the reel ess

Black and blue. If I want to mix it up, blue and black. The water here is rarely very clear. I stopped buying other colors because I didn't use them.

Yeah, our local Dick's is in love with the gimmicky baits like the bat and spider lures. But then you can't find staples like the Trick Worm. They also don't seem aware of what species of fish we have around here. Around late August they take all but two aisles for hunting. So, if you're around then, it's a good time to get some clearance items.

Things like this I just put a couple or three in the Amazon cart and the wife inevitably orders something and they come along.

I just looked through my bugs and craws to discover I only have 7 Rage Bugs. 😶

There are packs of 25 on Amazon.

I have a much cheaper alternative, but it's not a bug. I started using 5" Yum Dingers a couple years ago for my pitching/flipping/skipping bait. It slays all sizes of bass and works just as well as a T-rigged bug/craw. You drop it in a bass's face and it will bite it just the same. You can get 100 Yum Dingers for $27-ish on Amazon. If you don't want to commit to 100 of the same color they have economy packs of 30. I have bugs and craws in reserve, but haven't even used one in 2025. I'm sure I will at some point just to change it up some.

Spend time on the water, watch videos and read everything you can about the type of bass fishing you like to do. Don't fall for the bait monkey right off the bat or you'll get paralyzed with indecision. Just do the basics for starters.

I have an Academy Tac 40 reel. They don't sell it anymore. It was a great deal for the features it has, as is the Mettle. I mean you're talking $55 for a reel with an aluminum frame. That used to cost you $80 min. It gave about 5 years of good service. It now has an issue with slipping out of gear. But I used it on my pitching stick, yanking good bass out of trees and laydowns with 30 lb braid and the drag very tight. Now I keep it and another old reel to help me swap ends of braided line because I'm a cheapskate. 😃

I have one place I fish where the bass tend to sneak up and slurp the topwater before it moves. And it's usually a good bass. It has taught me to always leave a pause after the cast if there's a chance one might be there.

My dad and his buddy used to say lighting a cigarette would change your luck because it required both hands. For me it's trying to skip a bait and picking out the inevitable small overrun. If a bass inhaled it on the way down it's been munching for 5-10 seconds before I know it. I try to determine that before I deal with the loose line. I don't really even like fishing a worm. But a quick look at my list of bass over 3 lbs tells me to keep one tied on.

If you only have one day to go and want to fish, go fish. Personally, I'd take a day Tuesday-Thursday off and go. I've encountered many a tourney angler who didn't mind crowding you, fishing beside you or trolling between you and your target. The nicer ones asked. Where I'm from, there are more tourney weekends than there are non-tourney weekends. Part of the reason I stopped fishing the big lake. There's a reason you never see Bill Dance on a big lake with boaters and jet skis zipping by. Consider that many of those anglers won't be from your area and know they'll never see you again. That changes their attitude a little.

I found this bait after watching an episode of Angling Archeology on YT. It's a Jorgensen's Famous Baits Big O knockoff. The "Japan" stamp on the underside of the bill was the giveaway. I think they even called it the Big Q. Given that it's made in Japan, I'm guessing mid 80's to early 90s.

I bought this at the Sportsman Classic in Columbia, SC along with a pack of Guido's Baby craws. I've never used it. It sat in my box for about 15 years. Has anyone used one of these? What's it called? Not sure how useful it would be for me in the grassy places I usually fish. Maybe in winter. It looks finesse, but weighs a half oz.

Not saying I could land a 15 lb. I'll probably never know. But that's one of the cooler things about the kayak. I can't tell you how many fish I lost over the years that went under the boat when I fished from an actual boat. In the kayak, big fish will just turn the boat and they don't get under it. On the other hand, they can drag you to cover and you can't stop them without some one-handed paddling. When I fish with m y buddy in his small jon boat, he engages the motor to keep the fish at the side of the boat. Fish also drag that boat around and it turns easily. It's only 10 ft.

I caught more bass trolling for stripers and white bass than I ever did intentionally trolling for bass from a boat. But they were usually good bass out there suspended over/near structure. I really just enjoy the chunking and winding style of bass fishing. That's why I love the Plopper so much. I don't have a boat anymore. I've tried to toss out a worm and paddle my kayak to the next spot and have yet to catch a thing. It works for crappie, but I need to do it vertically (1/2 oz. C-rig to a jig) because if I catch one, I have to stop paddling to reel it up. It's pretty fun.

My buddy wears one and surprises me with videos of my bigger catches after the fact. He doesn't say anything. He just starts the video when we realize it's a big bass.

Not to hijack the thread, but the Plopper is a funny bait in that way. I fished it a while, but didn't really commit to it until a couple years ago. Then I just thought "I'll tie it on and fish nothing else for a day. I caught a few fish, and good ones. I kept it in my rotation and the bites kept coming. This calendar year it has been one of my top 2 producers. This year I've learned to fish it over a little deeper water and structure. It will call bass up from deeper than you think. Now it's jut one in my rotation with walking baits and poppers/Chug Bug. But I like to start with the Plopper if they'll bite it because it covers water so much quicker.

I like to have one tied on when I see bass chasing bait and throw it right at the action. Immediately pop it a few times to get their attention. A great bait for summer schoolies. Otherwise, I think it's down the list of my preferred topwaters, simply because it's a less effective search bait. It just can't cover water the way a buzzbait, plopper or Spook can. I think it's a good bait to throw at specific targets or areas where you suspect a bass might be.

Well, I enjoy all the little ones between he big ones. But if I caught big one after big one, that would please me as well.

I don't think I've ever had more confidence in a bait than the black/blue Yum Dinger. It just keeps producing and big fish at that. My buddy doesn't even use them and he's seen me catch a 7-14 and a 5 lb even on it in the last month as well as a bunch of smaller bass. It's just not his favorite way to fish. If I had to fish for my dinner that would be the bait.

BTW, the fish in my profile pic was not caught prespawn. It was in October. It looked like it swallowed a softball and I believe I caught it twice about 40 yards apart.

I went to look it up to be sure. It was September. I have another fish that's so close they're sort of co-PBs. That one was caught in July.

Go early, go late, go at night. I don't even follow my own advice with the last one.

If you're a low tech fisherman like myself (I kayak fish) the C rig is a great way to mentally map the bottom of a small body of water because it's heavy and stays on the bottom easily. Sometimes in the summer, when it's hard to get any bites, I'll rig up a lightweight C rig with a small lizard or 4" worm. You can do the same with a split shot. This is really fishing for smaller bass, but that's better than no bass, still with a chance of catching bigger ones.

When I was a kid, my dad only fished a black 6" worm for bass. He would say "If they don't want a black worm, they either aren't here or they don't want anything." Later he amended that statement to include purple. There was something to that. He was kind of a minimalist, as well as a fishing cheapskate. So for years, we fished for bass like that. Later, he came to see the usefulness of the spinnerbait and crankbait. I'm not going to limit myself to one lure. But if I did it would be the black and blue Yum Dinger.