SoFlaBassAddict

I've got a few christmas trees from the last couple of years in the lake behind my house. 10 or 15 foot from the shoreline the lake drops to some unknown depth. Probably 30 foot or so, though supposedly it's 60. Few CBS blocks some chain or rope and the tree. Done. Works pretty good too.

As much as I love having my dog around, I can't take her fishing with me any more. She tries to bite whatever the heck comes up on the business end of my line. She doesn't actually want to eat the fish, just bite it a few times to show it who's boss...stupid animal.

I really need to pick up some of these rage tail lures. I've heard nothing but good things about them. Nice fish right there.

As much as I hate waking up, mornings have always been better for catching more fish for me. 75% of my large fish have been caught very late into dusk or during the night...

Love my little x-raps. Olive something or rather color. Looks just like a shiner. Something about those flukes I just can't get right. I'll rig them up just like you said, only difference is on a 3/0 ewg. The just look damned silly in the water to me for some reason. I must be retrieving them wrong or something. It really irritates me as I love using soft plastics. I actually just bought another bag of super flukes last week to give it another shot..no good.

I've got to 100% agree with that. I primarily shore fish. There really isn't a type of lure that you can't use. My favorite is topwater early in the morning though. Nothing more fun than early morning froggin. I don't know how the bass are up there in Ohio, but down here you can toss a frog and catch fish at darn near any time of the day.

I blame this fully on being in the sun for the entire week....

I throw frogs all the time down here. I actually caught a few gar on one a few hours ago. Frogs don't last long on those things. Great for Largemouth. I've yet to have a peacock run off with one yet though.

Yeah I checked on there and couldn't really find anything that matched up to it.

Anybody here used or able to find some information on this rod? I've googled it and all and couldn't find a thing about it. I'm just curious, I could always use an extra rod or two. http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/spo/1113827953.html Guy wants 40 bucks for it.

Eesh. Thats a hell of a Jon Boat. Thats actually giving me some ideas now...

I primarily use the zoom horny toads. But they aren't really "floating." Unless I'm doing something wrong, the ones I've got have a slow sink rate. Could just be the weight of the hook though. I also use the frogs that a local bait company down here hand pours. 152nd St. Baits. They make a mean frog for topwater fun.

Yeesh, that was the back of a car loaded up in one of the previous posts. As far as freshwater tackle goes...I've got a small Flambeau bag that I picked up at Wally World for like 15 bucks. As much as I like Plano gear, I couldn't resist the price. Holds two larger plastic boxes and one smaller one. Pouch on the rear. I keep cranks/spinners/topwater lures in one. The other has some soft plastics in it for the time being. That'll probably change though as I like keeping them in the original bags stored in the pouch more. The small box holds terminal tackle like hooks/weights/beads etc. etc. If we were talking saltwater tackle I could probably fill up a small warehouse with all the junk I've accumulated over the years... The worst part is that I fish for bass almost on a daily basis...I don't think I've launched my saltwater boat for...four or five months?

Topwater frogs. Topwater frogs. I've been killing bass on a few lakes out in my area lately. Nothing huge, but they frogs have been destroyed at the surface. Zoom horny toads.

Not just for the consumers, our sponsors donated extra stuff so we could also hold a raffle. The BR crew, a very generous one,....raised almost $1000 for CAST For Kids!!!!!! You guys really blew me away with your kindness,....awesome. Thats pretty darn awesome. I love it when people do stuff like that for kids. Mucho kudos.

Nice bunch of stuff right there. Gotta love when sponsors do that kind of thing for the consumers.

In 20+ years of fishing I think I've had one rod break. I'm sure I beat the hell out of a few when I was a kid, other than that I can't really remember. Was fishing offshore in a large dolphin school and I grabbed a free rod, happened to be a very light tackle spinning rod. 15+ pound dolphin grabs it and spools the reel really quickly, rod bent just a wee bit too much and snapped. Needless to say I didn't land that fish. Like everybody else has said, if you take care of your equipment it'll take care of you. There are always those freak manufacturing defects though.

Not a bad thing to see cruising around your backyard. Although this morning I did see a TON of small Largemouth cruising in schools around on one of the other lakes in my development. Small meaning probably around 10 inches or so, hopefully they grow into maturity soon.. ;D ;D

You and me both, the Largemouth in my lake have stunk lately. Hopefully that'll improve before too much longer.

I love this time of the year. A small cold front blew in a couple of days ago and the fish are active again right now. Especially the Peacocks. It's also nice when the kids are able to catch fish easily right now. Not all that bad for a pair of five year olds. I just realize how funny one of the kids looked with that loose tooth in the front. That thing is trying really hard to push out

I second Sierra Trading post, I got a nice pair of Costa del mar's the one that came with interchangeable lenses (amber, grey, and yellow, all polarized) for about $62. I love em I've got a pair of Costa Del Mar glasses. Good stuff right there. The ones I have are somewhere down on the cheaper side of their line. My mother spent some ridiculous amount of cash for her Costas, but I can say that they are worth the money. Good glasses.

Are those lucky craft lures really that great? I've heard a bunch of stuff about them, but I just haven't had the urge to go out and drop like 15 bucks on a lure yet. Thats a painful thing to lose if and when you do... If it catches me a ton of fish though, thats an entirely different story.

Thanks for the welcomes you all. Great forum you have here. Lots of info.

Gotta agree with that one. Worms are cheap enough to buy a few bags to experiment with until you find something you like. Unless you start experimenting with Senkos, they are really economical to play around with. Probably around 3 or 4 bucks a bag at most places.

I love me some topwater fishing. Theres nothing cooler than watching a bass absolutely wreck a frog skipping across some weeds or a line of pads. It's d**n near as cool as when all of a sudden the frog gets vacuumed underwater with almost no splash. Good times. I actually just picked up a new pack of frogs earlier, go figure...