Koz

It's been hot and miserable here in SC for the past few weeks. The heat index has been about 108 with 75% humidity. Even at 6-7 pm the heat index has been at 100. To make matters worse, the few times I went fishing the bite was almost non-existent. But after work tonight the heat index is supposed to be "only" 91 degrees! You can bet we're headed out to fish after work.

In all of my life I may have caught just 3 or 4 fish on a lipped crankbait and one of those was a small bluegill that was probably just trying to nip the tail of a passing "fish" when it got a big surprise. I still fish them now and then as one of the last lures that comes out of my bag. Lip less cranks, however, I do use with some success. I even pulled in a 3 pounder with one the other day, but for me they mostly catch 1-2 pounders and never anything big. For me there are plenty of other baits that are more effective fishing from shore.

I doubt they let you do that in a public park. But you could probably slip a $50 the a groundskeeper and have him clear you a path.

Go out and buy yourself a machete. Seriously. I've opened up more than a few spots in trees and heavy vegetation with one of those. It may take you a few hours of hard work, but you'll be thankful later.

I usually put my shiners under my bobbers ?

If you're fishing the same body lake or pond over and over with no luck my first suggestion is to fish somewhere else. But don't go to a big lake or popular fishing spot. Open Google Earth (not Google Maps) and look for accessible ponds in your area. You'll probably find dozens, including ponds out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Then use the Time function on Google Earth to look at those same ponds over the last 10 years or so. Why? A new pond is less likely to hold decent fish. Learn as much as you can about each pond from the satellite imagery and form a preliminary game plan to fish it. DO NOT ignore the small ponds. I've caught 6+ pound bass in ponds that would take two casts to cover the length of the water. You may also want to bring some light spinning gear and tackle to see if there are panfish in those ponds. I'm lucky that I'm in an area with THOUSANDS of small ponds that hold fish. I love going to new ponds, picking primary target spots, and trying to locate fish on these new waters. Sure, I get shut out on some of these now and then. The other night I fished 3 new lagoons, and was shut out on the first two (although I know there are big bass there). Considering it was blazing hot out, I knew that it was probably that I could not get to the spots where the fish were at that time (I bank fish). So I moved to another new lagoon I found on Google Earth, one that I could move around and cover the entire basin. Sure enough, I landed a few 3 pounders. No monsters, but I at least found the bite. In conclusion, if you're frustrated not catching anything where you are fishing, find a new place to fish. Lots of new places. You'll be surprised what you find out there.

We had a chat about that when I reviewed the video. I told him that while I appreciated his enthusiasm, next time it would be really great if he actually filmed the action. Earlier in the year he asked for one of those action cameras so he could film himself fishing, riding his bike, skateboarding, etc. He used it once. I enjoy photography myself, but not when I'm fishing: https://www.flickr.com/photos/koz16/albums UPDATE: I notified the HOA about the spate of aggressive alligator incidents, but I'm still waiting to hear back from them. We did fish a few other lagoons last night, including a few without any reptile intervention. But it was hot as blazes even at 6 pm (105 heat index) and managed only *** pounder in a few hours out there.

Call Dominos Pizza. https://jalopnik.com/dominos-is-fixing-americas-crappy-roads-for-pizza-safet-1826736405

I've had plenty of strikes on the Sprinker but have yet to land a fish on it. That's too bad because it's great to run over the slop we have here. One thing I thought about is that maybe the MH rods I fish with don't have enough backbone to get a good hookset, but it's not like those are huge hooks. I recently bent the hooks upwards slightly, but still missed the last strike.

I fricking hate gators. Lately they've been a huge bother when fishing, and tonight was no different. We had just arrived to one of our favorite lagoons in Sun City Hilton Head. The same lagoon where a small gator chased me a few weeks ago. I've caught some 4 pounders here, but I know there are 7+ pounders in this lagoon and tonight I was going to find one. I was fan casting a Booyah Pad Crasher starting out and working my way in. On the fateful cast I was casting to my left down the shoreline and my intent was to put the frog beyond an outcrop of vegetation and walk it past that spot. But I hooked my cast a little to the left and it landed behind the vegetation where there was a lot of aquatic algae. As soon as my frog hit the water I caught a glimpse of something big, white and green flashing out of the water behind that vegetation. I reeled down, set the hook, and it felt like a lure hung up on a log. But there are no logs in this lagoon. The line tightened and nothing moved. I reeled some more and still nothing. Maybe the fish was hung up in the slop. So I moved closer as I reeled in. Awww frick! At that point I yelled for my son to grab my multi-tool and bring my phone to take a picture of the event. That's when he started to video. The video below is highly edited because for some reason he pointed the camera at the ground while repeating his new catch phrase about a million times (you'll here it in the video - ???) instead of actually filming the action. There was a long period where the gator had his head well out of the water and was chomping away at my favorite frog. There was another period where the gator raised it's body while in the water and you could see how big it was. It was a decent size, somewhere between 8 and 9 feet long. You can hear me opening and closing the spool when the gator went under and started moving. I wasn't about to wrestle with him or chance the line going tight and having him move towards me. At one point I made a loud noise and tried to scare him, but that didn't work. I tried popping the line but he kept shutting his jaws when the line was still attached. After cutting my line I set up my rod again and packed up to try another lagoon. And just as we were packing the gator came steaming through the water towards us again. I'm done with that lagoon until the HOA takes action. But wait - the day gets even worse. We moved to another lagoon and while my son was fishing a frog a little gator - about 3 feet long - started cruising towards his bait and picked up speed as he was reeling in. The gator was moving so fast that it actually raised itself out of the water. I'm screaming at him to get out of there and he's not moving. I start running towards him yelling and waving my arms like a mad man - hoping to scare off the gator - and Matt finally moves of the shore and the gator stops at the edge of the bank. But wait - there's more!. We move to another lagoon and I'm fishing a frog again. This time a bass hits it, I set the hook, and it feels like a decent sized fish. I start reeling and the line goes slack. Really, really slack. Like no frog on my line slack. Yep - my knot failed because of angler error. But wait - there's even more! I tie on a Whopper Plopper 110 and make a few casts around the fountain in the lagoon and wouldn't you know it, I snagged the rope cable and hung up my lure. I didn't get it back. Yeah - it was not a good day. Also included is a screen capture of him trying to devour my lure. Some day I'd like to post on here again about the fish that I caught or a new PB instead of dinosaurs ruining my day.

I don't stress or get frustrated when I'm fishing whether they are biting or not. I just enjoy being out there, usually with my son or our friends. If for some reason I'm not having a good time I pack it up and go home. That being said, if things are really slow I'll go through half of my tackle bag trying different things.

In my part of the south when it gets cloudy the bass tend to cruise the shoreline of the smaller lagoons rather than hug the cover along the shore. And what they are most likely to hit on are topwaters. I'll start by throwing quieter lures to progressively noisier lures - frog, then spook, then Whopper Plopper 110. If that doesn't work - which rarely happens - I'll throw a chatterbait with a paddle tail trailer, working the shore first then fanning out to deeper water. Some days the chatterbait is gold, others days I'm hauling blanks. Earlier in the spring I'd start with a spinnerbait before moving on to a topwater. One last thing - go ahead and throw in water that's only 4-6 inches deep. Plenty of big bass cruise right along the banks looking for a meal.

One thing that you can do is trim them up and use them for Ned rigs. I know the purists will tell you that the TRD baits are best for Ned rigs, but why let half of a perfectly good Senko go to waste? FWIW, I switched from Senkos to Yum Dingers. They are about 1/3 the cost of Senkos per pack.

Probably not big enough to drag me in, but big enough to do some damage. Then again, they are mostly muscle...

Afternoon heat index of 107 here all this week, down to about 100 by 6pm. The bass may still be biting, but I'm not sure if I'm up for it. Trouble is, I really want to fish this week!

Baitcaster. I break the unwritten rules and fish just about everything on it. Because I bank fish where it involves a lot of biking or walking I usually keep it at one rode. Between carrying my tackle bag and water plus my rod that's more than enough for this old guy to carry. If I plan to be in just one location and not moving around I may bring a spinning combo with me as well. Love the baitcaster.

My first baitcaster was a Lew's American Hero. Not only was it inexpensive, but it was a great one to learn on. I recently upgraded to a Lew's Mach II SLP. It took a little bit of work for me to get it dialed in where I like it and moving from a 6'6" to a 7' rod was an adjustment as well. But now I really, really like it.

As mentioned above, one way to stop one type of backlash is to use your thumb to slow and stop the spool before it hits the water. But there's another type of backlash to take into consideration that happens before the lure hitting the water causes an overrun. We know that when the spool is unwinding faster than the lure is moving and the line slacks is when the line starts to birds nest. This can hap[pen when you try to cast too hard and you get too handsy or wristy. With a spinning reel, often it's that snap combined with the powerful arm movement that gets you more distance. That motion is pretty much a no-no with a baitcaster. For me, when I want to cast far with a baitcaster I decrease the brakes a bit and make sure I use a long, smooth casting motion rather than trying to muscle it. At this point, 100% of my overruns and birds nests come from getting too handsy and trying to muscle the lure out there. One more thing - don't be afraid to adjust the brakes slightly along with the tension for different lure types. You'd be surprised how far (with the proper weighted lure) you can cast a baitcaster by adjusting the brakes and being smooth and easy.

It definitely tests your patience, especially when the heat index is 100+. As you mentioned, targeting breaks can work as well. Definitely a reason to work on casting accuracy.

Down here many of the lagoons have thick, soupy aquatic algae. You know the kind - your lure goes through it and you real in a big glob of green slime. But a lot of times in the heat there are bass hiding in there. The trick is getting them to bite. Note - I bank fish these small lagoons. If you try and drop a bait in there more often than not it gets slimed. Maybe I need to try punching with a heavy weight. It's hard to run a lure underneath as well because in many cases the algae goes from the surface to the bottom (keep in mind these are shallow, man made lagoons). So what I tend to do is drag a frog over the top and stop and pop over any open pockets. The only problem is that a 3 pound bass comes back with an additional 4 pounds of slime. As I've been told, that does not count as landing a 7 pounder. Other than the slime, we have very little vegetation and no docks or piers as these lagoons are small and in residential communities. There are stormwater inlet pipes in most of them, and many times the bass hang out there as well. They'll hang out both in and around the inlet pipes.

When all else fails try a nightcrawler and bobber fish.

I do the same thing. Sometimes I keep the rod in my right hand and stop the spool with my right thumb and sometimes I'll make the transfer mid cast and stop the spool with my left thumb. Last year was my first time using a baitcaster, and honestly after the first one or two outings I don't think twice about it. I probably should learn to cast left handed or at least cross handed, but I'm old and stubborn. The RH retrieve did seem a little awkward at first, mainly getting a steady cranking rhythm. But for me the weirdest part was landing a fish with my non-dominant hand holding the rod. That first five pounder seemed even heavier trying to muscle it with my left hand. I still get backlashes now and then, but it's because I either forgot to set the tension properly or I try to muscle a cast out there like I'm still holding a spinning rod. I need to remember to cast further I can adjust the brakes and still throw easy and smooth. I do the same thing. Sometimes I keep the rod in my right hand and stop the spool with my right thumb and sometimes I'll make the transfer mid cast and stop the spool with my left thumb. Last year was my first time using a baitcaster, and honestly after the first one or two outings I don't think twice about it. I probably should learn to cast left handed or at least cross handed, but I'm old and stubborn. The RH retrieve did seem a little awkward at first, mainly getting a steady cranking rhythm. But for me the weirdest part was landing a fish with my non-dominant hand holding the rod. That first five pounder seemed even heavier trying to muscle it with my left hand. I still get backlashes now and then, but it's because I either forgot to set the tension properly or I try to muscle a cast out there like I'm still holding a spinning rod. I need to remember to cast further I can adjust the brakes and still throw easy and smooth.

It looks like you guys had great fun. We have a tradition where my dad, my son, and I go to breakfast on Father's Day morning. My son was 7 months old the first time we did this and we haven't missed our event in 13 years now. This year the plan was to go fishing afterward, but wouldn't you know it a thunderstorm rolled in just as we were heading out. After the storm passed it was hot, humid, and raining still and Dad didn't want to be outside. On the way back home my son and I stopped at a lagoon along the way and fished for 30 minutes and I landed one just under 4 pounds. So that was decent, but I was really hoping to get my Dad out with us. Hopefully he'll be up for it soon. Time is too short.

^This In the lagoons I fish the water is stained in varying degrees and you rarely see the bass unless they breach the surface or are within inches of the shoreline. We also have very little cover or structure. That being said, we all have times where we throw one bait for too long because it worked well for us on a previous day.

If it's something your father gave to you clean it up, put it in a shadow box, and hang it on the wall. Maybe add a few lures and pictures of you and your dad fishing inside the box as well.