ww2farmer

I have 3700 sized boxes filled up with all my staples in quantities enough to last a day or two. Until then, they are kept in their original packages at home. No sense in having 75 bags of 5" green pumpkin yum dingers in the boat, when a couple packs laid out in a box will do most of the time. When I am down to a handfull I grab a few bags out of the tote before the next trip. It saves a lot of room and clutter in the boat. And I actually keep a better handle of how much I have of something when I can see how many are in the box, instead of guessing if that pack or this pack is full, or almost empty, etc...

This is just my opinion, but my biggest strength is catching fish in used water. When your the smallest slowest boat in the tournament field, you better get good at it, because I am usually just about the last one to get a bait in the water most tournament days. I also pride myself on being very versatile........if it's a deep cranking bite, I can do that. If it's a shallow flipping bite, I can do that. If it's a grind for a few bites on finesse gear type of day, I can do that. If it's an offshore, deep water bite, I can do that. I can catch green ones on any given day, or brown ones on any given day. About the only two things I am poor at are running and gunning all over the lake.............I just don't have the boat for it.............and I am also very poor at baby sitting and milking a spot all day for all it's worth. I like to pick off the active, catchable fish and keep putting along.

I just go when I can go. Like A-Jay said early and late in the season, middle of the day when seems to be the best... The rest of the year, it depends..........it seems like for a few days they bite best in the morning, then for a few days they bite better in the evening, then for a few days the bite best in the middle of the day. Some days they bite good all day.

???? So using 6lb test on a XH power flipping stick rated for 15-30lb line is a good idea? I'm just messing with you, but you get the drift.

I live in a Lake Erie lake effect band........................tell me more about your "blizzard" ........LOL Actually I get it, I was driving through South Carolina a few years ago when the words "chance of snow" were broadcast over the local airwaves of the radio station we were picking up in the car on our way through. I had to stop for gas about an hour later and there was already a 50 car line at the gas station. I was like "you have got to be kidding me" . With nothing to do but sit and wait, the guy in line a head of me was a Buffalo transplant who seen the NY plates on our car. We started chatting and he was telling me it's like that any time the "s" word is mentioned...........lines at the gas station, stores ransacked for bread/milk/eggs, everything goes on lockdown. The local highway depts. just have no ability to deal with it, so even a few inches grind everything to a standstill, and it's not cost effective for them to buy the equipment, or stock pile the sand/salt for the 1 or 2 times a year they might need it. He said with the way people drive on dry roads around there, it's for the better, because the average motorist goes full retard the minute one flake falls from the sky.

Both will work fine...............In lighter cover I tend to lean more towards a longer MH rod, like a 7'3" or 7'6" with a little tip, so I can make long pitches and still be accurate, which helps in clear water..........usually in clear water, you have one shot, once they know your there...........game over.

More than I would pay for them I liked the E series the best, then the D. I hated the B and G.......I have not been back to Shimano since the G's

First I have heard of these..............But now I have to go look. I had one of the old original red Fuego's years ago and it was great reel that I stupidly traded off for a Curado when I was on an all Shimano kick. For $75 bucks that puts right in the wheel house of the current Exceler that I am so fond of. Well...........I just looked.................I think I found my new frog reel. If I can find a good deal on that in LH and 8.1:1 I'll be all over it.

I like two different rods for those two things. Not getting brand specific I like: 6'8" - 7' ML power F or XF for dropshotting, as I like a rod with a little less power to help protect the 6 or 8lb test line/leaders I am running on an open hook drop shot rig 6'8" - 7' M power F or XF for wacky rigging, I tend to fish wacky rigs on a little heavier line than a drop shot (8-12lb test) and in and around a little heavier cover. A rod with a little more power helps keeping a good fish from taking you into "boo boo" town where your tackle would quickly make you cry over what could have been.

This is just how I do it: Really thick stuff = straight braid scattered stuff = braid with fluorocarbon leader Works for me in gin clear water which we have about 50% of the time. The rest of the time we have water that ranges from lightly stained to pea soup. Rarely do we have "muddy" water. One thing to consider in clear water when fishing grass, is not so much the visability of your line, but the sound your line makes in the grass. Fluoro is smooth and silent, braid makes noise. If your going after pressured fish, using a fluoro leader to cut down on the noise might mean and extra bite or two. I only go to straight braid when I am punching really REALLY thick stuff where I have the chance to be hauling in 30lbs of grass with a 5+lb fish somewhere in that wad. That's no place for an extra knot to be in the mix.

The strangest things that have ever happened to me are, in no particular order: #1: Sunny warm fall day, my seasonal allergies were kicking my butt, and I only had Benadryl in the boat. Knowing full well it makes me sleepy, I took it anyways. I was at the south end of the lake, got bit off by a pike, trolling motored out a ways off the spot to sit down and re-rig.......................next thing I know it's several hours later when I wake up and am almost at the north end of the lake. I make sure I have non-drowsy allergy meds. with me at all time from that point on. #2: Hot summer day, I was up tight to the bank behind a point frogging and punching some slop, and shade that usually hold some good fish during the heat of the day, they didn't seem to be there that day, so I come around the point to hit the deeper water grass line on the other side, and the row of floating swim docks that are anchored over deep water. On one of the swim docks were two very attractive collage age young ladies sunbathing...........not an uncommon sight around here.............except they were buck neckid, and seemingly un-bothered by me. Let's just say I was more shocked then they were, and I quickly pulled up the TM and got the heck out of there before I made a fool of myself. #3: Doing a drift and drag for smallmouth in the fall, when I hook into a hard fighting fish.......or so I thought. It was a flip-flop covered in zebra muscles. I hooked by the strap and evidently the water resistance, and flip flopping it did made it feel like a decent fish. #4: Windy crappy day in the fall............the clouds break and the sun comes out and gets real warm, real fast. I take my rain coat off and spread it out on the back deck to dry off. Then the wind picks up and takes my coat with it. I didn't even know it was gone for a long time. I went to pull up the TM and move and seen it was gone, I idled around looking for it in the general area I lost it, but it was no where to be found. A week or so later, I am cranking over some submerged milfoil..............ABOUT 2 MILES AWAY from where I lost the coat and hooked into it. And other than a few bugs stuck to it, and a treble hook poke hole it was good as new. I still have and wear it to this day.

I have a H power Falcon Bucoo Micro that is similar (6'10" vs 6'8") and it is a great close quarters frog rod....IE skipping frogs under docks, and overhanging trees. Since I frog with straight braid, the micro guides (which I am generally not a fan of) don't impede me with the knot having to go through the guides. I was amazed at how much less effort it took to skip and the increased accuracy I gained with the micros, that my previous hatred of micro guides has been tempered a little. It also works very well for pitchng jigs and t-rigged plastics under docks. I tend to keep the fluoro. leader short when using this rod for that to keep the knot out of the guides.

I don't disagree with you. I often go back to the farm ponds when I need a change of pace from launching the boat, and all the dog and pony show that going out on the lake entails. I have been humbled by small waters more than my fair share of times.

Millions of different baits, and all of them are good. As a beginner, keep it simple. Get your self a pack or two of 4" to 4.5" beaver type baits (I personally like the Havoc Pit Boss, but there tons of other good ones to choose from) Black/blue and Green pumpkin will serve you well to start with.

No need to apologize, I was just wondering what you you were going for there. I'll stand by my statement and clarify it , I learned to cast, rig bait's, detect bites, and set hooks on farm ponds. I learned how to bass fish on lakes...........finding fish, finding a pattern, learning how the fish move and react seasonally, how they position on and use different types of cover that I was not familiar with, how weather effects there activity level, how to catch fish that maybe 10 other guys were trying to catch within the last 2 hours, etc.... In the ponds I fished, which were all small.............yes I had them cornered. Thats how pond fishing vs. lake fishing differed for me...........which is what the OP asked. Everyone else's exp. might vary. Why people feel the need to call me out on what my exp. pond fishing vs lake fishing is or was is beyond me Too many semantics in this thread.

Looks good. One of these days my crankbait storage will evolve from "pull the whole lot of them out of the box all stuck together, and shake the wad until the bait I want falls off"

Since you already have and use the Booyah, just keep using it. They are a great frog. Your not going to gain anything by spending more money.

Trying to bait me into an argument is just going to end up with you looking like a fool. If you don't like my opinion, move along.

I learned to fish with a spinning rod/reel combo that you held in your right hand and cranked with your left. When I got my first couple of baitcasting reels RH reels felt "odd" to me so I sought out LH reels, which even in the 80's was not that hard to find. My first couple of casting reels were the old black/grey graphite framed Shimano reels and a round LH Abu Garcia...........I have used LH reels ever since. The few times over the years that I pick up a RH reel it just feels odd and unnatural to me, and I quickly put it down.

Most of the time there is an UL rod in my boat. IF bass fishing is super slow on any given day, I'll take a break, and go looking for deep water panfish. Usually I can catch the snot out of them, and when I get bored with it, I'll go back to bass fishing. I catch a few bonus bass hear and there on the UL gear, but I don't go looking for them with that equipment in hand.

Everyone approaches punching a little different. Here's my approach/gear: I don't snell hooks, but I do peg weights. I like bait's that are compact. Chigger craws, Pit boss's and yum dingers get the call most of the time. I don't much care for jigs for punching, if I want a skirt/bigger profile, I use a punch rig skirt. I tend to always use a straight shank flipping hook for punching, #1 is I am usually using a big (3/4 -1oz +) tungsten sinker, and the straight shank hooks have extra bite over an EWG hook when paired with a big weight, and #2 the big barb keepers on the flipping hooks keeps me punching, instead of adjusting baits every other flip. Even in clear water, I tie direct to braid (usually 50lb test) The longer the rod the better IMHO. I like at least a 7'3" H power with a Mod. fast to fast action...........I don't like XF for a punching rod.

I learned to cast and set hooks on farm ponds. I learned to fish on lakes. In a pond you got them cornered

More than I need, but less than I want.....................or just in case my wife looks at this forum......I am out of everything and need to buy more, now, all of of the things.

I don't see this thread ending well

I have always used stuff I had laying around for firearm's cleaning and maint. It's worked well for me. Spool bearings get soaked in solvent, then let air dry, blown out with a little bit of compressed air, and re-lubed with a drop or two of light oil, I use rem-oil. I de-grease/de-gunk the rest of the reel with CRC QD electronic parts cleaner, I avoid brake cleaner as some brands/formulas of it don't play with with plastics and other non metallic parts, some brake cleaners are OK to use, but I err on the side of caution and just avoid them all together. AR bearing get' a q-tip soaked in CLP run around it...............I NEVER take the AR bearing apart. Gears get a light coat of high temp automotive wheel bearing grease. Worm gear/level wind get a drop or two of CLP. That's about it. My reels always feel like new when done, and run all season long with no issues and no need for more maint, other than maybe a drop or two more of rem-oil on the spool bearings a time or two during the year. The only time I get inside a reel during the season is if it get's dunked under water, or if it's been exposed to downpours of rain multiple times............even then I tend to wait and see if it needs anything/acts up before I service it.