HawnSalt

Thanks again for all of the great responses, guys! Seems like a lot of people prefer the old 1-minus to the new one. Has anyone ever tried sanding down the body and/or repainting? I noticed the texture on the body. I wonder if that little bit of detail is somehow affecting how the water flows over the body and thereby affecting the action. The Bandit Footloose and KVD HC 1.5 seem good alternatives to the 1-minus. I'll have to check them out at some point. The Jackal and Team Daiwa JDM stuff looks a bit expensive. The Duel wakebait may be worth checking out down the line.

Guys, thanks for all of the responses. I'm a bit bummed that I missed the best time of the year for them. I think I'm going to give them a try in the Fall and see how it goes. I thought it might work pretty decent during the Fall during a Topwater or Jerkbait bite, but I guess we'll see. I never thought about waking or ripping it, I can't wait to try. Thanks for the tip on the Hooks and split rings. I thought they looked a bit suspect and did seem to foul frequently. Anyway, thanks again for the responses.

Hey guys I finally got my hands on a Mann's baby 1-minus a few weeks ago after finding one in the bargain bin at DSG. I think they stopped carrying Mann's last year so I was pretty psyched to find one. Unfortunately, I haven't caught anything with it given that the fishing has been pretty slow over the past month and a half. I thought this lure would be good for when there would be thick sub-surface weeds that would clog up by spinnerbaits and crankbaits. It seems to be working as advertised and runs a lot shallower than my KVD 1.0s and 1.5s. I took it out to give it a try and was surprised by how far I could chuck it with my baitcaster given that it's only a 1/4 oz and I was using 12 lb. Big Game mono for my line. It runs just below the surface by about a foot and appears to throw off a decent amount of vibration given its erradic movement. Seems like a good compromise between a topwater, a spinnerbait and a crankbait given that it runs higher in the water column and moves/looks like a crankbait. Is there anyone using the 1-minus as a searchbait?

I was leaning more towards Freshwater Tackle in the 1/2 oz. range. Do any of you throw plugs in the 1 to 2 oz. range for Largemouth Bass? It's always surprised me how some sites and stores sell saltwater and striper lures right next to Freshwater stuff. I've heard and seen people in videos throw them for what appears to be more than 100+ yards, but with 9, 10, 11 and 12 foot poles. I've never considered throwing lures that big thinking that they'd be too big, but also a lot of the rods that can throw them are really huge or super stiff. Anyway, I'd be interested if anyone gets decent distance with their Buzzbaits. I'm considering removing my skirts and adding a fluke. May be that will help. The Whopper Plopper is a pretty good compromise between a floating stickbait and a Buzzbait, the only problem is that it lands like a depth charge went off.

Been trying to figure out if a stickbait or buzzbait is more efficient in covering water from shore. I seem to cast a stickbait a lot farther than a buzzbait. From the banks it seems that a stickbait would technically cover more water for me, albeit a lot slower. Which topwater lure can you cast the furthest?

Thanks for the heads up, zell pop. I've heard good things about the Fish Eagle. I may pick one up at some point, but I've come to the conclusion that a 7' pole may be a bit too long for the banks that I fish. I tried to use my 7' ML pole this past weekend and ended up birdnesting the braid on my baitcaster so bad that I had to cut the knots off after knocking a branch on a cast. I watched a video by BamaBass and I think I'm gonna give fishing a frog on mono a shot for the rest of the year with my 6'6" M composite spinning rod for now. I'm sure it'll be a lot harder with that pole than a 7'11" Heavy Duckett White Ice rod, but I'm gonna try using what I have for now.

Junger, thanks for the response. I've never caught a fish on a frog before so I wasn't considering the balance or weight. I prefer a 2-piece for the convenience of transport and storage. Otherwise I would love to get a 1-piece if I could. I have a 7' MH 2-piece Sweepfire spinning rod at my parent's house far away and I remember that rod being fairly stiff and kind of heavy. I looked at the Aird, but was disappointed that it didn't come in a two piece. I'm just getting started with frog fishing and I have a feeling that it will be a long journey for me. I think I'm going to give it a shot and will report back if I do get it to work. I have a 7' Medium Light Rod and may be I'll try giving that a shot first. I'm thinking about fishing frogs exclusively this Fall. Thanks again Junger.

Hey Guys, I'm still in the hunt for my first frog Bass. I tried the Weedless Plopper, but still no luck. I'm thinking about getting a budget rod to fish frogs in the coming weeks. Right now a low-end Daiwa or Shimano rod is in the cards. May be a 6'6" 2-piece MH Shimano Solara or a 6'6" 2-piece MH Daiwa Sweepfire. Does anyone have experience fishing a hollow-bodied frog on a fiberglass rod? I'm a bit confused as to whether or not my rod matters at this point or if it is the fish just not commiting like in the videos. I'd prefer a shorter rod unless the extra length really increases the hook up ratio. HawnSalt

I finally replaced the cavitrons I lost last Fall. I lucked out and scored the last cavitron at my local DSG. This time I got a 1/4 oz. white one with a gold blade. Its been so long that I forgot how good of a lure it actually is. It lands with a lot less splash than a spook or plopper. Can be fished both faster and slower than other buzzbaits. Hardly picks up any floating debris because of the single hook. Rides lower than most buzzbaits because of the oxbow bend. And man, oh man, it produces that piercing squeak/squeal right out of the box. It really sucks that DSG isn't carrying them anymore, huge mistake in my opinion.I think now that I have a cavitron back in my line up, it may have to bat first. Does anyone know if it matters which if we throw noisy topwaters first? I know that some people like to throw quieter finesse baits first to avoid spooking fish. But, my understanding is that top water is predominantly for aggressive active fish. So it seems like it would make sense to start noisy to pick off the most aggressive first. Then try to elict strikes from lethargic fish with slower, more reaction types of lures like poppers.

Thanks Glenn! I just want to take this moment to thank you for all that you have done over the years. I've really benefitted from you sharing your years of hard earned wisdom that really opened up the world of fishing to me. The kinds of things you've shared and I've learned were things that were kept secret and shrouded in mystery where I'm originally from and as a result prevented me from fully enjoying it, like I do now with Bass fishing. The knowledge you and others have shared here on Bass Resource has kept me engaged long enough to actually benefit from the healing power of fishing. It has helped me get through some dark days and continues to be a source of healing in these difficult times. Thank you for all that you do and all that you've done in the past to build such a wonderful and positive community around Bass Resource.com. Me and the thousands of members in the forums owe you a tremendous of debt of gratitude. Thanks again for link! I suspect that it will only fuel my love for topwater, if I could only figure it out. In closing, I just wanted to link to my favorite one of your videos that pretty much started it all for me. Thank you so much and all the best.

Thanks Smalls. I tried 20 lb. braid on my baitcaster and that was a no go. Will upgrade to something heavier, may be 50 or 60 lb. braid.

I'm seeing the same thing. The best options for a 2-piece seem to be St. Croix Rods. I wish all of my rods could be St. Croix. The Triump, Premier, Mojo and Avid all look nice... but it will add up. A 1-piece is way more budget friendly like you were saying but can be a pain to transport. I found two sub-$20 options at Dick's/Field & Stream. I may be temped to try one of those for now until I can figure out a better option. St. Croix rods will definitely be in my future, I just don't see it right now.

Thanks guys, I'll save up for a heavier rod/braid and try the Whopper Frog mod in the meantime. I like the swimbait tail tip, which cuts down the cost. I tried some 20 lb. Power Pro from my spinning rod this weekend and had all kinds of issues with that, so I clearly need to go higher on that. I almost sprung for the Deps Basirisky and separately for the Lake Fork Tail Hook last year out of desperation, but decided that it was a shortcut and not the real thing. The problem for me is finding a decent 2-piece MH baitcasting rod. I've heard good things about the Lightning Rod Shock the only problem is that I think it typically comes as a 1-piece rod. Is this a graphite-only technique?

Hey Guys, I've been fishing for a couple of years but have never managed to catch a fish on a frog before.I do OK with most lures and soft plastics, but a bass on a hollow bodied frog has eluded me for a very long time. I've tried frogs from Booyah, Snagproof, Koppers and a bunch of others and got so frustrated that I wrote if off for a while. I would get bites on the frog, but would either yank the baits too fast from their mouths or leave it down long enough for them to spit it out before I can hook them. I gave up for a while and ended up fishing just about every other topwater instead. I recently got a couple of frogs as a gift and started trying them again, to no avail. I understand that a lot of people recommend 50 to 60 lb. braid and a MH rod, but is it absolutely necessary? I'm running on a major budget and can't afford to get new gear for a technique that I've learned to live without. Is it possible to catch on a medium 6' fiberglass rod or a 6'6" composite and 14 lb. Trilene XL on a baitcaster? I was thinking about going up to 17 lb. Trilene XL/XT or some type of copolymer line. Would that help?

Seeing all of these responses and the poll results inspired me to try inverting the position of the props on my Baby Torpedo and fish it in reverse. To me, the action when walked looked similar to the BuzzJet and would dive a bit on each jerk and push the props to the surface. By the time I tried it, it was way to hot to catch anything. So no go at this point. I may just put the back hook on and fish it like a small spook and try the same thing with one of my Tiny Torpedos. I've done pretty decent waking Torpedos in the Fall and I wonder if I can get an equal or better response with a Tiny "Spook". If anyone seeing this has experience with these types of "mods", please chime in.