War Eagle 44

Well my Baby Fat John cranks do hunt a little, not as much as the Scatter Rap baits but they don't just run straight back to the boat either. In my case I've had to find just the right speed and since I have they will do their thing and "hunt" from side to side, moderately. Also I should mention I have to reel them on a straight retrieve in order to get them to hunt, no stop and go or rod tip twitches.

dwtaylor has it absolutely correct on the "Coosa Swimjig", bullet shaped head with a nice strong hook and full weedgaurd. While it's possible to swim any jig I find the Dirty Jigs Coosa swimjig to be the easiest to get through the heavy grass we have here on the Coosa chain. Don't get me wrong it to gets "snagged" sometimes but it comes right through cleanly more times than not. I've tried their California swimjig in the same areas and it doesn't fish nearly as well, almost constant snagging. It's all in the head design, the bullet shaped head is the ticket for grass. We actually have the best of both down here, a couple of shops "special order" the Coosa Swimjig using the big No Jack hook from the California swimjig. They have a very hard time keeping these on the shelf. In fact most times the best colors will be sold out the very same day they get them in. You have to be lucky and be there on the right day to get any, lol. I much prefer the No Jack hook just for the peace of mind it gives me. I haven't lost a fish or straightened the regular 3X Mustad that comes in the Coosa jig personally but I've heard numerous stories from guys who clam they have. I always fish my swimjigs on 50# braid so with the bigger hook I'm free to pull as hard as I want and not worry.

15# P-Line CXX for spinnerbaits and 50# braid for chatterbaits. I never fish a chatterbait unless it's in or over heavy grass.

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Powell Max 735. Mag Heavy power so you never have to worry if the fish is coming to the boat, absolutely love mine.

Havoc has a new stick type bait that does what you're looking for. I think it's called the Back Slide.

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It's funny you should bring up this topic, over the winter I picked up a new Crucial 7'7" MH flipping stick just so I could rig it with 20# fluoro. I had 3 flipping sticks prior to picking this one up and I was running braid on them 99% of the time. In the summer months the water here can get pretty clear and I'm almost certain last year I was missing some flipping bite opportunities by still using straight 65# braid. I think this new flipping rod will be just the thing for what I'm looking to do with it, I'm not going to flip the really heavy grass with it but mainly docks, lay downs, and sparse grass. I think you're right on track with your rods, although I've never fished in FL so I could be entirely incorrect. More than likely though you will be very happy with those two rods and how you plan to use them.

I don't use "line conditioner" on any of my line so I'm probably not the best person to answer this but I just can't see any reason someone would.

I do this with all brands. Look up Dean Rojas on youtube, there are numerous video's in which he describes his method of doing things.

I'd suggest going to a higher pound test braid as well. It's weird that you're having this issue because I've always found I can cast much farther using braid than either mono/copoly/flouro. Also different brands of braid cast better than others, P-Line Spectrex braid is very similar to Power Pro only it casts and handles better in my opinion. On the other hand I find PP to be a little more durable, meaning I think it has slightly better abrasion resistance. PP Super 8 Slick is also a very good, long, easy casting braid. I've just started to experiment with Spiderwire braids but so far I've been very impressed with their "Ultracast" braids.

I always do before fishing them. I trim them the way Rojas recommends.

I see all these posts about Spro frogs not lasting, I'm not sure what these guys are doing to these frogs but mine hold up just fine. I bet I've caught around 40 fish on just this frog alone and it's still perfectly fishable.

An Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5601 C4. Still have it and just finished "upgrading" it this winter. I installed a Carbontex drag, Abec 5 Ceramic spool bearings, dual BB levelwind, BB supported cog gear, and ceramic levelwind pawl. I also changed the spool but it was just a color change as I went with a stock Garcia spool. This thing boarders on uncontrollable now, the difference is amazing. I have to run at least 3 brake blocks at all times and pay very close attention to my casts.

I'm in agreement with the other guys, braid with leader is the way to go with spinning gear. I fish a little heavier braid than most of the other guys in this thread, I always use 20# braid and then use one of three pound test leaders; 10, 15, & 20.

I agree, 20# just seems like a nice "compromise" of a lot of characteristics and as a general rule of thumb can handle most situations well.

Dirty Jigs No Jack Flipping Jigs in either 3/8 or 1/2 oz. As far as colors go I'm 99% of the time using some form of green pumpkin, Dirty Chartreuse is a good one. The other 1% is black & blue.

I use more off set round bend hooks but the O'Shaunessy really works well used with curly tail worms and trick worms. It hooks and holds fish great when used with slimmer plastics. I'm really not sure why but it seems to hook fish easier to me than any other style on those plastics.

Spro Bronzeye 65 is the one I'd choose if I were forced to only use one, Killer Gill and Outback are my two favorite colors. I also enjoy the Jr size. Their new Bronzeye Shad has been excellent as well. R2S Spittin' Wa 70's are really good for a different type of presentation as well as a better average quality of bite due to its larger size. I'm not really a fan of the 55 size of this bait, doesn't walk nearly as well in my opinion. Their Bully Wa frogs are good quality baits and walk easily also.

20# is the size I always go with, I've tried several; Power Pro, S8S, 832, & P-Line Spectrex. I've had good service from all of them but in my experience the Spectrex casts the best followed by S8S, 832, & PP. I have a friend who fishes #15 S8S and I haven't had any trouble matching his casting distances using #20. I agree with the previous poster who said that he uses a line for the fish he plans to catch not the run of the mill dinks.

It better be, lol.

The model I use is in the Max series, a 706CB. This rod is all graphite, no glass, but Powell doesn't offer this rod anymore in the Max line. I'm not sure if they do in any of their other series or not but if they do it's worth a serious look. It really handles 6XD's, DD22's, DT 20's, etc... very well but still has enough tip to keep fish pinned. I don't lose many fish with this rod.

No I didn't mean would you change anything about my frog, I was asking was there any changes you make to your frogs.

All I use is a Palomar, never had it fail that I can remember. I've heard of some of the newer 8 strand braids slipping a little causing people to think the knot broke but really it just came untied. The only braid I've personally even had do this was PP Super 8 Slick, even that's a simple fix though. Just burn the tag end of the line with a lighter so it makes a little hard ball on the end and that can't slip back through the knot.