BassNJake

When launching the boat by yourself make sure you tie the rope to both boat and the trailer. Unless you like 7am swims in April in Ohio.

I saw it on MLF. http://www.majorleaguefishing.com/event-lake?event-id=5435&event-lake-id=10934#map If you click on the icons it will give you details of the fish catches

I believe others would have done the same thing. Seems like us fisherpeople are a helping bunch for the most part.

Not me hahaha I took a screen grab of a video where the owner was going over various uses for the tails On a swim jig seems like it would have a ton of action

So .... I throw a lot of soft plastic frogs Got a black sharpie as sometimes I dont want the chartruese feet 15 bags to my door for less than 2 dollars a pack

Anybody tried the tail as a swim jig trailer?

Wanted to share something that happened over the 4th of july weekend. Sorry about the length in advance. I get to the marina to launch and I can smell what seems like a tire or plastic burning. The marina has a campground with a lot semi- permanent campers and they often burn stuff over night so I figured it was one of them. I launch the boat and start tossing my frog down the shoreline and now i can see a fire by a camper and thought must have been those idiots burning the tire. As I get closer I can see better and it looks like the fire is between a SUV and the camper and I'm thinking there's a recipe for disaster. Now , I see that there is fire dripping down and know that isnt right. I beach the boat run up on shore and sure as ****, the back quarter of the camper is on fire. I run to the front and start banging on the door, I hear a lady yell JESUS, I'm coming. I tell her the camper is on fire and she gives me an old fire extinguisher that she says she thinks is broken. There is no top, no trigger no nothing just a tube sticking out the top ... like a cheeze whiz can. I press the top and the retardant flies everywhere, I managed to put the fire out and turned around to see the woman, what looked like her father, 3 older teen girls and 2 guys looking at me like I don't understand just happened. They were very grateful and pretty much in shock as this was 5:45 in the morning. The older gentleman mentioned having something rewired and that could have caused the issue. From the outside I couldnt tell how much damage there was but it seemed like it was caught before any major damage could be done. I tried to launch at my father in-laws that morning too. However, he had left his boat on the trailer right at the lake so I ended up deciding to put in at the marina instead. I went home and tested our fire extinguishers and smoke detectors and replaced one of each. I also had to replace the one on my boat. If you haven't checked your safety devices recently, it might be a good time to spend the few minutes and check. Be safe.

In my opinion cash in hand is best when dealing with an individual as opposed to a dealership. I worked for a guy and he bought this trailer for his backhoe. The guy wanted $4200 ... my boss began to point out little issues like a broken light, worn tires, also suggested that the sellers wife probably wanted it out of the yard since it had been sitting there for over 6 months and offered $2800. The guy laughed and appeared to be insulted. My boss handed over 28 $100 dollar bills and said if you dont want the money , you can give it back. We hooked the trailer up and left about 5 minutes later.

Site has zoom horny toads $1.49 a pack. (Plus many other deals) They are junebug with chartruese feet. http://www.fishingtackleoutlet.net/zoom_worms_p/zthonjun.htm

I saw that power pole has released the Vision which is some sort of touch screen tablet for a lot of various electric controls. This all-in-one touch-screen tablet allows multiple boat accessories to be connected and controlled by one smart device. VISION is the marine industry's new Digital Dash. Anything on the boat that has ON/OFF capability can now be expanded and custom controlled with dimmers, presets and timers. http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/story/1499891160790jr51xzks It's not that far of a stretch to think that voice control would be able to be integrated into this type of device. Getting the trolling motor companies to allow another companies device to run their controls is where the issue would be. I could see the boat companies coming out with some sort of hybrid computer control system and incorporating WIFI capabilities like the newer cars/trucks

Thank you so much for the replies!! This is the information that I've been looking for about this bait. I went thru over 100 frogs/toads last year so durability is an issue. ( I got 50 cane toads I use a wood burning tool during the winter and fix/make new baits with the pieces and parts from all my plastics. Maybe I'll just make some tail,molds this winter .... Thanks again!!

What do you think are the advantages over say Horny Toad/Buzz frog type of baits? Does the sprinker have action when reeled slowly or does a certain pace need to be kept? Do the tails seem somewhat durable? I fish a lot of topwater toads and buzz frogs and wonder if this is something I should add to my line up or is it just more of the same that I already use.

Cigarette butts and the morons who think the world is their ashtray

You may want to try braided line if you are not using it already. It is very sensitive to feel even the softest bites.

I too am curious about these modification tips

I love hearing all the responses and reliving some of the baits I havent thought of in 30 years. I'll always remember my dad throwing a purple mister twister with a red firetail at the sand pit. I had a Bill Dance Excalibur square bill that turned me towards the more reactionary techniques and away from finesse fishing. That led to a love affair with Poe's 4400 crankbaits. Today I throw a toad/frog and compliment that with a bottom weighted senko. I picked up a zoom horny toad one day and caught about a 3 lber after a giant blow up. After that I started throwing some sort of buzz frog/toad exclusively just to experience the awesomeness of the topwater strike. (I have tried spooks, buzzbaits and popper type lures but the toad outshines them for me) I'll generally run down a bank throwing the toad and then I'll come back down the same stretch and pick it apart a little better with the senko. I've got a small boat and there is just too much lake traffic for me to ledge fish out on the main lake where the big schools are roaming this time of year. So I stick with the creeks and the back waters. I'd rather get one topwater blow-up than catch a half dozen on a drop shot but that just me

Well thats about 4.5 lbs larger than the current state record for Mass. ..... Good Luck!!

Also another welcome from a fellow East TN fisherman

Congrats!! Nice looking boat to enjoy now and throughout your upcoming retirement

zip ties will also work as an o ring substitution or if you need a jig collar or weedguard. They also come in handy if your buddy is catching more than you !!

I like to slow roll a scrounger head thru the bluegills with a beaver style bait rigged vertically so it has the taller profile like the bluegills or I'll throw a prop bait in bluegill pattern as well. Also have caught a few on a drop shot but the bluegills will keep pecking the bait too

Great job!! Thank you for the awesome write up and good luck to you in both championships!!

I have also used this rigging method as an option when fishing a scrounger type jig as the profile matches baitfish better

I had some small wire ties left in the boat after putting in some new electronics and they worked very well to replace my torn skirt collars.

I fish a lot of these type of baits. I think its just physics as to why these frogs flip over. The bait is heavier than the hook, I have used 1/16 and 1/8 ounce belly hooks and my frogs kept flipping over. I weighed the bait I was using at the time and it was slightly over a 1/4 oz. It wasn't until I added a heavy belly hook did the bait run true every time. However, that sounded like I was throwing a brick into the water every time it landed and i had to speed reel just to keep it afloat. The best one that i have found for running true is the Keitech Noisy Flapper. It seems as if the plastic is weighted at the bottom of the bait while the plastic at the top of the bait is not weighted. Which allows it to run true most often and if not, a slight pause will allow it to turn right side up. I tried the stanley double frog hooks and they did not seem to help with the flipping over. I'm going to try the owner double frog hooks as they have a slightly different design. The only problem when the frogs flip over is I end up tongue hooking every other one. I have never had a tongue hooked bass survive in the livewell to make a weigh in. Not sure what the chances are if released right away but I'd like to reduce my impact.