buzzed bait

I'd say it's fairly obvious what the problem is...... that Duke shirt in your avatar

When it's on.... it's on. nice day

I like the H2O brand hollow body frogs (pretty sure H2O is Academy sports brand). anyways the graphics mimic a spro or live target but for a fraction of the price! I also like Bass Pro's Kermie frogs, I seem to have prettty good hook ups with them even though the body seems harder and stiffer than you would expect. For me the most productive color is black or a green/black/grey combo coming in close second. i like to throw them all the way on the bank and then easily pop them into the water. I'd say about 75% of the strikes i have on a frog come from that initial plop into the water from the bank. hands down my favorite way to catch them!

good info guys, i appreciate it

PERF (people for the ethical reporting of fact) "Studies show that fish who are caught and then returned to the water suffer such severe physiological stress that they often die of shock" Often? how about sometimes or even rarely? see how one subtle word change makes a world of difference? "In commercial fishing, fish's swim bladders can rupture because of the sudden change in pressure." Thanks for the intermixing of types of fishing, is this about the dangers of harvesting AKA commercial fishing or catch and release? "Every year, anglers leave behind a trail of tackle victims that includes millions of birds, turtles, and other animals who suffer debilitating injuries after they swallow fishhooks or become entangled in fishing line. Wildlife rehabilitators say that discarded fishing tackle is one of the greatest threats to aquatic animals. Fishing is far from a harmless pastime. Please encourage anglers to ditch their poles and try alternative activities, such as hiking, camping, and canoeing." While I won't disagree about the need to clean up after ourselves I have to laugh at the suggested activities over fishing. I love to camp myself, but how many times have you seen someone leave a campsite a MISERABLE disaster? Often times some of these same environmental activist types..... I'm pretty sure our human developments i.e. pollution, erosion, etc are far more harmful I just wish we were in more of a partnership with groups like this to work toward conservation rather than the bi-polar one side or the other.... left or right, blue or red, whatever......

Nothing constructive to contribute to the thread, but good lord I wish that was my lunch break! If I could hit that during lunch, I don't know that I'd ever come back from lunch!

Thanks man! I actually bought the anchor trolley set up on ebay from a Settles Bridge Supply House, a company that was nearby in North Carolina. It was really easy to hook up and came with all the hardware (option for rivets or bolts) for like $22 I think. Can't beat that. As for the stake out pole, I salvaged 2 broken items I had. I had an old rod that was broken above the trigger area and i used that as the sharp end. I shoved it in (foam handle first) into the bottom of a broken kayak paddle. It's about 5' long so it doesn't work in all conditions, but it gets the job done in the coves that are shallow. I actually just made that crate setup a couple weeks ago and it's sweet. Allows me to bring all the rods I want and keeps it very nice and clutter free.

Finally finished installing my fish finder on my FS10 Ascend Kayak. I rigged up the Garmin Echo 150 onto the console of the kayak. I have a 12v battery that I've tucked into a small dry bag that perfectly wedges in the side consoles between the hull and the removable seat. For the transducer I've gone back and forth a hundred times about mounting outside the kayak with some kind of PVC arm coming off that crate in the back or sealing it somehow inside the kayak. After reading a lot of posts I decided on inside the kayak using Duct Seal which is a hard clay-putty type product. I installed the transducer into the Duct Seal in the back of my kayak behind the seat and I will see this weekend how it turned out in terms of functionality/clarity on the screen. Since the Duct Seal is a semi permanent (can be easily removed) application, I can always change my mind down the road and rig the transducer outside the kayak. I think I'm about done with all the rigging that I wanted to do. I have an anchor trolley, homemade stake out pole, crate with some homemade PVC rod holders and fish finder for my modifications. It's a bit of gear to hook up initially, but once you're going it's nice. I got the kayak back in November and haven't looked back since. I can't wait to get out and try out my new fish finder and get some feedback on my setup.

TWMstr you may watch the forecast and if there's rain in the forecast get out before the rain hits. I was watching some videos from KVD and he was talking about the bite being on a lot of times right before the rain

One more question, when you're hooking the worms through the nose are you pulling the hook all the way through so that it's fully exposed or do you leave the hook bedded down in the worm? Thanks for the good info guys, sounds like step one may be to downsize my weight. Step two sounds like get out and try it and adjust from there.

you may be on to something there! i'd say just watch them closely and don't let them go too far...

do you scale them and leave the skin on or do you cut out filets and smoke them like that? i ask because if i filet them it will surely dry out, but skin on can manage to keep them moist

anybody ever put them in a smoker? when i was a kid we'd go for a day of fishing and keep a few bring them back and smoke them that night, mostly trout back then but i've since had bass the same way. I think the flour and pan fry are the best method for sure, but the smoker is a nice change from time to time

Thanks for the info guys! Crestliner to answer your question i'm targeting largemouths and frankly i do not know the exact depths (rigging up a fishfinder on my kayak at the moment to help with structure/depths) but there is a ton of fallen timber, very old fallen timber and it's very high in elevation in the mountains and i'm certain there's plenty of drop offs

So I'm going to try a drop shot rig for the first time this weekend. I have absolutely no experience with it whatsoever so I'm looking for some feedback. I've rigged up a 6'6" medium spinning rod with a swivel shot hook on 10# flouro with about 18inches of line off the bottom connecting the 1/2 oz weight. For that bottom line connecting to the weight i used 6# flouro in the hopes that if I got hung up it would pop that bottom part off and atleast allow me to get the hook/bait back. Any advice on this rig and or how to go about fishing it? I'll be on a very small very old lake with a ton of flooded timber in western north carolina. what is your preference in terms of worm type, color and method to hook it up (through the nose, wacky, etc.) thanks for any help you can offer. i'd like to catch some fish on this drop shot as i hear it can be lethal around this time of year....

went last night to the dunwoody, ga walmart and they had tons of stuff in the $1 bait bonanza boxes. as said, they may be factory seconds but i got mostly top water pop-rs and spooks and it's hard to go wrong for $1... they had PLENTY left too

definitely watch some youtube videos on how to work the baitcaster reels.... and as said before start by making shorter casts and gaining confidence and then step up from there. and there is no way i'd spend $150 on my first, second or last baitcaster reel.... i got the basspro prolite rod and reel combo for like $50 and have been incredibly happy with it.....

buzzfrog, where do you fish from the shore on Norman? You ever thought about a kayak? I used to fish from the shore and then got a kayak to fish in and I absolutely love it.....

I just ordered for the first time 2 weeks ago. I've received numerous offers, but never "took the bait" until they offered a year for $12 plus a couple of freebies so I pulled the trigger. For $1/month it has to be relatively entertaining.....

Question about this topic, would bringing the fish up slower make a difference? Just wondering if this is a natural thing that can't be avoided or if you could slow the ascent of the fish down to avoid this problem?

You hit this on the head.... you should talk to serious deer hunters and they can explain the theory of selective harvest quite well. If we were able to save every single human life from sickness, disease, natural disaster, etc. we would run out of food in no time, starve, and eventually cease to exist. Someone in the MN DNR should take a look at this lake and determine whether the strict catch and release regulation is helping in the long term.

Just ordered mine on Amazon. Couldn't find it in stock close by so I opted for the fast free shipping and no taxes....

excellent point, i will give that a try and if they work out better maybe i'll be inclined to cut the legs going forward....

this is a question that i have. i put 30# braid on a spinning reel and just started using it for cranking. However, i've been unable to get a real feel for how it impacts the depth because the water's so muddy here i can't even see my lures. Any idea how much it would change the depth on your lures vs mono or flouro?

you know the legs on those hollow body frogs always seem so long and i want to cut them off, but in the water they seem pretty natural and not so long? i picked up a Mann's frog the other day at WalMart and it had super short silicone legs, haven't tried it yet either but i'm anxious to see what kind of action it produces. going on a weekend fishing/camping trip so i plan to give them all a thorough test drive....