frogflogger

The first time I caught a bass in Florida I was impressed with their strength - as for pulling drag - when frog fishing with drag tight as I could get it and 50# braid I've still had bass in the everglades and Okeechobee make my drag slip. Florida strain bass are longer bodied than their northern kin, I don't know if this contributes to their strength.

For walking baits with braid I love my old 5'8"fenwick glass rod - easy accurate casting and you can make a spook dance the tango.

I catch a lot of smallmouth on small jigs and ned rigs but all my biggest fish have been on topwater.

Practice - practice - practice - it can be fun and it will make you a better fisherman.

all great effective baits - for myself I'd say a jig - a hand full of hair jigs and a handful of jig spinners - at one time that's all I carried in my shirt pocket - then Chuck showed up with the beetle.

Caught loads of bass on black johnson spoons with 6" black pork eels - wind it over the veg. and let it shimmy down open holes absolutely deadly. The spoon rocks back and forth horizontally and the trailer undulates down vertically. Now you have to use plastic trailers and they work but they can't replace the pork for effectiveness. Until recently sharpening hooks was just part of the night before ritual.

I go from Henshall, Lucas - through to Knowing Bass - Knowing Bass, Bill Simental and Bill Murphy have been very helpful as was Buck Perry - many bass fishing books are fairly lame but there is usually a jewel somewhere in most of them. Lucas for ethics

I've fished both type baits for decades and have always been interested in how other anglers fasten line to spooks and poppers and there is no "right" way. Many accomplished spook tossers tie direct, many use split rings and many use snaps - same goes for poppers. The longer you fish the more you find success/comfort in certain details - if it works for you keep it up. If you are seeking to learn, find the way you are most comfortable/confident with - myself I will use different ties for different lure behavior. It's bass fishing which means try anything and everything until you find your own preference.

white rods, red, blue, green, purple, etc. all give me a rash

white rods give me a rash

best advice - "go fishing" better advice - "throw topwaters they are entertaining"

I've always used 50# sufix but last time in Florida I tried 80# not needed for strength but it was easier to handle flipping and did not dig in after hurking on reeds and such.

After many years of throwing frogs and owning way way too many I have no overall favorite - different frogs for different situations is my motto.

One of the reasons I like a more parabolic rod when fishing braid.

I agree with Larry Dahlberg in that at first I just wanted to catch a bass, then I wanted to catch a bunch, that morphed to big bass fishing - now I want to catch them my way - which is usually some new lure or technique I've cooked up.

stayed at horse creek - it's okay - would use it again if I was going to fish the lower lake

Throw a frog one fish will be exciting

I'm over run with deer and will kill one in my yard to eat but it's not sport for me - much more challenging to catch a large bass and release it

Hope for the best and/or enjoy the jump.

Long casts make for long retrieves which means my lure is in the water longer and the fish have more time to target it - I've proven it to my satisfaction frog fishing and swimbait tossing.

Need better hooks for mono?

Since braid showed up I have found no drawbacks to long accurate casts. I love long casts for frogs, spooks, and swimbaits - but I keep a 51/2' rod on hand for short pinpoint casts with cranks, plastic and poppers.

For me walking a frog is not important - I frog fished 300+ days a year in sofla and usually did a chug and pause or chug chug or chug chug chug - almost every day is a bit different - just keep it near a bass and they will eat it - some days fast some days long pauses - never saw walking as more effective than chug chug - never.

Different water signatures if that means anything - I've fished grubs for years and will continue to but I like the paddle tails better in larger sizes over 4"- as for price perhaps the paddletails are a bit more difficult to manufacture.

Any tube or plastic gizmo you punch through heavy stuff with a heavy sinker is going to get bit if they are there - they don't have much time to examine the bait.