wdp

I caught a heron one day. Joker swooped down outta a tree and snatched my hollow bodied SPRO frog before I knew what was happening. 😂 Luckily I came to my senses in about 3 seconds & snatched it back and was thankful a hook hadn’t buried in his foot. Next cast that sucker tried to swoop down & snatch my frog again. After that, I moved on. 😂 2nd weirdest was while fishing with my Dad as a pre-teen. Back in those days I fished minnows under a cork with a Zebco 33. One evening at dusk, I had a bite & set the hook. When I pulled the catch up on the gravel bank it was about a 4 ft water moccasin. I dropped that rod & backed up in a hurry. 😂 Luckily, it unhooked itself & went back in the water.

Man, you’ve have learned the trick. I started doing same about 5-6 yrs ago. Every Christmas I start searching the best Black Friday deals & order exactly what I want. When it comes in, I give to wife & say…. look what you got me for Christmas honey! You can wrap & put this under the tree. 😂 This year I got a bunch of majorly discounted Spro lures & some InvizX fluoro! Just what I wanted. 😂

Hey Kenny @Gonefishing0410! Welcome aboard! I too am a fellow Mississippian and grew up in the Columbus/Starkville area. Been living in North MS for about 18 yrs now. Relocated for work. I’ve gotten to know @Smirak through these message boards & hit it off after we found out we both attended Miss State & are Bulldog fans. Now we’re texting buddies which is a bad thing cause we’re always texting & enabling each other with our tackle & lures addictions. Not good for the bank account. 😂 Looking forward to getting to know you and to also having another MS fisherman on these boards.

I fish super flukes weightless with a Gamakatsu 5/0 superline EWG hook. The heavier gauge hook allows me to cast the super fluke weightless on 30 lb braid. It’s a great bait to fish around grass & lily pads. Also is a great follow up bait if I miss a blow up on a frog or swimming toad. My normal retrieve is twitch, twitch, pause.

Have you looked at the Z-Man bulletz weedless jig heads? I started using these a couple yrs ago & really like them. The have 2 different sizes. A finesse size with smaller hooks but a bigger size with larger hooks. Here's the version with larger hooks. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Z-Man_Pro_Bulletz_Weedless_Jig_Heads_3pk/descpage-ZPRW.html

I’ll 2nd what @Pat Brown said. They are def not just a FL bait. I live in MS and mostly fish in MS & TN, but I’ve also had success with the speed worms in GA & AL, as well as FL. They just work great around vegetation, which is mostly what I fish. But I can t rig one and catch em around wood/tree tops too. I don’t think I hardly ever use ribbon tail worms anymore. P.S. I’m a big fan of Watermelon Candy or Green Pumpkin for clear water, Junebug or similar for stained water.

I like using both sizes, each have their time & place. 20 yrs ago or so, the smaller one was the only one available. We used to Texas rig the smaller speed worm with a 1/16 - 1/8 oz weight and burn it on surface around grass & lily pads. Made a great finesse topwater that still caught big ones. Could also pause it & let it sink in gaps. Years later I found it makes a great shakey head bait as already mentioned. The magnum is a great bait too. Works awesome when rigged weightless as a subtle buzzbait which you can throw easily on a baitcaster. Also can let it slow sink around gaps in grass or lily pads. Works great Texas rigged as well. I keep both sizes in my tackle bag. Along with a good ole super fluke, the ultra vibe speed worms are Zoom best baits. I hate Zoom discontinued their floating foam frog. I love it too. ☹️

Absolutely gorgeous!!! I mean just stunning & a perfect fishing spot.

I’ve had 2 Lagunas as well, both spinnings rods. They decent as well but not quite as nice as the Aird-X. I’ve got a 7 ft M I’ve been using for 2+ yrs for shakey heads & Ned rigs with no issues. Had a 6’6” M that broke this summer after about 2 yrs of use. Might’ve been my fault. I’ve been using these mostly as my bank fishing setups - they get thrown into my truck bed a lot & occasionally I’ll throw em in my buddies bass boat in a hurry as an extra set up. Mine are/were the older Lagunas. Looks like Daiwa has recently reworked these with a slightly different design, look & color scheme. To me, they’re decent rods for $40. And if I break one (like I did) doesn’t bother me too much. For $40 I just could go buy another. I should add I’ve been using all my Aird-X and both the Lagunas with straight braid. I’m not a fan of mono & I’ve got other set ups with fluoro that I use strictly for cranking, jerkbaits, etc. I don’t use leaders either, not a fan & too lazy to tie leaders. Both both rod series have performed well with straight braid.

I have 3 also & love them. Bought one, then after month of fishing it, bought 2 more. I’m not a big rod snob & tend to spend more on my reels, cause I tend to occasionally break rods from abuse, lack of care, etc. But to me, these rods feel better than some of my more expensive rods around $100 or more (that I only buy when on sale). Mine were only $50 when I bought them earlier this yr at Academy. I see they’re $60 now. ☹️ Think mine are all 7’3” MH. Work great for throwing frogs, swimming toads, weightless flukes, t rigs, hollow bodied swimbaits, etc. Only thing I haven’t tried is treble hooked baits. But think they’d work well for those too. The 7’3” model I have has good backbone with a nice flex at tip. The 7’ MH seemed a little too stiff at tip & maybe better suited for jigs & heavier baits.

Agree! I read this last night. Another great job of writing by @Swamp Girl. Love reading your stuff Katie! 😁

Yeah, I read this thread earlier. Seemed like everybody had already covered all the bases so I saw no need to chime in. 😂 Plus, being a lifetime aluminum jon boat user with only a trolling motor, I don’t have any experience with the upkeep of bigger & nicer rigs. Bout all I do is rinse off the inside of my boat once in a blue moon when it gets a lil muddy inside. 🤣

I almost bought another one of those rats at Academy during my lunch break last week. They were still on sale & thought the white one would complement my brown one very well. 😂 But I was strong and resisted the bait monkey. But then got nostalgic thinking of fishing late summer evenings with my Dad back in the 80s & 90s (great topwater action) so I bought a Jitterbug & a Booyah buzzbait. Dang monkey wins again!

Now now Kevin. Let’s be honest…… is somebody fibbing a little bit here? 🤣😂 Yeah, yeah. Pot vs kettle. I admit it! 😂

I had to look this up & now it has me intrigued. There’s a video on their website of this lil mouse lure. It looks pretty cool with nice action. No joke, this website & The Bait Monkey are very detrimental to my wallet! 😂

Yes, I bought 6 more from the Pyramid after I posted this. And thinking about hitting either the Pyramid or Sycamore View for a few more soon. 😂

Well, there’s at least one pro bass angler that doesn’t lie about which lure he caught them on. That’s Steve Kennedy. Last I heard he’s not sponsored, and maybe never was, I dunno. 🤷‍♂️ Not really sure how he’s been able to afford all the entry fees for so many years. But he’s had a fairly successful career. There might be a few others that are “unsponsored”. But it probably isn’t many.

Def have the mindset, but right now lack the time. Should be fun to try in retirement or maybe during winter months.

I have 4 whopper ploppers of diff sizes. Have caught a few, but tbh I catch more on swimming frogs like the Ribbit, Horny Toad or the Zoom Floating foam frog. Prob because I have more confidence in the swimming frogs. But they are also weedless & work well for the grass & pads I often fish.

Nice work. You’ll be a pro at jig trying before you know it. Making my own lures is something I look forward to in retirement in a few yrs.

Exactly!!!! When it gets cold in winter & I can’t really fish, I get depressed & cranky. And as a result my wife doesn’t like being around me. 😂 I’m def outta balance from around late December to early March. I think people that are missing the healing & spiritual part of fishing are kinda missing out on the best part.

Love this!!! 😁

I’ve often told people that fishing is my therapy. It’s a major stress reliever, especially from a rushed & hectic job and sometimes hectic home life. I think people that don’t fish, they don’t understand this or can’t grasp it. I feel like it’s something that has to be experienced. Caught this view on the water last evening about 30 mins before rain chased us off the lake. Even if we hadn’t caught any, I woulda said…… this was a good day! Also, since my Dad recently passed, I finally stored some of his ashes in a small urn that are now in my tackle bag. Now I can take a little part of him with me every time I fish. So thankful I had a Dad that taught me to fish.

Nice work Kevin!

Others have already stated with more details & more eloquence. But for me, simply said……. FISHING = THERAPY