BassinLou

I like Columbia, worldwide sportsman, and Nike's outdoor gear.

Yes, punching is an effective technique down here during the winter. I forget what part of Fl you reside in during the winter, but some parts for example, South FL, winters can be shortlived. This year it was cold probably 10 days or so.

Bummer....

Nope... your not crazy. I am fellow lefty, and I fish the exact same way. Since I generally self taught myself to fish at a young age. I was not aware as a kid that a spinning reel handle could be interchanged. So, I learned how to fish a spinner fishing as a righty. When I learned how to fish a b/c in my 20's it was natural to throw left and reel right. And.... I don't consider myself too strange.....

Yeah, the sun and heat down here are not forgiving. Wearing quality sun gear from head to toe, will definitely make your fishing experience more bearable.

If you punching through any time of the year down here, I would recommend a H rod. I am telling you... when the pig decides to bite and your in the slop, you better have tough gear to battle with, or your heart will be broken.

I apologize. I didn't mean to say "on fire" literally. I was being figurative. Its not uncommon for the glades to be literally on fire this time of year. my mistake. I will re-phrase. The glades have been awesome for fishing lately!!

I saw your pic. I am assuming your bank fishing. Ask yourself this question. If you catch yourself 7+lb bass do you think a mh will help you haul the fish from the water across the grass to you? If your answer is yes, then your good with a mh. If you really had to think about it then H is your answer. If a pig makes a mad dash into that grass which it will. Better have strong gear and/or heavy line.

I just trim about an inch off.

Hey Shane, was over at Miami Canal on Saturday. We caught a few 4lbrs and several 3's and 2's. Due to the storms we had to fish 27 and mm35. Overall we boated 30 fish. Water was way down.

I hate it when that happens. All you can do is get out there and try again.

Frog fishing is one of the most exciting and exhilarating applications of our sport. It happens to be my favorite as well. I used to have a 2nd Gen Revo SX as my frogging reel until I gifted it away. If you are leaning towards a SX, get it in the 7.1:1 ratio. In my case, curiosity got the best of me and I went with another reel for my frogging applications. I went with a Curado I. This reel suits me well. As far as rod? I am not familiar with rod you speak of. All I can tell you is make sure the rod is rated as a minimum a MH. H would be ideal. Pair off the reel and rod you intend to use and see how it feels and balances out for you. Best of luck.

Just in case anyone wanted to know. US 27 and the alley were on fire yesterday. The water is way down and the fish are concentrated in the canals. Unfortunately yesterday, t-storms were active in the early part of the afternoon. We waited them out under a bridge at the alley. Everyone cleared out, but we stayed til the end of the day. We boated 30 fish. Several 4lbrs, 3lbrs, and 2's. Be safe and good luck out there.

A leader on a micro, unfortunately don't mix. Like Deak mentioned, use a short leader, or go straight of the line of your choice.

Sorry to hear that. There was post a little while back on Lunker frogs and the disappointment that they were. I still have mine, along with my other frogs. I probably will never use them again, but they are there.

Nice set up. You are going to enjoy it. When it comes to frog fishing let the fish tell you what they want. Sometimes they want the frog walked, twitched, chugged, popped, burned, you name it. Trust me when frog is on the menu they tell you how they want it served. Good luck. Enjoy!!

No problem we are here to help each other. In the future, the Miami Int Airport lakes are Captain Shane's backyard. He is extremely helpful and a really nice guy. He would not hesitate to point you in the right direction. He has helped me several times.

I hope you enjoy your trip and catch some nice fish. Send us some pics. There are plenty of guys on here from that area, they will steer you in the right direction. Good Luck. Did you post you were coming down? A lot of the South Fl guys would have steered you in the right direction. Next time...

What part of FL are you going to? Based on that, I am sure someone from the region can fill you in on what is working most. If your coming to South Fl, several of us can give you plenty of info...

I thought I would share this first time experience here. I was frog fishing this evening and on top of catching a nice 17" bass, I also caught a decent peacock bass with the same frog as well. Never would I have thought a pea would go after a frog. The pic is over on the "other species" thread.

YES YOU CAN!!! This is my first peacock that I have caught with a frog!! I couldn't believe it when this pea decided to engage this booyah. Enjoy!!

I will answer your question from the practical perspective. I will leave the technical stuff to other anglers who are much better versed than I am in that dept. I look for light quality gear (rods and reels) because I tend to fish for long periods of time. 7-9hrs straight. Needless to say over this time fatigue can set in. Heavier gear will expedite fatigue on the water imho, thus shortening your time on the water. Fatigue leads to sloppiness. Somehow the big bass wait for this happen to strike..... LOL

Follow the advice RW gave you. Read the articles, and apply a couple of techniques one step at a time. As you become more proficient your fishing will improve. Welcome to the sport!!

That's pretty creative George, I would have never thought of that..

After the big freeze in '09 for us in South Fl, the exotic fish were really affected. Many were killed off. The glades back then had a healthy population of pea's, oscars, and mayan cichlids. They are slowly starting to rebound. I have not caught a peacock or heard of anyone catching peacock out there for a very long time. However, on my last trip to the glades I did see a juvenile pea swimming around. As far as eating, there has been a bulletin out for a while now, cautioning people on the amount of fish caught in the glades due to high mercury levels. You will have better luck fishing for pea's in your local canals than out in the glades.