North vs South

[billmac]

For those of you who are experienced in fishing for bass in both the northern and southern parts of the country, how would you boil down the main differences in how you fish?  Differences in baits / lines / etc?

 

Since our bass (I'm in NY) tend to be smaller, I'm assuming the baits might be smaller as well.  I don't have a lot of southern fishing experience, but I can't imagine any of my fishing scenarios requiring 65lb braid.

 

Everyplace I fish that has bass also has pike in abundance, so that can affect how I fish.

 

What do you think?

[Hawkeye21]

I think it depends on the type of water your fishing more than being in the north or south.  I'm in Iowa and use 50 pound braid for flipping jigs and throwing a frog.  Most of the water I fish has heavy vegetation and lay downs.  If I was on a rocky reservoir I probably would need that heavy of line though. 

[jimmyjoe]

13 minutes ago, billmac said:

 

Everyplace I fish that has bass also has pike in abundance,

   This is absolutely #1.   Fewer weeds is #2.  I haven't had enough coffee yet for #3.       jj

[BassNJake]

There are differences in what is considered "clear" water

Up north clear water was defined as crystal clear you could see a penny on the bottom in 20 feet of water.

Down here clear could mean crystal clear or what I consider slightly stained- being able to make out chunk rock in 15 feet of water.

 

Have not seen a pike but have gar all over the place.

Although they dont eat as many lures unless your burning it or walking the dog with a topwater in my experience

[J Francho]

I've been all over the east coast from Maine to Florida.  I've seen many types of lakes, many have similarities, but none of those were what I'd consider a north/south thing.  The main difference in bass is size to some extant.  In the case of Florida Strain, they are a bit different than northern strain.  Oh, and many of those lakes down south, with the exception of the hydrilla choked waters, don't hold a candle to some of he slop just five minutes from my house. 

[TnRiver46]

It seems like there is much healthier aquatic veg up North (probably because they don't poison it all the time). Healthier veg leads to better water quality. But, there's the whole ice and cold thing. No thanks. Additionally there are not many natural lakes down south outside of FLA

[FishinBuck07]

I live in Ohio and use 65# braid on my flipping rod and jig rod  and 50# on my from rod.  My brother lives in the Syracuse area and I know of quite a few places around there where I have fished with him that I wouldn't hesitate fishing the heavy braid due to heavy grass and trees in the water.  

[JediAmoeba]

I use 65# braid because I have a lot of it.  I fish for Muskie and use 65 and 80 # braid a lot - so it is what I use for frogs and other large baits.  

 

A 3# bass seems to be monster in eastern pa.  

 

 

[soflabasser]

I have caught bass near the Great Lakes to all the way down to some freshwater/brackish water canals near the Florida keys. From this experience I have noticed that on average Florida largemouth bass are much bigger than northern strain largemouth bass or any other black bass species. It is common to catch 4-7 pound bass in Florida and a bass that size is considered a big bass near the Great Lakes, New York, or another area in the north. I have also noticed that Florida largemouth bass are pound for pound better fighters and harder to catch than Northern largemouth bass. Pound for pound the Suwannee bass I caught in Northern Florida where the best fighters and the trophy Florida largemouth bass I caught in South Florida where the strongest overall in terms of absolute strength for the black bass species I have caught. With that said none of the black bass species compare to peacock bass, they are much stronger, faster, and more beautiful than any black bass. As for fishing gear I use heavier tackle when fishing in Florida and lighter tackle when fishing up north for bass.

[Cdn Angler]

From where I am (Ontario, Canada) to the fishing in the South, the difference is massive. Keep in mind I've only fished in NC, but I've spent hundreds of hours watching people fish in the southern USA. 

Some differences:

- fewer lakes, more people = more pressure in the USA. 

- fewer natural lakes, more large reservoirs in USA

- seasons up North are exaggerated as the shifts are drastic

- smaller window for eating (late March to December) means both smaller fish and fewer total fish 

- more cold water fish: small mouth, walleye, musky, pike, lake trout etc.  This impacts bass behaviour, but also other anglers that prefer to target these species (common)

- different forage: no shad, more perch etc. 

- more lakes with little to no fishing pressure. If you find them it can be bananas. 

- far less management of lakes in Canada: stocking, controling weeds etc. 

 

The main thing IMO is that our natural lakes look much different than man made reservoirs. 

 

There are very few instances where I encounter water with poor visibility that isn't weed choked. This is mainly rivers. Things like deep cranking, working rip rap, tons of creek arms...are not common here. A water body here is more likely to be more or less round, with fewer small arms. 

 

I always wish when reading/watching people give fishing advice that they would more often specify their geographic location. 

 

If I watch MLF the lakes and techniques often are totally different than what I could do here. 

 

Although our bass are smaller and less numerous, I'd say they are easier to catch as there's less fishing pressure and as they have to eat more as they only have a 8-ish month window and only 4 months with avg temps above 18 celsius. 

 

Also bass fishing is prohibited until 3rd week of June, which is post spawning. So there is zero legal pre-spawn or bed fishing. Supposedly this allows more fry to hatch/live and there are therefore more dinks. 

 

[PhishLI]

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

It seems like there is much healthier aquatic veg up North

This makes many shallow bodies around here extremely challenging/frustrating to fish and rules out many presentations including entire categories of baits. 70 miles east of me the lakes are totally different with very different species of veg and are way more fishable with a wide range of lures. I can use much lighter line out there with the only danger being that a humongous Pickerel will slice me off.

[TnRiver46]

Best of both worlds? Tennessee! Right inbetween, world record smallmouth and walleye but no ice on the water. Don’t tell anyone or post it on the internet though