soflabasser

Welcome to the forum

The most important thing you should do in fishing is have fun. Do your best to learn from each fishing trip with time you will improve and catch more fish.

Being an accurate caster is like anything in life, the more you practice the better you get.

I remember you posting this picture earlier, that jack must of given a great fight. Pound for pound they are one of the best fighting fish. A shark fishing friend told me that ''elephants eat peanuts'' when it comes to shark fishing. You can hook up to a +8 foot shark on a small piece of cutbait, jacks are similar in that they will hit any sized lure when the conditions are good.

I own a custom rod that was given to me as a gift, it is a nice rod but I prefer my regular rods. You do not need expensive tackle to well in bass fishing. What matters most is knowing how to locate bass and knowing how to catch them. I do own expensive reels for saltwater fishing since these reels do make a difference when targeting powerful saltwater fish. There is a reason why Ugly Stiks have been made for several decades and so many people like them. They are hard to beat for how much they cost and how durable they are.

Congratulations on your new personal best bass.

We all have days we do not catch fish and it is ok since any day you get to go fishing is a good day. If you get a chance to visit the Florida keys I recommend you try shark fishing there. Mullet is a good bait which you can buy in a bait store. I prefer fishing with jack crevalle. Good lures to use for jack crevalle are topwaters, jerkbaits, and jigs. Look for areas that there is deep water close to the shore.

Welcome to the forum

How did your shark fishing trip go and what types of sharks did you catch? I have kayaked baits out at night, it takes some time to get used to it but it is worth it if it means you can catch a big shark.

Topwaters are a versatile lure that can be fished all across the country in many different conditions. There are times other lures work better so I use them if needed but I much rather have a big bass hit a topwater than any other lure.

I catch lots of bass on topwaters so I would say it is my favorite lure to fish with.

I am well aware how amazing the fishing can be in the Everglades since I have had many +100 fish days. One thing I have learned is that bass fishermen can be very envious if they are beaten in a fishing competition, especially if it is by a big margin. It seems competition brings out the worst in some people and those people seem to forget that the #1 reason anyone should be fishing is for fun, everything else should be second at best. The Miami Herald rules simply stated the winner is the man who catches the most bass so that man who caught thousands of bass in the Everglades is the winner regardless how much whining the other competitors do. You still need to know what you are doing in the Everglades, I know people that have fished the exact places I fish and not do as good as I do. Some of these fishermen complained to me that I did not give them a good spot even though I gave them spots that I have caught hundreds of fish. Goes to show you that you can fish the best spots with the best lures, but it does not mean much if you do not know what you are doing. With that said I am not surprised he did so well with Rapalas since they are one of the best lures in the history of fishing. I have a large collection of Rapalas, many of them are several decades old and still catch fish today just like they did back then.

One of my favorite frog fishing rods is a heavy action 6 foot rod. It has helped me catch lots of big bass and is perfect for bank fishing in areas with overhead trees and heavy aquatic vegetation. In places like these accurate cast and strength is much more important than how far you can cast.

I use a mono leader with braid and use a uni to uni knot.

I like to fish with shorter rods when I am bank fishing in a place with lots of trees and other plants.

Sounds like a bunch of people where envious of his success and could not stand being beat by someone who was a better fisherman. Good thing he won the Miami Herald fishing contest since he earned it. Rapalas are still one of the best lures you can use in the Everglades to catch lots of fish if you know how to fish them well.

Rapala makes some of the best lures in the world so I am not surprised many recommend these lures. Make sure to fish with light line if you are fishing with the lighter Rapalas.

There are places I fish where I catch bass that are more silver/green in color than the normal green/black coloration. Other places the bass have a golden color with not much black patterns. This shows that bass can have varied coloration which depends on many factors such as genetics, environment, etc.

I have seen people speeding in no wake manatee zones, they have no respect for the environment and only care about themselves. The worst ones are the jet skiers.

I fish with larger topwaters when I am specifically fishing for larger fish and smaller topwaters when I am fishing for smaller fish. With that said I have caught small to medium size bass on large topwaters and big bass on small topwaters so always bring a variety of topwaters to see which one works best on a particular day.

Welcome to the forum

Today is a good day. The USA won the most gold medals and the most medals in the Olympic Games. So many obstacles caused by the Pandemic, so many insulted our athletes, but in the end of the day none of that was enough to defeat our country. The USA earned 39 gold medals, 41 silver medals, 33 bronze medals for a total of 113 medals in The 2021 Olympic Games and this game will be in the history books.

Most fishermen are willing to share if you are respectful towards them and you show that you respect the environment.

I rather release the bass as quick as possible than tag them. If you own the lake do whatever you want but if you do not own it make sure to get permission from the lake owner to tag bass since the lake owner might not like you tagging the bass in his or her private lake.

It is best to invest in high quality hooks .