Frog Fishing with the Dobyns DX746c

The Dobyns DX746 was introduced to the fishing world at large late in 2013.. long after my season had closed. But while I awaited the end of one of the brutalist winters in recent years, there it was, the light at the end of the tunnel, my new frog rod awaiting its inaugural trip.

The DX746 is touted for not only the power it offers, but also it's sensitivity. This rod offers frog anglers the ability to cast small, medium and large frogs accurately for great distances, the finesse to walk them back to the boat, and the power to battle fish in the nastiest of cover.. Thats what I read.. here is what I found:

Casting:

I was blown away by the casting ability of this rod, and found that on average I was able to cast mid to lite weight frogs for even greater distances then with my 736c. I guess I should specify here that distance was never really a big issue, but more distance and accuracy combined. When sizing down to a smaller or finesse weighted frog I would often down size rods to get that extra bit of tip for greater accuracy. The DX746 offers both the power  needed and just enough tip to help place your frog exactly were you want it.


Walking & Popping:

What makes a rod a good walking rod, does not always make for a good popping rod. There is always that fine line between length and tip, that you need to take into consideration while attempting to work each specific style of frog. The DX746 offers you a nice stout rod with the ability to pop and chug a frog with the best of them, all the while its softer tip (for a frog rod) also gives you the ability to walk even the most frustratinig of baits back to the boat while driving fish crazy.

Power:

I do a lot of shoreline frog fishing (daily actually), so a rods ability to fight fish at a great distance and over heavy cover is very important to me. Coming in at 7'4 and touting Heavy action, the DX746 gives me the confidence I need when deciding to throw my frog into spots most anglers would fear. I can use its extra length and power to quickly get leverage on a fish, and have it moving forward long before it knows whats even happening. This is a key when frog fishing and a lesser rod will have you loosing fish in such situations.


If you are in the market for a new frog rod for the 2015 season, do yourself a favour and ges your hands on a Dobyns DX746. Like all Dobyns rods, its weight, balance and sensitivity will be immediately evident, but this rods exells on the water, and should be a must have in any frog fisherman's arsenal.

The Art of the Spinnerbait - Finding your sweet-spot

Like any technique spinnerbait fishing takes time to master. You need to amass the right gear and then put in your time getting comfortable fishing that gear in various situations. Its not all about the bait, so choose your weapons carefully.. here are some tips on what makes a good spinnerbait set-up

Power

Rod power is very important when tying on a spinnerbait for the first time, underpowered rods will not be able to keep up with the drag caused by the blades on your spinnerbait, and a rod that is overpowered will keep you from feeling every little bump and can and will mess with your casting accuracy.

As a Dobyns rod user, I look for rods that are rated at 4 power with a fast tup when fishing spinnerbaits at 1/2oz weight (or under) or baits that have oversize thumper blades (also known as Colorado Blades). Blade size is not the only thing that will slow your bait down and force you to reevaluate your rod size.. head weight, body profile and the number of blades should also be considered when deciding what rod to choose when throwing a spinnerbait. Take the time to read your rods specs and be sure the bait your using falls within the rating, but also remember that if something doesn't feel right, make the change and up or downsize when required

The rod I consider to be the best all around spinnerbait rod in the Dobyns line-up (or world for that matter) is the DX744, it has the perfect amount of power and tip and allows me to bomb my spinnerbaits for distance and still bury the hook no matter how far the fish is from the boat. On the retrieve the DX744 gives you that slight bend in the rod keeping tension on the bait while also allowing you to feel every little bump along the way.. which is highly important

Light-weight  rods like the DX744 are also easier on your body, and as any angler who has spent 8hrs throwing a spinnerbait will tell you a light-weight rod really helps reduce the strain on your back, neck and shoulders.

Rate of Speed

Spinnerbaits like any bait that require a steady or constant retrieve really live and die by how fast your or slow you are bringing it back to the boat. Too fast and the fish may not be able to keep up, and too slow and fish may get too close a look at your bait and ignore it all together. I personally use a Daiwa Zillion reel with a 7.1 retrieve. Some anglers will find this reel a bit fast for spinnerbait fishing but I like its ability to keep up once the fish is hooked so I can get it back to the boat quickly while still keeping the situation under control.

For the most part I focus my spinnerbait fishing in two types of water.. (1) shallow, meaning 5 feet and under, and (2) medium depths of 12 feet of less. When fishing shallow I still use my 1/2oz spinnerbait but in order to keep it up in the water column and attempt to force a reaction strike I will often burn it back to the boat, meaning I retrieve it at a very high rate. This allows the fish to not only see the flash, shimmy and shake but forces them to react quickly, usually resulting in a strike.

When fishing at deeper depths, I will opt to slow my spinnerbait down allowing it to sit lower in the water volume and calling in fish that are suspended and/or hugging the bottom. In these situations you really need to watch your rate of retrieve or your spinnerbait may turn into a wake bait. To avoid this some anglers will opt for a heavier bait or a slower reel, I like to stick with my 1/2oz screaming eagle and my 7.1 Zillion and adapt my retrieve speed.. the more you fish the same combination of rod/reel and bait the more you will get to understand what it is capable of. Adjusting your hand speed cane make just as much of a difference as upping or downsizing the speed of your reel.

Shimmy, Shake and Flash

Like you, I'm a fisherman, which means I love new baits and often get caught up in the hype of trying every new thing that hits the market, but once I find my true love, I tend to settle in. This is the case with my spinnerbait of choice, the Screaming Eagle by War Eagle. These spinnerbaits only come in 1/2oz sizes but the profile looks like that of a 1/4oz sized bait. This makes it supper easy to multitask and use the same bait in both deep and shallow water applications. When it comes to colour, I usually like white, white and oh yeah.. White. For blades I like a pair of willow leaf blades in gold and or silver or a mix of both, believe me when I tell you this does make a difference and some days the gold won't get and sniff and at other times its the only thing I can get a strike on.

You can find baits with more or less blades, as well as in various colours and sizes. Remember the purpose of a spinnerbait is for it to look like a school of bait fish, so the most import characteristics are its ability to shimmy shake and flash. Find the right combination of blades of you and you will quickly notice a difference in the number of fish you catch.

Above we talked about retrieve speed, but as of yet we have not talked about retrieve style. There are many things you can do to a spinnerbait to impart action other then just a steady retrieve. Try fishing your spinnerbait over a weed bed, then through it, if your feel the weeds taking hold give the bait a rip, this action will often drive fish crazy. Don't be afraid of sunken trees, logs or timber, bang that spinnerbait around and let the fish know your there. Lastly pauses or pulses during the retrieve can also entice a strike, don't hesitate to let the bait flutter down slightly on a pause, you may be surprised how many fish will hammer it as it starts back up.. I like to call this a "confused reaction strike" caused when a fish follows your bait in and then it unexpectedly drops, the fish pauses, confused, and then by starting the retrieve back up it forces a reaction strike.

Get Comfortable:

The key to success with any bait, is getting comfortable. This not only comes with catching fish, but also with familiarity. You don't have to own a specific spinnerbait combo, but the more you use  a specific rod, reel and line when learning a new bait the more familiar you will become with the bait and its capabilities and shortfalls, so choose a rod/reel in your arsenal and stick with it.

This also goes for the spinnerbait itself. By choosing a brand or style/size you will quickly find out what it can do, and what you can do with it. Once you have that nailed down you can branch out looking for other baits to fill the gaps in your current arsenal.

2014 Kingston Canadian Open - Final Results - My first win

This past weekend marked the 5th annual Kingston Canadian Open, held, you guessed it, right here in Kingston Ontario. Many of you are use to me providing daily updates during this event, as well as tons of pictures, but this year things were a bit different as I was no longer on the sidelines but an actual participant.

The Kingston Open is a Pro/Am event pairing Pro's with a different amateur angler each day of the 3-day event with each angler taking their combined weight onto the next day. After 2 days there was a cut and only 29 of the 58 teams moved on to the final day of fishing.. I was lucky enough to not only make the cut to be able to fish day 3, but I was sitting in 2nd place overall and in good position to win the event on the amateur side.. but before I get into that storey, I will congratulate the Open winner on the Pro Side Jeff Coble.

Coble fished this event in 2013 placing second, this year he was sitting in 2nd going into the final day where his 24.15lb bag gave him the edge over Day2 leader Doug Brownridge for the title.

Coble finished the event with a record 3-day total weight of 72.05lbs.. and of course a check for $20,000

Below you will find the top 15 Pro's all of which took home a check during the event. The Big fish for this years event was a 6.25lb smallie brought to the scales by Wayne Izumi.

Ok, on to my weekend. I will start of by saying that this event was a blast to fish, and whether your a smallie fisherman or not, it is worth your time and money to spend 3 days on the water with some of the best Canada has to offer.. and the odd american like Jeff Coble and  JVD (Jonathan VanDam). I had amazing draws and was partnered with Cory Johnston, John Whyte and Mike Deforges.

Not wanting to give away their spots, techniques or fishing styles, I will keep this part of my recap to a high level. Over the course of the 3-days I got the chance to fish Shallow (under 7feet) medium (8-15ft) and deep (17-35ft). Each day was a whole new crash course on smallie fishing as each angler had their own pace, style and choice of techniques.

On Day 1, Cory and I weighed in 24.65lbs for an average fish weight of 4.93lbs. We had the majority of this fairly early and spend most of the day continuing to catch 4+ lb fish and having to put each one back since it would not help our total weight, I have never landed so many big fish in one outing as I did on Day1, i can't even put it into words

My learning's from Cory were patience, at times spending 20-30 minutes trying to get a single fish to bite, power, meaning that power fishing techniques can and will work on smallies and finally planning, Cory had a plan in mind and he stuck to it all while watching the time and our bag size

on Day 2, I got to spend some quality time with John Whyte, I had never met John before but had had some on-line chats and conversations with him over the years. He was very relaxed on the water and his laid back demeanour made the day fun while we battled high winds and rough water.

John and I weighed in 21.09lbs for an average fish size of 4.2lbs. We did not catch as many fish as I did on day 1, but each fish mattered and help us get to our end result. On Day 2 I finished in 2nd place being knocked out of first by 0.10lbs by another local angler Shawn Stenson.

My learning's from John were:  Be Different, John was throwing a bait I had never seem used on smallies, not only was it working, but it was out producing any other traditional baits we were throwing (no I won't tell you what it was). Relax and Enjoy, John seemed to enjoy ever minute he had on the water, he was able to quickly shake of a lost fish, and was laughing about it. His demeanour relaxed me, and made for a great day on the water. Admit/Learn from Mistakes, we attempted to fish a few spots that were high risk due to the weather, both sports were nearly un-fishable when we reached them costing us precious time. John was not afraid to look at the spot admit it was a mistake and turn around where others may have attempted to fish the sport anyway causing more lost time and possible injury or damage to the boat (and or fish)

Day3 I was paired up with Mike Deforges, an angler I have been watching at this event the past three years and who quietly racks up big fish day in and day out. Knowing we were in for a long day on a windy lake Mike made changes to his game plan and put us on fish all day long.. even caught some monster walleye along the way

Mike and I weighed in 24.5lbs for the day (the biggest total bag for day 3), sealing first place for me, and bumping him up from 8th to 4th place. 

Learning's from Mike: Adapting, Mike had a game plan that had been working for him all weekend long, but the weather did not co-operate at all, so plan B kicked in, and Mike had us back in the game (there was also a Plan C). Eliminating Water, Mike would quickly decipher if the area we were fishing was actually holding fish and how active the fish were, this aided in his decisions on how long we stayed on one spot verses moving on. Repeat, repeat whats working for you, and stop doing what isn't, this goes for baits, techniques and spots

This pic I took while on stage sitting in the hot seat, waiting to get knocked out of first. Thankfully that time never came and I finished my first Pro/Am in top spot. I'm very proud of what I accomplished on the water, but know it would not have been possible without the incredibly skilled Pro's that I fished with every day. I want to thank them all for their time, teachings and support.

Special thanks also goes out to Eikon Device, for helping make this possible.

Weapons of Choice:

As mentioned since this is a pro/am no baits will be disclosed but here are the rods, reels and line that helped me out this weekend

Dobyns DX744 w/ Daiwa Zillion - Toray Finesse Braid
Dobyns DX742SF w/ Daiwa Lexa - Toray Finesse Braid - Soloram Superhard Leader
Dobyns DX703sf w/ Dawia Lexa - Toray Finesse Braid - Soloram Superhard Leader


here are some more pics from the event….

Canoe Fishing Tips from the Cataraqui River 2014

Don't get me wrong, I love to fish in a bad ass bass boat, or my sun dolphin pond hopper, but from time to time there is nothing more relaxing then fishing from a canoe… and if your a cheater like I'm and power your canoe with a trolling motor, its even more relaxing.

For Tips and Tricks on making the most out of each Canoe Fishing Trip you take, check out this Bass Junkies article entitled  Canoe Fishing 101. Not much has changed since I wrote that article back in 2012, but below you will find a few tips for enjoying every minute of your canoe trip.. and oh yeah catching a few fish.

Canoe fishing is great in that it forces you to pair down your gear (tackle and rods) and focus on a few techniques at a time. During this trip I placed my faith in 3 rods.. a frog rod (surprise, surprise) a medium-heavy pitching stick and a wacky worm rig set up on spinning gear (full arsenal can be found at the bottom of the page)

The frog rod is pretty self explanatory, first off its what I do, and secondly this part of the river is loaded with slop and pads.. a win win in my books. Finding fish was another storey, we only saw a total of 3 fish blow-up on our frogs of which I was able to land just one fish

My second rod choice was a medium/heavy flipping or pitching stick. I use this as a follow up bait for frog fishing as well to flip timber or rocks we come across. I find being in a canoe gives you a nice clear view of the lake (good sunglasses don't hurt either) and it allows you to get close to structure and see what it is all about, find where the holes, hideouts and shady portions are. On this trip I was not able to pull any fish on timber, but did manage one fish on a follow-up bait.. more on that in a bit.

my third and final rodt on this trip was a spinning rod rigged with a wacky worm set-up. The Rideau or Cataraqui River has many low handing trees, and while sitting low in a canoe a spinning rod/reel gives you the best chances for a good skip up under this form of cover. I find the low angle can be awkward for skipping bait casters, but a sinch for spinning gear. The wacky rig also provided me with a bait that has a slower fall then my Gambler ugly otter meaning i could cover more of the water column in hopes of finding fish.. no fish were harmed in the use of the wacky rig on this day.

Bob keep it even simpler then I did, bringing only one rod and rigging it with a Snag Proof Bobby's perfect buzz frog.. fitting I know. He put in some serious work but only managed one blow up for his first skunk of the season.

Just like when fishing from a standard bass boat, you and your canoe partner should be working as a team each throwing different baits until you find whats working. It is all to easy to both grab a worm or a frog and start firing, but in situations like this you may be missing more fish then you know. Try using baits that reach different parts of the water column. Today Bob started with a buzz frog (top water) and i pitched a wacky worm (bottom)

Follow-up baits are also key to success. When my partner or I are frog fishing from a canoe (or boat) I always have a second rod rigged up with a follow-up bait such as a gambler Ugly Otter. This came in handy on this trip when the above fish blew up on Bob's buzz frog and while he finished his retrieve I quickly grabbed my otter and flipped into the hole left by the fish.. BAM.. fish on,  before Bob could even get his frog back to the boat.. now that's team work (thanks for the assist Bob)

What I love about canoe fishing is how close it allows you to get to the water, and the fish. It truly gives you a new perspective on bodies of water you have fished for years, and those you are fishing for the first time..

Although I have fished this portion of the Rideau from the shoreline for years, this was the first time I was able to get out and fish it properly. During this trip Bob and I covered just over 1km of water up the west bank(sunny side) and then back down the east bank (shady side). Our goal is to stretch that to 2km on tip number 2.. oh yeah and land a few more fish in the process

Trip Counter:   Trip3/Lake3 - Cataraqui River

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX746 - Daiwa Lexa - Nories NF60 Frog
Dobyns 734C - Daiwa Tatula - Gambler Ugly Otter

Dobyns DX703SF - Daiwa Procyon - Bass Pro Shop Stick-O

Father & Son Fishing Weekend - Dog Lake 2014

The second trip of the  2014 season was my 3rd annual Father/Son Weekend with my Dad and my younger brother.. the one in the leopard print (ouch). Each summer we get to spend two days fishing together, one day in the boat and the second day from shore.

On Saturday we fought the heat and blue bird skies on Dog Lake. The fishing was tough, but as always we spent more time trying to out do each other and of course make fun of each other

I gave my father his first bait caster this past Christmas, and this was his first time getting to use it on the water. Once I walked him through the adjustment capabilities he picked it up pretty quickly and managed to not create any major birds nests.. I on the other hand completely screwed one of my combos.

 As always I landed the first fish of the day on my trusty BassTek jig, this takes the pressure off, as we play the ultimate fishing game.. first fish, most fish and biggest fish.. of those three there is only one category you can't loose once you have it and thats first fish.

 My little brother is still working on the patience side of fishing, and spends way to much time changing baits..after a few casts with no bites he wants to switch things up..  he also often makes bad choices, as you can see he is about tie on a banjo minnow. NO Don't do it!

It was a weird day on the lake and I couldn't nail down a pattern. I caught my first couple fish on a jig, but when the bite died off so I moved to a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, first cast equalled first fish.. and I thought YES, but after a good 45 minutes without a mother sniff, it was time to move on

Even with the slower bite it was a beautiful day on the water. If you have never fished Dog lake you are missing out on a nice fishery with a great view.

My brothers first fish of the day came on a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper un-weighted and thrown into the slop like it was a frog bait.. this little dude ate it up fast.. and my brother was hooked on Skinny dippers for the rest of the day.. again please try to  ignore his leopard print shirt and if you can, you are a better person than I am. 

 

The biggest fish of the day came on a frog in the pads,  while we awaited the boats from a local tournament that had caused a bit of a back-up at the ramp.. I've learned to take advantage of these times and kept fishing while my dad and brother took a break, the result was this fish at just under 3-lbs, securing me the day 1 trifecta of First Fish, Most Fish and Biggest Fish

Day 2 I took my brother and Father to a few local shore line haunts. Again the fishing was tough but with some hard work we did manage a few fish.

Being familiar with the area I knew exactly where I wanted my first cast to land, and immediately hooked into this little guy.. the splashing water had my Father shaking his head.. first fish was mine again

This has been a weird spring/summer for shoreline fishing, the carp are still in the shallows are are not moving out as the day wears on. This is making a mess of the weeds and making it hard to find already spooked fish. You really have to work pockets and look for the areas that the carp are not calling home

I caught my day 2 fish all while flipping Berkley Havoc Rocket Craws, I really like the slow fall of this bait not to mention it is pretty tuff and holds up well

 That's it for another Father & Son fishing weekend. Since this is the first time that neither of them bought any live worms, I like to think I'm helping them learn and grow as anglers.. all the while still kicking their asses

Trip Counter:   Trip2/Lake2 - Dog Lake

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX744 - Daiwa Zillion - Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper - VMC Swimbait Hooks
Dobyns DX746 - Daiwa Lexa - Nories NF60 Frog
Dobyns 734C - Daiwa Tatula - BassTek Jig - Berkley Havoc Pit Chunk Trailer
Dobyns 734C - Daiwa Tatula - Berkley Havoc Rocket Craw

Fishing Pigeon Lake - 2014 Photo Journal

The Ontario 2014 Bass Season kicked off this past weekend, and thankfully I got an opportunity to hit the water with a buddy (Kenny) to do some fishing on a lake that I have not fished in well over 5 years.

Pigeon lake is a very shallow fishery that leaves the bass little to no room to hide, yet unfortunately they seemed up to the challenge and Kenny and I managed only 8-10 fish between us.. some were small and others were smaller.. oh well, it was great to get out and kick off the season.. here is a short photo journal of Trip2/Lake2 of the 2014 bass season

Pigeon lake is a shallow anglers dream, loaded with undercut banks and more pads then a frog fisherman can even dream of. Kenny was gracious enough to plan the trip around my love of frog fishing so we packed lightly and started the day on some banks prior to moving to the pads

The first fish of the day came while flipping some banks, I was breaking in my Gambler Why Not bait and was happy that this little dude co-operated. First fish in the books

After failing to get more bank fish to co-operate we moved into the slop/pads, in search of some frog fish. The pads seemed pretty empty on this 24degree day with bluebird skies and we worked our way through two large sections without a single blow-up.. so it was time to move again

Once we moved a bit further south I hooked into two frog fish on back to back casts.. the day was looking up, or so we thought.. two more large sections later and not one more fish was boated.

Not ones to give up, Kenny made the call to head north and look for some slightly deeper water. We made the trek up the lake only to find that an algae bloom had severely stained the water on the north end.. a drastic change from the gin clear water on the south end. Still we dug out our jig rods and put in some work. After an hour with not luck, I switch up to a reactions innovation Skinny Dipper and quickly hooked into another small fish.. yep, time to move again.

 Out last stop of the day was one more long section of bank. With the sun now high in the sky and the temps reaching the high 20's we were sure the fish would be running for cover.. wrong again, although we manages two more fish, the one pictured above is the only one with any size to it, and that size is still small.

Trip Counter:   Trip1/Lake1 - Pigeon Lake

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX746 w/ Daiwa Lexa - Spro Bronzeye Shad Frog

Dobyns 734C w/ Daiwa Tatula - Gamble Why Not

Dobyns DX744 w/ Daiwa Zillion - Reactions Innovation Skinny Dipper

Dobyns 735C w/ Daiwa Tatula - BassTek Jig

BASS SEASON 2014 is NOW OPEN!

Yeah, its been a litte quiet around here this past winter, but with Bass Season now in full swing things will really start to pick up.  Like many of you I have some lofty goals for this season, and hope you will read along as I share my achievements and the odd failures. Here is what I hope to achieve in 2014

Goals:

1) Fish 10 different lakes

This year a trip and lake counter will be added to my posts. My goal is to fish at least 10 different bodies of water, with 1-2 new lakes added in that I have never fished previously (or at lest not in the past 10 years)

2) Fish all 3 Days of the Kingston Open

As you know this year I'm fulfilling a bucket list event, by fishing in the Kingston Canadian open. This is a 3 day event, but there is a cut, and only anglers who make the cut will get the chance to fish on day 3.. my goal is to be on stage at the end of day 3 and not watching from the stands

3) Make it 7 straight years catching at least 1 or more 5-pound fish

If you have read this blog for any length of time you should have noticed the small thumbnail images on the right hand side that include dates.These are the 5lb+ fish I have caught over the past few season and if I'm able to land one in 2014 it will make it 7 straight seasons with a 5-lb fish under my belt

4) Learn to fish swim baits 

each season I make it a goal to learn a new bait or technique, this year will be the year of the swim bait, both hard and soft. Believe me there will be some trail and error here but bear with me as I try to advance my skills and knowledge.

alright, enough talk, its time to get fishing