the reel ess

I fish about 5 ponds. Just use all the standard stuff and see what works. I fish one place full of dink bass and huge 'gills sometimes. There are fathead minnows there and besides that, the forage is small bass and bluegills and whatever else bass can get to. My best bait there is a big gold tandem spinnerbait. It also seems to cull some of the dinkiest dinks. Go figure! If there are gizzard shad, don't be afraid to upsize. There might be some bass there big enough to eat one.

That craw is an awesome creek bait. Also, try a crappie tube jig and/or small grub as well. Venture up and downstream and look for some deeper holes or slacker water and you might find some bigger bass.

I would have already fished that creek. If there are any ponds upstream, it probably has every species they have plus chubs, suckers, etc. Whatever species are native.

5 Hour Energy helps. I never drink the whole thing at once. There are at least 3 servings in a bottle. I'll just sip a little when I start dragging. I only use them when I crash after fishing early but I still have things to do. But a nap is even better.

When I went out Friday morning the sun was still low. Where it was peeking through the woods and hitting the water there was fog rising. It was coming off the water in little tornadoes. I've never seen that before and I'm almost 5 decades old. I wish I'd taken some video but I was making a beeline for where I thought fish would most likely be.

Bingo! A big bass can't be caught where there are none. But a big bass can be caught on anything where there are some. You'll catch plenty of dinks on those big baits too. But if you're in FL, there are probably biguns there too.

Right! Windy cold and rainy cold are two conditions I won't be caught out in. I find myself looking for shade 3/4 of the year and sunlight the cold months. Last year I didn't have to worry much about cold because I was still kayak fishing in shorts in December. We have a cold rain coming Friday. That'll probably slow down the fall bite for a while.

@Bluebasser86 And this is why I asked. A lot of people catch their biggest bass ever in the cold months and a lot of people miss out on the opportunity because it's not comfortable.

You guys who fish all winter (I mean the southern winter from TX around to SC-NC, not the northern winter with the hard water) do you start first thing in the morning as you would in the other seasons? Or do you wait for the sun to get high in the sky and warm up the top layer of water? I recall the Classic at Lake Hartwell, SC where the temps were in single digits one morning. The start was delayed a couple hours and some of the anglers were ticked because they'd been catching their best fish shallow and early.

I'd be all over the spinnerbait and jig there now. In fact, that's what's working here. I'm about an hour north of there.

I have next Monday off as well. I'm hoping for a stable fall weather pattern. They seem to be feeding up nicely.

Friday I caught a new PB at 7.1 lbs. This morning, I braved the cold for a 6 pounder. There was frost on the windshield when I took my daughter to school. I dropped her off and headed on over to the lake. This was a trial run for winter fishing. I put on my thermals and layers. I used muck boots to keep from getting the feet wet. I made a beeline for the area I caught the PB in. I caught a 2 pounder on the same spinnerbait. That cove didn't seem to hold anymore bass so I paddled down the adjacent bank, skipping a @cadman custom black/blue grass jig with a Chigger Craw trailer under the overhanging brush. There's a beaver adding lots of bass habitat. Just a few casts in and BOOM! A 6 pounder. I went on to catch one more 2 pounder on the spinnerbait and a dink on the jig. I was off the water after 2 hours and 45 min because my daughter got out of school early today. Funny, this fish looks half the size of the 7 pounder. It's actually longer with a bigger mouth. But it hadn't had breakfast yet.

Nice fish!

OUCH! That sucks.

My first two or three lipless cranks. They're still made, BTW. https://www.heddonlures.com/product/bayou-boogie-3/

A Pop R has worked for me in choppy water, but the bass were really chasing bait. You'll need to make more commotion. If you fish on the side where the wind is blowing it can be good. Spinnerbaits and lipless cranks can be good there too.

Look here under Santee Cooper system http://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/freshwater.html

If you get a spinnerbait with at least one BIG willow You can probably use it 3/4 of the year in AL. I do in SC. Then I use Colorado blades for colder water. That's partly because colder water here tends to be really off-color. My favorite line for spinnerbaits is 15 lb Big Game mono, but that 10 lb will do in a pinch. If using around cover or you catch one, check to see if it needs retying.

Usually the last one I got some action on. So right now it would be Booyah Pad Crasher. But I've had a great year with Chug Bug and Pop R. I don't think I've caught anything on any other topwater. But that could be because these have worked so often. I've had great days on the Spook and some good buzzbait action-just not this year. Haven't caught a thing on the Whopper Plopper or Sprinker Frog.

I don't use deep divers much anymore. Where I fish is mostly too grassy and shallow over most of the lake. Some of it is too shallow and grassy for the lipless crank. On a long cast if I don't catch one right away, I reel in a pound of grass. I do have a floating Rat L Trap but I've had no luck with it. But the Spot is deadly anywhere 3' or deeper all over this place. I still use lots of other baits though.

That's the second PB I've caught that looked like that at this place since the spring. They were within 50 yards of each other. In fact, in the last 3 years, I've caught 3 PBs in that 50 yd. radius. Naturally, when I launch I might fish a little near the launch, but then I make a beeline for that area. Apparently, it holds plentiful bait.

The T rig is the bomb for beginners. If you're fishing public waters from the bank, that can get tough. The fish can be pressured and get shy of artificials. You could also not be reaching any bass from limited access. My advice to noobs is to find yourself a place that isn't getting pressured. For me that meant finding private ponds and asking permission. Most people, myself included, don't like to approach strangers asking for something. But you'll be surprised how many will say yes. And most private waters are underfished. A private pond with a lot of hungry, "uneducated" bass is just the ticket to learning techniques and gaining confidence. I have one such place that belongs to my friend. He wants me to fish it and remove as many small bass as possible. And that's almost all he has. You can always try to use big bass baits to cull the dinks.

Sweet! Love it.

But it took off like a runaway dump truck when it realized it was hooked. It was strong. One of the best things about the kayak is that fish have a harder time getting under the boat. If they try it, the boat just moves out of the way.

For a while I thought it would have to be because I didn't catch anything else for an hour. But I ended up catching 6 more and missing or losing 3. But I would go any day if I knew I'd only catch one 7 pounder. ?