TTS

I recently purchased an FR 765FLIP. I Don't have a lot of hours on it yet, but I really like it so far. Very light in hand. I'd say it's action is pretty accurate. Not a pool cue at all. I don't do any true flipping for the most part. Works great for pitching though. I'd buy it again. Tom

When I recently put together a topwater rod for myself, I went really old school on the line, at least for me. 14lb Stren. Haven't used it for probably 30 years.

I use mono for topwaters. Straight braid for frogs and punching. Straight braid or braid to floro leader for spinning. Everything else gets floro. I can honestly say, I've just not had issues with it on casting gear. Spinning gear is a different story. The biggest thing I've had to do, is tighten up spool tension slightly. I've only used Seaguar Red Label and InvizX.

I have somewhat limited experience with Trokar hooks. I've only used their flipping/punching hooks so far. They've worked fine for me. For what it's worth, in MY opinion, most of the hooks by the high end manufactures and smaller niche companies, are generally pretty good. What one angler swears by, the next angler swears at. Again, just my experience.

I started with black/blue years ago. Later added green pumpkin variations. Then tried white. Still use the first two...

Yeah, their shipping isn't the greatest. I actually paid extra for second day shipping awhile back. Still took a week. They did refund me $14.00 for the extra cost though.

Always.

It takes a little practice, but easy once you get the hang of it. Best and easiest for me by far is a Spro Bronze Eye Shad. Real wide swing with these. Tom

Last couple of years I've been using a St. Croix Mojo 7' MH "spinnerbait" rod, Lews BB1, and 40lb or 50lb Power Pro. Good compromise for target casting smaller patches of weeds and making bomb casts on larger weed flats. Tom

Its often been said to go as light as you can get away with. I like to use as heavy as I can get away with instead. If they'll hit a 1/4oz. as good as an 1/8oz., I'm going to throw the heavier weight. It lets me fish faster, cover more water, and contact more fish. I'll go as light as I need to, but usually start out a heavier than lighter. Tom

With all of the different types of plastics that can be T-rigged, I'd have to go that route because of the nearly unlimited choices. When that includes everything from a weightless Senko to a heavy creature bait, it's hard to pick against it. However, if limited to just ONE style of soft plastic, I'd then go with a jig. I generally have at least one jig and at least one soft bait on the deck at all time. Which one I'm using totally depends on the cover, conditions, and fishes moods at the time. Tom

I use EWG hooks for tubes. Biggest trick is finding a hook that has a big enough gap for the thick body of the tube, yet isn't too long so that it extends past the body of the bait. Tom

I like watermelon w/black flake, green pumpkin, black w/blue flake and junebug. I'm sure lots of other colors would work fine too, these are just the colors I stick with. I've personally had zero luck with white however. Tom

To keep it simple, I pretty much mix and match black/blue, green pumpkins, and watermelon. I usually start out with matching colors, but will sometimes switch the soft plastic to contrast. Such as a black/blue skirt with a green pumpkin soft plastic. Kind of let the fish tell me what they want. Tom

For fishing weeds- All Terrain Tackle Grassmaster Swim Jigs- Lethal Weapon II Swim Jig Bought some Secret Lures 2XHD flipping jigs this year to try. Haven't had a good jig bite going yet though. Tom

I've not touched a hook on a Spro since I started using them about 4-5 years ago. Most of the fish I catch are hooked very solid on the roof of the mouth. Maybe I'm just lucky. Don't know. LOL. So far this year, I've been throwing a Bronze Eye Shad exclusively. Walks the dog great in open water and comes over slop easily. One feature I really like about the shad is that it seems to sit lower in the water vs a frog. Also like how it floats level vs tail down and nose up. I'm thinking that the lower profile of the shad, as it sits in the water, MIGHT make it a little easier for the bass to get the bait good too. Tom

I've had good luck with 6th Sense Peg X Stoppers from Tackle Warehouse. Tom

First thing I'm going to do is decide what style of bait the fish want and what type of presentation is most effective with the conditions I'm faced with. Green Pumpkin might be the hottest color on the lake, but I'm not going to try throwing a Green Pumpkin deep diving crankbait in slopped over, two feet of water, where perhaps a frog might be your best bet. I'm going to find the most effective presentation for cover, water depth, level of fish activity, wind speed, etc. Then I'll fine tune the lure color to it. In soft plastics and jigs, I like green pumpkins, watermelons, black/blues. Crankbaits, bluegill, crayfish, golds. I do think color makes a difference, but I've just not seen enough times where I started killing them by switching colors. I've seen LOTS of times where switching location, presentations, and depth made all the difference in the world though. Tom

I prefer frogs that have a combination of light and dark colors vs all white or all black. A white/gray or yellowish bottom with darker sides seems to cover pretty much all the conditions that I come across. I think a bass finds the frog by the commotion on the surface more than the color. Tom

Killer Gill and Nasty Shad. Not sure how much difference color makes? I have seen a few time where the color might have made a difference. OR it might have been making the right cast..? They work great too. Tom

While I've not fished with that rod myself, I have used various 7MH rods for frogs with zero problems. Most of my frog fishing involves target casting to smaller patches of slop and heavy cover. So accurate cast are important. If I fished more expansive mats, I'd maybe switch to a heavier 7'3-7'6 rod. Tom

I have a TP, a BB1, and two MG's. All very nice reels. For the money, I like the MG's a LOT and will be buying more in the future. Personally, I think the mid-range price point Lews reels are more alike than different. Figure how much you want to spend and go with it. Tom

I could live very happily with Bronzeye 65's in Killer Gill, Nasty Shad, and The Killer. Tom

I have very limited use so far this spring, but did manage a few fish. Pretty much a hard bottom deal. The head will pick up leaves, weeds, etc. like a rake. But when used in the right locations, worked great. I bought 5/16 and 7/16. Plan on adding some 3/4 this fall. Tom

I use 10" worms as soon as it gets hot. Not sure if deters smaller fish or not, as I've caught plenty of small fish on them too. Some not as long as the worm itself. I fish lots of heavy weeds in the summer. I think the larger size helps the fish find the bait a little easier. Live in Wisconsin, so they like them up here too... Tom