loodkop

In my opinion it is difficult to find a long, light, well balanced and powerful rod below a certain price point. I am willing to pay a bit more to have these attributes in my frog rod. I contrast with my cranking rods which are mostly fished tip down, I keep my frog rod tip up so a heavy and or unbalanced rod can be tiring to fish al day. I find length crucial in getting casting distance and I need the power to haul a bass + however many pounds of slop to the boat. Like I said I frog fish as much as possible. If you are only occasionally tossing one any stout rod will do. I just want to make my favorite technique as enjoyable for myself as possible.

Some great information in this thread. I love my Red eyes and Spro Aruku shads. I always have one or the other tied on. My favorite technique is ripping them through grass beds. For this a MH rod and braid rules.

I will throw a lighter in my shaky head box and try this as well. Thanks

Thanks, I will give that a go. I also made a couple of jig heads without the screw lock to try superglueing the plastic to the hook. I'm glad for the modified keeper idea as super glue is one of my pet hates.

I agree that the main attribute a frog rod needs is lightness and strength. I am crazy enough about froggin that I have a dedicated frog rod on deck even in winter have spent entire tournament days( 10 hours) fishing the frog. My frog rod is currently the most expensive rod on my deck but is still under $ 150. Would I spend $400 on a rod? Not while I have a bond on my house and kids in school. Would I use one if available? In a heartbeat without thinking twice.

I recently won some packets of Elzatech plastics including some finesse worms. On Saturday I was using a shaky head (home poured) with a screw lock keeper. I tried rigging one of the new worms on it but gave up after I couldn't get it rigged on the spring. Any advice would be highly appreciated as always.

Great work. I'm sure they will catch their share.

I also use braid but would never reuse a hook that has been bent open. The next cast might be my first and long awaited DD bass and I wouldn't take a chance on a hook that has been compromised.

Spro popping frog in both regular and baby size. Any color as long as it's black.

Day trips can be up to 2 hours one way mostly for tournaments. We try to do at least 1 serious trip a year that can mean a 2 day drive towing a boat.

I have an old Curado 3.8:1 reel that I dust of every winter for slow rolling deep spinnerbaits. I just can not reel slow enough with a 7 ratio reel for this technique. I dont do a lot of deep cranking but if I have the same reel comes out.

Feasting on frogs.

The South African record largemouth is just over 13 pounds. A 10 pounder is a trophy anyday of the week and I "will" get 1 before Christmas.

Undersized bass gets told " Go fetch your sister that smokes and play with catfish."

I have said it once..... Easily the worst 2 hours of my life.

Thanks, I appreciate the info. My problem is that I live out in the sticks in South Africa. Tackle shops are few and cater mostly for the bait fishermen. I don't believe Dobyns and Megabass are available in SA and I would have to import those which drives up the price with shipping and duties. Importing also means that warranty issues becomes problematic again due to shipping costs etc. This is 1 one of the main reasons for me owning mostly Shimano because most problems can be sorted out over the counter. I really like the looks on the Z bone and will be trying out a friends NRX on Saturday. I'm slowly upgrading my gear with the money I gained by stopping smoking and will treat myself every 3 to 4 months. I already have the Core 50Mg7 and want the perfect rod to compliment my dream reel.

I have tried searching the forum for reviews on these rods but can't find any. A fishing buddy recently bought 2 and raves about them. How do they compare against the GLoomis and other top range rods? It sure felt better than my Crucial swinging it around on the boat ramp and I'm seriously considering rewarding myself with one but would like to have a couple of opinions first. Would I be better of with something else in the same price range? Thanks

Bright white, yellow and pink trick worms also make very good top water twitch bait around weed beds and pad fields. This is how I was introduced to trick worms and it took me a couple of years before I even tried fishing them on the bottom.

How many turns do you make on the Uni knot if using braid? A club member told me to use at least 17 but that seems a bit much to me.

1) 1/2 ounce spinnerbait white with single 5. Magnum willow. 2) 1/2 ounce red eye shad. Sexy shad. 3) Home made black buzz frog. I could have gone with a senko for numbers but frogging is just 6 times more fun. I don't fish for food but for the enjoyment so numbers don't count that many points.

Powel max 6.8 mh Curado 50e 12 lb Big game. Daiwa L&T 7 mh Curado 200 Dvhs 7:1, PP 65 lb.

Slinging a spinnerbait down the banks used to be my only style of fishing and it still produces. A spinnerbait can be worked fast or slow, on the bottom or just sub surface, in fact any way you want to. Another big positive is that a spinnerbait is semi weed less and can be worked through some serious cover without hanging up to much. - would recommend adding a 1/2 ounce spinnerbait to your topwaters asap.

I have had good bites punching with senko's and other stick worms.

I own 1 dying flutter/devils horse and around a dozen Pop R's.

Every time this subject comes up ( about once in 6 weeks) I wonder how much money KVD could have made if he didn't have to switch hands after casting? Just do what feels right and don't be bothered by what others do.