the reel ess

I'm taking it for a spin this afternoon.I'll give my impressions afterward.

I'm from SC, but not that area. But be careful where you fish. Make sure you have a saltwater license if you're on the wrong side of the dividing line. You can find that here. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/dividingline.html I know Goose Creek isn't far from the Cooper River. There has to be some way to access it. Find a local tackle shop and ask them. There might even be a kayak rental business there.

I don't think you'll find a baitcast combo for 1/8 oz spinners. But don't despair. You can buy 1/4 oz. spinners that they will cast. If you really need something for an 1/8 o.z lure, you'll have to go to a lighter spinning combo. That's in the light range. I have a cheap spinning combo that I use for those.

It can be really odd at certain places. I've got one place you can't keep fish off a topwater and another where a topwater bite will be very rare. It can be a number of things. It seems to me the smaller, shallower and weedier a pond is, the more likely you'll get topwater bites. I guess the primary forage can make a difference. If fish don't "need" to look up for food they probably won't. If they're well-fed, they're less likely to chase something that doesn't look like their forage. And, of course, water temp is the biggest variable in topwater efficiency. Cooler temps just = fewer and shorter topwater opportunities. Mine are all but over for the winter.

What pedal yak are you interested in? Can you buy a pedal drive assembly for the Lure 10? Or is that just for the larger one? I'm interested too. But I fish a few places that are just too shallow and/or weedy for it to be of much use.

Along these same lines, I have a related question. Is there any reason you can't use a braid main line with a fluoro leader on BC gear? I know a lot of people do that with spinning gear.

I bought it! Can't wait to give it a try. Maybe in time I will get the overdive pedal drive. I'll have to research that.

My buddy bought a package deal a while back with 2 Lure 13.5's, trailer, Lowrance Hook 7 depth finder/GPS and solar charger. I'm going to look this afternoon and if I like it I'm coming home with it. I've only heard good things about this kayak. I've been using the Pescador 12 for about 6 years. It has served me well, but it's time to step up. I'm 48 and my legs go to sleep after a couple hours in the Pescador. I need one that sits up a bit and I can stay dry in.

The SPRO lipless crank is very similar, but it's not exact. The gills look a little different and the rear hook is on the bottom, where the H2O rear hook is on the end. I guess it's still very possible that they're made by SPRO. Just not in the same mold. Maybe they're made in Spro's old or prototype mold.

We had a riveted boat back in the 80's and 90's. We spent as much time fixing leaks as we did fishing. We would put it on the trailer, crawl under it and find the loose rivets and drill them out. Then we would replace them with pop rivets with some silicone around them. It was a losing battle. But I understand that heavier gauge aluminium would have performed much better. Riveted boats are probably light years from that nowadays. My pops was always taking the cheap way out.

If you look on their site, they have very few listed anymore and they're almost all on clearance. It looks to me like they'll be discontinued. Hopefully they have something sles in mind.

Absolutely. In a whole lot of waters (probably most of the country that has bass) a 6 pounder is as big as they get. I have a friend up north that tells me they just don't get much over 4 lbs. there.

Lipless crank, reeled extremely slowly in deepest areas of the pond. I haven't tried it in cold weather yet, but I'm sure I'll try jigs more this winter.

@soflabasser I tried to quote you, but I kept getting the other person's quote. I have no idea of the length of the 6.5 lb. bass in my pic. But I went home and weighed a 10 lb dumbbell weight with that scale and it was very close. Assuming the 10 lb. weight weighed 10 lbs.

It looks almost like this bass's identical twin. I was amazed this fish was only 6.5 lb. I thought the scale must be inaccurate.

I went to the lake that produced a couple PBs lately. I managed three very small dinks before the notherly wind blew me right off the lake. Not wanting to waste a day off, I went to my friends' small pond because it's in a low-lying area. It's my go-to when it's windy. The water was muddy and colder from day-long rain and temps in the 40's. But it warmed into the 60's the last couple days. I caught a 5.5 lb, two 3 lb. (I weighed them all), (3) in the 1-2 lb range and lost one bigger than the 5.5 pounder. This is a place that used to only have dinks. I don't know what has changed, but the average has really taken off the last couple years. If i didn't know better I'd think they're being fed. Here's a pic of the 5.5 lb. The owner was walking up when i caught it so i got him to take a pic. He was about as excited as me. They didn't know until this summer they were growing some future trophies. Of course, I never take any out. This pace will be a great winter alternative because it's sheltered. The bait was, once again, @cadman's custom black/blue ultimate grass jig with Chigger Craw trailer. This bait has been absolutely killing it for me lately. I'm well on my way to becoming a jig fanatic!

The frog is my favorite lure around a mat of lilies. There aren't any other types of mats anywhere I fish. I don't start out throwing it but as I come by some lilies, I'll take a couple casts with it. If I see a baitfish flee or a bass chasing something there, I'll cast and make it plop down noticeably. Those aren't fish you'll spook.

LOL I haven't done very well with it on my fav lake. I have pulled it out before a few places to avoid a skunk, but I have to admit it's not the bait I think of first and I usually don't have one tied on.

@Way2slow My buddy kills a good many hogs with his AR-15 in .223. And he has a lot of hunting rifles and shotguns, handguns even. He likes the quick follow up shot because he can dispatch more than one. He aims for right behind the ear. I know it's not optimal though.

I don't intend to hunt deer beyond 200 yds. I did say most shots would be within 100. But this is actually the best tool I own. Honestly, hogs are the most likely game, but there are deer. I'd just like a more accurate rifle.

Thanks

Does anyone here hunt with an AR-15? Can you recommend a good scope? My rifle is the run-of-the-mill mil-spec Palmetto State Armory 16", 7:1 twist. Everything (hogs, coyotes and maybe whitetail) would be within 100 yds. I'm guessing a 3-9 scope would get the job done??? I don't want to pay more for the scope than I did the rifle. Thanks.

On second thought, the Pop R standard size is a little too light for my M-MF rod. So a M-M might do well for that.

I use a 6'6" M/MF regular Lightning Rod for treble lures & topwaters. I don't think I'd want one any more flexy than that. It's already a little too limp for bigger topwaters like the 130 Whopper Plopper.

You could go stick a hook in every bass in his pond so they get wise to the Senko.