I’m a confirmed Curado guy…all Curado, all the time…that said, I was given an Okuma Citrix reel to use for the summer.
So far, this is a great reel…and I’m using it ‘as is, out of the box’…
Just another place to look…has the whiffle spool…7.3:1 gear ratio…
that’s an interesting poll Cade…wondering if at some point you can share the genesis of the question…but no rush…
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The Iowa DNR website still says limit is 25. Hope they get that changed. 15 is great.
what does it mean when there is no ‘posession limit’?
that an angler is presumed to have caught whatever he has ‘on that day’? or that a guy can put as many filets in the freezer over time as he wants?
Seems a bit unclear…
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The Mrs. allowed me to get a fly rod for Valentines day with my own money
, so I’ve got a few trips planned this summer dedicated to chasing smallies on the fly…
don’t just limit yourself to SMB…LMB and Esox love flies too… and one of my favorite pursuits: springtime crappie with mickey finn streamers…
you’re welcome, overly wrought, serious dude… 
now now Mr. Drewsdad…the point I apparently focussed on was the ‘shot at a 10 pound fish’…
and it’s true: I would fish for walleye…but only as a last resort… I have never ‘bought into’ the idea that walleye is that great of a fish…especially if you come from the directon of ‘catch/release’…
and to follow up…I appreciate that folks all have their ‘favorite’ species to target…and that this becomes a ‘chevy/ford’ discussion…and not one to get too serious over…
If, however, I have trod too heavily on deeply/passionately held beliefs and offended any of the ‘kicker motor’ crowd…
uh…sorry? 
thanks Kyle…
lots of folks have discovered a ‘passion’ for fishing frogs and toads (frogs float, toads ‘buzz’ in my world)…
but those toads are so much more versatile…as trailers…as ‘kill’ baits… truly amazing…
I’m not a huge topwater freak like many bassers profess to be…but when it comes to frogs, I find it hard to put them down…
very nice (okay, really good!) article Kyle…excellent logical breakdown and explanation that not all ‘topwaters’ are the same, just like all vegetation ‘ain’t grass’… 
follow up question (my soft plastic ‘throw-back’):
missed hits on Zoom HT’s or any of the ‘buzzfrogs’…do you find it more effective to change rods and toss a different bait? or do you occasionally toss the HT back, and ‘kill it’ in the ‘spot’?
how, when, why would you do this differently? Thoughts?
it’s a great lake..and Jan Thames runs a great resort over there…
good in spring too…and LMB are excellent there as well..
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Was out on Friday and this colder weather has moved the frogs to the shore. Get out there and experience the fun of the bionic flush and a 4+ lb Bass explodes on your toad!!!!
Dog.
down here we don’t see so much of the frog migration…but I know of a lake where I finally thought about this as the driving factor in the fall ‘slop’ bite…
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their might only be 2 fish( muskies) per acher in a typical muskie lake
If they were as densly populated as bass, then everybody would be fishing for them
on the other hand, whey you’re the biggest, baddest dude in that particular ‘acre’ you get to set up on the best spot…which should provide some small measure of predictability…assuming it’s legal to use ‘predictable’ and ‘muskie’ in the same sentence
fascinating fish… have heard of several coming out of Spirit Lake (IGL)…and a couple years ago, while down there, they had one in the hatchery aquarium…
have heard that silver pike tend to have slightly more ‘bug-eyed’ appearance than ‘normal’ northerns…
…kind of like Marty Feldman eyes…
great catch and photos…
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Crystal Lake is what makes the panfish population so awful. They are tiny in that lake.
Ryan I first fished Crystal Lake in the late 70’s, and they were tiny then too. That was a long time before they stocked Tigers in there.
hate to think that panfish could be susceptible to over-harvest…
sarcasm aside…I believe I read of a study in Michigan where they indicated that once a lot of the ‘larger’ bluegill specimens were depleted in a given body of water…it took a lot longer than expected for the remainder to ‘replenish’ those bigger fish…
the study suggested that removing bigger bluegills actually inhibited production of larger bluegill for an unexpectedly long length of time…
edit: found this study that was recently published by Illinois…interesting in terms of addressing the question asked about ‘size structure’ of bluegill populations…and the potential impact on predators (note: it seemed that ‘more’ predation increased over-all size structure…in this case, predation would be defined as ‘other fish’ not human pressure which would select the larger of the BG population …)
Ben,
those are some outstanding photos!
While nothing can top that fish, I do have to send a huge bunch of appreciation to you for a: having prepared/thought through how you’d handle it…b: doing absolutely everything possible to get that big beast back to doing what it does best: eat and pro-create!
That flatheads are some of the most beautiful animals…and it takes photos like your’s to show folks that…
Congrats on a real trophy! for being prepared…and most of all, for sharing the whole thing with us!
Wow! Dude! 
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POST LIKE THIS MAKE ME SICK!!!!
You guys better not ever keep a fish. Can’t you be happy for the guy. It’s a 50+ inch fish…..that is a trophy and worthy for the wall for anybody, and to make a statement that he isn’t a real fisherman because he’s fishing out of a pontoon. I think everyone here deserves an apology for that statement.Whatsa
yes…a 50 inch fish is a real trophy…
I caught a 47″ northern once…took the photos…let it go…knew that cost wise, there was little difference between ‘the real deal’ and a graphite replica…
with the measurements and the photos in hand…I got my price quotes…at which time I decided I really really liked my photos and that would be ‘enough’…
My son and I shared the catch and the memories…and that’s enough…
Not sure why folks feel a wall mount is a ‘must do’?
good job on the catching…
good job on the releasing…
white, black…and junebug chartruese…
whatever color you get, get at least 3 bags…when the bite is hot…you don’t want the fun to end…
have you tried the zoom Horny Toads? I’ve used both the Rage and the Zoom products…and at this time have about 30 packages of HT’s in the boat…and 1 Rage…’just in case’…
I find I do get multiple blow ups on the HT…and here, it’s all LMB all the time…have to go about 5 hours north for smallies…
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Found a school of these pre-fishing a few weeks ago. Too bad the 18’s went away and we could only boat 17’s the next few days. Still solid fish after the spawn.
that’s only a 19″ ruler…right? Still BIG fish…love it when they start to get white to show around the eyes…
Love this thread…get to see some beautiful fish here… 
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Nice looking Smallies
agreed…and beautiful photos of those fish. Well done!
there’s an interesting thing about fly tackle…guys like Stu Apte, who use them for tarpon, talk about it…
the fly line creates it’s own drag through the water, working on the fish…it’s not all rod bend…like we think about ‘regular’ rods…
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You are right about the colors. I would love it if all my bass looked that way
clear water and heavy weeds….make for some beautiful bass…that’s for sure…
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Wow, I didn’t even think that was possible up here. Everything I’ve ever read said that since the growing season is so short up here and black bass everywhere have the same life expectancy, it’s impossible for a bass in MN to reach sizes like that, especially in Northern MN.
Cool stuff.
first of all…Wow! that’s a fish!
on the issue of life expectancy…I’ve seen articles that suggest 10-15 years is not out of the question for northern strain bass… while 6-8 is pretty common for the floridensis bunch…and fish down south in the bathtubs of North America…
It takes a special fish, no matter where they reside, to grow to record proportions…
and that fish is a special one…
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… does it make sense to have your drag at full lock down on the retrieve and then pause to loosen it just for the figure 8? Personally, I think it’s a lot easier and takes very little effort to keep the drag on lock down until you get strike. After the hook up, take a split second to ease off the drag and then fight the fish.
I always wondered why you wouldn’t set your drag fairly tight…but loose enough that it gives slightly on a hook set…and then just ‘add thumb’ pressure to ‘lock it down’ on the hookset…
this way, once the hooks were ‘in’ at boat side…the fish could surge and take line…but you would always get ‘positive’ hook sets?
seems cumbersome to pause/change drag just before the boat…
haven’t tried them yet…
currently having a love-fest with the BPS XPS buzzbaits…
black w/red blade
chartreuse w/gold blade
purple shad w/silver blade…
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I think hook setting with frogs is an art. Some days I suck and some days I get it right. I found that it really helps when big fish are just choking the frog, it’s hard to go wrong when that is the case when you have the right equipment…
…My biggest buzz frog fish actually came on a Sizmic Toad. That fish just lightly sucked it in, absolutely no indication it was a 21 inch brute.
okay, here’s a way to make this ‘science’ (and I throw HT’s exclusively…because they just work better, get more bites and are a heck of a lot more versatile FOR ME…)
First things first, my strike to hook up ratio for HT’s is as good as, or better than, my t-rigged plastic worms/tubes. No exageration here AT ALL…
Just last Saturday I had 10 hits…all but one hooked/landed. the one that i ‘missed’ came two feet out of the water on the ‘hit’ and knocked the frog4 feet in the air…(this is why I love buzz froggin’)…
Keys to rigging:
1. Hook: and ewg superline hook…in 5/0 or 6/0…I prefer strongly the Mustad EWG MegaBite 5/0…it’s all I use.
2. Line: braid. If it stretches, hooking percentages go way down…
3. round, smooth glass bead: when on the line ahead of the frog it sheds weeds/moss like no body’s business…try it…I also think it helps ‘move’ the bait in the bass mouth after the hit…allowing a better hook ‘grab’
4. Rigging: t-rigged and the hook point/bend brought up BETWEEN the legs (not through the body) and the point lightly skin hooked…
Here’s the images of how I rig this…
the stuff…
finished rig…note that the hook point comes ‘out’ of the plastic about where the hook slot starts…by putting it this deep into the head, it helps position the bend to ride between the legs better…and believe it or not…seems to keep the head from tearing as easily…
where you will tear up frogs mainly is when you get the fish to the side of the boat…they’ll start head-shaking on taught line and slinging that frog back/forth…and the braid just does the rest…
favorite colors?
Junebug chartreuse
Bama Bug
black
white
watermelon candy
Try it this way BP…I think you’ll find it works quite well.
and my hook sets are ‘quick’ (for me)…on the explosion I’m reeling up until the rod starts to load…(at about 2 o;clock) and then setting straight up with the rod…
I have also started fishing this rig instead of floating frogs over solid mats…as frankly, the hook up ratios are quite a bit better than the floating frogs like spro/scum et al…
by the way, since you’ll be seeing more ‘beasts’..here’s a great piece of info from my friends at Texas…
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am i using something inferior and dont know it?
there’s a lot of ‘fun’ in discussing favorite brands…a bit of entertainment value in the old ‘mine is better than yours’ routine…
seems to me that you have a tool (stealth) that has always worked for you… I’m not sure that this in any way could be described as ‘inferior’
I’ve long been of the opinion that different folks use different products ‘differently’…and what works best for one…might not work best for another….
As always, the proof is in the results…
perhaps it’s all about letting the fish hook itself? good point…
I’ll look forward to your report on the impact of mono…I’ll say that I’m of the strong opinion that there’s too much stretch in mono to get good hook sets…
gonna suck if I’m wrong… 
let me know…
40″ is ‘giant’?
