TourPT

Hum, Just thinking out loud, hotdog flavored MegaStrike. JJ's Garlic Dog.... etc....... LOL

Good read. Thanks for the link!

Pretty much the same here. I use the popper most the time but if it gets really thick I tie on the 65. Will add that when fishing in the dark though, I like to use the King Daddy over the other two.

I agree BAM all the way! Jam packed full of good, useful info that the others are lacking. Bassmaster back in the 70's and early 80's was a great mag loaded with good articles, but IMO it's a rather boring read now a days. I canceled when they jacked the price from 15 to 25 bucks. It was once worth 25, but not so anymore IMO. FLW is ok IMO. I do however wish they would stop using the word REVIEW on the cover for a review to me is taking a product out on the water and putting it threw its paces and then reporting on it in detail. What they do is list a few products and give a brief description and call that a review. Other then that, there are some good articles in the mag from time to time. Another good one of which I have not seen in awhile is Bass West. I don’t live out west but the content is pretty good. Being that I live in IL, I also like IL Game and Fish and also Midwest Outdoors. I admit I jump to the bass fishing articles and skip the rest, but for local bass fishing info there articles on such are pretty good. I believe they are available for other states also. Over all in all honesty BAM is the only one I actually look forward to reading anymore. If Bassmaster ever gets back to its roots I will be all over that, but I won’t hold my breath. Throw in this site and you got all the bass fishing info you will ever need! Well as long as you don’t pay any attention to the Quantum haters. LOL

Jig fishing a mile long rocky shoreline along the drop off does take some time but usually results in catching our bigger fish. We try to speed it up some by looking for anything different on that drop off, and working that area over good, however just the smallest little thing, small change in bottom contour for example, can hold fish. It’s not the fastest way to cover that type of water but the results are worth it IMO. As for the frog, other then the fact I am addicted to fishing hollow body frogs and have been for the past 7 years, I have actually won a couple tournaments frog fishing the rocks. It’s often over looked as far as frog fishing goes but IMO anywhere you have bass in say less then 5 ft of water, it does not matter the cover or even if there is no cover, if the bass are there, there is a good chance they will hit the frog. That’s not to say that cranks and other lures are not good choices for the rocks for they are, this system just seems to work best for me on this body of water. I still throw the cranks there and actually do well with them, but if I can get away with fishing my two favorite lures, the jig and the frog, so much the better.

I fish a lot of places that have rock walls, rocky shorelines and such. Jigs and cranks are excellent choices. I agree, banging them in the rocks it a great way to attract strikes but on some days I have found working such along the edge of where the rocks meet the lake bottom can be killer, stirring up the lake bottom a little like a crawfish does. Another thing I love to do is to work a frog around these shorelines. Have had some excellent fishing throwing a frog around the rocks. One lake I fish has a rocky shoreline that drops off to 18 ft of water just a few feet from shore. I have caught bass right next to the shore on a frog and then came back down that bank with a jig, spinnerbait or a crankbait and caught bass off the drop off. That shoreline is about a mile long and we have caught a ton of bass off it using this system.

List of favorites but always open to try new products Loomis Quantum Reels Spro Frogs Bomber A Series Cranks Bagleys Topwaters Manns 15 - 20 Plus series Hildebrandt Spinnerbaits All Terrain Jigs Charlies Worms NetBait Gamakatsu WileyX MegaStrike Fish Attractant

Ditto! I have been milking the one and only Bang O Lure Tail Spin I have left forever, even fishing the thing on 50lb braid instead of the normal 17lb mono I use for such lures and being way to careful in where I cast it. Can not wait to stock up on more!

It’s a good frog for the price. I have had good luck with the poison dart color but there are a couple issues I have with them. First they do tend to tear at the line tie after some use of which causes them to sink, super glue usually fixes that. The material is a bit thicker then other frogs of which although I have not had any issues with hookups I can see where the thicker material makes for a smaller hook gap, so be sure to set the hook good. This frog is a bit harder to walk then some others, but with a little practice it does walk. Other then that, I have caught some nice bass on this frog right out of the package. Not the best frog around, but for the price there not bad.

Thank God I have a bunch of IMX, GLX and GL3 rods from Gary Loomis time, before Shimano, for this new generation of rods just does not do anything for me. Next thing you know they will be making reels out of foam in bright neon pink with fake diamonds studs, disco lights and bell bottoms and every time you cast the tune Pants On The Ground will play out of a little speaker on the foam side plate cover. LOL

I think you will be happy with the Grassmaster jig. Any jig is going to pick up some junk but this one comes out cleaner then any I have used before. All Terrain makes same dang good jigs IMO.

Still had a few on the beds out here near Dekalb over the weekend. Been a weird spawn for sure this year in IL.

I don't know about in harmony but one of the ponds I fish a lot has some monster size carp in it and also has a good bass population of 2 to 5lb bass. In this pond the carp all seem to want to swim around in a school most the time, except for this one horse that I always see swimming alone. The water is fairly clear, has good weed growth and you can easily spot the carp. The good news is what I like to call The Carp Factor. Doug Hannon has his Northwest Factor, I have The Carp Factor. LOL I use the carp to help find the bass or at least eliminate a section of the pond. If the carp are all bunched up on this side of the pond or in this corner of the pond, I know to go bass fish somewhere else on the pond for I have yet to catch a bass around a bunch of king size carp.

My dream combo would be if Loomis took there GL3 MBR845c, if they even make this model anymore, and added 3 or 4 inches for extra leverage, for IMO such would make a great frog rod. If you must the same in IMX, but really I am talking Frog Rod so IMX or GLX is not needed for such. As for the reel, Quantum Tour PT is all I use for frog fishing and is all I will ever need for such. One last dream is that someday soon somebody makes a line conditioner that repels the dang cotton that is all over the lakes around here from the cottonwood trees. Man what a pain in booty is it this time of year, having that stuff stick to the line, clog guides and so forth. I will pay whatever is asked for a bottle of such, just please someone make such!

Did they have the Bang - O - Lure Tail Spins?

Like others have mentioned, that early spring was some good fishing then it just died off. Since then everything has been backwards. What I mean is, usually early in the season the ponds being the first to warm, the bass fishing is usually the best this time of year at the ponds, however I have not been able to get anything going on the ponds. The lakes on the other hand have been producing pretty well. No monsters, but at least getting some action on the bigger waters. Water temps as of this past weekend are around 55-60 here in Northern IL. Another kind of weird thing is the bass usually are hitting jigs, traps or cranks this time of year but its been all frogs, buzzbaits and other topwaters around here. Kind of like a fall bite rather then a early spring bite. Not complaining at all for I love throwing those, but just kind of wierd this early in the season.

I still have and still use a few Loomis GL3 and IMX rods that are going on 20 years old. Still work as good as the Loomis rods I have purchased over the last 5 years, in fact the older ones are better IMO for when Gary ran the show they used better guides and reel seats IMO.

All Terain GrassMaster jig is my favorite.

Favorite rod would have to be the Loomis IMX MBR844c. Reel, Quantum Tour KVD PT. I have had the rod for over 15 years and its still kicking bass and now that I jinks myself I better order another one just in case. LOL I wish Shimano would have left the rod alone instead of changing the guides from Pac Bay to Fuji and changing the reel seat but hopefully the blank is still the same.

I add megastrike to most scented or non scented lures except NetBait products. With the number of bass I catch on NetBait Soft Plastics no reason to add anything to them. Perfect as is IMO. Been also having some good catches lately adding the new Garlic Megastrike to the Havoc Plastics, but still not convinced its as good as the original formula.

Not sure about that, I think 90 percent of them have met KVD at some point over the years. LOL The only thing that bothers me about KVD name on lures is that I wish his cranks actually came with the same hooks he actually uses, other then that I have had fairly good luck on KVD name lures.

Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special Others have copied it but I prefer the original

LOL sorry I missed the Mojo Part. In that price range, or close to it anyways, the Lamiglas Excel Frog rod is pretty good.

For those posting on Stren Super Braid, can I ask where your finding it? It was my favorite Braid until Stren discontinued making it.

Spro 65, King Daddy and Popper are my favorites. The Scum Frog Popper, Mann's Super Frog and the New BooYah frog are also frogs I like to use from time to time, but the Spros are my first choice.