frogflogger

z man has some good ones

My old mentor gave me good advice about fishing a jig - any jig - I've taught many over the years using the same advice - "keep in touch" bass eat a jig many different ways so keep in touch with it -

I have 2 brownings 5:1 that will not die after years of grinding

BOZ zz walker

water skiers any pleasure boaters don't bother me unless a collision is imminent - I hold us bass fisherman to a higher standard of behavior.

boiled eggs and homemade oatmeal, raisin, choc. chip cookies

Fish it -

Could be low oxygen - if that is the case they will be very shallow under any surface cover and tricky to catch - frogs are the only thing I've found that gets them to eat in this situation - and they are iffy. This may not have any relevance in your area - try the ned rig if all else fails.

I really like white nan o fil for float n fly rig - 10' leader so abrasion isn't an issue and boy does it cast far.

In shallow Florida lakes I've always done well with frogs in the middle of the day in water temps close to the 90's - the fish come up under the pads or hydrilla and are accessible - not frantic action but usually good quality. The difficulty for me it is dealing with the heat and sticking with the program.

I fish the rig in 20' - I go to 1/10 to 1/8 at that depth - the hula stick is deadly in the depths.

Braid

I'd put braid and a frog on that worm rod and heave away - there are more efficient approaches but frogs are fun and they will draw out the biggest bass - if they don't eat throw a plastic at them.

Formula I've had success with - go bigger or go smaller - go faster or go slower - don't fish for the fish the guy in the front is fishing for - he isn't covering all of them.

slow worm and slower frog -

Loop could get pinched in split ring - one or the other.

Deep clear water, I would use the larger - Bill Simental talks about using big swimbaits in deep clear water - the bigger baits are more noticeable from the depths.

Fished for years out of an innertube - if you fish for bass you belong here boat or no boat. It's a bass fishing site not a boating site.

It happens with the new shroomz heads - the baits stretch and move and get rehooked on the keeper barb - elaz tec is tough stuff - truthfully for me whether or not it's straight isn't near as important as it is with other plastics

The fishing in our reservoirs is much better now than it was 30 yrs ago thanks to our DNR - they did wonders introducing forage fish in our fairly sterile lakes that are mainly for flood control. I've heard fishery managers getting bashed for many years - it's an easy thing to do but rarely accurate.

I'm not so sure they see every spinner bait the same - if I read it correctly they have a quick "blink" time or something like that - they see the actual blade where we see a blur - I've had them quit willow leafs but nail a colorado blade - - anecdotal at best but that's been my experience.

I should have stressed there are several rods for less than $50 that will do just fine for this technique.

I've been fishing this technique for many years - I use a 30 yr old ML rod with almost parabolic action - any of the above named rods will suffice - Kehde uses inexpensive old spinning rods. Those small lures work better with small hooks and a soft action will keep a hooked fish hooked. The beauty of this style of fishing is its simplicity, don't over think it, light line, light action rod, light jig head - go fishing.

Florida - I never had much time to do anything but really set the hook - 8' hvy flipping rod - 65# braid - when I missed it was usually because they had already dropped the lure - of course I am old.

The elephant in this room is that bass are moving north - brookies (which I love fishing for) are a cold water species that are having a tough time in their more southern regions. On a body of water this size bass and perch population growth are probably a given no matter what kind of regulations they put up to deter them.