soflabasser

Good report thank you for posting it. Have caught many tarpon and agree they are a fish worth traveling for. Tarpon are much more powerful pound for pound than most if not all North American freshwater fish and they jump multiple times in a fight. Another fish worth targeting is a shark over 8 feet while standing up and no fighting gear, that will give even a very strong man a fight he will never forget.

As a multi species fisherman I find it difficult to understand why these walleye fishermen hate muskie so much. Yes muskies eat whatever they can catch, but so do bass,walleye,trout, basically every predatory fish does this. I don't eat muskie but I have read they taste very good, so muskie are not trash fish in any way. Guess some people are just set in thier ways and don't want to grow as a fisherman and target new species of fish. Oh well that leaves more fish for us multi species fishermen.

I am a member of a swimbait fishing forum and have seen many big bass caught the past couple years in Southern California. Lots of California members are posting plenty of big bass in the 10 to +13 pound class. The members of this forum have a monthly competition and they have to submit pictures of the bass on a scale so there's no guessing the weight.These are the new generation of dedicated trophy bass fishermen that mostly fish with big swimbaits. It seems like they have no problem catching +10 pounders in Southern California at this moment in time, even if there are so many fishermen in Southern California fishing relatively small bodies of water. I have learned a lot about swimbait fishing from these members of that forum and they are very good fishermen to consistently catch +10 pounders on swimbaits in today's age when most highly experienced bass fisherman in California are having a hard time with 5-9 pound bass when they use to catch much bigger ones +25 years ago. I read about that bass, he was very fortunate to catch it on a chicken nugget. I have caught some big bass on cutbait while fishing for channel catfish so anything is possible with largemouth bass. Have read that some people make bottle cap lures and catch some nice bass, I wonder what would be the next "latest and greatest lure"? Only time will tell!

A bass will glady eat a baby muskie if it gets the chance and this happens all the time. It's survival of the fittest for these fish and the top fish will survive and the weaker,older,etc usually do not. Many saltwater fishermen in South Florida do not like barracudas and sharks since they steal fish and lures, but there is no denying that barracudas and sharks are much stronger gamefish than most fish that are eaten by them. I much rather fish for big powerful fish like a barracuda or muskie than fish for a small fish that rarely weights 10 pounds, but that's just me.

10 years is a very long time without catching a DD bass, do you still target DD bass or you fish more for numbers of small/medium bass now? I read reports of the new age of California bass fishermen that are catching 10,11,12, and +13 pound bass at this moment in time, mostly on big swimbaits. It seems like California is still a good place to catch a trophy bass but not nowhere what it used to be +25 years ago.Seems like it was very easy back then to get a DD from Southern California and things have changed, maybe more people targeting these fish and less bass are reaching trophy status? My last DD bass was only a couple years ago ( caught on a artificial lure from public land in South Florida which is much more difficult than fishing on a boat in Central Florida) and I caught one less than a ounce under 10 a little over a year ago,also on a artificial lure from public land in South Florida. Lots of 7-9 pounders since then and honestly I barely fish for largemouth bass since I am more of a multi species fisherman than a bass fisherman. Too much variety of much stronger fish to choose from in South Florida which makes it very hard to fish just for largemouth bass!

The rage tail menace looks like it will do good in the places I fish for smallies. Might get a couple packs of them and give them a try on my next trip up north.

I have caught suckers while fishing on the bottom for catfish. I used light mono, size 4 hook, a split shot 3 feet away from the hook, and a live worm.

Congratulations on catching your first rainbow trout.

I have read about that and even seen a video on YouTube of some clown that killed a muskie because "its eating all the walleye". That video was sent to DNR and he was punished for what he did.

You are correct that you can catch big bass on regular lures, but your success has probably more to do with the location you fish and your several decades experience fishing trophy bass in your waters. It still doesn't change the fact that swimbaits and other big bass lures( this includes large spinnerbaits, buzzbaits,big crankbaits, big lipless crankbaits, jigs with trailers,etc) tend to attract bigger bass than a small lure. There are exceptions of course, just like the +18 pound Texas state record was caught by a crappie fisherman with a small minnow and other people who catch +15 pounders on very small lures like the woman in this article; http://www.gameandfishmag.com/fishing/bass/largemouth-bass/10-biggest-largemouth-bass-world-records-ever/ She caught that 15-pound, 12-ounce bass on a little Strobe spinner and that bass is bigger than most bass people will catch in Florida.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Funny you should say that. I caught a big football shaped northern strain largemouth bass while muskie fishing a little over a year ago. It was nice to catch this bass but I saw this bass as bycatch and would of preferred to catch another muskie. I read that the walleye fishermen in Minnesota do not like muskies and that they want to stop stocking muskies/ remove all muskies from the "walleye lakes". That to me is nonsense since muskies are a much better game fish than a walleye in many ways.

Here's another good piece of advice for a new bass fisherman; Find someone who is a much better bass fisherman than yourself and become a good friend to them. Make sure to always join them when they invite you and help them out if they ask you for help. You will learn much more when fishing with someone who is a much better fisherman than yourself than fishing with someone who is at your level or less. I know this sounds very blunt but it is my honest advise and its what I did in my first couple years of bass fishing.Its like the saying " You can't soar like an eagle when you surround yourself with turkeys" so make sure to surround yourself with eagles and not turkeys and you will become a much better fisherman in a much shorter amount of time.

No one is immune to losing lures and I have lost plenty of lures while fishing. Big bass tend to live in or near some nasty structure so every big bass fisherman has to accept that they will lose plenty of lures while fishing.

A trophy bass fisherman and muskie fisherman are very similar to each other. Both fish with larger than normal lures. Both target very difficult to catch fish. Both spend more days fishing than catching but they tend to catch several "fish of a lifetime" when most fishermen are lucky to get 1-2 of these fish in a lifetime. These type of fisherman are a different breed than most fishermen...they are so persistent and determined than many see them as obsessed and stubborn in the way they fish. I am one of those fishermen and all the hard fishing trips I have endured and will continue to endure are all worth it when I land my next trophy bass and my next muskie. Yes a glide bait is a good lure for big bass. The little bass will hit it too but the average bass will be bigger. You will have to be very patient to fish these types of lures.

Welcome to the forum

Yes South Florida is a fisherman's paradise but fishing for muskie is also fun and worth traveling for. Sounds like a bass pattern swimbait might be a good lure to use there.

Fish at night

Sounds like the state of Nebraska is doing the right thing for those who enjoy catching muskies and those who want to catch a sportfish over 10 pounds on a regular basis. I enjoy bass fishing but would much rather catch another muskie over 40" than catch another bass over 8 pounds.

There are many ways to catch a big bass but this way looks more fun than most;

Nothing compares to having a big fish blow up on a topwater lure, whether its a bass,snook, muskie, or a big saltwater game fish.

Welcome to the forum

Well said @scaleface. Down here we have several tournaments in the Everglades where most of the competitors have never caught a 10 pound or better largemouth bass in their entire life, even though they bass fish in the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, Lake Istokpoga, Lake Weohyakapka, and other well known trophy bass lakes from a boat.These are people who live and breathe bass fishing and rarely fish for other fish.Makes me appreciate all the big bass I have caught from land in public waters to say the least!