MassYak85

Dogwood in my yard is full bloom as well! I stopped by a neighborhood private lake from shore on Friday and caught my new PB! 6.54lbs on a spinnerbait! I also got another bass about half that size on a chatterbait.

I like swimjigs from spring through fall. Bluegill is the primary forage in many of the lakes I fish so a swimjig with a kietech fat impact makes an awesome imitator. It's a little more natural than a spinnerbait so I have confidence in it from muddy water (although I prefer a bladed jig in really dirty water) to really clear, and you can fish them through pretty much any cover you want. I personally like the eco pro tungsten sick boy's. I use 1/4 to 1/2 oz depending on the profile I want (I'll pair the 4.8 kietech with the 1/2 oz) and how deep I am fishing. There's really no wrong way to fish them, but try and make contact with cover if you can almost like a crankbait. I use the sick boy's because they are tungsten to stay in accordance with the MA lead law, but if you don't have to worry about that then there are some other great choices out there. My favorite one for grass is the lethal weapon IV, very pointed profile, thin weed gaurd, will come through almost any grass but not as great around wood since the weedgaurd compresses easily, and the hook is pretty light wire. For wood or heavy cover the dirty jigs no-jack swimjig is a good choice. A MUCH heavier weedguard and hook, you can absolutely nail them on the hookset fishing straight 50lb braid.

There's a "private" manmade neighborhood lake down here in VA within walking distance from me that I for some reason have never tried from shore. There's a small park with some decent shore access so I decided to give it a go. Glad I did! Finally broke my PB! Landed a 6.54lb fat girl on a spinnerbait. Seems like the bass down here are getting into the swing of things as far as the spawn goes. I also got another about half that size on a chatterbait in the same area. Catching my PB down here almost feels like cheating lol, a semi-private lake, hybrid strain largemouth, during the height of the spawn. I do miss fishing up there. The water down here is always stained from the clay bottoms, I miss the clear natural lakes.

Wow! Two sevens in one day anywhere in MA is crazy! I've seen some big ones in webster and it tends to give above average fish when I go but man, that guy had something figured out.

The higher end Diawa's and Shimano's seem to have the most. The Steez lineup has crazy amount of JDM aftermarket parts for equally crazy prices lol.

I'm not exactly sure what the question is, but Tactical advocates greatly different leader lengths depending on the technique. I would argue if you want to debate straight fluoro vs using a long leader it probably be dependent on your personal preference and fishing style. I personally do what Tactical does and run all braid to a leader, although I am never running a leader longer than 8 feet usually. But that's because of the techniques I am usually using. I don't jig spoons in 50-60 feet of water like they talk about in their leader video where they run 40 foot leaders. All that being said, I've always felt rod choice was the most important factor for a technique. You can run 12lb mono all day fishing crankbaits on a pool cue and you will struggle to land fish, or you can frog on a parabolic medium rod and run 65lb braid, and you probably won't hook a single fish.

Yes, the immense weight of a 5 oz rod and 7 oz reel will not only cause it to bend to the point of breaking while in the rack, but will likely cause it to smash right through the floor of your house Jokes aside, store them in any orientation you would like just as long as they are not getting bumped or smashed by or into other things, and are not storing them bent somehow. Rod socks, pvc tubing, and some plywood can give you some great storage methods.

I've fished the Connecticut several times for striper and smallies with my Uncle but that was always with chunk/live bait. I've never fished the oxbow myself.

Casting is more important to me so the quality of the reel and the quality of the drag would be my buying points, and then whichever reel I decided on I would get the fastest ratio. Both of those IPT will be good, and IMO there is no reason not to go with the faster of the two as almost all frog fishing is done with the rod. I just like being able to burn the frog back to me if I see a blowup and need to make a quick cast.

I can recommend this as well. It is rather stiff for my liking and is why I don't use it anymore but there's no doubt, it's crazy strong.

Pretty much this, rocks I will also go with a jig but vegetation of any kind gets the nod for the t-rig. That being said don't limit your choice to just cover type. Think sink rates too. Using a 1/2oz jig with a craw trailer will give you a slower sink rate than that same trailer with a 1/2 oz flipping weight. Some days that fast fall of a 1/2oz t-rig can get better reaction bites than a slower fall of a 1/2 oz jig with a flairing skirt with the same trailer. And vice versa. T-rigging craws though, I like the mustad grip pin flippin' hooks. Sometimes I'll go with a gammy straight shank worm hook or EWG if I'm not fishing heavy cover though.

5" WRS weighs 1.25 oz. I would think any jig or flipping rod would be capable of throwing it. Line I would either go 50lb braid to leader or 15-20lb mono/fluoro. I would think your lamiglass should be able to handle it.

If the cover allows it, I prefer wacky. If I am fishing a senko or any stick bait I get most of my bites when the bait is sinking. Senkos and many other stick baits have a very seductive wiggle when they fall. I find they still do this t-rigged but the way you have to rig them keeps one end a little stiffer than the other because of the hook, whereas with a wacky hook you get a single point on the worm that the hook goes through and that keeps the worm more flexible to wiggle and just gives you a little more action. Fishing around thick vegetation, or any thick cover that the worm is going to be sinking deep into and I need to get it back out, I go t-rigged for a more weedless presentation.

I don't think I've ever fished webster this early in the season but when I do go I almost always seem to hook up with a smallie somewhere off the lighthouse.

I have a couple, some I liked some I didn't. My favorite was their flat side. I wasn't a huge fan of their lipless though. I bought mine more to hop off the bottom and I didn't like how they performed for that, but on a straight retrieve they work as expected. I wouldn't hesitate to try some of those divers you have though, those look nice. Speaking of trying stuff. Placed a "small" TW order for some Z-man custom chatterbaits, a river2sea bubble walker, an evergreen showerblows. And I also just now realized I am down to my last black jig, so grabbed a couple more of those.

I always found that their tail design fouls very easily in weeds and grass, so I'm not sure how well these will work with fishing frogs in thick cover, but who knows.

x2, size 4 and 5 for my swimbaits

I am a righty and fish exclusively right handed reels, spinning and casting. It is completely preference, do what feels natural. And when I first started learning to pitch and flip I made sure to learn using my left hand to accommodate this. I also cast with two hands most of the times (right hand on the butt of the rod), so I am not ever switching hands to reel unless I need to use my right hand to get the better angle, but you will be doing that regardless of which side you choose to reel on.

Everything lol... The two deep plano's on the sides are swimbaits and if I don't feel like bringing swimbait gear they do a great job of holding my anchor, anchor line, lure retriever etc. The front PVC tube is for my net, the tall one in the back is for a light/flag pole, and the 4 others I use for rods.

Hehe (see my quote)

Here in Mass I've always felt that if we get a nice sunny day and the water is above 45 you will usually see active fish in the spring. But it usually takes breaking 50 to get fish close to spawning grounds, and I usually don't see fish on beds until 55. But these aren't hard numbers, weather plays a huge role and can put them on beds early or knock them right off no matter what temperature the water is. It was either last year or the year before but we had some crazy spring weather and I honestly couldn't tell you when the spawn started or ended, there were crazy weather fluctuations that I think shut it down and started it back up again like 3 or 4 times.

I have and love the Tatula HD200, but if you can make that BB2 work at that price I say go for it. I haven't used the reel though.

I find the pad crashers a little light for their size, but if your rod can cast them well I would just stick with them. The spro's are tougher (thicker "walls") and more durable but IMO the hookups suffer as a result, they also a little heavier and easier to cast because of this.

20lb is not overkill, I frequently use it for jigs. That being said if my leader gets down to 2 feet I cut it off. The main reasons I use a leader are abrasion resistance, and to some degree it gives me confidence in clear water. At 2 feet I think you have lost any arguable line visibility benefit IMO, and at that length while still beneficial for abrasion resistance you are playing with fire a bit if fishing around thicker/larger cover. I've had bass drag my leader over 4 foot boulders and I had to basically trash a 6 foot leader...but I caught the fish.

Fish when you can despite the conditions. Sometimes terrible days by our standards can surprise you.