the reel ess

This one appears to be balsa wood. It floats pretty high. For that reason it's not good for a steady retrieve. It likes jerks and twitches. I used it at my sister's place this weekend. I missed one bite.

Probably added the extra notch to avoid patent infringement.

@Team9nine Thanks.

Can anyone tell me anything about this lure? Is it vintage? I can't find any pics of it searching Google. I suspect it's just handmade. I picked it up from an elderly gentlemen at the beach for $5. He wanted to sell me his entire tackle bag. but I only bought this and a standard size Spook in bass pattern.

I was horrible at setting a hook with spinning gear. It just feels foreign to me and the leverage does not feel nearly as good to me as a MH BC combo of similar action. I got a lot better when I started using braid and premium brand (Gamakatsu) hooks. I resisted braid for a long time, but finally gave in on spinning gear first. Also, if you're not using premium hooks get a hook sharpener. It will help a lot.

That is as I suspected. But there have been years when I saw beds all over the lake. This year I saw less than 10 in 30 acre lake. But I've seen fry swimming several different times. I'm sure there were beds I missed.

Do the bass that stay offshore spawn in deeper water? Or do they enter shallows only to spawn?

Somebody asked me what I'd do if a snake fell in the kayak. I said I'd scream like a girl and go swimming. Then I'd get a change of underwear.

My daughter went with me once and I was fishing. She started beating her kayak with her paddle. I said "are you trying to warn every fish in the lake?" She said "I had a daddy longlegs in my kayak".

I'd take the two I figure I'd need the most and keep them "on deck". I usually have two that way even when I carry 6 or 7. It happens. I caught a 7 pounder on a jig I skipped way under some brush. That fish came up between two limbs and I had to go get it. I had so many spiders on my kayak, I had to paddle back to the landing, get out and remove them one by one. But it was worth it.

Well, I only have two colors of Pad Crasher, leopard and cricket. So I just throw either of those in any situation. I do have an Academy store brand black frog. But it feels much harder than the Booyahs. Thus, I don't ever use it.

I go places that aren't really pressured. IDK if you have any small rivers or streams you can wade, but most people won't go to that effort. Aside from that, I've asked permission to fish a bunch of private places where I know the fish are not pressured. Fish early and late, or even at night. Big fish in pressured waters might not eat in the daytime. Throw something no one else is throwing. Show them something they haven't seen.

I'd have to say no because almost all the bass I see sitting alone on beds are under 2 lbs. This makes me wonder if older male bass even spawn or if they don't usually live far beyond the 2 lb. range.

I left a rod leaning over a baseboard heater for a few weeks once. The mono line on it was brittle the next time I used it. There's no telling how many cycles of heating and cooling it went through. I'd try to keep it out of direct sunlight for sure.

No, because it usually happens the other way for me, which I do feel bad about. LOL. I rarely fish with anyone else. But I went with my uncle to his inlaws' pond last summer. I caught several bass, including a 3 pounder. He didn't get a bite and went and sat on the tailgate of his truck while I fished. I told him you can't catch anything without a hook in the water. That's what a lot of novice anglers don't get. Some of us are better than others because of the effort put forth. Many times I've been told the fish aren't biting, but I go catch some anyway. I'll throw the kitchen sink until something works.

It's already summer here, so the usual summer rigs. Buzzbait-spinnerbait, Spook, Pop R, frog, jig, T rigs. When I went Saturday the fish were on the deep end of wood cover, near deeper water. I got a few bites on the lilies on the frog, but didn't get a hook in any of them. That tells me they were either small fish or just not committed.

Brace or cast maybe. A jigging pole? When I was a kid I saw a guy with one arm trolling past our dock. He was using a crankbait. He had a rod holder on his belt. He would cast, put the rod in the holder and retrieve. I was impressed. I told my mom about it and she said "That would be you if you lost an arm".

When I was dating my wife we went to have dinner at her friends' farm. He told me to bring a rod and we would hit the pond after dinner. I caught a 6.5 lb on one of the Snag Proof frogs with natural looking legs. We weighed it and returned it to the pond. That was about 18 years ago. In all the years since I've hardly caught a bass over 1 1/2 lbs there.

Yesterday: Buzzbait/spinnerbait. I like to start with the former early then switch to the latter. Spook Whopper Plopper Pop R Frog Jig I caught 3 on the jig. Fish were on wood near deeper water. I was stubborn with the topwaters, as usual. I did miss a couple on the frog and one on the WP. But I'm pretty much a shallow water specialist.

Haters gonna hate

I like to use a Tactical Anglers snap with my topwaters. I like to take my topwaters box on the kayak with me and I will change them out if they aren't working. Some snaps won't work with a popper due to its concaved face, but these will. They allow a little more erratic side-to-side action of the lure.

It was probably fine. But then, simply catching it could have killed it. So don't sweat it. It's part of the hobby.

I flip and pitch with straight 30 lb braid now and catch fish, even good ones. I use straight 50# for frogs.

So it was a record, no matter what it weighed. Just likely not 22 lbs.

My question would be what was the record before his, if there was one kept? It was a huge fish and might have still been a record at the time even if it weighed a little less.