Chaz Hickcox

BCB's Transferrable LIFETIME warranty for when you go to sell. One thing about BCB is that they are the ONLY boat manufacturing company still owned by the original owners, not as S FLA said about them being owned by a reputable company. It's semantics I know, but an important one if you ask me. Rick Pierce is the son of the founder and they have been in business for 40 years for a darn good reason. Customer service is their #1 priority. I say this and I didn't buy mine from a dealer or the factory, just another private owner. Reguardless the folks at the factory still treat me like I special ordered the boat directly from them whenever I have a question. I will give an example, I was installing an LSS-1 and an HDS-7 in my console. I wanted to put the power on the LSS-1 through my accessories switch so I didn't have to have it constantly running and using battery power when I wasn't using it. When I was doing this I called the service department at the FACTORY in Mountain Home, Ar, put the guy on speaker phone while I was under the dash and he walked me through the wiring to make sure it worked. Try calling the factory at GM and getting that kind of service. I won't/can't speak about Ranger, Skeeter, or Nitro, because I have no experience with them. However, even without those experiences I won't own anything but a Bass Cat as long as I can afford to own a boat. I'm at the point now where if presented with a brand new Z521 with a SHO or Pro XS 250 for less than a new Pantera IV, I would choose the PIV. Unlikely situation, but I am serious when I say that.

Breezy, walking a frog and a spook are different techniques all together. Tie that loop knot, first off. When on the water you NEED slack in the line before you twitch the frog to enable it to walk. Unlike a spook where you want the line somewhat tight. As far as the short legs, no, you didn't kill it. I've caught plenty of fish with legs at or less than an inch. I have found though, the legs are an addition and stopped cutting them so short.

Robert, I have been looking at those and am tempted to try them. I wanted to try the tru tungsten but obviously they're gone. So the SK look very similar. I'm sure the rattle would help in heavy cover. I will have to give them a try. Thanks for the input!

Don't be so quick to pass off used. You can find outstanding quality in used boats, and finding one which has been babied isn't all that hard. With that being said, in the same size/price range of the Z-8 look at the new BassCat Pantera series. The Classic and Pantera II are nice boats, the Pantera IV is a little bit more on the money side but you won't find a better fishing 19ft boat. I got a quality used Pantera IV last year and absolutely love it. It fishes solid, much like a 20ft boat in a smaller package. Rough water handling is awesome too. Brand new the PIV is approx $40,000 and the other two Panteras are in the $30k to $35k price range.

I have seen a lot of questions about frogging, and have added to them from time to time. However, my thoughts on the topic confers that the hollow bodied frog is probably the most versatile topwater anyone could use. Over the past year, I have used frogs to much success in late-prespawn, spawn, post-spawn and summer patterns. While not all the patterns are exactly alike, they all will have good fish attacking a frog. Just ensure to tie a good loop knot. I used to tie directly to the frog, but tried the loop once and won’t tie a frog any other way. If using SPRO Frogs, I seem to be able to walk them better by trimming the legs no more than an inch. I used to cut them really short, but I have found the dancing of the legs helps with strikes. Also, many times people tend to think of frogs as the bigger the frog the better fish. Not the case. Downsize to the small Koppers or my favorite SPRO Bronze Eye Jr. I find with the larger frogs, they will slap at it, but more times than not miss it. First starting with the prespawn period. The fish are hungry from a cold winter. Most of the time the water temps will be in the mid 50's to low 60's. Thus during this time one should focus on anything that is going to radiate the most warmth. Shallow flats with isolated timber, grassy patches amongst wood, or even a laydown itself will produce. Because of the low water temps the use of the frog should be thought of more like a finesse worm technique, and used later in the day. As with all presentations one should cast past the key terrain and retrieve towards it. What I like to do is walk or chug the frog back to the piece of cover. Once I reach the cover stop the frog. Let it sit. Light a cigarette, and let it sit some more. Twitch the frog, and wait again. All the while watch your frog. It is this time of year you won't get the bowling ball splashes when they hit the frog, it will be a slow slurp and your frog disappears. Once it's gone, count one two and swing for the fences. Many will say wait until you feel the fish, but with hits like this, you probably won't feel the fish. I found them to take it and sit back in their key piece of cover, not moving. So the count is to make sure you let them try to swallow it without letting it go too far as to gut hook. In early spring frogging is painstaking, but can produce good fish. The spawn is tough, but if you find a bed chug or walk the bait until it is directly over the bed and let it sit. This only applies to beds that are in 1-3ft of water. Any deeper than that and my guess is the fish don't find it a threat. Spawn with a frog is just another way to change up the normal sight of 'nest robbing' shaky heads or dropshots. Hook sets are the same as prespawn. Post spawn, likely my favorite frog time of year. This is when you have a few weeks for the fish to be fattening up before hitting their summer patterns of lazy days in the shade. Sunny or cloudy, the frog will work. In addition to this, the fish are also protecting fry. If you find the fry look for the nearest key ambush point. Here in SE Va and NE NC the fry will focus on protected areas from the wind. If you have a wind swept bank, find the few spots that are shielded by tall reeds. The best spots have wood right next to the greenest reeds you can find. The fry will be there. Cast to the reeds and walk/pause the bait back. Your pauses should be no more than 5-15 seconds. Chugging isn't the greatest here, but it does have its place in matted grass. As one will notice in the spring, the milfoil and other sub aquatic grasses will begin to bloom. Most of the time they haven't hit the surface yet, and are about 6-8 inches from the surface. In the mornings you will be able to find the fry here. Cast up onto what is matted, then chug the frog off of the mat. Once off the mat, then walk the bait and try to pause over the fry. If a predator is there for fry they may find the frog a bigger/better meal, if a parent finds the frog to be a threat, then they will kill it. Either way, good for you. Summer patterns cover two different elements. Those elements have a lot to do with the type of cover you are fishing. We will start with matted grass, cover lily pads, and finally swamp-type situations. Matted Grass, mainly milfoil because that's all we have out here. In the thickest of the mats in 2-3ft of water is usually where bass will congregate (again, this is area specific for out here). If there is a healthy bait population around, many times they will keep themselves between the mats and the shoreline, if there is a gap. So what one would find is the fish will ambush from the mats to the shallow section and then return to the mat. In this scenario keep a punching rig handy in case a fish misses the frog. Now we will move to cypress swamps. During the heat of the day the bass will take refuge amongst the root system of the tree, much like they do in mats. Morning time, if you have grass near trees they will feed in the grassy area then return to the knees. With that being said, the grass is milfoil and that’s already been covered. When they do move to the knees you can still catch them on the frogs. This time of year, pausing is of little value, in my experience. Most of the time I get hit as I walk the frogs so close to the cover they are bumping it. I’ve caught fish in 91* water in the heat of the day by doing this in the swamp. The best root systems are when the water is high and they are back in the shade of the trees. Cast as far back into the trees as you can and walk it back. I’ve had tournament partners who prefer to chug their frogs back there and they couldn’t buy a bite, meanwhile I was killing them walking the bait. Lily Pads are a different animal. I usually walk the bait with my rod tip down, but I was fishing lily pads and found I wasn’t catching any fish and would lose control of the bait due to the line getting wrapped under the pads. So in an experiment I tried holding the rod tip high at the 10:00 to 11:00 position. Then I would quickly move the frog across the pads using a shaking motion as if I was fishing a swimming jig. Pausing, again this time of year, hasn’t been a necessity for me. I will change it up like anything else, but usually find the fish track and attack the bait more often when it’s moving. Once I hit the edge of the pads I drop the rod tip and walk the bait about 4 ft away from the pad before retrieving and starting again. Occasionally you will see a bass come out of the pads and get the bait, my assumption is they are tracking it under the pad then attack when it’s walked on open water. Don’t truly know the reason why, I asked Mr.Bass, but he wasn’t in a talkative mood. So those are my successes with frogs in different settings. In the ever progressing mindset of self improvement I would love to hear any experiences or techniques not mentioned above that have worked for you. Chaz

Wow, there's a lot of clubs in So Cal huh?

Hey all, I am moving back to Cali this next spring and am Looking for any clubs in the Temecula area. Looking forward to being in big bass country and being able to see the bottom again. Thanks in advance. YES #@@!@# IT I KNOW I USED THE WRONG THERE, I HATE IT WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DO THAT TOO!

I have to agree with this. I have two Revo SXs that I absolutely love. A friend of mine is moving over seas and gave me his PQ, and HOLY COW! Sadly, I like it as much or better than my Revos.

I just used a thick copper wire that I threaded through the leg holes. It's the same concept. Just be sure to tie the skirt in a knot in the middle. This will prevent the 'legs' from coming out. You may need to lube it a little with megastrike or baby oil.

Mine, too. That skirt would be money on a 1/4 oz Cavitron.

You'd be fine. I had a 2004 Siverado with the same motor that I used to haul bigger loads than your boat in the hills of Az and Ca. It wasn't as easy as it is now in my 6.0L Silverado, but it was doable and not really under powered.

I like flouro and most of the stuff I've read recommends cranking with flouro for its sinking properties. With that being said, the Berkeley 100% is good stuff, just expensive. Stren 100% is good and the Stren Flouro Cast actually seems to touch 7 ft with 17 lb line on a medium diving crank (6-8ft). Just my experience. The more amiable the flouro, the less abrasion resistance. From what I have seen that has been the case. Also try some sinking Copolymer lines. They seem to be pretty good too.

So I got an Abu Veritas Rod around the end of May, and it broke during normal usage, no abuse (third time out). So Abu was awesome about sending me a new one through their warranty. Well I got the replacement in on Thursday and the top six inches was broken off. I have a claim through Fed Ex, and called Abu about it. Well their customer service is actually pretty good. I have a replacement in the mail, due here between Friday and Monday sometime. That's even without the Fed Ex claim completed. I probably won't buy another Veritas, but I will say I'm going to keep up with Abu Reels. Their stuff is pretty good.

I have some of the SPRO 65's that are cut really short too and they seem to do a lot better than my other ones. I guess it depends one location, time of year, etc... Also, Shad Master, if you're worried about cutting too short you can leave a couple legs as is and cut the rest. No more than one or two and you keep the movement of the legs. Just my experience.

VIVA LA MIGRA!!! (Tell the old BP man that, he'll understand). Good for you guys. Cherish those moments. The last time I went fishing with my pop was 1999, and that was the last time I will ever get the chance to.

To give you a perspective on what everyone else is saying, I was fishing frogs A LOT in May. Caught maybe 70-80 fish throughout the month on frogs alone. With that being said, I now have to get a new spool for my Revo SX because I bent it ever so slightly with the hard hooksets. Sometimes with frogs there is no splash, and that's how May started out. They get up under them and slurp them under. All you know is your frog is gone. Count one-two and try to set so hard the fish will wind up on the moon. You have to be using a stout rod or you will certainly break it.

Oh I agree. When I finally can get a fortrexx it won't have the us2 on it. I won't run motorguide because I am way too hard on TMs to have a metal shaft that's not under lifetime warranty. Had one once that I destroyed in one day. Could I be more careful around timber? Yes of course, but I get in the moment and am all over the place. Not to mention I like being able to cut through grass easily. There's no weedless wedge for MG.

I'm not sure that's the issue. I will try it, but I have the shoot through hull unit on the exact same settings and have zero issues with it. I generally check that one to see what my actual depth is. I'm just tired of asking my coangler what our depth is when I have a really nice set up for my electronics. Lowrance everything by the way.

I fish frogs in open water around wood a lot and the braid has ZERO adverse affect on the amount of strikes I get. And I'm not fishing heavy grass most of the time. In addition to that, I have had 65lb braid snap on hooksets, grant it the braid was likely knicked, but keep that in mind. If they suck it in and sit still a hard hookset on a dink feels like your setting into wood, you're going to want the tinsel strength.

Used boats are awesome, just like used cars though you have to inspect what you're getting. That ranger with 73 hrs on the motor sounds awesome. The skeeter 225, there's a reason that boat is only 18k, I would shy away from that. I also don't like skeeters so there may be some bias there. Also, don't limit yourself to a dealer. There are lots of quality boats out there from private dudes. Don't be afraid to travel either, as long as you get the motor checked out first by a mechanic. Compression check, hull inspection, TRANSOM inspection, etc... bought my bass cat from a guy in Vermont and met him at thee Delaware welcome center on the 95. Point being don't be afraid to travel for a good deal. Hope this helps.

I have an issue with inaccurate depth readings. If I am in super shallow water it will tell me I am in deeper than I know I am. For example if I am in 1.5 ft it will read 4-6ft. I know I'm that shallow because my two depth units in the back, a lowrance flasher and another HDS7, both reading 1.2-1.5 (slight difference in mounting location for the two different transducers). It did not do that until I changed software.

Last year I would get into the thickest grass I could find on a low tide in 3-4ft at the mouths of creeks and fish rage shads and toads. Had some of my best days fishing on the east coast doing that. Now I'm trying to expand on that pattern and get on some bigger fish. I think they are still relating to the milfoil though. I also started the day chasing breaking fish with a spook. That's always fun. And yes the bass are back. Those 80,000 fingerlings they stocked in '08 are starting to become keepers and are fat and healthy. On thing to add to this. Were you planning on answering the question? I got a lot of gouge on Back Bay, but still have my same question.

Flip your spinnerbaits upside down, then put a clump of megastrike on the base of the hook where it meets the lead. It will be embedded underneath the inner skirt and won't hinder the wavy motion of the outer skirt. I also find it to be a sort of tasty center of a tootsie roll pop for the bass when they nail the spinnerbait or buzzbait, or chatterbait, or jig, or etc... Works for me. When I apply megastrike to the e2 jigs I do almost the same thing, but I squirt it into the crevasse between the pendulum head and the bait keeper.

Wayne, Ok so what if I have no thermocline because of super shallow water. Max depth is about 8ft on a very large body of water (Back Bay in Virginia Beach 25,000 acres). I am told the deeper holes around duck blinds hold fish, but have yet to find any there. I circled a bunch of them today looking for anything interesting. I found some stuff, most of it was either submerged pilings and pieces of the conifers they use to camouflage the blind. I worked t-rigs, c-rigs and flipped the actual blinds themselves with nothing to show for it. Grant it the adage all fish hold cover, but not all cover holds fish is applicable, but should I be trying to find fish on the structure scan first, then fish it if I do and pass if I don't? We caught a lot of bass in the grass up by the bank, but they were all schoolies and I am sure the larger ladies are in the deepest stuff I can find. Thanks in advance. Chaz

You can fish stumpy lake, but you will be limited to the docks by the dam where Elbow Rd meets Indian River Rd. That oversized pond is full of white perch and catfish. I don't know about any bass, but it looks like there's a lot of fish holding cover there. As far as kayaks and stuff I know you used to be able to get on it, but I couldn't tell you for sure. If you don't have a boat go down to West Neck Marina in Pungo. It's on West Neck Road. Dewey has jon boats for rent and some of the best fishing around is right there in that creek. If you go right out of the marina you get a lot of wood and its more like a swamp, if you go left the wood is more sparse, but there's a lot of grass. There are fish in that creek 365 days a year.