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It's in the Webster's dictionary. 2b. So it's not improper. But I can tell you from living in the south all my life, it probably came about because people didn't know every species of small sunfish so they needed a catch-all name. I mean, I'm from the south and I call them what they are. But most people aren't as fanatical as most on this board. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bream

Nice. I just subscribed.

About the same to me. But I only have one combo rigged with straight mono anymore. That's my spinner/buzzbait combo. My spinning combos are both rigged with 20# braid and I use a mono leader as needed. My jig and topwaters/cranks rods have 30# braid. I use a mono leader on the latter.

I went in BPS at Myrtle Beach to get some artificial inshore baits. I had my basket filled with about $35 worth of soft plastics, shrimp baits, etc. The salesman walked away and I put it all back. I went to Pauly's Island bait & Tackle and they hooked me up with white Gulp Mullet, jigheads, a Johnson Spoon and Trout Tricks all for under $20 and I caught fish. I still have that spoon and use it for bass over the lilies. I ended up using up the Trout Tricks on a finesse C rig for bass. My rambling point is not to believe the big box store salesperson.

Welcome to SC. I'm a couple hours east of you in Lancaster Co. If I were you I'd hit the Reedy River with that yak. You might even find some smallies. To your east is the Broad River that has good smallies. It's about halfway between you and me. There are also lots of trout streams in the upper state.

Go to their Facebook feed and see the comments. That'll tell the tale. I've seen several of these bargain basement sites that will gladly take your money and maybe deliver your goods months later. Most things that are just too good to be true are not completely true.

Unpopular opinion here. I think topwaters are the lures for which color means the least.

I like to be there just after first light, whatever time that is.

I take a rainy or overcast day as an opportunity to throw topwaters all day. But as mentioned, all the usual baits. If they don't want topwaters, I'll do whatever I have to.

I use a 7' MH for most topwaters, especially the heavier ones like WP and Spook. I know it gives me better casting distance. I use a 6'6" M for lighter ones. But I'll eventually replace that with a 7 footer as well. I don't think I need anything longer. But I can't really know that unless I try, right? One reason I prefer a longer topwater rod is the line angle is better from a kayak. You're so close to the water sometimes you start your retrieve off by pulling the topwater under.

It would be my luck to someday catch a huge Quasimodo PB.

I caught a bass while fishing with a guide in FL twice about an hour apart. It was clearly the same bass because it looked like a question mark. I told the guide he should keep that one because it was obviously trying to commit suicide.

After using this one twice, I didn't notice it being any worse for hanging up on wood. I target wood cover with any spinnerbait.

I actually owned a Feelfree Lure 13.5 with a trolling setup. It was more boat than I wanted to carry, unload and load. I guess it's more useful, maybe even necessary, on larger bodies of water. But I didn't get into the hobby only to shell out real boat $$$. I got into it to simplify and fish smaller, less crowded waters. And it's great exercise.

More than the swivel head, I like the actual eye to tie to. And options for gold are a bit limited. I love War Eagle. I have a PB on one. But I've broken a couple at the line tie.

I ordered one of these off Tackle Warehouse with a couple Cavitron buzzbaits. After a 2 week wait for the order to be assembled and shipped to me, they arrived. I got the golden shiner pattern double willow because it's what works best for me in the War Eagle series. This is the spinnerbait with a head on a swivel to help keep the fish from gaining leverage on the bait while you play it. They have a video on their website claiming there is less need for a trailer hook because a bass can easily suck on the bait because it's not stiff. I used it without trailer hook. When I got it I was disappointed in the color. It's much darker than any golden shiner I've seen-too much black in the skirt. But after two trips, I really like it. First, it has that swivel head design that also gives the skirt more action. And it's a heavier gauge wire with an actual eye to tie to. You could use it on straight braid, though I still use mono for this. It caught me two my last trip, including the best fish of the day. I would give it an A thus far, though it hasn't caught me any PBs yet. It does have a banded skirt, so I'll replace it with the War Eagle golden shiner shirt when this one comes off. They always do.

You'll still get blown around on those. I do with a kayak. But they do look pretty nice and a cheap tiller trolling motor would be sweet.

Whatever you get, make it high speed and durable.

If you've caught fish on a spot or know others have, fish it no matter what.

When you don't see a single bass on the beds they're probably done. If you never saw any, they're probably done. While the males stay shallow and guard the fry, the females move out a bit and will hang on structure and cover a little closer to deep water. This is a good time to target wood cover. But then, every time is a good time to target wood cover.

BPS store was so far away from me. But a Cabela's opened a lot closer. But there was an Academy even closer. That's my go-to now. And the have free shipping over $25.

Yeah, if you ordered now you still wouldn't have it by Memorial Day.

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing-techniques?field_tags_target_id=168&items_per_page=20

I think topwaters is the one area of baits where color almost doesn't even matter. Ask yourself how much of the color of a topwater can the fish see? I have a 90 in Monkey Butt and a 110 in Bone. I've had good days on both. Topwaters are a low light affair for the most part. I start out throwing them early and I'll thrown them in the evening. On sunny days, the topwater bite is over by about 10:00 for me. On overcast or rainy days you might be able to catch fish on them all day. I've had a 50 fish day on a Torpedo on a drizzly day. But you can still catch fish on topwaters in the shadows on sunny days. They work better in shallower areas. It's hard to call a fish up from 12 feet deep to strike a topwater. If you fish a shallow place you can bet you at least dragged a bait past some fish that located it, even if they didn't take. I have found that the weedier and shallower a body of water is, the more successful I am with topwaters. Of course I don't mean covered in vegetation. That would call for the frog. That's a different set of rules. There have been days I dedicated myself to the WP and didn't get a bite. They can be few and far between at times. But they're generally quality fish. It seems really can't stand it. I caught two toads on it last Saturday morning. I went back Wednesday evening and only got one strike on the WP and that fish knocked it out of the water without biting.

One reason I was so high on the Chigger Craw is it seemed like fish would swim all over the lake and not drop it. I caught a lot on it, but it's not very sturdy. The SK products last longer.