fishnkamp

Forget it!!! Power Pro Spectra 50 or 65 pound line is made for that duty. It cuts Lilly pad stems like a weed eater. You can haul a bass's but out of the worst green slop or jungle with ease.

I think you would do better to look at a Dobyns Fury series rod instead. They will fish more like your St Croix. In fact I am replacing my ST Croixs with Dobyns Sierras and Champion XPs.

Sorry if you want a good frog fish then I would recommend 3 rods. One would be a Dobyns 703SF. You decide if your budget says a Fury model FR 703 SF or a Sierra SA 703 SF. One costs $110 and the other around $170. Match this with a Pflueger President 35 series reel. You could also consider a 30 series instead. For general purpose use I would have a Powell Max 3D 683CEF. Look up the Tackletour review on that rod. That should run you around $130. Match it with a Daiwa Tatula CT 6.3 or 7.3 -1 reel. That third 3rd one would be a frog specific rod. Something like a Dobyns Champion XP model DC 735C. macth that up with a Tatula CT 8-1. This rod handle carolina rigs, and big heavy jigs. I could get by with those 3 for a good while.

My suggestions are just a starting point of course. All too often a member gets the answers to his question and feels they need to go out and buy thousands of dollars worth of gear. Instead I would rather you get a few of this and a few of that, but enough hardware to rig it in different ways so you can fish the same lure in many ways. My personal favorite shakey head brand is MegaStrike ShakE2Pro jig. It stands up automatically.. As for colors of jighead I usually go green or black I doubt it matters. http://www.megastrike.com/shakey As for color of worm. Well this is a clear to mildly stained water bait so worms in natural colors are my choice. I prefer Zoom trick worms and Z Mann finesse worms. I have caught more fish on Z Mann worms. They stand up the best. I like watermelon/ red flake, new money, and junebug best. Watch this video I prefer their ShakE2Pro series jig. The screw on it is better at keeping the locked on after a fish bites it.

You received a lot of good info. I want to help you with a different frustration and that is with choosing a guide. I do not want you to be disappointed and not take a guide in the future. Her is what is important to remember. my wife and I have taken guides for many trips in our 40 years of fishing. I am very careful to decide what I want the trip to be. Sometimes we just want to go catch 100 fish. This was my reason to go take a early spring float trip on the upper Potomac River for 10 years or so. I used the same guide and he knew what his marching orders were, his job was to pilot the raft and help my wife catch fish. That meant I was on my own to just fish. Other trips we pay guides to teach us how to navigate and how to fish specific new techniques. This was true a few years ago when I hired a guide that competed on the FLW circuit. We had never fished any lake in TN. so he taught us how to fish it in the spring and how to navigate it. We stayed there and caught fish on our own boat all week long. We discussed exactly what I was looking for before I hired him. I have a policy I stick to with guides I hire when I am fishing the body of water all week. I llet them know I expect to not only fish his spots but I expect him to teach me WHY the pattern is working. Then I promise not to sit on any of his spots but rather I do some map work to identify similar areas like his spots. It is amazing how much more willing a professional guide will be to share info if he knows you will not stake out his best areas all week. Remember I hired him for his fish finding abilities, and his teaching ability for that day. His next client did the same and it is not fair to dis advantage his next client. Do not be afraid to talk to a guide in depth. I had conversations with 4 guides before I got the "right feeling" about my guide on Dale Hollow.We use him exclusively every time we go there.

Spend some time watching you tube videos on how to fish these lures. You tube is wonderful because it can show you how to rig baits and how to work baits. Also check out these shakey head jig heads. They are the ones I use the most. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Megastrike_Shake2_Pro_Model_Shakey_Heads/descpage-MSPROMD.html

I am going to give you some suggestions that work for me here on the tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay, on clear drinking reservoirs, fast running rivers, small streams and in the big lakes like the ones we fish in TN. and KY. In other words we use many of the same baits rigged several ways and just change colors depending on the water clarity. Start with some basics. The Senco worms can be fished weightless, on a light weight texas rig, or using a rubber O ring they can be hooked in the middle which is called wacky rigged. So now you purchase say a pack or two of 2 different colors and try fishing them in different ways. This allows you to get bites in shallow and deeper water depending on your rigging at that time. I would pick up a couple of packs of shakey head jig heads, say 2 pack of 1/8, and 2 pack of 1/4 ounce jigheads. You can fish your curly tail worms and pick up some finesse tailed worms for shakey head fishing. These can be deadly. I would pick watermelon red flake and green pumpkin. Now the thing I am stressing is not spending a fortune. I just mean a few packs of a type of bait and getting enough hardware to fish those baits from top to bottom. Craw patterns like a Strike King Rage craw could be used on these rigs as well Next I am going to be very specific as this is an old school weapon that my wife and I use everywhere and it will catch bass, panfish like sunfish and crappie, catfish and lots more. It is a Kalin 5 inch Lunker Grub. I fish them one way and it works for these grubs as well as many small plastics. It is a Bass Pro Perfect Finesse worm jig head. You will need to match the hook size to the bait as I forget if I use the 1 or 1/0 size but I would buy a few packs of the correct hook size in 1/8 and 1/4 ounce. These are very simple texas riggs but work fantastic. I fish these from just under the surface to 30 feet down and catch fish. Bass Pro also has a larger version called a Perfect worm jig head. These make a quick texas rig for some bigger plastics since they have larger hooks available. I would highly recommend getting some plastic paddle tail swimbaits. Look for Reaction Innovation Skinny dippers. These mimic live fish and can be cast out and let to sink. Then slowly swam back with occasional hesitation. They have a killer dead fish quiver and sink and many of the strikes come when the bait is killed. If no strike I will sharply jerk the bait so it jump alive sorta. I rig these three ways. One is weightless for times I am fishing it shallow. I use a regular swimbait hook with a screw on it. I also rig them with a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce belly weighted swimbait hook. This works well from 1 to 10 feet of water. Finally I rig them using a swim bait jig head. These look like a fish head attached to the hook. Look at a Big Hammer swimbait jig head or a Picasso smart mouth swimbait jig head. These are just examples I use lots of brands. Use 3/8 and 1/2 ounce to fish deeper water. If you notice I would suggest getting a bait in several colors and then the hardware to fish it many ways. This means you have a tackle bag with some different baits that you can have confidence in and be able to rig up to match the conditions you face that day. After you fish for 40 years like this old fart you might have a tackle bag as big as mine. It is 17 1/2 feet long LOL

I would try a few baits. I agree Jvanda1 a fluke style bait is good. I prefer the Reaction Innovation Skinny Dipper and Big Dippers work great. I would rig them two ways. First is the Gamakatsu belly weighted swimbait hooks and the swimbait jigheads like he Big Hammer ones or Picasso smart mouth ones. I like to use 3/8 and 1/2 ounce swimbait jig heads and 1/8 and 1/4 ounce swimbait hooks. I would also throw some Strike King Red Eye Shads which are rattle trap type baits. These would be 1/2 ounce most of the time. Something in a bass, shiner, bluegill color.

Lets look at your setup first What rod do you have, brand and model? What reel are you using, brand and model How heavy is the worm weight and what brand and type of worm. Now here is why I asked. Cheap baitcasters are MUCH harder to adjust for a good cast. So the rel may be part of your problem, or it could be you might be trying to throw bait that is too light for the rod. I usually suggest looking at your rod. It will say what weight bait it will handle. If you want to learn the easiest way to learning how to cast try using a bait that weighs near the middle of the rods range. If that rod says it will cast baits that weigh between 1/4 to 3/4 then I would practice with a bait like a 1/2 ounce jig and a typical plastic trailer, like a Strike King Rage craw, or a Bass Pro version-it will save you some money. I also like the Jaw Bone jigs Dicks Sporting Goods because they only cost $2.99. I hate to ruin a high dollar jig just for practice purposes. Once you learn to cast well then you can use a lighter bait. I forgot to ask what line you are using? That can make a difference. One more thing is the knot that attached the line to the spool. If that is slipping on the arbor of the spool it too can be a problem.

Wonder what Daiwa is saying when the say "dual retrieve"

I would choose some Power Pro 30 pound braid. I would add a 5 foot leader made of P Line CXX 10 pound test. It breaks at 22 pounds. I also like Suffix 832 but it does not cut through vegetation as well as Power Pro Spectra braid. You are going to love that setup. Are you sure you want the 8-1, you may want to consider 7.3-1. Of course that is personal preference. I use several Tatula Type Rs for my frog and Punching setup.

That Powell will work great. I have a original Powell Max 683 CEF which is a 6'8" MH extra fast and I LOVE it. It is at lest 4 years old and it is the most versatile rod in my rod lineup. I use it for tons of uses but I really like it for jigs, especially swim jigs with a grub trailer.

i usually fish with a dozen baitcaster and 3 of 4 spinning depending on the type of water we fish. My wife can handle a fly rod beautiful as well as most any spinning but refuses to pick out any backlash from a baitcaster. So I have had to be a bit selective to get her as good an arsenal as mine. First we both fish a pair of G Loomis Spin Jig Rod series spinning rods. All four were originally purchased back when our boat could only store a 6' rod. If I did it today we would get the same rod tapers in the 6'56" versions So here are all of her setups. G Loomis SJR 721 That is a 6 foot medium light/ fast action rod. Used for Ned Rigs, Kalin 5 inch Lunker Grubs, weightless worms, drop shots and some other lures. This is matched with a Pflueger President 30 series reel and 14 pound Berkley Original Fire Line. Most of the time it has a 5 foot P Line CXX 8 pound leader. G Loomis SJR 722. That is a 6' medium/ fast action rod used for almost all other finesse baits like light weight texas rigged creature baits and worms, tubes, shakey heads. This too is matched to a Pflueger President but a 35 series and the same Fire Line/ CXX line combo. Her next rod is a Berkley 6'6" Medium moderate action Lightning Shock Rod. This allows her to fish cranks, traps, some spinnerbaits, smaller topwater baits like a Pop R. This is matched with a President 35 series reel and the same line and leader setup. Sometimes the leader is not used. Her jig rod is a special one. Irod make some really nice specialty rods. In this case the rod is a Genesis II IRG 713S. It is a 7 foot MH rod designed to throw baits weighing 3/8- 1 1/4 ounces. This had the perfect action to fish jigs, big texas rigs, even a chatterbait. If you need a spinning rod to fish heavier baits this thing is great. It is matched to a Shimano Symetre 3000FL. Fortunately I have had no issues with ours yet. My fingers are crossed as they were discontinued due to binding issues the factory could not find a solution for. Stay away from Shimano reels, at least these anyway. This rod has 30 pound Power Pro Spectra braid No arsenal is complete without a rod that can throw frogs, carolina rigs, and big jigs. We found the perfect match to my Dobyns Champion XP series DC 705C in a Sierra SA 705SF. That thing works a hollow bodied frog or a big jig as good as my DC 705C baitcasting rod. To get the same "inches of line per turn of the handle" we chose a Pflueger Supreme 35 size reel and spooled it up with more of the Power Pro Spectra braid. Each rod has its own place in a good rod arsenal. Now she has most everything she needs. I hope this gave you some ideas on how to fill in your rod and reel arsenal. I am fortunate I have a local dealer that stocks all of most all of these rods so I can go put my grubby pawls on them.

My wife and i have been using some of these reels for decades, some of ours are that old and a few are less than 2 years old. They all work just like new. We have some 30 and 35 sized reels.

I suggest starting with a versatile setup. Look at a Dobyns Fury FR 734C that is a 7'3". The market it as a heavy power rod, but Dobyns fish a little lighter than other brands It fishes more like a MH/H. That rod can fish tons of baits It can handle spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, Sencos, jigs up to about 3/4 of an ounce and trailer, but it is perfect for a 1/2 ounce jig and trailer. I would easily throw a frog like a MR Ribbitt. I am talking "horny toad" style frogs not a typical hollow bodied frog. I would also fish a topwater bait if it is like a Pop R, Sammy, Spook etc, not one of the big topwater baits like a Whopper Plopper. You can easily throw small swimbaits like the paddletail plastic swimbaits like a Reaction Innovation Skinny Dipper or Keitech This rod runs $110. If you wish, you could jump up into the Sierra series SA 734C. This is an almost identical rod but is built with a higher quality rod blank and components. It will be more sensitive and runs $$180. For a reel I would recommend a Daiwa Tatula CT in a 7.3-1 ratio. I fish a lot of 6.3-1 and like them but I have 12 baitcasters so I have some 6.3-1, 7.3-1 and 8-1 reels. This reel usually cost $129 but can often be found online for around $100. If you choose the Fury rod you could bump up to the Tatula SV TWS wich runs almost $200, but handles lighter baits a bit better. The choice here is yours but none of the combos you could puttogether using these rods and reels will be a mistake.

Watch this

It was a simple thing to do once you do it. Sometimes we OVERTHINK things. That looks perfect. Now you are ready for some casing practice. Take the 734 add a 1/2 jig an trailer and go get some casing practice in. You will be landing fish soon! I realize that is on your cranking rod. You can practice cast a jig onit as well. Remember to reset the drag so the reel will perform correctly.

Honestly most of the serious inshore guys run larger spinning combos, even on top[ water. Perhaps a Penn Battle setup. Here in Baltimore we fish for bass and stripers with mostly bass gear. However I know the manager of the fishing department at our local West Marine and he sells a lot of the Penn gear for use all over the Cgespeake Bay including bass, stripers, croakers, spot and even flounder. I might even try and send Scott Martin an email asking for his choice since Okuma has so many options. I also recommend you watch some of his you tube videos. Do a search on there for Scott Martin inshore fishing. I did and came up with a bunch of videos.

Check out the Daiwa Tatula Type HD and some of the Lexa 300 series. You could also look at some of the round baitcasting reels like a Daiwa TD Luna, Shimano Cardiff, Calcutta, Abu Garcia Ambassador reels.

Most often it is done in pairs, but that is not chiseled in stone.

There was a link to it on their website. Now they have a "flash sale" till 10 pm. One note to get $10 off anything in Dicks all year long. If you stop in Dicks and purchase anything. I usually get a Jawbone Jig for $2.99, it could be anything you want. Go home and go the website located on the back of your receipt. Fill out the customer service questionnaire. Then print you own $10 discount coupon. It takes a few minutes and two trips to Dicks but it is still a $10 off coupon. I have done this many times in the last 4 years.

Personally I would suggest you look at an Irod Genesis II IRG703CC It is called the Gabe's Rip Rap Special. It runs around $149 but if you order it from Tackle Warehouse today or tomorrow it is 15% off.

The spinning rod version fits all of my spinning rods. The opening is much larger than any of the baitcaster models. I had a G Loomis IM6 rod with those longer stand off guides. I believe their rod sleeve would have worked. I would give the company a call and ask

It is amazing the effects FISH PORN has on us.

She was right it is a good knot. I always use a 5 turn uni to uni but that is what a guide taught me years ago and it works. As for backing mono is the way to go. One of the reasons to use a backing line on a baitcaster is to avoid braided lines slipping on the arbor. Mono eliminates that, especially if you tie the mono on with a uni knot. It will not slip like an ordinary arbor knot can.