BassinLou

Get the 580's. Your eyes will thank you for them. The clarity is awesome. The warranty on these glasses are awesome as well. I have utilized Costa's warranty program a couple of times already and they have taken great care of me and returned my glasses good as new. Good luck on your choice.

Welcome to canal fishing in Miami. Sometimes canals produce, and sometimes they can be void of life. If you don't see baitfish around keep moving until you find signs of life. You may have to cover a lot of ground to find this.

MC's are the scrappiest fighters around. Big Oscars are too. Now that its warming up, MC's can be found along the bank pretty much everywhere down here in South FL.

Sorry to hear that Joe. Sun gloves will help complete your sun protection that's for sure.

That's awesome!! Congratulations!!

With the type of cover you described Joe I would use the frog to check the mood of the fish. I would throw in and around the cover. I would not throw into the really deep stuff from the bank. The odds of pulling a fish out of there is stacked heavily against you. The second bait I would throw would be a swimbait. You love Gambler Ez swimmers right? Those do great in the cover you described. Understand, everything I just explained can be thrown out the window tomorrow. The fish could want something completely different. lol!! Good luck tomorrow. Have fun!!

X2

MCS, you may have told me, but I honestly cannot remember. My memory is not what it used to be.

My tag end has never been an issue. I don't have much of a tag end anyways. If your knot is solid the tag end could be clipped pretty short.

Looks good Joe!!

Nice fish. I have never heard of this location, where is this exactly? How do you access it?

Down here I have to deal with a lot of limestone especially in the canals. Limestone and braid = heart break. These same canals also may have a lot of vegetation as well, so it can be pretty challenging dealing with the pro's of braid and the con's of braid all in one cast. Lol!!

^^^ THIS^^^ problem solved.

Short answer. Yes. However, I also realize, and correct me if i am wrong. You are relatively new to bass fishing right? I can understand why you would like to carry a lot of baits. You will see over time how you will begin to carry less baits as you begin learning your waters better. Your outing will be less tedious.

I have learned over the years to keep things simple and light!! I cover a lot of water when I bank fish. So carrying a back pack, sling pack, waist pack, etc full of stuff that more than likely will not be used, will weigh on you after a couple of hours. I know many would just place the bag on the ground and fish. But I don't fish like that. Everything is easily accessible to me in a sling pack. Picking up and putting down a bag constantly is PITA to me. If you really know your waters. You will know at any given part of year what baits will and will not work. So carry a "few" baits that have worked for you in the past during that time of year. As far as rods, i only carry one, and spool of yozuri, for leaders. My phone, a bottle of water, scale, ruler, pliers and a rag and I am good to go.

Thanks for the report George!! Slaying them as always.

I use Columbia gloves and sun hat. The gloves fingers are cut to the middle knuckle and grip pads all along the palm side. Wet or not the gloves never slip and i have my hands fully protected from the sun. My hat has a big brim and a light flap that covers the back of my head, ears and neck. That with a pair of Costa's, a long sleeve sun shirt, and pants and you are talking about really good sun protection and insulation. South FL sun is never forgiving.

My son, BIL and I took a trip out to the Everglades yesterday. We launched out of MM35 and Alligator Alley. The day was beautiful. A little bit on the warm side, but manageable. The fishing was not out of this world, but we caught some quality fish during our outing. The baits that produced for us were: stick baits, uvibes, mice, and frogs. Bass count was 23, and the biggest fish of the day went for 4 lbs, and measured 19" caught on a frog. All in all we had great day. My son enjoyed the trip which was the main thing. I am very proud of him. We fished from 930am to 645 pm. That's pretty tough to do.

Your first question was answered, to answer your second. A good buddy of mine turned me to using Trokar flipping hooks. They are stout and incredibly sharp!!

The darker and nastier the water is the darker they will become. That 's nice fish.

Both fish are obviously LMB bass. The one on the top was caught out of clear water lake, the one on the bottom was caught in the Everglades. The water these fish live and hang out in will effect their color.

I can't really see the first fish. Either way. It's a bass that's a little darker than the bass on the bottom. Perfectly normal. It depends where the top bass was hanging out that makes it darker than the bass on the bottom pic.

Being from South Fl, I have been fortunate to have caught my fair share of peacocks. They are very strong fighters, and there is no quit in them.

Unless something physically has occurred that you have to switch hands then keep the reel. This is not the case with you. Sell the reel. Unless you are going to dedicate a month or so to retrain your brain then go for it. If not its not worth to keep imho. Sell it for a reel you are really going to use. Good luck.

Dobyns rods have one of the better warranties around. St. Croix does as well.