RoLo

Fish in the tuna family..YES (bluefin, yellowfin, bonito, albacore ~ ~). Largemouth bass..NO Smallmouth Bass..I yield the floor to Dwight Hottle ;-) Roger

"Sink Rate" is governed primarily by Line Diameter rather than Line Density (an angler who trolls is the best source of information). The following is based on a large-scale study performed by Tackletour: 1) Braided line is virtually non-stretch 2) Fluorocarbon stretches a lot, and the difference in stretch between nylon and fluorocarbon is inconsequential. In fact, some brands of fluoro stretch more than some brands of nylon ("nylon" is commonly referred to as "mono") 3) Due to lower water-resistance, fine line offers a more natural delivery than fat line (braid is a fine line; fluoro is a fat line) 4) Fluorocarbon line is susceptible to ruptures & fracturing, hence "Low Knot Strength" (not so braid) Finally, the angling world should really compare "abrasion-resistance" based on an equal volume of material. Comparing the abrasion-resistance of fat line to the abrasion-resistance of fine line is not a fair comparison. Roger

Welcome to the forums Wolfie, I concur with A-Jay, which is to say, the difference in weight may be more significant than the difference between a Sweet Beaver and Kinky Beaver. Why braid over fluoro? I'll enter that debate via the low road: "Why fluoro over braid?" Roger

Best Bait For Grass Carp? Grass

To begin with, I really don't consider 12-lb tackle spooled with 15-lb mono as defensive surf gear. Though more than adequate for pompano, you'd be far under-tackled for blacktip shark, a more desirable gamester. The notion that 10% of the water holds 90% of the fish is ideological, but steeped nonetheless in sound logic. All the same, there's no way an angler can exploit this tidbit of knowledge without a high-precision contour chart. Given high-precision cartography; YES, pinpointing hotspots is as easy as pinpointing sites with rapid depth change. For better or worse, the chart survey should always be performed before wetting a line. Roger

Hi Gnute, welcome aboard. Roger

Yes, it is true that the mean depth of large bass is deeper than the mean depth of small bass (i.e. coldwater tolerance). It is also true that the depth of trophy bass varies sharply as per seasonal period. Consequently, simply increasing the fishing depth in the hope of landing a trophy bass is little more than a crapshoot. There are probably an equal number of situations when moving into shallower water will expose the angler to more belly-sagging lunkers than moving into deeper water (certainly in my experience). Just my two cents Roger

Nobody know gators better than Lee, his reptilian tour is first-class. If you're interested in bass fishing, I'm sure he can hook you up Roger

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt regarding your connection knot, which then strongly suggests frayed or nicked line, which is very common if you're negotiating heavy cover. Roger

Definitely

I should preface by saying that I rarely start with a shaky head rig, but resort to it when fishing is unspectacular I doubt that there's any "best" shaky head trailer, but there are a few that I really like. Unfortunately, my favorite shaky trailer is no longer in production, it was the “Gambler Giggy Stick”, a small hollow worm with a tentacled tail like a tube. The shaky head trailers I use the most today are the Roboworm 4.5” Straight Worm (pumpkin punisher) and Zoom 4.5" Finesse Worm (black grape). Roger

Most of our lakes have heavy vegetation, so I normally use 30-lb braid for cranks, chatterbaits, scroungers ~ ~ However, if you select a 'fine diameter' braid, you'll be able to use 30-lb braid that has the diameter of 20-lb braid. For instance: 20-lb Power Pro & 20-lb Sufix 832 are both 9/1000" in diameter, but 9/1000" Smackdown is 30-lb test. Roger

When Takahiro came to America he thrust himself into a language barrier, that's how bad he wanted to be a pro angler. He's very dedicated and knowledgeable, and his mind is focused 100% on fishing. I like Tak I'll never forget the tourney that Takahiro Omori won during the Kissimmee Tour in 2005. The bulk of the contestants were slugging it out on Lake Kissimmee and Lake Toho. Omori covertly locked into Cypress Lake and had the lake pretty much to himself. While Tak was boating one of his bass, he let-out a mock-up Iaconelli yell. It was half-volume with a Japanese accent...Hilarious ;-) Roger

Nothing to fear, unless you fear falling in love Seriously, I use braid for 'everything', and find it particularly well-suited to spinning gear (there are several advantages). Having done a lot of fishing for keen-sighted bluefin tuna, when I first began I dutifully affixed a leader to the braid. That soon grew old, which I now consider busywork, today I use straight braid even in clear water and feel no pain Roger

Welcome to the forums. Stealth is important in skinny water, and if the bass aren't as stealthy as the angler, their dorsal fins will betray their presence Roger

Nice going, topwater is a blast, and makes a blast too Roger

My deepest running bait is a "Jig-&-Craw", but not a football jig (not in Florida) Roger

Spro Aruku Shad 75 (any color) Roger

I can empathize Jakob, we deal with that situation a lot during Florida's hurricane season Unlike most aquatic plants, "coontail" isn't rooted, but stays in place via hold-fast hairs. Instead of yanking it up by the root system, high winds generally relocate coontail. Some situations are best remedied by "time", which ultimately heals all wounds and wounds all heels ;-)) There's a pro guide on the Stick Marsh who actually encourages his clients to take a rain check when the water is turbid (Jim Porter). In addition, A-Jay's summation provides a lot of good insight. Roger

The most promising spots on any lake can usually be pinpointed with a contour chart in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately though, the job of location isn't finished until you're physically on-site. For example, you might find that the most promising trial site on the chart is void of suitable cover. As an aside, the difference in the location process between small and large lakes is largely the same. A huge lake is essentially a tangent series of smaller lakes, and in extreme cases like one of the Great Lakes, you might find eutrophic bays, mesotrophic bays & oligotrophic bays all in the same lake Roger

Question? What Question?? I think WRB kept his posts on an upper plane, and strived to offer an informative tutorial. He never lowered the tone to a personal competition, and I endeavored to do the same. Roger

I hate to repeat myself, but the above statement leaves me no choice. The statistics I cited were not based on MY performance, YOUR performance or any one case in point. Instead, they are based on consensus statewide tournament statistics (local & tournament levels), the FWC Trophy Program and the all-time record B.A.S.S stringer of 45-lb 2-oz produced by Lake Kissimmee in January (midwinter) All the double-digit bass that you & I cumulatively mustered over the years, pale in magnitude. Roger

I never meant to suggest that trophy bass weigh more during the pre-spawn, my point is that they're more aggregated and aggressive during the pre-spawn. On the contrary, I believe that bass reach their annual peak weight during the warmwater period when their metabolism is highest. Though I didn't agree with everything Doug Hannon professed, I did agree with him on this point. Attaining peak weight in late summer/early fall makes full sense. The extra fat reserves must carry them through the coldwater period when their metabolism and feeding are at the lowest ebb, all the way to the early spring spawning season. Roe is deceptively light, biologists maintain that bass roe adds an average of 8% to the body weight of the cow (between 5 & 11%). For an 8-lb bass, that only amounts to 10 ounces of roe, some of which may still be with her into the summer. During the summertime however, solar energy peaks, weed growth is in full-bloom and baitfish are large and plentiful. During the summer, bass metabolism and forage consumption are in high gear. To my mind, it would be a cinch for an 8 lb bass to lay up 10 ounces during the summer, about the weight of two golden shiners Roger

Oddly enough, when I've had too many margaritas, I see Tequila Sunrise Lizards Roger

Tom, when I speak of "trophy season", I'm not speaking about my performance, your performance or any one case in point. Instead I'm referring to the Florida consensus on balance. I say 'on balance', because every year is not identical. The other thing is seasonal stability. You're correct, summer is the most stable season of the year (winter is 2nd). And indeed the pre-spawn period is normally riddled with cold-fronts and is characterized by a slow bite. Be that as it may, the pre-spawn period is unique in yielding the highest 'Mean Weight' of the year, and the highest ratio of trophy bass to average bass. When splitting hairs, the 'early' pre-spawn gets the nod because the water is colder, and the larger a fish the greater its tolerance to cold water (well-documented fact). Once the cow bass enter the spawning season, the trophy season is essentially over. When I pointed out Dean's record stringer, I wasn't placing the emphasis on Dean's single stringer. Instead, the emphasis should be placed on the thousands upon thousands of stringers weighed in throughout the year that fell short of that mark. Not surprisingly, Dean's record stringer was boated during the 'early' pre-spawn, a day when a 40-pound stringer wouldn't have been enough. Roger