pauldconyers

For the first time last night I tried my hand at texas rigging a soft plastic. From the advice I got here I went with 1/2 oz tungsten bullet weight, a size 4/0 extra wide gap hook and a pumpkin colored 7 inch ribbon tail worm in this fairly mossed over pond I was given access to. From what I read and the YouTube videos I've watched it seems simple enough, through it out there and bounce it a few times and here comes the fish. Obviously those video clips are edited to show the action and that is where my question comes up. Is this a lure presentation you want to throw at or around structure and bob around versus something you fish open water with? I ask because I found myself fishing this pond and throwing it out and jigging it some then reeling it in a bit and I starting doing it again and wondering do I just keep doing this or kind of find a particular place, cast it there and dance it then find another spot and try that. Or do I retrieve it all the way back to me slowly doing this process and then do it all over again? Some thoughts or advice on what "presentation" I should use when fishing like this?

Well I had my first experience fishing a frog this evening. Based upon recommendations I bought two of the Spro Bronze Eye frogs. The midnight walker model and the albino white. I didn't catch anything but I think it had more to do with the pond I was at. I am sure it is somewhat acquired skill but I do not think I working the lure correctly at all. The reason I say that the YouTube videos I have watched of frogs being walked looks like while they are coming back to the angler that they are kind of jerking back and forth to the right and left kind of dancing. When I tried kind of twitching the rod as I retrieved it it looked more like a swimmer doing the butterfly stroke, the head kept kind of popping up out of the water. Twitching my 7 foot rod from the bank was not the easiest thing, I found I could do just as good doing a herky-jerky retrieve on my reel and get the exact same affect of what my rod twitching was doing. What advice would you give me to do this properly? Perhaps a video link?

What situations would you throw the black versus the white?

Does the common thought the darker water or conditions like thick moss and such lead to even more of a reason to use a black one? What about brown as it is slightly more natural or is black the way to go?

I've thought about an all black (or at least the belly) model but I didn't know if that color would look unnatural to a fish and spook them.

If I've got the popper one in a natural green color what color should I get this one in? I'd think something different to give myself more versatility compared to the one I've got. I was thinking I'd get a much darker color so it would show up better in that obviously a real a mossy pond is going to be dirty by nature. But I also understand the argument of make it look as close to the real thing as possible. But I'd that were true they wouldn't make so make colors and just the one green. So I'm torn on what to get and at the moment I just want to buy 2 versus 4 or 5.

Link?

Looking to buy a new top water frog. I've got a Spero popper frog that I use but I'm looking for one that kind of "walks" itself left to right and does not need to be manipulated so much by the angler. I've seen a few like this on YouTube video but never caught the make/manufacturer of it. Anyone have a specific recommendation for me?

I didn't say I was the fool using a spinning reel... I'm just the fool posting the question

Care to elaborate on what the correct method would be???

A buddy and I have a small bet that needs to be settled. Regarding a spinning reel obviously you manually flip the bail over and cast it out. Here is where the question comes. When you start the retrieve do you manually flip it back closed OR do you start turning the real and let the reel flip it over? One of us says you let the reel flip the bail over by starting the retrieve because that's what it is designed to do. The other says that you can do it that was but it is such a hard, violent flip over that it will do long term damage to the reel and that you should do it yourself manually to avoid that. WHO'S RIGHT???

I can certainly measure the distance between the floor of the pontoon boat and the water level as we already have the boat. As for the second boat I don't have it yet and so I don't know what I actually will end up with so obviously I can't say what the distance will be. My question was more a general one so mentally I could think about whether or not it was practical to buy just one and move it from boat to boat when needed. I'm on a budget and just wanted to know if it was even feasible to do my original thought. It is sounding like an idea that in theory is good but in reality isn't very practical. Sigh, such is my life LOL

Do they make adjustabke length trolling motors? I ask because my dad has a pontoon boat he'd like to have a trolling motor one from time to time and shortly I think I'm going to buy a small jon boat or a plastic 10 foot pond boat and I'd like to be able to use this new trolling motor I'd by on both a standard pontoon which obviously sits much higher and the second boat I'd buy. Just wanted to know if this were possible or if I'd have to shell out more money and buy two seperate unit or not. Thanks

I've kind of circled the green spots with red circles. The green is small spots here and there.

I guess it depends on your definition of ol' school. It's about 15 years old, I didn't use it all that much. Bought it as a combo set from Bass Pro and it is paired up with a 7 foot medium fiberglass Abu Garcia Larry Nixon rod. It's for sale if your interested LOL

I've got about a 12 year old Bass Pro Johnny Morris signature JLM1000-LPHA reel that I've posted a picture of here. It is starting to show a bit of age. Obviously I can't do much about the fading of the fading but it has a few green spots on the metal exterior that I feel would come off with a rag and some sort of product. I don't want something that would take the silver finish off but would remove the signs of age. Any recommendations?

Growing up I fished a good amount. My dad only used and taught me how to fish hard plastic lures like crank baits, rat-l-traps and the occasional spinner bait. Once we'd find a spot we cast out in a fan pattern, paid a little attention to throwing by cover and then moving on to the next stop. Now that my oldest is 6 he is getting into fishing and I'm really looking at changing how I fish and getting into using soft plastics. Certain bodies of water and areas were just completely out of the question for me as with 2 turns of the reel I'd be completely covered in moss. The idea of having a weedless lure is appealing. I am really looking into Texas Rigging soft plastics and need advice as to what hardware it buy and use. I'll be fishing ponds and small lakes, sometimes from a boat and others from the bank. I use a 7' medium baitcaster with 40lb Suffix 832 braid. I'm told I should go with a Tungsten bullet weight. Should I do a 1/4 or 1/2 oz weight? Should I do the lightest I can get away with? As for the hook I assume I need an offset hook, correct? As for the size I've been told a 3 or a 5, I think? As for the plastic I want to set up 2 of these to play around with. Something that will do fine in all water conditions and temperatures for large mouth bass. Maybe one worm and one creature of some sort? Any and all recommendations as to what hardware to buy to make thus happen would be GREAT!

I'm looking at this Mach 2 combo. About the details that was mentioned about buying at Dick's - is this confirmed? Problem with reel, rod breaks, whatever they replace or give a gift certificate no questions asked? Is there a catch? Any other store offer this???

I guess my thought process is this - If there is a CHANCE the brighter yellow line would spook a fish wouldn't it just be smart to use the "normal" moss green color? I'd like to see where exactly my line is in the water a little bit better but isn't the potential problem not worth the risk?

Hmm, how would this effect performance? I guess you could still "flip" the little knubs that would remain to cast it, correct? The problem you are describing is when you cast it hard out there and with your hand you flip through bail and it jerks to a stop and the lure goes flying, correct? I don't have a reel in front of me to look at but doesn't part of the bail "collect" the line as you are reeling it in?

I don't have to cast it that "far" really and that was not the point of the question. In essence I only need to "see" the areas I can get to via my cast to fish. The question was based more upon what kind of rod and reel setup would be best for this task. The "sensor" you throw out there has a good am of weight to it. I'm not about to throw it out and snap the line or rod or whatever and watch over 100 bucks float away...

This all confirms what I was thinking. Thank you for the input!

The other day I bought a Vexilar SP100 SonarPhone portable fish finder unit. (They are pretty cool, check them out!) The basic concept is you tie it on a rod and throw it out and it sends the fish finding info to your phone. The unit itself is about the size of a tennis ball and has the weight of a real large lure. My question is regarding what kind of reel and line I should use with it? I do not want to spend much money on this rod but I DO NOT want to throw my new $100 toy out on the water to watch it go sailing away! I figure I will get a 6.5 or 7 foot MH rod but should I go with a bait cast reel or an open face spinning reel? I am thinking the open faced one as I am just going to kind of sling it out to a general area and am not worried about precision. Also doesn’t an open face spinning reel use the weight of what is tied on to get greater distances? Obviously I want to get some pretty stout line but should I go with mono, braid or does it matter?

After doing a lot of research this afternoon it looks like the sonar phone sp100 might be the route I go. Anyone have any experience with this device?

The portable kit model of the Garmin Striker 4 is a model I am considering. I am also looking at some of the products Deeper makes. https://deepersonar.com/en Some of the things I am considering is I am trying to do this on as small budget if I can. I do not need features like GPS as I'd bank fish ponds or bodies of water on a boat that I'm familiar with and would have no problem finding again. If I am bank fishing a product like the Garmin Striker 4 isn't going to do me much good. It's not like I can just sit it in a foot of water at the bank and it would tell me much about what is going on in the area I would be casting to. The Deeper product would tell me exactly that. Not being familiar with it this Deeper product seems a bit "gimmicky" to me. Anyone have any experience with it? Any thoughts from others? Need some opinions here!