SoFlaBassAddict

I bend down the barbs on probably 90% of the hooks I throw. Sure I lose a few here and there, but it's nothing that I'm going to cry about. It does make it easier for catch and release fishing. Obviously if you're in a tournament you'll want the barb on there so you don't lose that money fish. As far as fish throwing the hooks, if you keep a fairly taut line you shouldn't really have much of an issue.

I know the feeling. I stopped into BPS after work one day to pick up a couple packs of toad hooks while they were on sale for under 2 bucks. I think cool, I'll spend five or 10 bucks and be gone. I ended up spending like 75 bucks out the door....

You can say that again. From the quick glance at the pics, that boat looks to be in fantastic shape. Not a bad deal you got on a new TM either. You guys should have a ton of fun using it. Congrats

Well, fish em and let us know. At a buck and change a pack I may run out and see if mine has any in stock. The only YUM product I've ever used were some twin tailed grubs that I got on sale at BPS. Mixed results with those. Probably more my fault than the plastics though.

I've been fishing my entire life. Started out learning from my father, who learned from his father. I guess you could call me a third generation fisherman. My uncles also played a major role in my fishing education along with my mother. We have always primarily fished saltwater. For sport, and as a means for some tasty food. Offshore, reef fishing, lobster diving you name it, we've done it. Now that my daughters are starting to get a little older, they've started to really enjoy it as well. Although they've yet to go out on the big boat to go do some offshore fishing, they absolutely love bass fishing behind the house. Taking them to BPS to look at the fish tank has quickly become one of their favorite things to do on the weekends. Hopefully they'll develop a true love and respect for fishing like my parents instilled in me. Right now fishing with those cheap little princess spincasting rods makes them giggle for hours. Now they're moving up to larger spinning gear (thankfully). Casting those 3 foot kids rods is a major PIA. I also hope that the south Florida fishery is still worth fishing in once they get a little older. I can certainly see the downgrade in fishing down here as the years have progressed for me. You no longer see the massive schools of dolphin like you used to see seven to 10 years ago. Now that the catch limits have been increased and more heavily enforced things seem to be turning around somewhat.

40 bucks worth of horny toads and horny toad hooks ;D

Darned bait monkey shows itself again... Nice chunk of stuff you picked up. Good luck with those dancin eels. I think I've caught a single tiny little LM on one. They look really nice in the water, but thats about it. Thankfully they're cheap.

Pretty much all year round for me down here. Mind you south florida is unlike anywhere else for bass...

I use u-tales' on my home lake all the time. Great worm, especially for the price. As much as I like trick worms, the u-tale has been a better fish catcher for me down here. I mostly use the junebug color.

I'm one of them.... My top 5: 1. Large Permit on fly 2. Sailfish on fly 3. Swordfish 4. 10+ lb peacock 5. 75+ lb kingfish or wahoo would probably be a blast although I may need new tackle afterwards. I've had 50 pounders totally grenade reels...

Out of the two, LM simply because I've never been in an area that has smallies. If peacock bass were on that list that'd be my number one hands down. 1 pound peacock fights like a three pound largemouth.

Nice fish right there...that Rapala looks like garbage though. Must have been fun

5" watermelon w/red & black flake weightless texas rigged and fished slow

I've caught tons of fish on lizards on my lake. We don't have lots of frogs (besides Bufo toads)/insects. There are tons of lizards around here though. Baitfish are generally minnows with a few wild shiners floating around. Holy god these are old pictures, but you get the idea of the fish on those glow in the dark lizards. I've caught a few large catfish on them as well. This one was on a small 5" Zoom pumpkin/chart lizard

I'm primarily an offshore angler. Bass fishing is so darned different that it's drives me absolutely crazy at times. It's just a different method of locating fish for me. Takes much more patience/practice. My next big hurdle is offshore flyfishing for sailfish ;D

Well, that aint exactly it but it should work. Thanks a bunch man.

Bass Boat: Nope Saltwater: 25' Cruisers Inc. Sea Devil w/275 Evinrude V8 Lake: Achilles 12' Inflatable w/ Motorguide 34lbs thrust

Although it was probably was stupid luck, caught my first few fish on some jigs. Date: 21APR2009 Clarity: Fairly clear Weather: Overcast w/moderate wind Temp: Unknown Strike King bitsy bug 1/4 oz Color 11 (Pumpkin) Netbait Baby Paca Craw trailer in Bama Bug Darn shame that the trailer got destroyed by the peacocks..they ripped the claws right off of it, oh well..

Catch and release all day. I really don't intentionally fish on nests anyway. If I happen to catch one sitting on a nest, well thats a different story. Eggs or not, pitch em back in.

Well, here you go...

Are you sure they're going out of business? I checked the website and couldn't find a thing about it. I've got one in my area that I'd make the trip to if they have some good deals.

Son of a.... BPS needs to have a sale or something similar to Cabelas. The only deal I've seen in there recently has been like 20% off of Zoom plastics. I need to restock most of my terminal tackle soon.

Electric reels are for sissies

Well, in my defense I did search and didn't come up with anything relevant I may need to either be a little less specific or more specific with my searches next time. And I totally understand the using it as a winch design. Thats how I learned how to use my stand up gear for offshore/grouper fishing. It's not so much as learning how to use a casting reel, I'm already pretty good at using one...at least for the applications I need in my area. This was just something I noticed after using some of the UL gear earlier today and was curious what others thought.

Thats kind of how I was looking at it myself. It's not uncomfortable to hold the rod in my right hand at all. In fact it's very comfortable. But the having to swap hands thing every cast wears on me, and I can see it becoming a liability down the road somewhere. I've lost rods before and don't really want to again. I'm wondering what everybody else will have to say about it.