ajschn06

Yes definitely coming from the reel. I opened and lubed it last night. I fiddled around with it today and it’s more of a clicking sound. It can be eliminated by tightening the spool knob enough, but then it makes it difficult to cast. I did figure out that the noise wasn’t just coming at the end of the cast, but based on how I had the reel tilted in my hand as I was casting.... Its more pronounced the more the knob is loosened and even more so if the reel is tilted with the handle facing the ground when I’m casting. I can, however, completely loosen the knob and get no clicking noise if I cast with the handle of the reel facing up...

I picked up a couple of Revo X reels recently for like $90 and I'm really liking them..

I use custom painted ones.... most of the stock sunfish/bluegill patterns aren't very good imo….

I'm jealous of people that get to fish places where you can throw those kinds of things....

Holy $&@! I had to go check the specs and prices on these guys after seeing them... mind blown!

I’m partial to the bluegill patterns, but if you asked me right now to pick one it would be a Chart black back 1.5....

Ha- I wish I had your willpower. I tend to go the opposite way...

They are $16... I look at it like this. We've all got tons of baits- I've got crankbaits I haven't even looked at in years- Probably use the same 5 or 6 over and over again and I probably have 50. I'd much rather buy 2 or 3 colors of the jackhammer, use them over and over again and be productive, as opposed to ending up with 10 or 12 other models of chatterbaits that sit at the bottom of the box because they don't work as well....

Then you need the Jackhammer...

I've got a newer tatula reel, I believe the CT model. It's still launching baits a long way and I'm not really seeing any performance issues, but it's developed a bit of a rattle/grind noise that pops up towards the end of the cast- always the end, always smooth as it's flying through the air. Any ideas? Just some lube? An issue with bearings or gears?

Swim Jig - biggest and most fish, but also spent the most time fishing it. I'm gonna throw the Keitech Noisy Flapper in as honorable mention. Unfortunately, I wasted most of the summer not fishing them consistently. I've been throwing them the last couple weeks and the amount of action I've got per hour has blown away anything else I've used this year... I also threw a stand alone Keitech (3.3" on a 3/16 head) for the first time this year and it was really productive, but nothing big. Did get my 7 y/o his first two "casting" bass though.... I try every so often, telling myself I have to use it because it's so "deadly". I never get more than a couple casts before I'm bored out of my mind and I take them out of the boat for a few weeks.

Been forcing myself to fish with a frog more and one of the more annoying parts about it are squeezing the water out of them all the time. Any frogs that take on less water than others?

Small bass and lots of pike-pretty good size ones too. I spent a lot of time working with a frog/toad....a lot of action but struggled getting them to the boat..... I fished for about 10 hours between friday evening and today so that was great...

I love my wife and I love my kids. I've gotten to do quite a bit of fishing this year- all of it with my oldest. He's 7- started the year with bobbers and worms and now he's casting crankbaits and swim jigs. Landed a 27" northern last week and a few 15" bass and he's loving it. It's awesome being able to get out with him all the time, but his attention span is short, so 3 hours is about the max that we are out. I'm excited to be able to get out and just fish all day long...

Just got a call from the wife.... she's heading to her parents for the weekend, taking all three kids with her. It's on....

This was local to me, but I didn't know who Tom was. I was watching Wheeler's video so I checked YouTube for some TM swim jig videos. He said he doesn't "set the hook" just reels faster. That's baffling to me, I'm not sure I could fish that way. It's like instinct, I'm crossing their eyes every time regardless of the lure I'm using.

No, the setup above is one I already have. That's what I would hope to use for this purpose- it's not something I'll be doing enough to have a dedicated setup for. I could wait until I have a chance to get out and try, and not start a thread, but I get bored at work and was curious what others use...

Are most of you using a med-heavy baitcast setup or a lighter spinning rod for this application? I've got a 6'3" Abu Garcia Vendetta spinning rod, medium action/MF taper. I planned to use it for more "finesse" type setups like a Ned Rig or Drop Shot. I was hoping to be able to use it for the weightless Senko's as well but not sure how that will work.

Appreciate the story - lol came off as a smarty comment so I threw one back! I fish the Mississippi so life jacket is always on when the boat is moving. I take it off when I fish but I'm never out alone.... Everything I see is about walking the frogs- that's why! When I'm not able to get them to walk, they are all over the place. Left, left more, even more left, pop out of the water a bit, pop again, now I'm going right...…..and then see guys on TV effortlessly having them dart back and forth. I figured I was wasting my time. I got into a habit of throwing one on every time I went out... after 5 or 6 casts I'll get frustrated and say screw frogs why do I need to use them. Sounds like I just need to stick with it a bit more!

Braid- 40 pound! On the front deck- I can swim

Would you recommend a 20 or 30 size Abu Garcia reel for a basic drop shot/ned rig set up? I'll probably put it on something 6'6" Medium action with 15 pound braid and a fluoro leader....

That's fair- I only fish once or twice a week if I'm lucky and don't go through that many plastics...

Hey I really appreciate that! I guess I thought if I wasn’t walking the hollow body frogs I wasn’t fishing them properly.... I’ll give it a whirl!

Thanks Glenn- that was the first thing I did to all my frogs before I even threw them! Maybe need to go even shorter? Yeah pad crashers are the only ones I have. The popping ones I can actually get to walk a little better- the standard the only thing I can get it to do is like jump out of the water. I’ve worked every end of the spectrum as far as aggressive and gentle twitches- just don’t quite have the touch yet! Gotta get it down tho because I’m missing out being on the Mississippi without a frog... Ya know I’ve actually considered this..

To fish a frog. No matter how much I try, no matter how gentle I am, I can not get them to walk. On occasion I’ll get it to dart back and forth once or twice, but that’s it...... I’ve also seen Wheeler fish swim jigs with a steady retrieve and constant twitch... cannot for the life of me get my body to do both at the same time. Can handle jerkbaits since it’s just partial handle turns in between twitches.... but the steady retrieve and constant twitch- you should see me try to do that it’s awful.... any tips?