the reel ess

A size 20 Pflueger Trion reel with 7' medium spinning rod spooled with 20# PowerPro. I'll use a mono leader if needed. I was going through my dad's rods and reels after he died. He had a bunch of retired rods that were either too light or too heavy for general bass fishing. There was a 2-pc 6' ML baitcaster in there. I want to give it a try at my buddy's dink factory pond, but I haven't yet. I'll fill one of my smaller BC reels with 10# mono someday and get around to it. That will probably be the day I finally get a bite from the biggest bass in the place.

It's in the 60s today, but there's some winter on the way tomorrow. Here, winter gives the false impression that it's just not coming this year, then BAM! it's winter again. And these cold snaps really give the bass lockjaw.

I with you! I had a fishing boat. I used to go to my parents' place on the lake, launch the boat, run it to make sure it was in good working order, go back, sleep and get up with the chickens and go fishing. No matter how early I went there was someone already sitting where I wanted to be. I'm not a tourney angler and I don't enjoy the competition or grinding out 2-3 dinks. I got my first kayak about 7 years ago. A Perception Soprt Pescador 120. Now I still ahve that one for really small places, but I bought a Feelfree Lure that has a transom mount 36lb trolling motor kit. I have about 6 private places I can fish as well as several public if I wanted to fish them. I sold the boat recently and I'm so glad to be rid of it. I don't have that lake house anymore either. The only downside is fishing in cold weather. That's just easier, more comfortable and safer with a real boat. But winter is not very long here.

7.92 lb on a Plopper. this past summer.

It's fascinating.

I liked the MB model so much I bought two more. It's an excellent reel for jigs. But I think it has been discontinued. I guess the Tournament MP replaced it. But that reel is $20 more. I bought the top of the line Academy store brand reel, the TAC-40, for my pitching combo. I like it a lot too. It seems to be very good quality for $99. It's very light and low profile. That took a little getting used to. I don't think it holds more than 70 yards of line. A small capacity spool just feels right for pitching and skipping to me. It feels like you get a $120-130 reel for under $100.

I had to yank a Pop R away from an owl twice one evening. It's rare to even see an owl here. They're here, you usually only hear them.

My largemouth bass goal is always the same. A new PB. I wanted to catch some peacocks in S FL and I got that out of my system. Back to the new PB!

On an earlier trip in the same vacinity, I had another big one come flying out of the water like Shamu with its mouth closed. It was trying to stun the bait. I made a lot of follow up casts with different baits to no avail.

Whopper Plopper 110. The bass was 7.92 lb. and a PB. I don't really know if it had anything to do with the bait as my last 2 PBs bit as soon as the bait hit water. It wasn't an explosion as you might imagine from a PB on a topwater. The bait just disappeared and I set the hook. It was July.

While in FL recently, I caught the same bass twice in the same spot on the same lure about 30 minutes apart. There was no mistaking it. It appeared to have been injured. It was shaped like a question mark like it had a broken back and somehow healed up and had sores all over it. It was even stiff. I told the guide it must be trying to commit suicide, but we kept throwing it back.

I bought one off Amazon with a gift card, so no cost to me. It's a $17 bait. But to be honest, there are more expensive walking baits. If nothing else, it rattles. The standard Spook and Super Spook (larger size) don't. You can tell it's a very quality piece. Shake it and the rattles continue to bounce around a while. It has 3 settings for sounds and another for no sound. The first sound resembles a cricket or frog. Second sound is supposed to be a craw, but its more of a tapping noise. The third is a shad sound like the Hydrowave device makes. Either way, I slew the bass in FL with it. At the very minimum, it's the easiest walking bait I've ever used. BTW, Roland Martin has a YouTube video catching big bass on the Helicopter lure.

A. I don't own anything that nice B. I'd have sooner thrown her in. She wouldn't have known how to use it anyway.

Fishing tournaments

nm

The head of an obviously dead catfish-hooked in the mouth. I have no idea how that happened. I was fishing with a piece of hot dog. All I can guess is a live catfish or turtle was feasting on the dead cat and bit my hot dog. The hook must've transferred to the dead cat. My ex-monster-inlaw accidentally threw my old Zebco 33 combo in the lake once. You see why I didn't hand her a better combo. Years later I caught that combo and reeled it in. I cleaned it up, but it was junk. A fish basket (trap) with a dead turtle and a couple big live channel cats in it. They flopped around and covered my dad and me with the stench of dead turtle. The fishing trip was over at that point.

I'm reviving this old thread rather than starting another to say and ask the same things. When I fished with Capt. Shane in Florida, I started the day off with a Saltwater Super Spook with a dressed tail hook. First cast of the day I caught one and when it jumped another fish jumped with it, trying to get the bait. Good sign, huh? Well, fishing was good for about an hour. When the bite slowed, Shane handed me a different rod rigged with the Walking Boss. He said it emits a sound like live bait and sometimes they'll hit it dead sticking. The bite improved and I used it most of that day and the next. I caught most of my fish on that one bait both days. The package tells how to set the sound it emits. Default sounds like a cricket or frog. There's craw and shad as well as no sound. To those who have used Livingston baits, what sound did you get best results with? Thanks.

Plopper 110, Chug Bug, jig-craw There's a floating Rat-L-Trap. I bought one simply because I fish a lot of pretty shallow areas. It dives about 2.5 to 3' when retrieved, but slowly rises when paused. It doesn't weigh as much. It also doesn't sound exactly like the standard model and I haven't caught anything using it yet. I only used it once. But, come to think of it, now is a pretty good season for it. It can be worked like a jerkbait. If I were to put a heavier hook in front, it would probably be about neutrally bouyant.

Go to Florida. You're welcome. I went to FL and caught about 100 in two days. Came home and zeroed twice.

All spinning (bass): 20# PowerPro braid. Leader if it's necessary for the presentation. Baitcasting trebles: 15# Big Game mono. I also use mono for spinnerbaits/buzzbaits/chatterbaits. Mostly due to the line tie not being an actual closed eye. But I like the stretch of the mono to allow the fish to take the hook before I feel them. Baitcasting single hooks: 30# PP braid Frog/Hvy flipping & pitching: 50# PP braid I like to keep it simple, but a guide recently showed me I could simplify further by using braid on everything and a short leader for anything I feel required one. I'm mulling that over.

LOL. My last 2 PBs bit the bait as soon as it hit the water. One was a War Eagle spinnerbait and the other was a Whopper Plopper 110. They probably would have bitten almost any lure in the tackle box. I bought one in a larger size and was impressed, but it's heavy. Then I saw a brand new 20 size in a pawn shop still in the blister package for $20. It feels perfect. I put it on my finesse combo.

IDK. I only used it that one way. Before when I flipped a T rig I used a Gammy Superline EWG hook-not the proper tool for the job, but I caught fish on it. The snelled hook seemed to work really well. I caught maybe 20 on it. I've heard it explained this way. The flipping weight is bulky and can pop the fish's mouth open when you set the hook. If you can get the hook point up your hookset percentage should be better. The guide was a firm believer. He did tell me be careful not to snell it backwards or the catch rate goes way down. LOL.

I have a milk crate with 5 rod holders in it (PVC pipes I zip tied in) and the kayak has 2 flush-mount holders. So I take 7 rods already rigged. I carry a few bags of plastics I think I might need and sometimes my crankbait and/or hard topwaters box. I keep the treble hook rods rigged with a snap so i don't have to retie them. Sometimes I fish my buddy's private pond that has a dock and I'll leave my who tackle bag at the edge of it so I can come back and get whatever I want to use. I won't take every rod in the kayak in that case. I usually could have taken 2 rods and caught the same number of fish, but which 2??? I don't know before I go. My better kayak has rod leashes on the built-in rod holders. But I never use them. You learn to not fall out or flip it pretty quickly. I know, famous last words... Anything can happen,especially in moving water. But I actually fell out of my lower quality Pescador once and didn't lose any rods. I've wondered how many rods are just dropped from a kayak vs. lost out of holders. Beyond that, I throw a pair of needlenose pliers with cutters and a scale in the floor in front of me and go.

I fished with a FL guide recently and flipped part of 2 days. He had 3 bobber stops above the weight, a bead below the weight and a snelled hook. I asked the same question. He said it didn't matter, just pull it down every so often. But too tight would interfere with the action of the bead and snelled hook. We caught some nice fish in the pepper grass. It wasn't really "punching" because it wasn't a mat, but it was a lighter punch rig. I came right home and rigged one up on my frog combo.

Thanks. I just put the Bucoo SR "Pitching Stick" 6'10" in the Amazon cart. No guessing.