Bluebasser86

If big baits equal big fish, I'm doing something wrong.

I'm with you on all but the crank, never had much luck on one in really clear water except very early or late in the year. Swimming a grub or Keitech would be another bait I'd add.

2.5-2.75

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/-h2o-xpress-forza-75-aluminum-pliers#repChildCatid=599014 The tungsten cutting blades on these ones cut braid like butter. Made of aluminum too so they're not nearly as heavy as I was afraid they'd be. Only place they really lack is unhooking a smaller fish if it's hooked deep but that's not a common issue for me.

Do you typically have success on other topwater baits in the bodies of water you're fishing? I fish a couple lakes that just have zero topwater bite to speak of. For whatever reason, the fish will not break the surface for a lure. It's possible you're experiencing the same.

I like the 130 in shad color. I actually like to fish mine around emergent grass. It's a pain because it gets clogged with grass a lot, but it calls out some vicious strikes too. I've had way better luck with it for smallmouth than largemouth.

X2. I've been using these trebles for several months now and really like them on my squarebills and deep cranks. You can kind of see them on this bait and fish from January.

If you hang them by the tail it works best because the weight of the bait helps keep the tail section straight.

3lb braid for the swim jigs, 15lb big game for the other 2

Immediately when I lose site of the frog, I'm swinging. Bass will surely slap at or blow up on a frog and never get it, but I've never seen one do that and take the frog under with them unless they just get the legs of the frog. That's just part of the gamble and I'm willing to take it. I'm not going to be able to tell whether it just has the legs or not if I feel for it either. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a single pro that feels for the fish on a frog.

It's not just CA. One of the lakes I fish on occasion allows no boats, swimming, or wading, but you can use a belly boat?? Which seems to me to be a combination of the 3

What type of spoon? Flutter? Jigging? Casting? Weedless?

I just use the basic editor on Youtube. I'm not trying to start a big Youtube channel, I just enjoy being able to go back over my trips and share my experiences with others, so it's good enough for me.

H20 or Booyah. I wish my local Academy would start carrying their popping frogs since I normally use them instead of standard frogs

I like the braid for swim jigs, but I prefer straight braid. I'm a mono/copoly guy for the other 2 and would rather go that route for all 3 if I had to use the same rod for all 3.

Welcome!

I hate the suggestion to wait to feel the fish. If the frog is gone, I'm setting the hook. Think about, a bass blows up on a frog, and the frog is no longer there, where is it most likely to be? In the bass' mouth! Why give him extra time to wrap up in the cover or spit the frog out? Unless I'm being plagued by smaller fish, I'm hooking 70-80 percent of my bites. Bending the hooks a little helps, and so does shortening the legs, but the day I stopped trying to feel the fish, I was hooking and landing way more frog fish. Having the right combo, and especially using braided line, makes all the difference in the world too. I'm using a 7' 3" H/F Ethos Micro with a 8.0:1 BPS Titanium 8 reel spooled with 50lb braid.

Welcome LT, and thank you for your service!

You might check here. https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@6&key=cyytGjzvfV They're pretty accurate on our lakes.

Boil them until they soften up then hang them so they dry straight. I'm assuming you're talking about smaller, paddle tail baits?

They have the Speed Worm, which is 5.5" and has a wide, flat tail. They also have a couple creature baits with a wide tail in the 5" range, a couple paddle tail swimbaits with wide tails. The claws on a speed craw could be considered a wide tail. A bit of a description would be great.

Yes

I have a few different 30 size Pfluegars and use everything from 8lb mono, to 20lb braid.

The small one is smaller than a 130 Whopper Plopper, andhas a pretty similar action it seems. The big one is a big bite but no doubt little 1 pounders will still smack it. I've caught enough bass smaller than 2 pounds on baits much larger than those ducks to know there's nothing too big about them. Heck their 6" bluegill isn'tmuch smaller than my hand and 4oz, only thing that's hit it so far was a 12 incher.

5" Zoom what? They have several 5" baits.