Master Bait'r

I fish from a kayak 95% of the time, and I have a 7'3" *** HXF and love it. Never ran into a problem- but my old 7'2" Crucial JWR MHXF AND my 7'2" *** Green MHF were both a huge pain to frog with- it's all in the tip though IMO. The Crucial and *** Green were just too stiff through the tip and castability/ease of action definitely suffered as a result. So yeah, IMO the problem doesn't come so much from the rod being too long, it comes from having too stiff of a tip and being unwieldy with ~1/2oz frogs and walking the dog as a result. I went up an inch with my newer rod and it performed drastically better. Just my personal observations, but I was blown away when I made the switch to a softer tip & bigger backbone though. Night and day, for real.

I had a $3k mountain bike stolen from me and I didn't have renter's insurance. Never again.

No reason to spend more than $250 IMO to be completely honest. 13 *** Black. Honestly I love my NRX but it's not that much better than the Envys. Recoils, ultra light blanks, crisp as a brand new $100 bill and more sensitive than a 15yo girl... And you could buy two Envys and still have money left over when compared to the NRX. Honestly with how versatile the tips/blanks/backbone is in every *** Black model I've tried, you seriously cannot go wrong. Try to find all the features and advantages in the *** elsewhere and you'll seriously either be buying a full custom or a top of the line $500 rack rod. IMO they are a serious bargain for what they're being sold for. I'm honestly waiting for them to jump up by like a hundred bucks or more one of these seasons. I have been wrestling with getting a 7'1" MLXF *** spinning rod for some time... I don't think I'll be able to hold out much longer once they're back in stock.

Too much ice to sweat

Certainly. Depending on your style, exact application and preference though of course as always. Everybody is different but I could see what he's saying. I didn't really like very "stiff to the tip" frog rods either, (great for JWR stuff but not so much for frogs) and prefer one with a softer tip as we have to remember that you're driving the backbone of the blank through the tip and moreso the stiffer that tip is- in a rod that has a softer tip, not only can you cast better/farther with lighter baits but when you set the hook, the lever is shorter (closer to the fulcrum) and so is going to feel easier to manage. It will also push the hook point home and drive the fight with the power that is down in the backbone rather than through the tip. That's probably why he is feeling more positive about the hooksets with a mod/fast rod. I know I felt the same way when I moved to a frog rod that had a softer tip section. With a longer rod/softer tip you're getting the casting and shake absorption of a longer rod, but only really setting the hook with, say, 6'8" or so since the tip is not supporting the full weight, just acting as the shock absorber on the head shakes. Does that make sense? I hope I didn't over-complicate that. Especially if you aren't looking to spend a lot of money though, it may be a good idea to go with a more parabolic heavy action like a fast/mod fast, as most heavy "frog rods" will probably be pretty broomsticky at entry level. Check it out, see what you like and go from there. If you aren't getting what you want out of it, you can sell it or just have a swimbait rod. Good luck out there in any case!

Don't forget the bento minnows and hudd bugs! Seriously. Mix it up. Have some fun. They're down there, man. I swear.

Pit bosses & trick worms (for t rig w/ or w/o weight, c rig) Z man zinkers (wacky, neko or Ned rig, drop shot) Bento minnows (t rig, drop shot) Jitterbug of some kind or popper Squarebill crank Deep diver crank Suspending jerkbait Ned rig jigheads O rings for wacky rig Nail weight for Neko rig Bullet weights & stoppers for weighted T rig and C rig #4 EWG hooks Weedless wacky hook Drop shot weight set At least one football type creature jig All of that could be in your hands for probably $50ish (maybe a little more) and you could hit any depth with a couple good looks once you figure everything out. Just scratching the surface though of course

The inner me dies a little when I go to a spot I like and the shore is littered with garbage. I want to cry. That and when I see "white bucket all-stars" keeping Every. Single. Fish.

Orochi secret service. 3oz might be a tough one but those seem like what you're looking for more or less.

Lives? I was thinking week.

Y'know... If it wasn't for the I have no idea what I would do in the winter anymore. Y'all should come and try skiing sometime. Winter only sucks if you don't have anything to do. I used to be incredibly miserable during the dark and cold months and then I found skiing... It's still cold and dark but at least you can float around in fluffy pow and dance with gravity while high fiveing your friends over chairlift beers. I legitimately feel bad for people who have no recreation outlet in the winter.

I don't really bother throwing a frog until the lily pads break the surface of the water. As soon as they do though, it's ON.

ML rods are great for very light plastics and tiny baits, also drop shots and other delicate presentations that require sensitivity. I had a 6'3" Evny black MLXF that was phenomenal. Now I want the 7'1" version though.

You can totally be my secret santa next year fwiw

I'd say LFS + 7'1" *** Black. Lots of rod and reel for well under $200 if you shop around for the reel. It would cover most of your basics with ease and look good doing it. Buy it all from TW and get free shipping too.

Honestly it can be if you buy the wrong XF rod. I didn't like my Crucial MHXF at all because it had no give in the tip at all. May have been a good jig rod but it casted terribly at the lower range of hollow bodied frogs and was a bit too broomsticky for my taste and that application. I personally had trouble walking some frogs with it because of this specific action and taper as well. Same with the MHF *** Green I tried too. My HXF *** Black though- now that is a freakin perfect frog rod IMO. It has a lot of beautifully manageable power. Tons of backbone but a nice progressive tip that gives very accurate, long casts even at low weights- Also keeps the hook pinned very nicely too. All around perfect for my tastes and needs at what I feel is a very reasonable price. You may still get the occasional tower buzzing but that's a part of froggin' and more timing than rod.

FWIW I always thought the candy painted Ito 103s looked the absolute coolest on the DX's paint scheme. It's just so over the top it makes me giddy just thinking about all those flashy colors and sexy details in one place. In other Bait Monkey news, watch out for maico1- he totally got me this morning and is an agent of the bait monkey. I was just minding my own business when all of a sudden he crouched down behind me and the Bait Monkey shoved me right over. I went down like a sack of potatoes. *sigh* and you could still drive a car on my local ponds.

Lol Bait monkey An eeler in Snakehead is slithering this way as of about 2 mins ago. Please excuse me while I hit my local pond with a magnifying glass array and a flame thrower lol

Woooooow. 1oz slow floater? Say it ain't so. That profile is going to get SLAMMED. Any link to buy yet? Do. Want.

The slug-go is literally THE bait that got me back into fishing. Love Lunker City too! If you like the original, try the Slug-go SS. It's the same darting front but with a fine whiptail- suuuuuper finessey and stays in the strike zone a very long time with a sashaying motion that works great. It's my go-to "skunk beater" bait in the summer. Super durable too! Ayu, white and methiolate are probably my faves. Also fwiw the guys down at LC are great people and if you buy direct they often give you free gifts! I've gotten a fistful of packs of their drop shot weights for free because I bought a bunch of the 4" originals, and they almost always throw in a pack or two of something else no matter what the order is. They appreciate their customers for sure! Sorry for the thread drift haha... Slug-gos never stopped working for me though! Must say- that new Mann's jelly fluke looks amazing though!

If you don't mind my asking, what line do you use for those techniques on the 705 and how do you like it? I got a 705cb this year and you are using it exactly like I will be as soon as the ice melts.

Well at least now I have my first project for when I retire! Only about 30ish years to go haha

It's not defensive at all. I just want more results are data and I think it's great... But it's incomplete. I want FC to stretch lol, why would I get defensive about it stretching? I really don't mean to argue. OP definitely has his heart in the right place and I like where he's going. It does make me wish I could make an episode of mythbusters around fishing line gimmicks and performance though.

No. But if you're going to do it... Go all the way. Just saying- it certainly had an outcome, but what percentage of that outcome would be relevant in real world usage? Bringing a product to absolute limit begs the question why use that as a benchmark? I think OP is definitely onto something, but there are a lot of questions that taking the first step can create- such is scientific pursuit.

See that's a cool test but an incomplete picture to say the least. You're measuring one specific parameter, and not even in the context of it's use. Nobody is using 8lb FC with the drag locked on a broomstick. The "results" you show, while being interesting, do not give us an accurate portrayal of when the line actually begins to break down. I'd love to see it redone with respect to the percentage of test rating applied and at what point does it stretch beyond rebound- not just "it stretched two feet & broke" Cool test but it made me wonder even more tbh.