the reel ess

I hear you. My dad tells me about when he was a kid on the farm. The kids did all the work. Their idea of a good Christmas haul was a change of clothes and some oranges and nuts in the stocking. I will say they ate well though. My grandmother cooked three meals a day and if you said you were hungry, she'd put a biscuit in your mouth. She sewed us quilts for Christmas and I still have 2 of them. They grew and canned everything, slaughtered hogs and raised chickens for meat and eggs. My dad got off the farm as quickly as he could and went to work in a factory. It was like vacation to him. But he has a tightly knit family and we're all still very close. G Man's my favorite pro bass fishing personality.

A cold

Any topwater. I like the vicious strikes the frog and Spook attract. I will trade 2 subsurface fish for one on topwater anytime. Buzzbaits are cool and I like the feel when a good fish inhales your spinnerbait.

I forgot: Brush Hog and that style of baits. Just haven't bought any. I never the tried Trick Worm until about 4 years ago when my buddy killed me on them. After I watcched him catch half a limit, he finally threw me a couple. Now I keep one tied on and I'll use them for any worm method. I just bought a bag magnum size. I have another buddy who only fishes when he's with me and the Bubble Gum TW, weightless is all he ever uses. It produces year-round.

I'll try harder. Well, I've had it a year. But it is my frog and jig rod, so it usually has something heavy tied on. I have several reels older than a decade. Reels have come a long way n that time.

I have that reel in 7.5:1 for frogs and jigs. I was thinking I'd like to have another because I have yet to backlash it. And they make one with a higher capacity spool. I have a 6-6 M rod to get me by for a while. I'll probably replace with a 7 footer someday.

Do you guys use a specific reel just for lipless cranks? Is it a higher line capacity reel? What's your preferred retrieve ratio? I'll be replacing mine soon.

I can't speak for how you like to fish, but I have a MH 7' spinning combo for single hook presentations. It's a Viper combo that I bought from BPS on clearance about a decade ago and it just keeps on ticking. The rod doesn't have any action or power info on it, but it loads up pretty fast, so I'd say it a MH/MF. I usually try to avoid buying matched store brand combos, but this one has been stellar. When the reel finally quits I'll replace with a Pfleuger size 30. Now we have 6 or more and catch most of the fish on one.

I have avoided buying painted ones just because I'd have to buy several colors of several weights.

I went yesterday with a buddy and rode the back seat. I caught 4 and he caught 4, with the best being my 3 pounder. They were on the Rat L Trap. They were choking it. I also got one on a Colorado blade spinnerbait. It was a pretty warm and very breezy day. A front was blowing through. He texted me he didn't get a bite today, although it was a beautiful day with a high of 72. There's rain and bitter cold (for SC) in the forecast.

I haven't used a swimjig, per se. I've used most types of baits but not all the popular ones of each type. I haven't used a paddle tail or cut tail worm.

A white double willow leaf spinnerbait in the fall.

Same here. I've been looking for a worm pouch with ziplock bags to keep them separate that will fit in the zipper pouch on the end of my bag, but so far, no good. I just cram a few into one big compartment in one of my 3500 boxes. I do have a spinnerbait box but it's almost a cube in shape. I'm getting to the point that I have a lot more tackle out of my bag than will fit in it.

I haven't used the plain twin tail grub but I've used the Hula Grub a good bit. It's saved my day several times and I lost a PB on it. It's like the jig and trailer all in one package and so versatile. I usually use it T rigged with 3/16 oz. I have one rigged right bow with a shakeyhead.

I wish someone had told me to buy a kayak instead of a bassboat about 6 years sooner. I've caught a lot more fish from it and can put it in anywhere.

Around here, gulls can equal stripers in the area. But they can also have a herd mentality where they all flock because one bird moved or one shad flicked the surface. You can run out a tank of gas chasing birds. As for other birds, I don't know.

I have cards for Amazon, so it'll probably be another Lew's LFS Speed Spool reel.

Usually a Zoom Finesse worm in one of the natural colors. Last summer they were ignoring everything and I used a very light C-rig wth 1/8 oz bullet weight to get bites. Most of the bites were small fish. I also will use a T-rigged Trick Worm with some success almost any time of year. I intend to give shakey heads and dropshots another try this year.

Black/blue t-rigged craw and big black/blue spinnerbait with a big black/blue (seeing a color pattern?) Colorado blade, fished very slow, ticking the bottom and touching cover. Bass will often be touching the wood cover when it's muddy. As with Catt's RLT, rattles certainly help. Anything that helps the fish locate the bait. The water is turbid around here a good portion of the year and black/blue is a good all around color for things like jigs, soft plastics, buzzbaits and chatterbaits. It's easy to distinguish in off-color water even in low light periods. Only when the bite slows do I go with the watermelons and pumpkins. http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-Tour-Grade-Night-Spinnerbaits/product/11071915395657/

If you're in a kayak you might want it calm. But that's the wind, not the wave action. The wind is still there and it will still push your oily kayak around.

It seems to me when the water's really cold, my best bet is during mid-day. That might just be because I don't want to go out and fish in sub-freezing temps. I want to fish after lunch, during the warmest part of the day. The last time the Classic was on Lake Hartwell, SC one of the days started in single digit temps. The anglers were held until the sun was up to let it warm a little before they blasted off. Some of them were miffed because they had been catching a limit early. They were getting an early morning shallow bite despite freezing temps. I believe that was February and that can mean big bass are feeding up for spawn. The later pattern was a football head jig on deep, rocky points and humps.

Yep, my Chevy was built in Ontario. What people seem to care more about is union-made. But not me.

It was a GY in black/blue t rigged with a 2/0 hook and 3/16 tungsten bullet weight. But the GY are so delicate. Are any of the others more durable? Also, be as quiet and stealthy as you can. Big bass are big because they're good at not getting caught. That last comment was not meant for @Yeajray231, but my comments were merged.

The #1 trick to catching big bass is fish where there are some. Sounds like you're on the right track. I fish a reservoir with a lot of bass in the 4-6 range as well as the spectrum of smaller size fish. I've caught maybe 15 fish over 5 lbs from this place in two years. Probably 4 fish over 6. And I didn't do anything specific to target larger fish. Here's what I've caught 5+ lb on: Trick Worm, weightless T rigged craw (several) T rigged worm White spinnerbait with willow blades (my biggest, almost 7 lb) Black spinnerbait with a black Col blade (in cold water) Chug N Spook Jr Rat L Trap Buzzbait Frog And I lost a certain PB on a Yamamoto Hula Grub. Not a bait known for producing size. If you pull a bait around in front of big bass you'll eventually catch some. My buddy caught an 8 lb in this place on a crappie jig while trolling.

I use 3/16 oz. bullet weights almost all the time with BC gear because I'm usually (always) fishing smaller waters with weedy bottoms. If it's windy I'll go to 1/4, but it feels like it's always digging in too deep.