the reel ess

OP: In places with deeper water, the Sonic shines over the lipless crank, especially in winter. It sinks quicker and puts off more vibes. Even though it's cold you sort of fish it fast. You rip it up just a foot or so and let it flutter. The fish generally hit right when it starts the flutter. Tip: I lost three before I started using it on straight braid.

I saw one in an antique mall Sunday for $25. LOL. Ha! Here's a video of Roland using one recently.

1. When I was young, that's what there was. 5'6" was the standard and there were a few up to 6'6", but they were end heavy. When guys started flipping they had someone make their custom 7 footers. I got my first longer rod with a straight handle I guess in the early 90's. 3. Yep. 4. Double Yep. I don't think I own any fluoro right now. 7. I've lost two and caught zero.

I went from a fish n ski to a canoe to a kayak, to a better kayak. The canoe is OK with two people. I didn't have a trolling motor and a stiff breeze could turn the canoe unless I sat in the middle seat. It's just so much easier to handle my kayak alone either in or out of the water. I do kind of wish I'd kept the canoe though. Every tool has its purpose.

I fished two days with a guide in So FL once for largemouth and peacocks. I'd guess I caught 100 fish. Second day my hands were like hamburger. I told him he needed to carry golf gloves ion different sizes to ease the suffering. I discovered Chap stick works great for chewed up hands.

I have yet to find any Z Man lure I like. I'm sure they work, but by the time I get to use them, they've melted and are garbage. Same goes for Live Target.

I would neither replace plain hooks with red nor replace red hooks with plain, unless something is wrong with them. To each his own. Whatever works. Someone on this thread mentioned the Whopper Plopper being a gimmick. I've caught a bunch of big bass on that gimmick.

When graphite and boron rods were a recent development my dad showed me how you could feel vibrations from a speaker through a graphite rod that you couldn't through a glass or composite rod. Those were the days before Super Wal Marts. I worked at one a few years later and I would take the rods over to the automotive dept, which was right beside fishing and test them with a car stereo speaker that was mounted on the wall. I was a broke student and always on the lookout for a deal, so my buddy at the sporting goods desk would tell me when they were going on clearance and if I wanted one, would take it behind the desk until they were severely discounted down. I bought two that way.

Sure, they do the same job as any other color hooks. I remember when red line was the new thing because, they said, red is not as visible to fish in water. Then they come at us with the red hooks, supposedly to mimic blood???

Where I find retrieve to really matter when pitching (these are both very high speed to me) is in quickly reeling up and getting to the next pitch. Neither is a "power" retrieve.

To me, the rod is for leverage. The reel is for taking up line. So go with the 8.1:1 if you have a choice. Not sure you'll notice the difference between these two ratios very much.

Red hooks. They still sell them.

I think the last time I fished a big pond that was almost covered with weeds I thought I would use a frog, toad, etc. Turned out the weightless Senko saved the day. I like a Trick Worm. I've also done well with a weedless spoon with trailer and a lizard with very light pegged bullet weight.

I made it my resolution to fish more in 2025. I've been a dedicated fanatic for a long time, but lost some of my favorite private waters to put the kayak in. So I went to a small pond that belongs to a friend yesterday. Tossed my black and blue Senko in a laydown and caught this one on the first cast. I put the kayak in and paddled around the place, to no avail. But it beez like that in winter sometimes, just fishing for a bite or two and getting out of the house. It's about 1.5 pounder.

Growing up, my family had a house on Lake Wateree in SC. We fished for everything, usually based on what was easiest to catch in the season. Then I grew up. I'm not the type of person who can be good at a lot of things. So I decided to specialize in my favorite species: bass. Then I got a kayak and started catching bigger and more bass in smaller and private waters. Now I only occasionally target crappie, especially for food. There are bass in almost every body of water. And, as they say, a bass is a bass is a bass. Drop me with a couple of rods and the kayak and I'll find a bass or two.

It's more about water temp than the air. But eventually, the water catches up. They simply won't be in a chasing mood. I just use them until they stop getting bites. In the spring they will get a few bites just before spawn. I'll actually start throwing a big Plopper before spawn because the bites are usually from big staging females. Here that means water in the high 50s to mid 60s. When they do stop getting bites I'll rig my frog rod with a heavy jig or lizard for a 1-2 punch on the jig-T rig.

5 Hour Energy helps. I turn 54 tomorrow. 4-5 hours for me, also in a kayak. The lower back gets sore after a couple hours and the legs can start to go to sleep. It's good to get out and stretch after about 2 hours, then continue. When I turned 50 I fished 2 6 hour days with a guide in So FL. I caught fish, standing all day both days. At 6 hours he was trying to get me to go 2 more. I had to decline, especially on the 2nd day. I'm in better shape now than I was then. But time still marches on.

When the wacky rig was new I saw a demo of it at a boat/outdoors show in SC. The fisherman speaking used this method. I was sold so I bought the worms he was using and some shrink tube and finesses hooks. Next time out I hit one of my regular stops, a cove point with a stump on it that often held a bass or two, a good transition spot in early spring. I caught one on my first cast with the wacky rig. I'm not sure I can say that about any other lure ever. The fisherman also suggested using short sections of McDonald's straws (the fat ones). That just feels like littering. I've also cut shrink tube into small pieces and used it for trailer hook keepers.

The "Guy Who Holds a Spinning Reel Upside Down" rig. But hey, it fooled one fish. Probably starving.

I fished for a long time with just one Daiwa Procaster, MH 5' combo. Later added a M spinning combo. That covered the crankbaits and worms.

My dad bought a lifetime supply of these once. I never liked them because when you cut your retrieve short to get off another cast, they twist the line.

The wife started Weight Watchers a couple years ago. In that time she has lost 120+ lbs. But she plateaued and wanted to join a gym, which we did last April, 14 months ago. I really joined just to be supportive of her, but I kinda got addicted. Now I work out 5-6 times a week. You can do it in any weather, any time. Add to that I have an old car that I enjoy tinkering with. Fishing took a back seat for the first time on about 15 years. I also lost the place I caught all my big fish. The landowner sold and I can't get in anymore. It was about 2 miles from my house, private and full of big bass. I haven't been in this calendar year. My daughter asked me if I was depressed. I said "No, I just shifted priorities, I guess." I hope to get a day on the water soon, but my option for locations has dwindled.

Try keeping everything you catch for a while and see if things change. This should allow the freaks of nature to increase their food supply and maybe a couple will break through. Fish all the typical big bass baits. I know some people feed the bluegill so they make more offspring to feed the bass. That's costly of you do it correctly (an automatic feeder on a timer). But I'd probably do it if it were my pond. Try big live bait. Probably don't want to use anything not already in the pond unless you know it's sterile or won't survive. On the other hand I've fished countless ponds that don't even seem to have a 2 pounder in them even though people are routinely taking small fish out. So don't look upon 2-3 lb. bass as a bad thing.

1/8 to 1/4, depending on whether I'm casting and retrieving or pitching to cover. Wind matters as well. Usually 1/4.

There are no gators more than a little above the "fall line". That's an imaginary line through the midlands. Certainly, none as for inland as Greenville, SC unless they were released pets. And they couldn't stand the winter. It's the same with water moccasins. Many will argue that last point and they'll be wrong. The most dangerous thing about Greenville would be the humans being. Fishing public places around there you could easily encounter a homeless person, wine-o or drug addict. It's a city after all. A few of my favorite places to eat around there are Sobe, Smoke on The Water, Grill Marks, Rick Erwin's and Willie Taco. My daughter went to the Governor's School there and we got to sample a lot of cuisine. Oh, if you like steaks, there's Hall's Chophouse. Overpriced IMO, but I'm the kind of dude who looks for the gourmet burger on the menu in a steakhouse. And there aren't any there.