the reel ess

Yeah, I know a good many people who catfish. We have the Arkansas blue cats in our river systems. But I just don't like catching catfish. No disrespect to those who do. But to me the bigger the catfish, the bigger my disappointment.

That's another suggestion I was going to make. Go with a bass fisherman. But if none fish it, it's your playground. At least the fish aren't educated.

Congrats

Welcome to the kayak fishing addiction. I ditched the bass boat and lake for a kayak and smaller waters and immediately started catching more and better bass. Being on the kayak makes it a lot easier to target shallower areas for me. I know it's hot and targeting deeper structure would be the conventional wisdom. But the kayak really shines in the shallows. I can usually catch fish in the shallow range most of the year so that's what I concentrate on. I would think in central FL there are always bass shallow. Frogs, as you mentioned, jig/craw for the woody structure like docks, T-rigged craw for the weedy areas, spinnerbait, topwaters early and late, or even midday if they'll take them, weightless Trick Worm, flukes. I catch 95% of my fish on those things. "Shallow" is a relative term. So, in the heat of summer, I target shallower areas near deeper water. Also, in the heat of summer, I go early and/or late.

I have seen a grand total of one catfish in this place ever. And it was maybe 4" long and dying. I would have guessed channel cat. My buddy crappie fishes there a good bit and he hasn't caught any catfish. I don't really know why they don't bite there. What I know is in the lake are largemouth, crappie, bluegill, shellcrackers (redear), warmouth, gold shiners and little minnows I see around the edge, probably fathead. There are a couple ponds upstream from it so it has whatever species they have, I'm sure. I have another friend with a pond that has catfish and they can be very difficult to catch as well

From what I'm reading and watching, either freelined or under a float. I don't know about the catfish. I have never caught one in this place in almost a decade of fishing there. But I've never targeted them. I'd think a lively bait that can swim naturally would be less of a catfish bait than one on the bottom.

I don't have any St Croix rods. But it will probably suffice for both. I used to use the same rod for both with good success. If you feel like it's not ideal for one of the techniques, there are lots of rods out there specifically for whichever area it's lacking in. I just looked up that rod. Jeepers Cripes! I'd be afraid to use a rod that expensive for either of these techniques unless it came with a no-hassle money back guarantee and next-day shipping on the replacement if I broke it. That kind of sensitivity is nice for jigs, but unnecessary for frogs. But I understand the desire for nice stuff.

If you have a job and a family and go an average of twice a week, I'm jealous.

I took a bag of oatmeal and tried to chum for smaller baitfish. I gave it time and cast the net. Nothing. Thus, the 7 lb. pig with the jig down its throat. I really love fishing that way though.

I caught the new PB last Saturday. That got me thinking about trying live bait. So I went back this evening with that in mind. Didn't net any. So I took off with the usual rigs. They were on almost every piece of wood and were chomping the jig. I got this 7.2 lb off a pine laydown that I spooked some ducks out of. I figured the spot was ruined but I pitched into it anyway. It never hit bottom and when I set the hook, for some reason, the bass took off for deeper open water. It's my jig rod so the drag is clamped down. It took some drag anyway. I landed it pretty quickly. Two 7+ hogs in a week ain't too shabby for me.

I'm not sure how I'll handle it either. The reason I got into bass to start with is I like to chunk and wind. But if it increases the odds of a bigger bass, it's worth a try. I'll take my full compliment of rods in case the action is very slow. Or nonexistent.

I'm sorry. But you also have a much greater chance at 10+lb fish than we do. I'm thinking the live bait might increase my average size. Trying to bump that 8.2 PB up in another range.

I'm about to start trying some live bait in hopes of catching bigger bass. I'll be using medium (up to maybe 7") native gold shiners and/or bluegill. What's your hook choice and size preference for those?

I have 3 now. The first one, a size 40, worked so well, I bought another 25 and 20. They just keep working. I got the 25 in a pawn shop unopened for half price. SCORE!

Watch YouTube videos on increasing hookups. Bend those hooks out a bit. Trim the legs a bit so they're no longer than the body. Use a Booyah Pad Crasher. The body is just the right texture and very durable. I like 50# braid and cinch my drag down. I use a 7'3" X Hvy-X Fast frog specific Cabela's Tournament XT rod. Longer and stiffer the lever, the better the leverage. And you'll still miss a good many fish.

Hey, since I posted that, I caught a new PB Saturday in about 3 ft of water on a spinnerbait. You can see it in my post in the Fishing Reports forum. It is a bit unusual because it's in the shallow headwater of the reservoir in the heat of July, but it has rained a good bit lately.

I depends on a few things for me. In big worms like a ribbon tail, I like variations of purple, like tequila sunrise or plain black. In Trick Worms I like the bright colors in off-color water when you're working it like a jerkbait for reaction strikes. But if you're getting finessy with it, I like the watermelons and pumkins. I'm usually getting finessy in clearer water with the smaller 4.5" worm. There's no such thing as "clear water" in most places I go. I also like black/blue flake.

Thanks! It's how I always fish unless I'm in the back seat of my buddy's Bass Tracker. I sold my big boat last summer after not using it for a couple years. I find it easier to fight big bass from the kayak. If they make a run under the boat you just hold on and they turn it for you.

I took 7 yesterday because I have a kayak and crate rigged for 8. I went a while back with my cousin and uncle to walk a pond and took 11. My main combos for bass are 6 BC and 2 spinning. I also have a couple combos that I pieced together with my dad's stuff after he died. They're old but serviceable. A couple of my combos I carry just because I want to try 3 topwaters and don't want to be retying all day. I only have three combos with really nice rods. The rest are cheaper rods ($30-40) that can do the job when sensitivity is not terribly important. But I'm gradually replacing the cheaper rods with better quality as they wear out. I have three Lew's Tourney MB reels and an Academy TAC-4 reel. The rest are older ones I had for 10 years or so.

Thanks. It's actually my first big bass of 2020, not for lack of trying. Numbers have been good this year, but my biggest bass before today was about 3.5.

It only took me nearly 50 years, but I finally broke the 8 lb. mark. I had just lost a very good fish, maybe bigger than this one, that took a Pop R and peeled off drag into the lilies. I thought it was likely a potential PB. This was about 8:45. I had already fished for 2 hours and only had one dink to show for it. Just a couple casts later I had this big gal smash my 3/8 oz. War Eagle golden shiner double willow blade spinnerbait about 5 ft from my kayak. The fish never jumped, just kept digging and taking drag for about 30 seconds.

Rooster Tail, Beetle Spin, Trout Magnet, Rebel Micro Lures pack, crappie jigs.

Check out @cadman website. http://cadmansjigs.weebly.com/ Great guy and a member on here. He made me some custom wire tied jigs. He'll make anything you want or send you parts. I also ordered some plain jigheads. As for production skirts I like War Eagle's. But I have heard their inventory is low.

I go early or late. My PB came in July in water about a foot deep. I'm a shallow water guy. Usually I'm looking for places that are shallow with deeper water close by. But I caught that pig on a shallow flat.

Welcome. Where are you from?