kikstand454

Congrats! Nice fish!

If you can find the line and lure "saltwater" formula, without kvd's name on it, its the exact same thing +a salt disolver in a much bigger bottle for the same price. I recently finished a bottle i bought about 3 years ago.

All baits that are sold to the masses catch fish . If they didn't, they would no longer sell- and they would stop being made. Your bait selection in reality is probably 30% what the fish PREFER in your area- and 70% what YOU prefer to present to them.

Hahahhaha. .... everytime one of these threads come up, I get to laugh at people not knowing the difference between pitching and flipping, and the situations they're used in. It makes me giggle. Just keep practicing OP! You'll get it!

Those may be the biggest I've ever seen on a red. They have teeth like a bass. ... they're kind of under "lips" and aren't that prevelant unless you go looking for them. I lip redfish all the time. The problem with that is they don't stop trying to kill you once your hand is in their mouth, and the thrashing slowly saws your thumb off- like a big bass will. So I guess they HAVE teeth. ..to and extent. When I think of a fish with teeth. ... I'm visioning speckled trout and mackerel! Lol.

^ I'm not sure any of that is needed. If you're going to put a motor on it, of any type, you have to register it in Fla. However, most DMV agents will not bug you about not having a title for a boat under 14' and will possibly enter it as "homemade". That being said. ....technically they can give you the name and address if the last known registrant and then its up to you to track this person down and get them to sign a bill of sale for the boat. They may even have to come to the DMV with you.

Your guide tower may be bent? Just a guess.

Agreed. I pitch my kids 5'6" zebco under branches all the time for her and then let her reel in the bream. Unless you're talking about flipping, in which case a longer rod is more advantageous. But, you still COULD flip with a much shorter rod.....

Before I was born, my grandfather bought me a rod and reel and a pump action 410. The fishing stuck. Lol. Since very early, I was fishing at family reunions in the greenbriar river in WVA. ...catching rockbass and bream, the occasional smallmouth and trout. We moved to Florida when I was young and my mom and dad loved to fish. It was just something that was always part of my life. About 15 years ago I got serious about inshore fishing. About 6 years ago, I started doing a bass tournement every now and then. This past summer, I went back to my "home" water at greenbriar and caught the smallie in my avatar. Fishing has been such a huge part of my life.... i can't imagine a life without it!

Ditto for the forgotten coast! I have caught litterally hundreds of reds in my life, and never once did I see one with "teeth". They have the same little tiny ones bass have- and then they have huge crushers on their tongue and roof of their mouth. *shrug* You learn something new everyday I guess!

Dude! That girls a pig! Congrats!

When I first bought a baitcaster, I got a 3/8 jig the same day. And all I did for two weeks was pitch that jig down the hall into the kitchen. Hours at a time. Then I moved out to the back porch and did the same thing to a paper plate in the yard. I got pretty good at it. I could pitch fairly well under docks and trees- and still couldn't cast any distance without backlashing. Lol. Practice. Read articles and forums posts, watch videos- then practice more. Its a skill- you have to learn it. Good luck!

I'm going to start paying more attention to how I approach things, and follow this example more. It sure is working for YOU mainebass!

IME this is my advice as well. Use a jighead like the one pictured and rig it weedless. The spot removers are alright, but honestly they just didn't work for me. They seemed to hang up more often and I'm not a fan of the screw lock keepers. The "stand up" up feature of the head is rendered useless by the elaztech baits- because they stand up no matter what head you put them on. Jmho Ymmv Oh and yes ...... keep all elaztech lures seprate from the general population. They do NOT play well together.

This. And the elaztech finesse worms could not possibly be better suited for the job of shakey head lure. They stand up perfectly straight and last most of the day- even if bluegill are assaulting your lure. Great choice. If they were more available in my area- its all I would use.

X3

I have seen reviews on every popular rod in the last 10 years breaking on hooksets and "for no reason". There's always a reason. Treat your gear right, it will treat you right. If not- I've heard good things about Abu CS. So I wouldn't worry too much.

When rattle trap season comes. .... it seems I catch just as many crappie as I do bass! They love them!

I think you answered your own question. " I'm not familiar with fishing such open water like pond one. " Structure fishing is completely different than cover fishing. Different lures different skills set. Try shakey heads, drop shots, Carolina rigs, football jigs and deep cranks around the 15'-18' mark in pond one. Fish any points and shelves you can find. Explore the bottom with your Carolina rig and figure out its composition. Find the breaks and humps. These are going to be key in summer and winter. Then get back over to pond two and fish lipless cranks! Its fall man! Lol

Electricity travels ON a wire, not IN it. Electricity will travel to ALL points to ground- not just the one of least resistance. This is a great question! Someone research it and post your findings!

Nice fish man! Congrats!

This. At the risk of making them even harder (for me) to find- I have had great success this year with the big bites yodaddy. The pit boss seems to have alot of support here. Tubes are great. The mats you'll be punching are pretty thick. Think slim and compact- tubes, bb crickets, senkos- etc. I'd start there and then increase the profile (or not) as the fish deem necessary. Good luck!

I use a variety of shaky heads, but only a few baits. The zoom trick worm is my go to. Shake with confidence my friend.

Casting for shake heads. Spinning for dropshots. Jmo.

*shrug* Keep it simple . 15# copoly on everything except 12# on your deep cranking rod. 8-10# on your "light" topwater rod ( which you could use for shaky heads and dropshots) . And 40+# braid on your frog/flipping stick. Done. EDIT: oh. ...and great match up list. I agree with all of it as well!