the reel ess

If soft plastics are good enough for every pro, they're good enough. Time to come into the 90's.

I spend a lot of time pitching jigs to targets and I couldn't do that well much beyond 15 yards. But there are certainly times when you'd want to cover as much water as possible.

Some years ago Wal Mart had these for $2.99. I think they were an exclusive cheaper made model because they also had $5 ones. My dad and I used them all the time. I got his tackle box after he died and he still had several. I used to always buy a chrome and a fire tiger. Occasionally we'd hook a striper on them and have to loosen the drag because they would break the rear hook off. I caught many a LMB and striper on these baits.

There are lots of ways to skin the bass fishing cat. When my dad and I started bass fishing, we only had one mentor, his buddy. Well, we only fished 6" plastic worms for several years. Then I branched out to crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwaters, The C-rig and I was bait monkey-bit thereafter. Thing is, my dad still usually caught as many or more or bigger bass than me with just that 6" worm. He just had great confidence in it. I just get great pleasure from trying a new bait and succeeding.

Thanks guys!

Regular PowerPro. There's probably something I'd like better, but it took me a while to settle on PP and I'm happy with it.

I'm trying to plan a 50th birthday fishing trip and it would be convenient for my family if we could do it over Christmas break since my wife and daughter are both in the school system. The wife is a teacher. Is Everglades fishing good around this tie of year? Is topwater still an option in December? What about peacocks? I was thinking I'd do a day of largemouth in the Everglades and a day of peacocks. I know to get a guide two days in a row, I'd better start planning well in advance. Thanks

I just start going early or late and keep fishing the same baits. It only takes one big one to make a trip worthwhile. I start fishing larger topwaters in the low light period. But when I've been a time or two with NO BITES, I'll usually resort to a finesse C rig with a Zoom Finesse Worm or possibly a Ned. Anything is better than nothing at all.

More big bass for me!

Somehow bass continue as a species. If you have any effect at all on the bass, it would be to increase their average size. My $0.02. If others don't want to bed fish I'm happy with that. Actually, around here, fewer people fish the month of April because they're turkey hunting.

I always try topwaters. I have a rod (or two) with one tied on all the time. If you have a popper on the rod in your hand when you see a topwater explosion like that, you can definitely catch a fish or two at the time. Make as much noise as you can with it. If not, throw whatever shallow reaction bait you have.

Plfueger...or Pfleuger, not sure of the spelling. But that's a good reel for the money and will last a long time.

It probably means they're above average weight for fish their age. That's a good thing. It means they have plenty of forage and they're healthy and you get to catch bigger fish that are less experienced than the average fish their size.

That Midnight Special is a good one here in winter. The water is usually dingy to all-out muddy here in late winter and the color and vibration is a good combo. You can fish it so slowly you're basically dragging it on bottom. My favorite for most of the year is a War Eagle double willow blade in Gold Shiner pattern. But those cheap SB's do produce. For years, when I had less money than I do now, all I had was the old BPS store brand spinnerbaits. I still have some. I caught a new PB on one a couple years ago.

nm. I fell for the resurrected post.

I added a light topwater combo for my lighter poppers like Pop R. I use a M 6-6 Lightning rod with a 7.5:1 Lews LFS MB reel for my standard topwaters. But I've noticed how hard it was to get a good and accurate cast with a standard size Pop R with the heavy mono I like for topwaters. I dug out a very old and cheap Mitchell 6' "100% Graphite Tradition" rod that my cousin and old roomie left with me and paired it with an older BPS Johnny Morris reel that was laying around. This rod has to be from the mid 80's at best. It has a one-hand straight handle. The action is perfect for topwater, but a step lighter than the typical medium bass rods being sold today. I've caught a 6 pounder on it so it's up to the task. I'd rather have a newer faster reel and I'll get around to that someday.

I'd use a leader of a different line type. In fact, I do. Just curious if that light line is necessary. 20# braid has a diameter similar to 8# mono. That's my go-to for bass spinning.

Meh...I just put a little mroe than half the spool of mono on. The next time you do it and from then on, you'll only need to take the braid off and replace it. I usually get 3 reels worth off a 150 yard spool of braid. Here's a nifty trick. You can reel the used braid off one reel onto another and you'll be using the unused end. It's effectively brand new line. So if you have two reels with old, worn braid, you really only need to spool one with brand new braid.

I have several packs of Riverside chunks for jigs that say "fortified with Yum" on the pack. They were made in Fort Smith, AR and that's where Yum is. So it looks like Riverside was always really Yum.

Gamakatsu 4 Life What type and diameter line are you using with it? It looks like it would be hard to force line through that opening unless the eye is flexing a lot.

While you can never completely eliminate line twist with spinning reels, I use a baitcast reel for the applications they excel at. If you're married to spinning reel, you're using it all the time. If you have 4 baitcast combos and one spinning combo, each combo dedicated to a particular use, you'll be using the spinning a lot less and therefore twisting the line much less. I mostly only use spinning for baits that are too hard to cast with BC gear, like the Trick Worm or light jerkbait. In addition to the ground that has already been covered, spinning reels with larger diameter spools will twist line less than those with smaller spools. If you're using a bait like a weightless Trick worm, you can use a a good quality swivel at the end of the braid and use a leader of mono or fluoro. You can also stop at the end of your retrieve with several feet of line hanging and allow your bait to untwist as much as it will. Much of the twist gets concentrated at the end of the line.

The first time I used the 90 I had a hard time keeping it from spinning at the end of a cast. So I'd fish it like a Devil's Horse until I got it close enough for a steady retrieve. Got a total of 1 bite that way and missed it. But I'll admit I fished the 130 several times before getting any action on it. Prespawn this year was the best it has produced for me.

I'd say replace the rear hook with a heavier one but they're already large to the point of overkill.

I'm guessing this happens at the end of a long cast when you begin your retrieve. If so, slow your retrieve way down until you get the lure closer and your line is at a higher angle. I fish from a kayak and can hardly use a 90 size because it spins too badly. The higher your rod tip above water level, the less likely these are to spin. If it's happening all the time, you probably have some debris caught in the spinning tail segment.

Shallow weeds-Frog all day Shallow wood-black/blue jig and craw Shallow open water-topwaters if they'll bite it, War Eagle gold spinnerbait, gold CC Spot (they like gold here), bubble gum or limetreuse Trick Worm. Deeper water-the aforementioned gold Spot. It's weedy on my favorite lake and difficult to fish deep diving cranks. These are the things I keep tied on and usually try every time out for these patterns that cover most of the year. Maybe a C rig, split shot rig or Ned if i just can't buy a bite.