the reel ess

It all depends. If I'm casting a topwater to shallow water that drops off quickly to 20-30' deep I don't waste time fishing over the deep water. But if I'm fishing a shallow grass flat, I stay with it all the way back. I caught a bass on a Whopper Plopper right at the boat the other day. If I'm pitching a T rig to a laydown, obviously, the cast is over once you aren't contacting wood. Just playing the odds.

Any plastic that looks like a craw. This type jig will skip very easily with a Rage Bug. When I first started jig fishing I used this head a lot with a Rage Craw, no skirt. I caught some good fish on it. But it's not much different from a pitching T rig setup. And I find the T rig gets hung up a lot less. If I want to use a jig in cover I usually use the Game Changer Trashmaster. It has a screwlock and the plastic is rigged like a T rig on an EWG hook. It is much more weedless than any conventional jig I've found. I've been using the same one so long almost the entire skirt is gone. Rigged with a bug type plastic it skips extremely well for a jig.

Wind out of the south, they bite with their mouths. LOL. I don't think the fish know the wind direction. But they feel pressure changes. I've seen it many times. Fishing reports will be great for a week. A cold front will blow through just before my weekend. Fish that were willing all week are now nearly impossible to catch. Deeper fish seem a little less susceptible to it.

I caught an almost 8 pounder in about 1.5' of water on a Chug Bug in late July. The air was so thick you could drink it. I caught a bass on a Whopper Plopper in February.

We had a lake house in my family from 2 years before I was born until about 3 years ago. My sister and I finally sold it after my dad passed. It seems to me that it was a whole lot of work. My dad would take a couple weeks a year to spend there. We worked half of that time keeping the place up and making improvements. It requires owning two of a lot of things. You need security or good neighbors to watch out for you when you're not there. But some of the best times of my life were spent there. It was just never the same after my mom died. So after my dad passed it was downright depressing to go there. Oh, but to the point, we did fish a lot.

There are some decent lists of "best kayaks in X$ range". My advice would be more about quality than brand. If you buy the cheapest thing you can find, you won't enjoy the hobby much. A stadium seat is almost a must for me. I would try to go with a 12 footer as they generally track better. Getting one made in USA is nice because of better customer service. But everything's on backorder right now anyway.

I work from home and have something of a flexible schedule. But I don't need to get off work as much during DST. So yes, it would afford me more fishing hours all year.

Lizard, jig, T rigged craw or whatever is tied on. But it'll be a lizard. I found lately they'll blow up a frog while on the bed. Topwaters work well when you know they're bedding but you aren't targeting a specific bed. They'll know you're there. And you might spook them. I have sat right over a bed in my kayak and gotten a bass to bite a jig. It certainly knew I was there. I wouldn't approach a bed with a noisy topwater. But if you fail to get a bite, come back to it with something else.

Let's see. My dad started me off crappie and bluegill (and whatever else bit) fishing. We were the bucket brigade. We kept and ate everything. I was out with him and a family friend once and they were using minnows with little success. I was bored and my dad told me to tie a Mr. Twister grub on my Zebco 33. I wore them old guys out that day. These things would catch anything in the lake it seemed. That's my first brand recognition. But they were expensive so we bought thousands of knockoffs and my dad's friend bought a jighead mold. When I was 13 I asked for a Daiwa Procaster 100 Magforce baitcaster because Bill Dance was using one on his show. That reel worked well for about 35 years. I had to replace the worm gear pawl twice. One would think that I would be a Daiwa man for life after such a good experience. But they outpriced me. Other than that, I was fond of Cabela's clothing and own one of their rods. But now that they're really BPS, It doesn't mean as much. The older I get, the less brand loyalty I have.

Look on Lew's site

I always have 50# braid on my frog combo. But I do fish treble topwaters and I would expect them to produce better in open water. I don't catch many bass in open water with a frog. It only seems to produce in or near weeds. Sure, you'll get the occasional blowup on it. Another thing I consider is fishing a treble lure near shallow weeds is that the fish will use the weeds as leverage to spit the hook. I've hooked some big gals that go straight for the lilies or wallow in the bottom weeds. I've been back and forth on the line for trebles. I use 30# braid sometimes. I've used braid with a mono leader. And now I'm back to straight 15# mono, at least for my topwaters. When I do use braid and trebles, the drag is set pretty loose and I'll just use the thumb as necessary.

Welcome from the Piedmont region of SC!

LOL. Yeah that pic came from someone taking the sign off one display and placing in that kayak seat.

Sam's Club has this Lifetime Kenai for $249. That's $150 less than the one Academy is selling. And Sam's price includes a paddle. This seems like a screaming deal. I've seen them in Sam's. They appear to be the same, though the one from Sam's may be an exclusive and made cheaper. If the only difference is a couple of flush mount rod holders, that's a $20 fix. I would buy the Sam's kayak in the store because it might very well arrive with damage if shipped. https://www.samsclub.com/p/lifetime-kenai-10-feet-3-inch-sit-on-top-kayak-91146/prod26712614?xid=plp_product_21

"can" and "will" are two different things. But yes, docks and other shallow wood can produce year round. In colder months, it helps to have deeper water nearby. You might be talking about main lake docks rather than cove or creek arm docks.

I have an older MH 7' LowRider as well as a H-F BuCoo. I LOVE these rods. The LowRider is actually an older heavy cranking rod. The Bucoo is their heavy 6-10 pitching stick. It's my jig/T-rig rod and it has a great backbone, but the tip is great for pitching. I use it for plain old T-rigs. It's very light and sensitive. I feel certain if you choose your power/action well, you can't go wrong with either Falcon line.

I frog fish a lot and have a dedicated combo. The reel is a Lew's Tournament MB in 7.5:1 I think. It was a $130 retail reel. It's very durable as I've used it for 5+ years with 50# braid, an XH rod, with the drag tightened all the way down. I liked this reel so much I own 3. But they have replaced it in their LFS lineup. The last reel I bought for jigs was the basic $100 LFS model in 8.something:1. It's a fine reel and I love the extra high speed retrieve. I would go with it for frogging too. My rod is a technique specific frog rod from Cabela's that they have discontinued. It's 7-3 HX-XF. It's great for frogging but not great for other techniques. I'll use it for an extra jig/T rig rod in colder water. Honestly, if you have a heavy flipping rod, it will do nicely as a frog rod. As for frogs, I own a bunch of them, including a couple of mouse/rat baits. But I almost always have a Booyah Pad Crasher or the popping Pad Crasher tied on. They do everything you want a frog to do, they're durable and they won't break the bank. If you reach a point where you know there are bass in the weeds and can't get one to bite, you can try a toad or a Johnson Silver Minnow spoon with a trailer. The frog seems to produce better than average bites. Happy frogging!

Rebel Deep Wee R crankbait. It was my first crank and caught a lot of bass for me. Buit I probably wouldn't use it much anymore. Where I fish is a lot weedier now. I use lipless cranks a lot more.

Well, you could...

Well, it wouldn't be most people's choice. But the closest thing I have to a can't-miss is the jig/T rig. I just feel like it'll pull a fish if you can put one in their face.

Lipless crank, spinnerbait and jig have been my go-to's lately. Yesterday I only caught 3, all on a gold spinnerbait. I changed my T-rigged craw over to a lizard today and I'll give that a try tomorrow. I've already caught one on the Plopper though.

Bass is king. But I could also get addicted to stripers, inshore species and even peacocks if I lived in So FL. I've never been the kind of guy who could be good at a lot of things, so I decided I would specialize in bass. My buddy fishes the same reservoir I fish. If he doesn't have a bass in about an hour he'll bust out the crappie rods and troll. Nothing wrong with that. But I get little satisfaction in trolling for crappie. I only do it when I'm with him. Plus I don't have a Bass Tracker with a variable speed trolling motor. I don't even have electronics.

I use superline EWG hooks for most applications. But when I don't, like a finesse situation, I use one of the premium brands, usually Gamakatsu.

I fish a 30-40 acre reservoir. It's not here yet, but coming soon. I've already caught one on a Whopper Plopper in February. That usually doesn't happen until late March.

Lately, I've taken the skirt off and used a toad. In retrospect, I should have just put the toad on and left the skirt. I generally go for the Whopper Plopper before the buzzbait. I just really enjoy the WP more. They both have their places though.