Mike L

Ditto I use Trokar hooks 80% of the time and 100% Sunline flouro and Power Pro braid line. I try to save as much cash as the next guy. But to purposely cheap out on the 2 most important parts of your equipment is a heart break waiting to happen. Mike

Great Tip! Mike

I had the Sierra 735C and it was darn near perfect for frogs. Also used it for buzz baits and paddle tail swim baits and back up heavy cover rod. I only use the Scum Frog line and mostly just the original little one. Don’t know the weight, but it’s very light and that rod slings them as far as I need it to. It’s the next step up from the fury, Mike

I use Spectracide Weed and Grass Killer concentrate. I mix 2oz in a 32oz spray bottle. The pre mixed stuff is too watered down. Anything it touches is dead within 2 days. Mike

Must be in constant contact with your bait to feel anything. Sure you can be a line watcher and only set when it moves but you’ll never know what happens before. A controlled slack as @WRB explained is an art to discern what you’re feeling. In other words being one with the line and rod, the result is why you’re there. Mike

Great Job!! Mike

Congratulations!!! One of these days I’ll get mine ? Mike

Punch Frog T rig Mike

For Speed Worms, Cut R’s, ribbon tail etc. anything with a tail designed to move it doesn’t matter. Magnum Speed Worm’s have been my go to top and mid range plastic for years, nothing else comes close. If it roll’s it roll’s and honestly I can’t tell you if it does or not. When retrieving weightless on top sometimes they’ll start on its side but takes just a few feet to right itself. I use a 5/0 Trokar TK 120 with a 3/16 when swimming. Mike

As I’ve said many times, Flipping in heavy cover is the hand to hand combat of the fishing world. It’s target placing to specific spots when you need more of a silent entry. Punching most times is more of pitching technique as sometimes you need the extra height to get the momentum which is needed to get through, and the distance compared to flipping, to cover the most area. There are times when you need extreme height to crash through using the rod to get down which you can’t do when flipping 5-20ft from the boat. Punching through the heaviest, thickest, nastiest cover is absolutely my favorite technique. It’s always what I look for first and foremost It’s the ideal condition to bag the biggest fish in the water. Mike

Only punchin, frogging and on top Mike

OP Not much more to add, Just don’t over think it. Mike

Never! Living down here especially in the summer, that’s the kind of stuff I look for. As long as you got the right equipment you gotta hook em to land em. Just get her head up as soon as you can Mike

Don’t have this rod but any heavy that I assume is rated to 1 or 1 1/2 oz better be. Mike

I like most top waters tail down but just a little. As @papajoe222 stated it’s easier to keep in the strike zone. What I do after a pause, is pop it ever so slightly up and down in place before I start it up again. You’d be surprised how many hit it after that. I’m convinced that little up and down motion has gotten me hits from non committal following fish that I possibility wouldn’t have gotten Mike

Yeah I imagine it is. I haven’t been “home” in 15yrs. We drove down 69th street then and Mrs Mike was freaking out, yelling at me all the way to get out of there! Sad..When we were kids, Me and my brothers would try to climb the monument on 67th & California (never made it) we would sleep under the tree line along the viaduct near the west end. Haven’t thought about that in years.! Thanks Pal Mike

Nope Never did! The only time I even went to the beach (Rainbow off 55th I think) was for a prom picnic in ‘68 or ‘69. Growing up my whole world was.. 63rd to 71st / Ashland to Damen. Still have the scars to prove it. It was a different time Mike

Growing up in the inner city of Chicago in the 1950’s, fishing wasn’t even a thought. Then in the 60’s survival was the main concern with a war raging in the streets and overseas. Fishing and many other things we take for granted today wasn’t even an afterthought. I really didn’t get serious about it until I got out and moved my young family to an entirely different world which was the State of Florida. I met a few guys at a bowing alley who mostly salt water fished which got me interested. After a few years of just tossing a shrimp overboard or off a bridge, I tried fishing for bass and was hooked. So I guess you can say I’m kind of a self made Bass angler. Mike

This was last March at 70! We were at Stick Marsh just floating around and I threw a 7” Fat Max. When she hit she almost pulled the rod out of my hand. When it got about 20 ft from the boat she took a nose dive so fast I thought the rod was gonna break. As I loosened the drag my partner who was sitting down yelled..”What do I do?! I said “Nothing! just get up and be ready to move” She took me from the rear deck to the front and back again. He grabbed the net and yelled.. “get her closer so I can net her”!! I yelled back…”NO!! I got it” 11.34! Ain’t she pretty! ? Mike

It’s a Dying art, like a lot of things nowadays Mike

Back to this again… Ever wonder where this “I gotta use a leader because it scares the fish” stuff came from?? That’s one of the biggest fallacies in bass fishing. Other than punching or frogging there is no real reason to even use braid. For some top waters it can make sense but that’s personal preference. And so is using a leader. Mike

Give me a H Upmann Corona Major anywhere any time Mike

Frog Punch rig Magnum speed worm 10” worms In that order Mike

Ditto Find structure and cover and pick it apart. Keep moving and cover water. Use dark colored plastics with maybe a rattle or glass bead for up close and personal and high vibration hard baits or swim worms for the perimeter. Again, Keep moving and cover water Mike

Now that you mention it, Mrs Mike hardly does anymore either. The one I use gotta be 10 yrs old by now. Mike