bigbassin'

My Walmart carries Arkie jigs for $1.46, but they only have black and blue.

Well for starters, the fish has to be catchable. If it leaves the bed and isn't a monster I typically just move on because these fish won't be that aggressive in my experience. Once I've found a good bed to fish try to see if there is any hard cover in the bed (stick, rock, soda can, etc.) as bringing your bait around it will often trigger the fish to bite. My go to baits will be a t-rigged craw, worm, a jig, and a drop shot. Cast just past the bed and bring your lure onto it. Keep your bait on the bed for as long as possible, while just barely shaking it. Take different angles when you bring your lure through the bed and see if anyone path produces a bigger reaction from the fish, if so repeat this path. I'll normally move on after taking 10 casts with each lure if I haven't been hit yet.

I probably make 3 trips on the bank for every 1 I take in a boat, however I feel like this isn't really needed. In my experience the only real differences are that it's harder to free a snagged lure from the bank, deep diving cranks are more or less useless from the bank, and you can't cover as much water on foot. Other than that I fell like the same techniques work and seasonal patterns are the same, just small bodies of water transition faster.

Well I went out there today just for a few hours from shore and got two off cypress trees like you had said N Florida Mike. Both were caught with red square bills. Thanks for the advice guys.

For grass they're phenomenal just swimming them. Around wood, I like to use a 1/8 ounce weight and swim them until contact is made with wood, then let them drop down the side of the wood. Never tried them around rocks, but I'm sure they'd still work.

I've always gotten the kvd's to come through rocks and wood pretty good without snagging. With that being said, I don't typically use cranks while river fishing, so take that with a grain of salt.

I personally like the booyah poppin pad crasher. Walks easy, can be fished like a popper, or you can combine the two.

Has anyone ever tried fishing for Suwannee Bass in the Santa Fe River? If so, are there any tips or tricks to fishing the river for the Suwannees/Largemouths? Also, I'll be in a 8 inflatable with a 30 pound thrust trolling motor, will the motor be able to handle the river's current?

Easily my most productive technique for fishing lily pads. I like fishing them weightless if I'm trying to keep them at the top. It lets you go slower, which I feel can help on certain days.

Picked up a whopper plopper 90 in blue blood and Spro rat 40 in brown. Tested them briefly earlier and was very happy with the rat's action. I wish I had gone up to the 130 on the whopper plopper and gotten a different color. Blue Blood was fairly translucent, which I'm not a fan of since I typically fish pretty stained water.

Is there any clearance between the weeds and the surface? If so a shallow crankbait highsticked like a shallow a or Mann's Baby minus-1, buzzbaits, waking a spinnerbait, or waking a chatterbait would be viable hard bait options. T-rigged speed worms and swimbaits kept moving would also work if there is clearance or if it's eel grass. If it goes all the way to the top and isn't eel grass, frogs and toads are about your only options.

After reading the soft body thread and personally having a lot of success with them, I'm curious if anyone here throws hard body swim baits for Florida bass? Just about everyone I know regularly uses the paddle tails, but I've never heard anyone mention the hard bodies.

Unless I'm fishing a ridiculously thick mat where I'll just be dragging the frog, I fish a popping frog. IMO they walk easier, and you can also change up the retrieve and pop it.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll have to grab another pack before the topwater bite gets good I guess. I actually have used the rage toads gardnerjigman. Did great with them too, got several fish over 3 pounds on a single outing with them near the end of topwater season last year and figured I'd pick these up to have a different profile if the rage toads aren't cutting it on an outing.

I was using 12 lb test mono. I had them t-rigged on a 4/0 gamakatsu ewg hook.

I picked up a pack of these and they had absolutely no action. I also had to burn a 7.1 reel just to try to keep them on the surface. Is this the norm with these or did I get a bad pack?

Zoom U-vibe speed worm in Junebug Red Zoom Super Fluke in Watermelon Red KVD 1.5 in Tennessee Shad 1/2 Green Pumpkin Jig with Zoom U-vibe Speed Craw Trailer Booyah Pooppin' Pad Crasher in Leopard

Chrome and Blue rattle trap

Pit bosses have only produced one fish for me in two years, and while it's more of a setup than a lure, for all the hype surrounding the Ned rig, I'm of the opinion bass actually swim away from the area when I'm throwing it.

Thanks for the replies, I'll probably look into getting one.

Anyone fish this swimbait? If so what are your opinions on this lure?

I'm not sure how much the color had to do with it, but my 3 biggest crankbait fish (and pb) all came off a crankbait with an orange stripe on the bottom, so it definitely doesn't hurt.

I think Dave Jakes hit the nail on the head.

Is water shield any good for bass fishing, and if so how do y'all attack it? I started fishing a new lake where this is the primary vegetation and have so far only caught a pickerel out of it. I know there's bass in the lake as we've caught about 15 in two trips while fishing the cat tails and kissimmee grass. If it helps, water has about 12 foot of visibility and the water temp is around 70. Max depth is around 30 foot and the water shield seems to be in about 8 foot or less.

It depends on the school. Some schools (I want to say maybe Tennessee and West Virginia both do but I'm not positive) supply boats for the anglers, have it listed as a D1 sport, and student's competing are eligible for scholarships. Others have scholarships but you need your own boat. Most though are listed as sports clubs but not D1, and the university doesn't supply scholarships, boats, or trucks and the kids are responsible for providing this.