the reel ess

It will get bites when they won't take the usual offerings. If you're using a smaller worm, they'll be smaller fish on average, but that's better than no bites at all. I really prefer a C rig with a 1/8 oz. bullet weight. You can also get more bites on a small craw, tube or Ned Rig.

Those do look pretty cool though.

I see a lot of people have had better experiences with graphite framed reels than I have. I've owned two and both eventually lost some alignment to the point they would slip, momentarily freespool or bind. I got rid of both as soon as I could afford to replace them because I knew one day they'd fail at the worst possible time. I made a conscious decision to stay away from them thereafter. I hear a lot of good things about them these days and manufacturers might have worked all that out. I even see some of the Lew's reels that are kind of pricey have graphite frames. I'm just not ready to waste money on another one.

While I was still not legal to drive,, my dad would leave the truck on the ramp with the boat hooked up and let me back it in and use the boat in the summer while he was at work. We had a lake house. I would go scout the spots during the day and take him back after he got home.

My daughter caught 3 white perch and a crappie when she was 3. But her attention span was so short, she was finished right them. Her fishing career was over by about 10. Good idea. I had surpassed my dad's desire to fish by age 12. So after that, he would let me run the trolling motor and he would sit back and enjoy. I was allowed to take the boat out on the lake by myself by 14 as long as he knew about where I would go.

Spinning reels on el cheapo rods are really good for light treble lures like Rapala minnows and Shad Raps

I started trying to piece together most of these combos years ago and finally succeeded. Of course back then, it was a 5-combo system - 4 BC and one spinning. I actually take 4 BC, 2 spinning and sometimes other spinning rods to cover some panfish as well. It looks like you have all the baitcast combos covered if you assemble them the right way. Of course, there are other schools of thought and this list leaves out the big swimbait. If you wait a few years, everything changes.

I fish topwaters from as soon that they'll hit one thru fall so i had to get one. I bought the size 90 in Dick's and then read reviews that it has a tendency to not work as well as the 110 size. So I bought that one too. Last time out i tried them both and the 110 works way better. The 90 needs to be reeled slowly to keep it from submarining. The 110 is very buoyant. If you'e only going to get one, I'd get the 110.

I used to have two of their Spook knockoffs. They were weighted poorly and would not cast half as far as a Spook. The action was alright. They looked great and seemed to have good hooks. I gave them to a neighborhood kid. Lesson learned.

That's funny and ridiculous. It's due to the length. I'm an estimator, among other things, for a company in the construction business. It costs us a min of $250 to ship anything anywhere on a LTL (less-than-truckload) freight carrier. Often we have a part that costs more to ship than it's worth in material. We usually tell the vendor to hold it and add it to a bigger shipment later. It sounds like they quoted you LTL freight when you wanted ground service.

light, fast, good drag. I use a Lew's LFS Tournament MB in 7.5:1. But they make one faster.

I've gotten some bites on several slower baits in colder water this season. The best has been the Trick Worm weightless and barely moving it. The chatterbait in warmer shallows worked one day when nothing else would. It was sunny and the only bites i got were around one log. A couple trips a plain weedless Arkie jighead rigged with a Berkley Chigger Craw got the better bites. This is a secret weapon of mine. Fish will take it all year, especially when inactive. Last time out a black/blue jig was the ticket, but the water's warm here now. Warm enough to wade into and not be uncomfy. Fish are stacking up and cruising the shallows. A spinnerbait with a Colorado blade and a jerkbait can both do well early in the season. Good luck.

1. Spook, Spook Jr with the rattle 2. Topwater frog (Booyah Pad Crasher and Popping Pad Crasher) 3. Pop R 4. Chug Bug 5. Torpedo (caught 50 bass on it once) 6. Buzzbait Honorary mentions: Rats, toads, Hula Popper & Jitterbug. And I have two Whopper Ploppers I haven't gotten a chance to use yet. I know that's not one, but I love topwaters so much I'd take fewer fish on topwater rather than more on other baits.

"I took the road less traveled and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost

I bought a kayak just for this purpose. You can go to a large public body of water and get to every square inch of it. There are bass in there that think they're safe because walkers can't reach them. WRONG, Mr. Bass! I even go to a friend's pond and get to fish he can't reach in his jon boat or sneak boat. He's always amazed at how many I can catch there on an average outing. I usually fish the areas I can easily walk before I get into the kayak unless I'm at a really big place. Then I just paddle. I have yet to get a snake in the kayak with me. LOL

Booyah! Popping Pad Crasher. My second favorite is the regular Pad Crasher.

I use a small food scale. If you or someone in your house has ever been on Weight Watchers, you have the scale you need. It has the word PRECISION on the button. It seems to do the job pretty well. Beyond that, a scientific beam scale would really do the trick.

I try to make it about 4X a month, but it turns into about 2 due to volleyball tourney's and whatever else life throws at me. I've been in a funk since my dad died last spring and it seems a little less important than it used to. Besides that I was really on a roll catching quality size fish for a few years, but I didn't catch any big ones last year. My last really good fish was 2 Novembers ago and it was a new PB. At least I got to show my dad that pic. Got skunked yesterday after a week of 60-70 degree days. My first skunk in more than a year, even in COLD water. Not a single bite in a pond.

Ditto that. I don't know how old the OP is, but I don't relish the idea of casting a heavier rod all day. I do understand that sensitivity is not necessary, but there will probably be times, especially in colder weather, you tie a jig on it.

More than a little pricey. LOL

After re-readng the OP, I'm editing my response. I have the Cabela's Tournament ZX Frog model rod. It's 7-3 and H-Fast. It's just right for the technique. I wouldn't want a lighter rod for this. I fish a lot of pads and some grass. You have to consider that the longer the rod, the less leverage you have on the bass. The shorter it is, the more you're dragging bass through the pads and not up, out of them. More bend in the end of the rod means a shorter lever when the rod is loaded up. This 7-3 Hvy rod seems a good balance.

Good article. I bought that TAC-40 reel, not because of this article, but because of the good reviews of the Mettle line. It is a reel you'd expect to see in the $130 range. A great deal at this price point.

https://www.google.com/search?q=carolina+rig+ideas&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0s8i-2qrZAhUPjlkKHZgXDv0Q_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=989 Here are ideas and diagrams. If it doesn't take you to images, click images at the top. Any soft plastic will work. Lately people have started using some hard baits as well like a jointed minnow. Bill dance did a show on this technique recently. That's one I want to try this year. The go-to baits for C-rigging are larger worms and lizards for warm weather. but the C-rig catches fish all year and when the bite gets finicky, a finesse type worm will get more bites ,although smaller fish on average. The weight varies depending on depth, but usually is between 1/2 oz and 1 oz., maybe a little more. I'll sometimes use a 1/8 oz for the aforementioned finesse worm in mid to shallow depths. Here's a tip. I like to buy the "bass casting sinkers" with the wire eye and cut the eye off. Then you have a weight like an egg sinker, but cone-shaped to a point toward the nose. It will get hung up a lot less. I was going thru my dad's fishing tackle and came across some Lindy style C-rig weights. Those look like they'd do a good job in weeds and even for drifting bait for catfish if you do that. Those are the ones I'd use for hardbaits because they look like they'd come thru and over limbs, weeds and rocks without snagging. This seems like an easy way to lose a hardbait. Another tip: The C-rig is the poor man's depth finder. It'll tell you about the depth, contour and composition of the bottom if you use a heavier weight. And as a bonus, you'll likely drag a bait past a fish that you wouldn't have otherwise. It really excels on hump, points and deeper brushpiles. Fish on these spots will be larger than average.

I was gonna give that 5 but I heard sax in it, which has become very rare. so 6.

I have a kayak and I love it. No boat will allow you to get into the spots you can with a kayak. There are big fish a lot shallower than I ever knew they were. That said, I still want a flat bottom jon boat with a good trolling motor and a raised front deck. I'm getting older and sitting for hours makes my feet fall asleep and my back ache. I'd go in the order of kayak first, then start saving and looking for a good deal on a jon boat. But that's just my personal preference. I fish a lot of smaller places.