the reel ess

Might also catch a "brown trout" in the sewer.

If you've been caught coming out of a (public) dirt road that has only one house on it by the homeowner because you were casing a (legal) way to get into the town reservoir. Awkward conversation. Road is only public because mailman has to deliver to the house.

I do.

Well I do sometimes on one combo because of its imbalance but I'm always adjusting it between cast and retrieve. I even hold it by the foregrip sometimes. I usually end up with a little bruise or two around the abdomen from using it as leverage for hooksets and that's fine. I also fish from the kayak most of the time and that doesn't always help leverage. My lack of dexterity in my left hand means that I can't use both hands on the rod to set the hook. I have to keep the left on the reel handle. I work on a computer all day and that has worn out my right wrist somewhat. It just is what it is.

I palm the BC because it feels most normal and I always have. I hold the Spinning with the reel foot between my ring and third finger. I've never lost my grip on one because of a bite. But I do feel a lot less leverage on the spinning rod. The BC rod I just tuck into my gut and set it with both hands. But the spinning rod makes me set with a single wrist. I used to get a lot fewer hooksets with spinning, but I took care of the lack of leverage with Gamakatsu hooks and 20 lb braid.

And then it does! I caught a bass in my friend's pond on a Gummy Worm on a bet. It was T rigged because it just didn't have any wacky action.

Everywhere I go on vacation I look for likely fishing holes before I go. I'd never make it in the desert.

You have more pics of bass than family in your phone.

The hooks on my Jr are awesome and came with split rings, not the clevis style that comes on larger Spooks. I don't know the hook mfg though. But my hooks are bronze. I look online and I see that's not the case in the pictures. Perhaps they've changed them. Honestly, I think you just had bad luck on two fish in a row. Fish escaped trebles more than single hooks. Sharpen the hooks on it and let it go again.

I don't use a leader even with 50 lb braid and I catch bass on that. I will occasionally take a Sharpie and mark the last few feet of line. I usually resist putting an unnecessary knot in the line. I'm in the Piedmont region of SC so the clarity isn't a big deal here either. There was a time this summer when it didn't rain for a couple weeks and bass were getting very finicky where I used a scaled-down Carolina rig with a 4" Zoom Finesse Worm and I used 12# mono for the leader. I didn't do it for the visibility. It's just easier to rig. But it paid off with more bites and some big ones to boot. But my leader was only maybe 15". And I feel certain the fish could see the weight and swivel.

My dad and I were fishing so close once we actually caught the same bass at the same. LOL. But sometimes the spot is small. And he's my dad.

But if it's big (old), it could be suffering from any number of ailments

I caught a bass in August that was bleeding form places all over it, but especially the fins. It was about 5 lbs and long and skinny. I assumed it was an old male and was just dying from old age and stress that goes with that. But it was still eating. It was also missing an eye. And my dad asked me if I was gonna have it mounted. YUK!

I have a few types of toads. A couple different Stanley Ribbit and Seizmic Toads. To tell the truth I've only used the Ribbit. I've caught a couple on it, but not a lot. I prefer the hollow body type because they stay in the strike zone longer and that seems to be the ticket in the heat of summer. I see the buzz toad as a small buzzbait. And I usually just use a buzzbait.

I have 2 full-size Spooks in some kind of shad pattern with no knocker, a Spook Jr bass pattern with knocker and a Chug'n Spook Jr frog pattern with knocker. The Jrs seem far better at drawing strikes to me. My large ones are silent lures, but this is supposed to be a bait for covering a lot of water so one would assume fish need to locate it. How does that work? For me it doesn't. Full disclosure: I live in an area with very little "clear" water. It's mostly stained to tea color around here. Baits that make some commotion work better for me. Another great topwater for me is the Chug Bug. It pops and/or walks depending on your retrieve. I think color is very overrated for hard bait topwaters. And the hooks on the Jr size are very good quality.

Notice almost every swimbait and a lot of hard topwaters come in bass pattern. Bass are opportunistic feeders, and as they get older, they'll take whatever they can fit in their mouths. It's more efficient.

I took my bother in law out bass fishing on a pond I know really well. He took an ultralight rod and an assortment of panfish lures. I schooled him in bass because he's used to fishing for trout or panfish. And he caught a bunch of bluegills and small bass. But when it started getting dark he took out the small black Jitterbug and schooled me. He couldn't keep them off the thing. Meanwhile I couldn't buy a bite with whatever topwater I tied on. I bought a couple Jitterbugs and a Hula Popper afterwards but they haven't produced for me. Well, I did catch one on the Hula Popper first try. Topwaters are my favorites and I'll keep a couple tied on even during the midday just in case of some surface action. I just took a look at my rod rack. I have 5 out of 7 combos rigged with a topwater.

I have a couple Cabela's like these that I got for myself and my daughter. I don't like mine though because the back flotation interferes with the kayak seat. I'll be getting one with no flotation in that area.http://www.cabelas.com/product/boating/life-jackets-vests/fishing-boating-life-jackets|/pc/104794380/c/104741280/sc/104328180/cabela-s-vista-paddle-mango-pfd/1962452.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-boating-life-jackets%2F_%2FN-1100591%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104328180

I have an older one and noticed the rubber is harder than the newer ones of other brands I have. I just assumed that was because my SPRO is old, but apparently not. I bought an H2O brand from Academy that I would not recommend. It's very hard to walk. I only bought it because it was dirt cheap.

The longer pauses keep the bait in the strike zone longer.

Well you could just throw out a handful of bluegill feed every now and then in hopes of starting a feeding frenzy. Or bread for that matter. I saw a YouTube video where Bama Bass throws out live crawfish then catches bass on imitations.

Oh, your son and my kayak fishing buddy are the same guy. I catch one and he comes paddling across the pond full steam ahead and bumps into me trying to get to the spot. LOL. But then I know that going into a trip with him. He's all about the catching and couldn't care less about the size. If I only caught 1 6 pounder and he caught 10 eyeball size bluegills, in his eyes HE WON!!! Your son will learn what's acceptable and what's not pretty quickly. Trying to poach a fish from the boater won't fly twice.

You had one of the best brands. If you haven't already, trim the legs about 3/4 to 1" and bend the hooks out a bit. Booyah is a premium frog with a medium price. See this thread for ideas for more bites:

What SUP do you have?

I haven't used an SUP, it just looks like fun. I doubt you'd wanna stand in my kayak. LOL. I like it, but $500 is usually below the stand-up threshold.