the reel ess

It only takes one fish to an entire day worthwhile. Good job, young man!

LOL. He has been the guest speaker at our church wild game banquet before. He's authentic folksy. I'll bet he answers to "Paw-Paw".

I have one place where there are gold shiners. I use a gold metallic one year round there and the big gals like them. It's a weedy place. In the winter and prespawn, we reel them as slowly as possible without constantly reeling up weeds, and we still get weeds most casts.

Some enhanced version of 1911 and a Kimber for carry.

My wife has a variation of that where she browns a pan of ground beef (substitute whatever ground meat) and adds a jar of Heinz Chili Sauce. Put that in a square baking pan and cover with Jiffy Cornbread mix. Bake per the cornbread mix directions. She calls it Man Cooked Meal.

The Pacer X and Gremlin are becoming collectible.

Right at 7 by this chart http://www.in-fisherman.com/in-fisherman-blogs/bass-length-to-weight-conversion-chart/ Since you didn't measure the girth, there's also this one: (Length X Length X Length) / 1700, which gives you 6.93 lbs. I'd call this fish 7 lbs if I were you, especially since anything starting with 7 would be my PB

Robbie Lake Wateree, South Carolina I see you fishing a lot of spinnerbaits and even have your name on one or two. I caught my PB on one with nickel hammered willow blades. In what conditions would you prefer hammered, smooth, silver, gold or painted blades? Do you ever use a soft plastic instead of the skirt?

My dad went out once with my mom for an evening cruise in the pontoon. He had taken a rod with a deep diving crankbait because stripers had been schooling recently and it so happened that he ran across some. He started casting and catching and for whatever reason, my mom decided to walk up behind him as he was about to cast. Well, he floored her with his backswing of a Norman DD22. Fortunately, no hooks penetrated. But, as you can imagine, he never lived that one down.

A BPS Cat Maxx size 70 reel. I bought a Skaespeare Big Water rod for a trip to the beach. It was just sitting there in the rod holder, mismatched to a size 30 spinning reel. So I decided I needed a catfish reel for it. Now its way overmatched by this reel, which, by the way, has never been used. I'm going to put it on LetGo. then there was that time I bought a 1986 Procraft Fish & Ski with the Merc Black Max 135 that I never use anymore. I think I'll sell it too.

The difference is 2 lbs. But seriously, folks...if i was trying to cast light lures but still keep some line strength, I'd go with 10 lb. Trilene XL. That's what I used to use for deep cranking. Very good quality line. But now I use 30# braid for BC and 20# braid for spinning. I still use 15# Big Game for heavy treble lures on BC.

I remember many days like that. My dad was always fishing on the cheap. We've had wheel bearings on the trailer seize en route, many flat tires and blowouts, drain plug left at home or left out(!!!), my dad getting paged to come to work when others were on call, forgetting to charge the boat battery, having to use a car battery for the boat, then killing said car battery and needing a jump, getting to the lake and remembering the gas tank is sitting in the driveway. Too many to name, really. Most are funny, looking back. I wish i could still get him to fish with me. I bought my fish & ski with that in minds, but he tells me he's too old and worn out to fool with that stuff anymore so I stopped asking. I have gotten to the fishing hole of choice with my kayak and discovered I left my paddle home. I almost never remember to bring everything I need, especially my new action camera. Often the lure I want to use most is on a rod in my rod holder at home.

My ex monster in law throwing an entire combo of mine so far off the dock that I couldn't find it swimming. I caught it fishing off the same dock a few years later.

I've had a blood vessel burst in one of my fingers and it caused that sensation, or lack of sensation. It was temporary and gone in a few days.

I'm with you on that. I usually take three spinning combos, but one is just for play. It's a cheap UL reel on an ancient L Eagle Claw 6' composite (mostly fiberglass) rod. It only holds about 50 yards of 6# mono. But when they won't bite anything, I bust it out with a Rooster Tail, Beetle Spin or Road Runner. There's always a shot at a bluegill, warmouth or crappie on one of those too. And that combo won't overpower any of those. I only use two serious bass spinning rods.

You need at least 5 more spinning combos. Then you'll need a few more BC to even that out. Etc., etc.

I've been spooling spinning reels with the refill line spool laying flat, label up with some tension on the line for some years now with good results. But now I use braid exclusively on bass spinning gear, so I doubt it matters. I guess that's open for debate because I did it straight off the spool for years. Baitcasting is a no-brainer.

Lately, everything I've tried because of the pond I've been going to. Gold spinnerbait, hollow bodied frog in the lilies, Chug Bug Friday evening. The Ned, Finesse Worm-weightless, Rat L Trap.

I had a good year last year with these. I even lost one that would have shattered my PB. They do mostly appeal to smallish bass, but not always. I've mostly used them T-rigged with 1/8 or 3/16 oz. bullet weight. This bait has saved the day for me several times. Sometimes fish will hit them as you're reeling back up to cast again.

Welcome. It's good to be a beginner. With all the info available here and on the Interwebs, you won't have to unlearn bad habits like I did.

We have them some places in SC, but not most places. They're in one small lake I fish and the bass get over 10 lbs in it. I've caught one about 8" in a small Rapala minnow. The bass at this place love metallic gold color Rat L Traps and sometimes spinnerbaits.

Two choices: Fight it because the fishing will be good where the bait is blowing or find a creek and get out of the wind there. Well, three choice: You can stay home.

I'm a big boat-to-kayak convert. Also, I'm a big lake to smaller, more private waters convert. It has been the best thing I've done for my fishing since I bought a baitcaster. I was getting very tired of competing with other boats and inconsiderate boaters for a little peace and solitude. I have a few places that I have access to within 10 miles of my house and I get exercise and avoid the trailering, boat ramps, upkeep, etc. associated with the boat. As for your situation, you'll be amazed how much easier it is to sneak up on fish and catch the bigger ones and there won't be any part of the pond/lake you can't access. It will open a whole new world for you.

30# braid will cast light lures better than 12# mono, IMO. It's limper and has no stretch, to boot. I like it for single hook presentations. But if you get too light with it, it tends to dig into the spool when you set a hook or have to yank on it. I usually use a spinning rod with 20# PowerPro for what you're describing.

30# PowerPro.