the reel ess

I had several trips where I couldn't buy a bite on the WP. I mean probably an entire year. Then one May morning last year I started off and stuck with it all day. I caught a 7.3 and a 5.75 in the same day, in the same spot hours apart. I also got a 6 and a 4 on it last year. Certainly not a numbers bait unless they're just jumping in the boat.

An old telephone. Seriously, I can't think of any type of lure that I've used that I never caught a fish on. There are individual lures among those types that haven't produced (yet). I've come to the conclusion that the best way to catch big bass is not to throw monster baits, but rather just fish with normal baits where there are big bass. There are big bass where I fish, but they seem to ignore the big baits. They'll go for the usual stuff. It's a niche bait. I was 40-something before I ever caught one on it, but it was a big bass. It needs to be used around weedy cover for best results. Seriously, there are better topwater lures.

I work in an industry that uses a lot of metal. It's all in short supply as is just about any other commodity you can think of. But you can probably snag one off Craigslist other Offer Up if you scour the listings.

A C-rig is what I call the poor man's depth finder. If you fish an area with it you'll have an idea of the depth, bottom composition, cover and structure. But if dropped on a lake and told I had to catch to eat, I would target docks. In the absence of docks, I'd target any wood cover I could find with a T rig or a jig. I might start the day with a buzzbait or a Spook in the shallows.

I catch a lot of small bass on the frog too. It's a big fish bait, but they have to be in the shallow weeds and lilies for it to catch one. Weeds don't grow deep here because the water is always a little stained. Big fish won't be shallow all year long. But little ones will.

It's pretty standard to catch more than 15 or so and sometimes 20 or more. My friend has a basket and I'll paddle back to the dock and unload my stringer.

I fish the same place 90% of the time because it has big bass, it's a big place and has little pressure. I have another pond I'll go to if the wind is howling but I really want to fish becuase it's small and mostly protected from wind. I have a farm pond that's a bass fishing postcard. But the bass are all dinks. I haven't caught one over 2 lbs there in about 19 years. However, the bass are hungry there and it's not unusual to catch 20+. I caught over 50 there one drizzly summer day. It's great fun on a topwater in the summer. It's a good place to get your mojo back when they aren't biting well or to try a new technique. It's a pond so the owner wants some harvested and they taste good from that spring fed pond.

I highly recommend the Trashmaster jigs. They cost a bit, but you lose so few it's really a savings. I like Rage Bugs and Rage Craws with them. The bug skips better. And the Trashmaster is a good skipping jig. I only buy black/blue ones anymore. But I'm sure other colors work too, maybe better in clearer water. I have a 6'10" Falcon BuCoo H-F rod and use a Lew's LFS reel spooled with 30# braid. If I'm using it in open water, which is rare, I'll sometimes put a short 15# mono leader on to disguise the line. My philosophy is you can't set the hook too hard on a jig bite. I have set it hard and still had the fish spit it at the surface, not just with the Trashmaster, but other jigs as well. It's a fat hook and a mouthful. Luckily, the big ones will usually hold on tight and they give you good weight to set the hook against. I keep the drag very tight and once I have the hook set I winch that sucker in. Give the fish no quarter. I see people playing jig bass in videos like they have 1 treble in the fish's nostril. You bought the heavy equipment for a reason. Also, don't be afraid to go to a T rig if the jig gets no bites. I've caught big bass on those too. and they're more weedless.

SC state laws require one on board for any passenger on any craft. But adults are not required to have one on. I usually fish private waters and don't wear one. I don't care what anyone says. I'm a grown man and I'll do as I please.

I fished Wateree in the piedmont of SC for decades. It's a very similar lake. The dam is 100'. But most of the "deep water" is 30' or less. I never caught a bass deeper than 18-20'. Even if I fished around steep structure that dropped off very deep, the fish were almost always shallower than 15'.

I keep reminding myself after the photo I should have gotten the lure in the pic. But I don't photograph every fish I catch.

Date, weather, time, technique, catch and size. And anything else that occurs to me. I did this for a few years until I basically remembered it all by heart. Last year I kept a big fish log because it was such a stellar year for size. I'm sure people are getting tired of seeing it by now. ? I had hoped it would point me toward the lures most likely to catch a big fish. The only consistent big fish lure was the jig/T rig. That caught 4 of them. I also got 3 on the Plopper, 2 in the same day. Sadly, I haven't caught anything "big" since December, a 4 lb. Just when you think you're on to something.

I walked a pond yesterday that had beds all over it. Fish weren't on them, but there were a lot of bass cruising around them. I could tell some were big females. I started out with a T-rigged lizard that got ignored. I switched to a Trick Worm on a dropshot and caught one. I changed later to a 4" finesse worm and caught one more. Just a couple of 2 lb. males. A couple of times I saw a male chase a female away from the bait. That was it for 2 hours. But those were my first two dropshot bass ever.

I've had a either a lipless or a blade bait tied on since December. My favorite is the H20 brand from Academy. I have a bunch of Traps and Spots, but this gets it done.

Those hooks look like they came off a large jointed pikie from the 50s. I found one of these fishing my local reservoir. 6th Sense Quake. It was hanging from a tall pole on the end of a dock. I had to snag it with my frog rod. I have a buddy who fishes there a lot and asked him if it was his. Negatory, so it's mine. I wish it was gold. That works better where I fish. But I have probably 10 gold lipless cranks.

I've only come to realize you should start throwing topwaters early in the last two years. I've caught probably 50% of my fish on one since late Feb. @KSanford33 I'm always second guessing myself. Sometimes, especially when the bite is slow, I'll just throw the heck out of a topwater, usually a Whopper Plopper. It covers a a lot of water quickly. But I'm sure I'm missing some bites I could get by slowing down or downsizing. In the end, it's only fish, right?

I dusted off the Ol' Johnson Silver minnow (in gold) with a chunk trailer with some success last summer when I knew there were bass in the lilies, but they ignored the frog. I got a 7-4 on it.

If you turn the blades around it will stay in the strike zone that much longer. ?

There's nowhere near me you can even buy them. Shad and blueback herring are the main forage in our big lakes. They exist in my local reservoir that I usually fish. I caught one Saturday. But I haven't learned how to bait them for the net. I tried spreading some oatmeal around the dock and came back later with the net. Nothing.

I've had a snake chase mine and a couple of birds were very interested.

I used to get put out with my dad because he was always in the trees. Now I am him. But, as my buddy always says, if you ain't in the trees every so often you ain't trying hard enough.

I dang sure get it as I'm getting older. Depth perception is getting worse. With the BC gear, I can easily apply the thumb as required to keep the bait out of the trees. That's not as easy for me with spinning. Thus, I usually use the spinning gear for more open water presentations.

Overcast and/or windy conditions can be more productive.

I will say though that the Berkley Chigger Craw smells like a seafood restaurant dumpster and fish will hold it all day.

But they can be big bites on the SB. I've caught 3 PBs on them over the years. In fact, I caught the fish in my profile pic on one as soon as it hit the water. So, just a split second reaction.