soflabasser

My favorite lures are topwater so I like to fish with equipment that can fish these lures well. I fish with topwaters of various sizes so I use whichever rod I feel will work well with the topwater I am fishing with.

I also judge my reels by the size fish they can catch and how long they can last. That is why I like my Penn and Shimano reels so much, they have proven themselves to be extremely reliable. Caught a couple new personal best fish this year and these reels preformed flawlessly under pressure of powerful fish.

This thread reminds me why I stick to proven brands and not fish brands overhyped by social medial influencers, especially the ones that are being paid to say certain fishing reels are great when they are not. There are honest social media influencers and I recently saw a video of a Youtuber complaining a certain reel broke while catching bait in saltwater. If this reel is not good enough for bait fishing it will not be good enough for catching large saltwater fish in the long run.

The best fishing partner a man can have is his Wife.

I have fished for over 20 years and in that time I have caught many memorable fish and I still enjoy fishing for whatever bites whether it is a tiny mosquitofish or a shark that weighs several hundreds of pounds. I do not discriminate any fish I catch since I am grateful for every fish I can catch. I release +99.9% of what I catch as well and do my best to safely release fish.

I prefer the Summer Olympics as well especially Swimming, Gymnastics, and Track and Field. Americans have broken several Olympic records recently which is very satisfying to see. Imagine the mental strength needed to train during a Pandemic that has lasted for over 1.5 years and seems to never end, that alone earns respect! They are representing us the best they can and we have to be grateful for it!

America has the most medals at this moment in time and hopefully will have the most gold medals in the 2021 Olympics. Regardless what happens the USA has the most gold medals in the history of the Olympics games. It is impressive how strong our athletes are considering all they had to go through this Pandemic.

It is easy to be a armchair quarterback and criticize Olympic athletes. Any true athlete understands that speed walking is a much more difficult sport than it appears. I have ran Marathons, ran sub 5 minute miles, done century bike rides, free dived depths most would never dare and I respect speed walkers since I know how hard this sport can be. The best speed walkers can speed walk a marathon in sub 7 minute mile pace, this is something that is much more difficult than drinking beer on a bass boat to say the least.

It is common for people to only use braid when fishing with frogs and other soft plastic lures in areas with heavy aquatic vegetation.

Lol! Most fishermen like to quiet about certain things and I do not blame them. I like to share so I mentioned how certain places I fish have amazing fishing when the water level is high. Other places have amazing fishing when the water level is low. I learned this by putting my time on the water, I am sure there are many members that do well in high water conditions as well. It is very easy to complain about how hot it is, how much it has rained, all that complaining doesn't fix anything. What works is doing your best and learn as much as possible from each fishing trip. Here in South Florida people are currently complaining about how hot it is and how much it has rained yet there are many people here that are catching lots of bass regardless of these conditions. Bass are have a higher metabolism during the Summer which means they have to eat more. This means there will always be some bass feeding, you just have to figure out what they want, where they want it, and when they want it.

There are places I fish that the fishing is amazing when the water level is up.

Well said. A true Outdoorsman follows proper fishing etiquette. Googans on the other hand do not care about fishing etiquette and they will do whatever they want even if it hurts the resource.

Make sure to get a rod with a strong backbone so you can set the hook hard when frog fishing.

I have lost count of the amount of boaters that have moved less than 100 feet from where I was fishing since they saw me catching fish. This makes me laugh and I often hold out my catch for them to see so I can motivate them to give me a little competition. I am fishing from land so you would think they would outfish me but that is not what happens, they quickly realize it takes more than just fishing a good spot to catch fish. Most of the time they leave me alone after a hour or so with a frown while I have a big smile catching fish from land that they can't even catch from a boat. It does feel great watching them leave and catching fish they miss.

Tobacco companies are very devious and disgusting. It makes you think what kind of people would gladly work for these companies knowing well how tobacco damages people's health, these people probably lack empathy for others and seem to only care about making money. Today almost everyone knows how dangerous tobacco products are yet sadly many smoke regardless. It can take decades for the effects of smoking to show and this is one of the reasons many do not take the dangers of smoking seriously. People will do whatever they want no matter what advice you give them so let them do whatever they want.

That is why I find it so hilarious when people get mad they do not do as well as I do in the spots I share. These people are lazy, greedy, low hanging fruit people so I expect these behaviors from them. In life you have to work hard if you expect to be successful and many people are too lazy to put in the time on the water needed to be a successful in bass fishing.

Throughout the years I have shared many good fishing locations to people in need. Some of those people where respectful of the resource, others where not. With time I learned who to invite again and who to not invite again. Those that were greedy never did as well as I did in these spots since they lack the patience and skill needed to do consistently well. These greedy people get mad, complain that I gave them a bad spot, then move on to the next spot they can get from someone else since they are too lazy to look for themselves. I find this hilarious since I give good spots but you still have to put in the work just like any other thing in life. These greedy people do not like to work hard and prefer the low hanging fruit, it is probably safe to assume that is how they live their life. You can fish the best spots, with the best lures, at the best time, but it means nothing if you do not know what you are doing.

The tobacco industry spends lots of advertising money to get people to smoke and keep people smoking. They know how terrible tobacco is but all they care about is making lots of money, they could care less what harm their products do to people. Nicotine is extremely addictive, many are not mentally strong enough to quit. Some people vape but that is also another terrible product. With that said people are free to do whatever they want, if they want to harm themselves it is their choice. I personally rather invest the money in fishing tackle since fishing is a good form of exercise.

I am happy that Zoom is doing well. They make some of my favorite soft plastic lures. Even better is they make their lures in the USA.

Interesting subject. There are no cottonwood seeds that I know of in South Florida but we do have water hyacinth that can make it harder to fish certain locations. Hollow belly frogs and other weedless presentations work well around water hyacinth, maybe it is worth trying out these lures in areas with lots of cottonwood seeds. You can always fish another location with more open water such as a river or drive far enough until you find a place with no cottonwood seeds.

Some people think this way but not everyone. There are several talented bass fishermen in this forum that enjoy catching bowfin and other species of fish. Bowfin usually live in areas with calm water but can be caught in areas with current such as rivers and spillways. Fish move around so it is not surprising you caught bowfin in a place you usually catch bass.

I agree bowfin are much more fun to catch than freshwater drum. When you get a chance you should fish the Everglades when the water level is low. It is common to catch +100 fish a day all on artificial lures during these times. I only fish to have fun but understand why a tournament bass fisherman might not be so happy when a big bowfin bites. I only fish for fun so catching several bowfin as bycatch while bass fishing is ok with me.

I caught a bowfin that was well over 12 pounds in the Everglades and know there are bigger ones in there. The big ones are masters at shaking off the hook. Average size seems to be around 2-5 pounds with a big one over 8 pounds. Bowfin have a powerful mouth full of sharp teeth so I prefer using a lip gripper or landing net to land them. Bowfin are very tough fish that thrive in less than ideal conditions. They bite well even on +95 degree heat days with low water. They do love soft plastic worms and any slow moving soft plastic but will hit a fast moving jerk bait just like a bass does. It is true that the Everglades has a thriving population of gar and bowfin which shows how healthy the Everglades is to be able to support all these fish.

Fishing for large saltwater gamefish such as snook has made me a much better bass fisherman especially when it comes to landing the fish.

Bowfin are one of the most underrated freshwater fish there is. They give a good fight, hit the same lures a bass does, and are eager biters. They break lures easier than bass do but that is ok since they are fun to catch.