the reel ess

I'm 4-5 years away. My daughter starts college in the fall and I want to hang on until she's out. I have every idea my boss will try to keep me working at least part time as I'll only be 56-57 and I'm the best at my job that he has. I want to buy myself a jon boat and start a backwoods bass boat project on it. I think at some point the kayak is going to be a bit too much for an old man. I'd like to be able to fish 3-4 days a week or whenever I feel like it.

I was gonna say "...a sharp stick in they eye." But I'm not sure.

You were infiltrating the whole time! It is a yuge perk. I work from home. It also affords more time on the water because it cuts out the commute. Hours are flexible and I can usually squeeze in an afternoon or morning on the water every couple weeks.

I think of this when I see people catfishing with shrimp. What an awful exchange! I know this will inspire some hate, so here's the disclaimer: I'm joking, kinda. ?

When I was a teen I was getting into metal music and all my jeans were just right when they started to fall apart. My mom would throw them in the trash and I would get them out, wash them and wear them again. If she only knew what a forward thinker I was. Funny thing is this is now much more of a women's style than men's.

I don't believe they do a whole lot of thinking. If we could ask them why they bit a certain lure, and they had the ability to respond, The answer would be "I have no idea".

I've wondered this too. I've caught lots of bass on frogs, including onw almost 8 lbs. But I've always wondered if the bass really recognizes it as a frog or just some poor critter flailing on the lily mat. I rarely see frogs on the mat where I fish.

There was no trespassing. It wasn't even his property he shot the man over because navigable waters are public up to a high water mark. Navigable means you can float any vessel down it. I've probably kayaked on some creeks that were marginally navigable. Never encountered a landowner, but I have seen campsites and obvious fishing spots.

In SC a man went to prison for shooting and killing someone who refused the leave the sandbar in front of the man's property. Here the waterline up to high water, whatever that may be, is public. If they were standing on a sandbar, water wasn't very high. And it wasn't the man's sandbar.

I fish a couple of those too. I have 2 friends with ponds. I have access to one of the two the local city water reservoirs that is owned by the people surrounding it. We have a couple of electric only DNR lakes close by. There's a nature preserve and a couple of state parks within a decent drive. None of these would have boats running gas motors. Technically and assault, but funny nonetheless.

This is why I fish almost exclusively private places. When I do fish public waters, I choose the ones that the crowds avoid.

In many places, the water and everything to the specified high water mark belongs to the power company that dammed the lake. That's considered public access. In SC people can actually get out of a boat and walk on your dock unless it's very high and the homeowner would be in the wrong trying to stop them. It is however illegal for someone to walk through your property and access your dock or to get on a boat (real property) docked there.

And apparently feral hogs.

If there's one population you can't decrease it's squirrels. Yeah, jet skiers are some of the least considerate and downright obnoxious people you'll ever encounter.

It's usually a good sign. But in the southeast we had a very warm Feb. Great for getting the fish to start moving. Things started blooming a month early, then we had a hard freeze. Dogwoods are bloomed out and I still have only seen a few beds with no bass even cruising nearby. I'm still catching prespawn bass on wood cover. OP: Try dragging a lizard.

I was at the local service station and a guy came by with nice size bass in his cooler. He asked me what I thought it weighed. I said maybe 6 lbs. He told me I was crazy, it had to be at least 7 and went on to weigh it. He works for a local utility so I see him around. I asked him later what it weighed and he said 5 1/2.

I just make a guess, then subtract 1 lb. min from it. Every time but twice that I thought I had an 8 pounder, it was a 7 pounder. And on the two occasions it was barely an 8 pounder, I thought it was more.

No, but I would pay for some really good bass fishing if I lived near some pay lakes. The clemson extension manages 3, maybe 4 lakes with the purpose of determining stocking strategies. I understand they implement different rules. Sometimes you have to take a slot, sometimes there's a max size you have to take. By entering into the agreement you're required to take your catch within those parameters. If you catch a limit in that slot you must take them out. But this place is 45 minutes away and I have good private fishing about 2 miles from my house. Other than that I have 3 other private places I can get into and there is a great wildlife preserve not too far with at least 6 ponds.

The best lessons are the ones that hurt, either physically or financially.

My dad started me off fishing as if I was his equal. He showed me knots and left me to figure things out and didn't do everything for me because he was busy trying to catch fish. My most cherished moments were days spent fishing with him. He got to where he enjoyed me doing the work while he just cast from the back seat. He would get tired quickly. Eventually, I couldn't even drag him along. He went to a pond with me the fall before he passed away and he caught a couple. I had to rig his rod for him like I was the parent and he the child. I miss him every day. When I lost him it was like losing both my parents at once because he was the link to my mom, who passed 5 years prior.

I fished with a guide in So FL two days, just him and me. He sat in the boat and rigged up rods for me all day to keep me casting something they wanted. He ran the trolling motor by remote and had the spot lock feature. I had the front deck to myself. In that scenario you can both be on the front.

Where I fish most of the time it's very unusual to catch two or more good size bass off a spot. They just don't school up there. I've only done it a handful of times. So I won't waste much time at all. Sometimes I go back to a spot I feel good about though. A couple years ago in May I caught one 7.93 lb and another 5.75 lb on the same spot, both on Plopper, but hours apart. If I'd more time to kill that day I would have returned to the scene again.

I got this young lady yesterday. Almost a carbon copy of the one I got on the 23rd. 4-10. Only 2 oz less than the other fish and not caught far apart. Now that I look at them side-by-side, they're not the same fish. I don't worry much about the background. This place is private and only a handful of people fish it. I had all 35+ acres to myself yesterday.

I fish in winter. I got one 4.75 about a week ago. Went yesterday afternoon and only 4 dinks. I had to resort to the weightless Speed Worm to get those. Talked to my buddy and he only got one crappie. There were beds, but no fish on them. Nights have been cold and I don't believe the crappie have spawned yet.

^^^^ This right here.