BooyahMan

Thanks guys for the tips! Looks like in addition to the in-line spinners I have I'll also be tossing cranks and spinnerbaits. Sounds like I should downsize to junior or miniature versions if possible to accommodate for their smaller mouths?

Been a better year size wise for me but only one so far that has hit the 20" mark.

In about a month's time I will be taking a few days off to fish for Smallies. I've had VERY limited experience with them and want to maximize my chances at a few fish in the short amount of time I'll have. Last year I had a little bit of luck with fish up to 2.5lbs using small in-line spinners, but are there other search baits that you guys would recommend? I noticed that they would almost always go for the spinner in the first 10 casts at each spot, but after that they would get less and less interested so I would definitely like to have other options. For the moment I think quantity of fish is more important than quality for me. Thanks!

Couple of solid fish from yesterday: Nothing better than seeing a bass explode on a top-water in a thick sea of lily pads!

That is pretty awesome. Time to buy a lottery ticket!

Caught a bag of dog poop this morning in a very small urban pond. Snagged it on a size 0 inline spinner. I kind of wish I had gotten a picture, but at the same time I'm glad I didn't. Bit of a pointless post really but just had to share. What's the grossest thing you've caught off the bottom of a lake/river?

In love with frogging, can't stand texas rigs and weightless senkos. I know they can be deadly techniques but I just find them incredibly boring. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Not me, but my girlfriend has been trying desperately to catch her first frog fish this year. For some reason she either goes with me when they're not biting topwaters or she misses them when they do strike as up until recently she hadn't figured out how to set the hook when using frogs. During the last trip she came with me she had 6 blow ups and hooked 3. The first two came off pretty fast but the third one was a little more memorable. I didn't hear or see the blow up but I was looking at her when she suddenly set the hook, and her rod starting pumping with furious head shakes. I looked to where her line was and saw a huge splash and then a big tail disappear under the canopy of lilies. Maybe it was the heat of the moment but it looked like a solid 4lb+ fish, though I definitely could be wrong about that. Regardless, it was a bigger than average fish for this lake. I scrambled over to help her land it, but when I got to where she was standing the line suddenly went super tight and wouldn't budge. Being shore-bound, she put her faith in the 65lb braid that was loaded up on her reel and pulled the rod straight, in the hopes of just dragging up whatever it was stuck on. The line came untangled from the snag eventually, but the hook also came unhooked from the fish. I feel terrible as this would have definitely been a PB for her. She's been trying so hard with the frogs and I almost feel bad the times I go out alone and have luck. I'm hoping she'll strike some better luck next week when she tags along again.

Tried it out today and liked it a lot! Had a scary moment when a pounder got stuck in some really dense lily pads and I heard the rod start to creak, but thankfully I got the fish to pull through without any more trouble. A little worried that I damaged the rod but I guess I'll find out on the next fish...

Oh goodness, just came back from the Tulalip Cabela's to pick up an online order I had placed a while back and came back with a few extra goodies. Pictured: Copper River 6'6" MH Casting Rod - $14.99 Cabelas Pro Guide 7' H Casting Rod - $34.99 Cabelas Tourney Trail 7' H Casting Rod - $34.99 Other loot not pictured: XCalibur Real Craw Squarebill - $1.88 Z-Mann Chatterbait Mini - $2.99 Z-Mann Chatterbait Flashback Mini - $2.99 All Terrain Rattlin' Jig - $3.49 Eagle Claw 6/0 Swimbait Hooks - $0.99

If i get skunked, there are 0 bass. If I catch 1, there is 1 bass. If I catch 2, there are 2 bass...

Smallest frog I have in my arsenal is the Matzuo Nano Kroaker. The thing is TINY. With that said, I have a lot of success on the Pad Crasher Jr., and my two biggest bass were caught with them.

I'm just above the border in British Columbia, and 90% of the anglers in my area either hate bass with a vengeance or don't care for them. However, this is because they are considered an invasive species and compete with our native trout and salmon stocks. It's a sensitive situation as a lot of the waterways that hold bass are in some way connected to trout/salmon bearing habitat. There is a pond nearby that has been electro-shocked a couple of times now to remove Largemouths as during high water events there is the possibility of these fish spilling into sensitive trout/salmon streams nearby.

$12 for a Live Target frog. Have only caught one fish on it to boot...catch all my frog fish on Booyahs.

I got the reel through Amazon Warehouse Deals, which deals in open-box, refurbished and second-hand items. Apparently the manufacturer warranty is no longer valid so I contacted Amazon asking if I could return the reel for a refund. They said yes, so I sent it their way this morning. Kind of a drag as I really liked the reel a lot, or at least for the few hours that I got to use it.

Had a fantastic top-water evening tonight. Had twelve explosive blow-ups and connected with half of them. Lost one to an underwater tree and another one shook the hook when it came to the surface, but got four to the bank. Nothing record breaking, with the smallest being a 10 inch dink and the largest being a fairly thick 16 incher, but great fun nonetheless. ^nice tummy on this one. Now here's the funny thing. When I went to set the hook on the first fish of the evening, I must have not had my reel set into the reel seat properly as the reel went flying off of my rod. Tried to put the reel back on quickly with the fish on but things got tangled fast, so I just dropped my rod and hand-lined the bass in. Thought I had broken the reel seat but it was fine, so the reel had slipped out somehow. I put it back together after releasing the fish and went to make another cast, but something felt very wrong. Took a closer look at the reel and lo and behold, the front "bar" (I have no idea what it's called) had completely come off. The gears were exposed (refer to photo below) and the edge on the left hand side was a little bit on the sharp side. I was contemplating just going home then but the reel could still cast just fine, so I continued to fish and I'm glad I did as it ended up being the best day of the year so far. Here's what the reel looks like with its new battle scar: Now I'm not sure what to do with it. Is it possible to get a replacement for the piece that's missing or would I have to "fix" it another way? The gears are exposed and the left edge is sharp. If I can't replace the piece, could I just cover the gears somehow and then sand down the left side a bit so it won't cut me when I go for the next hero swing? I am so glad I didn't have a camera recording at the time. Would have made the blooper reel for sure!

All you guys down south have it good. I'd be happy with a fish like that any day. It's hard to say without any measurements but I'd wager that fish is in the 1-2lb range.

As mentioned, rooster tails or any small spinner with a colorado or french blade.

Should've gotten me to hold it. I make 2.5's look like 4's Solid fish man. I'd be happy with one of those any day of the week.

That fish is insane! Great catch.

That's the size of the Pumpkinseeds we get around here! My girlfriend loves catching them on ultralight gear haha.

Might be slightly off topic but tried the Flashback Chatterbait Mini for the first time the other day. We were only out for a couple of hours or so but was very impressed by the amount of vibration it put out. Got a number of hits on it and landed a dink-ish 13 incher but for a first, I won't complain! Love them so much that I plan to pick up a bunch more when I get a chance.

If the cover you're fishing isn't that heavy, it CAN be done with a MF but I can't say it's a great idea. I was okay earlier this year with a couple of my MF casting setups before the lily pads really got thick and I got my PB last year on a MF spinning rod. Is it recommended? Not really. In heavy cover, you can basically forget it. With a 3lb+ fish in thick vegetation, you can get into trouble real fast with your rod. When it comes to frogging in heavy cover, I have no intention of playing with the fish. I have every intention to reach the biggest and baddest bass that's hiding in the darkest and hardest to reach spot and I want to pull it out of there as cleanly as possible. A year ago I would have scoffed at using a heavy action rod for fish less than 10lbs, but now I never leave home without it. Similarly to a lot of other posters in this thread, I run a 7' Heavy casting rod with 50 to 65lb braid.

Turns out I can't anyways as I still need to have a US address to ship to. But thanks for tempting the bait monkey!

Nevermind. Double post.