wdp

How can you go wrong with a few more Rapala baits? ?

Frog fishing is def one of my favorite ways to fish. I love buzzing a Ribbit or Horny Toad around grass and lily pads. ? I saw somebody else suggested using the Stanley double frog hooks. That's a big +1 from me. Those hooks work great on the Ribbit frog. There a little more tricky to get positioned on a Horny toad, but will work if you get the hook just right. I've never tried the double hook on a gambler toad but would think they would work fine. As far as set up, I know a lot of people recommend 50-65# braid. But I've never had any issues using 30# power pro on a 7' MH rod paired with a 6.3:1 reel. Happy frogging! Sounds like you're already hooked. ?

Or, I was gonna say get there late during summer. If you can't get a topwater bite at dusk during summer months, it ain't a topwater lake. Sounds like you're getting some bites tho. As far as missing the couple of blowups you are getting, make sure you give the fish a sec or two to really take the bait, then rear back & set that hook hard - like you're wanting to jerk him outta the water. Somebody else may have already mentioned this, I didn't read thru all the posts. I fish with buzz frogs (horny toads & ribbits) more than I do hollow bodied frogs. But, the biggest lesson I learned about 8 or 9 yrs ago was to immediately lower my rod tip/angle when I get a blow up, then pause for a good second before setting the hook. Dropping the rod down gives em a little slack line so they don't feel resistance & pull away from the bait. Sometimes, I can see my line swimming off to the left or right, before I set the hook. But when I set the hook, I set it hard - like laying the wood to em. This will def increase your hookup ratio. But, even then you're gonna miss a few. That's part of it.

I look at tackle websites & online tackle stores, constantly. Even during fishing season. ?

I get depressed. ? lol Luckily the off season for me only last about 2 or 2 & half months at most. We had some unseasonably warm weather in late Feb this yr & I caught a few good ones.

Yeah, you fish enough & everybody has stories like this. Sometimes things just don't go your way. Then other days, you can't seem to do any wrong and catch a bunch with some good ones mixed in there. Chalk it up as a learning experience & just keep fishing.

Oh yeah. It's been one of my go to baits the last couple seasons from pre-spawn into the Fall. I figured out I could throw it further on that spinning combo with 10# power pro & learned how to make it walk after a few practice sessions in my local neighborhood pond. Now, 90% of the time a skitter pop is tied to the end of that rod. I've caught a bunch of 5-7 pounders with it and the biggest was an 8.5#.

True dat! I've got some more expensive combos, but the last yr or so I've caught some of my biggest bass using a 6'6" M spinning rod from BPS that was bout $30 paired with a lower end Shimano spinning reel. It works great for throwing smaller topwater poppers like a Rapala skitter pop. And I can walk the dawg with this set up and it drives Bass crazy! ?

I watched the game. Ya'll took Seattle to the woodshed! Watching the Cowboys now! Let's go Dak Attack!

Welcome

I've always done well with Zoom Super Fluke and 5/0 EWG Gamakatzu.

Man, how do ya'll even watch a game in this mess? Lol! It's just plain wrong! I hate cold weather.

Yep. I grabbed a few packs of those tungsten weights when Wally World marked em down.

Too expensive.

Total agreement. It's like comparing HS football to college. There's no comparison.

Got some as birthday gift & have yet to use them. I need to give them a try. But I agree with others, kinda hard to justify the price when you can pick up some SK Redeyes for a fraction of the cost, and they're reliable fish catchers.

I have a tendency to grab Redeye Shads every time I find them marked down. Got a pile of em.

The Bass Pro in Nashville, TN flooded about 6-7 yrs ago. A lot of merchandise had gotten wet, but not damaged. Some of the boxes & packages had a few dried water spots & marks, but other than that, the stuff was fine. A big portion of that stuff was sent to a Wall's second hand store (popular in the South) in Grenada, MS where my inlaws live. They had everything marked at least half off. EVERYTHING! I loaded up on a ton of Zoom soft plastics & SK hard baits, mostly red eye shads, and some Rapala hard baits too. Wish I'd found out about it sooner. Apparently they had a bunch of Shimano Citicas & Curados, but they were gone by the time I got to the store. There were only a few Lew's spinning reels left, so I picked up one of them.

Welcome to forums.

I'll have to give it a try. Too cold right now tho. ?

FWIW, all the teams play cupcake non-conference schedules, it ain't just Bama. Looking at USC & Ohio St, they played some weak non-conference games too. To me, the difference is that the SEC is tough in conference, more so than other conferences. Plus, you can't deny how many NCs Bama has won over the last few years. That being said, I really don't like Bama. My alma mater is Miss State - I just hate losing to Bama almost every year. ?

Welcome aboard!

Welcome. Coaching a HS fishing team, hmmmmm, I can think of about a million worse jobs, Lol!

Welcome & howdy.

Nice catches! Making me jealous.