the reel ess

Nah, I'd keep trying. But I'm stupid like that. The skunks make me want to go back even more. Fishing in very cold water can be extremely slow and often you're lucky to get one bite. You have to look at being outside as its own reward and a fish would just be a huge bonus. So don't stop paying attention. You don't want to miss the only bite you're likely to get. I believe a few posts up, someone suggested a jig and bobber. That's really a great idea because fish aren't looking for much action right now. Barely move that jig, and only intermittently. If you catch another species, that's OK too. Any action is better than none.

Do you use braid for this bait? I'm seeing a lot of people recommend it now.

I have about 6 private places within 20 miles that i can kayak fish. One of them, I can use the big boat, but not the gas motor. I can fish a few of them anytime I like and a couple require a little logistical planning (call ahead and get a key or let the owner know I'll be there so he doesn't shoot me ). And there are 2 public no-gas-motor lakes in that radius as well. So I rarely drive far to fish anymore. I used to like fishing places I hadn't been to before. But now I like catching fish. There is a state managed public lake (big pond) about 10 miles away that has been closed for several years. They had a big fish kill there and drained and restocked it. They supposedly added cover and structure. It's been closed for 2 years. It opens in July and I really want to hit it because the fish will have never seen a lure. I'm not sure how big they could have gotten in a couple years though. It was all but forgotten before the kill. All that said, every body of water that I ride by, I imagine is a trophy bass fishery that no one else knows about.

Braid by a long shot. 20 lb braid has the diameter of 8 lb mono, but the strength of over 20 lb mono. But it has another attractive property. It all but eliminates spinning gear line twist. For that reason, a lot of people, yours truly included, use only braid for the main line on bass spinning gear. If I need another type of line for the technique, I tie on a leader.

Well, their reviews are good. I have these 2: https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-jointed-sunfish-35-in-swimbait#repChildCatid=22567 https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress™-lcr-5-8-oz-lipless-crankbait#repChildCatSku=026272351 The swimbait looks like really good quality. But it sinks fast. If you don't reel it kind of fast, it's swimming nose-up, which looks weird to me. And it helicopters when you cast. I have yet to catch a fish on it. I had one good day with the lipless crank. But the next time out, it got spanked by the Cordell Spot my buddy was using. I had to switch baits to catch anything. Mine is the gold/black color and the finish started coming off. I haven't caught enough fish on it for it to be looking beat up.

I did forgo the $50K bassboat. I guess so.

There are tons of variables. But if you think or know there are fish there, throw the kitchen sink at them.

They make decisions based purely on profits and nothing else matters. They couldn't care less how many fish we catch. But necessity (our desire to catch fish) is the mother of invention. If there's a market vacuum and it looks profitable, someone will eventually fill it.

Finally got a double, but not what you imagined, huh? Bass will try to use anything for leverage. Poor turtle didn't scat quickly enough.

Yeah, nothing's really free. But to make it worthwhile to pay shipping to a site like TW, I'd need to order a lot and I rarely do. I haven't gotten anything that seemed counterfeit yet though.

About 90%. I go to Amazon Prime first and if it's no there, I look to Academy next, both due to the free shipping. Then I look to other sources like TW.

I can't keep fish off them. problem is, they're usually tiny fish. That's why I always start with the Trick Worm. Once you downsize just to get bites, you're mostly fishing for dinks and hoping for an exception. But that's better than no action at all.

I started using the Trick Worm (7.5") or the Zoom Finesse Worm (4") for wacky rigging. I tried it once when i was in the kayak and didn't want to go back to the truck to get stick worms. They work great, I think because they're less bulky, it seems you get a better hookup ratio.

If it's mid 70's in the middle of February and the bass start cruising the shallows like they think they'll spawn, take advantage, but expect another 3-4 weeks of winter before March is over.

I would also add: Don't go too cheap with your equipment of you won't enjoy yourself as much. If spinning is you thing, decent reels start at about $40. The same is true of rods.

Start with the old Texas rigged 6" worm for bottom. Get a spinnerbait for medium depths. And get a Pop R for the topwater. You've got the whole water column covered. I couldn't agree more with the fishing log. I wish I'd done it sooner. There was a time when I could remember the specifics of every bass I ever caught, but that was years ago. When you go and get skunked, and you will, make it a learning experience. Read up and watch videos on every seasonal bass pattern you can. Information that we used to have to glean from magazines is now free on the interwebs. Read this board and search it for topics and don't be afraid to ask anything.

Chad Hoover Kayak Bassin', Bass Resource and Brian Latimer are the ones I watch the most. I try to get my instruction from a wide variety of sources then adapt it to mostly fishing from a kayak in small places.

The list of techniques I do use is shorter than the ones I don't. But dropshot is the most glaring omission. Big swimbaits, A rig or most any lure than cost more than, say, $15.

What I might have forgotten to bring along because I got the cart a mile before the horse. But really, Water temp. Seasonal patterns that might work and what baits to use for them. And where I might go to do the best with those two factors in mind.

You routinely find used soft plastics in the driveway and bed of the truck.

When you know how Trick Worms taste (salty).

Same here. We've seen bass cruising and one on a bed. I went last Saturday and caught 5, all very shallow.

You can't go wrong by buying all your plastics in black/blue, pumpkin and/or watermelon. If they're going to get a long look at it, naturals are my go-to's. There are exceptions. Fish imitators should more closely match the hatch, but maybe with some variation to trigger bites like chartreuse. Then there's the old standby purple worm. For years I never bought any other color for Lake Wateree. I was so convinced of it that it took me a couple years of fishing other places to buy different colors. I still have packs of them and they still work. And then there's the Trick Worm and stick worms that seem to do well with brighter colors. These seem to trigger reactions. So I guess the deciding factor is if you'e trying to imitate a craw or fish.

I use a braid main line. Split shot will slide down it. If I'm going to the trouble of tying on a leader just to crimp a split shot onto, I'll just tie a real C rig. Then i can make the leader whatever length I want without sliding a split shot up and down it. I've had fish break my leader when it wasn't damaged.

You can just use a small bullet weight on the C rig. You can get them all the way down to 1/64 oz. I just like the tiny C rig because you don't have to crimp a weight on your line. Sooner or later that's going to affect the line.