soflabasser

Yes bass lures will work but it will be better if you try using saltwater lures such as bucktail jigs, jerkbaits, poppers, gotcha plugs, and other saltwater lures. Live bait or fresh cutbait might be a better option depending on what fish you are targeting.

Congratulations to your friend for catching his personal best snook. They are one of my favorite fish to catch and any snook over 40 inches is a trophy snook that is much more powerful than any largemouth or smallmouth bass.

Have done well fishing docks with senkos, super flukes, and poppers thrown under and around a dock.

You are welcome. You can also cut a piece of fishing line to measure the length and girth of a bass. The following formula is very accurate in estimating a weight of a bass= Length×Length×Girth÷1200= estimated weight of a bass. For example; 26.5*26.5*18÷1200=10.53 pounds. Its off by a couple ounces but it's better than nothing.

Congratulations on catching your second biggest bass. It would be best to bring a scale with you to know how much a bass truly weighs or ar least bring a tape measure to measure it's length and girth for a estimated weight.

Thank you for posting this @Bassin' Brad. A couple months ago I stopped fishing with a buddy since he was drunk in the morning when I met him at his house to go fishing. He wanted me to join him in his truck while towing his boat but I said no and told him I will meet him in the Marina with my car. Long story short he got stopped in the highway since he was driving like a typical drunk and he was arrested for DUI. I no longer invite him to go fishing with me and he knows better to not call me again to ask to go fishing. Life is too short to risk getting in a car/boat crash with someone who thinks driving under the influence of a drug is a great idea.

Fish at night. Use lures that are productive for you. Consider trying out new lures that people barely use in the area you fish.

Congratulations on your new personal best bass.

Sounds like a good place to fish with a hollow belly frog or other type of weedless lure. You can also look for areas that are relatively free of aquatic vegetation and try fishing these areas.

My little cousin uses yellow braid for all his bass fishing and he does well with it. Fished with orange braid before and still caught some nice bass on it. I prefer using green braid but having confidence in what you are using is far more important.

Come to Florida and your opinion might change on this subject. I and many other Florida bass fishermen catch trophy bass from the shore and many of these trophy bass are from public waters, even in June- August which are months not associated with the pre-spawn and spawn. I don't like senkos since its a boring bait to use for me but these lures have their place and time they do well, such as a beginner lure, a lure for someone that fatigues quickly with moving lures, or sometimes it's one of the best lures to use in certain conditions,etc.

I don't like those people who think its a great idea to be under the influence of a drug ( such as alcohol) when fishing and I stay far away from them once I realize they have a substance abuse problem.

Congratulations on your new personal best bass.

Welcome to the forum @Traumabrew. SouthWest Florida has very good fishing for both freshwater and saltwater fish. I have done well fishing this area of the state with hollow belly frogs, poppers, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, zoom super flukes, trick worms, and other Texas rigged soft plastics. Look for parks and other areas that are considered public waters and get permission to fish private waters before fishing them.

There's one lake I fish where I have caught several bass up 5 pounds on hotdogs while fishing for channel catfish. Another body of water where I have caught bass close to 8 pounds on cutbait meant for channel catfish and bowfin. Have caught bass on the saltwater side of spillways( one side is freshwater and the other side is saltwater). Got other examples but these are some of the strangest patterns I have seen while bass fishing in South Florida.

Try fishing with fresh cutbait, chicken liver, or even hotdogs.

Congratulations on your new personal best bass.

You can make your own wooden poppers without a rattle if you want. Its not that hard and there's many online sources that teach how to make these types of lures.You can paint the wooden popper whatever color you want as well. Best part is that you will have the satisfaction of catching a fish on a lure you made with your own hands.

Congratulations on your new personal best bass.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Good subject. I have noticed that the smallmouth bass I have hold by the belly seem to be more calm than when lipping them. This technique seems to work on small/medium largemouth bass as well but not so well on peacock bass, those fish don't know what giving up means!

Sounds like it might be a good idea to fish for carp.

Zoom super flukes, jerkbaits, crankbaits,spinnerbaits,etc are fun lures to use when the bass bite is on fire in the areas I fish for large numbers of bass.