Micro

Another Virginia guy! Can't have too many of them! Welcome!

1966 vintage... I think that's Long Mike teaching the kid how to tie a knot.

From that 1966 magazine...

From the same April 1966 issue of Argosy...

Thought this was kinda cool. From an April 1966 issue of Argosy Magazine.

I agree about the Yo Zuri 3D popper. I like it better than the Wack-O. Though, I don't think the Wack-O is exactly a popper, since it sure doesn't pop much. The 3D popper may sit funny, but IMO it's a good popper. It does spit if you have a snappy retrieve. It's really small, though.

You can use the ones that stand up when site fishing beds. It actually works well. You can retrieve it in over a bed at a slow to moderate speed and drop it in and it will nosestand like a nest raiding fish.

Ima Rock'n Vibe Jackall T/N70 Koppers Live Target Rapala Clackin Rap Rat L Trap Spro Aruku Shad Xcalibur Xr75 Yo Zuri Hardcore Drum Yo Zuri Live Bait I photo'd the Yo-Zuri Rattlin Vibe, but I deleted the pic on accident. It lays over like the Xcalibur.

Here's some pictures of some poppers at rest in water. Mainly because I am incredibly bored right now... Yo-Zuri Wacko Yo-Zuri 3D Popper Storm Chug Bug Rapala Skitter Pop Heddon Lucky 13 Arbogast Hula Popper Jackall SK Pop Grande Luck Craft G Splash

I have a few of these lures. Not my favorites, but they do catch fish. They don't have much frontal area and given the frontal shape, they don't spit much water. You can walk them, but they aren't the best at it. They sit perfectly flat in the water when at rest. I usually just use short, fast, successive jerks - sort of chugging them across the water. They do have nice detail, decent paint and good hooks. I think it needs a feathered tail hook, though.

Ed's used to have thursday night tournaments. Not sure if they still do.

Like Sam said, the lake is very grassy this time of year. But it is still very fishable. If you decide to fish the lake, Johnson Creek is producing a lot of fish. And they have been bigger than the fish I have been catching in the other parts of the lake. You'll have to adapt to the conditions. The water lilies have pretty much dried up and there are vast expanses of grass mats. The center of the creek is very navigable. If you get much out of the center, you will be dealing with fouled props. Not a big deal if you don't mind pulling the stuff off every once in a while. Wacky and texposed rigged senkos and trick worms, frogs and toads, Rail Tail Anacondas and Space Monkeys, jigs and tubes have produced very well for me. The main body has been somewhat productive around the submerged barges out from Johnson and Lacey Creeks, but you have to be careful there since the water is down about 12 inches. Someone recently tore a good sized hole in their pontoon-boat pontoon on one of them. Jigs have prodiced for me there. The south shore of the lake - around Cypress Banks, the private boat lifts, the blowdowns and all the little coves - are producing lots of small bass. The floating islands of vegetation are keeping the south shore in a constant state of change. The dam is producing some small bass, but the bowfin are present and they were tearing up baits. Last weekend I caught 6 bowfin for 1 bass at the dam. I think I've caught 12-15 bowfin in the last few weeks at the dam. They are good fun, though. At the south end of the dam (across from Rock a hock) there are a few floating island up against the dam and that are holding some fish. There was one floating island at the north end of the dam (near rock a hock) and I got bass there on texposed rigged senkos, but they didn't have much size to them. I took the attached photo on July 1. I'm catching a lot of fish in the creek about this size. Some bigger, some smaller, but this seems to be about average for me in the creek. I'm spending most of my time in the creek.

The Sol is still in Daiwa's lineup.

The blue one retails for $469 and the red on for $499 at Japan Tackle. And that's without Ike's signature.

You certainly didn't hurt my feelings. But I do somewhat resent having what I say labeled as "bad advice." I'll get over it, though. As far as bad advice, I've been a victim of it, too. Yo-Zuri, however, is one recommendation I've tried, and liked well enough to stick with, even to the exclusion of other lines. It's all a matter of preferences. You want to fish braid and suggest that your experience is compelling enough that everyone else should abandon what works for them, okay. I disagree with you. I've fished frogs for many years, too. Before I knew what braid was I fished them on mono very successfully. Braid has given me no more added success than using Yo-Zuri, but has been a bigger pain in the *** in heavy cover. So, the original poster can do one of two things: he can only fish braid because someone says its best under all circumstances. Or he can assess the conditions in which he fishes and try a couple of solutions until he finds what he likes best.

I'm not worried about losing a lure. But I'd prefer not to. The grove in that picture owns a significant number of my lures, and the principal portion were lost on braid. I post it as an example of one of the types of environment I fish and specifically where I think a stount mono, co-poly or fluoro has an advantage over braid. Mono, co-poly and fluoro, from experience, is less prone to getting hung up in this type of stuff, either on an errant cast or after a fish is on and moves the line into it. They are also more abrasion resistant than braids. As stated previously, there are conditions under which I think braid has an advantage. Under other circumstances, I think mono, co-poly and fluoro has an advantage. On open water, on top of expansive grass mats, where I can get long casts, I like braid. In tighter areas with lots of hard cover, or very heavy vegetation above the water line I like a heavy mono, co-poly or fluoro. You like braid. So be it. I happen to think braid is one of the most over-hyped products ever perpetrated on the weak minds of product-drunk fishermen. I like it just well enough to have it occassionally spooled on 1 out of 27 fishing outfits I have. 2 others are spooled with fluoro, and 24 are spooled with various tests of Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I've frog-fished Yo-Zuri in preference to braid on my lakes for years now. I've landed many fish using it and have rarely felt that I was at any disadvantage because I was not using braid.

For a co-poly, Yo-Zuri Hybrid is significantly lower stretch than Trilene XL/XT. So is Trilene Professional fluoro. Are you suggesting they are not?

Come on, man. Why do you assume your expereinces or preferences must be everyone elses? Braid is fine and has some advantages. Hook sets at long distances are easier. But braid gets tangeld easier and cuts into stuff co-poly doesn't, creating problems you don't get with co-poly. Throwing frogs on braid on grass mats and into cat tails - fine. Pitching a frog behind a tree like this is going to end up as a effort in frustration with braid. That stuff sinks into every nook and cranny on a tree, and cuts into floating islands of pickerel weed when a fish pulls down on the bait on the other side. And at shorter distances, low stretch lines like fluoro or co-poly provide for just as many hooksets as with braid.

You can't see it in that picture, but I got a little Revo STX on it and its spooled with 20,000 lb test braid.

No experience. Try them and see, and write us up a review. If you want a small soft frog, I have had great luck with a small frog made by The Wright Bait Company. http://www.thewrightbait.com/4__frogs.htm It is small, very soft, and stinks like garlic. Has a nice action when buzzed, and when rigged with a 2/0 or 3/0 EWG hook sinks slowly with its nose slightly up. I've caught a lot of fish on this little frog. Another good one is the Netbait Frog. This has a lot of action on a slow to medium retrieve. I rig it on a 1/0 or 2/0 hook.

Flippin' those weed mats is getting tough.

Yeah. Yer the kind of guy I'd like to b***h slap then have a beer with.

I wax and wane among mono, co-poly and braided lines. Using a heavy mono, like 17 lb + test, the "too much stretch" issue isn't so much of an issue. Using a heavy, very fast rod helps. I'm currently using 50lb Sufix braid on my frog rig. I like the line on open water and weed mats, but it is a pain in the *** around very heavy standing cover. Braid is much limper, and hangs up in nooks and crannies mono doesn't find. And when braid finds those nooks and crannies, it saws into it. I find myself cutting into water lilies and other standing vegetation that mono slips over. Many of the problems people think they will defeat with braid are created by it. A really good co-poly, like Yo-Zuri Hybrid, has less stretch than pure mono while retaining its slippery and less-limp attributes. Of all the lines I've tried, Yo-Zuri Hybrid is my favorite frog line.

I checked out a Team All Star cranking rod at Gander Mountain this weekend. Very nice feel to it. Nicely made. No frills, but it would get the job done very nicely. $79. http://www.***.com/All_Star_Team_All_Star_Crankin_Casting_Rods/descpage-ASTCKR.html

I agree. He was definitely worth interviewing. His simple truths: 1) Fish where there are bass. 2) Try different things until you find something that works. I like him. Unpretentious and charming!