SoFlaBassAddict

So I finally bit the bullet and decided to try out a hollow bodied frog. I've never thrown one, much less held one. I've never really had an urge to. I picked up one a couple of days ago and will hopefully try it out in the morning. What retrieves and all do you guys like using with them? Walking it back, short twitches and pops? Just looking for a little info on my first morning out with one.

Hell, I'd be game for that.

It didn't come cheap when I bought the house. But man was it worth every penny.

Great pics right there. The last shot of KVD with the trophy is a really good picture. Nicely done. Hope you guys had a blast.

Well it's about a 25 foot stroll to the back patio, that happened to be the best spot to A. grab a camera and B. show the kids. That and I had to get a picture with the bait in her mouth, couldn't pass up the opportunity.

So I walk into the backyard today after work and dinner to pitch out a bait a couple of times. I decided to crack open a pack of swimming flukes that I bought a couple weeks ago. This was the result on about the fourth cast..... Gotta love how the fluke got all knotted up One of the largest I've caught out of my lake.

Year round for me. Water temps generally don't matter too much in my area, but the recent cold snaps have knocked the fishing back. Thankfully things are warming up again.

1. Yes 2. Yes

JJ's = good stuff. I've only been using it a short time, I'll be buying it again in the future.

The thread I opened on this topic is still on the first page of the tackle forum http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1266286645

Great fish. And like the above poster said, gotta love that horny toad.

The only thing I can think of is that he thinks you're mixing different brands/colors in the same bag. Some brands don't react well with others. And we all know that some colors of soft plastics do bleed onto others.

Oddly enough, I was looking at those briefly this weekend when I was at BPS. I'll probably have to pick up a couple, that doesn't look too bad. I wonder if I can find them painted. If not I guess I can do it myself. Thanks a bunch for posting that video.

You know, I was just sitting here going, crap...I could use a florida rig weight. Those parasite clip weights look interesting. My only question is how the heck do they stay attached, From the picture it just looks like a chunk of U shaped wire stuck into the weight. Are they open on one end so you thread the lure on or something?

So I decided to try out a pack of tubes I've had sitting around here for a while. I've never used a tube before. T-rigged on a straight shank hook. I was going to work it through some weeds and such. I pegged my weight down to the head of the tube with a toothpick. I hate using toothpicks because it can be a pain to get the wood back out of the weight when you want to rig something else up. The bad part now is that I've pegged it so much that the weight is getting knocked down onto the lure and sitting all cockeyed. Anybody have any pegging suggestions that are a bit better than a toothpick?

Finally saw the first floater in my lake. Was a decent size Bluegill. Other than that I've seen none. I've seen a few peacocks roaming around the lake, but nowhere near the numbers I used to. That could mean they're still hiding way down deep with the new cold fronts that rolled in. I'm on a deep lake, so who knows. I did finally see a largemouth sitting on a bed in my lake, so I guess the spawn may be coming around soon, or I just had a plain dumb fish. Heres to hoping for warmer, more fishable weather...

When it comes to saltwater fishing, it's a family thing. My great, great grandfather used to fish redfish down here. It's gone through my fathers side down to my daughters now. I learned everything I know about fishing from my mother, father, and uncles. Slowly passing that on to my kids. Freshwater is another story. I'm the only one that is truly crazy about catching largemouths and peacocks. My kids love it more and more each trip now. They're finally learning how to fish a soft plastic. My dad understands what to do if I relate it to a saltwater technique that he's done. He's not excessively enthusiastic about it, but he's starting to come around.

I've been looking at picking up one of those. Doesn't seem like a bad little tool for 150 bucks. Certainly would make life easier.

I wouldn't necessarily say it improves. But it doesn't hurt them either. I'm assuming you're talking about toads like the Gambler Cane Toad, or the Yum Toad. They've just got a different action than something like a Zoom Horny Toad. The paddles kick up a little bit more water and make a little more noise. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not. The Rage line of topwaters (Shad/Toad) kick up a bunch of water and noise. This isn't always a good thing, sometimes you need something thats a little quieter. It's all dependent on the conditions of the water, fish, weather. All that being said, I throw Rage Shads and toads probably 50% of the time. A Zoom Horny toad 40% of the time, then the paddletails the last 10%.

I think what it is, is that Kurita used 25lb line. IGFA only has line class records for largemouth up to 20 lb, thus he was disqualified from a line class record but not an all tackle record.

I would certainly hope the battery is in the boat, unless you've got a really long extension cord 31" bottom won't be all that stable, especially if you plan on standing in it. If you've got the cash, get the 36". The extra weight is negligible with two people. It's only an extra 20 pounds a person. Unless you're really out of shape, or just plain old you guys should be able to manage moving a 130 pound boat out of the back of a van or off the roof of a car. All that being said, I would still be cautious standing in a 36" wide jon. Make sure your partner knows when you plan on shifting the weight around so he/she can balance it out.

I'm really curious how I'm wrong. You're telling me that people everywhere, college educated or not aren't struggled in the current job market? Like I said, I hope you do well. I don't know you or wish any ill will on you. I'm just being realistic. Once you graduate, you're joining a long list of people looking for work. It may take you a long time to find a job in the field you specialize in. It may not. I realize you're going to be in a job market that has a shortage of people in it. But you've got to remember, that you aren't the only person trying to get an aerospace degree.

Thats about as good as an answer gets. I've used their wide gaps once. I never will again. The straight shank worm hooks I don't mind, they're a little larger gauge wire. But I'd much rather pay the extra couple of bucks for a quality hook like Owner or Gamakatsu. You never know when you're going to lay into a great fish. You'll be screaming at yourself when you break a hook.

Hopefully it does. I wish you well. But don't get your hopes up into the clouds. The real world, in today's economy, blows. There are thousands upon thousands of people out there that have graduated from very good schools that can't find work. There are thousands of people out there that have the same degree that you hope to get that are struggling to find work. Companies don't hire people based on a piece of paper anymore. Experience and references are a huge factor in the workplace right now. I personally wouldn't hire some kid fresh out of school with no experience in a specific job field. I'd rather have somebody that has at least a little experience.

I've got a good friend that recently graduated from VT. His degree is worth about as much as the paper it's printed on right now. He's working at a subway right now making five dollar foot longs. I recently got my Masters degree finished up from Miami. I work in a totally unrelated field. It's so far away from the area my degree is in, it's not even funny. Shows you how much a "known" or "major" schools degree is worth right now.