the reel ess

Lunker Hunt Pocket Frog is 1/4 oz. I got one mail order recently but haven't used it yet. There's a video on YouTube of it being used.

I just keep trying things until either something works or I run out of time and go home. This is a time when I try a rig that I've been meaning to try but never got around to like the wacky rig. The night I pulled that out it saved me from a skunk. I caught 5 quickly and got the big one of the night. Beer is often involved. And even when you fail you've learned something.

This reminds me of a story from my childhood. It was a Friday afternoon. My dad, a friend of his and I were fishing along a bank as we came up on an old fence row that ran out into the water. It was a place in our normal rotation. There was a guy in a bassboat sitting there who was packing up. He told us in no uncertain terms not to fish that spot because he had a tourney the next day and that was his ace in the hole for a limit. We cleaned it dry. We came back the next morning but there were no fish and no fisherman. If he had asked instead of told us I'm sure we wouldn't have fished there. At the very least we wouldn't have spent an hour there.

I would have reminded myself of the time G-Man got DQd for buzzing full-plane past Edwin Evers and Evers said very calmly to the cameraman in his boat "He shouldn'ta done that." Seriously, it likely made no difference whatsoever to the fish but probably bothered the fisherman to no end. I've been there. I've been at an offshore spot when two boats split me at full speed. It's why I stopped fishing the big local hydro lake. But some of the boats that do that are bassboats and we all know that.

I like this because I just bought a Booyah Pad Crasher and a popping Pad Crasher on Amazon and won't get to use them for another week.

Can you take or rent a kayak? I've taken mine the last few times I went to Pawley's island. But they'll rent them at a local bike shop and meet you at the boat ramp. You can fish as long as you want then call them to pick it up. They also have up-to-date fishing reports. There is a really good creek/inlet behind Pawleys Island. I went into the Myrtle Beach BPS and collected a basket full of the best looking redfish and trout baits then asked for some advice. The guy kind of smiled at my basket and walked over to a gold Johnson spoon. Got one of those and he grabbed a bag of Gulp Mullet in white. He said this would cover both species and flounder. I caught 2 keeper flounder in a couple hours. I did see small reds and one trout but no takers from them. To be honest, just that Gulp mullet on a light jighead is good enough for the flounder. Just toss it out and drag across the bottom near a dock or oyster bank. They'll tap it and you wait about 15 seconds and start reeling. If you hire a guide there are tarpon down there in the summer.

I shift my fishing to morning and evening when the dog days are upon us. And fishing can be tougher, but they'll still bite. Since they're cold-blooded their metabolism is as high as it's going to be all year and they have to eat. But you have to find them and present something they want. It's easier to get a topwater bite early and late. My buddy tells me he's catching 4 or 5 10:00-2:00 in the afternoon, some of them have been good-he sends pics. But he doesn't believe in getting up early and works second shift. So it may be even better early/late. As it gets uncomfortably hot and fish are harder to locate, people stop fishing.

I believe your big fish died. If your pond is stunted and you introduce big bass to it, they can't compete. You need to manage that pond by harvesting smallish fish. You should probably keep everything you catch for a while. As you notice the size increasing, set a slot limit of maybe 2 lb max. As you remove competition for bait average size will increase. I'm also reading lately that you should feed the bream to help them spawn repeatedly in the spring. The healthier they are the more bait will be in the pond. A stunted pond is really hard to overcome without putting some fishing pressure on it. You might need others to help. But beware, the fish will become fewer and more educated. I have two friends with ponds and they both want me to keep fish. Both are a bit stunted. In one I've caught a 6.5# yeras ago but none bigger than 3 since. In the other I caught a 5 and a 3 this spring. But the average in both is less than 12".

An old man showed me once that bass will almost never turn down a worm, even when some are busting shad on the surface. But you can catch fish faster with hard lures when they'll chase them. I have fished a river like you're talking about mostly with a crankbait and caught them well every time there. I even caught a striper on a Rebel Wee Craw.

Bandits are awesome. I like that Flat Max squarebill up in the flooded timber. And I like Bomber's craw pattern. I liked the Norman's L'il N and DD22 for big waters, but I usually fish ponds nowadays.

$14 and haven't used it yet. It's a hard, jointed swimbait and toward the bottom of the list as far as cost. I'm sure I'll buy more.

I accidentally ordered one of these in a batch of baits from Amazon. I decided to keep it. Do any of you use it with success? How does it compare to a full-size in terms of bites and quality fish? It doesn't look like the body will compress enough for good hookups.

I usually forget to eat whatever I took. But I'll take granola bars if I take anything. If I take my daughter, she always wants to have a picnic, complete with pork and beans and a snack cake of some kind.

I used to put out Christmas trees in front of my dad's dock every January. I did it for maybe 15 years. This is much better. But the trees were free.

LOL. Some of them are big a$$ baits too.

My wife had ACL (re)reconstruction. Yes, for the second time. I haven't been able to fish or do much else but care for her and get her to PT and doctor appointments. But she'll be mobile very soon. So I took this opportunity to order several big bass baits, including full-sized frogs and a Savage Gear Glide swimbait-most I've ever paid for a fishing lure. I fish mostly ponds and almost always from a kayak. Two are overstocked with small bass so you have to try to cull the small ones by using big fish baits. Another has bass over 8# in it. And another one I have yet to try is about 3 acres of lilies. I am dying to hit up one of these spots ASAP.

Well, I currently have a Trion 40 size reel on a M/Mod rod. That just won't do and needs to be rectified. It would require another rod for this reel and another reel for this rod. I have a BC reel that's getting worn out and needs to be replaced by a quality unit, but I'm not wild about the rod either. I have an UL spin reel on a light rod. I have an UL rod with a crappy (not crappie) Zebco 11 underspin with a frozen drag on it. Tsk-tsk!!! I yard-sold a couple old BC rods, so there are 2 new holes in the rod holder.

Always, ALWAYS, keep an imbalance so that you can later overcorrect it.

They're largemouth that have beeen in deep and/or cold water long enough to lose their dark green coloration. When they return to the shallows around the spawn, they'll turn green again.

If topwater and they're busting bait, a big popping lure like striper delite to get their attention. If they aren't chasing, but you still know they're near surface, a walking lure. Keep in mind, they'll break line and take your prized lure sometimes. A cheaper "topwater" is a big, weighted popping cork with a 3/4 or 1oz bucktail below. This makes it easier for them to take the lure in too because they aren't sucking air with it. You'll also lose fewer and have an easier time once in the boat with this rig because there are no trebles involved. A striper topwater blowup is heart-stopping. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=striper+delight+lures&view=detailv2&&&id=8E547E71ADA47577F46EB785FF2CF500CF4E63D9&selectedIndex=0&ccid=bSQliHKv&simid=607993290413510358&thid=JN.0GqoKS6iWxIkdGPi420mIw&ajaxhist=0 If below the surface: Bucktails, big grubs, big cranks, flukes big Rebel jerbaits, bass jigging spoons. I've caught them on live minnows, Shad Raps, Norman's DD22, Roster Tails and spinnerbait. White or natural shad is a good presentation for shad. Accents of chartreuse, red or orange can work. Firetiger works too. If they're really biting it won't matter much because they eat all fish. The last striper I caught was on a chartreuse Rebel Wee Craw with 6# mono. But the best presentations resemble fish. This is all assuming freshwater.

Sounds like it's suffering from extremely clear water as most quarries are. I watched Jimmy Houston using 1/8 oz RoadRunners on a quarry for crappie and he kept catching bass. I took his advice and used some on a friend's small pond and caught a lot bass-all smaller, but that's what his pond has. If the dropshot idea works, downsizing probably is the trick. Maybe even crappie jigs. The thing about RRs is you need to fish it very slow. The downside I find is in using thin mono. It stretches so much you will miss the hookset on some fish. The live nightcrawler is still on the table too.

I'm 6'2" and change, about 200-220, depending on whether I'm on a health kick or a good beer kick. I have a 12' Perception Pescador SOT that sells for $500 every day at Academy. It is toward the lower end of rigs that are pre-rigged for fishing. But it's right in the middle of quality. From what I understand, it's the same mold as an older WS Tarpon. It's pretty stable if you don't try standing. It's not the best seating arrangement, but it's not the worst. I think a throwable boat cushion would help a lot. The lower back support is good. The two things I dislike most about it are that I can't stand in it long enough to fish (or wouldn't try) and the seat, though padded and contoured for a man's posterior, gets hard after a couple hours. And the seat is situated low for better balance and has scuppers under it that will eventually lead to a soggy butt unless it's very calm where you're fishing. That's OK when it's hot, but not that great when it's cold out. Again, the throwable cushion is a solution. I just never remember to take it. Also it has no rudder, so wind is an issue, but I fish so many shallow places, I wouldn't use one much it I had it.

You can't use a small live bream? Is that illegal where you are?

I can only say what worked for me...once...20 years ago. Live bait. Actually dead. People said there were no bass in this quarry but there were catfish, so i caught a bream and cut into small pieces. I dropped the bait down maybe 30' deep and BAM! Bass, release, repeat. And there were people swimming in there at the time. So, maybe lower some live bait to the right depth. Or maybe a jigging spoon.

I've heard recently that if you reel down and feel the fish after they take it, set it. If you don't feel it, wait for it to float up so you can start twitching and not waste the cast. Interstingly, Snag Proof, who makes Ish's signature frog, say to wait 2 seconds, FWIW. http://www.snagproof.com/pro-tips.html