the reel ess

Great story. I don't like to consider the person i would be if I hadn't gotten into fishing as heavily as I did. My dad had a coworker who took me fishing from time to time, even though my own dad took me. This man had three boys of his own, none of whom liked to fish as much as I did. I learned a lot about bass from him. I saw him a few years ago and he asked me if I still liked to fish as much as I did when I was young. I told him "More". I only have a daughter who really has no interest in fishing or even kayaking with me.

It changes for me from time to time. I hired a So FL guide and he had me walking the dog all day with a lot of success. The first day I ever used one I caught bass after bass, then nothing for a few years except the occasional striper. A fast retrieve seems to work best for me. It seems fish like for it to be fleeing. It's also a very warm water, mid-to-late summer lure for me. I'll sometimes give it a try early in the day and if it's not producing with 15 minutes, switch right on over to a Chug Bug or Pop R. Same with a Whopper Plopper. But...when you get a bite on one of these bigger baits it tends to be a good one. Bites from some of the biggest bass I've caught on topwaters tend to be very subtle. The bait just disappears.

My nephews called me from Walmart standing in front of the fishing lines and asked me what they should use for my dad's old 5000C reels. They live at the beach so saltwater is not off the table. I gave them the exact same advice. BG 12 lb. I told them it's so cheap they can backlash it a few times and still have plenty of line to refill. It's the "family size" spool.

It's all relative to what you're used to. If you get out in it now and stay hydrated it will seem like nothing when the humidity or the temp declines.

The shallower the pond, the easier it is to catch fish on topwaters. Also, a Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm t rigged with 1/8 oz. weight can be a shallow pond killer. Zoom Trick worm is another standby for almost any pond.

Good info here. That Lure is just way too much boat. I could almost load and unload a small jon boat, trolling motor and battery for the same trouble. It's defeating the purpose of having a kayak, IMO. The Light Tackle claims a weight of 75 lbs. Maybe that's without the seat. 73 or 75 still sounds a lot lighter than 104 plus battery and motor. And my Lure is almost useless without the motor because it doesn't have the rudder. I could get the rudder kit and probably be happier, but then I'm out another $250-ish. I'm just thinking of cutting losses. Thanks for the reviews. Just one more question. Does the UL take on water from the scuppers? I like to fish in all water temps and would prefer to stay as dry as possible in the cold. But I do have provisions for that.

It gets rather hot and humid here in SC. I'll go early or late, preferably late because I can leave after work in summer and fish a few hours before dark without losing any time from work. Coincidentally, dawn and dusk are the best bite times in the heat of summer here as far as the daylight hours go. I went yesterday morning and caught 12 by 10:30. It was a good day.

I use an older 7' MH/M-F Falcon Lowrider that's supposed to be made for Rattle Traps. I have a Lew's Tournament MB reel spooled with 15# Big Game mono. This is my rod for almost all standard size topwaters. The combo of the heavy mono and the rod action are great for topwaters when you have a lot of line out. I have another combo with a very worn BPS Johnny Morris reel on a 6-6 Lightning Rod with the same line that I'll throw the 110 size WP on. It's a 5.1:1 ratio. This is actually the perfect ratio for the speed you want with the WP. I only take it when I want to use the 110. Of course, the 90 gets more bites. But I fish from a kayak so the rod tip is lower than it would be in a boat. So the 90 has a tendency to want to submarine if the line is laying on the water until you reel up enough line to get it off the water surface.. The 110 is very buoyant.

It's a lot easier to be noisy in a canoe or kayak than on land. Especially easy in the canoe compared to a SOT kayak because there is only one layer between you and the water.

LOL. If I was going to try to tie what they're taking, it would look just like a worm. My buddy was catching them on those but I wasn't.

I horse traded my way into a Lure FeelFree 13.5 kayak with a stern mount saltwater 35 lb thrust trolling motor setup a year or so ago. I never use it. The kayak alone weighs 104 lbs. The trolling motor and battery add to the cumbersome package. I find myself going to my cheaper Pescador most of the time because it's light and easy to maneuver. I can throw it in the truck bed and get on the road in a few minutes. So I'm looking to trade down a bit. I'd like any feedback on Crescent Light Tackle or Ultra Light Tackle models.

Yes, I watch YouTube a lot. People will sometimes ask me how to learn basic bass skills and I'll tell them you can find almost anything you want to know on YouTube. This was a roadside creek so I didn't get to hike to the spot but I'd love to do that. Around my region of SC you can hike into creeks and small rivers and do some good bass fishing. You can even walk some creeks in old athletic shoes and a bathing suit. You can also catch all kinds of panfish, catfish, suckers, chubs and possibly gar. When you get to the fall line (between the piedmont and coastal plain) you can add bowfin and pickerel. Possibly eels. Since bass are easily accessible most people won't go to that trouble for some below average size bass. But the journey is half the fun. It's also a great way to stay cooler when summer fishing. I took a kayak trip down a small river near here several years back. We could walk some of the river and had to portage once. It was a lot of work for some small fish but it was a blast.

It's their own brand of affordable rod. It's not high quality, but do you need it to be? I use some less expensive rods for techniques that don't require a lot of sensitivity. You know, spinnerbaits, topwaters, lipless cranks. If the action is good for the technique I'll use it. I have to admit I have two old Eagle Claw composite rods that I paid $9 for in Walmart about 25 years ago. One is on my light creek spinning combo. Caught many a bass, bream and crappie with that one.

N/M. I see I already answered this thread.

I've been able to get a good bit more on Amazon than most store sites.

IDK, because when you feel the strike and the fish swims away, it probably isn't going directly away from you. So the fish is probably putting a bend in the line that you have to overcome to get a hookset. I'll usually just lower my rod and try to get the slack out, then set it. But on a C-rig, you yank the line through the sinker. So there's some weight for you to set the hook against. When I think I have a strike on a jig, I set it right away. But sometimes I only detect that strike when the fish is swimming away or I move the jig and the fish yanks back.

Welcome. Congrats on your continued sobriety. Keep the faith.

I spent a guys' weekend in the NC mountains with a couple of coworkers. There was a stream nearby with stocked rainbows and brown trout. I fished with corn and worms with no success, unless you count the 4" chub I caught on corn. I switched to a pink Rooster Tail and got a couple bites, but they both immediately jumped and spit the hook-frustrating. My buddy had already caught a couple on worms, but I know how I like to fish-chunk and wind. We drove to another section of the creek and I tied on a pink and white plastic crappie tube jig on a 1/32 oz jighead. After walking about 30 yards down the bank, I got bit! My drag was loose because it's an ultralight spooled with 4 lb. mono and the fish took a good bit of drag before I could turn it. I finally got control of it. I was too far from my buddy to show him the fish so I took the attached pic and quickly released it. The fish is about 14" long! I understand from my buddy he hasn't caught one much bigger than 8" in this stream. Next time I'll be looking to add a brown trout to it.

I'm sure it works. Also, it's proof that fish aren't very line shy.

I've made one but haven't used it.

I'm sorry. There's no getting over the loss of a parent. I've lost both. You gotta enjoy your dad while you have him. My dad stopped wanting to fish with me several years before he died. He didn't feel up to the hassle of launching the boat, etc. Odd, because it was he who got me started on this path. But I did get him to go to a pond that belongs to a family friend the fall before he died. He caught a couple bass and twisted up the line on my spinning combo. I offered to fix it, but he wanted to go sit on the tailgate and talk to his buddy. I'm really glad we had that day together because he passed completely unexpectedly the next spring.

I like amber. They just seem to let in more of the right light. Especially in lower light periods.

Calcutta. I'm on my 3rd pair because I lost the first two. I still don't have as much in all 3 pairs as I would spend on 1 pair of Costas. I also bought a $60 pair of Orvis glasses with 1.5X readers. It was getting difficult for me to see to tie knots, especially in low light.

I use the popping one on lilies. It doesn't dig in.

I tried one. It does get bites. Unfortunately, the legs came off on the 2nd or 3rd bite. And it filled with water quickly. I have another smaller one I haven't tried. It just sits in the box. I'm a huge Booyah Poppin Pad Crasher and regular pad Crasher fan. I have a dedicated Frog combo and the PPC stays tied on almost all spring-fall. I have a bunch of frogs, but rarely use any others. My fist bass over 6 lbs. came on a Snagproof Original Frog.