RoLo

The frog can be worked in any fashion that you wish. It can be twitched & paused like a floating rapala, it can be popped, and it can be walked like a zara spook. I personally prefer "dog walking", which is probably the most productive delivery on balance (watch Rojas). In dingy water, the frog is typically paused every few shuttles, but in clear water it's often best to keep it coming (to prevent close scrutiny). Roger

You Too? Odd, but that's exactly what I'm dealing with here in Florida (all our best bass have been stuck within one boat-length). I believe Catt uses Trilene Big Game, which puts him at an advantage to me at short range. I use braided line, which has virtually no shock absorption and can be brutal at short range. Just to waste about a half-second, I force myself to drop the rod-tip first, then react in the normal manner (it works pretty good). Roger

When I lived in Jersey, I fished a place called the "Sand Pits" which consisted of several small ponds. I would dutifully breakdown my rods into sections then hike to the first pond. But after that, I always cheated when moving from pond to pond by leaving the rods intact with the lures tied on (uh oh)! No matter how I hunched, writhed and contorted, I only spent about half my time moving forward, and the rest of my time was spent backtracking to unsnag a lure Roger

As Raul replied, Yes & No. If all other things are equal (they never are), naturally I'd go with a one-piece rod. But that's easy for me to say because I prefer short rods, but how about the guy who likes 7.5 or 8 ft blanks? A one-piece blank eliminates the dead-spot that may exist at the ferrules of a two-piece blank. Still, I wouldn't let that alone change my mind about a rod that offered everything else I was looking for. Roger

I don't smile because I don't want to show off my green teeth . . . . both of them. You must be younger than me, because you have twice as many teeth as me. Roger

Right you are, spool up with braid and suddenly a $100 rod becomes a $250 rod 8-) I no longer bother with a leader, but tie everything direct to the braid. Nevertheless, some anglers like a mono leader for shock absorption. When I did bother with a leader, I tied a 6-twist uni-knot in the mono to a 6-twist uni-knot in the braid. Needless to say, I never experienced any knot issues. Roger

Two things come to mind to increase your casting distance: 1) If you're using baitcasting gear, you might try spinning tackle 2) Alternatively, you could substitute the Rapala with a 4" Cordell Red Fin The 4" Red Fin weighs 3/8 oz, which is 'twice' as heavy as the 4-3/8" Original Rapala, which weighs 3/16oz. I'm certainly not implying that plastic can substitute for balsa wood, but it is another option. Roger

Not without Rooting Hormone :

Stick worms are normally fished weightless or nearly so, to exploit their lazy shimmy during a natural freefall. The more weight added to a senko, the more its natural charm is destroyed, and with enough weight the senko begins to resemble a stickpen that fell out of your vest pocket. When a "weighted" worm is used, most anglers tend to move to an action-tail worm like a Berkley Powerbait, Anaconda or Culprit. Roger

I wonder what the IGFA was smoking when they came up with their "Two-Ounce" rule. Pursuant to the "2-oz" ruling, if two record bass of identical weight are submitted, the bass that was weighed-in first is awarded two bonus ounces (that's insane). Roger

Plastic Worms In my opinion, stick worms like the Senko are not the best choice of worm during the summer. Stick worms are normally fished with a vertical freefall, which can be very time consuming. Due to the higher water temperatures, bass metabolism and bass activity is at its peak during the summer. Plastic worms like the Gambler Ribbontail, Strike King Anaconda or Berkley Power Worm would provide faster coverage and likely encounter more bass during July and August. Roger

Similar to people, fish can be underweight, normal weight or overweight. Given largemouth bass of typical proportions, the following will normally be within a few ounces: 22.5" = 6.5 lbs 23.0" = 7.0 lbs Roger

Correct me if I'm wrong Dodge, but you were once a PowerPro guy who moved to Sufix braid, and now I see you're an advocate of Fireline braid. Though I skipped over Sufix (tried it, but didn't like it), I too was a PowerPro advocate who has moved to "Berkley Fireline Tracer Braid". Don't get me wrong, I love everything about PowerPro for spinning tackle, but with one glaring exception. I apparently encountered a bad bulk spool, and my wife and I were both breaking off big bass on a regular basis. Sure enough, an Internet search revealed that PowerPro themselves admitted to having QA issues. Not surprisingly, PowerPro will replace any bad spools, but you can't replace lost bass. I'm not looking for Six Sigma perfection, but IMO the quality control at PowerPro is unacceptable. Fortunately, Berkley Fireline braid possesses all the same positive attributes I found in PowerPro, but without inexplicable breakage. By The Way: Most anglers would agree that "braided polyethylene" is better suited to spinning tackle than to baitcasting gear. In my opinion, the line materials best suited to baitcasting are the three monofilament lines (fluoro, nylon & copolymer). In the same camp are KVD and Dance who prefer fluoro mono for baitcasting, several on the forum who prefer nylon mono for baitcasting (e.g. Trilene Big Game), and many who prefer copolymer mono (e.g. Sufix Siege, Yo Zuri & P-Line CXX). Roger

This was not in the air, but on the water. My wife, daughter and myself were fishing topwater lures in Lake Huron for northern pike. There were herring gulls in the area, so I warned my boat mates that we might get an aerial attack. Sure enough, my daughter who was very young at the time, didn't take the plug away from a diving gull. It was hooked and trying to escape, but never got more than about 6 feet above the water. I told her to reel in the gull, and daddy of course was elected to remove the lure from the flapping monster. I won't forget that 5-inch bill poking at my hands, before I was finally able to free the poor bird. Not wanting to repeat that ordeal. I tied a diving plug on Dawn's line 8-) Roger

Roger I would think you and Raul would not make such a rookie mistake as not reading the entire thread. I was initially attracted to this thread for two reasons: 1) It was listed under "All-Time Favorite Threads" 2) The title "Quality Reels & Rods @ a reasonable price", makes generic reference to angling gear. Once inside the thread I did read the follow-up comment, but that's after the fact, and has no bearing on #1 and #2 above. Hey, no big deal Roger

The title of this thread is "Quality Reels & Rods" Despite the scope of this topic, "Spinning Tackle" has been blatantly omitted, This post offers only monolithic coverage, yet it was rated an "ALL-TIME FAVORITE". Ever get the feeling that you're in the wrong forum? :-/ : :) Spinning Purist, Roger

Central Florida Waters AFFORDABLE HANDYMAN SPECIAL Roger

Throughout the years I have accumulated enough lures to open up a small tackle shop. I wish I knew fifty years ago, that I was never going to find any lure that is measurably superior to a "plastic worm". Roger

Lots of good stuff here fellows; I agree with WRB, the Big lure/Big bass syndrome is a self-fulfilling prophecy (yes, the golden roach is still King in Florida). I agree with George Welcome who states that luck is always part of it, like it or not. I also agree with Matt who blames himself for poor results, rather than blaming bad luck (I do the same). If we blame ourselves for every bad day, then we can take the credit for every good day. Luck is not good because it cannot be depended on, so the goal of the angler should be to factor out as much luck as possible by optimizing 'Where', 'When' & 'How' to catch Big Bass. In the final analysis, the better we become at reducing the luck factor, the luckier we get ;-) Roger

Plastic craws may be subdivided into two categories: "Full-Bodied" and "Flat" Among the flat craws are the McDaddy Craw, Ugly Otter, Sweet Beaver and Yum Wooly Bug. Although the McDaddy Craw is unsong, in my opinion it's the best of the flat craws. The profile of the McDaddy Craw has more character than the Sweet Beaver (which looks like a big sunflower seed). The Netbait McDaddy settles to the bottom slowly and seductively, and is attractive at all speeds. Rig it any way you prefer: Z-bend hook, T-rigged, C-rigged or on a Jig. I usually rig it on a 1/8 oz Owner Sled Head Jig. Roger

For an all-purpose outfit, the Daiwa Light-and-Tough spinning rod has remarkable latitude ================================================= Daiwa Light-and-Tough Spinning Rod (6' 3" - Medium) $130 6 to 14 lb line <> 1/8 to 3/4 oz lures - 1 piece ================================================= Shimano Symetre Reel (front drag) $100 ================================================= 20 lb Braided Line ================================================= Roger

The surest way to enhance sensitivity is to move to a higher modulus blank, and if that isn't enough, spool up with braided polyethylene. If you made both those changes, bottom contact with a 1/8 weight would be very pronounced...almost annoying. Roger

There is no clear cut winner between Owner and Gamakatsu hooks, they're both excellent premium hooks. Neither hook is stronger or weaker than the other, because both brands offer many varieties. Let's compare the shank diameters of three of the most popular 4/0 offset hooks: Gammy Std (ser-54) Gammy Super Line (ser-74) Owner offset mod-5102 0.050" 0.062" 0.062" The most significant difference between Owner and Gamakatsu is not quality, strength or sharpness. The biggest difference is the method used in sharpening the hook-point. While Gamakatsu grinds a "conical point", Owner swages a "cutting point". Given a choice (not always the case), I would opt for Owner's cutting point because it generates less compression during penetration. Nonetheless, in the grand scheme you'd do fine with either hook brand, where other factors usually play a larger role. Roger

I'm not sure what you mean by small. For panfish-size spinners I've found nothing better than Wordens Original Rooster Tail Roger

When your line becomes nicked or frayed you can lose up to 85% in breaking strength. It doesn't make much sense to anguish over knots with breaking strengths that are 3% apart. My philosophy has always been to select a good knot that can be used for everything (trebled plugs included), and a knot that is easy to tie. In this fashion you'll become an expert at tying that one knot. Long story short, I've been using the Uni-knot for fresh and saltwater angling for 25 years or more. It can be used for braid and mono and requires no pre-wetting or special attention. Firmly snug the uni-knot before the final tightening, and it will never slip, never break and never disappoint. Roger