the reel ess

They have to eat. Maybe they eat bass. But if that decimated the other species, it seems they would decimate each other.

It is quite a thrill to catch a good one from the kayak. They'll pull you all over the place.

I like to put loose bags of soft plastics behind the seat.

Yeah, I must admit I don't like wearing the vest. I will if it's cold or moving water. But I'm often guilty of leaving it in the truck. Even if I did, it's not a "fishing" vest with places to stow accessories. I have the crate with rod holders in the back and it can hold tackle. I was thinking more of a way to "tether" it all in the cockpit.

If you watch videos of pros giving frog tuning tips, they'll say bend the hooks until the points don't touch the body. Booyah Pad Crasher hooks don't seem to need any bending and there's already a small gap between the body and the hook. I have a good ratio with it.

I slowly transitioned from FC to either braid or mono. I don't use a leader of any kind on spinning gear. You can't convince me fish care that much if they'll bite an Bama rig made of 5 wires. Plus the water is always stained here. Braid is the bomb on spinning gear. Never a twist on a quality reel. I went back to 15# mono for my T rig BC combo. Just gotta retie often.

Do you guys have a system for keeping things like pliers, clippers, grips and any other accessories you use a lot organized and at-hand in your kayak so you don't have to go to the crate whenever you need them? Grips and pliers won't just fall out, but I've dropped pliers. Clippers will fall through a scupper. And I usually forget something. Last night it was clippers and I can't just bite off braid.

I tie braid straight to baits on two spinning rods and a frog combo. But I still have mono on my BC combos for topwaters and T-rigs. I know conventional wisdom would be braid with a leader for the T-rigs, but I might want to use that combo for something else and it seems to be working well. Plus I hate the feel of the leader going thru the guides.

I caught a 6.3# on the Chigger Craw black/blue fleck last night. Obviously it's my new fav big craw soft plastic. I only bought it because, apparently, everywhere I buy tackle, including Amazon Prime, has decided not to sell the Zoom Super Speed Craw. I can tell you they'll hang onto the Chigger. I cast it into a blowdown and thought the bait was hung on a tree branch. I pulled, it pulled, I pulled back, it pulled back. Then it decided to swim away still holding the bait long enough for me to set the hook. I probably shouldn't have caught that fish but it held on. I caught another 2.4# on it too. This at a time when I'm being told by my buddy, a good fisherman who has shown me a lot, they aren't biting at all. I'm seeing no schooling activity whatsoever.

The place I fish most often, the most boats I've ever seen on it was 3 on July 4th. I joked with my buddy that we might see a skier soon. It's an electric motor-only drinking water reservoir.

The older I get the less I want to see ANYONE else whilst I recreate. The peace means more than the fish.

It really depends on the small body of water, the management of it, water quality, type and amount of bait as to whether it can grow fish that can rival big lakes. I used to think all small bodies were hopelessly overstocked and held few if any trophies. But I've changed my tune. If I can get in a smaller body of water in a kayak and stalk big bass with zero competition and no annoyance from other boaters, I'm going to. And you can always specifically target the largest bass in the pond if you want to.

I used to spend the night and get up with the chickens only to find 2 21' rigs already fishing on my best spot. Then it's on to plan B or C. That's too much work for too few fish. I wasn't a good enough angler at the time to compete with those guys.

Absolutely. You can't catch a 10 pounder if there aren't even 5 pounders there. I fish a couple places where 3 pounds is a big fish. But they're good for numbers. And one is good for food.

I kayak fish as well. And I like CATCHING fish. At this point in my fishing life, it's about looking for a trophy and getting a pic with it . I've got a local reservoir that is private and maybe 10 other people fish it. It's not pressured and has some real bruisers in it. I've been skunked once since the temp warmed into the 50's and really got rained out after 5 min. I can carry the kayak about 2 miles from home and catch quality or tow the boat 40 miles each way, use a public ramp and compete over a few dinks. No brainer.

I'm becoming a Powerbait believer. Seems fish will hold it well.

Fishing the frog from a kayak adds another degree of difficulty because you're almost never in a perfect position to set the hook. But I think it can help because you usually have a little extra line in the water to reel in before setting.

I don't see it Oh, the profile pic. Nice.

Same for me, with the exception of a T-rigged craw, but very late in the day. Size has been good for me though. I've caught 5 over 5# this summer. It seems the slower the bites, the bigger the bites. But I'm also mostly fishing a place where a 5# bass isn't unusual. They are nice though.

I got two bites, 2 catches this afternoon/evening. A 6.3# and a 2.38#. On the Berkley Powerbait T-rigged Chigger Craw, black/blue flake.

Small Pop R in the spring. Large Pop R in the fall. Both early and late. Chug Bug in the heat of summer, late.

One man's TRASH is another man's TREASURE.

Gold wherever there are shiners. Hammered nickel elsewhere unless it's very stained. Fish can locate a SB without even seeing it.

And remember, SPF 50 is good for 150 minutes, not all day. Kayakers, don't just spray your knees. Get the insides of your legs, ankles and feet because that's how you'll sit.

I went shirtless a lot when I was younger. So far, I've had 4 suspect spots cut off. No cancer yet. But if you have a bad feeling about any moles or spots, don't hesitate to see a dermatologist. My family doctor didn't think any of these warranted attention, but the dermatologist did. And some that she thought were suspect were not the ugliest ones. Nowadays I wear the long sleeve fishing shirt, a wide brimmed had and sunscreen on everything not covered by cloth, including ears, face and nose.