frogflogger

I've tried countless retrievers over the years - home made and purchased. I am now using a "hound dog" it is easily the best I've ever used.

I really like 10# nanofil with a 6# fluoro leader - that said we fished the beetle on straight mono for years and caught lots of fish. The main thing for me is a soft action rod and sharp hooks.

Parabolic action rods use the entire blank - "progressive taper" sila flex use to call it I think - a good parabolic rod casts easier and keeps fish buttoned better - I get frustrated by the "fast tip" actions which are by far the most available - they have their use of course but many situations and many anglers would benefit from rods with a more parabolic action.

I believe I have a wire bender that clamps onto a table - I'm also in almost heaven and would give it to you if you want - pm me.

An aside to this - I've tied hair jigs (sometimes commercially) for 60+ yrs. and for my own use I've never bothered to paint the heads. I believe oxidized lead is a neutral color and actually makes most jigs more effective.

Travel every year - stay at motels with camera security - and we ALWAYS stay at Roland Martins never had any issue..

The simplest and most straight forward way to find bass in deep water is to troll. Learn to troll and you will learn more about fish behavior - depth and location and your body of water. I know with the popularity of tourn. fishing it has fallen out of favor but it can be an eye-opening experience. I know there are some spoon-pluggers on here hopefully they will chime in - What you learn trolling can then be utilized with the myriad deep water casting techniques available.

You're in for some fun - also black and white marabou will catch you an amazing number of fish - all we use to carry was a bag of white marabou jigs and a bag of black - they still catch fish.

The great thing about Florida is every canal, pond or lake you see may harbor a dd bass of a lifetime.

yep - I learned to not leave the bait on the hook - the salt corrodes away the hook - hopefully zman will do something about this issue.

I'm shocked! not really

good place for flukes, senkos and never ever give up on the frog

And a worthy addition is the tried and true DIXIE JET spoon.

Yep - it's a duty - take kids fishing and also there are a lot of folks out there that can't afford a boat and such - take them along once in a while - there were those that did it for me when I was young or when I couldn't afford a boat. Makes for great fishing.

I've fished out of the back of the boat lots and when the guy in front is fishing deep (drop shot, etc.) I've had very good results just letting the little rig doodle around down there.

Phillips Crippled Killer - white with blue - was and is a very good bait for me

When I fished tournaments - I used few baits - when I guided I used few baits - now that I'm retired I try them all - What fun!

Been reading mag.s since Jason Lucas - the one that is in my mailbox (thanks to wife) which ever one it is is my favorite.

sufix tritanium for wood, rocks or docks - sufix braid for grass and reeds

I've fished them 15' but it took a lot of patience and if there's a breeze it calls for some boat handling to feed the line down.

My approach was to look for an area of mixed aquatics -

Having gone over 12 days without a fish I would advise keep fishing - the ned rig will usually cure those ills.

Yesterday I tested some 20 yr old pline fluoroclear - it's been laying in boats or cabinets for years - still 8# break strength - never been in the sun.

Is the Bagley B flat still available?

don't know about the biwaa or lucky strike but I've had good use with the Sebile soft swimmers.