JT Bagwell

Ok guys, I finally got a myspace account (I am old, cut me some slack). So far it seems a little over rated. How many on here actually go to that site on a regular basis? JT Bagwell

I will let Bobby answer the question you asked him about the differences, but I will give you a similarity. They Both Work Great!!! JT Bagwell

I bet a musky would eat them. Nothing surprised me with bass either. I think they will eat anything. JT Bagwell

The reduction in GDP and obvious signs of a nearing recession have had less effect on me than when the oil prices shot through the roof. When that happened I noticed contracts getting a little smaller or having more stipulations. JT Bagwell

I own all 3 of the reels mentioned, as well as the President and the Patriarch. I have not really had any major trouble with any of them. They are all very smooth casting and smooth reeling. The Trion, which has the lowest price point, is a bit bulkier and heavier than what I prefer. I have sort of small hands and it just wasn't the best fit for me. However, I never had any issues with it not functioning properly. Prior to the birth of the Patriarch, the Summit was my main crankbait reel. This thing is smooth and fits perfect in the palm of my hand. I can cast it a mile. The Supreme is my main reel in my arsenal. I have several of them rigged up and ready to go on every trip. It fits perfect in my hand and casts great. I use it for everything from skipping docks to pulling frogs through thick pads. I have not had a single issue with a Supreme reel yet and I have been using them since they came out of production. Right now the only baitcasting reels in my boat are the Supreme and the Patriarch. Both are awesome reels at very reasonable price points. JT Bagwell

I also use the Coppertone Sport as well as Banana Boat in SPF 50. Really I have no preference in brands. My wife just buys me whichever brand she can find with the highest SPF. JT Bagwell

I love the Pro Double Tail Grub from Yamamoto. It is the perfect size for use as a jig trailer. JT Bagwell

Thanks again everyone. Hopefully I will be done cleaning up my house soon and get back on the water. A huge storm hit my town while I was in Arkansas visiting my family. It ripped most of my gutters off, messed up some shingles, knocked a tree down that just about landed on my wife's Jeep Cherokee (don't think I didn't hear about how we have a 2 car garage and the only thing that can fit in it is a bass boat and a tractor). The garage across the street from me got flattened. All you could see is a boat and a car sticking out. The marina down the road had a lot of boat slips when I left town and when I came back there was only 1 left and it was pretty well damaged. There were a lot of boats underneath twisted metal and broken wood. I have never seen anything like it. Overall we were lucky that nobody in our town got killed. With any luck, I should be back out fishing by the weekend. JT Bagwell

Thanks everyone. I swear it seems like a year since RW gave me the quotes for that article. It is actually a pretty slow process. I can tell you all something right now... If things keep going the way they are, my next article will be about the Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm. The bass are killing it right now. JT Bagwell

I did this article several months ago and it is finally on Yamamoto's Inside Line website. It shows a little love to BassResource. http://www.insideline.net/il-online/features/08-0728-bagwell.html JT Bagwell

olebiker, I understand where you are coming from, but there is another angle. If you are fishing a tournament and you want contingency money, then you have to meet certain requirements. One of which is to wear that particular boat company's shirt, hat, etc. The Triton Gold and Ranger Cup programs are two of the biggest and I am pretty sure that they both require the logo usage aspect. I know for Triton you even have to have a certain sticker on your tow vehicle. So while it is sometimes viewed as silly for someone to where a boat company shirt without any sponsorship deal, they can actually get paid for it. JT Bagwell

All of the rods that I use are All Star rods. They are excellent rods. All Star may not be the most expensive rods on the market, but that doesn't mean that they are not awesome. My favorite All Star rod is the 6'10" Pitching Rod. That thing is just perfect for me. JT Bagwell

Thanks Tom

Thank You, JT Bagwell

Thanks Guys. We lost a lot of our lilly pads and stuff like that in the recent Mississippi River floods and I have a newcomer to Bass Fishing that would really like to try fishing frogs in pads. We might have to road trip in a couple of weeks. Any more feedback from others would be appreciated. JT Bagwell

Any of you guys fish Spring Lake in Illinois (south of Pekin)? I am interested in taking a little road trip down there because I hear it is loaded with fish and Lilly Pads. Is it worth the trip this time of year? JT Bagwell

I use PowerPro braided line for everything except crankbaits (unless I am fishing crystal clear water, which isn't often). PowerPro is tops with me. JT Bagwell

I am using 4/0 - 5/0 hooks on 50 lbs to 65 lbs test PowerPro for my frog fishing. To answer the original question, it sounds like you are doing things correctly. You may need to just wait an extra second or two, but other than that you are on the money. You are always going to miss a small number of fish on frogs. The key is to minimize that number. JT Bagwell

I used to be sponsored by Lucky Craft several years ago so I dealt with Mike Auten back then. He is the guy that produces the Classic Patterns series. I emailed him a while back in reference to the show, but I never did get a response. Since then, the site has not been working and I can find no listing for it on television. I guess it must be over for now. JT Bagwell

You are correct, most of us have never fished the FLW Tour Championship. However, it wouldn't have mattered if you won by 10 lbs, at the age of 12 your a not eligible to fish the FLW Tour Championship either. Straight from the FLW Rule Book. 2. Participation Participation is open only to tournament members of FLW Outdoors who are 16 years of age or older. Any person entering a tournament under the age of majority must also have the signature of their parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the entry form. JT Bagwell

I have roughly 60-70 rods and roughly the same number of reels. Most of the rods are All Star, but a few are Pflueger from just before Pflueger bought All Star. That is when I switched rod brands. All of my reels are Pflueger. JT Bagwell

This is the way it works.... When you press down on the thumb bar, the line comes out. When you let go of the thumb bar, the spool stops without having to engage the reel handle. I used some reels prior to my Pflueger era that had the flippin' switch and I personally hated them. Of course, they wouldn't still be selling them if a lot of other people didn't like them. JT Bagwell

I was planning on driving down for that weigh-in as well. As of the last I heard, that portion of the river was still shut down to boating because of the flooding. I live on Pool 16 of the Mississippi River and we just crested here yesterday. It is still about 6' over flood stage. JT Bagwell

Actually, many companies would rather you send an email. 90% of the deals I have had in reference to sponsorships or business agreements have come via a short email to the "right" person followed by a telephone call. You can send all of the letters and emails you want to a company. If they are not going to a decision maker, then you are wasting a lot of your time. JT Bagwell

I also reach for the darker colors in dirty water. Really though, Black w/ blue flakes is probably my most used color in dirty water. JT Bagwell