the reel ess

Well, I caught 2. One on spnnerbait & one on T-rigged craw. Missed 2 more on the craw. I really wanted to catch one on the swimbait. That'lll have to wait for another day.

I thought I might add a bucktail fly to the wrench to spice it up. I caught a bass on a generic Gummy Worm though.

One of my favs is a model A in craw pattern.

Cool. What are some of your fav dropsot baits? In off-color water, what colors would I be looking for?

I have only tried a dropshot once, to no avail. But the water's generally stained around here. From what I hear, dropshots excel in gin clear water, no?

It just so happens I usually take 5 rods with me on the kayak. I have 5 holders rigged.

I'm going Friday. What are your favorite baits for water in the 55 degree range? Probably full sun, 69 degree weather, northerly wind, permanently stained, but not dirty water. I'm thinking Rat L Trap, slow rolled Colorado blade spinnerbait, T-rigged Craw.

I only have three and I only use one: Bandit FlatMaxx. Tenn Shad

BPA, a chemical used in plastic for food packaging as well as many water bottles, causes cancer. Just don't eat the fishing lure and you'll probably be OK.

There are plenty of knots for mono that won't slip before the line breaks. I use the improved clinch for mono and have ever since my dad taught me. He probably taught me because it was on the package of Stren back in the day. Easy and good. I use only palomar for braid. I quit using floro. I use the double uni for line-to-line on the rare occasion where I use a leader.

It probably has an abundance of some self-renewing food source. And healthy reproduction of, as well as a lot of harvesting adult bluegills helps.

3/4 of the year in SC: Kayak for me Now that winter's approaching: Boat

I've climbed a tree from a kayak to get a gold Rat-L-Trap back. Sometimes (often) it's the best bait I have for my favorite reservoir.

They can lose one and grow it back. As for the thread, it's usually stained water at best around here. I prefer black/blue flake to stand out a little. There are times bass just couldn't find a brown or watermelon craw around here. I also fish it T-rigged with a glass bead between bullet weight and the hook to give off little clicks. And I mostly use Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw with Zoom Super Speed Craw as a close second.

Bama Bass, a YouTube contributor, has a video of him feeding his bass Louisiana red crawfish, then mopping up on them fishing with a bait that resembles them. Releasing of course. But it certainly never hurts to have more than once source of food. My favorite place to fish is a local reservoir that's maybe 20-25 acres. It has bass, crappie, catfish, bluegill, shellcrackers (redear sunfish), shad, golden shiners, assorted species of minnows and, of course, crawfish. It's loaded with big bass and there aren't enough people fishing it to keep it in balance. They simply have enough food to grow large as well as good water quality and a constant flow in. Probably 9 of my best bass have come from there in the space of about 3 years.

I have read from Bob Lusk where filling in the gaps in fish populations with full-grown bass and bluegill can be, but isn't always the answer. I think the answer is a larger bluegill population in the eating size range. And the eating size for 4 lb bass is a lot bigger than for 12 oz. bass. The real answer to raising big bass is an unlimited food source. To this end, feeding bluegill can also help them reproduce more times and create more and healthier eggs.

They'll never believe. Just like the old timers that believe you can't hurt a fishery no matter how many trophies go into the bucket, they'll die with that attitude.

My friend's +/-4 acre pond is full of hungry, stunted bass. It's a great place to use an ultralight combo with a Beetle Spin or a baby craw crankbait. The bluegill are enormous there, with very few small, bait-size. He understands harvesting but doesn't do enough of it and I can't fish enough there to put a dent in them. When I go there, I'll leave almost everything I catch in his basket or take it. But honestly, it's not fun for me at this age to catch a lot of tiny bass. I'd trade 50 1 lb bass for 1 5 lb any day. And I'll fish all day for that solitary 5 lb bass.

Some people on this board still won't listen. You can't convince them because B.A.S.S. drilled their heads full of it in the '70s, 80's and 90's. That's why I copied/pasted this short video. I'm guilty too though. I go out in the kayak and don't keep any sometimes because it's too inconvenient. My family asked me to stop bringing them home because I was cooking them several times a week. A rule of thumb is to harvest 20-25 lbs/acre/year of bass. Even more on the bluegill, just keep all of those. I never even fish for bluegill...anywhere.

If it was on a lake near Greenville, SC it's not a sturgeon unless it was placed there.

https://www.facebook.com/billdance/videos/926920440713538/ The #1 reason for losing the quality of bass on small waters is lack of harvesting. Not harvesting = not managing.

If you do that here, the state charges you a $3 fee for the "convenience" of buying it online. But I pay it because I value my time more than a few bucks. Plus, you're guaranteed not to have to drive, waste gas, then learn the computers are down and you can't buy one anyway.

That's because they're getting bitten. My tubes look brand new when I go home.

I tried the tube several times in 2 bodies of water. I found they got a lot fewer bites than the Chigger Craw. Just my $.02. If it ain't broken...

Tried Gummy Worms? I got a bite on the first cast and caught one on the third. I abandoned them right after that for conventional Trick Worm.