Wild Bill [NY]

For serious frogging , a high-speed batcaster reel [7.0/1] rigged with 65 pound braid is the way to go. I use either 7'4" Frog Rods, or 7'6" Frog rods. You seriously want a HEAVY action for the really heavy slop. I am new to it, too ... [been frogging since 1969, and a Snag Proof color is named after me]. The Wild Bull frog color pattern Har, har, har !!

Welcome aboard, Guys. I fish northern New Jersey often.

I concur. Use them for drop-shotting.

Good luck with your new Dobyns Rod. Sounds sweet for that purpose.

I have had absolutely BAD EXPERIENCES with BPS reels, and will NEVER BUY ONE again. The rods are okay, but the reels just $%*& !! Sorry to bash a sponsors products, but I speak nothing but the truth , based on my experiences. I will ONLY BUY a Shimano or Daiwa reels from now on, as they hold up to use, and you can ALWAYS GET PARTS and service for them, unlike BPS reels which are made for BPS by other companies . I have never had a Daiwa nor Shimano give me the problems BPS reels have, Shimano customer service is next to NOBODY; they are THE BEST, im my experiences, and they stand behind their products 100%, even many years later,

Welcome aboard. Do you have any pictures of the ten-plus pounder ?

The green Ranger towed behind my Suburban kind of tells them... Har, har, har !!

The EASIEST way to determine if a Bass is a Spotted Bass or Largemouth is to hold the fish with it's mouth fully closed. Now look at where the rearmost hingepoint of the mouth is; on a Spotted Bass that hingepoint will be forward of the Bass's eye. If it is a Largemouth, that hingepoint will be behind the eye. Secondly, open the fish's mouth, and look on the tongue...if you see an elongated small area about the width of a sharpie pen mark wide [and maybe about a 1/2" to 3/4" long] lengthwise on the center of the tongue the color of a tobacco stain, it is a Spotted Bass. No stain...it's a LM. Definitely not a LM/SM Hybrid...

On freshwater fishing forums , like this one and many others. They often have 'for sale' forums, like this one does. I am on several Bass fishing forums from all across the USA . Since I am living in NY, I frequent a NY-based site often.. Most years, I fish for about eight to ten days in the California-Delta as well as several canyon lakes there, located south of the Delta [ inland from San Francisco ], so I am on a site from there, especially right before my visits there. BY being an active member on various fishing forums on the internet, I have had some truly amazing Bass fishing adventures to far away places here in the USA by meeting other anglers on the internet. Through that, I have caught both northern and Florida-strain Largemouths, hybrids of the same, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass, MeanMouth Bass, freshwater Striped Bass ,"wipers", and Peacock Bass. Wooo Hoo, I love bass fishing !!.

Look for a used Powell MAX or Dobyn's Champion, both in the model 735.[Powells wll be the cheaper of the two] Slap a used Curado in a 7/1 ratio, and you will have a froggin combo that would be hard to be beat by anything, pretty much. I have the Powell 735 MAX , and it is an awesome one-piece frogging rod. It is 7'3" in length. [i paid $90 for a used one.] I also have {two} Daiwa "Light and Tough" 'Frog Rods', that also are 7' 3", but they telescope down to 6 feet even for easy storage. [Paid $100 each new for them] Look for a 'lightly'-used Cudado D or E for around $100, Slap some backing line first, then some 50 pound Power Pro, and go get them. It doesn't get much better than that.

AS important, or MORE IMPORTANT as will it pull is.... 'WILL IT STOP THE d**n TRAILER IN WET WEATHER". After you have been pushed through intersections on wet pavement by a small/medium sized truck that will not safely stop the trailer, you will learn.

Way too short, and you are NEVER going to be able to bury the heavy frog hooks into the bass's mouth with a whippy Ugly Stick.

I watch for sales and deals... That rod has a MSRP of about $160. The still-new Curado E were [and still are in some circumstances] really being knocked pricewise as the newer models came out recently. For frogging, I would recommend a 7/1 ratio reel , so that you can reel in really quickly after missed attacks and cast it back to the 'scene of the crime' [missed attack].. I put some old mono on the reel as backing, then filled it with 50 pound Power Pro. Good to go...

A decent frog rod will start out with an extra fast tip that tapers quickly to a rod with a LOT of backbone. You need that extra fast tip to really sling that frog accurately, and you need that backbone in the rod to pull the fish and a near gazillion pounds of weeds out with the fish. Many try to get by by using a Flipping rod because they already have one, but a true flipping rod has too stiff of a rod tip to sling the froggy with any accuracy or distance. Braided line is crucial as part of this set up because it offers zero line stretch , so you get really good hooksets that do not come undone as the fish balls you up in the weeds, and the braid has enough strength to pull that fish back to you from amid all that slop.. If I can answer any questions about frogging, ask away. I am here representing site sponsor SNAG PROOF . I am proud to wear their hat and shirt as I fish, as seen in my avatar photo.

Wild Bill, the 'frog-a-holic' here. Been fishing them since 1969. I favor Snag Proofs. Their "Wild Bull Frog" color is actually named after me. Hollow bodied frogs really shine when they are fished in and over heavy surface vegetation., usually once air temps get warmer and the frogs become active in your area. Small baitfish and insects will attract the carnivorous frogs into the heavy cover, and all of that frog activity will cause Big ol' Bass to blow up on the frogs, with the Bass often coming right up and out of the cover on the attack, throwing weeds and water around. I use 50 pound braided line, and a heavy 7'3" rod for this technique , so that once the bass fully eats the frog lure, then I can pull that Bass up and out of that heavy weed. The heavy-wire hooks on the frogs requirea god, strong hookset to bury them into the Bass's hard mouth tissue. Be sure to wait long enough for the Bass to close it's mouth before you set the hok, or else your froggie will be flying back to you, and you will have missed that fish. My favorite frog is the "Bobby's Perfect Frog" made in America by Snag Proof. The fish in my avatar photo was caught on one. To give you a size reference, I weigh 275 pounds. The rod I use the most often for frogging is the Daiwa "Light and Tough" 7'3" Frog Rod, paired with a 7/1 [quick retrieve] Curado reel. It doubles nicely as a heavy pitching rod, for slinging 1/2 ounce jigs or T-rigs.,or follow-up baits for missed frog attacks. I like that rod so much that I have two of them..

Welcome aboard !

Most states have laws against putting ANYTHING into the waters.

Welcome aboard from a fellow NY-er. I am down on Long Island , but fish many different regions.

Welcome aboard. I grew up fishing NJ waters, and still fish them now, despite that I now live on Long island.

Welcome aboard from a guy that cut his teeth bass fishing in the 1960s. I live in NY though... My grandfather used to have a summer lakefront house just outside of KC. What cement factory ??

That's a great tip about how to straighten out your bent up Super Flukes. They work world's better when they are straight. I have done that for years, and it is the real deal. I usually use a 4/0 EWG in a Heavy-Wire hook weightless, or sometimes, if I want the bait to work deeper in the water column, I will use a light belly-weighted EWG instead. Another rigging option is to nose-hook them on a 1/0 or 2/0 octopus hook. Great hookup ratios this way, but you need less weeds to rig it that way. [awesome for Smalies when rigged this way]

I am 'right-handed'. My right hand and arm are FAR stronger than my left. BY having my rod in my right hand as I cast and retrieve, I can set the hook with that much more force. My right hand is far more sensitive than my left hand. Because of that, I can sense bites through my rod and line with my right hand, than if I was holding the rod in my left hand. I can reel with my left hand just fine. By examining those three things is how I decided which hand of reel to use in baitcasting. I am right handed, and crank on the left side; that is what is best FOR ME.

I have had several Quantum spinning reels and one baitcaster over the years. The finishes were horrible quickly; something I have never seen on Daiwa nor Shimanos. The handles on all three of the spinning reels virtually melted, and became useless. I called customer service, and yes, they sent new ones gratis, but then they too melted over time. I have learned...no more Quantums for me..I am DONE with them.

May not always be the most productive method, but the Spook getting crushed is just mind-blowing.

My family used to OWN the eastern side of the north end of Farrington Lake back in the early 60s, strating right by the bridge, and going south from there. Back then, that all used to be the countryside. I was back there last year, and was amazed how built up it was. I still fish NJ, but now live east of JFK out on Long Island. Welcome aboard !