Mike L

You beat me to it! 😀 Mike

If my boater doesn’t want to start flipping or pitching first I always, always grab the Speed Worm first above all regardless. That’s the Zoom UV. The Rage Cut R has a different tail design. They have a raised flange without the cut. I throw those too but in clearer water. Mike

I retire before every outing and during a long day on the water at some point. I don’t make a distinction between braid or fluorocarbon. Contrary to a lot of the replies, never felt the need or had a reason to retie my flouro rigged combos, which I use the vast majority of, more than those with braid. Mike

Always either one depending on conditions. Mike

With the reel engaged grab the line from the tip to the keeper, using your other hand just spin the rod around a few times. Thats it The benefit is the cure of what the OP asked about by keeping the line up against the rod in one tight package. It keeps the rod straight when stored and cures the terminal end from loosing and falling off the keeper without undo pressure. Mike

Thats where wrapping it around the rod a few times will help. (I do it on everything) Even with a 1 1/oz weight on my big stick I don’t have that problem anymore. The only thing is by wrapping with a big weight it can rub on the rod, but using a rod cover with keep it all together Mike

You’re right, you have the line too tight after connecting the terminal end to the keeper. It has nothing to do with using a leader or not. The line is just pulled too tight bending the tip down. Just pull a few inches of line off the spool, connect to the keeper, turn the handle to pull it taut then wrap the line 2 times around the rod. Mike

I’ll use a trap in light to moderate scattered vegetation mostly. I get much better hook ups and with a rattle it gets more attention. Magnum Speed Worm, Skinny Dipper with a Duz It blade for wiggle or a Big EZ for thump, in heavier grass. I’m not “restricted” as much by having to slow my retrieve to maximize hits. Mike

They’re one of the baits that I just never think about. I have a few and been fairly successful but then I forget about them again. I always feel there are better choices to be made for me and the majority of the waters I fish. Now that said, I have no doubt those things can be deadly in certain conditions with few exceptions. @Bluebasser86 and others on here are masters of them Mike

I’ve said it before, Best straight shank made. It’s been my punch/heavy cover hook for years. Mike

Great Job! When I doubt throw the bug!! Mike

I agree with you. The cull tabs I use tell me what I want to know. They seem to be the new thing at least I’ve never heard about them. Seems like a gimmick to me Mike

My family has been on baby watch since Thursday. This will my first granddaughters first child Things were progressing nicely then nothing, everything stopped for some reason. She’s not considered high risk and her due date was last week. Her doctors made a decision to induce labor at 5:00 this evening to help things along, before they just go get her. It would be great if she decided to meet her Great Granda sometime today but anytime soon would be just fine too. Mike

Anyone use these? They are a new way to identify a fish by clipping on the rear soft dorsal not the spiny one. Not used as a traditional cull tag to pull a fish out of the well, just to mark them Mike

Happy Father’s Day! Remember all the Dads and Granddad’s. Including those who aren’t with us anymore. Mike

They may If you’re interested I’d contact them and confirm. Mike

Hello and Welcome Mike

Good Good Good!! Go get yourself a big plate of Pasta with a loaf of garlic bread on the side!! That’ll straighten you out It worked for me! 😊 Mike

Done that more than once already…. Magnum UV Speed Worm 3/16 unpegged. 20# Sniper Whatever MH/F rod I grab @DogBone_384 (All those white dots you see in the 60ft trees on both sides of the boat are Bald Eagles!) Mike

Totally depends on the action of the rod, your brake setting and casting. As I said above, I use the Scum Frog which is probably the smallest and lightest frogs on the market. The GXR with a max rating of 1 1/2oz, surprised me with what distance I did get with it compared to my previous dedicated frog setup with a 1oz rating. The difference wasn’t enough to change back. Mike

Pick up a pack, they’re not that expensive You may like them Mike

I got my PB on a Culprit 7” Fat Max ‘Nuff Said Mike

Looks Good too

This is a one of the reviews I made about the new St Croix GXR combo I got. It may be helpful…. I wanted to do a follow up report of my new GXR flipping stick. In my previous one I gave my initial impressions of it on the water after putting it though it’s paces for that purpose. It’s advertised as a Frog & Flip combo. As a co angler I’m sometimes restricted on the amount of combos I can bring for any given outing and sometimes I even have to down size my bag, fortunately that doesn’t happen as often. Anyway, the action of 7’4” is perfect for me in every regard The Seviin reel matches up perfectly when flipping and pitching for hours. There is virtually no muscle fatigue as I have in my older 200 size reels I’ve been using for both #60# and 80# braid I have spooled on my other flippin sticks. This time I wanted to throw a frog with it and see how that goes. I use almost exclusively the Scum line of frogs which are smaller and lighter than other national brands. Given the much faster action of the GXR, I didn’t get the distance of my dedicated frog rig but not by much. It kinda surprised how much I did get tho. I hooked up with about a 2lb LMB which I really wanted to do as the faster action of the GXR compared to what I’m used to would give me a better gage of its casting, hook up and retrieving ability on a smaller fish. When I set the hook I knew it, there was no doubt which is a confidence thing for me. It got her head up and out immediately as I’m not one who plays with them. All in all it’s now my dual purpose flipping/ frog combo. Mike

Not totally understanding how to identify a pattern and how to exploit it! And learned the hard way to.. Never leave fish to find fish!! Mike