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Don't know where this should be posted, so hoping the mods will kindly move if needed. I'm just curious... I love this site and am thankful for the community here. And that's why I wanted to see if anyone else is having slow page loads and dropped connections when loading new pages of content here lately. Not sure what's going on. (Begin nerdspeak) : It seems to be a latency/lag problem rather than something like a DNS or relay issue... though I am on Comcast who's been playing a little loose with bandwidth of late. Just wanted to raise the issue in case others are seeing things, too. I know the site owners would want to know, and I hadn't seen it discussed.

Had some fun with a TRD and my conquest 50 today

Hank Parker explains when and where to find elusive summer bass. It's not what you think!

I don't know my kastking speed demon broke after 2 months and when fighting fish it feels like it us going to fall apart. From now on im only buying quality reels with sturdy built frames and parts. No more c**p king for me

This past weekend was a busy one for me as I was bouncing around all over the place. I did get over to spend some time with my girlfriend who was feeling the urge to fish. I never need my arm twisted to do that, so I hauled the boat over. Last winter I saw a lake on google maps that I had never fished before only 15 minutes or so from her parent's house so we set off on an adventure to explore it. Upon arrival, things were looking good, it had some bogs that looked to have some water under them, lots of grass, some deep holes, and some stumps and downed trees. Conditions were not the best though, post frontal, bluebird skies, a light breeze that seemed to be blowing in circles. Things started off on a good note, as Mikalila had her first fish in the boat (baby northern) while I was still pulling rods out of the box. Things slowed drastically after, but we seemed to catch fish in spurts, I don't know if we just happened to run across a productive area, or if it had to do with the switching wind or what, but you'd catch one or two and it'd be followed by a long stretch of nothing. Most of our bites were coming on a frog, and all 3 photo worthy fish were caught on one. We lost a few others that got us wrapped up in the thick stuff and we couldn't get to them before they pulled off. Overall, this little lake has some potential, and I look forward to going back under better conditions and seeing if that lake has more to offer. Sunday, on the way home I stopped at a lake closer to my house that I usually fish quite often, but haven't had the time to get over there lately. I've only been on it once this year and that was early spring. I spend the little bit of my time fishing off shore structure with jack squat to show for it other than a few tiny and I mean tiny fish and a nice northern than liked the look of my jig. I decided to move in and fish some shallow slop in my last 40 minutes or so and was rewarded with 3 keeper bass one of which was a big momma! 20 3/4" and 5 lbs 3 oz. my first 5er of the year but hopefully not the last, they aren't exactly common around here. It was definitely a quality vs. quantity weekend, that's one of the best parts about fishing though, you never know what could happen the next cast.

Had a decent weekend, not a quantity weekend, but did well on the size.

Been working on it every day guys. Have made a lot of performance improvements, and it is getting better. Will continue to monitor and tweak as needed.

The only smallie to show up on a five-hour river float today (but I'll take it):

line probably dug into itself

If you want solid fishing advice, I suggest you don't watch YouTube video's pieced together by a 14 year old kid with an iPhone...

Do you think companies should replace a rod free of charge because somebody says "i broke x rod fishing a tiny bait. I never boat flip, i use rod covers, i baby my stuff, etc"? Could this be true of the OP? Sure. For every true story theres 400 liars that want to take advantage of something. A company has no way of knowing the truth. If his rods new, sure he will get a new one probably for free. It he (or anybody) breaks a rod after a year of use and thinks they should get a replacement for free is delusional. Sometimes a company will do it.

Above ground = lucky. My father and grandfather both died young. My dad at 56 and my granddad at 50. I'm still kicking and can still enjoy a day out on the water. Good enough for me.

I do believe that micros result in a longer cast, but probably more important is the fact that lighter guides give a faster, more sensitive rod. There are disadvantages. They freeze up more easily than larger guides if you're fishing around 32F, and they will not pass just any knot. You have to be more careful about the knot and the pound test of the line and leader to be sure the knot will pass cleanly. I build all my rods today, and all have micros.

Well, Today was one heck of a day. Started out with my frog and switched to weight less senko and the game was on, They were loving the june bug senkos. Here's our catches of today, quick catch and release. I landed what felt like a five pound 18 inch bass and the fight was quite hard getting her into shore but i won.

I havent caught a big bass all year . This one was almost decent . I went old school . 8 inch blue Jelly Worm .

Had a nice day last Saturday. Boated 27 bass with the largest falling prey to a booyah pad crasher in black. 4.3 lb.

I'd say that if you are one this forum you are. It means that you have the free time and at least some spending money to go fishing. And if you have a considerate spouse. I do and am so fortunate. This is a text conversation I had with her earlier. It reminds me of this song. Don't forget to be grateful and appreciate what you have guys. It can all change in an instant. If you have an amazing spouse, make sure you tell them. What's funny is that like this song I got a new rod and reel this year. Can't complain about anything.

I just had to share this...lol.

On my Rapala line clippers there is a knife and a backlash tool that has a hook like the bottom tool in that pic. I won't leave home for fishing without it.

Those are nice. I have some , and can tell you that you should have went to harbor freight tho. Get a 4 pack with the same heads for 1 dollar.

Here's a handy chart showing the difference between shellcrackers (redear sunfish) and pumpkinseeds, among others. And I understand shellcrackers get a good bit larger. They also have a different diet as one's name implies.

Oh yeah, in open water anything from a Hopkins, Crock, Kastmaster, Cleo, Dardevle or something similar. You can either slow roll them with a subtle speed up/slow down, (the trick here is to pull it as fast as possible while wobbling, NOT spinning, not as easy as it sounds, one reason they aren't more popular) or jig them vertically, what ya'll call "flutter", the trick here is to lift it smartly, and then follow the spoon down on the slightest of slack, varying the size of the lift depending on what they want. We fish for a lot of salt water fish this way, so its second nature.

I do it often for members here on this board. I own 4 spinning and 12 baitcasters. Just last week I met with 2 anglers that live within an hour of my home. We met at a local tackle shop that caries some really good brands and then we came back to my home. In one case the member was struggling to get his baitcaster adjusted correctly. He watched as I explained how to set his reel up, and then I gave him a few casting pointers. He quickly gained distance and line control. Then I let him play with a couple of my combos. He had never cast a Daiwa Tatula and so we went over how they setup differently. He also had a chance to cast some rods from Irod, Powell, Dobyns, and Falcon. All brands he never or almost never played with. The other member we redid some gear to eliminate some line issue. At the tackle shop we spent a good deal of time going over lure/rigging techniques that would do him well around the bodies of water he fishes. I get a lot of enjoyment when I get to help someone and they return my favor with new fish pictures. I have met at least 4 or 5 new fishing partners just this summer. One of the things we members should do more often is find other members that live close to you and partner up with them for fishing trips. I have done this with some from 3 fishing websites. It is fun to learn from each other.

i would be happy catching dinks! its better than nothing!

I only mentioned the previous damage issue since many don't understand just how fragile modern high modulus rods can be. Of course I have no way of knowing what happened to yours. Wow, not a great warranty.

When rods break under conditions you describe it is often caused by previous un-noticed damage, like striking the edge of a boat, stepped on, got whacked by another rod or a lure flying back, etc. Doesn't take much, if struck just right. Or, if the rod is pretty new and hadn't been cast much before, could just be a defect.

Yet another spin is macro guides. I stick with the 4.5-5 guides because they provide all the smaller lighter guide benefits with reducing the pains of stringing and freezing up being less. I had a rod built with this sized guide train and its the second that i now have. Megabass rods use this same sized guides and some of the steez rods do as well. Depending on your area macro's might be great and a lot of rods are moving this direction. My dobyns dx rods have smaller guides than some of my others so it seems like a trend in the higher end lineups.

Can't recall the name of the lake. Sac a lait is what they call crappie in south Louisiana. In New Orleans crappie are known as "sac a lait", which means literally "bag of milk." I suppose it's a Cajun or creole term. Here in Florida crappie are called speckled perch or specks. I recall that in New Orleans largemouth bass were called green trout and bowfin were called choupique.

I bought a veritas 2.0 7'MF casting and I didn't realize it was micro guide. They're okay, just not the miracle fishing product people make them to be. They also get clogged with weeds faster, probably NOT the best for a froggin' stick.

In this crazy world, where nothing is promised... We are all lucky to even be alive.

I didn't read through all of the comments, but before a trip like that, I'd pull and pack the bearings. I'd also make sure I had a spare hub kit and the tools to change it roadside. Tires and spare in good condition.

First welcome to the forums. You will find many members happy to give their best advice. It also helps to use the search box and see questions and answers that have already been given in the past. Micro guides are supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread, not so much. They do control the line better, but I do not believe it results in the longer cast they were designed to achieve. I find them much harder to string up in a hurry. I own 3 or 4, but I never made the choice of that rod because of them. Now, you never mentioned your budget, and of course you also did not mention your preferred length. So here are some suggestions from different price ranges. All of these rods will have a powerful graphite blank with a very soft fast tip which is exactly what is needed when fishing frogs. Because we fish frogs and flip in heavy cover you need a powerful rod to hook and land a bass in the jungle (dense weeds or lily pads), The problem is the lure we throw there is a hollow bodied frog that weighs less than 5/8 of an ounce usually. Here is where that special tip comes in. That has to load up and throw the frog a long way as well as be soft enough to properly work that lure. For a rod costing less than $100 take a look at an Abu Garcia Veritas 2 Frog rod. It is 7'6" long and is built as a frog rod. It runs $80. Above that price but below $200 look at these rods. I am partial to Dobyns, Powells and Irods, so many of my suggestions are going to be from them. Your next choice would be a Dobyns Fury FR705C for $110. This is a great intro rod series from Gary Dobyns. It fishes much more like other brands rods costing up to $200. Next i would look at a Powell Max 3D 736 CEF Frog Mag Heavy. It runs $160. Irod has a rod series called the Genesis II and a frog rod called an IRG754C "The Fred's Magic Stick". It runs $150. For rods above that $200 range you could look at my frog rod. I can only fit a 7 footer in my rod box, so I went with a Dobyns Champion XP series model DC 705C. It work great for me, Gary usually suggests the DC 735C. It has a really nice taper and is his best choice, but he extra 3 inches was a hassle for me to travel with. There are plenty of other options out there but I personally have fished with these rods or know someone who is. I hope this helps.

To clarify, neither hd or Lowes owns a tool brand. Kobalt, Ridgid and ryobi are separate companies marketed and sold thru hd and lowes. The ryobi brand is a homeowner tool, whereas ridgid is the pro tool. Both are considered hd "brand" as they are almost exclusive to hd and have promotions, sales and returns primarily thru hd. But yes, ryobi is poor overall quality..ridgid on the other hand makes a solid tool.

Got a question-------went last Thursday(started fishing by ~4 AM --to beat the heat & 'take advantage' of the end of the full moon)....HA, didn't catch anything till 6:30 AM, well after good lite.......Wound up catching 10(fished till noon)----ALL but 1 were dinkers(under 10-11 inches)-----the one keeper was a 4-7 though.......Caught mainly on RTs(chrome & crawfish color) & crankbaits(mainly sexy shad 8 to 10 ft runners).........The 4.5 was caught on a 10.5 Ole Monster junebug worm around 10 AM.....lol, fished that rig HARD for the next hour or so without another hit..... NOW the Q-------------how do I 'upgrade' these dinkers?????????/......tia..........

This is the more debatable topic of the two. Theoretically, it shouldn't happen because sonar frequencies (200khZ, 455 khZ, 800 khZ) are well above the hearing range of bass. However, Doug Hannon believed that fish can hear the harmonics of sonar waves (not the "sound"). "Plausible" - yes; "Can" - maybe EDIT: Tracked down this opinion on the subject from Ralph Manns, whom I have great respect for: Although the fish can't sense/hear the very high frequency sounds of the pulses themselves, they can sense the low frequency pulses (the clicks, if you will). Even if the unit doesn't make an audible click, it vibrates and sends out a signal detectable by a fish's lateral line at between 50 and 150 (or so) pulses a second (depending upon the scroll speed.) Every fish these guys/gals haul to the boat is given a chance to learn and associate the sound with danger. The sound may be meaningless as it goes over an inexperience fish. But, during the trauma of being hauled to boatside and netted or lipped the noise and the unpleasant experience are easily associated. Bass are programmed by instinct and habit to avoid such unpleasantness. The use of a radically different scroll speed may make the sound/pulses different enough so that even experienced bass don't know they are a threat. If you must keep a sonar on, I do so when fishing waters/shorelines I haven't previously learned with a sonar, try running the unit either at max or minimum scroll speed rather than the manufacturers automatic settings. This one is actually less debatable, as there is some pretty decent evidence via diving and tagging studies that it occurs.

Rocco Francis Marchegiano or Rocky Marciano held the Title from 1952 to 1956 which was just a little before my time as a boxing fan. Would have love to see him fight live. Known for his incredible stamina, relentlessness, and ability to fight rough and swarm on the inside. Rocky was also famous for punching his opponents arms while they were blocking punches. Didn't score points but seemed to have a serious detrimental effect in later rounds. A-Jay

I usually run the console, bow and now the 360 imaging units from the moment I launch. Every once in a while - if I'm sitting in a place long enough - I may turn one or all of them off. And here's a little nugget for you, I'm starting to believe that the 360 - attracts bass - so there's that. And then we have the "Hydrowave" - isn't that a deliberately transmitted "electronic sound" ? Who Knows. . . . . . A-Jay

Just get yourself a 7-foot medium-heavy rod and something like a Abu Black Max or silver Max Baitcaster. And if you want to fish really light tackle or weightless senkos just throw it on the spinning set up you already have. You don't want to start off with a straight heavy rod cuz it will limit you too much.

Ironically, I once caught a person (well, his hat a least) when bass were jumping in the water and splashing around. Schooling activity can make a person forget there is another person behind hem in the boat...

Let the pads be and catch big bass on hollow body frogs.

Awesome score, @Quarry Man. With all due respect to Walmart workers, that probably wasn't a mistake that you capitalized on. They WANTED to sell them to you for $16 each (or at least, either Walmart's bean counters or store managers did). You actually did them a favor - it was a true "win-win." Occasionally they will sell rods at complete blow-out prices. They do this to clear out inventory that is old, being replaced with new products, new graphics, or new packaging, or meets some other sales objective. The fascinating thing is if they don't get cleared out - they will go back on the floor at regular retail pricing. I have also seen or scored some great rods from Walmart at awesome prices when lucky enough to happen on this kind of sale, including Falcon Christie series, Quantum KVD series, Eagle Claw Skeet Reece series, Shimano Sellus, and Abu Vendetta rods all for $15-16 at one time or another. For whatever reason, $15-16 and $9 seem to be common rock-bottom sales prices at Walmart. During my biggest haul (felt like a heist) I asked the manager to verify that it really was OK to take the lot in my hand for $15 each. He was more than happy to encourage me to buy ones for my buddies and escort me to the till to make sure they rang up right (not to get security!). In the worst cases, I've picked up rods that were deeply discounted but didn't get sold, are cleared out of their system, and then they won't ring up at the till at all and get shipped away for disposal or maybe auction. You truly scored because you can't just go in there expecting to find a deal that impressive. Prices are often reduced gradually, and lots of anglers are happy to snap them on the first price reduction, especially in high-traffic stores.

Lets see.............I fished almost everyday last week either after work or on my Thursday off. Monday night on Silver: Not dead, but not great, caught a half dozen average sized largemouth. Tues and Weds nights after work on Silver: Both nights sucked with a capitol S. I was skunked both nights. Thursday AM on Conesus before the monsoon. It was OK, put 7 good fish in the boat in about an hour or so before having to go home due to the storm. Thursday night Tournament on Silver: Did OK, caught 11 bass in 3 hours, and finished just outside the money, with 7.87lb three fish bag. Friday night on Silver: Better then Tues/weds. but not as good as Thursday. About a clone of Monday night with half a dozen average sized fish caught in 2-3 hours. Sat on Silver: Caught 20+ fish from 7am-3pm, and took 2nd place with a 15lb, 15oz. bag in an open tournament put on by CV bass. Best day of the week , although still not up to my standards, but cashing is cashing. I am giving it a rest today. Still kinda slow fishing and I have other stuff to do.

I should have joined you on the river. I went back up to Mille Lacs today. Again, couldn't keep the d**n walleyes off. Caught only two bass in five hours, a 6.25 and 3.25 pound fish, both on 3/4oz football jigs fished agonizingly slow while trying to battle waves. The day before, I caught 14 largemouth bass on a frog on a different local lake, averaging 2.5 pounds, and didn't have to drive an hour and battle 3-foot rollers. Mille Lacs is a very frustrating lake, but where else am I going catch 6.25 pound smallies?

Out of work at 11 pm! Fished 12am to 8 am met up with buddies at 4. Broke my 7 year curse! Felt so d**n good! Going back at 2 am tomorrow

I nailed this 5-5 brute at 8 PM tonight on a black/blue 3/8 Strike King Hack Attack jig w/ Rage Menace trailer in green pumpkin.

There is a spot in Rockaway off of Green Pond Rd where they have some giant gills for up here.

Bottom composition can effect weed growth as well. If you see dense weeds, then a small hole or strip where there are no weeds, it's possible there's a rockpile, log, or other form of hard cover/structure that the weeds can't grow on. Find a spot like that and you'll find fish, probably more than one too. It isn't always about the weed edges either. Sometimes they'll bury up in those weeds and you have to go right through the middle to fish below the canopy. Those are times when it's really important to fish the bottom below the weeds. Fish will still use the breaklines to cruise and look for prey.

If you look at the "weed" line & everything looks consistent but one area looks kinda sparse/thin odds are there's a depth change that is deeper. It maybe a cut, gut, drain, dip, washout, whatever y'all call it. If the grass gets thicker or even surface matted odds are there a depth that is shallower. It maybe a hump, ridge, rise, or whatever y'all call it. The key is these depth changes create an irregularity & should be given a few extra cast, flips, or pitches!

Most of the time I do use my thumb but occasionally I find the middle finger works better I found something in my toolbox that works better than anything else for getting a backlash out. I picked this set up at Ace for $8 or $9 and stuck the one with the 90 degree bend in my boat. Use it a lot less these days than I use to but I still find it handy when I do manage to get one of those professional overruns.

What happens when you snag your fishing partners lure on your back cast. I think this is the only backlash I've ever had to cut completely out.