soflabasser

Congratulations on your new PB.

Not all fish have the same mercury levels in South Florida canals and the amount of mercury in a fish depends on a lot of factors, such as size of fish,age of fish,if the fish is a predator or herbivore, location of where the fish was caught, etc.California has a huge problem with mercury and other chemicals in fish, especially in Southern California(last time I went to California there where lots of do not eat fish signs by the ocean,Florida does not have these signs by the ocean). A person could still eat certain portions of bass, peacock bass, snakehead, other freshwater fish if they wanted to and be ok, but I rather not take that risk with freshwater fish.I rather release freshwater fish and eat the saltwater fish, lobster, shrimp, etc that I catch instead. Snakehead are very similar to bass since they will eat almost anything that will fit in their mouths and that's one of the reasons why I enjoy snakehead fishing so much.My favorite way of catching snakeheads is with frogs and spinnerbaits.As far as fighting ability a snakehead fights much better pound for pound than any largemouth or smallmouth bass can ever fight, especially when it comes to the initial hit and first couple runs.These fish are a blast to catch and I am glad we have snakeheads in South Florida!

Congratulations on your first Muskie. They sure are fun to catch on light tackle.

Your bass should be over 10 pounds with these measurements( Length * Length * Girth / 1200= estimated weight of bass). Congratulations on your new PB!

Have caught lots of bullseye snakehead but I would not eat them since they have high levels of mercury and other contaminants in their meat,especially in the canals I fish for them.

Try tarpon fishing in South Florida. Its common to only land one out of every 2-6 fish you hook, if you are experienced at big game fishing.As for me, I have lost lots of fish(including big bass) throughout the years and I feel losing these fish has made me a better fisherman in the long run. Always make sure your drag is set well, the fishing line is in good condition, the hooks are needle point sharp, retie knots often, and be careful when landing the fish, since many times a fish throws out the hook when its right next to your hands.

Same here. Small/medium bass are a dime a dozen and after a while I get bored of catching them. Big bass are much more difficult to consistently catch and provide the type of challenge I enjoy most in bass fishing.

^ Good advice ^ I recently caught a bunch of nice smallies( including citation sized ones) and I caught these smallies by working rocky areas with crank baits.

You are welcome @Austin11C.My better half enjoys fishing, just nowhere near as much as I do.She's ok with fishing for a couple hours, but I tend to fish for 8 to +12 hours at a time and thats not something everyone enjoys. She still fishes these long fishing trips with me and we recently came back from a fishing trip up north. I consider her my lucky charm since I often catch big fish when she's by my side and on this trip I caught several citation sized muskies and smallies . Some of her other hobbies are running, weight lifting, diving, and feeding wildlife, I join her in these hobbies as well. Good answer.

You just answered your own question. She is supportive of your hobbies, loves you, and you feel she's worth it. A good woman is very hard to find, and you don't want to mess it up just because she doesn't like fishing.Invite her every time you go fishing and make the fishing trip fun for her when she joins you.Put her on some fish, give her a camera to take wildlife pictures, make a picnic for her,etc.With time she will join you fishing more often.

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of places you can catch peacock bass in South Florida and you should be able to catch lots of them during your vacation.Almost every freshwater canal down here holds these fish, and its not uncommon to catch +5 pounders on a good day.Some lures that I have had success with are the following; Rapala x-rap, Rapala floating minnow, Heddon tiny torpedo,Rebel pop-r,crankbaits,etc.A good place you can try that is less than a hour's drive from Hollywood is the canal systems near the Opa Locka Airport.These canals are loaded with exotic fish, and you have a chance of catching freshwater snook and tarpon as well. The canal directly behind Opa Locka Airport on Red Road and NW 142nd Street is particularly good, especially the ''L'' shaped section. Once you catch a couple peacock bass you can go to Amelia Earhart Park, which is less than 10 minutes away from this canal. There isn't much peacock bass in this park, but the bass fishing is excellent. Most of the bass I catch in this park are 1-4 pounds and I have lost count of the +6 pounders I have caught, including one that was +8 pounds and +24 inches in length in the lake by the soccer field.You should be able to catch over 10 bass if you fish for a couple hours.Let me know if you need more help and have fun!

The Heddon tiny torpedo is one of my favorite topwaters to use for bass and it's also a good multi species lure.

There's a couple lakes that I spent a big part of my childhood fishing which I might go back to fish in the near future.In one of these lakes I have caught largemouth bass over 10 pounds, channel catfish over 20 pounds, bluegill over 2 pounds,redear shellcracker over 2 pounds, and peacock bass over 8 pounds.I have very fond memories of this lake and would consider moving close to it.

Well done!

I just came back from a trip up north and caught a couple smallmouth bass for the first time, they are a blast to catch and its worth making a trip to fish for them. Pound for pound smallmouth bass are stronger than a equal sized largemouth bass, but butterfly peacock bass are much stronger than a smallmouth bass. Good list! I plan on fishing South America for speckled peacock bass and other strong fighting fish of the Amazon.

That's a good list you have. I recently caught my first couple smallmouth bass on shallow running crankbaits while fishing in a river. Cast the crankbait upstream and work the crankbait downstream.

Nice Tiger Muskie! I recently came back from a fishing trip up north and caught 2 Muskies on light tackle. They are a blast to catch!!!

Topwater fishing is by far my favorite form of bass fishing and I tend to do best with this technique when fishing low light conditions such as sunrise, overcast/cloudy days, sunset, and at night. Some lures I use are Rebel Pop-R's, Zara Spooks, Live Target Hollow Body Frogs, and various other topwaters. Good places to fish these are near man made structures, shallow areas near deep water, over heavy aquatic vegetation( hollow belly lures), and in areas where baitfish are being attacked near the surface by bass.

Topwater fishing is by far my favorite form of bass fishing and I tend to do best with this technique when fishing low light conditions such as sunrise, overcast/cloudy days, sunset, and at night. Some lures I use are Rebel Pop-R's, Zara Spooks, Live Target Hollow Body Frogs, and various other topwaters. Good places to fish these are near man made structures, shallow areas near deep water, over heavy aquatic vegetation( hollow belly lures), and in areas where baitfish are being attacked near the surface by bass.

Try fishing at nighttime.

Have you tried fishing small ponds in your area for big bluegills and redear shellcrackers? I have done much better in small ponds than in canals.The bluegills are bedding at this moment in South Florida so you can catch them off a nest and I find most of these nest in flats with calm water.

Another good tip for bank fishing is to try fishing at night in places you would usually fish during the day.A lot of times bass are more active at night,especially in bodies of water that are hit hard by fishermen,pleasure boaters,etc.

Have caught big bluegills on jerkbaits but have done better using bread(have caught +2 pound,+13" bluegills this way).As for big redear shellcrackers I have done well using live red wiggler worms.If you only want to use lures you can use small flukes,small topwaters,beetle spins,and crappie jigs.

Congratulations on your new PB

Ten pounders are rare everywhere but are much more common in Central Florida when compared to South Florida.I got family that live close to where this bass was caught and my cousins say +8 pounders get caught frequently by where they live.