frogflogger

good all around rig

sufix tritanium - learned about it from guys in sofla who fished for snook around bridges - this stuff is tough and extemely abrasion resistant and cheap for a quality mono

I loved the abu reflex - it was like a shyster but the end of the blade was bent out so it would spin better - caught tons of bass on them - can't find them anymore.

I recently rewrapped an old fenwick fiberglass rod using micro's - it lightened up the rod and gave it a quicker action - it will be used for walking spooks.

Bought a trion for clients who couldn't use bait casters - the thing is smooth and seems indestructible - just dug it out and spooled it with nan o fil for early season hair jig fishing.

I should have specified spectra - I used 9 1/2 lb. braided silk tournament line on my langley's years ago and black braid on the old Bronson, but spectra and graphite rods made modern frog fishing possible.

braid, before braid frog fishing was wasted effort

I've used palomar and uni forever but day before yesterday I tied on a lure using a trilene knot with 10# braid and another one with 10# nan0fil - 6 wraps moistened and slowly tightened, the knots didn't slip and they were very small and tidy and had double line on the eye. I'll try this til it fails as it is a very quick and easy knot.

I am amazed at the browning reels I bought at bps sale in sofla 10yrs ago (mi1000's, 10bb) made in Korea I bought them for clients use and they just keep on working - two of them are 5.2:1 so I've used them for grinding crankbaits ad nauseum - they've caught 1000's of fish - I clean and oil every so often and take 'em fishing - I own U.S. built Ardents, I'm very happy with, also calais, curado and high end daiwa , all very good reels but (years later) the Brownings are as smooth and reliable as any of them. I wonder if they are some kind of one off freak of good production - anyone else have this experience with them?

when all else fails - zoom trick worm - t-rigged - split shot - ds - I've had many days saved by a t-rigged black trick worm - they've made this old guide look good many times

straight shank hook 3/0-5/0 - tungsten wt. to fit your situation and the zoom super hog is a very reliable bait - if needed, peg the weight.

silver buddy or other blade bait - hair jig with or without float - silver buddy or other blade bait - jerk bait - silver buddy or other blade bait

The old and usually good advice is dark water dark bait - clear water light bait - dark day dark bait - sunny day light bait - night fishing dark bait - of course I've seen plenty of times the opposite worked

You'll probably be fine with the ml -

I bought an 7' avid mh years ago - just rewrapped it - it's caught tarpon, snook and many bass - it's a good rod - I spiral wrapped it for pitching jigs, time will tell if that was a good move.

at times a snap to a split ring adds a "wider/wilder" movement to the crank - not always - but sometimes - and like the man says check your line often no matter how you fasten the crank to the line.

bomber long a's -

try different casting speeds/styles - some baits need a smoother acceleration - hard to describe - also a-jay's idea of a softer rod is probably a good one. I've had some degree of success by lengthening the amount of line from the rod tip to the lure.

yep just keep recycling them you'll get some colors no one has ever seen and some of them could be killer

lighter brakes - faster spool - the old ambassadors had several sizes

the carbonlites are solid sometimes for under a $100 - falcons can be had for a good price - also learn to wrap guides - stripping old guides and replacing with lighter new ones can bring new life to an old rod.

read the tt review on them

one year I caught a 4# bass on a furbit on my first cast on christmas day - in the everglades of course

Be fearless you never know when some haphazard combo is going to be the next "great"color

Go for it is my advice - chances are you won't screw up the blank and you can rewrap it again down the road - don't get too involved in stuff - a pile of books for thread tensioning will work - dress the ends of the guides if needed for the thread to climb on - varnish or epoxy only the wrappings - use one color thread and as little as possible - less is more on a good rod blank. I built hundreds of rods while going to school back in the dark ages and still going at it 50+ yrs. later - it's not rocket science - just do some research and TAKE YOUR TIME it's simple fun - pick a decent blank, hard to go wrong with fuji guides and handles but there are options - you'll hear lots of talk about spline which I pay attention to but it's been proven to me over and over it's not near as critical as some believe. All that said if you want a professional job - get a pro.