South Florida Bass rod setup

[Wurming67]

I was wondering what my fellow South Florida fishermen rod setups are for fishing this grass?

 

Here is mine:

Senko- trig weightless

Weighted trig -Worms/creature baits

Flipping stick -craws/ creature baits

Frog rodStanley ribbit/ pad crusher

Spinner bait rod/rattle trap 

Top water plug rod -devils horse/ pop r

 

 

[soflabasser]

You are going to get different answers for these bass fishing rod combos since everyone has their idea what is the best rod combo is for them. I say use the combos that you feel most comfortable with and the combos that help you consistently land quality sized bass without giving you problems. With that said I like using 6'0"-7'0" medium heavy to heavy spinning gear ( most bass fisherman will tell you to use baitcasting gear). For reels I mostly use a size 4000 Penn or Shimano spinning reel. These combos might not be what every South Florida bass fisherman uses but it has been more than enough for me to land big bass from heavy cover and good enough for big snook,juvenile tarpon, big jacks, and other hard fighting inshore saltwater fish.

[geo g]

I'm not going to give you a specific rod or reel since there are so many quality brands out there today.  You don't need to spend a ton of money, there are so many medium price combos that will do the job.   Your technique  is the important factor, not so much the equipment.  BUT for Florida I would recommend a 7', or 7'4" medium heavy rod, and a fast retrieve BAITCASTER reel.  With this set up you can handle heavy cover, as well as finesse fishing, top water, and pitch and flip.  You just may have to adjust the line strength.  There are lots of brands, in the medium price range, that will catch you as many fish, as any high priced combos.  Don't waste your money in the beginning, there is plenty time for that!  Good fishing buddy..

[Bugeyed Earl]

I'm a bit of a minimalist and use two spinning rigs for everything -

Fenwick Eagle medium fast/medium light 6'0" , Penn Battle II 1000 6lb braid - my main rig, I've caught everything from bass to snook and tarpon on it.

Penn Squadron 7'0, moderate fast/light, Penn Fierce 3000 12lb braid - my inshore rig, use it occasionally for bass or when I think I might get a snook or tarpon.

[soflabasser]

4 hours ago, Bugeyed Earl said:

I'm a bit of a minimalist and use two spinning rigs for everything -

Fenwick Eagle medium fast/medium light 6'0" , Penn Battle II 1000 6lb braid - my main rig, I've caught everything from bass to snook and tarpon on it.

Penn Squadron 7'0, moderate fast/light, Penn Fierce 3000 12lb braid - my inshore rig, use it occasionally for bass or when I think I might get a snook or tarpon.

The guys that only fish for bass will tell you that spinning gear is not enough to catch a nice bass but those with enough saltwater experience know better. Even a big bass is absolutely no match for a big snook or juvenile tarpon that is over 10-15 pounds, yet plenty of fishermen catch big snook and juvenile tarpon in areas with lots of mangroves,pillings,etc with spinning gear. The second combo you mentioned is similar to one of the combos I use for both bass fishing and inshore fishing for many hard fighting saltwater fish. I do have saltwater baitcasting reels but they are for shark fishing, fishing wrecks, etc( Penn Senators from 4/0-12/0).

 

[geo g]

On 5/14/2018 at 6:12 PM, soflabasser said:

The guys that only fish for bass will tell you that spinning gear is not enough to catch a nice bass but those with enough saltwater experience know better. Even a big bass is absolutely no match for a big snook or juvenile tarpon that is over 10-15 pounds, yet plenty of fishermen catch big snook and juvenile tarpon in areas with lots of mangroves,pillings,etc with spinning gear. The second combo you mentioned is similar to one of the combos I use for both bass fishing and inshore fishing for many hard fighting saltwater fish. I do have saltwater baitcasting reels but they are for shark fishing, fishing wrecks, etc( Penn Senators from 4/0-12/0).

 

 

 

No I'm not going to tell you you can't catch a big fish on spinning gear.  I caught a double digit on spinning gear in Florida, but I was real lucky to get my hands on that monster.  Fishing Florida all you have to do is go to a big FLORIDA tournament, and look at 95% of the rods and reels in use, and that says it all.  You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out!  For our shallow, thick, weedy, pad filled waters, baitcasters, heavy line, at least medium heavy rods are where its at!  Watch what the Florida pros use at Okeechobee, Poga, Kissimmee, and Toho.

[soflabasser]

I don't care one bit what tournament fishermen do since I don't complete and I don't follow the crowd just because most people say to do something. I follow my own path and do what works for me and will continue to do so as long as it works. I have caught all my double digit bass and 100's of bass 5 pounds or better in the past +23 years on spinning reels and never had a hard time reeling in a bass. As I said before a bass is a fish that barely fights compared to most inshore gamefish and is absolutely nothing compared to a snook that is over 40 inches ( even less compared to a tarpon) and I have plenty of real life experience catching snook of this size with size 4000 spinning reels which is also my favorite reel for big bass. I catch these snooks near mangroves, concrete pillings, wooden structures, which is far harder to get fish out of compared to the typical aquatic vegetation bass live in. With that said no one will convince me that spinning gear is not enough to fish for bass in South Florida, especially since I been very successful at catching big bass for over 2 decades and will only catch more big bass as time passes with my spinning reels.