Master Bait'r

I don't think anybody fishes all their stuff. Sometimes we will throw it once and not like it as much as something else, sometimes we just never get into, say, spybaiting like we thought we would haha... But hey, at least we can all have big piles of gear to stare at with the gear satisfaction only a fisherman can have. It's the kind of thing you just can't have too much of.

If you're noticing the reaction's prevalence, try the opposite! Make the swimmer "notice and run" and see what happens. Heck, worst possibility is already happening!

I use a BB1 Pro and enjoy it immensely. Screw the country mile, that thing casts frogs over the horizon haha. It's really preference though, lots of great reels in that price range. I'd go 7.1:1 or more but again that's preference. I just like to be able to keep my slack up when I'm walking without spinning myself out. You don't need a rocket though, just go for something that has a good heavy drag, wide spool and a fasterish ratio and you're good IMO.

I've always kind of oogled Lamiglas's ML 7'1"er. Anybody used those infinity rods?

No other money you will ever spend will ever have such a giant effect on your fishing. For $150 literally every spot in every lake and pond near you just became your oyster! I don't care who you are, that is money well spent right there!!

I'm suck a sucker for laser beam style XF rods.

Successfully. That said, totally frogs. Then finesse.

The general shape and single central tail lends itself to a nice whippy walk and they get slammed for sure. They hook up because they're nice and soft but they also get torn up for the same reason. Still worth it though, they're not that expensive and some mend-it goes a long way.

That link is a really great resource to someone looking to convert an aluminum boat on the cheap. As a custom fabrication and metalwork guy, thanks for giving me my next big project!

Short answer? No.

*sound like

Thanks for that. As a metal guy, Titanium really is a fascinating material. I also LOVE recoils- I have an NRX and an *** Black with recoils and I have to say they are by far my favorite and I seek them out in a rod now. Nothing is as light and sensitive! Good to know they really are as durable as they seem like they would be. I was a little concerned about that given the old warnings about grooving but it makes total sense that Ti is simply too hard of a metal to be truly effected by braid.

Some of my longest and most fruitful conversations are had when nobody is around to stop me

I'm right handed, but I prefer to work the rod with my right and reel with my stupid hand. I might be able to fish cranks with my left on the rod but I could never finesse or walk frogs that way. Just my .02 and that's why I was wondering what the actual population split was, since left handed reels seem so much harder to track down used, or even have offered in many cases. I understand the extra money in tooling and such when developing another reel- but it always blows my mind when I see just how behind lefties are in a lot of cases when they seem to be in demand.

Tatula or LFS. Both great reels in the $100 range.

Lefty reels are less common and often not even available, yet it seems as so many are always clamoring for them. I know I couldn't frog or finesse with my left hand on the rod... So I wanted to know- what is the split for right/left handled users? 60/40? 80/20? It always frustrates me when I'm looking at something cool like the new 13 reels and not one NOT ONE is lefty... Vast majority of all reels for sale new or used everywhere- righty. It's extremely annoying and I've been wondering just how pronounced the actual distribution really is. (I'd feel better if it's an extreme minority)

There is no difference, save for me being twice as baked since there's nobody to share with haha

If I carried a telescoping pruner saw/loppers around most lakes I go to, I could seriously open my own tackle store in a year or two.

Every time I throw a jig I pray not that I land a 10lber but that I snag a roman made and get 'er to the boat haha

I use the #2s for really small weightless worm t-rigs when I want them to sink slower. They still hook up just fine.

Man, I could not agree more. Fall is my favorite time to fish. The fish are the biggest, the weeds aren't gone yet and between the weather and foliage (so pretty in NE right now!) it's impossible to not enjoy yourself simply being outside.

Depends on a million things- and people say they can't walk them for all kinds of underlying reasons- most of them equipment or setup. One leg shorter than the other makes no sense to me personally, and if it's a walking style frog and I can't walk it, then I'm usually doing something wrong or the frog just plain stinks. Shorter tails can aide in the whip of the walk, but I suspect if the guy with the different length legs had cut both of them to the length of the shorter leg, he could still walk it. Just an observation, but I don't mess with frogs for the most part except to trim the legs a little shorter if they're the jig skirting type, or maybe swapping out ruined legs for fur strips. The one thing I will be doing though once it's possible is to swap out hooks for those sick new Trokar TK250 frog hooks. Those things look SO money.

I fish some rocky spillways under turn of the century type dams... They're littered with rusty pieces of machinery washed out of the old dams. I am so overly cautious for that exact reason- glad you didn't get lanced, OP!

I like them too. Better for sparse cover and don't really walk though in stock form so I can see why some people don't like them. Also the legs can get owned at the roll of the dice- that could be 40 fish in or first cast haha... I do think they still work great even with jig skirt legs on them though fwiw (and also walk well after you do it) Great frogs all around, and while some get mad when the legs die, I look at it as their second life. I have lunk3rhunts both with legs and skirts. Love them both ways!

Well for inexpensive walking frogs my favorites are probably koppers and spro bronzeyes. Not super keen on too many poppers in this range though- the spros are good but not amazing. If money and shipping time is no object and you want walking frogs, hands down slither k and kicker frogs- both regular and popper style. They really are the best by far. Best colors, actions, construction and details are perfect and the hookset percentage is far higher than their cheaper cousins. I've pretty much resigned to selling off all my "normal" frogs to focus on these and a few others. Also the new combat frogs from lunk3rhunt are fantastic. If you've got big fish to go after, this is a fantastic frog- not a walker though- more of a tug and pause, tug and pause kind of action but it works very well to have a look like that in your frog box to go to when the walk isn't getting it done or the fish are used to it. I also keep a 1/2oz original lunker frog in green tea at all times in my box. Love that frog for certain times.