SirSnookalot

I'm going to try and be tactful. Firstly all of my fishing is for fun, not that I'm not serious about it. My prime targets are way bigger and stronger than bass, I get plenty of that kind of action almost everyday. When I do go bass fishing, which is most afternoons, I'm happy to catch any size. This is my relaxing time to fish, it can be as much fun as a 15# snook which is as common as a 3# bass, I really enjoy bass fishing. When I see PB of 4-5-6 or even 10# that means 1 fish and most are way smaller, hard for me to understand scoffing at a 3 pounder. If I'm looking to have fun, 3 pounds is great I'd just be downsizing my gear, which is how I fish for them. If 3 pounds is a dink, maybe some should forget bass fishing and only target larger more powerful species, I'll stick with my dinks and have a ton of fun.

I live within a 5 minute drive of Boca bearings.......lol.

I agree with basshunter, never buy a rod on line, I don't care who makes it. From my experience I bought 2 on line, they were absolutely perfect, but did not live up to my expectations. It was easy enough to return but a hassle I didn't care to deal with. I just kept the other rod and never use it. I buy mainly 2 brands off the shelf, 1 know is foreign made, neither brand has ever given me trouble or broke. These are inshore rods that handle hefty fish on a daily basis.

If I leave my bait on I just wrap the leader around the reel handle, no bait I hang the hook on the bottom guide. Don't use hook keepers and never have had a nicked guide, if I were nervous about it, I'd hang from the cross member on the guide not the ceramic.

Just to mention something for the sake of variety, live eels. What we use down here in Florida for barracuda are surgical tubes, which actually were developed to catch stripers. I make my own but similar ones can be bought in most saltwater tackle shops, Stryker makes a decent one. The intent of the tube is to resemble an eel. http://www.seastriker.com/lures/lures_files/cudatubes.htm

I feel for ya, I haven't seen snow or ice in 10 years.

If the fish are on I'm going to catch them on anything and if they are off it may be a long day. I like to use something different each outing, I carry 1 rod and 2 or 3 lures and seldom change. I have more confidence in myself than the lure, I'm going to use the one that I think is better suited for shallow or deep, weedy or open water, etc. I prefer catching fish on my terms, meaning lures and techniques that I enjoy, it has to be fun, I will never put pressure on myself as "having to catch a fish".

We have been doing real well at my local haunt the last few days, but ya get tired of the same fish. Took a break and drove 50 miles to a "hot spot" yesterday morning trying to find bluefish. 2 hours and not strike, nothing is better than home sweet home, my last road trip for a while.

The answer is........whatever you are more comfortable doing. I am vehemently opposed to using b/c gear for anything, except deep water ocean fishing and I'm not crazy for that either. For me having my dominate and stronger arm (righty) on the rod is of great importance. I cast more accurately and ready for a big strike, luckily my fish hit hard enough I don't have to put much energy into setting the hook, but if I did my stronger arm would work better for me. When I'm offshore using a conventional reel I now use a left hand crank, makes pulling up and reeling down so much easier for me, even offshore spinning is my first priority.

I was a South Florida snowbird for 25 years, have been a full time resident nearly 10, I love South Florida. I didn't move here because of the fishing, even though I do it everyday, South Florida fits my lifestyle and cultural background. Had I not had gr. children here I could easily have wound up in California. There are other parts of the country, some that have been previously mentioned, that have excellent fishing too, but I'd be a fish out of the water there, excusing the pun. Just have to make the best out of any location you pick, there is more to life than a fish, although we have some great ones down here.

They don't get anymore strikes, but in the case of the Van Staal it is supposed to be impervious to sand entering the reel, a real big plus for beach fishing. The Long Island guys coming to Florida for the winter seem to be always packing one. In the medium and larger sizes of offshore spinning the 8000 stella has a whopping 55# of drag, which actually is the same drag as their 20,000 reel. My comparable sized soron 60 and penn conquer have 30 and 32# which is darn good but no where near the stella...........you bet it makes a difference out there. I fished with a 5000 stradic fj yesterday, that's my next one. On the fly equipment, I have friends down here that probably are not rich but very devoted to fly fishing and they wouldn't touch a rod and reel under $1000.

This was a real bonus for me, not only a great fish but a financial success as well. 1975 in Key West, Florida fishing on a drift boat that was targeting margate snapper I hook into this cobia, I actually landed it on 7' mh freshwater spinning rod, I didn't know any better at the time, lol. Won the pool of about $125.00 and sold the fish to chef waiting at the docks for $2.00lb.......yeh I remember I much I got.

The Boynton Fisherman is 2 minutes from the ocean and on my way home. Pretty much geared for saltwater but has a limited amount of soft plastics and live shiners. Small selection of rods, reels and lures and not cheap, sometimes a sale. This is place for information, rod and reel repair (on the spot if possible) and I can buy lead, hooks, swivels by the piece. Lead weights are an important item here, by the piece it figures out to be $4.00 lb, places that sell package are 8-$9.00, about every type available. They open at 7 am, 6 am on weekends. Another shop down the street opens at 5 am 7 days, it's ok for a quick fill in, spoons, jigs, etc.

Good Luck !!

The fishing in South Florida can be good at times, but I would't pick it if I had a choice. Of the places listed I like Jacksonville, less hustle bustle, many places to fish with a few more species available, the fishing dramatically improves north of the Florida nipple. South Florida is a suburb of NYC.

Untangling braid wrapped around trebles can be a mini nightmare, 40# isn't quite as bad as the 15 or 20# that I use. I have caught over hundred fish over the last month on topwaters alone, I always use a leader, much less time to unravel from a treble and get back to fishing. The alberto knot is one great knot, however I only use it target species that hit a swivel as quick as the lure, like mackerel. I use a short leader about 20-24" attached with a swivel, that short of leader has very little stretch which I prefer.

IMO money spent on gear is directly related to to species and their potential size, techniques, level of enthusiasm and most important ones own budget. If I were a b/c user, heaven forbid, I'd look into those handles. I have swapped my handle on my soron 20 for a soron 4000 handle which fits perfect and is a power handle. I could never count the number of double digit fish I've caught with this reel, the handle makes a big difference.

Not sure I understand what a finesse spinning reel is, they come in all sizes and any technique can be employed, not being naive I'd say most would call finesse a smaller sized reel to be used smaller baits. Not really a new concept but modern materials and technology has come a long way, which is great. I'm not going to endorse or condemn any product, I have in use about 20 some odd spinning reels, 3 of which are strictly freshwater and cost about $100 each. Everyone once in awhile I'll use one of my small saltwater reels as I did yesterday, an Abu soron 20, which compares very favorable with my stradics. IMO more reel than I need for fish that average at best 2-5#. How many bass fisherman average 5-10# fish, probably no one and if they did they most likely are using b/c gear. Looking forward to my next freshwater reel purchase, mine have been rock solid for 3 years or more, I don't see the need for me to spend more than $75. I'll get a smooth reel, with up to date technology, that should give me worry free usage for the next 3 years, at that time I'll buy another and may get improved technology over today's 2-$300 reel, that may or may not last the same 3 or 4 years. Just my take on what's right for me.

I don't know what is more frustrating, no fish around or fish every where and you can't catch one. This time of the year snook are every where busting all over the place, but they are so occupied feeding live bait that catching them with artificials is tough. I've seen this many dozens of times, not only are they running small, most under 28" but hard to catch, exactly why the FWC has a season on them now, they know you won't catch much. Fish react to stimuli that's induced by mother nature, they don't think or reason, making it near impossible to out think something that doesn't think itself..........Fish, match the hatch and PRAY would be my advice.

When I was a member of a boat club we used a 28' Sailfish or Robolo, twin engines with 3 people, wasn't too crowded. I go out every Saturday, sometimes during the week, with a friend that has a 21'Polar with a single 150 hp, we seldom go out further than 200'. A center console is a good fishing boat but has a lack of storage space, 3 or 4 rods each and my 1 tackle bag (he keeps his tackle on board) even with only 2 people make it crowded, I don't complain it his boat...lol. One thing I really don't like is the bimini top, good sun and rain relief, but casting is difficult so we don't do much inshore tarpon or snook fishing from it. Handling some of the larger fish on a boat that small you have to be careful, if you can't gaff them, net or pull them in with the leader, cut the line. Some of these fish are going to bleed on you, all of sudden you can have 6 bull sharks circling the boat, it's scary don't take any chances. We pay strict attention to the rules of the road, but the intent is not catch and release but to keep legal fish.

There is no one in the world that lands every single fish. I would say there probably is little need to adjust your drag if the fish aren't too big, what species and the location. If a fish has to be pulled clear of some heavy vegetation I can see increasing the drag, open water not so much. Using the palming or grabbing of the spool method with a spinning reel makes that easier, I don't take my eye off the fish and I keep a tight line, manual adjustment we sometimes have the tendency to look at the reel.....a no no. Just another reason I prefer spinning over b/c. I'm a braid user and it's strong stuff, for me it's 10 or 15# in fresh and 15 or 20# for inshore fishing, I never concern myself over line breaking, not that it doesn't happen once in a while. If the fish is really big and powerful, locked down at 20# drag won't stop some fish, if line is still being pulled that out takes the pressure off it and it's less likely to break. A slightly smaller fish can break the line because if you do lock down the drag the fish won't pull line out and now there is more strain on the line, kinda sounds backwards but it isn't. I always let my fish run, never yank and crank, use the lightest gear I can get away with and always rely on my drag. I can honestly not recall any bass being belly up after exhaustion, that just isn't going to happen in 60 second or less fight, at least that's my opinion. Has that happened with other species, once in while yes, most seem to revive pretty well, but we always don't know what happens minutes later when they are out of sight, gotta be honest about that.

I prefer a 4000 over a 3500 size reel, I do have a Daiwa tierra 3000 which I mainly use for smaller fish or from the beach. A 7'6 6/12 rod is not going to have the backbone you need, the 10/25 would be more of a consideration. Not being familar with that rod brand I can't say yea or nay, I use a Star steller lite 7' 10/20 max 2 oz lure or Hurricane redbone 7'6 10/20 max 1 oz lure.

Use what you are more comfortable with, one big advantage to spinning is the price. Now is the time to catch them.

That is good knot especially if there is a small hook eye and thin line. I don't dropshot but I do use a bottom rig aka chicken or guppy rig, I use a double palomar given the fact I may be using a larger hook and may have my sinker already tied on. I think that "Japanese" knot is well worth knowing, easy to tie, I'm going to to try it.