gjones2397

I went fishing in the private lake that is stocked with the Florida strain bass. This is the lake that I was referring to when I started this post. I fished with some large minnows (varied between 2 - 5 inches) that I caught from another pond using a casting net. Well........I was surprised. Although I didn't have long to stay and fish, I caught several fish. I caught several bass in one area. Since I don't have a lot of experience with fishing with shiners or minnows, I tried hooking the minnow a couple of different ways. I hooked behind the dorsal fin and also on some occassions I hooked behind the anal fin. I seemed to get more action when I hooked the bait behind the anal fin and the bait seemed to live longer. Although I did catch several fish in a short period of time, I didn't catch any big ones. I need to fish the lake a few more times before I change my opinion on how hard Florida strain bass are to catch. If future fishing trips at this lake go like the one I had today, I have a feeling that the outcome will be that Florida strain are much harder to catch on ARTIFICIAL lures. While I was catching the bass, I also had another reel with a spinner bait and I was throwing it about the same places that I was catching the fish with the live bait, and didn't even get a bite. Although I did catch fish, I will have to get use to fishing with minnows or shiners. It almost feels like I am fishing for catfish. As a matter of fact, I caught 3 or 4 catfish while I was fishing. I don't know what I can do differently to prevent catching catfish :-/. And something happened that was really funny, I caught a turtle. The turtle was hanging on to my minnow, I didn't even have the hook in him. I pulled the minnow and turtle completely out of the water and eventually the minnow came loose from the hook. Anyways, thanks to everyone that posted and suggested using live bait, it worked. But, the only thing that I don't like is that it feels like I am catfishing or bream fishing, it is too slow. I am so use to fishing artificial and a lot of action. Does anyone have any more suggestions on how the best way to hook or present a minnow or shiner. Would I have more success using a bobber, rather than "tight lining"?

George - Great informaiton. That is just what I needed. Thank you so much. ;D

Thanks Hale. I am going to go fishing this weekend at the pond/lake that is stocked with the Florida strain bass. I am going to attempt to use some shiners. I have no experience using live bait in bass fishing, so all the tips are helpful. I will make a post again on Monday to give an update on whether or not the live bait has helped me catch more Florida bass in this particular lake. And I know that I can't make a decision on one weekend.

I have been fishing the lake for about 3 or 4 years. And the lake has always been hard to catch fish. Someone replied an didn't know where I lived. I live in Northern Mississippi. I have seen several suggestions to use shiners. I will have to read up on a good presentation for shiners. I have little or no experience with live bait. I am new to this forum and I have learned so much within this first day of reading posts and replies. There is such a difference in opinions about bass fishing across the readers of these forums. Everyone has a differenct view and brings something unique to the table.

I will give you that experience and skill play a big part. I am no expert, but have been fishing since I was a young kid. I can catch bass (what I believe to be Northern bass) fairly consistently. Has anyone noticed a different pattern technique, lures or possible presentation that is more effective between one strain and the other. I firmly believe that there is a difference in the strike pattern and aggressiveness between the two strains, until enough people tell me different. Let me give you more examples of how the fishing goes in this particular lake/pond. I can go fishing, lets say 10 times. Six times that I go, I may not even get a bite. Two times, I may catch one fish each trip. And one time, I may catch three or four fish ranging from 3lb - 8lb. For instance, the last good day that I had at this lake, I caught 3 pounder, one or two casts later I caught 8 pounder, and couple casts later I caught 5 pounder. I don't keep any fish, I always throw the fish back immediately. And some of the straglers that I manage to catch on the bad days (most of the time) vary between .5 to 1.5 lbs. So, I know the fish are thriving and reproducing. Just can't catch.

I primarily fish shallow water. I don't know if I can get shiners in around here or not. I am in North Mississippi. I never use live bait, so I don't know what to use or how to present the live bait.

My neighbor has a lake / pond, about 5 acres, and it was stocked with Florida strain bass about 8 years ago. Usually, I am the only one that fishes the lake. Most of time, nobody can catch fish out of the lake. I get lucky because I am so persistent and stay out there on the water for hours and somedays not even get a bite (most of the days). I know the latest craze in the past was to stock with Florida bass, because they grew bigger. And I have heard that they are harder to catch, and have read that the older the fish gets, the harder the Florida strian bass is to catch. I have read articles of people believing that there were no fish in their ponds, until they drained it and found that there were huge bass in lake or pond. On some days, I will leave the lake and think, "man there aren't any fish in here". I can fish for hours and throw a variety of lures with no luck. I fish with 4 reels, all with different lures, and can throw anything from plastic worm, spinnerbait, buzz bait, crank bait and have no luck. I have read that I may have better luck with live bait, but no-one has suggested a live bait to try. Minnows, crawfish,.....? When I was younger and my dad would take me fishing, he would catch bull frogs. But, he also taught me to clean a fish by scaling with a spoon. > Does anyone have a suggestion on a bait to try, or a presentation. At this point, I am willing to try almost anything.