the reel ess

Welcome. I think of trout when I think of Montana.

Bet his ex sold it or gave it away. I had an antique clock that I think my ex sold. She claimed she never saw it, but it was at the house until she moved all her junk out. It was maybe worth $600. She probably yard sold it for $20.

Stole it!!! Great get! That's why you always check.

Something dark, as a rule works well in dark waters. combos with black in them work well. Purple is killer. But I fish off-color water year round and I have success with bubble gum, methiolate and lime as well as those dark colors. Try them all.

I used to think the same and I did downsize from 65 to 50#. I went to 30# on my T rigs combo. But heavy braid definitely helps keep the line from digging into the spool when you're frogging. That will happen a lot if you're fishing frogs in weeds. You'll set the hook and drag in a 2 lb fish and 5 lbs of salad. Next cast, will go about 20' and stop and you'll have to pull some line off the spool because it dug in. It's not a big deal, but wastes your time needlessly. And that big braid is not hard to cast at all. I used to catch fish on T rigs using the 65# braid and no leader.

You can of course use a short leader. Short enough that it wouldn't have to go through the guides, especially for pitching.

I have a 6' ML Eagle Claw rod that feels more like a L power these days mated to cheap UL reel that I use at the creek or small ponds where I'm reasonable sure the fish won't exceed 2 lbs just for fun. It's quite mismatched so I'll probably buy a properly matched rod and reel for each.

50 lb braid, min for frogging. If you intend to use it for pitching, and the whole visibility thing is an issue for you, you can use a short leader of fluoro. I would imagine that line visibility is not an issue in very sloppy weeds. There's always the issue of the extra knot failing. It happened to me once. I use straight braid, no leaders, on 4 rods now.

I'm not a beginner but I still use two of these for moving baits. I have a 6-6 MH and a 6-6 M as well as a newer spinning 7' M. I'll replace them at some point but they're tough and light and get the job done. The cork on the foregrips is starting to come apart on the casting rods after 10 years of heavy use.

I've been using the Calcutta cheapskate specials for probably the last 3 pairs (I lost one) and they've been fine. They look like Costas and get the job done. People look at them and think they're higher quality than they are. But it looks like next time I will need some with the reader lens in the bottom to tie knots. This is getting harder and harder and I actually use readers just for reading. So it looks like I'll need a high dollar pair next time.

I throw all my bigger treble lures on a 6-6 M/MF Lightning Rod. It's light and has all the limber tip qualities you want in a CB rod but still has the backbone you'd like to be able rip a lipless bait out of the grass. I use mono on it. http://www.berkley-fishing.com/berkley-rods-casting-rods-berkley-lightning-rod/berkley-lightning-rod-casting/1365017.html#prefn1=ZZSERIES&prefv1=Berkley%20Lightning%20Rod&start=2 I paid $30 for it about a decade ago. I also use it for topwaters. I know it's cheap and I'll probably replace it with a better rod, but it has served admirably. I own another MH one for spinner and buzzbaits. I have a 7' MH/MF Falcon LowRider "Big Cranks" rod, but I use it for T rigs because it's so dang sensitive. I bought it used for $50. http://falconrods.com/lowrider20.html Feeling a bite on that thing is like getting a little electrical shock registering all the way to the elbow. I couldn't waste that sensitivity on cranks, but it sure would make a good one for Traps. It's 20% springy tip and 80% backbone.

I live near Lancaster and I've been catching bass at the local reservoir on gold Rat L Traps, a few on spinnerbaits, some on an 1/8 oz. Rooster Tail and Zoom Trick and Finesse Worms, weightless. That water's warming quickly.

I have 2 of those reels and I've never had a bad backlash. He has it set wrong or he's trying to cast a fly with it. Just keep it and use it for its intended use and buy another if you need a different ratio. If you hate it, resell it and use that money for the one you want. I use the 7.5:1 for topwaters and lipless cranks and I have another for frogs and flipping/pitching.

I don't know, but the Tourney XT is good. I have the frog model. The reviews on the Tourney Trail look good enough.

Of course, Jimmy Houston is sponsored by Blakemore, but he claims a Road Runnder will catch fish anywhere and 1/8 oz. is his go-to when bass ignore everything else in the box. I'd like to add 1/8 oz Rooster tail. It was the best lure in the box last time out. It was bumble bee color with gold blade.

I go with my buddy in his Tracker and make him fight the wind or I go to smaller bodies of water with the kayak or I go to a couple ponds I have access to that I can walk the bank a little. Or I just do something else.

If you're only going to be flipping and pitching with it you can pull off a little more than your longest pitch and put tape around the spool. That will make getting backlashes out a lot easier. That's a trick one of my coworkers used to use. He pitched about half the time in tourneys.

Yeah, I love me some Big Game. Just check it often and retie after a big fish or when one chokes the bait and it should never do you wrong. I use this and braid. I hate fluoro. Yes. Do that. Not because it will scratch the spool, it won't. But because it's way cheaper. Use a double uni knot and you won't feel the knot on the spool. Just don't use so much backing that you cast all the braid off. I did that once.

Try a crappie tube jig under a float. Bubble gum or red/white are some favs. Throw it out and let it sit a while. If no takers, slowly reel and see. If still no takers, reel-stop-reel. My buddy caught a 9 pounder in winter on a crappie jig. It'll also catch crappie and big bluegill. If still no takers, tie on a Zoom Finesse Worm in a neutral color or black, weightless. Let it sink and just barely drag it. My #1 winter bait has been a lipless crank. It had been the Trap, but I just switched to a Super Spot because my buddy flat wore me out one day. They were on sale at BPS 5 for $10 and he gave me a couple in gold. Reel as slowly as possible without getting caught in the weeds if there are any on bottom.

I caught a couple on a black one with a black Colorado blade a month ago. It was actually cold then. I got two bites on two casts. Jimmy Houston says if you see turtles sunning, it's warm enough to use one high in the water column, like a double willow blade. I haven't had much luck with that yet, but i'm still trying. It'll get them in early spring.

A good argument for heavy braid: You should be fishing with the drag very tight in this situation. If you're in heavy slop abd you set the hook and drag a big fish out of it, your line will dig into the rest of the line on the spool. The thinner line does this much worse. And I would definitely recommend a metal framed reel. You'll wear out a graphite framed reel ripping fish out of cover with heavy braid. In fact, I'd bet you can't cinch down the drag on a lot of cheaper reels.

I agree with all the Booyah Pad Crasher fans. I own a bunch of frogs, but it's the one I keep tied on when the frog bite is on.

I have a Cabela's Tournament XT 7'3" Frog model rod and a Lews Tournament MB reel spooled with 50 lb PowerPro braid for frogs. I used a 7' MH Falcon rod before that and caught fish, but when i got in some real slop the Hvy/fast action of this rod was needed. Now this is my dedicated setup and I'll use it for jigs when the water's too cold for frogs. Oddly, I'm already hearing frogs now in Feb. This has been a very mild winter. As @Imbfisherman says, you can get a away with a cheaper rod as long as it's quite stiff. The heavy/fast 7' or longer rods excel at this technique.

A Carolina Rig is the poor man's depth finder (and a pretty good fish locator). If it's really weedy, go lighter with the weight and use spinning gear.

7' M rod. I'd go with 15 lb mono to give some stretch factor Lew's Tournament MB 7.5:1. I liked this reel so much I bought another Trick worm, probably bubble gum. Gold lipless crank A topwater. Probably a Pop R because it works the longest portion of the year for me, though I'd rather use a Spook, Chug Bug or frog.