Bluebasser86

6' 10" MH/F (though it feels more MF to me), Ethos rod from Academy. Normally $60 but I picked it up for $27.

For me the rod is the same, but I use braid for swim jigs and copolymer for spinnerbaits.

Never owned either, but I've ridden in both. If I was going to buy one, it would be Xpress by a mile. I actually was planning on buying one before I found the boat I currently own.

I have one of these as well and it's a good cranking stick for shallow to mid range baits, a 5XD is going to be pushing it though. I also have a 7' MH Quantum KVD cranking rod that handles squarebills and can get it done with those little bit deeper running baits as well. It looks huge, but it's actually plenty light to crank with all day.

I have some of those flatfish, but you have to reel them painfully slow to keep them from rolling. I fish them on 2-4 pound test and an ultralight. I like the new ultralight offerings from Rebel that have a single, barbless hook on the back of them. I've had good luck with the small craw crankbait. I have one of the small poppers also but I never remember to use it when I'm out fishing with my ultralight. A lot of ultralight baits won't even fish properly on line heavier than 6lb has been my findings. You'll do yourself a big favor dropping to 4lb.

Great first post!

And with a little searching you can usually find the rod or reel you're after in the trade in for even cheaper somewhere unless specifically after a BPS brand rod or reel. Exactly

Signed

Depends on what we're calling clear. In the lakes near me, 3-4 feet of visibility is clear. Or are we talking Bull Shoals or Beaver Lake where you can read the label on a can in 30' of water where 3-4 of visibility is muddy? I prefer small, natural looking baits for the most part in clear water, although sometimes gaudy colored baits that look ridiculous in the water pique the fish's interest. I was beat badly fishing a very clear small lake while I was wacky rigging a watermelon stick worm, by my brother in law fishing a bright chartreuse spinnerbait. We could watch them coming from 20' down to eat his bait, and they were not shy about it. A wacky rig, Ned rig, and shakyhead are some of my favorites in clear water. I also like to fish jerkbaits, walking topwaters, and big swimbaits when conditions are right. If it's an option, I'll usually avoid clear water and head for stained or muddy water instead.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Any baitcaster is easy to cast provided it's set properly and casting a reasonable amount of weight, which a frog would qualify in that category.

I use a 7' 3" H/F Ethos Micro and it's been a great frog rod. It loads nicely to launch them out there, but has plenty of backbone to get the fish back out of the grass.

I use braid to a leader for dropshotting for the abrasion resistance, not that it does much good in zebra mussels, but it helps a little bit. Using a leader for frog fishing sounds like a terrible idea.

This is all I could think of.

That's the best way to start out. Buy a few proven baits and fish them hard. You'll know before long if it's for you or not and it allows you to really learn a bait.

Bass Pro "sale".

Glad you made it home safe and are back to chasing them around!

Ouch, I feel your pain. I had one picked out during my boat search, but it sold the day before I was going to go look at it. Ended up finding the exact boat I wanted for 8k less than the boat I was going to buy, so maybe it will work out for you in the end.

Welcome!

Welcome!

None of the above. Ever seen someone that had their jaw cut off because they got gum cancer from that stuff? That's a hard pass from me.