the reel ess

It's just winter time. Sometimes when you fish in winter, you're just looking for 1 or 2 bites. It happens to pros too. Go back in March and I'll bet you'll catch more.

What has worked best for me is the Heddon Sonor blade bait in 1/2 oz. These should come in 3 packs because they're easy to lose. I've also gotten bites on a T-rigged craw, jig and wobble football head with T rigged craw. Also one bass on a spinnerbait. For most of the winter I could get by with 3 rods, often 2. Side note: big crappie like the blade bait too.

It was a joke

I have a quality pair that I used in saltwater once. I just sprayed them with WD40. Good as new, except ugly. WD40 has been tested as a fish attractant. So maybe they don't mind. Like getting the gas when you're getting dental work. ?

I have kept a written log before and got tired of it. I kept a log of every fish over 3 lbs, the dates and the lures for 2021. It was a good year.

Since we're in winter, I can think of a time when I got some big bass to take a larger Rooster Tail. I was casting out, yanking off the bottom and letting it fall, like a jigging spoon or blade bait.

My bro-in-law drew my name for Christmas and gave me, among other things, a pack of KVD Ochos. I didn't throw them away and they caught bass. But I pretty much only buy black/blue jigs and craws. I have some other colors that I never use.

There's a time and place for every style. I enjoy the power fishing. But I'll get finnessy when I have to. Honestly, if I can still catch a few power fishing, that's what I'm going to do.

nm

I caught over 50 bass on a Tiny Torpedo in flooded timber once. I was getting the occasional bite with the standard retrieve. I started a steady retrieve and they went crazy on it for a couple hours. I would get a bite, lose that fish and get another bite on the same cast.

My wife and daughter say I like to watch YouTube videos and buy tackle more than I like to actually fish. And there is some truth to that. But they have no idea how bad some of you people have it.

Jointed Pikie I found in an antique shop in the mountains. It had a $20 tag on it but talked them down to $10. I replaced the hooks with new split rings and trebles. I've tried it once to no avail. It's a pretty big hardbait at more than 7", about 2 oz.

I fished with a guide two days in FL a couple years ago. I caught the same bass a couple times. It was clearly the same one because it was shaped like a "?" and looked like it had one fin in the grave and another on a banana peel. I told the guide to keep it. He asked why and I said it was obviously trying to end it all.

I bought one of those wobble football head weights and I've been trying it with a craw with no luck so far. I'll speed it up and see if that helps.

I've found Daiwa to be fantastic customer service. Now I haven't dealt with a broken rod. But they sent me free parts for a very old Procaster reel not once, but 3 times. They didn't even respond to my email. They just mailed them.

Simple. They were always hungry yesterday (you shoulda been there).

"It's a 2-part warranty. If it breaks in half, you get to keep both pieces."

I see it on the map. It looks like a pretty good spot. But it's a ways from me. I'm a lot closer to Lockhart, Leeds or Carlisle. They're about an hour from me. But I appreciate the reply.

Has anyone ever fished the Broad River in the piedmont region of SC. I'm talking about between Gaffney and Carlisle. There are smallmouth in there but I have no idea where's a good place to launch a kayak from.

I had a couple days lately where the bass were just biting the claws of the jig trailer. They would swim around with it for 5 seconds before I would set the hook and i still was getting back a jig with no claws. Switched to a T rigged Rage Craw and started catching those bass.

Yep, it's skunk season in SC. LOL. Now, if you were working in Florida, you'd still be catching bass.

Did it have an audible clicker? I have one of my dad's old spinning reels that's in good shape. But it has that clicker and it's quite heavy for its size.

Welcome. I live in the piedmont region of SC. And my sister has a place near the beach with a canal and a pond on it. I fished there a couple weeks ago. The water is a bit too cold for the frog. I haven't caught a frog bass since September. They just stopped biting it. I would see bass chasing in the weeds, but no interest in the frog. As for the other lures, it seems to me you're doing the right things. Right now I'm having a little success with a blade bait, lipless crank and T-rigged craws. I was getting bites on the jig, but they were picking it up by the trailer and not getting the hook. That's why I switched to the T rig. The bite really slows here during Jan-Feb. I might be fishing for one bite a day. But late Feb you can start catching good sized females and it just gets better through spring.

I still have a very old Mann's L'il George. I'll dust it off and give it a try one of these days. I'll probably lose it and it's my late father's lures, which will make me sad. But he would say "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". I caught a bass one one of his crankbaits recently and was all stoked about it, only to lose it next cast. I should really invest in a lure retriever.

Yeah, we fished that Mr. Twister Phenom way back in the 80's I believe. We caught a lot on the 6" black/firetail color. It was all my dad wanted to use for bass. We also bought a ton of those small crappie grubs by them. One day my dad handed me an 1/8 oz. white Mr Twister grub and I proceeded to catch all the crappie that day. Sweet memory. I caught everything on them for years. Then we just moved on the the knockoffs made by BPS and others. Then I moved on to fishing craws on T rigs, then on to jigs. I just moved away from worms. Even in springtime when they're on the beds, I'll pitch a lizard instead of a worm. I'm more of a power fisherman so the worm is excruciatingly slow for me unless they're really bunched up and munching it. I rarely use the Senko for that same reason. Oh, back to the original topic. I've caught more bass on the lipless crank over the past 10 years than any other bait. First the Trap, then the Super Spot. Always gold. Lately, they've liked my H2O Express gold lipless crank. They liked it so much I changed the hooks out on it. Then I rediscovered the Heddon Sonar blade bait. It has been doing the work for me since the water got colder.