the reel ess

I fish places that are easier and places that are harder. Most local smaller public waters are badly pressured. Usually numbers and size don't come in the same day at this place. I've had days where all I caught was one good bass. On my birthday one year I caught two over 6 lbs and that was all. Who can complain about that? This place doesn't always give up numbers. But it has the potential to make my day every day. I'm 54 now. It's more about the quantity than the quality. Until I can't buy a bite in the summer. Then I start downsizing to just catch something, anything. 🤣

I'll never complain about "only" catching 7. Honestly, it only takes one good fish to make my day. I was looking back through my fishing log to try to see where this bass ranks in my all time. I saw the biggest topwater fish ever for me was 7.93 lbs. on a Plopper. Later that same day I returned to the same spot and caught one over 5 lbs.

So do I! Sometimes I'll just watch blowups on YouTube when I can't get out. I'm a topwater fiend. There's no better way to get a bass bite IMO. And they were really on the Plopper bite Sunday.

I only got him fighting and landing it. When I saw it was big I tried to quickly get cell video of it. Characteristically for me, I fumbled a few seconds.

It's about 30 acres and is the backup drinking water reservoir for our town. So it's clean. It also has bluegill, shellcrackers (redear), crappie and catfish. I caught a crappie last night.

I had a great setup. A key to a gate on a privately owned reservoir full of bass up to 8 lbs. range. Then the owner sold and moved to be near their children and grandchildren. So that was the end of that. The biggest bass I caught for 2 years was about 3 lbs. Then I searched the county tax map and discovered that I know two other landowners on the lake-it's a very small town. I got in touch with one through social media and she said "Sure" and brought me a key to her gate! The road going in is clay and kind of rough and no one has used it in a while. It's a chore to get in and out, but worthwhile. The place has changed a bit in a couple of years. There's a guy with Air BnB cabins and campsites who has cleared out all the bass cover on his shoreline. I caught maybe 12 on my first visit back and missed at least 5 bites. On the second trip I took my buddy and we got a couple of hawgs. It was overcast with threat of showers, perfect topwater conditions. We caught a total of probably 15 bass and a crappie (on the CC Spot). Most bass came on the 110 size Whopper Plopper. I got my big bass on a T rigged black/blue Yum Dinger, just pitching it to wood. She wrapped around a log on the bottom and I had to just keep pressure on let her work herself free. She finally did and after a very good fight I grabbed her. The superline EWG hook just fell out. It weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. Definitely in my top 5 or 6 bass. A bonus: my buddy caught a 7-12 on the Whopper Plopper right at the end of the trip. It was a monster blowup. I got video of him landing his big bass, but the file is too large to attach here. A total success in terms of numbers and size. Of course, I'm already scheming my next visit.

I just tied a weak knot on the bullet weight and let er rip. If it hangs up, you only lose the bullet. But I don't care much for a dropshot and don't want to invest in it.

I would add that a well-balanced MH combo is the all-terrain-vehicle of bass combos. It's the catch-all if you're going to only use one.

Don't go in rough seas. That's the only advice I have. I went once with 8 foot seas and puked all day. The crew warned us. I took Dramamine and didn't eat. Still sick as a dog all day. I laid down and went to sleep and dreamed of being sick. I haven't had a Sprite since that morning. Went back later with 3 foot waves and no big deal. But when I did get sick it was all over when I got back within sight of land. I was actually starving.

Check this out. Go to the home page of this very site and look at the articles and videos for beginners. https://www.bassresource.com/how-to-fish I'd say you started with the right lure though. My dad used to say that if bass don't want a black plastic worm, they aren't hungry. There was something to that wisdom as he usually outfished me when I was young. Later, I showed him what a crankbait and a spinnerbait can add to the arsenal. I would branch out into other types of worms and soft plastics. Basic topwaters are poppers like the Pop R, buzzbaits, prop lures like the Whopper Plopper. Topwaters produce well in lower light conditions like morning or overcast. Try spinnerbaits around wood cover and weed edges. Just experiment, starting from the familiar and moving into other baits. WARNING: Collecting baits is addictive and becomes just as important or more so than actually catching fish if you're not careful.

They're also an awesome topwater lure if rigged weightless or with a 1/16 oz. bullet weight. Very versatile lure.

I guess that's cool. I have yet to slip a drag on a frog bass. I just looked. Mine has 15#. I believe you should periodically loosen the drag and not store it long term tightened way down.

50# braid for frogs. 12 lb. Big Game mono for trebles and buzzbaits. 30# braid for Whopper Plopper and Spook simply because you can cast them a mile and I usually use the 110 size WP. I set the drag loose for these and play the fish in open water. I use a 7' MH "heavy cranking" rod for this bait. This rod also does some duty for toads and various oddball MH applications.

After fishing frogs for the better part of a decade with a good, durable frog rod, I respectfully disagree. Of course, on a reel with 12 lbs. of drag, you never really lock it. But a very tight drag is the ticket with frogs.

Mostly smaller waters, so 10 or deeper is deep for me.

Well, I'm not the one with the zero drag reel. I was just commenting on it being intriguing. But I cinch my drag down when I'm frog fishing. That's not the time you want to be "playing" the fish. Presumably, you're using a very stout rod and 50-65# braid. Mine is an XH-X fast 7'3" frog specific rod from Cabela's. It's almost a pool cue. The idea with frogs is to turn the fish up and drag it across the mat. Usually, you drag it and 5 lbs. of vegetation. So the hookset force is absorbed by the rod, the vegetation and the fish and up it comes. I also keep my drag very tight on my jig/T-rig combo unless I'm fishing open water.

Something quality, fast retrieve and drag over 12#. I use a Lew's Tournament MB. They stopped making it, but I'm sure they replaced it in the lineup with another $130 reel. I've been abusing it for at least 6 years. No drag, you say. This is intriguing.

I've never been made of money, but in the last decade I've acquired a couple of Falcons, a Lowrider and a Bucoo SR that I can't seem to break. Also, I have a Cabela's frog-specific rod that is indestructible. That's about the extent of my "expensive" rod collection. I actually bought the Lowrider used for $50. Real cheapskate, I.

That sounds terrible. I had a day where I went back to the truck and it wasn't there. I scratched my head for a while, walked around, then determined I was parked near a NO PARKING sign. I had never seen a cop in this area. I guess maybe a warden called for the tow. I had to call the police to find out where they get towed, then call the guy who towed it and give him $130 cash to get it out. Turns out he knew my cousin and only charged me $90. Swell!

Exactly what I was thinking. I really enjoyed having one almost everywhere we went. They just taste better over there.

That's how I felt after a day at Disney in 2010. Feet hurt up to my thighs. Interestingly, we were just in Ireland. We walked 50+ miles in a week, 10 of it in one day. I didn't feel that way there. I think it's the standing up, standing still that hurts the most. I also averaged 2.5 pints of Guinness a day in Ireland.

Those will make you think you hooked the monster of the lake. I hooked one twice, on different days, at the same spot. Both times it had the lure in the mouth and spit it when it came to the surface. OP: I fished a spot where the turtles were obviously conditioned to being fed. I just fished moving lures for the most part. It was warm though.

If you dropped me in a lake that I knew nothing about with no electronics, I'd throw a topwater that covers a lot of water like a buzzbait or Whopper Plopper early and keep moving unless I found them stacked somewhere. Then I'd start pitching to laydowns and docks when the sun got high. The Senko is hard to beat. Try Lake Wateree, mid lake Tuesday-Thursday because it will be quieter. Between now and mid June you should be able to find bass in coves but still shallow. Look for any structure between the back of the cove and the mouth. Try around the shallow vegetation. Postspawn bass can be stubborn, but they will move away from the spawning areas and just kind of chill near some structure or cover. Hit every point, stump, anything that breaks up the flat mud bottom. Try spinner baits, T rigs, topwaters that cover a lot of area like buzzbait, Plopper. This is the time of year when the best bite moves from midday to morning/evening. Another good idea is to look for smaller waters, like Cheraw State Park, where you won't have a lot of competition and have the run of the lake. You'll know that at least you drug your lure by some bass. Just can't run a gas motor.

I hate fluoro. I don't fish in clear or deep or rocky water. I have no use for it. I use straight 30 lb. braid on my jig/T-rig combo. If I want to use a leader for braid, I just tie on a few feet of 15 lb. Big Game. But I've become convinced lately that fish don't care, especially in heavy cover.

Big bluegills and/or crappie almost always = small bass in a smaller body of water. These fish are competing with the bass for the main forage, minnows. and these two species have gotten too big for a small bass to eat. The introduction of another forage species like shad or shiners can help.