ErikMon Bills Fan

I use Ribbits from May until, well until winter. I have some Friends that only throw Ribbits because of how fun the fish blow ups are. I use a twist lock 3/0 ewg so the nose of the rubber frog wont tear. This year I got fed up with the frog rolling over so I tried a keel weighted hook and it works awesome. The only difference is you start reeling in the second it hits the water so it wont sink and you can still pull It threw weeds and timber. Another thing i did was use the Sebile soft weight hook system from my magic swimmer softs to add a tiny amount of keel weight to help it run true. Like all topwater baits you need to wait a second before you set the hook. Favorite colors are Louisiana craw and Black blue. Honestly Its the only soft frog I throw and 90% of my topwater usage. Throw it upp on the bank and slowly reel in, super simple to learn. Almost always in cover, structure, weeds and I rarely throw it in open water. GOOD LUCK!!!!

The livetarget mouse has been on fire for me. I use suffix 832 30lb braid and never had any problems with it.

I use a 3/0 twistlock Gama or Owner 1/4oz hook for the 3.8. It had a keel weight on the bottom of the hook so the bait rolls and it looks so nice minnows and sunfish chase it. Very weedless!!! I used a 5/0 weighted twist lock for the 4.8 inchers. Best colors are male perch and bluegill flash. I went through so many keitechs before I switched to twist lock with a tiny dab of super glue and the lure wont tear untill a pike bites the paddle tail off : ) I use 30lb suffix 826 or 15lb power pro super slick Braid and have had no issues. Good Luck!!! Ive never used these lures since this year and so far they are worth it.

I live in CT and a lot of my ponds and tidal rivers turn to weeds in the summer. It is not uncommon for me to use topwater 85% of the time. Since May ive used Ribbit frogs witha 3/0 twist lock or weighted hook. I sometimes catch 15-20 bass off topwater and maybe a couple off a keitech swimbait while my buddy with senko gets 3-5 fish. And in CT I dont catch big fish. I catch tiny bass off frogs. I never caught anything off hollow belly frogs but I dicided to give the livetarget mouse a try and that is my new favorite lure. So easy to walk the dog in a tight little scattering look the fish just have to attack it. The key is to fish shallow around structure and trees and weeds. I almost always try and throw it up onto the bank and I will catch bass and pike in inches of water. Good Luck buddy, You might find there is nothing more fun than watching a bass make a V in the water and blow up on your lure.

I love the livetarget mouse it has a tight walk the dog action and has cuaght me the most fish this summer. The mouse baits are growing popular. Another is the backwards craw that falls away from the angler. I seen jackell has one and a few other companys from japan have very similar models. I guess they are good for glideing under docks or a canopy of vegatation. Maybe the fat ika by Gary yama was the first. One thing I noticed after I started using keitech fat impacts is every company now offers a ribbed paddle tail swim bait. Again all of these lures arent new just the new hot item and companies want to chase sales like clothing and fashion is bringing back styles from decades ago.

So I just noticed with any Ads or Warning the Keitech Noisey Flapper on TWH and I just got a pack of the ebays. Has anyone used these new frogs? I got a 3.5in in the jet Black color. I usually love stanley ribbits and throw those all summer. These keitechs have a crazy body to them. its bulky but seems to be thicker at the bottom half of its lateral line then the top. Hopefully this helps it not spin. Lately I will rig frogs on a 3/0 - 4/0 ewg spring lock Gama or owner hook to keep thr frog from spining. I will note It seems the Keitechs need a 5/0 or even 6/0. Ill let you guys know tomorrow how they act but I was wondering if any of yalls tried em yet. GO BILLS!!!!

I use a bass assassin flukes, their color selection is insane. Weightless 3/0-5/0 or spring lock weighted 3/0 EWG. I learned the tandem fluke rig and had a lot of fun in the spring but somehow haven't picked it up in a while its just been topwater. Im taking a year off senko type baits but I loved fishing the flukes as this was my first year trying them. Try the tandem rig its not that hard to get the cadence down.

Black with blue havoc juice worm (curly tail) with weighted springlock hook 3/0 3/16oz Culprit curly tail fire and ice color UV Tightlines black blue Venko Honestly tough if its weeds or pads im throwing a frog or Livetarget mouse 95% of the time GOOD LUCK!!!

To talk about a weighted frog hook it doesnt have to be super light. I too would appreciatea 5/0 with a minimal keel weight though. I used to throw Ribbit Frog with a weightless hook and even if i rigged it straight it would sometimes flip over backwards. I hate that when I make a perfect cast under a tree. This year I switched to 3/0 weighted Gama hook and it works great for me. You can run it as slow but all you do is start reeling the second it hits the water and it will stay afloat. The only thing it noticed with the springlock Gama hooks is the hook is bent upward which is great for hookups but makes it hard to tex-pose and make it weedless. My lure would be the more softbaits in the Okeechobee cray blue. Some times you can find some Blue black or June bug or blue sapphire but not the blue thats in the Okeechobee claw color. The one thats green pumpkin on one side and ad vibrant blue with large flakes on the other side. That and more perch colors for soft jerk baits. Also I hate that every frog I see that has a cool color the bottom is white. If its cloudy and the sky is white I want the Bass to see the awesome color that caught my eye not a white frog belly against a white background.

HEY!!!! they just posted the colors on ***!!!! Lots of cool sunfish colors but I would like to see a perch and a crappie color. Also maybe a purple junbug. Sadly they are out NOV 12 so I wont be able to use them untill next year

You have got to be kidding me. What is next you type in some specs and a 3D printer pops out a lure already attached to your line. I thought fishing was supposed to be getting away from the everyday life and silly technology we have to deal with.

I switched to braid last year and love it. Went with suffix 832 in a dark green that is very invisible in my cloudy murky waters of CT. I chose 25lb and my friends laughed at me saying there's no Bass in the state over 10 lbs. I had to mention almost every time that my line had a smaller diameter than their 8lb mono. Plus every time they got stuck in a tree the line would break or get nicked. I can rip expensive lures out of trees all day and it will be fine. Im also less likely to loose a much sought after pike with my braid and I feel bad when a pike has a lure in its belly. I did notice sometimes when fishing a fluke or some other baits the bait will be jerked toward me but the "floating" braid will be drifting slightly behind it which made me think the bass would be spooked but ive never used a fluorocarbon leader and Ive still caught fish. I think braid is a must for frog fishing as its great threw the vegetation and you can make quick hooksets. One benefit of braid for those senko users or whenever your fishing a soft plastic that your looking for a bite "on the fall" is with braid it floats on a straight line on top of the water versus mono that looks like a giant coil or loose spring. You can see the fish bit and the line tapping or vibrating on top of the water a lot easier with braid. Also for finding depth of your casting area you will see the braid floating on top and the line closer to the lure will be going down. As soon as the line stops you know you've hit bottom. Its hard to describe but you will notice slight differences and you might end up preferring braid when you once thought it was intimidating. GOOD LUCK!!!

OK so i feel the same way. I often find myself fishing light blue to overcast white skies. I love to trow frogs and here in CT i start in July and will throw frogs until winter. In nature a frogs (or fish) belly is light colored weather it be white, tan, yellow, light green. This is because I think its harder to be seen from below and they wont get eaten. So then why would I want the big bass I am fishing for not be able to see my lure? Every time I see an awesome colored frog I notice the bottom is white. The top color dosent matter I want the color pattern 360* so thats what the fish sees too. So my question is just like yours. Does the weird smell of shapie chemicals turn fish off? I just got one of those spike it pens but its only in chartreuse and a flamboyant orange color. Would coloring the bottom of the frog Dark Green, Blue or Black help the bass locate it and zone in on the silhouette of the frog?

The only thing that helps em last is to rig them with a twistlock like a gamakatsu superline weighted swimbait hook. I use the 3/0 1/16oz and they still have a slow fall and wont roll over with the keel weighted hook. The key to them lasting 3-5 fish is to rig them perfectly straight and tight. My buddy applies a small dab of superglue and says that works too. My favorite colors so far is the fat impact in Bluegill flash and male perch and the swing impacts and easy shiner in sight flash or golden flash. I think the bass assassin replicas are more rigid and have alot better colors but wont give you the same action on super slow retrieves. If your ripping and weaving in and around alot of weeds id try the bass assassin But if you like me and like the slow dead approach there's noting like the Keitechs. I love the bass assassin fluke style baits better than any other brand though they have like 100 colors on another site.com and are very durable. I just got some ZMAN paddlerZ in new penny that has a boot tail and three segmented body I want to try and report back.

Hey Im Erikson I fish in Central CT and Id like to thank all of you on the forums that share "secrets" and techniques as I believe fishing is about learning something every time. Ive been Fishing bass and Pike in my local tidal river and small LMB in ponds in Connecticut. Best Lures this year are the Sebile magic swimmer soft, Keitech Fat Impact, and the Flat Rap 08 hot steal. Im a Hugh Bills fan and im actually about to go to the Buffalo/ Niagra river area for a week in a week if anyone would like to help out a brother with any advice. Looking to charter but Id pay anyone to help out with a boat and have a fun time fishing. Well I guess thats It, talk to yalls on the interwebs.

Thank you guys for your input!!! MickD I used to use metal leaders but I noticed a different fall and action on weightless plastics which I throw 75% of the time so I stopped and with my braid Ive yet to lose a lure. As soon as the metal leader got hung up on a tree limp it developed a kink or loop that was ugly and hurt the action. Maybe on days when im really targeting pike I will try the tiable metal leader and see how that works. ANd Derren M I am a Diehard Bills Fan and the only thing that im more excited about this upcoming fishing season is the Football season. Our "COLD FRONT" defense is so scary and now we got alot of new toys on offense if we can just have average QB play we could be close to the playoffs. Thanks Crestliner for your advice on leader material spools cause I was about to go the cheaper route but wanted reassurance that getting the smaller spool was worth It. You guys are awesome now I gotta get off the internets and hit the water.

Hey all this is my first post but have been a long time lurker. I have never used a Fluorocarbon leader but I think I have been missing out. I fish in a tidal small river in CT for small pike LMB and SMB that is usually murky and cloudy, I also fish small ponds and am almost always throwing into cover or under trees with Stanley Ribbit frogs and weedless soft plastics. Now I have one pole with suffix 832 25lb braid and almost always tie directly to the lure so the pike dont steal my lure and get stuck in his stomach, I also dont lose lures to trees as sometimes I get to confident and cocky and make a dumb risky cast and the braid will never break. I loved it when i Switched to braid last year when throwing into slop but sometimes the line was clearly visible and fell awkwardly behind the soft plastic ruining action. So my questions are is it worth it to switch to a floro leader? Will i lose my lures to small pike and now Im sad cuz it has an xrap stuck in its throat? If im useing 25lb braid should I use 25lb floro leader or a little less like a 15lb ? Is there a difference if I just get a spool of 150 yds of a regular Fluorocarbon or should I only get the small one that says Leader material? What kind you use would help and thanks for reading this long rant and understanding. Ice out just happened so im fiending and need to redo all my rigs. T