the reel ess

I once had a spot so good I'd only fish it on weekday evenings after work or weekdays if I was off. It finally got out to the tourney crowd and you'd have to wait in line (stage) to fish it. On weekends sometimes other boats would just troll right up as if they were going by then just stop and fish the spot while I was there. I used to meet my dad after work and he would have already gone and fished it without me!!! My own father! LOL!!!

This "friend" of yours must go. This is a serious breach of your trust. You need to sneak into his garage when he's gone and break all his rods. Hopefully, at least he practices C&R. When people ask where I caught a fish in a pic I just say "private pond". It just happens to be true. The reason I like to go there is little to no competition. And three other guys just lost their pass. Now only 3 other guys I know fish this 20-25 acre reservoir.

Never heard of that. But check this out; Man catches 10 lb bass on Brazos R with a live rattlesnake for bait. http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/fishing/bass-fishing/2009/09/kayak-fishing-guide-catches-10-pound-largemouth-bass-liv

My fav technique is topwater. A BPS Rick Clunn reel on a 6-6 Lightning Rod, 15# mono, Chug'n Spook Jr or Chug Bug. This is not really a good reel or rod, but sensitivity is not necessary for topwaters and the reel can cast heavy lures great with t15# Big Game. The action of the rod is just right for trebles with mono. I also use it for crankbaits when I use them. My fav combo is a BPS Johnny Morris reel on a Falcon 7' MH. This combo is a lot better quality that the rest of my arsenal. I use it for frogs and T-rigs. Strong reel and extremely sensitive rod. The rod is supposed to be a heavy crankbait rod. But it feels perfect for these techniques. I wish I had 5 of those reels. I bought the whole combo used for $100, separately. If I had bought them new, they'd be $260 regular price.

Rebel Wee Craw is also my favorite for river largemouth. Bluegills will bite the tiny one too. I haven't caught a smallie yet.

I'd rather catch one on top than two on bottom. But them when they get big, I'll take 'em any way I can.

The only 2 times I've had luck in flooded timer were with a squarebill crank and a Torpedo. The Torpedo day was in later spring and was a 50 fish day, but mostly smaller and it was overcast-even rained a little. On the squarebill day they were bigger fish. That as a fall day. Sunny if I remember correctly. It was the same place both times and depth ranged from a foot to 5'. Bluegill were in there too. You have to hit the snags with the squarebill. Just run it right over and thru them. You can slow the retrieve when you make contact and get hung up less, but it'll still happen if you do it right.

What weight/size jig head/hook do you use?

Last time I was there I couldn't even buy a boat drain plug. I drove 20 miles just for that purpose and they were out. Guess there was a run on drain plugs. I had to jerry-rig my old one because I was fishing next day and I bought one at a store at the lake the next day.

I haven't used it. For one, it's a very weedy bottom over 90% of the reservoir I fish most of the time. I feel it would be buried in the weeds. Second, it's not weedless. I guess it would be OK to use it on a light shaky-head jig hook to help with the weeds. But to keep it from being fouled with weeds, I'd probably have to use a steady retrieve.

That's good info about Eagle Claw. I stopped using them maybe 15 years ago because Gamakatsu was so much sharper and superior quality material and my hookup percentage, esp. with a Carolina rig using monofilament, went way up. Then I switched to braid on spinning gear and it went up more. I may give them another shot. Some time back, I purged all my EC hooks out and gave them to a buddy who doesn't fish that much. But I know he catches fish on them. My dad, ever the cheap skate where fishing is involved, bought a lifetime supply of Eagle Claw 3/0 offset worm hooks from Wally World and told me to use them up. I said OK, but never touched them.

Put a trailer hook on the spinnerbaits. Some on here wil disagree. But I can see no reason you shouldn't. Fish at lower light times of day. They take baits better then. I can't comment on FC. I don't use it. But it may help you take up slack before setting the hook. Lighter mono will have a good bit more stretch than 15#. If there's any slack line out, you have to take that up AND the stretch before you can set. I have a light combo with some BPS select mono that can be tough to set hooks on bass with because of the stretch.I mostly use it for baits with trebles.

When I was new, I only had one rod/reel combo and so few lures I wouldn't switch them. Now, I like to take several combos with lures for the 3 zones: bottom, middle and top. I usually start the day (early morning) on top or middle if the water temp is above 72. If that fails, after a couple hours, it's all T-rig bottom-bumping unless I see some activity that makes me think bass are getting more aggressive. But there are many variables. Top: topwater baits, of course Middle: Trick Worm, weightless, jerkbait or maybe spinnerbait Bottom: T-rigged craw or worm. Crankbaits. So I switch baits and presentations all the time depending on what I see and whether I'm getting any bites. As for moving, I fish either from a boat or kayak in a smaller reservoir. I'm always moving unless the fish are just killing it in one location. Hope this helps.

It's the first artificial I ever used with regular success-for crappie. But I know bass love bigger ones too. I still use small ones in ponds on a Roadrunner head to catch finicky bass when bigger baits fail. I use them on a light combo with 6# mono. You can also catch big bluegills on them as well as the occasional crappie.

I went to Wateree last Monday. It is much better, but I expect it'll drop soon too. They usually draw down in the winter to kill weeds.

My problem with SB's is mostly keeping skirts on them. They just aren't made like they used to be. Where I fish most of the time, SB is not an everyday bait. It seems that every time I really start catching them on it, the skirts fall off. Same with buzzbaits. And replacement skirts seem to be even lower quality.

Realistic looking frog at dusk. Tiny Rebel Crick Hopper and Bumble Bug. Small wacky Senko. Live worm or small panfish under a bobber. I had a place like that I sneaked into when I was a kid. I only caught one fish ever there, but there were big'uns that never would bite.

I'm too uncoordinated with my left hand to back reel. Jimmy Houston will disengage his BC reel's spool to avoid a line-stretching surge at the boat. I had to do this once, but it was because the fish was taking too much drag and I needed to slow him down.

The guy in that pic has unlimited access to as many rods as he can break. I don't.

I have 50# braid on BC reels because it digs into your spool when you set the hook or yank it out of a snag. 50# is the same diameter of 12# mono. A 20# braid will be thinner and dig into itself on the spool worse. Just remember if you lock down the drag on a cheaper reel (one with a graphite or composite frame) and horse really big fish in you could damage the reel. 50# braid is suitable for fishing frogs in thick weeds and slop. This is a situation where you would normally cinch that drag and yank the fish out. I'm not knocking the Black Max or lower budget reels. One of my reels has a composite frame too. Just keep it in mind. An alternative to that is 15-17# Berkley Big Game mono. I've caught a bunch of big bass on that line.

I'm from nearby. When I floated down the Wateree, I've had good success on the Rebel Wee Craw crankbait. I just cast it behind logs or rocks that were breaking current on inside bends where the water was a little deeper. River bass are fun and strong. Do you fish the river just behind the Wylie dam? I've been wanting to go wade and fish around Landsford Canal. Maybe put the kayak in and float down to Landsford.

Curious...do you guys up there eat northern pike? The closest thing we have are chain and redfin pickerel and they rarely reach eating size. I've never caught one.

It's worth a look. I still found plenty to spend my $$$ on.

+1 that. I've seen an awful lot of bass and other species with that on them in the big public lakes with miles and miles of runoff upstream. But I've seen NONE of it in the private ponds I fish.

Zebco 33 when I was about 7. Later I got a Daiwa UL spinning combo. Then when I was 13 I asked for my first Daiwa BC combo for Christmas because I saw Bill Dance using one. I was always leaning on my dad to buy me more and better fishing equipment. I would have dressed in rags, but didn't want to be caught without the right combo for every fishing opportunity.