the reel ess

The problem with rods over 7' is they're almost always end-heavy. You spend all day compensating for that. I was using an older Falcon Lowrider MH for this, but finally broke down and bought the Bucoo pitching-specific rod. It's a H-F action. But still a much better tip than my frogging-specific rod. Much better. But of course it's only 6'10". That works for me because I'm in a kayak and I sidearm cast more than actually flip. If I wanted to flip, I'd use my frog rod. It's a XH-XF action. But it's also a bit heavier than I'd like. Also it's light as air. It's my intention to replace all my rods with lighter ones, but they just keep working.

I've watched a 6 pounder ease up under a Chug Bug and just open its mouth. No explosion or commotion on top. It just disappeared.

I hate getting tricked by these old threads.

Might your drag be too tight? I like to use around 2/3 of the line weight for drag. If you're using braid, just do 2/3 of the equivalent diameter mono. If the fish bent the hook out, 2 things: Get some superline hooks and your drag was indeed too tight. The superline hooks help in this situation. I mean, I fish in a lot of heavy wood cover with jigs and T rigs. I set my drag so tight sometimes I'm winching the fish out. If I had my drag set at 2/3 I'd lose those fish. But the jig hook or superline EWG won't bend out on me. And then sometimes they just get off. You can get a great hookset through just a little skin inside the mouth. And big ones got big by not being caught or landed. I landed a bass once that had only one point of a Chug Bug treble in its nose. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

For the peacocks, rip the Torpedo and work the Pop R pretty fast unless you get no action from the fish. When they strike and miss, just keep working the bait until they get the hooks. If you stop, they usually won't pursue anymore. You can watch YouTube videos of this. For largemouth it's a little different, usually. Just give them short jerks and pauses to make them do their thing. Adjust the cadence until you find what the fish want. Also, let the bait "soak" for several seconds before you begin retrieving. Bass will sometimes smash the bait before it even moves. Also, I had one day when the fish just wanted the Torpedo steadily retrieved back to the boat like a Whopper Plopper. I caught over 50 that day and they bit it all day long. I had so many bites I kept having to bend the blade back straight because it would bind.

Don't "set" the hook with circle or finesse hooks. Just tighten up and start reeling.

Buying a kayak and selling my bass boat. It got me access to unpressured and bigger fish. My wife commented how many more fish I started catching after I stopped the big hydro lake rat race. As already mentioned, braid. I immediately started landing a bigger percentage of my bites. And it all but eliminates the line twist problem with spinning gear. Dedication to bigger bass baits. You catch fewer but they're generally larger fish. I'm also not afraid to try a new-to-me technique.

My sister in law and one of her daughters is late to EVERYTHING. Set a time and they'll be a half hour late, minimum. My dad drilled into me to not make people wait. It's like saying "My time is more valuable than yours." It's rude and inconsiderate, especially if chronic and they never apologize. I wouldn't leave them, but I would voice my displeasure. The guys I'd fish with wouldn't be offended by that. If it's a regular enough problem, I'd stop asking them. If they asked me I'd say "Sure, but be on time this time." I was scheduled to meet a guy who wanted to buy an Ambassadeur reel from me. He showed up 15 minutes late and asked me to take less money because that's all he had on him. I lit him up. I said after he was late, I'd keep the reel before taking less than agreed upon. I told him there's an ATM across the highway and I'd follow him there.

I was fishing our local reservoir in my kayak and there were three guys that I know keep EVERYTHING in a jon boat nearby. I caught a 5 pounder and weighed it in front of them. One of them asked me if they could have it. I said "Nope" and let them see me release it. That feels so good. I also don't mind people taking whatever is legal. But they can't have mine.

I've done that thing with the Pop R when bass or even fish were busting shad.

Very cool. Those kids won't forget it. If I may make a suggestion, if it isn't illegal there, you could place some fish attractors under the dock.

Only the deep sea's revenge that I can remember.

Jimmy Houston says if you want to catch them all, including bass, an 1/8 oz. RR is just the trick. My buddy's GF caught a 7 pounder on a 1/32 RR while they were trolling for crappie early this year.

I got out this morning after a front passed through during the night. It was almost cold and there was a N-NE breeze, not generally a good sign. I managed only three bites and two fish. But the better one was this 5 lb. 9 oz. gal. I decided to try a shaky head worm a couple trips ago but hadn't caught anything on it yet. I decided to fish a little structure with a Zoom Ultravibe Speedworm. On the first cast with it I was rewarded. I had the drag loose and it's a medium combo so it was a good long fight. She nearly swallowed the hook so she wasn't coming off. It only takes one fish to make a trip worthwhile.

I would still use braid in that situation. I usually use a leader on my spinning combos anyway. But that's just me.

The Spook

Let us know how it goes. I have a place like this nearby that looks like a bass fishing postcard. I've only seen other kayaks in there once. I tried it a couple years ago. Got one bite from a dink. I loaded up and went to a state park. Got exactly one bite there too. I hope your day is better than mine. Good luck.

Yeah, that's why I do it. The water here is rarely very clear.

I use straight braid for my jigs and still catch good fish. When that bait drops in the bass's face, it's not thinking about the line. Some of the people that tell you fish are shy of braid use straight braid for topwaters.

I think that's the point of a huge lure.

If you like it, more power to you and it's a good discussion. But I've gone to braid for almost everything and thinking about it for literally everything. If I need some mono I'll use a leader. To me braid is the best for all single hook lures. It's good for big topwaters because you have less slack to take up to set a hook. I'll admit that mono is more forgiving when landing a bass. I just set my drag pretty loose with the trebles and don't horse them in. I caught my biggest bass of this year, 7.93 lb., on a Whopper Plopper using 30# braid on a 7' MH cranking rod. I had to apply some thumb a couple times to keep it out of weeds. I'm still using 15# Big Game for my MH spinnerbait/buzzbait rod. And I still have 6# mono on my panfish combos.

Every boat will have a 50 lb. triple beam scale as standard equipment. Or maybe someone will invent a rod that weighs the fish for you. I guess it could also take pics and video of the fight.

I bought a Savage Gear glide bait in bass pattern to help me catch the biggest bass in a dink factory as you describe. I threw it all day to no avail. I tried it a couple other places and to the bottom of the box it went. Now that I'm essentially targeting big bass in a big bass lake, I really should dust it off. But I wish I had gotten a shiner pattern.

So the pretty "sapphire" specks in my jig trailers are just for me to admire and I could either go all blue or all black if I desired.

Yeah, I ended up with my Jeep because my dad had it when he passed away. I can't bring myself to trade it. If I did it would be for a muscle car of some kind. I already have a 4WD Silverado. I can definitely haul rods easier with the top down. I had the windshields in my Jeep and Silverado replaced in the same day. In SC, insurance companies pay for replacement/repair of windshields. And they even gave me the windshield with the little Jeeps in the corners.