iceintheveins

A 7' medium, with a fast action. My choice would be the Abu Garcia Ike Finesse Series spinning rod, the 7' medium. Handles lures from 1/16 ounce to 1/2 ounce.

Oroville is mostly spots right? Are there largemouth and smallmouth?

A 1/0 EWG is good for 4" senkos and flukes, and also ring worms in that size range. For regular thin worms, I prefer a normal offset hook.

The red eye shad has a better action on the drop and a slightly wider wobble. It casts better too. The Rat L Trap is a better burning bait IMO and has some better colors.

What a BS regulation. Good lord.

I have been using this fluoro all year, and I have noticed a dip in my amount of strikes on jigs and plastics in clear water. Could the blue/fluorescent color be shying fish away, even though it's fluorocarbon? I don't notice a drop in strikes in stained water. I'm using the 15 pound test.

X2. The PQ is the best 100 dollar reel out there. I've heard good things about the Shimano Casitas though.

I prefer a composite, parabolic action rod for all topwaters except frogs. They help keep you from pulling the lure away from the fish and keep the fish hooked.

Go with a Curado 200I in the 7.2:1 gear ratio. A MH graphite rod and a minimum of 50 pound braid are what you should use. When lost of bass over 5 pounds exist or you are fishing very thick cover, go with 65 pound braid or higher. I prefer a MH rod for frogs because a H action with braid seems to rip them away from the fish on a strike easier.

I fish a frog more during the day than any other topwater. Early in the day they are great fished around shoreline cover before the sun comes up. Use a walk and pause type retrieve, and retrieve it back in fast once it passes the cover. My other two frog presentations are in thick vegetation, and also in shade pockets. In thick vegetation, chug and pause it to create enough noise to get the bass to investigate. Pause it on the edges and in the pockets, and walk it from one edge to the other. Throwing the frog into shady areas, especially skipping it under shaded overhangs or docks, is another great way to get crushed on a frog. The latter two patterns will work in the middle of the day, even at 100 degrees.

My two favorite frogs are the Koppers Livetarget and the Booyah Pad Crasher. I like Green Yellow, black, and white as my basic frog colors. The Spro Bronzeye is good too but fills with water worse than the first two. I have also heard tons of good things about Ish's Phat Frog by snag proof but have never tried it.

I will use a trailer hook unless fishing in grass and weeds. A 1/0 needle point hook held on by a piece of tubing is the way to go.

Plus there is no real evidence bass harm native fish anyways. It's just a "quick fix" solution to placate radical environmentalists. The minority should NEVER, EVER be allowed to make decisions for us. Environmentalists are the enemy of sport fishing everywhere.

Ten or twelve pound Tatsu. Abraz X is good if you don't want to drop forty bucks on a spool of Tatsu.

Junebug, blueberry, black sapphire.

Bluegill, natural bream, chili craw, green gizzard shad, chartreuse sexy shad, firetiger.

Topwaters do work best during low light and cloudy conditions, no doubt. But I do catch them sometimes during sunny, hot conditions, especially when there is weed growth and on faster moving topwaters like rage shads or buzzbaits. These are good options to cover the shallows anytime pretty much.

I still fish about 60% mono. I like Original Stren in either Clear Blue or Low Vis Green. It's tough and the memory is manageable with some KVD Line and Lure.

I would go with a Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier in the 5.2:1 and a 6'6", Medium Action BPS Crankin' Stick or a 6'6" M Veritas Winch.

Mine usually doesn't dry out till the bottle is at least half empty, but I go through a lot of it and a lot of baits. I will try the MEK solvent to keep it young when it gets too firm.

Still use a lot of Strike King Square Bill 1.5s. For a deeper running silent bait the Spro Little John Baby DD is my favorite.

Flippin' or pitchin some type of plastic, like a Pit Boss or Space Monkey. Also throw a senko or fluke type bait a lot unless in heavily stained water. Second pattern is a crank of some type, or a spinnerbait if it's choppy.

Best all around is white. Catch a lot on baby bass, and watermelon/red pearl though.

Utah and western states need their heads examined.

I have only used the 4" model but it's my go to flippin/pitchin soft plastic. I rig it with a 3/0 EWG.