FrankW

Hi Spencer, I fish in central Florida and we have a lot of grass and hydrilla. There is only part of the summer that punching is necessary. Most of the year I fish a punching setup but I don't punch with it. I fish a sweet beaver mostly with a skirt and weights from 1/8 to 3/8. I pitch with the setup and it works great for me. I prefer the Owner Twistlock Flipping hook instead of the straight shank flipping hook with a snell. I get good bait life with the twistlock hook and the bait never falls down the shank. The new flipping hooks with the bait keeper does have a tendency to tear up smaller baits once the keeper pulls through the bait. So my setup is: Sweet Beaver, Owner Twistlock Flippin hook, custom skirt, light weight and Eco stopper. Frank

If this reel has the dual braking system then that is probably your problem. That would explain why the distance doesn't change as you adjust the mag brake. Take the side plate off and see if you have a centrifugal brake under the cover. If so, reduce the brakes to one or two and that should solve your problem. Frank

I live in central Florida and fish a spring fed river that is renowned for its clarity. It is a relative small river and has a lot of boat traffic and tubers. There are lots of bass and you can see them easily in shallow areas. One section I fish is about 40' wide and 2' to 3' deep. I started fishing this section with a spinning rod with 20lb PP braid and a three inch Senko. The fish line up facing up stream in a long string of fish with 10 to 20 fish. If I park on the same side of the river that they are on and cast forward the fish all move over so the line is not on top of them. If I move my boat over and cast forward again they will move back to the same spot. If a boat or tuber goes by they move over just like the do with the line. My line is old and so is a white color and I can see it from boat to lure. I found if I got to the side of the fish and drifted my bait to the fish and not line them that they would bite. Much like fishing for trout in a river. So I was able to catch these wary fish with braid and no leader as long as the line wasn't over top of them. In later years I switched to a drop shot setup with FC. Unless the line got right on top of them they didn't mind the FC line floating around them. I found with the FC I could catch fish with not near as much fuss as to what my line was doing. So there are circumstances that the line and not necessarily the color, will make a difference. I fish hydrilla with braid all the time and the fish could care less about the line, if they can even tell it is there in the weeds. Frank

Hi jlew, Here in Florida we have lakes filled with heavy weeds especially hydrilla. When you hook a fish deep in the weeds you can accumulate a huge stack of weeds and you can't even see your fish or be sure it is still hooked. The problem is not hooking them but keeping them on coming through the weeds. I have tried several different things and it all comes down to a reduced landing rate in this type of fishing. Once hooked you have to keep pressure on the fish and pull it through as quickly as you can. I have thought about this and I think one of the main problems is this. As you get the fish close to the surface you have accumulated a big gob of weeds. When a fish swims to the side or shakes its head the weeds hold the line and gives the fish some leverage to get off. Somewhat like with a big top water bait and the fish jumps shaking its head. I have pulled up fish with a weed gob bigger than a five gallon bucket. I haven't found that a snelled knot makes any difference in my fishing. Looks good on TV though. Frank

Here in central Florida we ended the 2013 season in December and started the 2014 season in January. We have had some cold weather that keep us off the water more than usual. I was out week before last and the water temp was 58 to 62 degrees. Frank

Here is a link to the video about the BB1 Pro mentioned above. Frank

I started using 10lb Power Pro in 2000 and it is a good line. It is very limp and I was using it for light weight top water. I had a problem with the line wrapping around the rod tip or fowling on the lure. I finally went to 20lb PP and the problems went away. Frank

Hi Tim, I use the Tokar tube hook and it works great. I fish 4" or 4 1/2" tubes with a solid head and a #4 hook. The solid head helps the hook keeper do its job. I don't have to fool with the bait near as much as I did with other hooks. If the fish gets this hook in its mouth you will hook up. Some people has stated that the Tokar hook point will cut out on a skin hook but that doesn't happen with me. The Eagle Claw tube hook has a different hook point if you don't like the Tokar point. Frank

I have been wearing glasses for most of my life and have wore many different makes. My next to last pair was Costas and they are nice glasses but expensive, especially with prescription. My currant and best I have ever used are the Wiley X glass. The Wiley X are safety glasses rated and you can buy for $90 to $100. They offer good protection from a lure or weight that might hit you in the eye. The important feature is their patented removable seal that blocks all light that enters behind the lens. The seal is a ventilated gasket and works great. It is just the thing for anyone with a high speed boat. They won't blow off and block all of the air that might blur your vision at high speed. The glass won't fog with the seals in place unless you have an eye problem and your eye is watering. My last Costa's cost me $450 with prescription. My Wiley X cost $100 and another $100 for the prescription lenses from my local optometrist. Wiley offers a discount to militaries if you buy direct. I took these photos from the Wiley site and I have no connection with Wiley. They are just an outstanding product for fishers. Frank

The Palamar is a great knot but in my opinion it is a poor choice for tying directly to the lure with no slip ring. If you tie directly to the crank you should use a loop knot so you don't effect the action of the lure. Or, tie to a slip ring or use a clip. Frank

Hi Brandon, The owner of SOB lures passed sometime ago and his wife was carrying on the business. She was always involved with the construction of the lures and the quality was still good. The WEB site is down and it seems that she is no longer doing business. I hope someone buys the business as they did have an excellent product. If you do a search for "Hidden Weight Spinner Baits" you will find other venders with a similar product. I haven't found anyone with a large selection of colors or options like SOB. Frank