awjweb

I tried some berkley vanish floro on my baitcaster and it was a disaster. I was getting overruns almost constantly. I figured out that the line was too stiff to fly naturally out of the reel. I took it off the baitcaster and am currently using it on a spinning reel with no problems. There may be limper products than vanish, I don't know. Just don't use it on a baitcaster.

I use an Abu C4. I think it was about $70 at BPS. I really like the feel of it. With a several years of use it has become silky smooth. I'm not an equipment freak but I do demand something of high quality that works reliably. This reel has met my expectations.

Good one RecMar A couple of years ago I actually did catch a big bull frog while casting a frog (the kind in the picture, i think). I had cast to a spot on the shore line and had a pretty big blow-up but didn't hook anything. I thought it was a bass. I threw the lure there several more times and each time there was a blow-up. Finally I hooked the critter. It didn't fight much so I knew it wasn't a big bass. My buddy almost wet his pants laughing at me when I landed a bull frog. I guess it was being territorial and didn't like my frog lure invading it's home. It was *tough* to get it unhooked because both hooks went through the roof of its mouth and out the top. I finally did manage though. We still laugh about it everytime we get togther.

I learned this lesson last summer while fishing with a buddy. We were both getting about the same number of bites but he was landing way more fish than me. He told me I was setting the hook too hard and tearing the hole in the fish's mouth large enough that it could throw the lure. He was right.

Rick, BTW... I use these frogs. They snag once in a while but they are vey soft and hook up well

Hi Rick, I love fishing the scum frogs too! It really gets your heart thumping when the bass explodes through the cover. My most common error is getting too excited and setting the hook too early. If I can get myself to calm down and wait until the I feel the fish *pulling* on my line I am usually sucessful in hooking the fish. Just try to be a bit lazy and it should help. Also I find that bass that go for the frog are very aggressive and will strike repeatedly if they miss. If you miss a fish try again several times before moving on.

A friend of mine owns a lake in central Missouri that I have been fishing for about 8 years. I fish there several times each summer. Each time I go there I usually end of catching 4-6 bass appx. 10-14" in length. I know the lake has some lunkers and I know that I can be more successful there. I have fallen into some fishing habits that may not be the most productive. I ask your advice as to what else I should try. How would you approach a like like this: The lake is man-made, fed by a barely trickling stream on one end and dammed at the other. It's about six acres in size. The stream fed end is about 6 feet deep and the dam end is about 27 feet deep. There is lots of cover in the lake in the form of downed trees. Much of the shoreline is lined with small 2-3" lilly pad beds which extend from the shoreline out about 20 feet. The water is stained but fairly clear with about 5 feet of visibility. Most of the bass caught there are 10" with occasional 14-16" fish. I caught a 24" lunker (I didn't weight it) there a few years back so I know it holds large fish. My typical strategy at this lake is to the fish lilly-pad beds at the shallower end of the lake. I usually start by running a spinner bait parallel to the weed edge at various depths and distances from the edge. The spinner bait is not usually successful but I do it to see if the bite is active and to cover as much water as possible in a small amount of time in order to find the fish. After that I fall back to fishing texas rigged worms along the edge. For this I fish perpendicular to the edge. I toss the worm a few feet back onto the top of the Lilly pads. I then twitch it along on top of the pads and finally let it drop off the edge and sink to the bottom. I let it sit a few seconds on the bottom twitch it a few more feet and then burn it in for the next cast. I repeat this every few feet along the weed edge. This is how I caught the lunker I mentioned above. I also use the t-rig to fish the branches of the downed trees in this area If the t-rig is not successful I tie on a scum frog and toss it all the way to the shoreline. Then I skip it along the top of the pads, stopping at the holes, all the way out to the edge, in the same way I did with the t-rig. This strategy lets me get back into the heaviest cover in an attempt to entice the inactive bass out of their holes. Catching fish this way is the most exciting way I can think of but it it not usually very productive. If none of this is working I go to the dam (deep) end of the lake. The surface of dam slope is rock and gravel. Here I fish perpendicular to the dam. I toss jigs (I like salty craws) to the shoreline and them bounce them down the slope. What other approaches should I try? Do you see any flaws in my current strategy? Thanks in advance

I to am a righty who uses a left handed baitcaster (abu c4). I started out long ago with spinning reels so I am very comfortable cranking with my left hand. When I wanted a baitcaster a friend recommended purchasing and learning with a lefty reel so that it would be natural from the very beginning not to have to switch hands with the rod.