Weekend Angler

Gear Selection T here's a lot of opinions out there on what the best brand of rod, reel, or line is. I'm not going to get into that today. There are some basic requirements for your equipment that are simply a must when frog fishing. These requirements are simple and literally hundreds of brands will meet these requirements. Rod - Minimum: 7' Med-Heavy with a fast tip. Preferred: 7'6" Heavy with extra fast tip Why so much rod? That's a 3 part answer. 1) You're going to be making long casts, and a lot of your fish are going to strike at the end of those long casts. You need a long, stout rod to get enough hook setting power from 50+ yards away. 2) The hooks used in these frogs are BEEFY so you're going to need a rod with major backbone to drive them home. 3) You are going to catch some fish in cover so heavy you can't imagine that a fish could possibly live there. Now you have to get it outta there. Reel - A high speed baitca...

Frog Selection Summer has arrived and the frog bite is in full swing. The hollow body frog craze is fairly new in the bass fishing community. Dean Rojas brought it to the forefront in 2005 when he won an elite series tournament using the Bronzeye 65. If you haven't purchased a frog in the past few years, you're going to be amazed at the leaps and bounds made in technology and 'fishability' of these amazing and versatile lures. There are only a few quality manufacturers out there and honestly I can only speak to 4 of them because they work so well I don't bother with the others. Here's a quick breakdown of the 4 brands I prefer: Spro Bronzeye 65 - A fantastic design! The double EWG Gamakatsu frog hook makes hooking up a snap. Walking the Frog is difficult at first but with a little practice it will walk with some modifications to the frog legs. I love this frog. Spro Bronzeye Popper - Everything I just said about the 65 but it makes more commotion. Grea...

You guys know I'm a jig fishing fanatic. I got tired of searching for the perfect jig. While I love Strike King jigs, they don't always offer the best colors in all of their lines. For instance, they don't have a flipping jig with MO Craw or any red craw colors and so on and so on. Long story short to get the colors I want on the type of jig heads I want and save some $$ in the process I'm making my own jigs this year. Take a look at the first few I've made so far. I'm concentrating on crawdad (more natural) patterns and then I'll move into the black/blue, black on black, mop jig, chartreuse for muddy water and on and on and on. I've only just begun!!!!

Alright so I went to BPS last night for the grand opening of the Spring Classic sale. This year I wanted to stock up on my favorite lures so I could reduce my 'restocking trips' throughout the season. I was on a mission and I had a spreadsheet in hand to prove it. The sales were better than usual this year. Berkley PowerBait soft plastics 25% off, Zoom plastics 20% off were my personal favorites since those are 2 of my primary suppliers for plastics. Add a mail in rebate for Berkley and you can get up to 67% off per bag! I made the mistake of wearing a green sweatshirt to the sale. Pretty much the same color as the staff. You see where this is going. People kept asking me to help them find something. A couple times, if I was close by to what they were looking for, I just showed them and went about my business. On a sour note I'm pretty disappointed with the selection at the Independence, MO BPS. They have a good selection of baits but a poor color selection for eac...

I'm going to start by saying that I am by no means an expert on marine batteries. That being said, I've done my homework and feel I can offer some educated advice on the subject. This post is going to concentrate on dual purpose marine deep cycle batteries for use as a trolling motor battery. Dual purpose marine batteries are very common nowadays. These batteries have sufficient reserve capacity to use as a trolling battery and sufficient cranking amps to use as a starter battery. In theory, a single battery could be used for both trolling and starting. I don't recommend this unless you have a way to manual (pull start) your engine. So what should you be looking for in a trolling motor battery? The simple answer is Reserve Capacity. What the heck is reserve capacity you ask? I did too. Reserve capacity is simple; the length of time, in minutes, a battery can operate at the industry standard measuring stick of 25amp draw. So if a battery has a Reserve Capacity of...

If you're anything like me, you have a healthy case of cabin fever working right now. Make good use of this time to get your tackle organized, boat squared away, and stock up on tackle (Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic begins 2/26). My Tracker PT175 needed some attention this off season. Here's a quick list of what I was facing: 1) Trolling motor panel at the bow needs to be replaced including trolling motor plug. 2) Need new batteries. 3) Need some minor carpet repair on the front deck (thanks to fishing with knobby soled shoes last season - not recommended!) 4) Advance throttle button on the throttle lever needs to be replaced. 5) My windshield keeps coming loose ...and my solutions so far: 1) I'm making a custom bow panel that will house a new trolling motor plug, a 12V outlet (for fishing lights etc), a battery gauge, and a tilt/trim switch. I'll post pictures when done. 2) I've done some extensive research on marine batteries. I will post all my findings and a...