soflabasser

Nice flathead @Ppennin986 I bet it gave a good fight! I have noticed that catfishermen, saltwater fishermen, and others that have caught lots of big fish are much better at using the drag on a reel than those who just fish for black bass. Bass fishing becomes much easier once you know how to use the drag correctly.

Welcome to the forum

Locking down your drag is a excellent way for a fish to snap your line, especially if your drag is set higher than the line's rating. I see some ''big'' YouTubers do this mistake often, many learn this bad habit from watching their videos. Learn how to set your drag at an appropriate level, so you can fight the fish correctly. This will help you land more big fish, which is a good thing.

Congratulations on losing 70 pounds and keeping it off. Only those who have done this know how difficult it is and how strong you have to be to keep it up. Float tube fishing is a great way to get a workout in places with no alligators, crocodiles, and other potentially dangerous wildlife. I am not surprised you lost weight since you bank and wade fish, it is a great workout, especially wade fishing. The water resistance you encounter while wade fishing makes your muscles work harder, which helps build muscle, helps improve your balance, and lose weight from all the calories you are burning. You can easily burn 500 or more calories fishing this way.

What is happening now is no surprise to anyone with common sense. This is what happens when a Pandemic is not taken seriously, along with many other factors for over 2.5 years now. Get used to high gas prices, inflation, and other stuff. Those with trucks, SUV's, boats and other gas guzzling things will get hit the hardest. Best piece of advice I can give is learn how to adapt to the new normal, since you will not see gas under $2.20 anytime soon. Maybe one day we can all look back and see this whole mess in the past, and not let things like this repeat itself, but I doubt it since History repeats itself, and the masses will believe anything they are made to believe by those with devious goals. Mark Twain said 'It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled'', his words are 100% correct. Let's see what happens in the next 10 years.

Welcome to the forum

It is normal for a highly skilled bass fisherman like @Fish Chris to get into another hobby and do his best to be good at it, which from what I saw in his website he is very good at photography. I find people with multiple hobbies to be much more interesting than someone who only fishes, I am sure Chris thinks the same way.

I wrote this a couple years ago, and the answer is still the same. You can do well with a sub $100 bass rod if you know what you are doing. To get at this level you have to put in your time on the water wisely. The fish do not care if you fish from the bank or on a boat, how much your tackle is worth, fish only care how you present the lure.

I have caught freshwater fish on saltwater lures and saltwater fish on freshwater lures. Fish will bite any lure you present well.

I have caught lots of big bass while night fishing in South Florida. It is fun, but I much rather fish during the day.

I caught a big Burmese python a couple years ago. I can tell you from experience that these snakes are much faster and stronger than they appear. They are masters at hiding, so you always have to look where you walk, but that is what you should be doing anyways while fishing in South Florida, since we have alligators, water moccasins, and other potentially dangerous wildlife. Fortunately the only Burmese python I have seen in the wild is the one I caught.

It is normal for people to stop posting on forums, especially when they are busy. No amount of time you invest on a fishing forum will compare to the knowledge you gain while on the water.

Make sure to use sharp hooks and set the hook strong when fishing for snakeheads since they have much harder mouths than bass.

LiveTarget and Booyah make great hollow belly frogs with sharp hooks. I recommend checking the hooks often to make sure they are sharp.

Night fishing is fun and it is a good way to catch big bass in a highly pressured body of water. It teaches you how to be a better fisherman since you will have to rely on your sense of touch and hearing more than your vision. Daytime fishing becomes much easier once you become good at night fishing. Fishin' In The Dark is one of my favorite County music songs.

In my life I have had times I fish everyday for 2 weeks in a row, but it is something I do on special occasions. Most of the time I fish a couple times a month at most, since I have other hobbies and other important things I need to do. Like everything in life moderation is key.

The fish you are holding in your hand is a warmouth.

I have several backup lures that have proven themselves to do well in the places I fish.

I have ran marathons, done deep free diving, done century bike rides, lifted some seriously heavy weights, done obstacle courses while running long distances combined, and I still consider walking an excellent form of Cardiovascular exercise, in fact I would say it is the best form of exercise since it is something you need to do every day. If bank fishing is too easy for you then maybe you can consider long distance running if you are up to the challenge. You can start training for your first half marathon, and if you train well you might be able to run your first half marathon or full marathon in 1-2 years, maybe longer depending on other factors. Training for a marathon will test your will power and fitness level like nothing else has before, it will give you something to look forward to several times a week, and it will drastically increase your Cardiovascular fitness, along with muscular endurance. Make sure to not overtrain, eat healthy, get enough rest, and with time you will reach your fitness goals if you put in the time needed, just like fishing.

I will add another thing in this thread that has not been mentioned yet, do a fishing road trip when you are still able in good health. All the money in the world is not worth much if you cannot go fishing for bucket list fish if you leave it too late. When you are older you will have fond memories of these fishing trips, that alone is worth all the money invested. If you can go now, then go now, live life and enjoy it, just make sure to be respectful of others around you by following the speed limit, and other things that are common sense while fishing away from home. I hope you catch your bucket list fish, and that you have a fun road trip!

Doing Cardiovascular exercise in the outdoors is by far more fun than on a treadmill or other machine. That is why bank fishing is so fun and good for you, since you get a good workout, spend time in the outdoors, and catch some nice fish as a bonus. You should be working out for yourself, and nobody else. Do it to make yourself happy, if people help you thank them, if people hate ignore them. The satisfaction you gain from achieving your fitness goals will be worth more than anyone's opinion. This is how I view my workouts, and I have been working out longer than many members here have been alive. I still look toward to every workout just like I did when I was in school, it is something that I am very fond of and a big part of my life. I hope your workouts bring you much joy and that you reach all the fitness goals you have.

Your diet is much more important than how much or how hard you workout. You can workout several hours a day, but you will not see optimum results if you are not eating well, and resting enough. Make sure to not overtrain, since it will slow you down. The food you eat is the fuel for your body, the better the fuel the easier it will be for your body to perform at a higher level. Cut out sugars, processed foods, other junk food, and focus on eating a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, lean meats, fruits, and vegetables. The first 3 months will be the hardest, and it will test your will power more than anything in life, especially if you are used to eating a typical American diet. It will be worth it, since eating well will help you recover faster from your workouts, along with other benefits. Planks is an amazing exercise for both core strength and endurance. Start with 10-30 second plank holds for 2-4 sets, and build up to doing 4 sets of 2 minute planks. You will have a good amount of both core strength and endurance once you can easily do 4 sets of 2 minute planks. Once this becomes easy you can start doing more difficult plank variations if you feel comfortable enough. Losing weight will help your back as well, which is another good reason to lose excess weight by eating a healthy diet.

I have traveled to several states to catch fish I dreamed about catching as a kid, it was an awesome experience that I recommend to everyone when they get a chance. One place I recommend you visit is South Florida. You can catch big largemouth bass, several exotic species of fish, saltwater fish, and many other species of fish. If your goal is to fish Northern waters I would recommend fishing somewhere you can catch muskies, for me this is the best gamefish in Northern waters. Smallmouth bass are fun to catch as well, especially river smallmouth bass.

I agree with you 100%! There was a time in my life I let myself go, I will never let that happen again. I am now lean enough that my abs show, and have visible veins on my arms, forearms, chest, thighs, calves. My diet is strict, but it is worth it since nothing taste as good as being lean.

Congratulations to you and your Wife for losing the weight and keeping it off, it is not easy, and it takes a lot of will power to do this. I would say it is closer to 90% diet and 10% exercise, at least it is for me and others I have helped reach their fitness goals. Well said @A-Jay. Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly is the best thing a person can do for themselves. We are meant to eat whole and natural foods, not highly processed foods, added sugar, and other nasty stuff. If most people were to know what ''natural flavors'', ''natural colors'', and other additives in processed food really are they would be disgusted.