hatrix

I like it better then spinning. I can make little flick casts or pitch when you don't have room to swing a rod. You can also stop your bait from making a bad cast. It's way more efficient for me to use casting gear any time I can. The many ways I can cast and accuracy I have with a bait caster is far superior then spinning for me. I can make casts with out even really moving my rod. I can swing the bait around like a roll cast and let my tip load and fling the bait with out ever really moving my rod. I'll admit my spinning skills are probably not what they once where and you can do a lot of the same stuff on spinning but casting will always be my choice if possible.

It's all I fish except for a couple rods with yo-zuri. If your not used to fishing with it then it takes some getting used to. For me it's superior to all other lines and the sensitivity on moving baits is 2nd to none. When you impart action on a bait or set the hook the no stretch make it right now and with force. It is also the best for fishing weeds. If you get fouled you can clear it much easier then other lines. Did I mention it's almost unbreakable and probably the easiest line to manage since it has no memory? If they could make a sinking version and give it slack line sensitivity all other lines would be almost obsolete.

How thick is the brush around the bank. Can you basically walk around it? Or is it thick with just a few open spots to fish from. I have taken a machete to get back to places or clear out a area so I can cast and it pays off to get where others can't. A casting rod is better in a tight spot. Once you get good at it you can make weird awkward casts in tight spots and get in places a spinning rod can't. Fan cast parallel with the bank and wear a spot out from all angles you can if you think it's fishy. It's not uncommon to get a bite on the 15th cast to the same spot.

Hiddlestons, or swimbaits in general. You can fish them anywhere and they always seem to catch fish. I also saw that bill dance and was going to get one of those and a 3 arm one I think. There was another one called ATB or something that looked nice and it's adjustable.

Any thing over 4 is a nice fish. But when they reach that 5 or 6 range they almost become a different species.

That was not the way I fished either with spinning. It just kind of evolved into that and now it is natural for me to instantly grab the front cork. I think a lot of it has to do with the weight and how it balances when I hold a rod like that. If i split the reel it seems weird to me and i can feel the weight of the reel in front of where I am holding it. If I grab the front grip it balances it and your hand is more on center mass of the rod like palming a casting reel.

Like snook I now hold all spinning rods by the front grip. I find I have better control and it is more comfortable then splitting the reel like I use to. As for casting it depends on the lure but it is either all my fingers or just 3 in front of the trigger.

I keep all my stuff in Plano boxes. I have 2 boxes that are my main ones that are mixed up. I don't need to have a bunch of the same style lures in one box. I just keep lures that are proven to me and they have basically any thing in the box I need from terminal of all sizes to plastics to cranks or any thing. If I am doing a quick pond run I will fill up a empty plastics bag with what I want to fish and carry that in my back pocket.

Nail clippers are the best cut stuff with. You can get flush with the eye and don't leave the knot still stuck sometimes. Eventually they wear out but you can get junk ones for like $.99 at the check out counter. Needle nose work great also for cutting line and you can take out hooks.

It depends on the frog. But for me I believe longer legs make fish miss more so I usually lather them somehow .

Weedless huddlestons

For flukes or any softnplastic really if I feel a tap tap I usually lIme to wait a split second while I take up some slack then set the hook.

So I was fishing a grass minnow today and I got a bite set the hook. I get the fish back to the boat and it turns sideways and my minnow is stick out of it's gills. I though wow thats kind of weird he must of really ate it. I go to un hook it and what happened was my line went under its gill and the grass minnow go stuck up underneath. I was kind of cool since it was at the end of a long cast also. So i reeled him all that way while never hooked.

If it is a medium rod it is probably better suited for things like un weighted plastics or cranks. You could maybe use some lighter jigs and stuff but it might not have what you need in a tip to always slam it home and get a solid hook up in dense cover. I would try to stay with in the rod specs for line and lure size. Pick you line size based on the diameter of the line not the # test. For example 30# power pro has the diameter of 8# mono.

After training my self to count when they grab my frog my % of hookups sky rocketed. Braid is also a must for me. My rod tip is down when they grab it but I lower or more or lean towards them. That's 1. Then I give some quick turn of the handle to take up slack. That's 2. Then I stand back up and hammer it home. That's 3.

Red Eye Shad is > then all others. For me it is any ways. I might have more traps then any thing but I only use the RES in 1/2 oz and some times 3/4 but rarely.

I caught a few when I was a kid on floating broke backs. They are kind of a nuisance when they won't leave you bait alone. They get there feet caught in the trebels and it's a pita. Snapping turtles can be the same way and it's tuffto get hooks out of them.

Dick's does not carry it. Well the ones around me don't and as for the stretch its fairly minimal and seems perfect for great hook sets.

It could just be off days for fishing or bad luck. As we all know some days are just skunks for the most part and bites are few and far between and you can never hone in on a pattern cause its so random. A lot of times on a pond I can tell how good a day it is by the action on the surface. If you see tons of blow ups or all those little ripples next to the bank where they are pushing the fry then fish are fairly active and you should be able to catch a few. People say pond fishing is easier but that all depends on the pond. If you can come to my house and slay them at my pond and even more do it on a off day then you can flat out catch them any where.

You can catch fish with any bait but some just work better then others. Thats not to say that same style or color of crank is always the best on every body of water. It might be super good at one place but the next spot you might not be able to buy a bite with it. I am not saying buying one of every thing but hang out around here and read what people claim works or do some research and then decide for your self if that is a bait that might produce for you. For me I like to know how a lure feels and performs at all times. I want to know at all times what is happening with that bait while its under water. If you constantly changing baits every 10 minutes cause you didnt get a bite it might be hard to get in tune with a certin lure. Spend some time with 1 bait you think will be a good producer and really try to master how that bait acts and feels. You can have every bait in the world but in the end its only a handfull of them you keep going back to time after time the rest are just there for looks.

I try to scrape it along the bottom. If I grab weed I give a little rip on it. If its rocks or stick and it starts to load my tip I give a quick turn or 2 and it pops up off the bottom. Lately spawning flats and casting parallel along banks have been killer. With out question hudds have easily been my most productive lure this year. One thing I have really paid attention to is they rarely scare fish. You go by with a different bait and they don't like it they take off and there gone. With hudds they will stay around and you can keep running it by till they finally like it.

Maybe shorten the legs on your frog. I assume it's a hollow body cause you missed fish. Some times they grab just the legs and it will have a wider walk. Like other people said they will just swipe it some times. If that happens I like to gently twitch it so it makes little rings on the water but doesn't move and often they hit it again.

Grass minnows catch tons for me but I get bigger bites on the shad.

As for spinners I like War Eagle or Terminators and there is tons of opinions and what not on here about jigs if you do a search.

Well I used it quite a few times now and I thought it was good but I am very fond of braid. One thing that was weird was how it floats and sinks at the same time. I could feel it sink and it seemed similar to when a fish grabs your bait as soon as it hits the water. I think in the end braid will always be my preferred line of choice. I like the line and still have reels spooled with it but I don't see it becoming my go to for line. I am some what biased from using braid for so long and for me braid can't really be beat for how I like to fish.