the reel ess

My dad and I did the same thing. I had a bass break my Spook Jr off and jump later and spit it out. I retrieved the Spook. I was fishing one night with my buddy about sundown and we spotted an owl in a tree close by. The owl swooped down for my topwater and I yanked it away at the right moment. About 2 minutes later it swooped back the other way and I yanked it away again. I really did not want to be fighting an owl.

I haven't caught anything on mine. I tried it a couple times only to cut it off and put a frog on and then have success. I'm sure it can work at certain times in certain places. I did catch about 12 one evening at my buddy's pond on the SPRO Rat. Bass in deeper lakes are less likely to be looking at the surface for a meal when there's so much forage below. But ponds and shallow waters are a different story. I've caught bass on the SPRO Rat in ponds. But the hollow body mouse has not been as good to me as the standard frog.

No, never did. I did catch a few prespawn bass on the original 130 though.

But they work upside down too.

Just throw that hollow body frog in the weeds and twitch it back. I don't get too many strikes during the walk in open water. Occasionally, I'll get a strike as soon as it hits the water. I use a Booyah Pad Crasher and it walks OK. None of them are easy. I use a Hvy-XF rod made for frogs and it's about as stiff as a pool cue. You'll get a feel for it after a while, but it's not an easy thing to do. Keep in mind, they won't want a frog every time out.

I like the Rage Craw. I was using the Berkley Chigger Craw and it surely works, but I went through a lot of them. Zoom Super Speed Craw works as well.

Jig and craw and the spinnerbait caught my last 3 PBs. But more importantly, go where you know there are fish bigger than your current PB.

I take combos rigged with topwater, spinnerbait/buzzbait, lipless crank, jig/trailer and hollow bodied frog. I try these every trip with the exception of the topwater & frog when the water is really cold. But I will try it early spring and late fall just to be sure. Conventional wisdom says the topwater won't work well when the sun gets high, but I've been able to pick off a few fish later with it, especially if a cloud rolls over or the water gets choppy-make it a noisy one like a Pop R. If it stays overcast you might catch fish all day on it. Anywhere with shade is worth a throw. And if you see bass busting bait, even at high noon, throw it and make some noise. What I find later in the day is not that they won't bite it at all, but they'll strike short on it. The spinnerbait tends to excel when there's a breeze as well. But I'll always try it because the bites tend to be bigger. I toss the jig at laydowns, overhanging brush, docks, stumps, etc. any time of day. Mostly targets. I catch fewer bass on the retrieve than I do on the drop. I throw the frog at shallow water cover or vegetation. Anywhere vegetation and cover/structure converge such as the shallow end of a dock can be killer. You'll be surprised how often bass will be very shallow, even in summer. Throw it all the way into the weeds and retrieve it into the water if you can. If you walk the bank, throw it parallel to the bank and walk it back. I'll also take some other baits that I "guesstimate" are seasonally appropriate or that I just feel like using. I like to try new techniques from time to time. Often times you have to adapt to succeed.

Weightless Trick Worm! I also like a paddle tail swimbait like the Zoom Swimming Super Fluke with the lightest bullet weight in your box. I can't tell you how much time I spend pulling weeds and snotty algae off my jig. But if you deliver it to a good spot, there's a good chance of getting a bite on the first drop. Just as stainless steel can stain, weed-less doesn't mean weed-free.

People will say walk the dog and that's good in open water. But for me most strikes come pulling it over vegetation where you can't really walk it. At those times, I put my rod tip up at about 10 o'clock and just keep it steadily twitching over the mat. The reason is I'm usually fishing it over pads. If you keep the tip low as you would for a walking bait, you'll have the line caught on a bunch of pads when you need to set the hook. The idea when you set it is to get the fish to the top and skate it back to you. When it gets out of the slop, I'll drop the rod and walk it a bit and if it gets no bites in a few feet, I reel her up and go again. There are lots of good YouTube videos on the technique.

Stay back for the first few casts, then approach that spot and fish further out from it. I like to fish parallel to the bank after I've approached the spot. If you do spook some, not to worry. Bass have about a 20 minute memory if there was no negative stimulus to go along with the "spooking". I have spooked a big bass off a log at the bank and came back later in the kayak and caught it. Reasonably sure it's the same fish because this is a little pond. There can't be a ton of 5 pounders in it.

I picked it up at the beginning of 2018 and said I was not going to ever take it off again. I fished it every time out since and caught something on it all but maybe 3 trips. I got a couple fish over 6 lbs on it too. One was 6.92.

Since maybe 1975. I would have been 5 then. But I feel certain I went with my dad earlier than that.

Congrats on the move.

If you have a membership you can fish? Now you're talking!

The best hookup ratio I ever had with a wacky rig was with a 2/0 regular straight shank offset bend worm hook. It wasn't weedless by any stretch. But I was able to set the hook the normal way and land the best percentage with it. Other than that, I used a Gama finesse hook. Just tighten up the line and reel 'em in. I don't like the weedless ones. Just more to get in the way of the hookset.

I hear you. Mine both got loose on the frames to the point the gears wouldn't always engage when you started reeling. The cheap frame just didn't keep it all aligned. Lexus is Toyota They also don't have a $100 rod anymore. As expected, BPS has turned Cabela's into the WalMart of outfitters.

Here black and blue is the go-to color for off-color water. It's actually good year round and I almost use it exclusively for soft plastic craws and jigs. If you want to add a little sound to help fish locate the bait you can use a very light sinker with a glass bead between your weight and hook to act as a subtle clacker. If you want it weightless, you can use two glass beads and no sinker. I use black beads.

I used to routinely see pros with BPS Pro Qualifier reels on the deck. They probably upgraded them with the innards from the Johnny Morris line of reels. I would put the min acceptable baitcast reel at about $70 regular price. For me it has to have a solid frame. No graphite or "composite" frames for me. I've owned two and they were both turds. The cheapest solid metal framed reel I know of is the Academy house brand. So, starting at $70 for a reel, I'd put my cheapest acceptable rod at a regular price of $30. I have a couple Lightning Rods that I bought for that price. They feel incredibly insensitive compared to my other rods. I wouldn't go any cheaper than that for a new combo. I understand if others want to. That's fine. They might get lucky. I would say though that I will go cheap for reaction baits like cranks or spinnerbaits. Not feeling the strike can be a good thing in that case. The fish inhales the bait before you feel the fish. But it must be durable.

Sooner or later, a very cheap reel will fail you. If you don't have a spare on hand, you'll be finished catching fish that day. There will be strikes you don't detect with a very cheap rod. I'll add to this, having the right ratio, line and rod will affect how well you can get to, set the hook on and land bass. Case in point: fishing a hollow body frog in lilies. It helps to get long casts, hard hooksets and get the bass to the top as soon as possible. If allowed to dig down in the slop, they'll get off regularly. That said, I don't own a rod over $129 value (I paid $50 for it used). I don't own a reel that sells for more than $130. Everyone has their pain threshold.

That's the main reason I got into kayak fishing. And I have no fewer than 5 places within 10 miles that I can fish. I can get loaded up and to the nearest spot in 10 minutes.

I have the Cabela's ZX 7'3" Frog model that was exactly $100. But I use a different rod for jigs. I could use the frog rod for jigs, but it's stiff as a pool cue, which you kinda need in lilies and slop. So I'd recommend a Hvy-F jig rod if it will do double duty.

Some people can. I'd just feel guilty for wasting a good day or I'd want to fish the water on the course.

I knew a guy who was fanatical about fishing. In fact, he taught me everything I knew about largemouth at that point. Then he discovered golf. It was on then! He sold his boat and his house at the lake and as far as I know he never fished again. He became a golf fanatic. That's why I stay away from golf.

Those gar will destroy your frog if you get them to bite. I don't want to discourage fishing in any way, but i try to avoid gar. They're the pickerel of my area since most waters here have no pickerel. I wear one of those Columbia PFG shirts every time I go. IDK how old you are, but this is a good practice for the rest of your life. I usually fish from a kayak and one way to avoid the heat here but still go fishing is to seek out rivers and creeks. There's usually some shade to be had in smaller ones. The running water holds oxygen and stays cooler. And the fish have to stay shallow-no choice in the matter. After you've done it a while you'll see the patterns of where fish will be holding. Of course, on bigger rivers with easy access, other people get the same idea, but most of them will be paddlers, not fishermen.