splashhopper

what a great report.... thank you for the adventure

WTG on the top water frogs

Sorry for your loss Wayne. Sincerely, Splashhopper and Botbot here is a prayer that i am often time reminded to use in times of loss or stress: Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury,pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

One piece MH ? = Medium heavy? yes I am using spinning gear. I drive a grand caravan so the one piece won't be a problem for storage in it.... But why is a one piece rod better than a two piece? thanks again.

nice pics... but man is my neck ever sore from turning it HALF WAY OVER MY LEFT SHOULDER to appreciate them good to hear your family is doing better...

great pics of your daughter there ryan... but I have one question for you though.... How come you didn;t land any of those for the fundraiser last week? lol Musta have been hiding that little spot from us on the lake lol I am hoping to come down next weekend with my pontoon boat for a go-around.... I think I can stay out of trouble there as the weed beds are below the surface instead of right on top where I have been learning how to row the "tooner"...

The rod isn't an "ugly stick"...it's a Shakespeare(or Abu Garcia?) Enforcer! ..lol I was looking at the ugly stick though... any suggestions for tip speed and weight of rod is appreciated though. That pic... and the ones I have posted for the last two weeks are from my Blackberry... my camera got wet in the last thunderstorm that i got DRENCHED in, in about 45 seconds! lol Watching for a deal on a camera now. The "boat" is actually a pontoon boat with one seat on it.... the bailing can ain;t gonna do me much good... The leak is a very slow one, as I was out on it for 4 hours and noticed that one of the pontoons was not riding as high out of the water as the other.... now I have to find out about taking the tube out of the liner with out wrecking it... I do have a pump to bring with me, but I would just like to fix it right the first time and be done with it...

Pics of the "tooner" soon.. The two frogs I lost were brand new... should I be sharpening new hooks too?

Thanks Terry

what if we don't have a boat?

Well, I was frrrusssstrated with my hook setting yesterday for top-water bassin( with a scum frog -white and green) The wind was blowing right in to the weed bed I was fishing yesterday and moving that big bowl of green jelly around good. The fish were striking my frogs but I just couldn't set the hook probably too excited with all the action on em. This morning I went back out and the area looked very different due to all the wind yesterday... I got there around 7 am and was working my usual spots to no no avail... not even a swipe... I was getting a little worried that this August heat had em shut down again. ( although that wind blew the humidity right out of here) Decided to dig my way through some "virgin brush"(light) at the edge of the pond and try a few spots that I hit when I was out on the canoe a couple of weeks ago. Two "dug outs " later and WHAMMO, right at my feet again I found out the water was a little deeper, about a foot from me, than I thought... luckily I didn't put my foot forward when I hooked that one A few minutes later and I found a half-fallen tree with a promising hole under it... Climbed out about 10 feet along the trunk Dropped my frog straight down and barely had the slack out of it and WHAMMO another one... This was tricky to get in as I only had about 6 feet of line out... i was "balancing " on the tree trunk and thinking I was gonna fall in for sure.( and destroy my new Blackberry that I forgot to leave in my bag on the shore) It turns out I had the hook set straight in to its lip( bone ?)... lucky for me as I had to inch my way back down the tree trunk to get it out... One quick shot of it at the bank and I then HAD to toss him about 4 feet just to reach deeper water. ( I watched him swim away ) I then walked back to the spot where I had all the action yesterday.... had one take a good swipe at my frog,but i was too excited and tried to set the hook BEFORE I "felt it" Lesson for me Today.... keep moving when shore fishing... just like the guys on the boats do. Splashhopper PS.... I won't be stranded on shore much longer as I just bought a one man pontoon boat two weeks ago for $75.00 off Kijiji.... It has one small leak in it... and I can't find it yet.... but did manage to take her out on its maiden voyage... only caught a small bass that day and forgot to take a pic from the "tooner) Oh well..... soon I will be taking pics and giving reports like Rich does ! lol

I've had the occasion of having to melt a tube to put it back together after too many hits and catches... now that's the "3-R's" to the extreme!

now that's "roughing it"... ( don't tell me that little fly was your "tent" too"..lol) what are the bugs like this time of year there?

what knot should I be using on 30lb braided line ( power Pro) ?

"weird ambience"..... every little sound is so new to me that my heart takes a pounding I am so foscused on "hearing the hiy" that i HEAR EVERYTHING in the pitch black... what a trip

welcome to the board... I just got back in to fishing two winters ago myself. this board has been VERY helpful to my daughter and I.. Keep the posts coming, whether you are catching fish or not so others here get to know you. When you do catch some fish,,, write up a little report and LOTS of Pictures.. Splashhopper and Botbot

GCd: Not sure what you missed in my last posting on this thread... I didn't catch any last night.... as for the pic on the start of the thread... it was taken on my blackberry... my camera got wet in the last thunderstorm that i was walking out of.... don't worry about me and my photo skills GCD...I got a good reply in the other section of this board titled Photography discussion.

did some more night fishing tonight.... same place... went 0 for six! and lost TWO of my top water frogs on HUUUUGE hits ! The two I lost were massive blasts straight out of the water.... harder than any I have ever had at this place.

Well the fishing has been pretty slow the last 10 days or so around here, so tonight I decided to stay an extra hour at my local spot. Fishing was still slow tonight.... heck... even the frogs were sleeping..... Must be the mixed up weather tonight... I was just about to pack it in and told myself " just five more casts" lol Well I am glad I did make five more casts... and another 25-50 more too as I was walking the edges back to my vehicle... I stopped at well worn bank where the kids usually fish for panfish and threw my top water frog tight along the cement retaining walls... On my third or fourth tight cast,,,,, WHAMMO .... right at my feet.... this fattie took my frog... Not the biggest i have caught there,,, but sure as heck was the spookiest I have caught anywhere... something about being in a pitch black, tree covered, area and getting "attacked" at my feet i guess I just might give this a try again real soon... was fun.. to say the least Splashhopper

Congratulations..... wtg..... wooohooooo,...... where is his fishing rod ?

um... yes no worries though.... I have been known to be a redneck for most of my life as well.... lol

ummm Dara.... your redneck is showing through now we have conservation areas that have been created for flood control... see Wildwood , Deer Creek etc...

[ Does anyone know of a decent yet affordable way of securing their boat/trailer against theft? I was thinking of a "boot" like they use for cars but the ones I've seen so far are fairly expensive. ,,, Ummm ...sorry to hear your boat was stolen.... however,.... u say above that you think the "boot" is fairly expensive??? Is that in relation to the 75 horse merc u lost...the boat... the rods... or the trailer ??? As a "boatless" guy myself..(.because I don't own one yet) I don't understand why you wouldn't have that kind of investment secured in some format while sitting in your driveway??

nice fatties there guys

Angling Sport - London .... Kazeem and his sons have treated me and my friends very well. http://www.anglingsport.com/ Lambeth Rod and Tackle - London ... Steve has been polite and eager to help on the three visits that I have been out his way