the reel ess

I usually put too much line on a spinning reel and then let the reel tell me how much I need to cut off (by tangling). That said, I bought a Pfleuger Trion and it won't get twisted. I LOVE that reel! It also matters how you spool it. Lay the line spool down the opposite (mirror image) of the way it goes on you reel spool. If you have it backwards, it'll let you know quickly. If you reel it straight off the spool with someone holding a pencil in the center, it will twist like crazy. Here's a tip. If you're in a boat, let out almost all the line with no bait attached behind the boat. Then reel it up. That'll take most twist out. Also, I don't use lures that twist like in-line spinners. That's always going to happen with those, even on BC reels and even if you use a swivel. last thing I can think of is that some reels have a smaller diameter spool that just doesn't do well with heavier lines. The braid should be limp though. And tell him to flip the bail by hand! It gets a loop in it a lot when you don't. They shouldn't even make spinning reels that auto-flip.

That was my first crankbait and my second bass bait ever. Silver with blue back. I loved it because you didn't need to "set the hook" on it. It took me a long time to develop that feel with the worm.

Just floatation. It's a plain kayak PFD. No pockets or anything. And I'll admit, sometimes I still don't wear it. I know, I know, but it doesn't fit my seat. I need to have the floatation removed from the back, but I try to be a good role model for my daughter and wear it when she goes along so she always will.

I was surfing last night and ran across this Mettle combo from Academy. $89. http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-mettle-6-6-mh-baitcast-rod-and-reel-combo/pid-1595203?N=78002898+4294713062 I don't know anything about the rod, but the reel has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 with 72 reviews and has a one piece aluminum frame, 6-pin centrifugal brake. It's a good, all-around ratio of 6.3:1. It's the only metal framed BC reel I know of under that magical $79 mark. Here's the reel by itself: http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-mettle-mt2-baitcast-reel-right-handed/pid-903505?N=274871093+4294713062 Only $59 for a reel on a full aluminum frame! I'm gonna get one next time I get by there.

You have to be careful with BPS when they do that. They offered an Extreme spin combo this past Christmas at a huge discount-about half price. You could look at it and tell it wasn't the regular Extreme reel or rod. The grips were foam, not cork and the reel plain looked cheaper. Not that there was anything wrong with the combo. But it was a bait and switch aimed at Christmas shoppers, not the reel deal, pun intended.

Man, it's hard to get a decent BC reel alone for less than $80. I'd save a bit more. IMO what you need to look for in a BC reel first is the frame. It needs to be made of aluminum. There are more options in metals but they're more expensive. If you get a graphite or composite frame BC reel you'll eventually wear it out. Some on here will tell me I'm wrong about that and they may have had better experiences. But I only have experience with 2 of them and they're both turds. And these reels were in the $70 range new. I think about $129 is a starting point for a BC combo that will last a decade, not a season. Well, right after I say that, I see this: http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-mettle-6-6-mh-baitcast-rod-and-reel-combo/pid-1595203?N=78002898 Holy Mackerel! I'm gonna get one of those. The reel alone is $60. For that kind of $$$ I could replace it every couple years.

I just started this season. I haven't been able to go for almost 5 weeks now. I go back and re-live the trips I wrote about. Even if you don't reread them at some point, it's very helpful writing down what happened, what worked and what didn't.

That's OK, my light rod is more than 20 years old. El Cheapo Eagle Claw out of the bargain bin in Walmart bought for one weekend of crappie fishing when i was a teen for $8. I still use it regularly. Not that I don't see the purpose of a quality L or UL rod, but if I'm going to put myself at a disadvantage with the fish for the sport of it, I'm gonna do it CHEAP.

I got another name for it: Undercurl. Huh? huh? Undergrub?

I think you already have the best one. I never caught one fish on a Devil's Horse. I caught dang near 50 in one afternoon on the Torpedo. And I had to tune the blade because the fish kept knocking it out of whack. I was fishing from a kayak that day and I got soaked from all the bass I caught. I haven't had many days like that.

I remember the commercial that said FLW stands for Fishermen Love Walmart.

Yes, but there's a near-shore reef out of Little River where you can shark fish. I hired a guide once and did it. It wasn't a lot of fun though. Like catfishing to me, which I don't like either. Waste of $$$ but the reds and trout and flounder wouldn't cooperate. Just not from the pier or beach. But the sharks will still bite.

I don't feel compelled to yank a fish from the hookset all the way into the boat. But the longer you play them, the more likely you are to lose them. And with a single hook (spinnerbait) you can horse them. What are people doing to a fish when they punch? Yank them as hard as you can and get them above the grass, dragging 5 lbs of grass with them so they can't go down. Same thing. 2 lbs of fish, 5 lbs of grass skiing to the boat.

Answers will be all over the place with this. Watch YouTube videos of Ish Monroe, Dean Rojas, Bama Bass and Dave Mercer. Especially BAMABASS. Form your own opinion because there's not a real concensus. Cool thing about Mercer is he'll show you when he misses fish and it's quite often with the frog. Some of the others are edited to take out all the missed hooksets. My Opinion, FWIW, is you'll likely miss about 50% during the day with blue skies. Sometimes it'll take a fish 3 swipes to get it. Wait a little longer then. Low light, they'll suck it down better and you can set quicker. Keep a dark colored plastic rigged to pitch to the spot of a miss if it happens twice. They'll often hit it on the fall. Good luck.

It has saved the day for me 3X this year. So don't be afraid to start out wit it. It works especially well when you know fish haven't seen it or it's been a long time. I have a combo just for wacky rigs. I usually keep one rigged now until they show they won't bite it. Then I'll tie something else on that combo. Try them around obvious cover like overhanging limbs, docks, laydowns, etc. WATCH YOUR LINE. It can mean the difference between a fish swallowing the bait and getting lip-hooked.

Good job! It's a new design. Go ahead and name it while it's still yours. It's amazing what bass will bite the first time they see it. Keep using it. I call it a GRUKE (grub/fluke)

The right one looks like Bagley's to me. I believe Wal Mart's brand was called Renegade. I had several that I bought out of a bargain bin because I was married to a woman at the time who spent more than I made. Seems like the bin was full of firetiger color so I bought one of every size. Never caught much and they still looked brand new. I wouldn't call them complete garbage, but they needed tuned all the time. Wouldn't run true enough to achieve their advertised depths. I just gave them away to a kid at my church along with an old tackle box.

If you guys like frog fishing, and you can stand Dave Mercer's (Facts Of Fishing) constant giggling, he has two shows about topwater frogging. The first one he did on a SUP board and it's now on YouTube. I like it better because it's more primitive. The second he did from his bass boat and it's current this week on WFN if you have that channel. It's on DISH Network, channel 394 I believe. They're very informative and answer a lot of the questions you hear over and over about frog fishing, at least from Dave's POV. Looking at his frogs you'll see he trims a lot off the legs and leaves them uneven. It seems his opinion is, the sloppier the cover, the shorter the legs. He uses the Live Target brand. He misses a lot, but catches 22 in the bass boat episode. I think both episodes are filmed on the same body of water.

For that price I would knowingly buy an inferior product, not that this is an inferior product.

Punching is something I want to try. There are mats of lilies in my bud's pond. I've used the frog there, but never tried to punch.

Don't go skinny dipping up there. Or at a beach in NC.

Fav: Topwater Frogs (not my best technique, but the most fun I can have with my clothes on when it's working). Followed by all topwaters and wacky rig. I enjoy the techniques where you don't have to crank on the reel as much due to shoulder issues and using a kayak to fish from. Least Fav: Well, dropshot, I won't even try. Jigs (I just use T-rigs instead). I don't think I want to spend all day deep cranking anymore.

A word on the Fireline. I think they just recently changed their line ratings and increased strength at every diameter. I know they did away with 17# and think they changed the diameter of 20# to what 17 was. So they put the old stuff on sale. Some of the previous line that they referred to as "thermally fused" wasn't fused at all, just chemically treated to stick together. I have some now that I bought in December and I have a pic of just how "un-fused" it is. But it's still very good stuff and I'm still using it. When I replace it, it'll be with Fireline 20.

Right on! In fact, I stopped using Stren and Trilene altogether in favor of this garbage

The lures you said gave you early success are the same ones I do the best with in spring. Right now, in the reservoir I usually fish, those are out and deeper lures are in-fish just aren't that shallow. T-rig and Rat-L-Traps are doing it. I get almost daily reports texted to me from a (single) friend who works 2nd shift and fishes almost every day. He has done best lately with the Trap and a crappie sized bubble gum color crankbait from BPS. He said he caught one over 6 yesterday on the Trap with the pic to prove it and had another break off one of his bubble gum cranks. My buddy never fishes a T-rig even when I catch fish on it right in front of him. Just hates it. I like to use Zoom Speed Craw for the T-rigs with as 1/8 or 3/16 oz bullet weight-tungsten where I fish because it's very weedy. I use black/sapphire because the water's dingy here most of the time. But it has become my overall confidence color for craws. If this works, so will the jig, but I'm less confident with that. I painted two of my smallest cranks with hot pink fingernail polish, but they haven't worked as well as my bud's. Maybe because they smell like the paint. LOL