soflabasser

A lot of people on this forum say ice fishing is boring but I have seen several YouTube videos where people are having a good time ice fishing. Yes ice fishing for little yellow perch or bluegills through the ice might be boring but not ice fishing for bigger fish such as muskie, pike, lake trout, etc. I doubt I will be bored ice fishing if the pike are biting well, especially big pike. Any muskie in that lake? I know Wisconsin has awesome muskie fishing and I would be fishing for muskie more than bass if I lived in Wisconsin.

LOL! I know the freezing winters up north are miserable with all that snow but I would still like to try ice fishing at least once especially for fish like muskie, pike, and lake trout.

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We are still in the middle of winter now and most states have to wait several months before its warm enough to be out in a t-shirt and shorts. The plus side is there is some very good ice fishing going on in some northern waters at this moment in time.

Glad to see you post on this subject @J Francho. I know you have many years of experience raising fish in aquariums and it would be wise for the OP to listen to you. It is much easier to raise sunfish such as bluegills, redears, warmouths, etc in a home aquarium than raise a largemouth bass which can potentially grow over 5 pounds. Too many people are watching Youtube videos of bass in small aquariums and they are not doing the needed research to understand how much space a fully grown bass will need. Bass grow for a lifetime and this is something that needs to be taken into consideration when wanting a bass as a pet. Bass can live for several years if properly taken care of and the ones that die under a year in a aquarium where not taken care of well.

The smallmouth bass I have caught jumped more but the spotted bass fought harder. Pound for pound I would say the Suwannee bass fought the hardest for its size out of all the black bass species I have caught.

Make sure to get a Patent on any lure you invent since there will be plenty of people who will copy your design and sell it. Best not to post pictures online of the lure you invent until you have the Patent.

If you got permission to fish it go for it. That is not the type of fishing I like but what matters is you enjoy yourself. As for me I will continue catching big bass from public waters since it is what I enjoy when it comes to bass fishing. I will also not hire a guide for largemouth bass and prefer catching my own fish since I find it more rewarding.

You can believe whatever you want, it is the internet after all where anyone can type words on a keyboard. I am a man of my word and have albums full of big bass so I do not need approval from somebody online, especially someone I will not invite fishing with me. With that said, I like catching big bass from public waters and that is my preference. If you want to fish a well managed private pond filled with trophy bass go for it as long as you have permission from the owner and are not breaking any laws.

Don't you live in Southern California, the capital of giant bass? What is your PB largemouth bass and how many years have you fished for? I live in Florida so that is where I do so most of my bass fishing. I agree Florida is one the best places to catch a double digit bass and I know how fortunate I am to live here. Indiana is not a state I plan on visiting but I am sure there is decent fishing there. You can keep fishing for private water bass if you want but I have no need for it when there are so many public bodies of water with big bass down here. I have bass fished in 5 states so far and plan on fishing more states. Caught several species of black bass in my travels and Florida is still my favorite by far. Going back to the original subject now. It would be best to do your research about raising bass in a home aquarium and I would advise against it. Better to raise smaller, easier to take care species than trying to raise a bass that can potentially get over 5 pounds which will require a aquarium most people cannot have in a home.

River smallmouth bass fishing is much more fun than catching bass in a private lake, at least for me. You have muskies in some of your rivers and that is another fun fish to catch.

You need to visit Florida since big bass are almost everywhere down here. I catch plenty of big bass from public waters, including this past weekend. It was nice catching big fish in private ponds as a kid but I have outgrown that. I now focus on catching big bass from public water, multi species fishing, and other hobbies that I have. You put in your time on the water, learn from your fishing trips (not just go fishing and expect miracles), and the results will show.

You are incorrect. I have permission to fish plenty of private lakes but I rarely fish them anymore since there is not much of a challenge to catch the bass in these places. Caught one of my double digit bass from a private lake along with a 22 pound channel catfish, +8 pound peacock bass, +2 pound bluegills, +2 pound redear sunfish, and other fish. It is a nice place to take kids who are learning how to fish but not somewhere I consider a challenge. Anyone can catch +8 pounder from a managed private lake but not anyone can catch a double digit from a pressured public lake. It is much easier to raise a smaller species of fish than raise a bass. A regular sized largemouth bass weighs 1-4 pounds and that is too large for most home aquariums. I find cichlids to be more interesting fish to raise and you can raise cichlids in a 150 gallon aquarium or less.

I would not call him the best YouTube fisherman since there are many Youtubers that catch bigger fish and more species of fish than he does. I do enjoy watching some of his videos of the big smallmouth bass he catches and like how he keeps fishing more realistic by being himself. His videos can be relaxing so I can see why she falls asleep. Beats watching a fishing channel with dubstep music or whatever terrible music they play in the clubs these days.

The ned rig is a very good lure that is for sure. I caught the most smallmouth bass in 1 day with the neg rig when the smallmouth where barely biting the other lures I was using. Now I carry a bunch of ned rigs whenever I travel up north for river smallmouth bass fishing.

The videos I saw where of him fishing private well managed ponds loaded with big bass. It reminded me of the videos I saw of Bill Dance fishing private ponds. Both guys are good fishermen but I rather see them fish public water. It is entertaining to watch for a couple minutes when I was a kid but not something I enjoy watching as an adult. I prefer catching my bass in public waters so I tend to prefer seeing videos of people catching big bass in public waters. As far as I am concerned a private water bass is a pet bass. Also do not like seeing overhyped Youtube videos with more talking than catching but I understand that is what brings the most money for these Youtubers.

A good trophy bass fisherman will find it easy to adapt to muskie fishing just like a good muskie fisherman will find it easy to adapt to trophy bass fishing, at least this is what I learned from my personal experience. You are fishing for the top 5% of fish not the 95% that anyone can catch. At this point I do not care much for bass under 5 pounds and I specifically target bass 5 pounds and up. The exception I make for small bass is when I just want to play around with small bass, going for a new species of bass to add to my list, or days I want to catch over 50 bass in a couple hours.

Seem a couple of his videos where he fishes for pet bass in private ponds. They can be entertaining but I prefer watching videos of bass being caught from public waters.

Welcome to the forum. The tackle you mentioned should be enough for saltwater fish under 5 pounds. Avoid high sticking the rod or flipping the fish since it might cause your bass rod to break. Make sure to not let saltwater touch the reel and clean the rod and reel after you are done fishing. A heavy action 7-8 foot rod and size 6000-8000 reel would be better for jetty fishing if you plan on fishing for fish over 5 pounds on a regular basis. Good luck and have fun fishing.

I have caught bass in all the conditions you mentioned but prefer days with low to moderate wind for jerkbait fishing. A good jerk bait to use is a Rapala X Rap. Choose the size and color you feel will work best in the area you fish. That looks like a good choice. You can get some bigger jerkbaits in that color and try them out for a bigger bite. Keep fishing with jerkbaits until you feel more confident in this lure. They are great lures and have there place and time they do best.

Check the laws in your state first before getting a bass as a pet. The information I am providing below is only for those in states where you are allowed to raise bass as pets... You will need at least a 150 gallon aquarium to raise a single bass and the bass will eventually outgrow this aquarium. You must keep the water parameters in good levels. Keep the ammonia, nitrites, etc low and have a good filtration system. Keep the bass well fed but do not overfeed. Make sure you keep the water temperature stable. Consider making a pond of at least 500 gallons or more once the bass gets too big for the aquarium. If this sounds like too much work then it probably would be better to raise a Siamese fighting fish in a 1-5 gallon aquarium since they are some of the easiest fish to take care of.

Interesting subject. I mostly fish for bass from the shore but have fished for bass on boats for many years now. I got almost 2 decades experience in deep sea fishing from a boat, have driven a boat in ruff seas, know how to read a depth finder and use a GPS to find locations very well. Both boat and land based bass fishing have their advantages but it is safe to say that fishing for bass on a boat is much easier than fishing from the shore, especially from public waters. Private waters is a different story since bass from private waters tend to be much easier to catch (often like shooting fish in a barrel easy) than highly pressured public waters. With a boat you can easily cover more distance than fishing from the shore, use a fishfinder to locate the fish, get closer to prime fishing locations, and fishing is much less of a workout when you are in a boat. There are devices that many tournament bass fishermen use that emits sounds from a boat and those sounds attracts fish to the boat. You still have to find the bass and convince them to bite but it is easier to find fish when you reach more locations and fish them more comfortably like you do in a boat. With that said, I have lost count of the +8 pound bass I have caught from the shore and have caught a few double digit bass so I feel anyone can do very well fishing from the shore if they put in the time needed to improve as a bass fisherman.

It is a common misconception to think that all bodies of freshwater in Florida are shallow with heavy aquatic vegetation that you can't fish with a jerkbait. Another misconception is that you cannot fish jerkbaits in areas with aquatic vegetation. With that said one of my favorite ways to catch bass in South Florida is with jerkbaits and I catch bass with these lures every single month, rain or shine, day or night. Jerkbaits are also very good multi species lures and I have caught many peacock bass, tarpon, snook, and other species of fish on jerkbaits.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all Bass Resource members.

Welcome to the forum