SFL BassHunter

Preferences Crystal Clear water - Straight Fluoro Every other type of water - Straight Braid BUT considering you won't be fishing heavy cover, you could get away with straight fluoro no matter what.

I use sunline mono and I really like it.

its 7.1oz I think the intended use is a wide range of weights but its marketed mostly for skipping. I have a Tat Type R and a Tat CT and both of them are identical in smoothness. Both reeling and drag. I can't imagine they will stray from what is working. It's good to know the US one will have a 90mm handle.

President or Helios. I love my Helios so far. It is big but it's light. Drag is smooth as butter, reeling is as well. The lime green turns some people off though. I like the lime green so no biggy.

I think they are just calling it the Tatula SV TW . The info on the daiwa site is in Japanese so... But I did find this info. I am a bit turned off by the 80mm handle though... I just called it SV CT cause it's supposed to be compact. The site also mentions it being " Its body size is as small as that of Zillion SV TW1016". Very solid aluminum alloy body frame Air brake system, with 20 level adjustable from outside Machined extra strong duraluin spool TWS T shaped level winder UTD tournament drag system offers smooth drag Swayed handle 80mm long 2 CRBB salt resistant ball bearings, 4 stainless steel ball bearings High-grip I shaped knobs Clicking drag Gold accent for 6.3 gear, Red for 7.2, Purple for 8.1 Saltwater fine

Mike I agree with you on that. There is a lot of water down here with stuff you wouldn't want to use mono in. But there is enough that it is ok to have a rod with mono dedicated for topwaters/cranks/spinnerbaits. I do all those on the same rod and reel. For example one place I will use topwater on mono is certain places on lake Okeechobee. Some of the flats you can get away with the mono. Though with all the hydrilla growing it is becoming less common for me to throw them on mono. Some ponds and lakes and canals I fish down here in Miami can be fished with mono as well. Very clear water. In fact there is one lake I fish that has a limestone bottom, the water is crystal clear. Throwing a HB frog on braid will rarely get you a strike. You put a HB on mono and all of the sudden it becomes a viable technique. That is a tough one though. A mono with low stretch like Senshi is important. Hard to drive the hooks into a fish. When I say topwaters I am generally talking stuff with trebles. Wouldn't fish trebles in most of the vegetation we have down here like pads anyways. That requires braid and snagless lures.

I got my CT for 89 when they were on sale. But I would say that Fuego is probably a heck of a great reel for 100 bucks. I am sure there are some people that don't care for the TWS that is on some of the Daiwas and this gives those people a reel to purchase. I do like the black color of the fuego. Looks nicer than the Tat CT in my opinion as far as aesthetics. I'm waiting for the Tatula SV CT. That thing is going to be awesome!

The exceler is on sale for 49 I think at TW. I would go with that over the laguna. BPS has the PQ on sale for 49 starting Friday. I would go with that over the laguna. You can find a Tatula CT online for 89 to 99. I would go with that over the Laguna, Exceler, and PQ lol.

The fish are in what I like to call the "Water Pattern". You throw a bait in the water and you may or may not catch a fish.

I feel like with topwater baits I have a harder time walking a bait, or working the bait on the surface than with mono. So that to me is a negative impact on my lure. It is certainly a better option that fluoro for topwater that is for sure. But if I have to choose between Mono and YZ for topwater, I am picking mono every time.

I think your garage will be fine. Keep the door open and put some fans to push out the fumes. To it close to the garage door. As far as the other clothing, what was mentioned earlier. Long sleeves, pants, gloves, shoes or boots. Make sure you are covered up, that stuff gets scolding hot. You also don't want to hold the pyrex with bare hands. The glove will protect you. Mixing baits... I have mixed Zoom products with Gambler swimbaits. Zoom baits are cheap and they melt really well. Just try and stick to consistency. So baits that feel like they are similar softness or hardness. Keep colors separate. Or you will end up with some ugly colors.

Yes you should get yourself a pretty good mask. You can get some good and inexpensive ones on amazon. The smell is very strong and I suspect the fumes can't be good for you. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation. I have 2 big fans behind me that push everything out a big window. It REALLY helps. The first couple times I did it I had little fans and it wasn't enough. Also I would not use your microwave that you put food in. Get yourself a cheap 50 or 60 dollar walmart microwave specifically for this. The smell of the plastic will linger. The more ventilation you have the better.

It's not bad line in my opinion. I have tried 8lb, 12, 15 and I think it is decent line. Walmart by me sold it really cheap and it is better than most other cheap lines I've used. It has great abrasion resistance. It is strong as heck. I like it for spinnerbaits, crank baits, chatterbaits...moving stuff. But mostly spinnerbait cause we have a lot of pads down here and you can get that spinnerbait through, up and over the pads and if you get snagged it is usually strong enough to get your lure back. With that said, the only one I like for bottom contact is the 8lb. It is the one I feel has best sensitivity out of the different tests I tried. Since it is stronger than it is rated it works well for my area. Why I don't care for bottom contact with it: I find it has too much stretch, not as sensitive as fluorocarbon. One other thing, I found myself going through a ton of KVD line conditioner, and that stuff ain't cheap. Also it isn't ideal for topwater baits, because it does sink. Not as fast as fluoro but it does sink. So currently I use my 12, 15 as backing. Works great as backing lol.

Good stuff G! Thanks for the report! Here are the pics of that nice one you caught!

Great news Wurming! Glad you caught some!

I used to lug around a medium sized Okeechobee Flats tackle bag from Walmart. They hold a good amount of stuff. I eventually realized what a pain it ws to pick up the bag every time I was going to move. It wasn't an issue early on because I didn't really cover a lot of water but as my tactics changed it was becoming increasingly annoying. I also realized I didn't need a ton of baits once I knew the bodies of water I was fishing. I now use a fishing style fanny pack. It holds a small plano for terminal tackle, up to 8 packs of bait, I've also put a couple of crank baits in their boxes along with 4-5 packs of bait. Though on certain occasions I will take the medium bag in the trunk. I will try what I have in the pouch and if they don't work out, I will head over to the car, and switch things out till I find the winning bait or lure. This is a rare occurrence though. The other option is a backpack, or a sling. Some of those shoulder slings are fairly big, though I don't think they will hold 3 planos and 10 bags of bait.

I use trigger grips cause I can adjust the tightness. Sorry was at work before, forgot to be specific. Like this: http://assets.rockler.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/720x720/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/4/5/45193-01-1000.jpg

I am 5'10" but got used to working a frog on the bank. So unlike being on a boat you need to be careful with the rod tip hitting a rock or weeds or whatever is on the bank. I learned to work my frog at an angle. So instead of twitching my rod down I twitch my rod to the side at a downward angle. I hold the rod with my right so my rod tip is aiming left. Because I learned this particular way, I find it hard to walk a frog twitching it down instead of sideways. Regardless, I think you can get away with a 7' rod for frogging. My first rod I used was 7' and I used it for frogs without issue.

That is a good question, usually you would use clamps with metal molds. With POP molds I guess you can try clamps you would get at a hardware store just be careful not to crush the POP. A rubber band won't apply enough pressure.

I use a Tatula, great strong and durable reel. All aluminum frame, long handle, strong smooth drag. Can't be beat for that price range in my opinion.

That looks really good. Keep it up! The real test will be when you pour the plastisol. Lets see how them baits come out! That is a great mold to make. Stick bait molds are very expensive!

Sass our fish down here are powered by mercury, and I don't mean the outboard motors lol.

Dang looks like Sunline wins by knockout lol. I may need to give it a try next time I am going to put fluoro on one of my reels. I currently use invizx.

I'm far from an expert, but these are some of the things I've been learning myself. Make sure you've got a good pair of polarized glasses too! That will help tremendously seeing cover and structure under the water. BTW if you ever fish US 27 make sure you fish the finger canals. There are a ton of them and they are dead ends, but every time I have been there the fish have been in them fingers. Went one time where you literally got 1 or 2 bites per finger. So you could start off fishing the main canal and fingers, and if you realize the fish aren't on the main canal you can save time by jumping from finger to finger.

Just making sure we are on the same page are you fishing from the bank or from a boat? They can be very different. But froglogger is right, a lot of the canals look the same. A lot of bodies of water down here do. One of the things you need to learn to do is pay attention to those small details and differences. Say you find yourself fishing a canal with pads like US27. The entire bank is pads. From start to finish, BUT there may be a rocky bank behind those pads. A grassy bank. Trees with overhanging branches. Rocks in the water, or boulders. Drop offs. Is there secondary vegetation? Like say reeds, or grass in the water where those pads are. Subtle difference make a huge difference in your fishing. Then there is what mood the fish are in. Are they on the drop off? Are they on the outside of the pads? Inside the pads? Are they biting when you get your bait between the pads and the bank? That is a good ambush point. It takes experience, and just going out and trying it to figure it out. Also every day could be different to figure them out. So one day they might be on the outskirts of the pads and anything that falls just outside the pad line they hit, while other days they want it to land in the pads or behind them. Some days will be rough, and others will be great. lol I am using pads as an example because it's what we have the most of down here as vegetation. Good luck, hope you get out there and catch some good ones!