the reel ess

My buddy makes me put everything I catch from his pond in a floating basket that he empties out regularly. It's hopelessly overpopulated. I caught a 6.5 lb the first time I fished there 16 years ago. I haven't caught anything big in it since. A 1.5 lb bass is a big one there and the average is about 3/4 lb. Most fish I catch there have concaved bellies. The one in this pic is the biggest I've caught there in recent years and it had a bass down its throat. It's about 14". I did throw it back because I thought it had a chance to grow big if it can eat bass.

It could be an animal drug it up there. It could also be that it died due to being hooked in the throat and was tossed up there.

When your hobby is sticking animals in the mouth with sharp objects there will be some unavoidable carnage. Fish swallow hooks, lines break. Let's not assume this is a genocidal maniac. This being a golf course pond, maybe they weren't supposed to be fishing there anyway.

I don't think they're getting hook shy. There are a certain number of fish that will bite and a very large percentage that won't. It could be you went on a new or full moon on the best days to fish. Then you went back at a low point in terms of peak feeding times. If the fish that will bite see a different lure, they may bite it. But fish that you hooked and landed may not eat for days.

I'm going to FL to fish a day in the Glades and a day in the S FL canals. That's my gift to myself. The family is going and they'll play while I play. I'm really hoping to give myself a new PB and catch some nice peacocks. Those would be icing.

I believe all ponds, lakes, rivers and creeks have craws. I fished a lake for 30+ years and never saw a craw and even told people there were none there only to catch a bass trying to "pass" a claw.

Plain 1/4 oz. jighead with Yamamoto Hula Grub or just a twin tail grub. T rigged craw by itself Finesse Jig The last bite I got was on a Ned rigged Nikko hellgrammite and it swam off while I was paying no attention to the line, just letting it sit on bottom.But it doesn't get "St. Louis cold" here.

If they were printed with weights I'd need a magnifying glass to read them. But you're right. I have a bunch and don't know what they are.

I bought my daughter a lady's Ugly Stik combo about 6 years ago. The reel had no anti-reverse. I hadn't seen that on any reel before this one and assumed it was a cheap reel feature, or lack thereof. She never fishes and if she did, she wouldn't remember that she owns a combo anyway. So I took the reel off and put on one of my late dad's rods. I actually like it.

10 Go to Florida

I wouldn't unless I had no choice. What's the reason? Just because you have a fiberglass rod? I have a 7-3 Hvy-X Fast rod for that and I still lose some fish. The idea is to get them to the top and ski them to the boat. Give them a little play and they'll manage to leverage the hook out a good percentage of the time. If price is an issue, I'm sure you can find a $50 Hvy that works well enough. Sensitivity isn't crucial. If you buy a rod and dedicate it to the frog you'll be glad.

I have the Feelfree Lure 13.5. It's stable enough to stand in. I have and I understand a lot of people do. But I still don't feel confident enough in it to stand and set the hook and fight fish. For a kayak it's stable, but don't think that's the same kind of stability you get in even a jonboat.

Often, yes. There are a lot of variables there. But there are a couple of jobs I left on such good terms that it's possible I could return. And I've seen it happen. Business is business. They need names and these are two big names.

My sister just bought a place at the beach that has a boat launch on the Garden City beach (SC) inlet. I've never fished much saltwater. When I did, I just hosed them off with freshwater. My question is about whether my reels are ok with regular saltwater use. I have a few Lews LFS Tournament MB BC reels that I believe are sealed bearing and noncorrosive. But how about Pflueger Trion spinning reels? Also, what do most of you use for redfish and trout? Thanks.

For a while my PB was caught on a BPS spinnerbait that cost a dollar. It was the old Uncle Buck store brand that was about 20 years old. When I got into spinnerbaits, I bought several different size and colors combinations. I still have a few. Then that PB was eclipsed by a soft plastic craw on a plain weedless Arky jighead. That's a pretty cheap lure. As already mentioned, the Zoom Trick Worm is a great bass-to-buck ratio. After the nose gets chewed up, you can cut off a little and re-rig it and catch one or two more. In fact, I believe it gets more bites when it's shorter. As for hardbaits, you generally get what you pay for. But you don't have to spend $10 or more on, say, a walking bait or a popper. For instance, the Spook and Pop R still really get the job done. Academy house brand hardbaits can be a deal. I think they're made by different companies because some are better quality that others.

C'mon down.

Yeah, spinnerbaits are more "woodless". Having them knock up against wood cover is one of the best ways to trigger a strike.

Water that isn't hard. You'll be surprised how slowly you can fish a double or single big Colorado blade spinnerbait. I'll add one: tiny crappie jig. My buddy has caught a few really big gals in cold water while trolling for crappie.

BamaBASS, anyone? I know he's fishing trophy places. But DANG! And he even has his own backyard bass pond with pets.

If you had a Firestick you could get it on your TV by downloading the app to your Firestick.

I had a big ol' gal come all the way out of the water to knock a topwater up in the air with her mouth closed. I cast it back across that path and didn't get a bite. I threw a couple more baits around there then moved on. Sometimes they just want to kill the bait, not eat it. A lot of times, and this usually happens to me when I've been successful with the topwater early, they'll nip at the back hook then shy away. If they aren't striking the middle of the bait and they're just getting one barb of the rear treble it's a lot easier to lose them. The Plopper is a heavy bait, which gives them good leverage to throw the hook when they do the head shake.

It is certainly relative. To me deeper than 8' is deep. I catch 90% of my fish shallow, if that's the line of demarcation.

Given those two choices I'll always choose shallow. Let's say you have a jon boat or a kayak with no electronics. In that shallow water you're going to drag some baits by some fish. But this time of year is shallow time for me. It's the last chance for the year for me to get a big gal in less than 5 or 6' of water. But skinny water bass will be shocked more easily by bitter cold snaps.

Amber. I'm not spending big money on a 2nd unnecessary pair of glasses. Actually, I'm not spending big money on one pair. I use Calcuttas.

I went into a tackle shop at the beach and asked them for artificials for redfish, trout and flounder. They gave me a gold Johnson Minnow and a pack of Gulp Mullet. They said I could spend all I wanted in that store but those two things would get it done for less than $10. I caught a flounder on each. No redfish or trout though. I've thought a lot about the Johnson minnow in our local lake, but only tried it once with no success.