Knightiac

I love these little jigs; almost always catch some bass on these when I need to downsize. http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-Bitsy-Bug-Mini-Jig/product/20152/ http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-Bitsy-Bug-Crawfish-Trailer/product/45766/ I'd link the Berkley Chigger Craws but you most likely already know about those. They are my absolute favorite craw - my go to bait actually.

If there are bass in a body of water, they will bite on a jig. Try a bitsy bug jig by strike king and a small trailer. I will sometimes use a 3" chigger craw on them. If you need an extra small trailer, look for strike king's bitsy bug craw. BPS has all of these.

If you opened it and examined it, I'd give them a call. My first Lew's was a TP and it is amazing... Decided I wanted another but cheaped out and got a Tourny MG. It sucked. Until I remembered that I never flushed out all of the excess oil and grease they put on the d**n thing. I was so excited when I bought it, I spooled it up and completely forgot, It was night and day after I realized that and cleaned it.

I mainly fish mono and I let the plastic fall on a slack line... If you see it move or feel like it stopped too soon, set the hook. It's free. Worst case you set the hook on nothing. Then when it hits the bottom I like to keep the line fairly tight, just provides better feel. I used to fish jigs on mono until I purchased a separate jig rod (now use floro on that rod). You can still feel most bottom contact bites with mono, if you keep the line fairly tight. You always want to let your lure fall on a slack line so it falls straight down, any tension at all and it will swing back towards you slightly.

The PQ is hands down the best reel you can buy for $100, but if you can get one during their sale it's a steal. You can even argue the Johnny Morris Sig 2 is one of the best reels you can get for $150.

BPS is fantastic with their reel service. Twice I have had to return a PQ, and one issue was clearly my fault and the other was just an odd issue. Both times, NO questions asked at all, they just shook their head yes and said go grab another "it's your's". I have two Johnny Morris Sig 2's for cast/retrieve rods because they are so d**n smooth and because of BPS' reel service. Any other contact reel I have is a Lews, due to the lower profile.

I just don't see the purpose of a light drag. I'd rather get the hookset I want and adjust on the go. If I absolutely need to let line out of my spinning reel, I'll grab it and pull myself. If I absolutely need to let line out of my baitcaster, I will engage the reel and let my thumb do the work. I'm not saying I crank it all the way down, but I set it so the line barely moves, if it does at all. When I store my rods at the end of the day, I loosen them all up.

IMO, drag isn't that important for bass fishing... I keep all my drags fairly tight. If my line has a treble hook tied on, I set it so i can barely pull line out, the proper rod and handling will do the rest for you. Anything else, I keep it so the line won't move.

I don't even understand lefty reels... and I'm left handed. I use RH baitcasters and I place the handle on the right, for all my spinning reels. Cast with my strong arm (left) and reel with my weak arm (right). I don't understand the whole switching hands thing. I taught my buddy how to cast a baitcaster, and he is right handed. Naturally, he started casting with his left and reeling with his right when he realized how goofy it was.

Welcome! Where in Florida?

Thanks for the help guys! I had assumed it was a blue tilapia, but it does look very similar to other sunfish. This guy seemed like he was about three pounds; it was thick. pbizzle, that was the first link I found also. Found a few things interesting: "In central Florida, anglers can assume every tilapia they observe in fresh water is a blue, and any tilapia over 3 pounds is also likely a blue tilapia." and to answer your question: "no bag or size limits." definitely like this note: (appears I got lucky) "They are rarely caught on artificial lures." Once again, thanks guys! Might try and fish for them sometime this summer.

Heck, this thing was fun on a Medium Casting rod... Caught it on a chug bug. Thumped it and ran. Would've taken line had it been my spinning reel. Which is why I'd like to find out what it was. Spotted several more that day. Lol.

I have owned a PQ, Lews SS, Lews Tourn MG and a Lews Tourny Pro. I would say the PQ is the best, until you get to the Lews Tourny Pro. That is a $100 jump though. For me it's a no brainer. If I have $100, I'm getting the PQ. You also get the satisfaction of having a BPS reel. They will replace it for the SMALLEST thing. If I have $160, I'm getting the Johnny Morris Signature Series Basscaster. If I have $200, I'm getting the Lews Tourny Pro.

I've been told this is a tilapia, a speck, a blue tilapia, and even a carp. I'm sure one of you guys know what it is... LOL. I'd appreciate any help! I've been bass fishing for around 4 years now, but it's always been the same manmade ponds so I pretty much only know a few species. First time I have seen anything like this. It appears they just stocked this lake recently, as there are a ton of new baitfish swimming about that I have never seen in here before. Different species that is... There are some that look like bream, but are white with vertical black stripes. Are those small tilapia?

I, too, walk the banks but it seems I like to carry a lot more than you guys do. Could never find a backpack that could hold half of the stuff I like to take. I used to take one box if I knew it was the one I needed, but hated getting out there and having ______ but not ______ when I saw the perfect place to throw ______. I've got 3601's for: Tackle Jigs Topwaters Then 3650's for: Spinnerbaits/Buzzbaits Cranks Creatures (soft plastics) Swimbaits (soft plastics) So that's 7 boxes alone. Throw in that I carry 4 bags of craws, 3 bags of tubes and 10 bags of worms and it gets to be a lot. I finally found a bag to hold all of this and I was pumped to find it. $60 from Dick's and if you're a member at Dick's, you always get those 10% off deals each month so it's only $54. Has a very comfortable shoulder strap that stows away. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=18419416

It can be tough, you have to find the right medium between hooksets. I prefer to use a moderate tip.

I take a picture of every decent bass I catch with my cell phone, just to show my grandfather when I see him. It makes him happy.... While showing him a few pics last week, I realized I had like 8 pictures of the exact same bass with part of its top fin missing... It's pretty crazy. This is a 5 acre (or so) pond mind you.

My light line spinning rod uses 8lb Berkley Trilene XL. My crank and soft plastic/topwater casting rods use 12lb Sufix Elite. Jig casting rod uses 12lb Sufix Invisiline Flouro. Frog casting rod uses 50lb Power Pro Superslick (or something like that) braid.

Having weeds is a blessing. Find something weedless and fish over or through them. Two suggestions: Zoom Fluke weightless. Twitch it back to you. Berkley Havoc Subwoofer swimbait. Rig it on a weighted hook and retrieve.

I'd also suggest trying swimbaits. Get some Berkley Havoc Subwoofers. They've got great action. Fish them weightless or with a weighted hook. That's what I caught the bass in my avatar with.

This is a very subjective question, you will get all sorts of answers. I for one think soft plastics are great for ponds. 50% of my tackle bag is soft plastics, and I am a bank beater also. I'd suggest Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Worms. They also have a Jr version. Berkley is an American company and they are relatively cheap. Most are $2.99 a bag. Also, if you really love soft plastics, invest in good tungsten weights. Much more solid and smaller, leading to a better feel.

I love the Booyah's but it seems mine take on a ton of water, compared to others.

SPRO

I absolutely love them. I use them weightless, keel weighted, shakeyhead and as trailers (buzzbaits and jigs). I'll even take a shakeyhead and rig the hook through the body with the hook sticking out the back. It allows you to swim it easily and drop it to the bottom at any instant. I'll twitch them like a fluke, swim them back, top waters and anything else you can think of. Very versatile. The hog in my pic was caught on a subwoofer.

depends on what/where you're fishing. a lot of times, i'm fishing the banks and i'm very close to the fish when that happens. if that's the case, i rarely throw back because i will actually see the fish bolt away after spotting me. you will either see the flash, the actual bass or a ripple on the top if they flee usually. if you think you are far enough away and don't see the signs, throw something back. worst thing that happens the fish is gone. it's still the most high percentage cast you have at the moment. if i missed a fish on a moving bait, i will throw something like a soft plastic and work it slowly. it will be either the same size or smaller than the original bait. if i missed a fish on a soft plastic or jig, that i was working slow, i'll throw something that moves and work it moderately. once again, it will be the same size or smaller.