soflabasser

Trophy Bass: An Angler's Guide Written by Larry Larsen This book is pure gold with the knowledge of a man who has caught well over 100 Largemouth Bass over 10 pounds and several Peacock Bass over 20 pounds.

I might visit my family in Lakeland in January/February.If I do I will PM you.Have been fishing mostly in Saltwater for bigger Gamefish but still Bass fish when I don't have time to go to the Ocean.Have caught several bass in the 6 to +8 pound range in the past couple months.Hopefully I get another 8-10 pounder by the end of the year.I have land based spots where I catch well over 100 bass a day anywhere from 1-8 pounds,with a average of 2-3 pounds, but it only happens on certain months of the year.Hoping for the temperature to cool down a bit more for the big bass to start moving and feeding more in my area.

Have seen similar spots on the Largemouth Bass I catch. They all appear healthy with no deformities.

Eric how is the bass fishing up there in terms of numbers of bass from the bank? Any days of +100 bass?

This article describes what spillways are,which ones to fish in West Palm Beach,and some techniques to use. http://www.gameandfishmag.com/fishing/fishing_saltwater-fishing_fl_aa091004a/ There's big Bass in these spillways especially the spillways that are more Freshwater than Saltwater.

All the spillways in West Palm Beach have great potential for big Bass and big Snook. Concentrate on the ones where the water is flowing.

The spillways in West Palm Beach have big Largemouth Bass along with big Snook.

Bowfin are not related to Snakehead.They are not even in the same Family.

Snakeheads are extremely fun to catch and people have caught them up to 14 pounds here.

Nice video,but I would never eat a fish from the canals down here.Too much methyl mercury and other pollutants.

Expensive reels tend to be better made than cheap reels(more ball bearings,better drag,better metals used,longer lasting,etc).Still you can get a very good bass reel for less than $50.One of my favorite reels for bass is a discontinued BPS reel that has 10 ball bearings and has caught me plenty of bass and decent saltwater fish.

Like others have said,it's the driver not the car.You should invest more money on lures and tackle than a rod and reel.

@Outdoor Zack,yes you fish the swimbait as close to the ground as possible. Reel slowly and occasionally give a twitch.This is also a great technique to catch big bass.

You should try using swimbaits.I have caught many channel catfish on swimbaits and it's always a suprise when I see them on the end of the line instead of a big bass.

Punching and flipping jigs with trailers in the Lilly pads.Frogs over thick cover.Experiment with retrieves until the bass let you know what they want.Use heavy braid to pull them out quickly before they get stuck.

Yes you can do extremely well from shore regardless how large the body of water is.What helps me is to study the lake on Google maps and look for areas where there are drop offs,change in vegetation,where it opens or narrows,color changes,etc.I look for areas where there is a large concentration of baitfish, since bass won't be far away.Study bass biology of your area as well to be better able to predict where they will be at a certain time of the year.

Been fishing Florida for decades and never had a problem with a Alligator except one time and that was 100% my fault.I was fishing less than 3 feet from a nest and the mama gator came out charging at me.I ran for safety while she just laid out on the dry land looking at me.Since then I don't fish near nest anymore.I have swam in canals before and can tell you from experience the small alligators are afraid of people.I always got out of the water when I saw them over 6 feet to be safe.Stay away from nest,don't feed them,and have common sense when fishing at night time.Its better to deal with these alligators than having to deal with the cold,oppressive winters you Northern guys have.

That big bass is thick!

Congrats you will have lots of fun fishing there.

Looks like a white bass. Hybrid bass tend to have a broken line pattern.

The lures you posted will catch some saltwater fish, but will most likely be destroyed by them. Saltwater fish are on another level and you need to step up your lures and gear. Some lures that I recommend are Rapala Skitter Walk's Rapala Xrap's Gothca's Bomber Magnum Long A's Saltwater jigs of various sizes

I am glad we have so many exotic fish to fish for. People come from all over the United States to fish for them and spend $$$$$ doing so.

I release all largemouth bass regardless of size.

Always fun to catch bass on topwater frogs.Length doesn't mean much when it comes to bass, what matters is girth. There's double digit bass that are less than 24'' and bass that barely break double digits and are over 27''.

Live bait is free if you catch it yourself. $250 is more than enough to easily get yourself a years supply of lures that will catch bass of all sizes.