the reel ess

Yeah, that's our go-to much of the year there. But after trying a lot of gold lures there, the Spot seems to work better. It is more of a deep gold. Gold X-Rap, War Eagle spinnerbait in gold shiner, bubble gum flukes, bubble gum and limetreuse Trick Worms all produce. I use topwaters whenever they'll bite them and color seems to not matter much at all for those. And then there's the frog. Aside from these they like the black/blue jig.

I have a local small lake that's like this. It does have gold shiners, minnows of all kinds, crappie, bluegill, redear and warmouth, as well as crawfish. Gold seems to be the only consistent fish pattern. Fishing does get slow this time of year. And fall is late to SC most years.

1. War Eagle Spinnerbait in gold shiner. This caught me a PB early summer. Runner Up: 1/2 oz. flipping jig. Got several big bass in the last year on the jig, but I got a 7.2 lb. on my birthday.

For craws, it doesn't seem to work as well as black/blue for me. I have one place it works and the water is clearer there.

What do you change the Pop R hooks to? What brand and what size? The standard size Pop R is one lure I feel has hooks that are too small. The Chug Bug seems to do a lot better job holding fish.

4". I went to check and I'm out! I had one on a rod though. I see pros recommending you take a little off the nose of the bait, but I don't. It skips well if you leave it alone.

Black and blue. When I want to mix it up, I go blue and black. Standard size. It's a good trailer for skipping a jig.

I never change trebles unless they're damaged. And even then, I don't break the bank. I will sharpen them sometimes. I might replace them if I was fishing vintage lures. I don't have any of those.

Good thing I fish alone (friendless).

What's with the name? Will they not work with 50# braid?

I don't even have 10 Craw Trick Worm Fluke Stick worm Hula Grub

My theory is when the first person decided to eat an oyster, said person was at the point of starvation. However, if they roasted them, dang good, IMO. Scientists believe insects evolved from shellfish and that cockroaches are closely related. Yeah, people give them way too much credit. They don't think or ration or not bite to ruin our day. They see something and their tiny stem of a brain makes them attack it or not. They really had no choice. Some things work better than others. But when they're stomach is eating their backbone, more things will work.

It's defnitely not the weirdest thing. I caught one on a Gummi Worm to prove I could.

Do you mean more people are throwing the Choppo this year? Do you think the Choppo works better or just that fish are seeing it more?

Go to FL When they get about 5 lbs. they work on that meaty part between the thumb and forefinger. That's sweet agony. Or a golf glove.

Cinch it down. They'll still take drag if they're big enough. I do this with my jig combo as well as my frog combo and have for several years. They won't break 50-65 lb braid unless it's already weakened or they cut it, in which case they were going to cut it anyway. You might want to carry a spare frog or two just in case.

I know you said you got no bites on the jig. But I'm stubborn. I'd stick with the jig. I'd also go early or late and try topwaters.

This is interesting reading. The excerpt doesn't mention average weight or size of either species. Average weight and population are different things. Most biologists today believe they're inversely related. More bass=smaller average. Fewer bass=larger average. Knowing both these things, it seems you would want a large population of sunfish if your goal was a trophy fishery. These days, people feed the bluegill so they reproduce more times and make more fry for the bass to eat. Of course, there are lots of other factors from year to year that can't be known

Bass and larger bluegill are in direct competition for minnows on most ponds. That's why most pond owners eventually get stunted bass. You reach a point of overpopulation where you can't take enough fish out for the forage to support the bass population. Throw in crappie and what do they eat? Crappie is almost never a good idea for the bass fishing in a smaller pond with limited forage options. I was fishing my favorite local 30 acre reservoir the other day and talked to a couple guys in a jon boat who proudly told me they dumped 250 channel cats in the place. I didn't say anything, but I wanted to ask them why. The place already has 8 lb bass in it as well as crappie, bluegill, shellcrackers and warmouth, that I know of. It seems to be in nearly perfect balance for bass fishing. It has big gold shiners, minnows of all kinds and probably creek chubs because it's fed by a decent size creek. On the other hand, those 250 small cats probably won't make it to maturity. I hope they don't. I hate catching a catfish.

Some people say there has to be a big fish in every lake/pond. I disagree. I have a friend who has a back yard pond. I went there for the first time 17 years ago. I caught a 6.5 lb. I have fished there more than 100 times since and have yet to catch another bass over 2. I did not take that 6 out. But it wouldn't be living now anyway. The average is less than 1 lb. I try all the big bass baits and still only get dinks. They're stunted there and a lot of them need to come out. By comparison, I have probably 30 bass over 5 lbs from two other places that I have not fished nearly as much. That could be the case where you're fishing.

When I've fished for 3 hours without a bite. Sometimes I'll fish 2-2.5 hours, then pack up and go elsewhere.

Nah, they'll bite it and swim around all day with it. I usually use a 1/2 oz jig and notice a good many bites because the jig starts swimming off sideways. The jig is easier to skip under obstructions. I fish a lot of overhanging limbs and the jig can get back 10 or more feet under them. I do feel you get more bites on the retrieve with the T-rig. Usually, if they don't bite the jig on the initial drop into heavy cover, that cast is over. The T-rig is more weedless than the jig. But lighter jigs are more weedless than heavier ones.

I like the Gamakatsu EWG superline hooks for this. The regular flipping hooks will eventually expose the point. But the light wire hooks can bend out enough to let big fish off. The regular flipping hooks are better in grass, but they'll catch on wood. I like a pegged bullet weight using a bobber stop. High dollar weights are not necessary. If you put a bead between your weight and hook it will add a little rattle. You can put that craw on a plain weedguard jighead. Fish will eat it up and you'll probably get more bites due to the smaller profile. I've caught big fish doing that.

You'll miss plenty of fish on frogs and maybe more on toads. It's just part of the technique. I lost one today. But sometimes you can get them to go after it twice. After reading a thread about the Johnson Silver Minnow I decided to give it a shot. I rigged it on my frog rod and put a small zoom chunk trailer on it. I got bites on top of the lilies as well as dropping off the outside edge. That bait actually saved my day that trip. I don't normally get bites on the frog once it's off the mat.

We got a cool front Friday evening. I caught 10 Saturday, best ***.5 lb. and caught 4 this morning. But I really had to work for the 4 dinks. Better than work though. It was 59 degrees when I hit the water this morning.