Master Bait'r

I like to make my hand fall asleep first, I call it "strangebaiting"

There was an article written about this a while back- ALWAYS try to recover plastics if you can. If bass eat too many pieces of plastic, it can stop up their gut tract and make them look skinny, eventually killing them.

If it manages to be 1/5th of how good the Slither K is, it'll be awesome. Speaking of which, I just scored a tough color to find in the Slither- and a kicker frog in another tough color to find... Neither will be here until well after Halloween though haha oh well. Oh, JDM tackle shipping... It seems like a sick joke but I am looking forward to being surprised sometime in November- and people wonder why I run 50lb braid!!

I'd recommend saving up juuuuuuust a little more, man... You're so close! For just $50 more though- $200 total brand new- I don't think you can do much better than a Lew's LFS and a 7'1" M/F *** Black. That's a great all around setup for sure, and IMO a relative bargain at that price.

1/4oz Owner flashy swimmer + fat worm, craw or swimmer of your choice to fit the situation. It combines several looks because you can change up the profile and presentation and widen that appeal based on your lake. I've gotten steamrolled using these to broadcast. Definitely cool rigs.

Definitely go 1 piece and deal with it. Also consider a heavy action if you can as long as it has a little tip softness- don't buy a broomstick though. Regardless, one pieces fit in most every car, it's just a fanagle to get 'em in the door and lay them down the middle, etc... Worth it though. The actions are much better. At that price point, I'd definitely go lightning shock. They're actually decent rods and they'll serve you well. The biggest reasons you want a baitcasting reel though is no line twist on heavy braid and also there's usually better drags on them, which is important in setting hooks as discussed above- and muscling them in without buckling to the weeds + fish. Finally they also offer faster retrieves- and a 7.1:1 speed reel is standard fare, for you want to be able to keep the right amount of slack retrieve while waling or popping frogs. the rod you want a MH or H blank to be able to transfer enough energy to send those big fat hooks home AND deal with all those weeds so it's a double whammy. Frogging is freshwater power fishing personified and it is awesome. If you're frogging and want to really frog, it's certainly true that you're going to need a heavier setup- but you can also use that same setup to jigs or use other heavy cover presentations too so it's not just a one-trick pony kind of thing. More like a heavy cover investment

Variety is the spice of life... And the driver of industry

The only reason I'm advocating spending more on the frog setup is because a cheaper frog rod may end up being a bit broomstickish and hence will be more of a one-trick pony. Heck, even my MHXF crucial has a bit of that going on. If you get one that has a nice flex profile and a bit softer tip it'll do a lot more than throw frogs and can usually handle a lot of your heavy baits across the board if you use the right line to suit it for multiple duty. Conversely, I feel there are about a million fantastic choices for fast taper blanks in the M/MH range that will handle a ton of applications very well and so you don't really need to break the bank finding one that works and makes you happy unless that's your prerogative. Just wanted to clarify that. I know your "all around" setup will likely get more usage but to get a bigger range of usefulness out of your big rod, you may have to spend a little more to get it than the all purpose rod would require IMO.

OP what kind of cover do you normally fish? Heavy pads? Sparse grass? A little bit of everything?? You can get away with a line choice that's better for a lot of looks if you aren't fishing FL superslop, that's why I ask. 30-40lb braid if you're up north, 50lb if you're down south or chasing them into the uber heavy cover regularly. In any case, I reeeeeeally want to tell you to get a 7'3" HXF *** black. At the price point it straight up slays everything else out there. Amazing frog rod but versatile enough for a lot of other presentations too- Smidge of softness in the tip to really help the cast and keep them buttoned, and gobs upon gobs of backbone to power them out. The reel you can pretty much use anything as terrible as that may sound. I'd go 7.1:1 to be able to keep your slack up but there are a TON of bc reels that will work well for that since the baits are heavier. I'd check out the flea market and see what I could find.

That's not a bad lure that's just bad luck... And a little but of a poor reaction on your part in just throwing it out. I've got a bunch of them in all sizes and they work- very well. Sure the legs can get torn up but when they do, make some legs out of jig trailer. Tie a knot in the middle and push it through. Bam. Frog = saved.

I hate having people all up in my personal space, but it does give me an opportunity to catch a fish right in their face which is always fun

I've had a great year considering I have had far less time this season and I'm still way up on fish, size, regularity and gear. Still haven't been able to bring in the big lass from this one spot though... It's my only real "goal" for this year. I just want to weigh her and say hello. If I can do that it'll be a total success!

I would definitely like to have a wish list. Just being able to put it all in one place and keep it as a clickable list would be KEY.

Thanks for the heads up! Always looking to add a different action to the frog box. I like the looks of those ribbon legged ones!

I bet this guy had the rainbow sparkle unicorn scented Megastrike too haha

I laughed so hard at the thought of a Mr.Hinkie Pro model senko- brown a "yellow corn" flake haha

Apparently not haha my mistake!... Still though- Go find a $150 green Curado 50e and get an *** black- BAM. Done and out the door for $250 and loving life. You don't need a Core or a Pixy to finesse, my man. There are plenty of decent options out there without breaking the bank and even used Pixies are available on FleaBay for right around $100-$150 for RH models in older colors. Slap in some carbontex drag washers and you're good to go.

Agreed, but there is nothing else like it out there. Uniqueness, quality and a different action IMO can carry a higher price tag and still be "worth it"- I very rarely lose a frog anyways, as it's a weedless topwater on 50lb braid. I wouldn't pay the same for something I'd send to the bottom just because I'd be more afraid to lose it. I was actually selling a bazzy but this convinced me to keep it hahaha I think of it like this- if it's what the fish are looking for on ONE DAY and on that one day it makes it the day of your life- would you pay an extra $10 to have that day? I would. Very subjective though, so I don't expect many people to agree.

I started a thread about them a while back but nobody who used them had responded... Can you give me some insight as to your experience? I've been super curious about them for a while now. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Actually, I lied. I've got a whole tray... Or two... Of Kanans on the brain. They are so sexy and aren't even that expensive. I must have them haha- the bait monkey says so! I mean... I can get 2 relics, 2 relic fatties, a relic LT and 2 relic minnows for <$90 shipped. That just blows my mind after looking at Ragos and such.

As much as my personal collection may agree with that statement, I disagree wholeheartedly that you need to spend big dough to get out there and finesse fish successfully, and you certainly don't need a casting reel. I mean heck, I put a Supreme on a one-piece M Berkley Amp rod for my lady to use and it is a surprisingly competent setup for light baits. All you really need is a decent rod and a nice smooth, dependable reel.

Just a thought- if you have trouble walking a frog, maybe try the deps basirisky frog. It has a really sexy wiggle that you don't need to walk yourself, just steady retrieve and it does it for you. Almost like a jitterbug but soft and weedless. Seems like it would have been perfect for the retrieve they were keying on as well. Just a thought

Not so much a lure but I am foaming at the mouth to get my hands on Trokar frog hooks for my frogs and buzz plugs. Talk about a game changer...

IMHO... 6'10"-7' MF *** Black & Pfloog Supreme XT.

DVT's "0-solved time" is quite Veyron-esque haha nice response!