Eric J Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 Florida on one rig... I'll be in Fla last week of February and will have some time to fish while the wife has biz meetings and such. I'll have a single rod with me. Med 6.6 spinning travel rod. I'll be fishing mostly plastics I guess maybe some cranks and jigs. I pretty much have only used mono for my Med Lt rigs and do well with that. Braid (30lb) is on my Med/Hvy only. Should I just stick with mono for the trip or go with braid just in case of cover and heavier bass (I'm from New York)? Will there be higher line shy issues with braid and what lb test? I usually use 8lb mono so 15lb braid? Will be in the Naples area then closer to West Palm later in the week... Any help is appreciated... Quote
thinkingredneck Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 Braid with a leader? If the water is tannin stained, the leader may be superfluous. 1 Quote
CroakHunter Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 Id be throwing flukes and senko style baits on 20lb dark green braid if all I had was 1 rod and reel. 2 Quote
Super User NYWayfarer Posted January 31, 2019 Super User Posted January 31, 2019 I will be in Florida mid February and all the setups I am taking will either have straight mono or Fluoro-hybrid 8-15# line. Quote
snake95 Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 I fish this area as a visitor every spring with limited gear. I find there are lots of areas with very clear water, even by northern standards. Its not all tannic. I think of sand, rough limestone, and grassy bottom vegetation. Lots of it. There is nowhere in the world where a senko works better for me that SW florida. My favorite/top producing baits include trick worms and horney toads. Have also done well on buzzbaits, ploppers. I would use 20 lb braid with 10 lb hybrid for med spinning. I also fish 12-15 lb mono and do just fine, too. Quote
Super User WRB Posted January 31, 2019 Super User Posted January 31, 2019 Depends where you fish. The op's tackle isn't suited for big bass, bass to 3 lbs to 4 lbs is sparsh cover he maybe able control those fish. The reality is bass in the cover that Florida has requires tackle to control them after they are hooked. Tom Quote
johnD. Posted January 31, 2019 Posted January 31, 2019 If you're taking a spinning rod , 15 lb braid with a 15lb or 20 lb , 18" mono leader tied uni/uni will work. Senkos (I like junebug or something similar), texas rigged on a 3/0 ewg , no weight , or 1/8 oz tungsten bullet weight. A minimalist approach works just as good as lugging around more gear than necessary , especially when bank fishing. Enjoy. 2 Quote
snake95 Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 Medium spinning is what you have - I promise you will catch fish. Sure, there places with dense pads, but you won't be fishing 50 lb-65 lb braid with med spinning. I like John D's setup (heck, he lives there!) and that's pretty consistent with mine. I personally might upsize my braid a bit for the heavier vegetation areas - but that's just me. 15 lb is fine too. Take a couple of leader spools so you have options: say 12-15 lb mono to fish a buzzbait, toad, etc, early in the am, and 8-10 lb hybrid or fluoro to fish senkos and trickworms later in the day. Good luck!!!! 2 Quote
zell_pop1 Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 I'm from Indiana when I visited a friend in sw Florida we used frogs and senkos and caught quite a few at a place called Webb Lake near Punta Gorda. There are big gators there but also giant bass. I hear there are also Snook and Reds trapped there from when they had hurricanes. I would use the 30lb braid and use a leader(I actually used 15lb McCoys but had a Mh casting rod). Quote
Super User new2BC4bass Posted February 1, 2019 Super User Posted February 1, 2019 I visit relation in DeLand. We do a lot of fishing along the edges and into the lily pads. I keep rods there, but transport my reels back and forth. Last year (in February) I forgot to pack a baitcast reel with braid. I had shipped a few rods there earlier....one being an older Fenwick Elite Tech 7' MF jig and worm spinning rod. As it happened the reel I took down for it had braid. Turned out to be the rod I caught all (or almost all, can't remember) of my fish on. So my suggestion is to use braid unless you know you will be fishing open water all the time. Even if you are going to be in a boat so you could go to a snag, I would still prefer braid if I only had one option. This from a guy who has braid on very few of his reels. To me it is absolutely necessary to have braid on at least one reel while fishing in Florida. 1 Quote
Eric J Posted February 1, 2019 Author Posted February 1, 2019 Gotta thank you all for the great info! Eric J Quote
Diggy Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 Braid for sure and you can add leaders when you want. You never know what you will catch. You have the possibility for a nice variety of fish depending on location in WPB or surrounding areas of it. (Bass, Peas, Clown Knife, Snakehead, Snook, Tarpon, Cichlids, Tilapia, Bowfin, Etc.) 1 Quote
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