the reel ess

Yeah, you can see why they grow big there.

I almost decided not to go this morning because I wasn't feeling great. We just got our first cold snap and turned the heat on. I decided you never know if you don't go. It paid off. I got his big mama in a couple feet of water on a stump flat. She killed it soon as it hit the water. I caught her on a War Eagle Gold Shiner spinnerbait. This is my first in the 7 lb range (7.1). Odd considering how long I've been fishing. It bumps me up to 7-8 lb PB. This is the 2nd time I've caught a PB at this place on a spinnerbait in the fall. I'm starting to see a pattern. Check out the gut. It looks like she has a pound in the stomach. The last PB I caught looked exactly like this except .2 lbs less. It could be the same bass, but not likely since this is about a 30 acre private lake. I know there are 8 pounders in here and I'll keep on trying for more PB's.

Welcome. I'm from the peidmont. What town are you near?

I was lucky enough to already have a paid-for Silverado. There are certainly features where the Jeep lags behind other vehicles. No side air bags (removable doors), old school windshield wipers, horrible fuel economy for a small V6, bigger tires make it less "driveable", etc. Mine is a Sport model so it doesn't even have auto windows or locks. Unless you have the Unlimited (4 door) it's not really a sport ute. We had a couple tropical storms this fall and mine leaked a little. It's a long list. But if you've ever owned one, all that doesn't matter. There's nothing like wheeling with the top off. I would caution anybody to put the top back up (or on) to get in the mud. Not an easy cleanup if you forget.

I was that way about mine for a short time. Then I discovered how hard it is to keep really clean when you remove the top a lot. Now I just keep it a little dirty so I''m not discouraged from doing some mild offroading.

Our K Mart went under years ago. Apparently, the purchaser had no idea where we were. They had all kinds of trout and walleye baits and tackle. Subsequently, they always had stuff on clearance. I would always troll through there and see what they were giving away. I was so broke back then (first marriage) I had to shop the clearance at K and Walmart. I still have some of those FLW and Renegade soft plastics.

Walmart doesn't even have what I want. The closest Dick's has less than Walmart. There's an Academy near the Dick's that has most of my needs. So it's there or online ordering for me. I get what I can from Amazon. I don't feel I'm hurting Mom & Pop because I'm not going to the lake anymore. If I did I would go buy their bait and beer and cheeseburger.

Show some pics. Here's mine. It was my dad's when he died and I decided to keep it.

There are still a few thriving around my home lake, though I don't fish there much anymore. The same ones that were there most of my life. I'm sure they don't make a killing at it. They're a gas station, restaurant, bait & tackle and hardware store with a decent selection of cheap beer. I used to love going there and buying minnows before the day started. They would also know if crappie were biting on minnows or jigs and what color to use, which, of course, they always had in stock. They would sell you an egg sandwich before you left and a cheeseburger at lunch. Good memories.

Big bream populations are out of hand. The population of bass maybe didn't explode as much as they ran short of food. If that's not the case then it's another variable.

They do eat them. Baby bass are just minnows, same as all other minnows. Ever notice that there are minnows or shad year round? Bream, catfish and whatever other species of gamefish you have eat baby bass and all other species as well.

And War Eagle spinnerbaits.

I bought my first chatterbait in black/blue because it was wintertime and the water was off-color. But it works year-round.

LOL. I didn't recognize him because he wasn't screaming down that catfish's throat. As for Roland...AWWW SON!

Then you have a bigger bladder than mine.

Yeah, but more about just urban fishing. The first episode is about stripers near NYC.

Thanks for reminding me of this premier. I looked for it on DVR a couple weeks ago but it was too far ahead then I forgot. I just DVRed it. Reminds me of this classic.

Same here. I fish a place that's about 1/3 cypress stumps and I use the trailer hook all the time. The weeds are more likely to foul the blades. If you're in a boat or kayak, you can usually go get the bait if it gets hung up. If you put the hook on with the point up and you pull the bait over a limb, that's the straight side of the hooks.

Bout time to change the hook. ? But seriously folks, if it has a white, light or orange belly, I doubt bass make any distinction before they strike it. Most of the baby bass patterns don't really look like a baby bass. It's just something irritating them.

I think that most people who don't use a trailer hook just haven't tried a trailer hook. A certain percentage of the bass I've caught on a spinnerbait were on the trailer. One of those could be your PB. People say they do this and that when they're short striking, but there are many times you'd never know they're short striking.

I have my best luck that way too. Even though I've always heard you should burn it (KVD) and keep it in your sight (Jimmy Houston), my best results have been slowly bumping it into stumps, limbs, dock pilings, etc. Houston also said that if the water is too cold for turtles to swim, it's too cold for bass to react to a spinnerbait. Not exactly true. I like the big single Colorado blade "night time" spinnerbait in the cold months. You just gotta reel it very slow and tap the bass on the nose with it.

No for me. But my fav spinnerbait is the War Eagle Gold Shiner. It has some longer strands in the skirt that kinda resemble a trailer. I always use a trailer hook. I wouldn't want a trailer to get in the way of the trailer hook.

This kind. Reason I like this kind is you can still feed the snap thru the line tie of a regular size Pop R. Some of the snap designs you can't. The snap helps the popper walk a little. It gives a more erratic forward motion. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-fast-lock-bass-snap

The Rebel Deep Wee R was the first hardbait I ever used. For years, I only used it and the 6" purple worm. My dad believed most baits caught fishermen, not fish. He would only buy me what he used.

In hindsight, this thread would have been a good poll question.