the reel ess

I love me some B-Lat. He's a fellow S Carolinian and all around good person in his own respect. I'd really love to fish with him sometime. I'd meet him anywhere and pay for all the gas.

does anyone use Redfish Magic seasoning and grill/sautee/pan sear bass?

Why do people kill deer? You can't grill it till you kill it.

As it should be. I started with a 6-6 MH and went form there. I usually take 6 combos, but I can carry as many as 8 on my kayak with the crate and flush mount rod holders. I carry the kitchen sink when I bank fish.

I fish a drinking water reservoir and I've found the largemouth in it to be much better than they are in the lakes that have boat traffic and runoff from all sorts of bad things. This reservoir also has crappie and I'd rather eat them, but the bass are pretty tasty.

Swimbaits for several reasons. Expensive, almost requires you but at least one expensive dedicated combo and you may go several trips without a bite. That said, I don't enjoy deep cranking and I usually use a lipless crank instead if possible. The jig is a fantastic bait for big bass that doesn't require a dedicated combo that can't realistically be used for any other technique.

Whole or fillets? Why are there limits? Why aren't they C&R only? I understand your point and I rarely keep a bass to eat. But there are instances such as when you kill one when it's the best use of the fish. Or if you have a pond and you MUST harvest bass to keep numbers in check. And really, the bass is only on the pedestal it's on because we think of it that way. Why is a bass's life more important than, say, a crappie's or a catfish's? For the record, I don't even keep crappie unless there's someone else around to give it to. I have a friend who will just give me a bag of them if I ask.

Reel faster.

Frog, weightless worms, a Johnson Silver Minnow.

GREAT! I didn't know this existed.

Thanks, guys! I think as little as I get up to the mountains to fish I'll probably do well with straight 4# mono. I've been using 6# but I was using a Trout Magnet part of the time and it was really difficult to cast far. Appreciate it.

These are 8-12" stocked fish in shallow streams. Coming from a bass power fishing perspective it's hard for me to think light.

I went trout fishing yesterday and caught 3. I have the fever. Reading online, I see the optimal line is about 8# braid mainline with about a 4# mono or fluoro leader. Who can recommend their favorite setup for spinning? I like artificials.

Yes, in a pinch. But I like a little longer, heavier rod. My frog rod is 7'3" XH-XF. I kayak fish so this helps me lift fish out of the weeds. Before I had this frog rod I used an older MH Falcon Lowrider that was actually a heavy cranking rod. You do what you have to to get by. On the other hand the 6'10" pitching stick will cast better. It has a much better tip. As such, it would be better for open water.

They'll work anytime of the year. But late winter through spring is fantastic. I used one last summer with some success on a light C-rig when the bite got incredibly slow. You can use them on a split shot rig as well. This spring I used them on a T-rig on bedding bass. They can't seem to ignore them. I caught the same male bass off a bed twice with one.

If there's a color that matters less in fishing than the blade of a buzzbait I don't know it.

I bought one of these Crixus 2 pc rods for travel. I have no real complaints. It is a slightly more moderate action than I'm used to for a MH, but it still has enough backbone. It's primarily my spinner/buzzbait rod. I like the golf club grip so far.

I have that Pitchin' Stick model and I love it. Light as air, very sensitive and tough. It has a great tip for pitching and a lot of backbone for pulling fish from heavy cover. I like the shorter length. I fish from a kayak and get pretty close to the cover I pitch to. I've been using it a couple years with zero complaints.

I have a pond I go to where the bass average about maybe a pound. I like to take an UL combo and use a small Rooster Tail. It catches bluegill as well. And the bluegill are big there. It's an ancient Eagle Claw rod and an UL Pflueger Trion reel. I also do this in a small stream nearby. It's close enough that I can go on my lunch hour if I want.

50-65# braid, heavy rod, cinch the drag down on your reel. When you set the hook don't let the fish play at all. Drag it out. They're very good at digging into the lilies or mat and working that hook out. I didn't like the first braid I tried either. I use plain old PowerPro, 50# on the frog rod. If you want to save a few bucks you can fill up half your spool with the cheapest line you can find, I use Big Game, and finish the spool out with braid. I use 30# PowerPro on my other combos. I use braid on all my bass combos except for spinner/buzzbaits. When the end gets old and bleached out looking, I'll just reel it onto another reel and I'm using the new end. The stuff lasts forever.

Bet they'll gladly take your order and payment, then tell you it's on back order...forever. I see these on Facebook a lot. The comments are usually about how long they've been waiting for their order.

Be careful what you order from them and read reviews. I do order a lot. But I've ordered a big Whopper Plopper and gotten a 75 knockoff. I ordered one 90 and got two knockoff 90s. They weren't so cheap that I knew they'd be fakes. I complained that the seller is calling his product a trademarked name and Amazon refunded my money and told me to keep the fakes. I haven't used them yet. The 75 works pretty well. On the other hand I ordered some replacement Gamakatsu hooks. It was supposed to me one small box, but they sent a large box, which consists of 10 small boxes. So I have a lifetime supply of #2 EWG trebles. I was only charged for 1 box. Some picker or robot didn't recognize what constitutes a box.

Our local Dick's seems to have a purchaser who doesn't know what fish we have in the area. And they seem to jump all over whatever new gimmick bait comes along, like the bat and spider lures. But it's beside Ulta, so I always make a stop in there when the wife or daughter go in there. Though they are bit clueless as far as their normal stock, there's always a good bit of stuff on clearance. They also take half of the fishing area away for hunting season, so they have to put stuff on clearance. And pawn shops.

Maybe they can't see the entire spectrum, but crappie can differentiate between all the colors. Somethis as simple as green/white vs green or white can be the difference between getting bites. Then there are times they'll bite them all and times they won't bite any.

I just watched this video earlier today for the first time and it nearly brought a tear to my eye. My wife said the same though she doesn't even fish. Bill is such a national treasure. I especially like the way Bryan worked in "it's gonna be a beautiful day..." near the end. I don't really love his music or bro country in general. But Luke Bryan is a good human being.