the reel ess

I just use all the rods I used when I was boat fishing. I have an older Falcon LowRider 7' MH-MF that's really designed for heavy cranks that seems to do the best at this technique so it's my jig pitching rod. It has a good tip, but loads up in the first foot and a half with lots of backbone. The model used to be called the Big Cranker. It also happens to be the most sensitive rod I own. My frog rod IS NOT a good choice for pitching jigs. It's a pool cue. But i do put another jig on it anyway when the frog bite is out of season.

See youtube

I usually use a custom jig in black/blue made by @cadman in the grass head style because I fish around a lot of grass. I like the Berkley Chigger Craw in same color. The water here is usually off-color at best. I have other colors, but my confidence is in black/blue. Custom jigs are certainly not necessary, but the wire tied ones last. I also have some Arky heads that I bought just to use with the craws and no skirt. This can be a killer bait and a good way to get practice jig fishing. You'll get more bites with it. It also skips easily. If you're fishing in lots of weeds, get an arky jig with a vertical line tie. You'll retrieve less vegetables. And buy one with a quality hook. Whatever fish want. When the water is warm, more action is usually better. It's usually a bump-bump. If you're doing it right, you'll be pulling through and over some kind of cover. In winter, less movement.

I'd go where there are the fewest other human beings. They can be a real drag on my fishing experience. One place I fish is private, owned by all the landowners around it. It's about 30 acres, but I'm still a little bummed when I get there and see just one other person on it.

And I, for one, am already tired of it.

Quite possibly. I don't ever use a whole spool of braid. I use Big Game mono as backing line and join the braid to it with a double uni knot.

Bill Dance broke down some data on one of his Q&A shows (really, that's what most of his shows are now) and the overwhelming evidence showed that bigger bass bite better around a new moon than any other time of the month.

That much drag isn't really necessary. My frog rod is a Cabela's Tourney XT frog model with a Lews LFS Tournament MB reel with 14 lb of drag. It gets the job done, but it's mostly the rod. That frog model rod is a pool cue. But that stump in a lily field is a killer spot, ain't it? If you fill half the spool with cheap mono you can save some $$$ on the braid and it won't slip on the spool.

It's on my bucket list.

Someone who can put me on a 10 lb'er

I like the 'Cuda.

My experience with Daiwa customer service has been the best of any company in just about any business. If you need a part for one of their reels they'll send it completely free. They even pay the postage. They sent me parts for a 1983 Magforce Procaster when it was about 30 years old. It finally fell apart completely.

My late father. Or good ol' Bill Dance.

Nothing looks goofier to me that a guy with a flat bill hat on and his ears tucked under the hat. I almost didn't see you there.

I gotta wear one because of my balding head. But there's not a "lucky" one for me.

It's an acquired taste, for sure. I like all sorts of craft beers but, for some reason, IPA's and pale ales are about the only craft beers that stay on the shelf in my small town. I taught myself to like them and now they've ruined me on BMC (Bud-Miller-Coors). The only time I ever drink those anymore is when they're free and they give me hiccups. BTW, frog and jig are two of my best techniques. But I'd prefer to catch them on topwaters every time out.

How about 2-3 IPAs/day?

Man, those KO's look great. I'd keep one unpainted!

Throw a jig. LOL I use Gamakatsu whenever I use a T rig. It's the only brand I'll buy so I know that's what's in the box. You're right about the EWG flexing more. Maybe set your drag a little looser when you use one. I really can't set the hook hard enough with spinning gear to bend a quality brand hook out enough to lose a fish. I have lost one before because a Gama hook bent, but not on the set.

I read a news story yesterday that said Israeli scientists claim to have grown a sirloin steak in a lab. Sustainable, contaminant-free fish might be right around the corner.

And the entire line, except for the newest high-end reel, is $20 off right now. A steal. And, should you have an issue with them, there's a place to take them back and exchange.

When I was young, I could never keep line on long enough for it to get damaged due to professional overruns. Now I use Berkley Big Game for my mono and I might change it twice in a busy year. The trick is store out of sunlight and away from extreme temps. I keep my rods indoors. As for braid, that stuff will last multiple seasons. If you want, you can reel it from one reel to another and it's like brand new on the other end. Then you only need to fill one reel with new line. Basically, use it until you're tired of how discolored it has gotten. I don't use any fluoro.

I have a friend who, when we started fishing together, only used lower-end spinning gear. And he outfished me all the time. Of course, I was in his back seat on his home turf. After fishing with me a couple years and seeing the advantages, he did buy a baitcast combo for power techniques. But we have a joke between us that I'm addicted to the tackle more than the fish. The reason I don't subscribe to the "If it breaks, throw it away" theory is I know it will probably happen to me with a new PB. Dinks don't break reels.

I can't argue that. As for shellfish and the inshore species, they're really swimming in the same backwash.

I second that Academy H2O recommendation and they're on sale now. The Mettle and Mettle HD reels are the cheapest reels I know of that you can buy with a solid aluminum frame. Most other reels you see in that range will have a composite frame. If you want to spend a little more and get a whole lot more reel for the money, I have the TAC-40 reel. I payed the full $100 for mine and still think it was a bargain. Check out the quality features it has. https://www.academy.com/shop/browse/outdoors/fishing/fishing--reels/baitcast-reels?facet=mfName_ntk_cs%3A"H2O+XPRESS"