New gear!

[Swamp Girl]

This is an exciting week for me. My new froggin' rod arrives today. My 50 lb. test braid arrived a couple days ago. My SPRO frogs are on their way. And so is my SCALE! I will finally get to see what Maine bass weigh. I just hope I can manage to catch a few more thick ones before it's too cold to fish. It's going to be 45 degrees tomorrow morning. Brrrr!

[LrgmouthShad]

Sweet! What rod ya get?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

You made me very happy Katie reading about the new SCALE ?

 

You catch some really nice fish, it's gonna be great to see the weight on some.

 

I know the feeling you are having, got the Labor Day TW sale order coming today, and the reel I ordered from Japan.    Then got a rod coming I imagine on Monday.

 

I'm done after that until economic and inflation conditions improve.   Fishing stuff especially with JDM stuff is as affordable as it's ever been, but everything else in my life seems to cost so much more.  

 

ETA: 45 degrees, crazy, it won't get 45 here for months here.

[Swamp Girl]

It's this one, 7'4" heavy action. I think it'll help because the length will give me leverage and the heavy action will give me power and most importantly, the long handle will let me lever off of my PDF as I plant the rod's butt into my belly:

 

Favorite EMPC-741H Emperor Casting Rod

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

It's this one, 7'4" heavy action. I think it'll help because the length will give me leverage and the heavy action will give me power and most importantly, the long handle will let me lever off of my PDF as I plant the rod's butt into my belly:

 

Favorite EMPC-741H Emperor Casting Rod

Great looking rod, I really like the reel seat and handle.    Not to mention that rod can perform a number of tasks, not just frogs.  Not that you would in the places you fish, but you could even throw A-rigs on that.

[ScottW]

45*? It’s headed back up to the 90s again here. ☹️ Sweet rod! I like the handle on it. Look forward to hearing how it performs for you.

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You made me very happy Katie reading about the new SCALE ?

 

You catch some really nice fish, it's gonna be great to see the weight on some.

 

I know the feeling you are having, got the Labor Day TW sale order coming today, and the reel I ordered from Japan.    Then got a rod coming I imagine on Monday.

 

I'm done after that until economic and inflation conditions improve.   Fishing stuff especially with JDM stuff is as affordable as it's ever been, but everything else in my life seems to cost so much more.  

Alex, I decided to buy the scale when you describe your scale as an essential piece of equipment. Plus, I am curious about the thick Maine bass. Some of them are convex and I don't know if that comes across in the photos. I hope to catch one more (at least, of course) before the scale arrives. 

 

You've been shopping as much as me! We both better hit the brakes. 

I'm glad you guys like the look of the rod! I'm putting a Shimano Curado on it with the 50 lb. braid. My SPRO frogs won't be here by tomorrow afternoon, when I'm fishing again, but I'll make do with my Bass Pro Shop frogs, which they've been hitting with abandon. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

5 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Alex, I decided to buy the scale when you describe your scale as an essential piece of equipment. Plus, I am curious about the thick Maine bass. Some of them are convex and I don't know if that comes across in the photos. I hope to catch one more (at least, of course) before the scale arrives. 

 

You've been shopping as much as me! We both better hit the brakes. 

I'm glad you guys like the look of the rod! I'm putting a Shimano Curado on it with the 50 lb. braid. My SPRO frogs won't be here by tomorrow afternoon, when I'm fishing again, but I'll make do with my Bass Pro Shop frogs, which they've been hitting with abandon. 

You catch so many nice fish that a scale will pay for itself within a trip or two.  I've yet to see a report from you where you didn't catch a few nice ones, so I don't think you'll have any problem getting another one pal.

 

That's gonna be a killer setup with the Curado and braid.   Should be a perfect frog setup.  

[Swamp Girl]

Alex, you are so supportive. This site and I are lucky to have you! 

 

Before I started posting at bassresource.com, I did fish a local lake and caught only three. I spent 80% of my time fishing shallow water with seemingly no fish. When I went deeper, I caught the three fish, but quickly lost the light. Another trip, I caught 14 bass, but all small. I stopped fishing where the small ones were and started probing other areas, hoping to catch a nice one, but nada.  

 

I am so excited to fish my new froggin' setup! Do you think I should use a mono or fluorocarbon leader? And what pound test?

[roadwarrior]

#40 braid, no leader

 

I REALLY like Seaguar Smackdown (Stealth Grey)

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Seaguar_Smackdown_Braided_Line_Stealth_Gray/descpage-SMD.html

[MN Fisher]

12 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

#40 braid, no leader

At least - I toss frogs into heavy lily pad patches...so for me it's 50#, no leader.

[Cbump]

I use 65# braid. Definitely no leader. 

[Swamp Girl]

No leader? You should see the smile on my face! I hate tying that double uni knot. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

Alex, you are so supportive. This site and I are lucky to have you! 

 

Before I started posting at bassresource.com, I did fish a local lake and caught only three. I spent 80% of my time fishing shallow water with seemingly no fish. When I went deeper, I caught the three fish, but quickly lost the light. Another trip, I caught 14 bass, but all small. I stopped fishing where the small ones were and started probing other areas, hoping to catch a nice one, but nada.  

 

I am so excited to fish my new froggin' setup! Do you think I should use a mono or fluorocarbon leader? And what pound test?

Thank you Katie for such kind words

 

Your passion for the sport, the work you put in to catch your fish, and the fantastic reports you give makes being supportive easy.

 

As for frogs, you'd school me on them everyday and twice on sunday.   From all that I've read though, your setup sounds dynamite, and hopefully it will address the specific reason you bought it.   I was reading that leaders aren't really needed for Frogs in a thread here yesterday.  I'm hoping for the same thing when my new rod gets here, just tired of missing so many fish on the chatterbait.    

[T-Billy]

40 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm hoping for the same thing when my new rod gets here, just tired of missing so many fish on the chatterbait.   

I fish 'em on straight braid, and a H MF composite rod. Hook and land percentage is excellent. Honestly, my hook and land % was excellent with a MH MF composite too, but they were just too mushy on the hookset for my liking. 

[Dwight Hottle]

Katie you don't need a leader with braid for topwater baits because the fish don't see the braid because its mostly out of the water. Now if your fishing crankbaits or jerkbaits with braid & your concerned the braid visibility deters bites then add a leader. Good luck with the new gear. 

[Swamp Girl]

Again, this is great news. I've been using a 17 lb. mono leader and that weak link in my chain is no more. It's 50 lb. test from the bass to the reel. The bad news is that my rod didn't arrive today. Now it's supposed to come tomorrow, but I'm worried it won't arrive before I leave to fish. Oh, well, I'll make do with my old rod if this happens for one more time. 

[gim]

8 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

scale as an essential piece of equipment

I would definitely not call a scale an essential piece of equipment. I have one and rarely ever even use it. What your doing with a hawg trough measuring board is superior for photos/proof and plenty good enough. It’s also quicker and easier on the fish so they are released sooner, and thus, are more likely to survive.

 

If you insist on using a scale, please don’t use one with a metal j hook. Use a clamp.

[Derek1]

12 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

This is an exciting week for me. My new froggin' rod arrives today. My 50 lb. test braid arrived a couple days ago. My SPRO frogs are on their way. And so is my SCALE! I will finally get to see what Maine bass weigh. I just hope I can manage to catch a few more thick ones before it's too cold to fish. It's going to be 45 degrees tomorrow morning. Brrrr!

Cool, new gear is always fun. 
love the enthusiasm. It’s refreshing. 

[Bankbeater]

Nice.  Getting new gear is almost as much fun as being out on the water.

[Swamp Girl]

15 hours ago, gimruis said:

I would definitely not call a scale an essential piece of equipment. I have one and rarely ever even use it. What your doing with a hawg trough measuring board is superior for photos/proof and plenty good enough. It’s also quicker and easier on the fish so they are released sooner, and thus, are more likely to survive.

 

If you insist on using a scale, please don’t use one with a metal j hook. Use a clamp.

The scale I ordered has a clamp and I won't weigh them all. I won't even weigh 5% of them. I too want them back in the water ASAP. I would like to weigh a 19-inch MAINE bass to see how heavy a fish that long is. I'd like to do the same with an 18 and 20-inch bass. Then I'll have an idea of weight going forward. I promise to be as quick as possible and I won't weigh every long fish I catch. 

[roadwarrior]

If it's a big'un I like knowing what it weighs.

[Dwight Hottle]

12 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

If it's a big'un I like knowing what it weighs.

X2

For me a scale is an essential piece of my fishing equipment. 

[A-Jay]

28 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

If it's a big'un I like knowing what it weighs.

 

15 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

X2

For me a scale is an essential piece of my fishing equipment. 

Yup ~

Scale is one of the few items I would turn my rig right around for if I were not to have it.

Won't ever happen though.

It's on the check list and there is redundancy involved.

#noguessing

A-Jay
 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

The scale I ordered has a clamp and I won't weigh them all. I won't even weight 5% of them. I too want them back in the water ASAP. I would like to weigh a 19-inch MAINE bass to see how heavy a fish that long is. I'd like to do the same with an 18 and 20-inch bass. Then I'll have an idea of weight going forward. I promise to be as quick as possible and I won't weigh every long fish I catch. 

If folks follow your fishing reports they'd see how respectful you are towards handling fish.

 

I'd venture a guess that laying fish down to measure them thus removing some slime coat is more invasive than a quick weight using a clamp style.

 

I'm stoked you got a scale, you catch scale worthy fish.    As A-Jay said, it's one of the very few things that gets the boat turned around if I forget it.   

 

I'd never forgive myself if I caught the one without either a camera or scale.

 

Hope you get that new awesome rod before the fishing trip pal!