the reel ess

I've got a big, privately owned spot. I have a gate key. A few others can get in there, but some of them just troll for crappie.

I wouldn't use 6# mono in anyplace I thought there might be better than 3 lb bass. I have 30# braid on my baitcasters, except my frog rod, which has 50#. And fish still get off sometimes when they bury up in weeds. I use 20# braid on spinning.

I stayed in the mountains at a resort once that had 3 nice ponds with crystal clear water. I couldn't buy a bite until the sun got low. Try other baits early and late.

Big Game is also a good, cheap backing for braid or fluoro if you want to use those. It's what I use as backing for my braid. I also keep a spool of it in my bag. It has saved the day for me when I hopelessly backlashed a reel full of braid. It'll do for most techniques I use in a pinch.

I really dislike Fluoro. Even if I used it, which I don't, I would only use a leader of it, with a braid mainline. It's stiff with a lot of memory. I have braid on all my combos except for my spinnerbait/buzzbait rod. But I'm reconsidering that one as well.

Rebel makes the Bumblebug in cicada pattern. I have one and another in Junebug.

I guess I'd throw the hell out of a spinnerbait. LOL. No, I'd throw topwaters until I got bites. But I'm just stupid like that.

Whenever bass won't take more of a reaction type bait like a buzzbait, WP or Spook. I prefer to cover water quicker if they'll bite. I don't usually go to the Pop R first, but rather the Chug Bug. It's sort of a hybrid of a walking bait and a popper. So you can work it slower, but still get an erratic action. The popper is more of a target lure than the Spook, etc.

I don't notice any increase in bites by making the retrieve erratic. I do notice more bites when I make the bait touch cover. And retrieve speed make a difference. I usually prefer to reel the bait so fast fish have to make a split second decision. But that depends on water temp.

Big ones fall for the skirt too. I caught this 5.9 Monday at the boat landing before I even put my kayak in on a Cavitron with skirt in ghost minnow/gold.

I use a Tactical Anglers snap on just about every treble lure for the convenience. I tie direct to jigs, T rigs and spinner/buzzbaits.

A MH-MF 7' rod and some light, burner speed reel. This rod can do everything from topwaters to frogs. It's not the perfect tool for either of these extremes, but it covers the most bases everywhere in between. I actually have this combo and I use it for bigger treble lures like the Whopper Plopper, Spook and CC Spot.

Same. I fish for my mental health and to recharge my batteries. I can't do that if I'm concerned about somebody with me. I'm my favorite fishing buddy. I have two kayaks so I can take a buddy. But when people ask me to take them and I tell them they'll have to use a kayak, they usually change their minds.

I'll use the skirt until it falls off. If it's a rubber band, they always fall off. Then I'll put a toad or something on it.

Well, I only use 3/8 oz. for the most part. Others are 1/2 o.z. If I'm really wondering, I'll weigh them on my wife's food scale. Or if they come in a small baggie that's marked, just keep them in it.

He's long-arming it. ? Just kidding @WRB

I don't get to fish at night where I fish. And it's probably not a great idea in the kayak anyway. But for me, a heat wave is OK as long as it's a stable weather pattern. I'll still get some bites and some quality fish. But the window of opportunity gets smaller. The bite becomes best for me early or late. My last two PBs came in the heat of July. If I go in the morning, which is my preference, I'm usually finished by 10:00, even if I fish another couple hours. Last August 8th I got 2 fish over 7 lbs. I remember the date because it's my birthday. They're still in there, their metabolism is high and they'll eat if you can get a bait in their face.

Yes, I speak from experience when I say you'll experience more heartache than success using UL tackle for bass. There's a reason there are no or very few UL setups specifically for bass. Not that it can't be done, but it won't be ideal.

Live worm, I'm sure, though I can't remember it. I probably caught my first bass on an artificial with a Mepp's Comet Mino in-line spinner. Those catch everything.

I've had a Booyah jr for years and never used it. I tied it on my MH spinning combo and I'm going to give it a go next time. The last two outings I missed more than I caught on the full sized popping model. I attribute some of that to the frog being new. I did bend the hooks out a bit. But some of the bass simply weren't getting the bait.

Use a good brand. Tactical Anglers makes a quality snaps of this type.

I'll add one thing. A lot of times there's an opening in the pads close to the bank. I like to cast to the bank and try to walk it across that opening and onto the pads. A good many bites come in that clear spot or right after you walk it onto the pads.

I toss the frog out, usually with an overhand cast so it makes a plop when it lands. I'll sometimes let it sit a few seconds. Occasionally you'll get a bite before it moves. Then I twitch it back across the pads with the rod high so the line doesn't get tangled in the pads.

The fish just leveraged the bait out because the wire is so thin. I've had a fish work the split ring out of a Chug Bug before. The fish fell into my kayak as I was lifting it with only the front treble in its mouth. Fish long enough and a whole lot of oddball things will occur. I use this same kind of clip on most treble lures. I tie directly to spinner/buzzbaits. Do you have a pic of the spinnerbait?

10+ to me. I've noticed when bass get bigger than about 8.5 they start getting that bug-eyed look. This fish has googly eyes. But if there's one thing I've learned from weighing my own fish, it's that they're always at least a half pound less than I think they'll be.