tcbass

What's your success rate per trip?

So there are two heights of adjustable Springfield Pedestals I've found, 13 1/2"-20" and 23"- 29". I can sit with the 13 1/2"-20", but it's not super tall. At it's max height it puts the seat just above my butt cheek. When I use the 23"-29" it puts it at the middle of my back and when it's lowered it's too tall to sit on. With this pictured Cabelas seat, I was wondering if with the "lean-back" concave side that is supposed to be at your back, butt, or just under your butt cheek? It seems to me that I really need like a 25"-29", but no one makes that. I decided to stick with the 13-1/2"-20". Did I make the right choice?

So, I've found that I use the a solid body (Ragetrail Toad) about 97% of the time because I haven't had great success with hollow body frogs, although I have caught some nice fish on hollow bodies, just not with the consistency of solid body frogs. So, for solid body frogs I've used Ragetail Toads, Zoom Horny Toads, and Stanley Ribbit Frogs, for hollow body frogs I've used, Spro's, Spro's Popper, and Scumfrog Bigfoot (awesome frog, had a big hit in the thick pads, frog missed it, made a total of like 24 more consecutive casts, frog made 4 more misses, and took it on the last one, she weighed a little over 4lbs.). I also have two Live Target frogs that I've never even taken out of the box. So, what type of frog do you use the majority of the time and what are some of your favorite frogs?

Well, getting thru all that slop would be hard to. lol. I don't think my 80lbs Terrova would be able to make it that far.

Good question.

How far from the boat do you pitch? I know you're supposed to pitch close to the boat, but if you are only pitching close you'll have to move your boat into the pads a lot and I don't want to disturb the fish by going deep into the pads. You could basically only really fish the edges.

True. But who can afford that for each lure? lol

I saw Sieberts punch rig jig. $5.39. Yikes!

I have had quite a few pair of Oakleys. Most of them had problems after a few years with the hinges.

This maybe a funny question but after a long day of fishing my feet really hurt. I've always had problems with them though and being up on my feet at work all day doesn't help. I normally wear a T-shirt, swim trunks, and flip flops. Apparently flip flops are one of the worst things you can wear because they offer no support. I would like to find something like flip flops that work, I was thinking Crocs or some type of orthopedic flip flops. Does anyone make such a thing? What's the best fishing footwear for all day comfort while fishing in a boat?

Ok. So after reading your post I watched this video on forward punch rigs: I saw that he is Bubba Tosh and uses: 1.) Paycheck 4/0 Punch Hook 2.) Paycheck Punch Skirt 3.) Paycheck Weight Stop 4.) 1-1/2 ounce Tungsten Bullet Weight of your choice 5.) Plastic Bait of your choice such as Ragetail Craw So, I see that you can get almost all of these parts from Tackle Warehouse. I'm wondering if this is the cheapest place to get all of this and what is the cheapest weight I can find that will work, Tungsten or otherwise because man, Tungsten weights are crazy expensive. I also saw that some people use a bobber stop and bead vs. a rubber billet weight stop. Is that a cheaper option that works just as well or not?

This is what I have been doing.

This is what I have been doing.

Interesting.

So last year I learned about punch rigs and watched some videos on it. I purchased some hooks and 3/4 ounce and 1 ounce sinkers. I reversed T-Rig'd the lure, which I think was a Berkley Pit Boss. I have really dense lily pads with other weeds and stuff, it's ridiculous. I've caught quite a few bass using a Ragetail Toad and Heddon Moss Boss over these pads, so I know there's fish there. Well, firstly, I haven't gotten anything, not even a single bite. Secondly, whenever I've pulled the lure out it catches on lily pads and stuff it gets caught and then when I pull it hard I have a 3/4 to 1 ounce weight flying at my face. One time it hit my rod, luckily it didn't crack it. So, that's sort of scary. I've seen that some people use jigs for punching instead of reverse T-rig'd lures. I've also noticed that the lake I fish has a lot of slop covered by a ton of lily pads. Perhaps too many lily pads to punch through. I saw a video where a guy tosses his T-rigged bait up in the air and it drops down through the slop. I noticed that where he was fishing had a lot of slop but few lily pads so his bait shot right down. My bait flies up and lands on the lily pads and doesn't sink because it's sitting on top of the lily pads. Are some pads/slop just too thick to punch? So, what am I doing wrong and how can I fix it to catch fish? Also, how can I not have a 1 ounce lure come flying at me?

Post a pic of what pegging them looks like. I've don't recall seeing that.

I've seen some fishing shows where the pro's have a round, bulbous fishing rod balancer. However, I've never seen this balancer sold anywhere. Does anyone here use them and if so, where do you find them for sale?

I've tried the Zoom Horny Toads without success, although others seem to have success with them. I also have never caught a fight on my Stanley Ribbit frogs. Here's my thoughts on the Ragetail Toad, I would definitely try these out if I were you. I have always had luck with a their green pumpkin and watermelon flake. Another nice thing about the Ragetail is it works on the sink too, many other frogs don't do that: Firstly, as I've posted before, I think the Ragetail Toad is one of the greatest topwater bass lures of all time. It has outfished almost every other lure for largemouth bass that I've ever used. I've noticed when I've read a lot of reviews and comments on the Ragetail Toad that people say things like, "One of my only complaints is that it sinks, so you have to start cranking right away to get it up on plane." Well, I learned something when I was first using it, which is also the same time I was learning to use a baitcasting reel. I threw a long cast under a dock that was in about a foot deep of water and immediately got a big backlash. So I let the Ragetail sink as I undid the birdsnest. After about 30 seconds of dealing with that I started reeling the line in assuming it was just going to be a burn back to the boat and cast again type situation. Well, as I reeled up the slack I realized there was a bass on the lure the entire time. He had eaten it on the sink or when it was sitting on the bottom. This was an epiphany for me! I think it's a lot like swim jigs, guys used to only cast it and let it sink and if they didn't get a bite on the initial drop they'd burn it back to the boat and recast. Now people are letting it sink and slowly fishing it back to the boat and catching fish both ways. After that I started letting it sink and about 1/8th of the time you will have a fish on it. Like the pro's say, "Let the fish tell you what they like that day." When I first start using the Ragetail Toad for that day I'll let it sink and sit for about 5 seconds about 20 times and if fish aren't eating it on the sink or at the bottom then I'll just cast regular and reel it back in the rest of the day. If fish are eating it on the sink or at the bottom then I will let it sink a lot the rest of the day and will most likely get more fish that way. And when it's sitting on the bottom, I'm not moving it or twitching it, just letting it sit and then I just start reeling it in quickly to get it on plane and fish it back to the boat normally. I just let how the fish are initially taking it dictate how I fish the bait the rest of the day. So, let that Ragetail Toad sink and sit on the bottom a few times, you might be surprised what you were missing out on. .....get back to us and tell us how you did.

All this talk of frog leg length got me thinking, if you've ever watched Dean Rojas talk about his signature frog from Spro, he states that he cuts the legs down to make them the proper length. I believe that he or KVD said, "fold the frogs legs over the bait and whatever excess is hanging over the face, cut that off." Well, if Dean Rojas thinks shorter legs are the correct way to go, why doesn't he have them manufacture them that way when he is working with them on his frogs? Is anyone going to say, "Well, Dean recommends cutting the legs down on his Spro Dean Rojas Frogs, so I'm going to leave them longer!"? Ish Monroe has his own signature frog from Snag Proof and he says that the legs are the perfect length. He says, take the frog out of the packaging and immediately start fishing it. Now, that's the way I'd think most people would make their frogs. It's like putting too big of hooks on a Zara Spook and then saying, "If you want to customize them on your own to a smaller size hook, which we recommend, you can." So, why don't frog manufacturers make their frogs with the correct length legs?

That doesn't look like Columbia. What shirt are and pants are you wearing?

I'm a fisher of the shallows from my boat. I go down the shoreline and normally throw a Ragetail Toad in the open areas (sometimes small cranks, spinnerbaits, or jigs), and then when reach the docks in between the open spots I'll throw a wacky rigged Senko. When it gets windy out the Senko is still fine but obviously any topwater doesn't work nearly as well. So what do you do when fishing shallow and it's fairly windy (I don't mean huge swells, but fairly choppy and windy)? Do you use different lures or fish deeper?

I have a Zara Spook and have only caught fish on the initial splash down. But when I walk it back I walk the dog.

Good to know that you like Rage rigged for shallow water. I might try that. What hook do you use? What colors you like?

So what are all the brands brad people here have experience with? I have been interested in some of this stuff.

No ones ever said, "I wish I got this boat just a bit smaller." Boats always appear bigger out of the water.