soflabasser

Topwater followed by whatever is working best on the day the I am fishing.

Welcome to the forum

It has been over a year since I posted this and I would not change a thing except adding that I did better in 2018 than I did in 2017. Last month I caught a bass that was 25.25 inches long with a 18 inch girth. Also caught other big bass in 2018 and my best 5 bass this year had a combined length of over 120 inches. Best 5 bass in one day had a combined length of over 115 inches. Best 5 bass in 1 month had a combined length of over 117 inches. Fished in 4 different states this year and caught both quality and quantity. Might post a end of the year report later on. I agree with you that some anglers are better than others and that is why I do not pay attention to negative fishing reports or reports I find useless such as reports of catching small bass in areas well known for big bass. A person should not compare their catches to other peoples catches and the best thing a person can do is focus on their own bass fishing game.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum. The C-14 canal and surrounding area has a very good population of peacock bass. There are bullseye snakeheads and other exotics in this canal system so you should have a good time fishing.

Welcome to the forum

The bass fishing guides in Florida use live bait as well and I understand why they do it since their salary is based on giving clients the fish they want to catch. Very few people will be happy with a guide that is not good at putting clients on big fish (fish that surpasses the client's current PB bass) or at the very least rare species of fish. People expect to catch memorable fish with a guide since they are paying hundreds of dollars to fish for only a couple hours. With that said there are guides in Florida that do ok with only lure fishing with clients but the vast majority of guides down here use live bait to increase the chances of catching a memorable fish. Well said @RoLo. Your old post is still relevant for this subject. Not sure if you are still reading this forum but you are one of my favorite members of this forum. A person who plans on bass fishing in Florida or lives in Florida would be wise to read and learn from what you write.

I also use 12-15 pound test Big Game Mono for bass fishing and like how abrasion resistant it is. I am still young and prefer fishing with Big Game mono over any other type of mono. Hard to argue with results when most experienced members on this forum who like Big Game mono tend to catch plenty of +6 pounders on this line. This is true and it is easy to be confident in a line if you spent many years catching big fish on it. Well said!

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All day brother, all day. Not much to complain about live bait fishing on my end, especially when I lost count of +8 pounders I have caught throughout the years. Beats fishing in Iowa over hardwater for sub 5 pounders any day! I would say hiring a guide would be good for kids or anyone who needs help in fishing. Nothing wrong in that if you do not know how to fish a certain area by yourself just like there is nothing wrong with a legal form of fishing. I see bass fishing as a relaxing past time as well but some bass fishermen are elitist and think they are the next champion bass fisherman so they only fish with lures. These elitist bass fishermen are the type of fishermen I don't invite fishing with me and instead I fish with open mined people.

I like it when ''artificial only'' bass fishermen get cocky and think they know more about lure fishing than those who fish with live bait. Live bait fishermen tend to have more open minds which means many live bait fishermen are more skilled in artificials than many artificial only bass fisherman. The young people are also saying ''slaying it'', or ''slay'' when they are doing good at a hobby. I think some here need to reevaluate their fishing game so they can ''slay'' more and complain less about a legal form of fishing. Must be a very cold winter for some of these northern states to say the least!

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It is a game changer when the fisherman learns how to catch his own bait, keep it alive, and catch trophy fish on his own bait. Most fishermen will never understand this and that is ok since it means more quality fish for those who know the art of live bait fishing. Sounds fun. I like catching jack crevalle and using them whole or cut bait for big sharks from the shore. Using mullets for big snook is another fun type of live bait fishing.

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Yes sir I still feel like a happy kid when I catch a new species of bass or catch another trophy bass to add to my list. Bass fishing is one of my favorite hobbies and I plan on bass fishing for as long as I can.

A good bass fisherman knows and understands how to fish several techniques well and this includes live bait fishing. There are times live bait works the best and there are other times lures works the best. This knowledge comes from decades of experience not just being part of a forum and typing words on a keyboard which anyone can do. But what do I know I have only caught double digit bass on both lures and live bait and have caught hundreds of bass over 5 pounds in my +20 years of bass fishing. Have also caught 9 types of black bass all on artificial lures from land in public waters so I might know a thing or two about bass fishing.

I often drive one to three hours to reach my favorite fishing places so only driving 1 hour is not far. The drive will be worth it since it means you might catch fish to add to your bucket list. I caught smallmouth bass in the Broad River watershed and I caught Bartram's bass in the Savannah River watershed.

I have at least 20 Plano 3700 tackle boxes filled with lures and other tackle that I store in my house. When I go fishing I use a backpack to store 1-2 Plano 3700 boxes with the lures I need for that day. So far it has worked great for me.

Already did my research on Guadalupe bass and they are one of the easiest black bass species to catch from land. I will be targeting them in a future vacation along with other rare species of redeye bass. Have caught smallmouth bass, trout, and Bartam's bass in South Carolina where you live so you do not have to leave your state to catch those species. Have also caught trout, pike, muskie, walleye, and other northern species near the Great Lakes. I strongly reccomend you consider traveling if your goal is to catch these fish. Make sure to do research for a couple months before you travel to make your trip better. Beats going to Disney World or other common tourist destinations.

I think anyone who loves bass fishing as much as we do should try to catch as many species of black bass species as they can. So far I have caught the following species of black bass; 1. Florida largemouth bass 2. Northern largemouth bass 3. Smallmouth bass 4. Suwannee bass 5. Bartram's bass 6. Bartram's bass x Alabama spotted bass hybrid 7. Spotted bass 8. Shoal bass 9. Altamaha bass I plan on catching more species of black bass in my future vacations and hopefully catch other species of fish besides black bass. Added Altamaha bass. Have caught other species that are also called bass such as striped bass, barred sand bass, calico bass, black Sea bass, and many others.

Welcome to the forum.

I caught some shoal bass and spotted bass this weekend and hope to catch more bass before the year ends. February is a good month for big bass. You should have a good time and I suggest you do some research for a couple months before coming here to be more successful. No need to hire guide since South Florida is loaded with places you can catch bass from land.

Sorry to hear that you hired a guide in South Florida and he could only put you on small bass. Next time go to one of the public parks down here and you will have a good chance at catching a bass over 3 pounds or better from the shore. You don't have to hire a guide down here for bass since we have plenty of quality size bass that can be caught from land. You will probably get lots of subscribers if you post river smallmouth bass videos.

I find that it is easier to cast further with 30 pound test braid than with 30 pound test monofilament line. The 30 pound test monofilament line does have better abrasion resistance than 30 pound test braid. I prefer monofilament line for light/medium tackle applications and for that I use 4-20 pound test line.

It is good line but I prefer Berkeley Big Game Mono.