Kayak Koz

That's definitely the way to go and at only $6.00 or so it's worth every penny.

I had never heard of those before and had to look it up. Interesting...

That was an unfortunate - and costly - situation. Personally, I never leave a hook or lure on my rods. A lot of that is because I drive a small coupe and have to fold down the back seat to get my rods in and I don't want the hooks to stick anyone or the interior of my car. I either tie off or put on a snap and clip up the line.

I was going to post a picture with my original response but I Googled an image for it and it's something you just can't unsee. I decided to spare everyone else the horror.

I fish from the bank, don't fish tournaments, and fish in areas with hundreds of lagoons. If someone asks I'll gladly tell them what I caught and where I caught it. The way I see it is that whatever secret spot you have is also fished by a few dozen other people throughout the week. The place that I fish mainly is in a 55+ community and most of the old timers are just throwing a plastic worm or occasionally a crankbait and don't have the range of tackle that I have.

Mankini?

Interesting interview and even more interesting that Gary seems a little perturbed about those managing the company that feel the need to keep inventing and pushing new products.

I love braid on my baitcasters but not on my spinning gear.

I'm right handed and: Spinning - cast right, reel left Baitcaster - cast right, reel right. Switching the rod to the other hand just happens. I don't even think about it. However, when fishing a buzzbait timing is critical. But because there are times when casting left handed would give me a better angle I have worked on back handed casting both sidearm and throwing from over my left shoulder. Reeling left seems natural on a spinning reel as does reeling right on a baitcaster. My son bought a LH retrieve baitcaster and I gave it a try and I just could not do it all that well. It definitely did not seem natural. I think that if I tried a RH retrieve spinning reel I'd probably end up tangled up in the line ?

My son and I were fishing some of our favorite bass waters yesterday and he was throwing a Mann's Jelly worm. The lagoons we fished were really stained with little visibility. He didn't catch any bass, but the catfish were hammering his Mann's Jelly worm all day long. I've tossed a Mann's a handful of times and haven't even had one bite. I'll keep trying.

I've never lost a fish that I thought would be my PB, so I can't tell you if I'd be haunted by it. But I did lose a 5+ pounder last week as I was trying to get it up the bank. I was disappointed for a minute or two, but just went back to fishing. I'm lucky enough to live in an area with a lot of quality bass and I know the next cast could bring in a trophy. But if I lived in an area where big bass were rare I'm sure it would be a different story.

They take their bass fishing tournaments seriously in Texas! https://nypost.com/2019/03/14/fisherman-charged-with-fraud-for-cheating-at-bass-tournament/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app

Here's a shot of my son nearly getting drilled in the head in his middle school game on Tuesday night. The other team had a kid throwing close to 80 and he purposely drilled the first batter he faced and our player had to leave the game. Later, when my son stepped up to the plate the catcher actually whispered that the pitcher was going to hit him in the head. My boy did not hit the deck. Instead, after leaning back to avoid the pitch he stepped out of the box and stared down the pitcher for 30 seconds. I really thought he was going to charge the mound, but he held back. Instead - when he pitched later in the game he drilled two of their guys in the thigh. He's allowed to seek revenge, but not head hunt. The other team was complete bush league, led by their coach. Our guys lost, but I think the next time we face them there's going to be more than one pitcher tossed from the game.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck with temperatures between the mid 60's and high 70's Of course, come mid June when it's 94 with 78% humidity I won't be smiling so much.

That's one of the things I don't like about the iBobber - it has a 100 foot max distance. It also has a narrow sonar cone which doesn't do a whole lot of good when the lagoon is only 8 feet deep. But the advanced Deeper products have a 300 foot range and also allow you to switch between a normal scan and wide scan. If you have a heavy or extra heavy rod and a round baitcast reel that holds a ton of line I bet you could cast it out there pretty far.

Well, I'm not a pro like some of the guys here but my 7' MH/F is my all around rod. I fish from the bank and if I can park my car where I fish I also bring a heavy rod and spinning gear. But if I'm going to be on foot or on my bike hopping from lagoon to lagoon I bring only the 7' MH/F and will throw everything on it except S-Waver sized swimbaits. It's my Swiss army knife of rods.

We have a few lagoons with some really thick surface vegetation on them and I've done well dragging a Booyah Pad Crasher over the top. The bass still come crashing through the thick stuff. However, along with your 3 pound bass you're also reeling in another 2 or 3 pounds of vegetation so make sure you've got some stout braid and at least a medium heavy rod going for you. Invariably there are also open pockets in the vegetation where you can toss a Senko or pause the frog, but once the fish runs you still end up reeling in a ton of vegetation.

As mentioned, dragging a bait across the bottom can help you feel what's there. I prefer using a jig for something like that. If you want to invest some money you can also use Deeper or iBobber to map the bottom. I have an iBobber but in hindsight I should have bought the Deeper castable sonar. Here's a comparison of the two: https://deepersonar.com/us/en_us/comparisons/ibobber-vs-deeper If you do purchase one of those I suggest using a heavy or extra heavy rod and 50 pound braid. You don't want to break your rod or have the line break and lose it. Honestly, I mile around should be no problem for a young guy like you I bank fish and cover a ton of ground on foot and if I'm lagoon hopping I sometimes ride my bike. I've also found that it's easier to cover ground with a backpack than using a shoulder bag. A cove is like a mini bay. It's a narrow area with land on three sides making it easier for bass to trap prey. If you aren't ready to purchase castable sonar you can get creative with Google maps and different colored drop pins and markers on your smartphone. I love bank fishing and hopping from lagoon to lagoon (except for the alligators). I'm lucky enough that there are nearly 300 of them in the residential community where I fish and literally thousands of them in my area.

Pre-spawn or post spawn? If it's pre-spawn the pond / lagoon bass here are very active late morning through early afternoon and around sunset as they gorge after the colder winter months and as they get ready for all of the energy they need to expend during the spawn process. If there's aquatic vegetation along the shore, weed lines within the basin, or laydowns they'll use those for ambush points. If those items are sparse it's not uncommon to see them come out of the deeper water (relative term) and cruising near the shore looking for prey. During this time of year in the sunset hours I have also seen them using coves to trap bait fish, especially if the wind is blowing on those small coves. As it gets closer to spawning season look for the male bass creating beds in the shallower waters. The bigger females won't be far behind. I love lagoon fishing this time of year because the bass are voracious eaters as their metabolism begins to speed up in the warmer waters. The good thing about fishing ponds and lagoons is that you can cover all or most of the basin with your casts. Personally, I look for the features I mentioned above and if I'm not getting a decent number of bites I'll pick a spot and fan cast the area, then move down the bank and fan cast again while overlapping my previous spot. I'll be attacking all of this this weekend. After a cold snap for 3 days it was in the 60's today and will be in teh 70's on Saturday and 80's on Sunday. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Universal? No. But if for some reason I was limited to fishing one bait only for the rest of my life I'd choose a Senko because of its versatility.

Chuck Norris is so tough he can make a Happy Meal cry.

I had about 90 minutes of free time to fish today and got blanked at one of my favorite lagoons so I headed to one that I've fished maybe a handful of times before. This one has about a 5 foot shallow shelf ringing most of the basin and lots of aquatic vegetation that extends just beyond the shelf. The HOA cut the vegetation in the fall so it was all sub surface now. There's a corner on the bank I like to fish because it allows me to easily cast parallel to the shoreline. I tossed a Teckel Sprinker frog along the edge of the weedline and got my only bite of the day but it was a good one. Big blow up and an easy hook set. There happened to be 3 or 4 golf carts passing by at that moment and they all stopped when they heard me say, "Whoa!" I said that because as I was fighting it I could see it was a big largemouth. I'm thinking I'm about to land my personal best. But as luck would have it pre-spawn activity has just started here and she was skinny and not carrying eggs yet. I didn't get the length, but it was l-o-n-g (I'm actually short arming it in the photo below) but it did weigh in at 5.8 pounds so I'll take that. In three weeks I bet she's a tank. I'll definitely hit that lagoon again.

Let's not get too technical here. It's a freaking arachnid dragging a marsupial. ??

Not just a big spider - a spider the size of a dinner plate! I generally don't mind spiders, but that kind of freaks me out. I can just imagine what it's like going on a trip with an outdoor guide in the Amazon or in Australia. Guide pointing at something: "That will kill you. And that. And that. And that one..."

I am never, ever, EVER going to the Amazon.