the reel ess

Good point. When you're on a dock, all or most fish you catch are away from it.

I fished with a FL guide who had straight braid on all his combos. I asked him why he didn't use any other lines. He said he fishes too much to be losing lures every time out. With 30# braid you can usually unsnag most lures.

No, I haven't noticed any difference in number of bites. But our water is usually not crystal clear. I use the green Power Pro. I have gone back and forth with using a leader. But when I did, it was 15# Big Game mono. It kind of negates the purpose of 30# braid to use a leader of lower strength, in my opinion. Sometimes I rig up a C-rig and I'll use mono as the leader. Also, I have a dedicated frog combo (and T rigs in cold weather) that has 50# PP on it. Never a leader on that one.

My dad took my sister and me fishing with him when I was a toddler in the early 70s.. He worked shifts and would be off on Fridays when my mom was working. He would tie up to a stump and fish with minnows and a cane pole for crappie. I would nag my dad to buy me some worms on the way to the lake so I could sneak out and bream fish on Saturday morning. I'd fish a couple hours before breakfast while they would sleep late. I talked to a lot of bass fishermen who came by the dock and I wanted to do that so badly. We got a pontoon boat when I was maybe 10 and started taking others crappie fishing with us and having neighborhood fish fries. I already had a Zebco 33 and fished for everything that would bite. I got a baitcaster when I was 13 and then the bass fishing was on for me. My dad bought an aluminum bass boat and he got into it with me. I'm 51 now. My dad died almost 5 years ago and it got difficult to get him to go with me because I fish too long and too hard even if they aren't biting. But I got him to go to a buddy's pond with me the fall before he died and he caught some bass and had a good time. A good memory to hold onto. Anyway, I've been around fishing my entire life, but I've been serious about it more than 40 years.

I fished one in West Miami with a guide for peacocks. He said it was technically public land, but Cemex had leased the rights to mine it. You can get yourself on a list to go there, but I have no idea how. We had to sign in with a guard. There's a YouTube video of Bill Dance fishing with a guide there. There was a crane working in the corner when we were there. I caught some nice peacocks, but also a 7 lb. bass. It was artificial baits only, but the guide snuck some live shiners in. That's what we caught most of the bigger ones on. If you want his info PM me.

I fished with a guide in FL who said he's had a gator just get too cozy around the boat and eventually tried to get in the boat with a client. He said he went back the next day armed and it did the same and he shot it. But he's been guiding for years in places where there are plenty of them.

I have no idea, but I'd sure give one a try.

30# braid on the baitcaster. 20# braid on the spinning. People will tell you not to use braid with some lures. I just set me drag and use the right rod. Whatever leaders you feel necessary based on water clarity and the application. I'm using more straight braid, but that's just me.

Ditto the pitching and skipping. But also pay attention to what the guy in front is doing. Do what he isn't. Pitch where he didn't. Boaters tend to cast forward if they're really covering water. You're at a different angle and you can get to fish he probably didn't. Pitching the jig or T rig is fantastic because you can pitch it, let it sink and yank it right back if you get no bite and look for the next target. Also skipping a Trick Worm or a fluke under docks and overhanging trees can be killer. I'll sometimes throw a topwater a lot longer than the guy in front will. Just showing them something different.

A free milk crate with 6 PVC rod holders zip tied in. Something I've learned over the years is the black PVC and black zip ties have more UV and weather resistance. This has been independently verified by zip tie aficionado Dave Frieburger of Roadkill fame.

They smell like a seafood restaurant's dumpster. But I caught a lot of bass on the Chigger Craw. They would swim around all day with it. Gave plenty of time to set the hook. I fished with those since I was a kid and only caught one on it a couple years ago. I think they're better suited to small bodies of water that have weeds and frogs present. They don't resemble baitfish to me. And shallow bass are much more prone to take a topwater.

Tight. If your line is semi-slack you'll miss bites. I try to maintain a tight line on them at all times. Of course you can't always. Even on a tight line, often I just see the line moving but don't feel a thing. Or I'll just not feel any weight. The big fish usually feel like a yank in the opposite direction and they don't usually drop it when they feel resistance. Oddly, the jig is my go-to when I can't buy a bite on anything else. I just go to the laydowns, overhangs and stumps and methodically pitch them. I won't catch numbers as you say. But I feel a lot of confidence in getting a bite or three, and good ones at that.

I generally resist finesse tactics until they're completely necessary. I did catch one 6.5 lb. on the shaky head this summer. Who's to say I wouldn't have caught that particular bass with whatever I crossed its path with?

I think the reviews on BPS, Cabela's and Academy are more on the level. I never trust reviews on a vendor's site. They can so easily just delete the ones they don't want.

I used to buy some of those bass casting sinker, the bell shaped ones with the brass eye run through them. I would gut off the end of the brass tie and use it like a bullet weight. It got hung up a lot less than a typical bullet weight. I don't fish a lot of rocks lately so whatever I feel like tying on. I rigged one up this morning with a 1/2 oz. tungsten bull weight and a bead. When my dad died he had a little box of assorted Lindy "rattlin' no-snag" weights specifically for C rigging. I've never used them and it doesn't appear he used more than one.

I have to make myself slow down and go through a mental checklist before I leave the house. Not once, but twice, I've forgotten my kayak paddle. I haven't forgotten the kayak. Yet.

My big pet peeve is when YouTube personalities waste 5 minutes of my day at the beginning of their video driving to where they're going to fish or going shopping. I just skip those parts. Everybody on YT thinks they're Bill Dance.

I do. I just layer up until warm enough. If I get there and I'm already sweating I might shed a layer. But then I don't fish on the Hudson and I live in the south. I'm fishing mostly private waters. Stick some hand warmers in your pockets. Be sure to let someone know where you're going and about when to expect you back.

NM

I have an el cheapo Academy store brand lipless crank that gets more bites than the Rat L Trap. But the hooks were marginal. I swapped them with the EWG hooks from a Trap. Also sharpened them.

No shore lunches. But my dad would always buy us pork and beans and some kind of Little Debbie snack cake to take along. When he was still living we carried on that tradition with my daughter.

I fished with a guide once who had bananas in his cooler for lunch. He had never heard that superstition. I also caught one on my first cast of the day. He hadn't heard that one either. I hardly ever eat anything when I fish. I need both hands.

Lipless cranks, spinnerbaits, topwaters, including buzzbaits. All the junk fishing favorites.

This looks like a solution for a need that doesn't exist.

The "Jersey Truck Driver" who unseated the state's senate president only spent $2K on his campaign. He couldn't have taken much in the way of bribes.