the reel ess

Seems I heard that most minnows that are raised fro bait are hybrids and can't reproduce. But I guess there's no guarantee. If you think about it, if you own a pond and stock it with any fish, those species are going to end up downstream, possibly to the detriment of the native species. But maybe they can coexist. I've caught bass from small streams that I doubt got there naturally. And those same streams still have white suckers and creek chubs.

He cussed you? Throw him outta his own boat then do circles around him until he apologizes. Or just turn his sorry butt in. Be very descriptive of how he does what he does. You don't want the warden to catch him catching sunfish legally. On the other hand, it's not illegal here and that sounds like a killer way for me to get a PB. Actually, I fish a private lake, so there aren't even limits. But I recently watched a Bamabass YT video of a guy with a private trophy lake using 1 lb goldfish for bait. Gotta use the right kind of hook so you don't gut hook the fish.

I've been looking for some polarized fishing glasses with 1.5X reader bifocal lenses to help with tying knots on the water. I ran across some Orvis ones on Amazon for $80, I think. Couldn't be happier with them. They're great for fishing and driving. They are a little hard to walk in because you can't see what's at your feet. It feels like you should be stepping up all the time. Just not used to bifocals. So I'll hold onto my el cheapo Calcuttas for when I'm not fishing.

I liked my first Tournament MB so much I bought two more. it's a heck of a reel for the money and very easy to tune and use. I can't speak for the Crush. I also recently bought the Academy store brand reel, the TAC-40. It retails for $100 and works as well as the MB does for me. It does not have a mag brake. It's very user friendly for the money. I can't say how long it'll last yet, but I've caught a new PB (6.92 lb.) on it and it's not showing any wear. It's my jig reel right now. The only possible drawback is that the spool is larger diameter so the reel has pretty low line capacity. That's why I like it for jigs, but it wouldn't make a great cranking reel.

1. Zoom Trick Worm 2. Berkley Chigger Craw. I like to rig on a plain weedless Arky jighead. It'll get more bites than a skirted jig, it's a big fish bait and they'll bite and carry it around all day. They won't spit it out. 3. Tie for Zoom Super Fluke and Swimming Super Fluke. The latter I like to rig on an EWG hook with a 1/8 oz. bullet weight. 4. Others.

MURDERERS! Oh, The Humanity!!! If you drew it down, they would grow in the newly shallow water. They'll grow as deep as good sunlight can reach. And they'd probably come back in the shallows when they raised it back up.

Not until I start catching something on them. LOL. I tried one again last night to no avail. It's 0 for 4 with me.

@MichaelCopeland Nice fish. I would have guessed it bigger than 4.5 lbs. Could possibly be a big and very mature male. They sometimes get long and skinny.

I use the same rod for both those baits. You'll get more bites on the worm. But the jig bites will average better in size unless you're using monster sized worms. This might help determine which one to start with. If I was trying to cull the dinks in favor of size, I'd start with the jig. On the other hand, if you have one hour to fish a 6-8" worm will probably fit the bill. I have gone all day without a jig bite. Be careful about the drag. If you're fishing a jig you can tighten down the drag. With a worm, usually the hook is lighter wire and will bend more easily. It has cost me a fish before.

There is this little spot next to a creek that I drive the Jeep to when I'm out riding with the wife or daughter. Last time i was there I had my sunglasses on and I could see a few small bass swimming around. I made a mental note of that and went back on my lunch break today. I caught 4 including a bass. there were bigger bass there and there were more pools to wade, but it's a lunch hour. I'm going back when I have more time to kill and can walk further.

They usually bite when I have a major professional overrun. The last time I fished in the inlets at the beach I got a backlash on the first cast. I picked it out and started reeling up to find I already had a fish on. It was a toadfish and I didn't get another bite that day.

Yeah, this buddy of mine could catch 10 tiny bream to my 9 bass and still try to rub that in. LOL. But he's my best friend and that's just how he is about everything. I remember once we went in my fish & ski boat and he caught about a 4 pounder early in the trip. He stopped fishing nad started sending pics of the fish to every contact in his phone and drinking beer, all the while talking smack to me about how much better he is at fishing than I am. I caught a bigger one right before we took the boat out. He was mad. I told him you can't catch fish without a lure in the water. And besides, I'm just better.

They don't exactly mop up on my favorite lake either. I've had a couple good outings with them wacky rigged, but most of the time they get ignored. Actually, during the dog days, almost everything gets ignored. I also wacky rig other worms occasionally.

I own a bunch of frogs, but the Booyah Popping Pad Crasher stays tied on my frog rod. You can spend more but you don't need to.

I don't like the jointed sunfish swimbait either for the same reason mentioned in the post above and, though it's 5/8 oz. it's hard to cast without helicoptering and getting the line in the hooks. I ended up using a spinnig rod to lob it, which is not optimal. Also, I really don't like the hollow body frog. The body is hard like the old SPRO's and it's difficult to walk because it's flat on the bottom, just like the old SPROs. I have a lipless crank that cleaned up on bass one day, but the next time out my buddy wore me out with a Super Spot so badly I switched over. The lipless I bought was in the gold pattern and the gold finish didn't hold up well. After two uses there are spots where it flaked off, exposing what looks like a silver finish beneath. I'm guessing they took some chrome ones and gave them another coat of gold that didn't adhere well. Either way, it kinda looks like a beat up gold shiner, which could be a plus, but doesn't speak well for the quality of the bait. I get the feeling there are several companies making these baits for them because the quality is all over the place with them. Even so, they're so cheap and I'd give others a try. The popper looks good for half the price of the Pop R. They ahve a couple baits that are knockoffs of Lucky Crafts that look great.

Give him a Trick Worm. He'll catch fish. If it's windy, make it a weighted T rig. If it's deep, make it a C rig. If it's shallow, weightless works. That's what I give my buddy when we go kayaking and he catches fish on it most trips. I have the opposite friend. He'll always buy the (cheap) beer. But he doesn't know anything about fishing and isn't into it like I am. So if I want to hang out with him fishing I have to outfit him. He can hang with me on bream though. But I usually still have to rig him up. He won't have hooks, bobbers or split shot. Then, of course, he'll talk smack if he catches one more than I do. At least I don't have to bait his hook and take them off. And he brings the aforementioned beer. That's because i usually don't take beer fishing, so he has to if he wants some. But I have another fishing buddy I go with who's on-par with me as far as equipment and knowledge. He has a better boat than me and I'll go with him when it's cold or just when he offers.

I tried mine yesterday evening. It ran near the surface. I couldn't reel it slowly enough to get it down. I took the swimbait trailer off to see if that was the problem but it didn't help. I think the jig is too light for the blade. I'll put the blade back on the black one for now. Maybe I'll just get a replacement skirt for the black one.

I'll never hear the phrase "Can I vent?" the same again.

I have a place like this too, but maybe 25 acres. I've caught probably 6 or 7 bass over 6 lbs. there. My last two PB's came from there, the latest being 6.92. I have lost one larger. There aren't a lot of people fishing there. I'm usually alone. I doubt they see many baits at all and the ones they do, not often enough for it to trigger a negative response. My best fish there have all been on different things. Jig, spinnerbait, lipless crank and Trick Worm are the ones I can remember. There have been a lot in the 5 lb. range caught on topwaters - Pop R, Chug Bug, Spook. One big gal on a wacky rig. Some of these are "big fish baits", some are "little fish baits" and some are just baits. I keep going because there's always a chance at a PB there. I used to have to go with a buddy, but the landowner with the gate gave me a key recently.

LOL. I've never seen the anus referred to as a vent. Learn something every day.

Welcome! Nice city, Portland. I went there on my first honeymoon (the one that didn't take ?). We spent a few days there then rented a car and drove up to Bar Harbor for the rest of the week. I'd love to revisit the state. A great place to go in the summer.

DING-DING!!! After looking it up I think you're absolutely right.

I usually just buy Calcutta sunglasses. Decent quality for a $22 pair of polarized fishing glasses and they look great. They last a long time and if they eventually get scratched you aren't out much cash. But I did recently buy a pair of Orvis bifocals with 1.5X readers. I'll be looking to take really good care of those. I haven't tried them fishing yet, but I will this evening if it doesn't rain me out. I wore them to the grocery store yesterday and they gave me a little headache. The readers made me feel like I should be stepping up all the time LOL.

I have some plain Arky heads with horizontal line tie that I could use for them as well, but I already had these gold shiner jigs and wanted to put one to use.

It looks as though I have quite the rare paint job on it. I can't find another searching the Interwebs.