Tony L.

The lateral line, for sure, just like everyone else has said. Also keep visual perspective in mind. You are looking down at your lure against the backdrop of the lake bottom. A suspending bass might very easily be seeing your lure from below, in which case it is silhouetted against the light of the sun, and a lot easier to see.

Sizing up doesn't hurt. Did you have any kind of leader on your line as well? That could be another part of why it broke off. You might have already learned that, strong as it is, braid doesn't have very good abrasion resistance. I love it, but braid breaks almost immediately when it scrapes against something rough. I learned on this forum that you can protect yourself by tying a few feet of flourocarbon between the end of your braided mainline and your lure. The abrasion resistant flouro takes all the hits when dragging through rocks and wood - which keeps your braided mainline from fraying and snapping.

You can purchase line conditioner to help reduce memory, though I personally only use it for really, really heavy mono. Several casts will straighten it back out, especially into an actual body of water. Stretching it will help as well, just be careful not to damage your line.

I split it down the middle and purchased a canoe that was small enough (only 14 foot) for me to manage by myself and has a squared off stern to mount a little motor when the situation will allow. I hope to add a boat to the lineup, but my current setup is really all I need to get myself, my gear, and occasionally a friend or two, into just about any type of location that I can fish or camp. Interesting as I read through the responses, though. I really thought there would be more die-hard boat guys in the comments. Shows how fast the kayak sector is growing, I suppose. That, or the boat guys are out actually fishing like we all wish we were right now.

It could just be my experience, but I found it easier to learn by casting a heavier lure with extra brakes turned on and the spool tension just a tiny bit tighter than it needs to be. It doesn't cast out as far, but you can get a feel for the outfit and really minimize your risk of backlash. When I first started, I remember that my grandfather would always keep the boat close to shore, no more than 30 feet away, regardless of time of year or where the fish actually were. We would still catch a few, because even when the bass move offshore, there are always couple stragglers lurking close to land near the docks, rip rap, and stumps. I got really used to casting at targets at short to moderate distances and he would make a game out of who could land their bait nearest to a particular rock or closest to the water's edge without putting it all the way up on shore. Really built accuracy. Have fun! Glad that you have a Mrs that shares in your hobby!

Flooded timber has always been my go-to. I look for fallen trees that have toppled straight out into the water. Not necessarily parallel to the shoreline, but stretching out from it. There's lots of cover here that covers a wide array of depths, so I fish up and down it until I find where they are holding. More ideally though, I look for man-made habitats, if there is someone with a lot of knowledge of the lake and who is willing to share a secret. There's a spot on one if the lakes I fish where someone has sank some old Christmas trees. We go from time to time with a light bar aimed directly into the water. The idea is that the light attracts bugs and small fish, and eventually predator fish like crappie to eat them. I'm not sure if the light is necessary. I feel like the crappie would be holed up in those Christmas trees regardless, but the system seems to work, so I don't mess with it. Maybe it gets them excited because it makes the bugs and minnows frenzy a bit. Maybe it helps them locate the bait easier. Maybe none of the above. I've also heard of people doing the same thing, but snapping a handful of glowsticks and tossing them in the water. Seems like they'd be hard to keep track of, and I'm not one to littler, so I have never tried.

Unless you are looking at big budget or high caliber rigs, take a peak at Wal-Mart's website. I was recently I the market for a canoe, and found that Wally World had one that was nearly $400 cheaper than everywhere else I shopped. Plus it came with added features of a built in cooler, rod holders, paddle holders, a water proof compartment, and a squared off stern to mount a trolling motor to. None of the same sized small canoes at other retailers had these features, and it ended up being about half the price (same brand and everything). Because it was such a large item, it had to be delivered by freight- so there was a charge for shipping, but it was only 9 bucks. Just got it in a couple weeks ago and my buddy and I already booked a lakeside camping trip. I will let you know how it goes, but seemed well worth the investment

I hate to be the "so how 'bout the weather we've been having?" guy, but seriously, what gives? My poor garden is simultaneously growing like mad and getting beaten into the ground. Has this impacted your fishing? The lakes I fish are creek-fed reservoirs and are constantly muddy and flooded beyond recognition.I used to live in Cincy, and would frequent the Campbell chain of lakes not too far from Harrison. I'm guessing that smaller bodies of water in the back of the property are probably connected to the creek/river by now.

Gotta do what you gotta do. Is it still wet from last night? We still have standing water in our yard. My gauge is showing just over 4.7 inches of rain from yesterday's pair of storms (which came in about an an hour and a half apart from one another) and they looked to he moving towards Cincinnati.

What he said ^^^. I will also add log jams and bridge pilings to the list.

Good call by slowing down the retrieve. The next thing to try would be slowing down the hookset. If you can fight the urge to set the hook as soon as you see the strike (which is really hard to do), give just ever so slight of a pause before setting the hook. The fish needs to fully engulf the bait. You need the pressure of its closed mouth to collapse the body of the frog and expose the hooks. Don't wait too long though, or the bass will quickly figure out your lure is a fake and spit it out. Just an extra half second can make all the difference in the world. I'll be the first to admit that this is a skill that I am really struggling with right now. When fishing topwaters frogs, I get really excited when I see the splash and am having a hard time shutting off the automatic response to set the hook instantly. I usually end up pulling it out of the fish's mouth.

Update: Based on everyone's feedback, I felt comfortable in tying on soft plastic as opposed to relying solely on something noisy/flashy. The bass were still very shallow and were readily inhaling a dark, purple-ish blue, T-rigged lizard with green glitter. For extra confidence, I added a glass bead to give my rig a bit more sparkle and an audible 'click'. Worked like a charm, and I boated several beautiful bass and the biggest crappie I have ever caught. Since we released all the bass and the crappie didn't have any more company after a couple hours, it got to swim free as well. Thanks to everyone that replied! Certainly got a ton of comments, so I appreciate everyone's time in setting things straight in my mind. You all definitely made this a successful trip for me. Since fish were caught, the gear is now broken down and packed away, and I am headed home in a few hours, I am currently considering this one solved. Thanks again to everyone. Your collective knowledge is staggering.

I am headed back to a lake that I have only ever fished once. There is a good stock of bass in it and LOTS of organic matter from last season's lilly pads. So much, in fact, that the water is deeply stained. I would say that visibility is maybe 6 inches tops-even though it really isn't muddy at all. It feels like fishing in a giant pot of coffee. I had great success with noisy baits like topwaters, spinners and rattling cranks last time, but got to wondering if it would ever be productive to throw soft plastics. It is just where I have more confidence. I know that, even if totally blinded, bass will still sense with their lateral lines, but I still think of soft plastics as more of a sight lure. Does anyone have a general visibility cutoff where you might decide to only use flashy or noisy lures, or do you keep on using baits like soft plastics through the murkiest water? If there is a line, where is it?

The only real critique that I have heard so far is that it catches a LOT of smaller fish alongside a few behemoths. Probably not the best choice if you are a trophy Hunter on a time constraint and don't have the time to mess with the little guys too. Until the next ultimate tackle trend rolls along and people start jumping ship, I don't think there is too much of anything bad that you'll hear. Right now it is a lure that a lot of people have confidence in. Bad days on a confidence bait are attributed to the conditions and not the technique :-) The negative reviews will start coming in once somebody discovers a technique that works better and confidence goes in a new direction. Even then though, it will be more of a "the Ned rig is still the best choice under xxx conditions" as opposed to slamming it.

That will most definitely be impacted for future use. It will likely fill with water and that will slow the action and make it sink (though it will cast a mile). You could probably patch it with rubber cement or,better yet, the pvc/plumbers glue that was already mentioned. just make sure it is empty and dry first.