Clinton john

It was a blast and thank you sir. I'm so ready for this dang up and down weather to go away. I love catching me some of these big hydrilla guerillas on the top water bite but it's not the only way I catch them on ribbet frogs.

I do cast net for shad but I use them on my troutlines. It ain't easy to cast net up here lol lots of stumps, I spend more time fixing my net then casting it.

Like Catt said throw the same thing you do during the day. I fish at night when the warmer part of the year gets here, I find my best and most bites come from midnight to daylight. If I had to chose one lure for night fishing it would be a 10 inch black and red flake zoom lizard.

I hear that I'm very luck my work allows my lots of time to fish. If you need someone to fish with when you come up shoot me a holla I would be more then happy to fish with anyone on this fourm, lol as long as they can stand my addiction to ribbett frogs lol. Life is about making freinds and learning something new every day.

I'm on the water right now, he he he with in spitting distance of North Toledo Bend state park, have had 11 bites since sunrise no size to them yet, watermelon red yum dingger triged with 1/16 once weight. Also white and chartreuse zman 3/8 once chatterbait with a Mrcrappie twin tail chartreuse trailer. Later today around noon when it warms up i will be in are around shallow weeds and buck brush with a black and red flake ribbett. The next few days should be awesome with a ribbett frog, to bad i wont be on the lake its family weekend with the lil woman and my girls so no fishing this weekend for me

You Sir are correct its that good manners aren't being taught at home in the growing up years. Heck I'm only 36 and can say with out a doubt I'm not old but I was raised in a strict house hold ran with manners and a firm butt whoopin if you were rude or disrespecful. And it's a shame to say this but I have meet very very few people my age or youger that knew what manners are, to many years of being told they are snow flakes and special is their problem.

Really cause I have never had that happen in over 15 years of running flat bottom boats in waves up to a foot are a lil more. Most flat bottom boats have 20 inch or taller sides. I was raised on the water from a young age, so maybe I have more boating skill then some, but I have never had the problems with flat bottom boats that some say there is. Grow up hunting and fishing Grand Lake in south west louisiana in flat bottom boats, and that place gets white caps on it if a frog farts. But that's enough of me dragging this off topic.

I don't know where you fish are the size of you and anouther guy plus gear, but a aluminum flat or Jon boat as most call it that's light enough to put in the back of the truck and then carry to the water is not going to work. For two guys your going to want atleast 14 foot boat and for it to be stable enough for two guys to stand and move around in and fight fish your going to need atleast 44 in bottom at minimum a 48 inch bottom would be better. And your going to need a trailer for that size boat. Not to go off topic but why do Jon boats not do good in waves? I fished and duck hunted out of a 15x48 weldbuilt flat since I was 15 and have never felt unsafe in chop of 1foot or less and I'm a fat guy, 6 foot 350#

I agree that needs it's on thread for discussion.

This is what I would do going off of what kind of water you will be fishing and the fact that it is your first boat. I would buy a new Alweld or Weldbuilt boat with trailer, I would get a 16x52. Reason being is its your first boat so get one with a wide bottom so it will be more stable and 16 foot is more then enough for larger water bodies. A boat this size will run a 40 to 60 horse power motor and that's plenty for the water you described and more then enough for bigger lakes. Aluminum is cheaper to maintain over time and more forgiving on a first timer being its lighter then fiberglass. I would get it with a simple layout bench seat in the back, rod box on port side and extended front deck with a trolling motor mount built in. Drop a 50 pound thrust 12 volt Minnkota trolling motor on it and get to fishing. Mount the gas tank up front on the left and the battery up front on the right it will help balance out the boat when your in the back driving. As far as motor I would buy a new merc or Yamaha four stroke that is max for the boat. Then if you still want the fish finder and power pole things and whatever other fancy electronic stuff you can upgrade to it for cheaper and still end up with money leavt over. At the end of the day it's your money and should buy what you want, this is just what I would do. I have a 17.5 foot tracker and if I had to do it over again I wouldn't have bought it I would have just bought a regular mod v like I listed above and added the upgrades I wanted and still had money leavt over and the boat of my dreams.

Not sure where fin and feather is but, there is a big gas station in Toldeo town that has a deli in the back that cooks breakfest and they should be open at six. Their is also one open in zwolle called Quick trip they have some dang good sausage and egg biskits. I eat there all the time. The chems they are spraying is to kill the (salvana) may not be spelled correctly. Bass should be in spawn then because they are already on the bank's makeing beds now. I live on San Miguel and the bass have been up on beds for atleast two weeks now. Hope this helps sir.

I do a lot of frog fishing some in thick stuff some in not so thick stuff. When I first started I was useing big game 14 pound and I did hook fish but I lost alot, now it got betterwhen I learned how to properly do a hookset, but I still lost alot of fish and broke off alot. So I went to power pro 50# and my catch ratio went way up, stopped losing fish and the hooks were always drove throw. Never really had the backlash problems your saying you have. I didn't like the 50# it was like fishing with rope so I dropped down to the 30# pound and haven't looked back, I fish it in the thickest cover Toledo Bend has to offer and it does fine. Dropping down to 30# should help you out but this comes with a warning, if you do drop down remember to cut and retie bout every five to ten fish, and be ready to respool often because the 30# will wear out faster then the thicker braid. Someone may call bull on this but this is what works for me and let me restate yes I fish frogs alot, in the last month I have went throw 14 packs of ribbett frogs in two diffrent colors. This might help you out this is how I spool my frog rod. Put bout five spins of black electric tape on the spool, tie on the braid, spool it up to the amount you want. Then tie on your hook, hook it to something you physically can not move, turn your drag all the way down and walk out the whole spool, then turn your drag back to max and start reeling walk slowly and let the reel pull you along, doing that will set the string straight and tight and will keep it from stripping on hookset the first few times and will help stop backlash from a lose spool. I know it's alot to read but hope this helps sir.

Very nice fish and I think I seen that boat yesterday on the water.

You did the right thing sir. Some people were just never raised with manners and now that they are grow there is no hope for them to learn. I have had a few run ins on the water and have been able to just let it go and find fish in other water, and that's not a easy thing for me to do. The only time I lost my cool was two seasons ago I was in my flat fishing with my youngest girl, when a guy in a brand new ranger comes rolling up trolls up between us and the bank and sets his power pool. I ask him to move because me and my lil girl is fishing this spot for bream, he tells me I have no right to the water because I don't own a bass boat, we through a few words back and forth, while my lil girl is asking me to leave, at that point I call him what he is and told him his dad should have beat his butt more when he was young. He whips around and tells me to take my fat butt and my retarted kid ( my lil girl has a speech problem) and get are he was going to sink my boat. I told him really, I pulled up and packed started the motor and eased up and cut his fuel line on both ends and told him good luck fishing today sir and rolled out. I don't think I was right but it sure felt good. But I think you the best thing sir.

Unless I'm going down to the 20 foot depth or deeper all I use is bandit cranckbaits, the 100 and 200. Use pearl black back and white with black back, also some with sparkle or scale design. I throw all mine on 7 foot mh fast tip lews rods with lews reels, no backlash problems unless I get in a rush and make a hard whip style cast into hard winds. Bottom line you could do alot worse then bandits, I get mine at Toledo town tackle and the bait shop in zwolle. The bait shop has the best prices under 6 dollars a peace.

Like Catt said think about what and where your catching those 4 and 5 pounders and target that with the bait and color you normally use and it will happen. Plus time on the water is always good for the soul.

Thursday, Friday, and saturday, me and my best freind and my dad layed the hammer on them with ribbett frogs , black with red flake when the sun was shinning and white with chertruese feet when it was cloudy. All bass were in one to two fow in are around buck brush, lay downs with or without some kind of grasseither mixed in are close bye. Sunday afternoon, went out weather is colder so dropped back to points on cove mouths working down to ten fow with bandit cranks and triged watermelon red yum dinggers, fished for three hours had seven bites all bass coming from the ten foot area right off grass, all bass were legal size for keeping but not much bigger. Hope this helps Sir.

Me and dad hit the water at noon and came back at one today, started with black and red flake ribbetts and ended with white and chartreuse ribbetts. Had 9 keepers, I caught five dad caught four and he broke off on a very huge fish.

The bite was hot and heavy yesterday in 1 to 3 foot of water around laydowns and buck brush with a white and chartreuse ribbett frog, didn't find any size till later in the afternoon, but was in fish from noon till dark, went throw five packs of frogs, landed 22 bass yesterday. Here is the biggest one of the day, three diffrent scales said she was 8.5 still not sure if I'm buying that weight but she was really long, my foot in the pic wears size 13 shoes and the messure board in the boat only goes to 24 inches and she was probably two and half inches longer then the board. All other legal to keep size bass I caught were in the 16 to 17 inch range.

This^^^^^^ times 100. That's my thinking, fish your strongest technique and rock them big hydrilla gorillas. Love me some buzz frog.

Will soon be getting my new and first cz rifle in a few weeks, I hope, never thought much about them till they came out with the 6.5 grendel in their line up, can't wait to get my hands on it.

No problem glad to help, I didn't get on the water till around three and only fished for bout a hour and landed five out of six bites all in two foot of water on a white and chartreuse ribbit frog.

I'm the last person to give advice but if punching grass was my main thing and my spots didn't have grass are wasn't giving up any bass, I would grab up a coupleof ccrankbaits and find points with wood and start their. Or my fav way would be if the weather is right and the water temp is high enough I would grab a ribbett and work shallow brush and laydowns. Take today as a example I will be heading out around lunch and will start on some points with my crankbaits and then change to spinnerbait or chatterbait and re work the points then change to a trig plastic and work it again then I will move into the coves and work the wood and brush with chatterbaits and ribbett frogs. Hope this helps sir, there are others here that can give better advice I'm sure of that.

Like Catt said there is grass, I tryed to fish some today but man the wind had the wave action feeling like I was out in the gulf on a supply boat, couldn't hardly find a cove that was fish able with this wind today.

Probably life in prison lol. I'm sorry cal has gone to the birds if I lived there I would sell out and cross the border lol. Nice rig bye the way.