cools the incoming air.

Yeah, that was the premier late 80s muscle car. If you look long and hard, you can find T-Type turbo Regals that have been upgraded with go-fast goodies. What scares me about them is the early computer control of a turbo'd EFI motor. If it's been buggered with, I'd have to take it to a tuner to work out the kinks. That could turn into an inanimate pile of parts in the carport.

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I throw them on 15# Big Game mono. Same with spinnerbaits. I don't know how it affects missed fish because I never used braid for that presentation. I use a trailer hook whenever I can though. I have a feeling that would net more missed fish than line type.

I noticed a negative review I did of one of Academy Sports' house brand baits is gone.

If it's not all places, then Academy will lower theirs. But I must assume it is across the board.

Your 12 footer weighs less than my big kayak. But I also have a trolling motor and batter on it.

If it was 9.13 lbs, you can change your PB in your profile.

Absolutely

Whatever gets you the cast you desire. You don't need 3' of line hanging off the rod to sidearm a bait under a dock or hit a specific target. But it helps is you're after a long cast for search baits or covering water. Also, consider those around you. I fished with a guide a while back and he kept sitting in the driver's seat going through tackle. I kept checking before I cast the walking bait I was using and he said "Let it fly, you won't hit me." I said "You want to bet on that? I'll just make sure I don't." My dad once hit my mom in the head with a Norman's DD22 crankbait and never lived it down. She probably reminds him of that in heaven.

About the Trick Worm by Zoom, don't be afraid of the bubble gum color when using the "floating worm" or wacky rigged presentations. It looks like a gimmick, but I can assure you it's not. For me, it and the limetreuse color outfish all the other colors by a long shot. If you go into WalMart in the spring, bubble gum is the color they'll be out of. They won't even stock limetreuse. It's one of the best kept secrets in bass fishing. I've been so many times to find the store is out of bubble gum color that I just order them online now. This color works in the Super Fluke as well.

Ours sucks. There's an Academy close by that kills them. If that's not bad enough, there's a Cabela's (BPS, Jr) a couple exits up the interstate. But the wife and daughter like to go into Ulta, which is next door to Dick's. So I will usually saunter in there to see what's on the clearance rack. There's always some stuff on clearance because they have no idea how to purchase for bass fishing. They stock up on the latest gimmicky stuff like bat and duck-looking lures and then they're on deep discount end of summer.

The actual Trick Worm by Zoom doesn't float, at least not rigged on a worm hook. But it's almost neutrally buoyant and when retrieved like a jerkbait, it will come near the surface. So if you cast out and let it sink, it sinks really slowly and the tail wiggles a bit. I've probably caught more fish on it this way than the jerkbait retrieve.

The best winter advice I can give is, unless you live in Florida, don't get discouraged. I fished with a guide in FL Dec 27-28 and probably caught 100 fish. I came home and zeroed twice. I did finally get one on a jig. When winter fishing, often you're fishing fr just one or two bites. Maybe zero bites. Hang on, it'll warm up at some point.

Catfish, white bass, crappie, white perch, all kinds of bream, gar, stripers, a monster gold shiner, turtle and just recently, oscar. I feel certain I've forgotten some.

The idea is that bass think it's a crawfish and the skirt is a an added attraction, not the other way around. Therefore, if you made me choose between the skirt and the soft plastic craw, I'd just use a plain weedless jighead with the craw. That's what I did when I wanted to learn to use a jig. I wanted more bites so I got more practice at feeling the bite and setting the hook. I was fishing with a guide a bit back and we were flipping grass. We were catching one at almost every patch of grass. He handed me another rod with the same type lure but it had a punching skirt added. He said it was to try to get a bigger bass to bite.

I ordered a Falcon Bucoo 6-10 Hvy flipping/pitching rod with a gift card from work. I was using a 7' MH Falcon Lowrider that was really meant to be a heavy cranking rod for this technique. I can't wait to get out and give it a try.