Fishingmickey

Luck-E-Strike ring worm is another brand also. Black w/chartreuse tail or the purple with yellow tail. T-rigged with a 3/0 Gamakatsu round bend worm and a 1/8 oz weight was the ticket.

Once grasshopper season gets into full swing the tiny torpedo comes into play. I like the baby bass color, clear for very clear water and the leopard frog are all good. FM

Nailed it. I have one and like it. But it doesn't make me Oooh and Aaah. FM

Absolutely beautiful fish! Congratulations! Fishingmickey

That's a bunch of Rock crawlers Jim! FM

Sharpen your hooks? Wait until you feel the line load up and a smooth sweep hook set. FM

I second that emotion. RK55's are the bomb. FM

Hi Greg, The reason most/majority of fisherman use a heavy power rod and 50# (or more) braid for frog fishing is because you have to get the fish moving quickly to get them out of the slop and vegetation. That requires "heavy" muscle and braid provides the power to drive home the double hooks of a frog and to get the fish turned and moving. You can use a medium heavy for frog fishing but sometimes you might have to go in and get them. FM

I'll pretty much jump on the not the knot for me Palomar knot with Fluorocarbon line bandwagon. I been using fluorocarbon for several years now and I (and this is IMHO) feel that fluorocarbon line has different stretch properties then mono. Mono stretches more evenly as it is loaded up. Fluoro stretches after it has had a good load applied and will stretch later then mono with the same load. Fluoro doesn't recover or is as forgiving after being stretched under a heavy load. Fluoro doesn't like being kinked, stress stretched or shock loaded (think hook set). When any of those have happened it breaks easily. I think the way the palomar knot tightens down puts a kink at the hook eye where the line exits the knot which causes your line to break. I use the improved clinch knot, six turns and slowly tighten until snug. Using a short leader of say 6' or less then tied to braid doesn't leave much room for stretch and can transmit shock much better to the short piece of leader especially on the hook set. Hope my rambling helps you come to a solution Booyah! Fishingmickey

Hi Fayt, Your reel is too full. It appears that the line is filled up to the lip of the spool in the picture. Strip enough off so you can see at least a 3/16" of side wall of the spool. Full spool is exposing an 1/8" of the side wall. Like Tiger recommended take your rig outside and tie it off or hang it up and walk off 20, 30 or 40 yards of line. You should be able to see the side wall of the spool then and have no loose loops of line on the spool. Reel it back in tightly and when you have 3/16ths of side wall showing stop and remove the excess line and retie your lure. I am going to assume that there is a lead head under the tube (the Venom lure). Good luck practicing tomorrow. FM

Two quick questions Fayt, How big of a weight or lure are you using? Throwing light weight lures like weightless plastic (aka Senko), a smallish crank bait or even a spinner bait into the wind can be very frustrating. Try using a 3/8 oz jig or a 1/4 oz T-rigged worm. With a bait caster one thing that is seldom mentioned is the back cast. When you bring the rod back to cast the rod should bend and load up (you'll feel the weight) then start forward and release. It is all one motion no stopping or changing the speed between backwards and forwards. It's different then a spinning rod where you can bring the rod back and stop then pitch the bait forward. Second question is how full is your spool? You might try only filling it to 3/4 full. It is much easier to control. Your line should be fine. Go out in the backyard and practice casting. I would adjust your reel just like most bait casters. Hold the rod up push the thumb bar and adjust the cast control knob on the right side to where the lure falls in control and the reel doesn't over run or nest when the lure hits the ground. Hope you git'er down, Fishingmickey

I don't "have to carry 15". I choose to. I would purely love to do more pre-fishing. Maybe when I can retire it will happen. Fish on! FM

I fish Kayak tournaments and I practice like I am fishing a tournament. I carry..... 15 rods on my hobie PA14. I'd compare it to being able to change gears easily. I will usually have three crankbaits tied on, shallow or squatre bill, mid depth and deeper diver. I will have a chatterbait, underspin and spinnerbait. Sometimes a frog or buzzbait. Always a Texas rigged worm, jig, creature bait and weightless plastic keitech or fluke or something along those lines. Oh yes and I forgot I will have a topwater tied on too. usually either the plopper 75, or a popper or walking bait. I am running a bank with a spinnerbait and I get a roll/flash or short strike on the spinner. Boom, I reach behind me and grab the weightless fluke or finesse worm or weightless senko and pitch it in the spot or the spot I think the fish came out of and quite a few times I will catch that fish or at least get another shot at hooking it. Tournament kayak fishing requires you to be able to really work your stretches of water that are in range of your kayak much more thoroughly then vs being in a bass boat and having the ability to hit the switch fire up the big motor and run that half mile to the next honey hole, spot or point. Being efficient with your time is king. Fishingmickey P.S. I did have KVD comment on how many rods I was carrying in March. I think he approved we were both smiling.

Get a good selfie pic of the fish without blatant straight arming 6" from the camera. Then take another pic of the scale. Or go the Kayaker way and photo on a bump board and talk length. FM

OMG....Nice, maybe someday. Fishingmickey

Hi Sandbass, I made my own horizontal rod holder it's capable of holding at least 20 rod and reels. I used two 6' long 1x4's and cut 20 1/2" x 6" hardwood dowels. I took my hand drill and I removed the ruler from my combo square. I used the 45° side of it as a drill guide and drilled 10 holes equal distance apart (about 6") at a 45° angle on the 1x4's. Glue or epoxy in the dowels, paint, varnish or stain to your hearts content and mount on the wall at 48" or 64" apart. FM

I liked the imaging on the old unit too. Not a major upgrade in quality IMHO. I've had Lowrance and the Garmin is as good as or better then. I had tried one of the Hummingbird units when they first came out with down and side imagining. It was a 598 model number and it had a very nice picture. But the scroll rate even on high was slower then molasses in Janurary. It would just flat miss things passing under the boat (like logs). I returned it. I had read some reviews online about it and it was mentioned in the reviews that the "less then top of the line" units the processor speed was a major issue. That experience has soured me on Hummingbird since. FM

It is good to start with Mono. Like Tom suggested remove some line. Having a over filled spool will make "birdnesting" much easier. A 3/4ths filled spool is much easier to manage. Start off with easier casts. Don't swing for the fence. Use lures that have some weight to them. Jig, T-rigged worm and lipless crankbait come to mind and try not to bomb cast into the light lures into the wind. FM

I've been pleased with the unit. The graphics are excellent. It is very user friendly. I had a Echomap 93 SV prior to upgrading. I had to upgrade to be able to use Panoptix Live scope. The Live scope is "the bomb". I am loving the video game fishing. Fishingmickey

I running the same Garmin unit 93sv UHD on my Kayak. Definitely go Ram mount's 1.5" ball. I have a 20ah Bienno battery and not super happy with it. I don't like the terminals. The battery performs fine. Just shite small screw terminals. You might check out the FPV brand of battery. 17.5ah battery should be good for a couple of full day trips. Fishingmickey

Good stuff, excellent products. FM

Waiting for AJay to chime in on how a chatterbait doesn't work up north with a few of his chatterbait smallies from lake Menderchuck. FM

I started out in the Sunline shooter camp with Sniper and Assassin for a couple of years. I tried and went to Seaguar about a year ago. I really like Tatsu and the Invisx. FM

I am a Tatsu fan also. I love the 15# for spinner baits and chatterbaits. I find that Seagar Invisx is another fine fluorocarbon too. FM