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My dedicated frogging setup is a St. Croix Mojo "Frog and Slop" rod (7' H/F), 50 lb braid, and right now I've got one of my older, slower reels on it and it's probably the next one getting upgraded. If there is less cover you can get away with a MH/F rod but if you can only afford one, it's better to go a little over what you need than under. With the hookset, even with the beast of a rod and braid still needs to be strong especially if they're in the thick stuff. You've got to cross their eyes and get them coming at you and don't let them bury themselves in the veggies.

Congrats man! That first win always feels so good!

Upload the file to a site like imgur.com or tinypic.com and then post the link here

You can order them right from Heddons website. The color you want is called Florida Bass not baby bass.

There may be some who don't care for the split grips and that's understandable, but split grips are the norm these days. From a marketing standpoint, they produce what is in demand in the market. You can't blame them for doing that

http://www.ttiblakemore.com/home/vm?page=shop.browse&category_id=3 The video on their website should be helpful.

Personally I'd go with the Avid Crankbait rods. The graphite is lighter and more sensitive than the S-Glass blanks while still providing the same action.

I'd go with either a 20 or 30 sized Pflueger, Abu, or Quantum. Spend as close to the top of your budget and you won't be disappointed!

Fenwick makes some great rods, their smallmouth rods are great, but St. Croix wins that battle hands down!

It wouldn't hurt to loosen your drag a bit even with the moderate action rod.

Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper

Go for the coated mesh, you'll like it better than rubber.

3/8 oz. Terminator Spinnerbait in solid white.

I've got the dotline lure retriever that's very similar to the Frabil one. Easily pays for itself within a few uses. It's not as compact as a plug knocker, but I feel it does a better job. Very few baits are ever lost with one.

Rubber is probably the best for the fish and rubber never gets hooks in it though. As bluebass stated though, they are heavier and harder to pull through the water. Also, depending on the design the springy quality of rubber makes it easier for a fish to effectively bounce out of the net. The nylon coated nets are the happy medium. They are better for a fish than a traditional net, but not as easy on them as rubber. However, they move through the water like a traditional net and although not as hook proof as rubber are close to it. Every once in a while you'll get a hook to go through the coating but those are rare occurrences. They move through the water like a traditional net making it easier to net fish and they are of a deeper design making fish jumping out of the net something that doesn't happen. As far as durability, they both seem better than traditional netting material. Ego nets are the top of the line nets with very cool features. Pricey though...

Definitely never heard of this before. If you're using a snap swivel, you should be able to hook one to a spinnerbait or buzzbait without any trouble at all. To solve the issue of it sliding down from the hairpin, take some pliers and pinch it down so it closes the opening in the hairpin.

The bottoms of the bases fit into a recessed area that comes out in the livewell. They still might have something in there I guess, but I was hoping for a fix without having to pull them out. If I have to pull them, it also means I have to score the carpet. Anyway thanks for your help though.

Hey guys I'm in need of a little help. I recently bought a different boat, and for whatever reason the pedestal posts are seized. The posts are the normal locking kind with the plastic type clip that prevents them from popping back out. I'm not sure how they got SOO locked in. I've tried using a pipe wrench on them to get them to twist even a little, but had no luck. Is there anyone here who's had that problem and found a somewhat easy remedy? Thanks in advance! (Ps the bases do have the plastic inserts in them still and here's a picture of the pedestals I have.http://www.basspro.com/Springfield-SpringLock-Power-Rise-Pedestals/product/20209/)

Ranger is the way to go for a smooth dry ride!

Congrats on saving enough for a boat, but be careful with that motor.... Bought my first boat at 11. It was a little 10' Bass Hound. Just had a tm on it for a while until I bought a little v-hull with almost new trailer and an older 8hp Johnson. Took off the goodies for mine and sold the boat. Overall, it work out pretty good. A little over 2 years ago upgraded to my first Ranger. An 86 320V with an junker 75 Merc. I upgraded for a whopping $150. Later upgraded the motor, tm, and added a jackplate and Ranger on-board charger, Lowrance HDS Gen2 Touch, Older Lowrance GPS up front. In a few days I'll be stripping it down because I'm upgrading to a 97 Ranger Sport R70 with an Evinrude 130 and after I sell mine, I might even be making money on the upgrade.haha

The St. Croix M/XF and ML/XF rods will work for this application. I throw my 4 straight tail worms on a Legend Tournament Bass "Wacky Style" spinning rod. I know the casting rods are built on the same blank so I don't think you'd have any issues throwing on on the casting model.

I really like the Trokar Weedless Wacky hooks

Trokar Weedless Wacky's is what I use and haven't had an issue with them!

I've used straight 6# FC last year and decided to try to switch to braid and a FC leader this year. Didn't like the braid to fc at first but it's growing on me a little. At this point though, I'd say I still like straight FC better.

You gotta look at it from a marketing standpoint....they aren't going to say "Check out the new Veritas 2.0 if you're looking for a decent rod, but not the best one out there."