BassThumb

Wow, what a nice fish! Congrats! Those $2 Super Spots are my favorite crankbait.

Both, but usually with a weight. I usually fish them on shakyhead jigs.

That's what I do too. Rather than remove the peg, I slide it up the line 6-12". I peg the sinker usually, but let the sinker slide if the bite is slow or I'm using light weights.

No. I often upsize and slow down.

I do it almost exactly like you, Red. Sometimes, Before I bring the lure back, I give it a hard 1 foot pop to try and trigger a strike. I've been having some good luck this season trying to pitch the lure over a twig or cattail, so that I can dangle it up and down a bit and keep it in the strike zone longer

Two 1/4 oz jigs, one black/blue and one watermelon, and a pack of Netbait Paca Chunks in green pumpkin.

Sounds about right, they are soft. I use this Pro's Soft Bait Glue to extend the life of some soft plastics for an extra fish or two, and for mending frogs cut up by pike. Good stuff. http://www.prosoftbaitglue.com/

Fish will bump it with a closed mouth from time to time, but not that often to be a consistent problem. Are you maybe using too stiff of a rod and/or braided line? I've had much better hook-up ratios with rods with softer tips and mono line. Holding the rod high at the 11 or 12 o' clock position to slow the retrieve will result in lower ratios as well. I like to hold the rod at the 8 o' clock position and slightly to the side, almost pointing at the lure, ready for a quick sweep set.

I've seen that, too. I have considered sharpening the hook on a scale so I could easily hook a fish like that, but it's too gruesome and I don't want to do it. From the underside, I carefully put the hook between the lower gill rake and the jaw in order to weigh the fish. This way, the hook is supporting the fishes weight on it's jaw, and no damage is done to the fish.

Money talks.

I use that rod for wacky worming. It's a good fit for Senkos, and I use it for light t-rig worm fishing, too.

Yeah, those extremities don't last very long on these baits. The Chigger Craws in general are on of my favorite soft plastic baits. They can be used as jig trailers, C-rigs, or on T-rigs that are casted or flipped/pitched.

Instead of open-water frogging, I generally throw slow buzzbaits or Rage Tail Shads. I like that mod, A-Jay.

Around slop, where I do not use a leader, I color the last 2 or 3 feet of line with a wide-tip, green Sharpie when it lightens up. It takes a mere 20 seconds to run a marker up and down 3 feet of line. There really is no good color for braided line since it's opaque, but until they make it translucent, I will chose dark green line over silver line that I can see from 50 yards. I believe that having line that blends in with the slop and the shadows leads to more bites, especially when fishing slowly. I have seen frog fishing markedly improve after doing this, from one cast to the next. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not. You guys who commented would recommend tying silver, half-season old, 50# braid directly to a frog or jig, rather than take a few seconds to hit it with a marker to make it blend in with the shadowy, heavy weedcover you're fishing? I beg to differ.

How well does it retain it's color, or do you frequently have to color it with a Sharpie to keep it dark?

This is what I was thinking. You can't lift 5 and 6 lb. fish with 6# line.

How deep is the water off that weed edge behind your dad? If there are nice fish feeding in that floating slop, there is probably a deepwater refuge nearby, likely not far from that weed edge on the nearest break. For the 10-14' range in midsummer, I often throw 3/4 and 1 oz double willow spinnerbaits, sometimes with undersized blades, and try to tick weedtops and slow roll it along the bottom. Some of the more productive midsummer spots for me are the deep weed lines and breaks nearest to the productive slop areas, that I fish with frogs and buzzbaits during low light when the fish are moving in to feed.

These are accurate and the battery life is good. http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0012974014817a.shtml?cmCat=perf&rid=0987654321&cm_mmc=Performics-_-CSE-_-GoogleBaseUSA-_-0012974014817a&mr:trackingCode=4A5384C8-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA

Buzzer, toad, or t-rig fluke, Senko or floating worm.

Paca or Chigger. I believe the Paca puts off more vibration, while the Chigger has a faster paddle.

I used to despise the slow process of Senko fishing, until I started catching fish with them on tough days when nothing else was working. I'm not a "Senko freak", but it's safe to call me a believer. I'm beginning to believe that color doesn't matter worth a d**n.

Will Smiff references gotta go.

Citronella candles in the drink holders, and lots of spray with DEET.

Once in a while, my buddy says, in his best Southern accent, "You gotta rip 'em back thru the sticks!" He says he's mocking a line from a corny fishing show he saw a while back. I don't say much of anything when I hook up.

I think your best bet would be to swallow your pride, take the $25 rod, and sell it in the Flea Market at market value to recoup some of your money. You maybe even be able to time the sale so that Loomis will ship the rod to the interested buyer after they pay you for it.