soflabasser

Try fishing at night.

I know a couple guys down here that put largemouth bass on the tallest of pedestals and won't harvest a single bass for food, even for a friend or family member. These same fishermen fish bass only for "sport" and rarely leave their comfort zone to fish other species. To them a crappie and basically any other freshwater fish is less than a bass, which to me makes no sense, but then again I enjoy multi species fishing and have a open mind. As for me, I will consider harvesting a bass if a family or friend ask me and see nothing wrong with harvesting a legal catch.

You should go if you get her approval. If not stay home and help her.

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Welcome to the forum

I like using the uni knot when fishing swimbaits. For line I like using 20-25 pound test big game mono or 30-50 pound test braid, depending on the swimbait I am using.

Nice app. I been using my phones memo pad to document how many bass I catch on some trips. Before that I use to write them down on a piece of paper, including one day that I caught 149 bass in 1 day from land in the Everglades. I caught more than that in sunfish, oscar,bowfin, gar,etc so I easily caught over 300 fish that day.

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Do whatever gives you confidence since that's far more important than if you use leader or not, what brand line you use,etc. A confident fisherman with the "wrong lure" will outfish a non confident fisherman with the "right lure" most of the time.

I am from South Florida and caught my first pure bred muskie in the very first day I ever fished for them while on vacation up north. Caught a couple more pure bred muskies after that one and plan on making more trips up north to catch more muskies.I caught it from land in public waters so you don't need a guide if you do your research on muskie fishing. They are indeed a difficult fish to catch but they can be caught like most fish can. I caught my first muskie on a swimbait, just like you use for bass and would suggest you bring some swimbaits when you fish for muskie. Other good lures are gliders, muskie bucktails, spinnerbaits, large jerkbaits,crankbaits, and Zara spooks to name a few lures. You must use a wire leader( at least 16-24") when muskie fishing since they have sharp teeth like a barracuda and you will most likely lose most muskies you hook on typical bass mono. Yes, some people get lucky and land a big muskie on 4 pound test mono with no leader but that is very rare. You could use a mono leader of 150-200 pound test but that is no guarantee since they can still cut mono lines of this size. You can also use live bait such as suckers or anything the state allows you to use. A quick strike rig can increase the percentage of hooked muskie so you can use this rig if you want.Make sure to have a rod with plenty of backbone and a reel with a good, smooth drag since a decent sized muskie fights much harder than any largemouth or smallmouth bass can. I hope you catch a muskie since it will be a experience you will never forget and might get you addicted to muskie fishing, which is a good thing.

That's terrible. Can't believe its snowing in many northern states still. This has to be one of the coldest winters in many years for it to still be snowing in April. You all can keep that snow and having to wear a sweater for 9 months out of the year.

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Its a good idea to carry a 2 piece rod in the back of your car along with a small tacklebox of lures. This way you can fish places you drive by that you might not want to make a full trip for. Well said.You don't need expensive gear to catch bass and you might even have a little fun if you fish in ways most people don't. This may make some people laugh but I have caught plenty of +6 pound bass on YoYo reels or 2 foot ice rods for fun...lol

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People that tend to specifically target trophy bass don't fish tournaments much since big bass fishing involves lots of days where you don't catch many fish. Tournament fishing is all about catching a 5 bass limit in a short amount of time, and that is not very productive way to catch a +10 pound bass. Yes there are tournaments where some people catch +10 pounders, but it is rare, especially in today's age. You could try some lures well known for catching trophy bass such as swimbaits, but don't be surprised if you have a harder time catching a winning 5 bass limit in the short amount of time you get in a tournament.

I catch plenty of big bass in extremely clear water( +15 foot visibility) that is highly pressured using strait braid attached to the lure. Its easy for someone to blame the line, the rod, the lures the weather, etc and not pay attention at what they are doing right or wrong when fishing. Having confidence in how you are fishing is far more important than if a person if using braid or mono. Besides lots of bass fisherman catch some nice bass using strait braid in the clearest water.

I recently caught a +7 pound, 24" bass as bycatch while fishing for freshwater tarpon and snook. I was using a 100 pound test mono leader( big snook have sharp gillplates that cut the line and tarpon tend to destroy braided line with no leader) and that bass did not care one bit. Have even caught big northern strain largemouth bass with a wire leader while muskie fishing. Rainbow trout seem to be much more warry of line and I caught more rainbow trout with 6 pound test mono compared to when I was using 12 pound test mono.

Live Target and Booyah makes good hollow belly frogs

That is true but past reports can teach a fisherman what type of fish bite on a particular body of water, what they bite, time of year that's good to fish, weather, etc. I have used old online reports from various forums, state fishing reports,word of mouth from fishermen I meet in person,etc to find new fishing locations( which has led me to catch more big bass in more different locations) and that makes it worthwhile to get old reports.

Try to learn from every single fishing trip you have and have a open mind when it comes to fishing.

Good subject. The most recommended lure is not worth much if the bass don't want to bite it on a particular day. It is up to the fisherman to figure out what lure the bass wants and give it to the bass in order to catch that bass. That involves time on the water which is the best teacher for anyone that fishes for bass and everyone needs to do the best they can to learn on each fishing trip if they plan on becoming a better bass fisherman. Well said, especially #2

Interesting quote from this book that is over 100 years old. It is not 100% accurate for all locations since heavy rains can be a blessing for many types of fishing, at least in some areas I bass fish in.

Good selection of lures, especially the lipless crankbait which is a very good multi species lure. The jitterbug is a very good topwater lure, especially at night. Yes I like fishing with topwaters to say the least and its the type of lure I have the most confidence in. I am also confident in using swimbaits,spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits( both lipped and lipless), soft plastics, jigs, basically most general types of lures for bass. Maybe that is what's more important in bass fishing, having confidence in the lure you are using, that to me is much more important than what lure someone uses, since what works for me might not work for you and vice versa. Besides I would quickly get bored of chasing little green fish that barely weigh 10 pounds in most places if I could only fish with 3 lures for the rest of my life. Variety is the spice of life and I enjoy tricking bass to bite whatever lure I feel using on a particular day.

Reminds me of my most recent trip up north when I caught 3 big carp on a lure while fishing for smallmouth bass. I thought I had a very big smallmouth bass at first but then the carp showed itself.These carp where not what I was specifically targeting at that moment but still very fun fish to catch on artificials.

Welcome to the forum