Koz

Thanks for the feedback. It's great to hear there are some big bass in there. What makes it tough - finding the fish, fishing through all of the submerged trees, or something else? We're probably going to rent a Jon boat but the problem is you can't rent them early in the morning or keep them into the evening. I hate that boat rentals are never during the best fishing hours. So while we're in the boat we'll probably scout out a few places to bank fish early in the evening.

What I wouldn't give for 75 degree weather (or water temp) now. It's been in the 90's here with 70% humidity and heat index 107+ but we've been fishing 6pm - 8:30 pm when the heat index is down to 99. It's been brutal out there. As for the bass, they've been hitting Senkos, trick worms, and the Whopper Ploppers (90 and 110). We've had zero hits on frogs, chatterbaits, or even jigs.

A few weeks ago when my son and I were biking to one of our fishing spots his pole slipped and fell between the spokes of his front wheel and he sheered off the stem of his Daiwa reel. So you know what that means? Time for Dad to get a new reel and hand down the old reel! I debated and debated whether or not to buy my first baitcaster. I agonized over it for a few weeks, but in the end I opted for a spinning reel. My previous reel was a Pfleuger Trion (35) and not only did I really like it, I trusted it. So this time I bought a Pflueger President in the 40 size. To say that I'm happy with that purchase would be an understatement. This reel is so smooth (compared to anything else I've ever thrown) that it's ridiculous. Because we bank fish on lagoons where access is problematic casting distance is an important factor to reach areas where the fish are hanging out. With a simple flick of the wrist my Whopper Plopper 90's cover unbelievable distance. The Whopper Plopper 130's? I can cast those into the next county! I have the reel paired with a 6'6" MH Ugly Stick and have no problems with accuracy. Well, to be honest, "touch" is a bit of an issue right now. This reel is so smooth that I've thrown past my desired landing point on more than one occasion but that's just adapting to the new reel. Yesterday I was checking Google Earth and found a "new" lagoon surrounded by dense woods that was within 100 yards of two lagoons we regularly fish. So today we biked out there to take a look. There were dense trees surrounding the lagoon but I managed to found one spot that was kind of accessible. Nearby were downed trees in the water and weed cover. Bass nirvana! But with trees on the left, trees on the right, bushes under foot, and trees hanging over top and over the water it was like trying to cast down a tunnel through a set of French doors. What made me a bit uncomfortable was that this narrow spot was located down a slope and there was no clear path back up. Not to beat a dead horse here, but we have lots of gators around and I like to have a quick exit if its needed. But it was worth a shot. I tied on my Senko and flipped a cast and BOOM - two pounder on the first cast. With room for only one to fish I moved over and let my son take a cast and BOOM - another two pounder. Two casts, two fish. I left him to that spot while I headed around the lagoon and found another small opening. This time I put on a craw and on the first cast BOOM - yet another two pounder. This was fun! Now I wanted to see if I could land something bigger so I set up my Whopper Plopper 130 and - nothing. A gator was a little interested in what was going on but he left both me and the lure alone. Downsized to a WP 90 and still nothing. Tried a frog and a chatterbait and still nothing. Then I hear my son yelling and he came running over. He was fishing a Senko and something snapped his 15lb test fluorocarbon line. For some reason he didn't want to re-tie and fish anymore so I went back to his spot. I tried most everything and couldn't get a hit where he had the action. Went back to the WP 130 and casted it a mile across the lagoon under a tree along teh bank and landed another 2 pounder. By then it was getting dark so we packed up and went home. I know that two pounders aren't all that exciting, but in this area in these lagoons they are decent sized fish. And lately with the blazing heat we've been catching mostly dinks. We've caught some 3 and 4 pounders in other lagoons in this system, but have yet to land anything above that. But I think we have a shot at something bigger in this lagoon. While there was some evidence of someone fishing there at some point, it's a pretty big lagoon without much access. We're going to head out tomorrow and try and scout the other side, but from our vantage point it was heavily wooded everywhere. I just might have to bring my big bolo machete and a saw...

Very cool. Where is your son playing? My son is only 11 (that's his A1K on the hook) and his goal is to play for the University of South Carolina. Of course, he wants an A2000 or A2K but I've told him he's too young for a $400 "forever glove". The only way he gets one is staying on honor roll from now until high school and making his high school team.

What was really nice is that when I was communicating with Wilson Ball Gloves via Twitter messaging when they asked me what shirt size I wanted I told them this was for my son so a youth XL or adult small will be fine. The Wilson rep then asked me if I wanted a shirt for myself as well. That was pretty cool. They didn't have to do that and I was definitely not expecting that. I'm excited to see what they send us. My son is working on his "Thank You" note to them right now even though we haven't received anything yet!

This ties in to fishing, I swear. I happen to be a Baseball Dad and a baseball coach to my son and every now and then I look out for giveaways, especially with Wilson Ball Gloves because they occasionally give away $400 baseball gloves. One of the promotions they have is Wilson Wednesdays where you submit a picture. This week they were giving away a custom A2000 special edition All Star Game glove. This is the glove they gave out to MLB All Star players that wear Wilson gloves. Anyway, this afternoon I get a message on Twitter from Wilson. I didn't win the glove but I did win some shirts and All Star swag with the picture below that we took at one of the lagoons that we fish. It's been blazing hot hear lately and other than a few two pounders the other day we haven't caught much so the pic was truly our best catch of the day. Here's the Twitter link from Wilson: https://twitter.com/wilsonballglove/status/885597763437723648

You can do what I do - during winter workouts I hand my son his new bats and say, "Here - this is what you're using this year." It's going to be brutal on the wallet this year with new new USA Bat rule. I can't buy last year's models at a discount.

Off topic, but the last thing a kid should do is pick out their own baseball bat until they're at least 14 or 15 years old, maybe older if they don't have a feel for hitting. I coach kids 6-16 and every year I see kids with bats that are too heavy, too light, too long, or too short and the kids struggle. Then we put the correct bat in their hands and their hitting improves immensely.

I bank fish a jig and craw trailer in our big and small lagoons down here in SC and it worked well in the spring. In fact, the 4 pounder in my profile pic was on a jig and pig setup. As the weather gets warmer and the fish go deeper (and further out from the bank) I haven't used a jig since it doesn't cast as far as I need it to go. I probably need to buy a punch jig, attach a 1 oz weight and try and throw that out there.

Yeah man - quit dissin' the Ugly Stick!

I had been fishing a Trion (35) spinning for years and I loved it. I picked up that rod/reel combo at Bass Pro a few years ago. Unfortunately the rod tip broke pulling in a 4+ pounder earlier this year. A few weeks ago my son dropped his rod through the spokes of his bike and sheared his Daiwa. You know what that means? No, not a new reel for him! I passed my Trion down to him and bought a President in the 40 size. I went bigger on this reel because we bank fish and I can get a longer cast with the larger reel. Anyway, I got in a few casts with the President last night just before the lightning started. This reel was smooth as silk. As mush as I liked the Trion, this one is so much better. Best of all it was $59 and there's a $10 rebate I need to send in. Awesome reel at a great price.

Using a snap makes fishing a lot easier for me because I need my reading glasses to see any knots that I tie. We bank fish and since we usually bike to the various lagoons in our area I carry only one rod. Not only do I change lures at the various lagoons and locations within each lagoon, but I also do not want to ride from one lagoon to the next with a lure clipped to me rod. If something bad happens I don't want to lose an eye to a lure.

Palmetto Dunes has over 11 miles of interconnected lagoons. If you don't want to bike you can always rent a canoe or kayak. There is one place on the mainland in Bluffton that you might want to fish - Hampton Lake. But you just can't walk in and fish because it's a private community. But you probably could make an appointment to look at houses, lots, or condos for an our or so and ask if you can try out some fishing. Why would you want to fish a stocked lake like Hampton Lake? Two words - Tiger Bass!

In the story above we fished at Jarvis Creek Park on Hilton Head (no entry fee). We do most of our fishing in lagoons all around Bluffton but our favorites are right in our community since the golf course is now defunct and there's very little fishing going on there. It's low pressure fishing, but we usually bring a machete to cut back all of the growth surrounding the lagoons. You won't have to worry about that fishing on Hilton Head. If you're vacationing within a plantation there are plenty of lagoons around that are not on the golf course or large lagoons where the course only borders one side. Palmetto Dunes, Sea Pines, and Port Royal are probably the most popular for villa rentals. You can rent a vacation home in just about any community. Best of all, if you're staying in one of the plantations there are bike paths you can use to go from lagoon to lagoon. Forget about taking a car - you won't have anywhere to park. You most definitely cannot park along the road within the gated communities. You'll want to get a fishing license as well. Plantation security may pull up and ask to see your license. You can get one on the South Carolina DNR website and print it out. An annual license is $10 and I think the temporary license is $5. You can check out villa and home rentals on http://www.hiltonhead360.com

Good news - the town of Hilton Head is calling in a company called Critter Management to relocate the aggressive alligators. We'll try fishing there again soon and next time hopefully I have a big bass story to tell.

I don't think we'll fish there again until they remove the aggressive gators. I did send emails to the town and SC DNR today telling them what happened and asking them to check it out. 9 out of 10 times when gators are around they are not an issue and usually the biggest issue with them is they swim slowly towards where you cast or make a bee line for your catch. That's why I thought this was interesting (and a bit scary at the time).

The guy below has other videos where he pulls out some decent bass. Here you go: http://www.islandpacket.com/sports/recreation/cast-blast-column/article33498510.html

Geez it's been hot out lately. Temperatures have been in the mid 90's with the heat index 105+ here in the South Carolina Lowcountry. To make matters worse, the best fishing the past few weeks has been late morning and early afternoon. We bike 1-2 miles out to our favorite lagoons and that gets real old real fast in the heat (I need to buy a bike trailer). On top of all of this, we fish on a golf course that has shut down and all of the banks are overgrown and thick with weeds and the lagoons are all out in the open. It makes it a pain to fish. I did buy a machete to help with that, but last night got stung by a wasp hacking a clearing and that put a damper on the evening. So at 6 a.m. this morning we mixed it up a bit and drove to Jarvis Creek Park on Hilton Head to give their big lagoon a try. The nice part was not having to fish through a thicket and foliage. They had an elevated dock with a walkway down to a slab dock that we were able to fish from. The slab was about 10 inches off the water and there was no railing to have to cast over. The water was a bit stained and had that beaded type green algae throughout so I fished with topwaters while my son tossed a Zoom trick worm. Immediately we noticed we had company. A small gator was hiding in the algae under the elevated dock. Then a 7 footer joined. Then a five footer. Then a six footer. Soon there were 5 alligators around us, but they mainly sat there or cruised a bit. Sometimes they'd swim by the pad reminding us they were there, but it was no big deal. We just fished around them. They didn't even take an interest in my big Whopper Plopper 130 splashing and ripping on the surface. That soon changed. I saw a bass jump in deeper water and with my WP 130 it was easy to get the lure close to that area. Within a few casts a bass hit the bait and I could tell that it was a decent sized fish. The only problem was that it was a L-O-N-G cast and two of the bigger gators immediately noticed the commotion. It was now a race to land my catch. It was a 50 year old man and his Pflueger Trion versus two prehistoric throwbacks. I wan't worried about losing a fish to an alligator, but there's no way I want to lose a new $16 lure! It was close. I'm reeling, the fish is fighting, the gators are closing, and my 11 year old son is panicking. I've got one eye on my catch and one eye on the gators. "Daddy - look out!" Matt is shrieking, as if I needed the added pressure. Fifteen feet to land the bass. The gators are picking up speed. Ten feet. Matt has the net but he's no where near the landing zone. Five feet. There's no way I'm reaching down for this fish. Lift the rod, bring the fish up onto the pad - and TWO gators crash into the pad. Suddenly I'm thinking that this pad seems a lot smaller and not quite high enough to stop a gator from climbing up. I hear a noise off to my left and see another gator doing a death roll with something just of the slab. OK, Matt's still behind me. That's good. I'm trying to work the treble hooks out of my 2 pound catch while the first two gators are right up near the slab eyeballing either me or my fish. At this point I can't be sure. I'm really hoping beyond hope they can't climb up. At that moment I'm reminded of the Magnum P.I. episodes when Higgins' dobermans are chasing him while he's trying to get inside, "Work the lock. Don't look at the dogs! Argh! You looked at the dogs!" Work the hook. Work the hook. Please don't climb up here Mr. Gator. Finally, I get the hooks free and release the catch quietly away from the gators. But it's not over quite yet. That catch flipped a switch with the gators and they started getting aggressive. Really aggressive. They were no longer meandering around us, they were on the move surrounding us. Every time I made a cast they went full speed at my Whopper Plopper. They didn't stay their customary 5-10 feet away either. They came right in and nudged the slab every time. Thankfully it's a stable, anchored, concrete slab. And they kept eyeballing me, almost daring me to make another cast. I decided it wasn't worth it and we packed it in for the morning. We deal with gators all of the time and some try and go after your catch and hang out a bit, but it's usually solo gators or a couple of juveniles. This was a pack of adult gators all working the same area. My guess is that since this is a public park there are idiots that have tossed their catch to the gators, so once we landed a fish they instinctively thought it was dinner time. That's too bad because there are probably some decent sized fish in there. But for me it's just not worth the aggravation. The next time we try a new spot I need to find someone who lives in Hilton Head Plantation so I can fish in there. I've seen pictures and video of people catching 9 - 14 pound bass in there. Here's one of our "friends" in Jarvis Park today:

I don't know why Bass Resource has their photo policies, but I can tell you why we limit image sizes on our servers: 1. Bandwidth - we don't want huge uploads slowing down the page browsing on the rest of the website 2. Storage - You'd be surprised how quickly hard drives fill up with tens of thousands of photos with unrestricted file sizes. 3. Backup - Some hosting / server companies charge more if you exceed their standard nightly backup storage limits. 4. Google crawling - Google likes pages that load fast and frowns on sites that have slow to load pages As for the server slowdown lately my best guess is that there is a configuration issue with their https (secure) setup.

You can utilize these free websites to reduce the image file size and change picture formats: http://image.online-convert.com/convert-to-jpg https://www.convertmyimage.com/ http://jpeg-optimizer.com/ I've had no problems uploading photos in the past week or so as long as they are under the file size limit. The server response problems are a separate issue from photo upload problems UNLESS your issue is that the server times out during picture uploads.

I've always said that a good plague will solve most of the world's immediate problems... Seriously - the world population has more than tripled in my lifetime. More people means demand for more resources and that means a lot more trash and waste. Modern medicine has had a lot of unintended consequences. When I take my son fishing we always do a walk around and cleanup before we leave, even if that means picking up the trash that ignorant people left behind.

A Texas rigged Senko is my universal go to bait for bass fishing no matter where I fish. A crawfish or jig and craw has landed me some 3+ pounders as well. In the last week I bought a Whopper Plopper 130 and a Whopper Plopper 90 (both Bone) and the bass LOVE those as well. I'd start with the Senko,

I recently read a book where they had tagged large bass and tracked them for nearly a year. What they found is that the big, big bass rarely stray more than a few hundred yards in any direction. I suppose that changes if there are serious changes to the food supply, but if there is ample food they seem to stick to a general area.

I love the way you kept encouraging him to keep reeling in on his own and not give up and turn the rod over to you. Also impressed that a 3 year old stayed centered in the canoe WHILE reeling in a big catch.

It's not the gators you see that are the problem - it's the ones you don't see We bank fish on an abandoned golf course and the thicket around each lagoon grows deeper every day. You can see some of that in the photo below. It's the ambush gator that hides parallel to the shore in the thicket that worries me the most. Luckily we've spotted those before getting too close. Lately it seems that the best fishing spots are the least accessible.