the reel ess

Check the Falcon Bucoo and LowRider lines. They're a lot of rod for the $100-130 range. The most sensitive rods I own, not that great sensitivity is a must for a frog rod. I'd actually put weight ahead of sensitivity. But you may want to use it for pitching. I use my frog rod for T-rigs in colder weather. That way I have one rod for jigs and one for T rigs. A frog rod will also double as a heavy C-rig rod if you want.

Does a bear poop in the woods? Even pros get them. Just when you think you can't anymore, you will.

When I catch one that has been shallow for a while it's darker green/black. When I catch one deep it's usually "grey" as you say. When they're shallow they tend to darken up. They're prettier to me when they're darker.

In that case neither do mine because I rarely fish public waters anymore. But I also haven't got near a DD bass yet.

IDK if you follow Bama Bass on YouTube, but he fishes some private trophy lakes and catches some serious toads. It's funny how much angrier his bass look on a topwater strike than I'm used to. Sometimes the bigger bass just slurp the bait in.

Check this out. It has worked for me a few times.

Keep us informed about how many you catch multiple times.

LOL. Shiners, frogs, snakes, mice. I get the "match the hatch" idea. But sometimes they get really turned on by something new.

Bass never transition away from shad if they're present. But they are opportunistic feeders and will take a bluegill if it presents itself, especially in a pond with little other forage. It's important for bass in that situation to eat bluegill because if they don't the bluegill get so big bass can't eat them. Then they're both competing for minnows and whatever else they can scrounge. Bluegill are spiny as I'm sure you've notice when holding one. I imagine at some point they get unpleasant for bass to swallow. And bass will learn from a negative stimuli to avoid them unless they're starving. So the presence of shad or larger shiners is a wonderful thing. Yellow perch is one of the best patterns in the south. And most waters don't have any. Then there's firetiger. To me that looks like a psychedelic perch.

Welcome from a fellow South Carolinian. But you may not have moved far enough south for a reasonable expectation of a double digit. There are some, but not in the numbers they are in FL or TX. For public waters, your best bet for a DD is Santee-Cooper lakes. What region of the state are you in? I'm in the piedmont about halfway between Charlotte and Columbia.

I either throw the smaller one or a Chug Bug. The larger Pop R doesn't get many bites and the small one is too light. The Chug Bug is what Goldilocks refers to as "just right". When I throw the smaller Pop R it's usually on a medium spinning combo.

I justify it by not having an expensive boat.

Shiners are great live bait for bass and the best for peacocks from what I'm told. Some people enjoy chunking and winding artificials. It's really up to you to decide if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Once you start it gets addictive and you can never buy enough tackle.

I have this. It works great. I can't tell you how many times I've used it with boat trailer, car-truck-Jeep tires, hand truck tires, bikes, etc. It's pretty cheap, AC/DC, 12V. I have a big compressor now, but the portable one is the bomb.

In summer fish have to eat because their metabolism is as high as it gets. But they don't have to eat at noon. Ever catch one with a gut that's almost concaved? Go at night or early and late in the day for the low light periods. I throw all the same stuff I would in a larger body of water.

I was dragging it on some structure that day. But since then I've used straight tailed shaky head worms with success. I got a bite Monday reeling the thing back fast. I'm rather new to the shaky head game so I'm just trying the possibilities.

Of course if you're fishing it weightless a shaky head won't help. Maybe a light weighted swimbait hook would help. I have a few with an 1/8 oz weight on them.

IDK that it matters. But a shaky head will fix that issue. I caught this bass on one. You can see it almost swallowed the hook.

The only time I've ever cast in someone else's direction was when a guy trolled between the bank and my boat and I was obviously fishing the bank. He intentionally screwed up the spot for us because he couldn't fish it. He wasn't even casting, just trolling through. I cast right at his trolling motor and he had to pull the motor up not to get my line. Then the guy says to me "It's a big lake" after squeezing into 30' of it to tick me off. I said "Oh, excuse me sir. But I was fishing there before you decided to run through it." This was not even during a tourney. BTW, this was a spot we found while crappie fishing. I gave this spot to a guy who had a club tourney on that lake and he won that day. It was so good that I'd usually save it for last. Anyway, that's why I kayak fish private properties now.

Frog and jig mostly for quality size. I just got into the shaky head and it's been productive. I've been throwing this gold Academy store brand lipless crank with some success. I just changed to hooks out with a Rat L Trap because the ones that came on it look very cheap and light. I hope it doesn't affect action.

I don't generally don't do well in the deepest part of the pond. If there's a dam, I'll fish cover at the edge of it. You can cast to it and retrieve until the bait falls into deeper water. Most bites will come close to the cover.

I have a backup spot nearby for very windy days. It's a pond that's pretty much surrounded by hills and trees. I did have a pond I could walk as well, but my cousin sold his house and property.

In some states, SC included, docks are not the property of the people that built them unless they are above the "high water mark". They are the property of the lake authority, like Duke Energy. People can actually get out of their boat onto your dock and you have no legal recourse except to ask them to leave. My dad and I went over to our place on Lake Wateree once and there were a couple fishing from our dock. My dad calmly went down and started rigging up. They walked out. Now, they had trespassed on our lot to get to the dock and they knew it.

Cricket under a bobber. When/if they get their fill of it, it's time to stop. Stay away from them when they cast.

Yeah, sometimes I get so excited I forget something important like sunscreen, some tackle I wanted to use or a kayak paddle. Luckily, I fish a couple miles away from my house.