Florida Large Mouth Bass

[Sam Kirk]

I am in a RV at Disney Fort Wilderness Campground for a month. The fishing for bass is fantastic. I went and purchased a 7' medium rod with fast action. Then I purchased a 5000 size reel. I put. 30 lb. braid 8 strain line. 12 lb. Monofilament leader. 

I purchased #4 wide gap hooks. Then put a 6" zoom pumpkinseed worm on. I did not peg the 1/16 oz. Bullet sinker. With all oh this I hit the golf cart and went fishing. After fishing for an hour I had a hit. I set the hook and landed the biggest bass I ever caught. After I released him the excitement has me shaking. I never caught a bass this size. I caught a 25" trout back home but this bass was much more fun.

Today I lost two bass. I had them almost near me and I lost them. I am use to trout fishing you don't need to set the hook real hard just keep even pressure on the fish. How hard do I need to set the hook on a bass? I am loosing more fish than ever have done. Do you let them take it wait then set it? I am very upset I purchased good stuff and get good hits then loose them. Can anyone please give me some advice on what I must do?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 minutes ago, Sam Kirk said:

I am in a RV at Disney Fort Wilderness Campground for a month. The fishing for bass is fantastic. I went and purchased a 7' medium rod with fast action. Then I purchased a 5000 size reel. I put. 30 lb. braid 8 strain line. 12 lb. Monofilament leader. 

I purchased #4 wide gap hooks. Then put a 6" zoom pumpkinseed worm on. I did not peg the 1/16 oz. Bullet sinker. With all oh this I hit the golf cart and went fishing. After fishing for an hour I had a hit. I set the hook and landed the biggest bass I ever caught. After I released him the excitement has me shaking. I never caught a bass this size. I caught a 25" trout back home but this bass was much more fun.

Today I lost two bass. I had them almost near me and I lost them. I am use to trout fishing you don't need to set the hook real hard just keep even pressure on the fish. How hard do I need to set the hook on a bass? I am loosing more fish than ever have done. Do you let them take it wait then set it? I am very upset I purchased good stuff and get good hits then loose them. Can anyone please give me some advice on what I must do?

First off, you're gonna being addicted to Bass for the rest of your days.....that shaking feeling in quite synomous with successful Bass fishing, and it seemingly has no tolerance level.

 

Secondly, landing big Bass is hard even for pros.    Everybody has a different approach to hooksets, personally the second I feel them, I hit em with all I got and then I constantly evaluate drag, where the fish is in the water column, and most importantly obviously never once let an inch of slack get in that line.    

 

Lastly, Bass fishing takes lots of practice, "time of water" can't be taught or explained.   The next time you go Bass fishing, you'll catch a fish you didn't last time, and so forth.    Just enjoy the process, the hardness is part of it imho.  

 

Congrats on your biggest Bass, that's your PB now.

[Big Hands]

13 minutes ago, Sam Kirk said:

I am very upset I purchased good stuff and get good hits then loose them. Can anyone please give me some advice on what I must do?

 

Maybe the nice gear is what improved your chance to hook the fish in the first place. The passage of time often turns what seems like tragedy into comedy. Eventually, you'll have a fun story to tell for the rest of your life.

 

1) Stop blaming your gear

• If you blame your gear, it doesn't allow you to accept that you can do better
• I'd bet dollars to donuts that your technique allowed the bass to get away

2) Accept that sometimes the bass wins their freedom

• Hopefully you were going to put it back anyway, if not, than good for the bass ;~)

3) Try to figure out what you could have done better

• Keep your hooks sharp
• Improve your hookset technique
• Keep tension on the fish by keeping a bend in the rod. I tell beginners to try to keep the rod at around a 90° angle to the fish and keep a decent bend in the rod. 

4) Enjoy that you had that moment. Get back out there and hope you get the chance to battle test yourself with more big fish. If it were easy to land big bass, everyone would be doing it.

[WRB]

Go buy 3/0 off set or straight shank Gamakatsu, Owner or Mustad Ultra point worm hooks in lieu of 4/0 wide gap for 6” to 7 1/2” worms. 

Watch Glenn’s video on how to rig Texas weedless worms.

Set hook firmer, bass have tough hard mouths.

Tom

[AlabamaSpothunter]

56 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

 

Maybe the nice gear is what improved your chance to hook the fish in the first place. The passage of time often turns what seems like tragedy into comedy. Eventually, you'll have a fun story to tell for the rest of your life.

 

1) Stop blaming your gear

• If you blame your gear, it doesn't allow you to accept that you can do better
• I'd bet dollars to donuts that your technique allowed the bass to get away

2) Accept that sometimes the bass wins their freedom

• Hopefully you were going to put it back anyway, if not, than good for the bass ;~)

3) Try to figure out what you could have done better

• Keep your hooks sharp
• Improve your hookset technique
• Keep tension on the fish by keeping a bend in the rod. I tell beginners to try to keep the rod at around a 90° angle to the fish and keep a decent bend in the rod. 

4) Enjoy that you had that moment. Get back out there and hope you get the chance to battle test yourself with more big fish. If it were easy to land big bass, everyone would be doing it.

I recently lost a trophy caliber fish right at the boat after already trying to net it once.....truer words couldn't be spoken in regard to sometimes the fish just wins its freedom.

 

I'm still dying because of that fish, but wow did that fish earn my respect and admiration.  First fish to significantly squeel a Zillion drag almost on max.  

[papajoe222]

If you're going to use a Med-Fast rod for worm fishing, Use thin wire hooks.  Most 4/0 EWG (I'm assuming that's what you meant when you said #4) worm hooks are made with heavy gauge wire and require much more energy on your part, to penetrate past the barb. I'm not saying it can't be done, I know lots of anglers that use a similar set-up successfully. I'm only pointing out two things that inhibit your success with that combo; the hook and your hook-set. Try thin wire 3/0 worm hooks and work on a stronger hook-set.

[Sam Kirk]

Thank you everyone for the help. I will change my hooks tomorrow.

 

[Sam Kirk]

The hook size makes a big difference. There are so many good size that strike. You can feel the line gets a slight pull.

[Darth-Baiter]

#4 hook is fairly tiny!!  well done hooking a big bass.  getting the fish to commit is the biggest part of the equation in my opinion.  

 

go with a bigger hook, thinner wire hook and you just gotta lean back to drive the point past the barb.  

 

sooo...you can just walk out to any golf course pond?  asking for a friend.

[WRB]

2 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

#4 hook is fairly tiny!!  well done hooking a big bass.  getting the fish to commit is the biggest part of the equation in my opinion.  

 

go with a bigger hook, thinner wire hook and you just gotta lean back to drive the point past the barb.  

 

sooo...you can just walk out to any golf course pond?  asking for a friend.

OP was using a 4/0 wide gap, mis spoke about the #4.

Tom

[garroyo130]

Agree with all of the above, offset round bend 2/0 or 3/0 is the way to go. 

[Captain Phil]

Use these hooks and you will land more fish.

 

 

[Sam Kirk]

After a month at the Disney Fort Wilderness campground I had the best time fishing. I am and was a trout fisherman but the first monster bass I caught changed my #1 typo of fishing.

We booked another trip to Fort Wilderness campground  in October this year.

The people fishing is very few. There are two very good places to fish on a bank. Every fish I caught was over three pounds. Switching my hook to a #3 worm hook was the trick. Working the worm  very little at a time right to left. 

In the afternoon the place to fish was the area by the dog park near the bridge to the left. Wow this was a blast. No one fishes this area. 

Thank you everyone for the help getting me the best experience fishing I have ever had.

[Captain Phil]

1 hour ago, Sam Kirk said:

After a month at the Disney Fort Wilderness campground I had the best time fishing.

 

For those who can afford the price of admission, Disney has great bass fishing.  Back when I was guiding, I applied to be one of their fishing guides. I discovered there was a long waiting list for those positions and most were current Disney employees.  Fishing in Disney is nothing like fishing in the real world. 

[Sam Kirk]

I am addiction to bass fishing has me looking for a spinning rod I need to catch 3 to 6 lb. Bass. My rods are for trout. I can't believe mt glass rod did not brake, For trout a glass 6-6" rod is fine monofilament is fine. Now I want bass tackle. I put 20# braid as my main line and 12# fluorocarbon as my leader.. This never failed me.

I booked 3 weeks at Fort Wilderness campground. The fishing is much better than the park.

I booked two guided fishing trips and they were very good but bank fishing is much better. Ride the golf cart. To the spot walk over the bridge and start fishing. Very few people fish this spot. They go behind the 300 loop near the dog walk. I fished there and caught nothing. So I kept moving down. Some places the fishing police ran me out. I found out Tuesday and Thursday the are not around.

Thank you all for in information. The #3 hook put me in reeling them in. The first bass that jumped out of the water shook my up! II will never forget that day. Now all I do is read about bass fishing.  

[WRB]

Welcome to bass fishing.

Your tackle is critical and “glass trout” rods are not suited well for bottom contact soft plastics for bass.

Based on your line description 20# braid w/ 12 lb leader a Medium fast action spinning rod would work. Do you have preferred brands? 

St. Croix is American made and offers a wide range of bass rods. St. Croix Victory series like VTS71MF is a good choice.

Tom

[Sam Kirk]

I am looking for a good rod but at a reasonable price. I have to put the rods on top of my car when I drive to Florida. We stay overnight at a hotel. I have done the trip down and back one time and they strayed on the car roof all night.

I have to get a rod that I can set the hook. The Bass fishing was amazing. Just think if I had the correct rod.

[Sam Kirk]

I don't understand what is the difference between medium heavy action and medium action fast ? 

I guess fishing on the bank a 7' rod is oh? 

Is braided line ok or go with fluorocarbon?

I don't want to get in trouble asking too many questions but I have until October to everything I need. My basement has over 50 years of trout tackle.

[Ski]

On 2/22/2023 at 9:22 PM, Sam Kirk said:

I don't understand what is the difference between medium heavy action and medium action fast ? 

Heavy, Medium Heavy, medium, light and ultra light is the power, line rating and lure weight. 

Action is how much of the rod  bends.

 

 

[Sam Kirk]

What action is best to have the power to set the hook?