soflabasser

Good looking Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap. You should bring it with you if you plan on going to South Florida for Peacock bass.

The wire leader is a bit short for shark fishing, but you can always get lucky and land the shark with such a short wire leader. For my size 8000 spinning reels (combos that I cast the bait out from the shore, not ones I kayak by baits out) I prefer using a 3-4 foot wire leader rated at least 100 pounds for sharks in the 4-7 foot range. For sharks 7 feet or longer I prefer using +200 pound wire leader. I attach that wire leader to a heavy swivel. I then add 6-10 feet of 100 pound test mono top shot then do a uni to uni knot to the mainline. The topshot increases your chances of landing the shark since the sharks body is very abrasive and heavy top shot mono is harder to break by abrasion compared to braid or thin mono lines. By doing this I have landed many sharks in the 6-8 feet size, with a couple of them +8 feet. For kayaking my baits out I use a 12/0 Penn Senator filled to capacity with 100 pound mono leader and a 4-6 foot wire leader. I have fished with serious shark fishermen and they use unlimited class rods, reels bigger than my 12/0 Penn Senator,200 pound mono main line, and wire leader thicker than I use. They often catch sharks in the 8-10 foot range and a couple +10 footers every once in a while.

Looks good. Did you catch your personal best largemouth bass on a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap? I think I read you saying that a while ago.

Any of the lures you mentioned can work but I would focus more on buzzbaits,spinnerbaits,hollow belly frogs,weedless swimbaits,flukes,senkos,and trick worms.You got smallmouth bass where you live, I would be fishing for them more and spend less time on the northern strain largemouth bass.

You can post the video on Youtube and then post the link in this thread.

I had a rod company post on my Youtube page asking me to promote one their products. They wanted me to give them a positive Amazon review plus a positive video review and for that they where going to give me a telescopic rod combo.From the reviews I read of this telescopic rod they are not good for any decent fighting fish over 10 pounds and you have to be very careful since these rods break more often than multiple piece rods or single piece rods.I prefer my 4 piece travel rods since they have proven themselves to me and do not think I will risk breaking a telescopic rod on my fishing vacations.

I have caught river smallmouth bass on crankbaits and small swimbaits.

Make sure to use a wire leader when fishing for sharks and have enough line capacity in your reel.

''Why do I fish?'' There are many reasons why I fish but these are some of them;I fish since I find fishing fun.I fish since I enjoy catching big fish.I fish since I enjoy multi species fishing.I fish since I enjoy being in the outdoors.I fish for bass since its so convenient and easy.Big bass are harder and I enjoy the challenge of catching them. I have gotten quite good at catching big bass on a consistent basis but I still have lots of room to learn more which means I have more reason to fish more.I fish since I enjoy knowing that I will never go hungry since I can fill my freezer with high quality seafood such as grouper, snapper,hogfish,snook,etc whenever I want.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Depends on what type of soft plastic lure I am using and what I am fishing for. On soft swimbaits I tend to catch several bass before I throw away the swimbait or I repair it for future use. Same lure might only last 1 time for toothy fish such as bowfin, gar, bullseye snakehead, etc.

@davecon I have noticed the same behavior from snowbirds in South Florida and it is very shameful of them to act the way they do. Many of them love Florida so much that they eventually move down here and do not change their ways, in fact they try to change our ways of living to suit what they are used to. I can talk more about this subject but I will stop here. Yes and that is one of the reasons why I am very picky on who I invite fishing with me. Too many greedy fishermen and they take too much and give too little. Better to fish with your better half than some fisherman who does not respect other fishermen's right to fish peacefully.

I prefer using Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps and Cotton Cordel Super Spots.

LOOKS LIKE A GOOD CRANKBAIT FOR MURKY WATER

I have done well with crankbaits and small swimbaits when fishing for river smallmouth bass around this time of year.

Many tournament fishermen are inconsiderate of other people fishing so it is hard for them to understand why it is unsportsmanlike to drive fast within 25 feet of someone. These types of tournament fishermen tarnish the reputation of the good tournament fishermen but they do not care since all they care is about winning the tournament and getting money. Those are the type of people I will never invite fishing with me even if they paid me. Must of been a great bass fishing trip with your wife catching more bass than they did. It must suck for them since they invested all that money for a glitter boat, putting gas in the truck,boat,etc and have the type of bass fishing trip they did.Maybe next time they will be more respectful and ask your for your help.

They bite the same lures a largemouth bass does. Good luck on your fishing vacation, you should have a good time fishing for snakeheads since the South Florida snakehead fishery is thriving. You should also try catching some peacock bass,clown knifefish, jaguar guapote,Midas cichlids, and other exotics to add to your list of species of fish caught.

I do not think the OP is jealous if he is cleary doing better than them. If anything those fools can take notes from him and they might learn a thing or two about fishing that location. I agree with you but more people are getting into tournament bass fishing which means more clowns speeding in no wake zones, drive the boat fast close to other people fishing,etc. I have lost count of the amount of times a boater drives up to me since he saw me catch a decent fish and they start fishing next to me. It usually ends bad for them since I tend to catch bigger fish than they do while they barely catch anything. Definitely a good feeling when you can out fish these types of people that is for sure!

I am not surprised at all that the tournament angler said that and it is unsportsmanlike behavior to say the least. From my experience I have learned that tournament anglers and fishing guides can be very petty and greedy, they seem to think they own the water when the public water is actually for all those who have fishing licenses. It would be best to ignore people like these since many of them have short tempers with guns. Best thing you can do is avoid fools like those,up your fishing game and catch lots of big bass.

Reading this subject makes me appreciate how good the month of September was for me. My top 5 bass for September had a combined length of +117 inches and well over 30 pound limit for those 5 bass. These bass where caught from land in public water and it was even more memorable since my better half was with me. This month has been very good for me as well and it will only get better as the year progresses.

Mines still fishes with me and does it more to make me happy since she knows I do not like fishing by myself. I join her in her hobbies as well. Good relationships are about making compromises and it is better to fish with your wife,girlfriend,significant other, etc than fishing with somebody else. On a recent trip she beat me in fishing for Bartram's bass and she caught a bigger hybrid Bartram's bass than I did. She does seem to enjoy fishing as long as she is catching nice fish which is often for her since I make sure to take her to good fishing spots.

Welcome to the forum

I live in South Florida where there are hundreds of lakes and have also noticed how different these places can be even if they are very close to each other. One lake can be great for numbers but not many bass over 5 pounds, another lake is low in numbers but I have caught plenty of trophy bass, other lakes have a good balance of numbers of bass and bass over 5 pounds. Best thing you can do is put your time on the water and figure out what the bass want in each lake.

I have learned in the past year that it is best to bring my better half with me on my fishing trips. She seems to bring me lots of good luck when we fish and I tend to catch lots of big fish with her.