the reel ess

I've never had a significant other who really enjoyed fishing. I've heard they exist. I had a couple GF's that liked going out in a boat because it was novel to them. My mom went out a few times with me when my dad had to work and we knew there was a good bite on. But she really just did it for me. ? My wife went once with me when we were dating (she caught all the crappie as fast as she could while I baited her hook and only left me catfish). Then she never wanted to go again. I tried to turn my daughter on to it, and she was OK with catching, not so much the fishing part. And she has no interest in it anymore-she's 16 now. Well, that's OK. I really like to be alone while I fish. I'm my favorite person to fish with because I get to fish exactly how I like to. I like it when I don't even see another boat. I go fishing alone for my mental health.

I still am a Baptist so I know it's true. Or at least it was at one time.

I had a canoe. It was fine for two people. But I find the kayak much easier to handle, both on land and water. I have a small light one specifically designed for fishing still waters or slow rivers. It only weighs 57 lbs. I find that, since a big fish can turn the kayak easily, I don't have the issue of them going under the boat. But I understand they're not everybody's bag. I have some people say they want to go fishing with me until I tell them I only have 2 kayaks.

Never take one Baptist fishing with you. He'll drink all your beer. If you take two they won't drink. Seriously though, watch all the beginner videos on here. Get yourself a small assortment of the baits recommended.

I prefer to do an actual C rig when I do this because I use braid main line. I use a 1/8 oz. bullet weight, swivel and a leader of mono.

I'm 50 and I feel it day after. I don't know what kayak you have but a stadium type seat helps a lot. I also have access to a smaller pond that's in a lower lying area that I can fish even during lake wind advisory level winds. And I have another couple that I can walk. I don't really like kayak fishing in 10+ MPH winds. I also limit myself to about 4 hours in the saddle or try to get out and stretch halfway through.

It was useless. But no biggie. She was using the Zebco because I wouldn't hand her a combo I cared much about.

I bought a BPS Johnny Morris reel and was trying to adjust the brakes on it. I dropped the sideplate in. They sent me another for $19. My ex monster in law threw my old Zebco 33 combo off our dock once. I caught it years later with a crankbait. That's about it.

I say yes. I caught these this morning. 7.93 and 5.75. Both on the Whopper Plopper. There's just no thrill like having a big gal hauling your kayak around.

How can a person who's alone transmit COVID? That's like throwing one fish in a pond and expecting it to populate it. On the bright side, our weather has improved dramatically and I'm going early tomorrow.

I decided to give flipping tubes a shot. I've had two packs of tubes in my bag for years and never tried them. I rigged my pitching rod with it and I'll try it out tomorrow.

I don't want to encourage any illegal activity, so I won't. But I could not live there. I would be in jail. Am I right in assuming you can fish private property?

Same. I use the rods I'd use from a boat. I do have a shorter 6'8" jig rod due to the fact I'm close to the water. Most of my pitches are sidearmed. There are advantages of shorter rods for kayak fishing. For one, if you need to reach the end of the rod, you will have a hard time doing so with 7'+ rods. On the other hand, if a fish goes from one side of the boat to the other around the front you can reach past the end of the kayak with a longer rod. I usually don't though. I just let the fish turn the kayak. So it becomes a matter of personal preference.

Sure looks jiggy to me.

The Arky style head is the ATV of jigheads. It can be used anywhere. It's my favorite jighead design, but I've been using the Trashmaster with good success lately.

Yeah man! Trick Worm is the evolution of the Creme worm. And their 4" Finesse Worm is a great replacement for the old do-nothing type worms. When the bite gets really tough here in the heat of summer, I'll rig up a light weight C rig with a finesse worm. Our local hardware store still sells the pre-rigged Creme worms with 2 weedless hooks and with a prop on front. When I was a kid I remember my dad showing how to tie up a 2-hook worm rig. We had no prop on ours though.

I have an old 7 weight 8' Daiwa Apollo composite fly rod with an automatic Martin reel. It's loaded with floating line. I bought myself an assortment of bream and bass bugs. I even bought a frog bug. But I never use it. It feels like putting myself at an unnecessary disadvantage. Like I'm fishing with one hand tied behind my back.

The standard Spook. The first time I ever used one, I mopped up on a school of 3 pounders. I caught 8 on 8 casts. I hooked a 9th that broke me off and took my Spook. I tied on a Pop R and didn't get another bite. Of course, I immediately went out and bought a couple more. I didn't get a bite on it for almost 2 decades after this episode until I caught one early on a summer day last year.

I fish several different ponds. In one the bass are hopelessly stunted. Vegetation is not bad for bass, just for people. I'm inclined to say they've gotten stunted due to the lack of forage. It can happen when the bluegill or primary forage get too large to eat or they're competing for the same food-minnows. There aren't enough small bluegill for the bass to eat anymore. Feeding the bluegills tends to produce more offspring and increase the forage. But you may be able to add a forage species, like golden shiners. But I'd contact some local authority for advice. Around here we have the clemson university agriculture extension offices located around the state. They may even come take a look for free. It's better to consult a pro to develop a game plan.

Double tail grub, single grub, craw chunk, whatever I have. It all works. My favorite is the small chuck with ripple legs. But the bulkier package can help fish find it on top of lilies.

You could simply warn them if approached. But yeah, our weather sucks right now as well.

I know right? I threw topwaters for two days in the Everglades two Decembers ago. Day one was in that canal that comes out of Okeechobee and runs through Rotenberg. It was blazing hot to me. Went home to SC and zeroed twice in a row. It's a life goal to get to a location where I can fish topwaters longer. We'll see how it goes. The wife is retiring in a month. I could do my job from anywhere with good internet.

Power Pro. That "rip" sound when you set a hook just adds to the anticipation.

I've used Calcuttas for a decade now. Mostly because you can afford to lose or sit on a pair. They're mostly around $25. But my near sight isn't what it used to be. So I found a pair of Orvis with 1.5X readers. They get the job done without having to change glasses to retie. I greatly prefer amber lenses.

Use them. If you're not getting many hookups, sharpen the hooks and bend them out just a tad from the body. Some of the cheaper frogs are made of harder plastic and it's harder for the fish to collapse it and get the hook point. If they suck get you some Booyah Pad Crashers. I'm partial to the popping one.