the reel ess

They were a buck-fifty at Dollar General. They're about 5" long if straightened out and weigh 3/8 oz on my food scale. They cast like a bullet weightless on my spinning combo. And the sour ones I like to eat are only about 2.5" and don't weigh enough to cast weightless but could be a teaser on another lure.

Well, I didn't catch anything on the wrench rig. But I did catch one on the Gummy Worm, T-rigged weightless. In fact, I had several bites on it. These were off-brand from Dollar General, about 3.5 or 4" long. They are pretty sturdy and kinda heavy. No weight required for long casts. They're only good for one, maybe two fish though because they get really slimy after a little use. And they melt together in the bag in direct sunlight. Still, I think, if kept cool and maybe coated with a powder, maybe confectioner's sugar, plain sugar or salt, they could be used regularly for bass.

I also have a couple chartreuse bucktail flies. Hmmmm...

Yeah. I'm so old, when I bought the complete Craftsman set I have, they didn't come with metrics. So I had to add on a set. My Craftsmans are chrome. I may give one of those to my buddy and see which the fish prefer.

I'll make a label that says 3/8" and slap over that. I tasted these and still can't tell you what the flavor is other than sour/sweet.

Gummy Wrench. I don't see how this can fail. I'm gonna throw it tomorrow.

I never, ever, EVER give a BC reel to anyone. If they know how to use one, they should have one. I have a friend who can screw up a cup of coffee when it comes to reels. His personal record (and probably a world record) is having a bird nest on his third cast with a spinning combo. We were still on the boat ramp. a 45 YEAR OLD MAN! I finally gave him a spinning combo so he'd quit messing mine up. He brings it by here and I re-spool it for him every now and then.

The easiest answer I can come up with is also the most obvious: to go early or late. That's usually what I do. I expect slower bites during the middle of the day.

Where I fish is mostly weedy. When I fish around standing timber in one place, I use mono and retie when necessary.

I tie braid directly to the bait. But water's not very clear here. Lately it's downright stained after a lot of rain. I will say the PowerPro green was less visible in water than the Fireline smoke. The black color eventually wears off the Fireline and it looks kinda grey. Still, I was catching fish with it.

There might be some around the confluence of the Broad R and Lower Saluda R in Columbia. But with the flooding and the canal reconstruction going on, that's probably out of the question for a while.

edit: Boy, I don't retain what I read very well at times. Evening right before dark except when it's cold.

Certainly is. I'd have to drive by the Broad to get to Jocassee. Actually, cross it in Columbia to turn and go up I26.

It is. Unfortunately, it's as far as you can get in this state from me and I think the fish there tend to be very deep a lot of the year. I'm thinking more river.

I've never caught a smallie. I know my options are somewhat limited, living in the piedmont and near the midlands of SC. What are my best options? I kayak fish so small waters is really no problem unless they're too difficult to reach. Thanks, Rob

Until I spooled my spinning reel with 20# PowerPro. It easily outcasts Fireline by 20% with a weightless Trick Worm! Good limp line right off the spool. No black, sticky coating like Fireline has. Very good stuff. I'll switch my other spinning reel over before the next trip.

I assume you're talking about the larger females form a small pond. There's a problem with that because "larger" is a relative term. In many (most) small ponds, the fish have become stunted due to overpopulation and limited food supply. Too many breeders in a situation like that calls for some fish to be taken out. It's the only way, barring a fish kill or some other natural occurrence, to increase size. 20 lbs per acre per year is the recommended harvest for a pond. These need to be in a slot size from maybe 1-2.5 lbs. My buddy has a pond that we take smaller fish from and it still remains stunted. Most of the bedding females are small. That indicates too many small fish that are still re-populating the pond-an endless cycle of stunted growth. We take these when we catch them too. I caught over 50 there on one spring day and only one was large enough that my conscience told me to throw it back. I did leave maybe 10 that were also too small for my self-imposed slot. I leave half my catch in his basket and text him to let him know. He complains that I don't catch him enough bluegill, but the bass really need attention. He doesn't want to add any other sources of food for fear of screwing up the balance. Of course, you don't want to be seeing 3 lb and larger bass on any stringers. Anybody who fishes a place regularly should really frown upon that. And I never keep those.

I've been using a rod for frogs and have 50# PowerPro braid on it. Is there any reason this shouldn't be used for regular T-rig fishing(Besides the fact it's really difficult to fish thru a bullet weight)? I caught one on it yesterday. I suppose a leader would alleviate that problem. I just feel 15# Big Game is just as visible.

And Dick's doesn't even seem to know we fish for bass around here.

I order whatever I can off Amazon because we have Prime so shipping's free. If they don't have it, I drive past a Walmart 20 more miles and look at Academy. They rarely let me down. If Walmart carries an item that I really want because it's in-season, they'll be out of it. ie: Bubble Gum color Trick Worm. This, Limetreuse and Methiolate are the BEST producing colors. WM usually is out of Bubble Gum and doesn't carry the other two! I also need gold in a lot of lures. WM carries the basics. I wen't on a Sunday a few weeks ago to get a boat drain plug. Standard Item, right? They had an empty box on the shelf. Was there a run on drain plugs? I was fishing the next day. I rigged one with a screw, washers and the rubber from the broken plug.

Walmart probably has trailer hooks. I have some Eagle Claw Razor Sharp I've had for years.

Been there all along. But given the clarity and depth, they've been deep. I fished a rock quarry once I was told had no bass but did have catfish and bluegill. You could see 20' down. I caught a bass on a little piece of cut bluegill. They were down on the bottom. For whatever reason, something caused these fish to be shallow. Maybe spawn or dissolved oxygen content.

And if that doesn't work, try a chart/gold willow blade.

Go watch the video by Palm Beach Pete on YouTube. He uses a smaller on and I probably should too. I didn't realize how big this was until I measured it. But he catches some fish with it. People have been doing this a while for jigging reefs in saltwater. That one's already in the tackle box. I'll rig another smaller one. If I use it at the right time, I'll probably catch some fish just because they've never seen it before.

How about that catfish in S America that swims up the urethra and extends its fins? Man that would suck! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru