Fall 2022
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his bait’s exposure, he needs something with more tip and a little less backbone. His choice is the 7-foot Daiwa Tatula Elite Skipping Rod.
“This rod’s a little shorter and it has a little softer tip, so you can walk it better,” Ehrler said. “With this rod, I use very small, quick twitches. It’s not a pull.
“To get that right action, let the butt of the rod slap your forearm. That keeps you from twitching it too far. It’s all wrist.”
KEEP IT STRAIGHT: In highly pressure scenarios, Hallman tones down his retrieve to fool educated bass.
“A lot of times, I’m not even twitching,” he said. “If a lot of people have fished the area, they’ve seen a million frogs that go twitch-twitch- twitch. A lot of times, I’ll put a little weight in my frog, so it sits lower in the mat and I’ll just slow wind that thing.”
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH: Frogging can be feast or famine, depending on how well you react or overreact. Ehrler suggests basing the response on bit intensity.
“I watch how they hit the frog and if they absolutely annihilate it, that’s when I pause, because they blow it out of the water,” he said. “If it’s a slurp, I jerk. It’s always a slight hesitation, but if they completely annihilate it, I pause for longer.
“A lot of times, I’ll keep twitting and if I feel pressure on one twitch, then I jerk.” •
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