BrettD

I've done it several times the worse was when I stepped on a lure with treble hooks and 2 barbs went straight into my foot I was alone in a conoe. I had to use the line trick and rip them straight out. Crashed on my bike and got a treble buried from a zara spook in the side of my thigh this time I poked the barb thruough and cut it off. The worst part was the hook went through my shorts and boxers then into my leg. Fishing partner got his rattle trap snagged on some grass went to yank it out came flying back and caught me in the arm we where in the same canoe couldnt avoid it ended up poking the barb through and cutting it off.

Knowing where you want to fish helps because you just ask locals that fish the lake. IE if you wanted to come down to Okeechobee I could help or if you wanted to fish on Lake Falcon you could ask someone that fishes the lake regulary.

A 4 power powell should be about right I have a 764 endurance I use for 10 worms with either a 3/8 or 1/2 oz weight.

Welcome where in FL

I use 6.3-6.4 for everything but my flippin rod and worm rod. I like to use 7:1 for them.

What ever you do make sure its variable speed the 5 speed trolling motors suck 4 is to slow most of the time and 5 is to fast.

This you also alot less likely to run into glass and rot problems on a aluminum boat vs an older glass boat.

If your going to use it for 1/2 oz or better jigs or 3/8 oz with a worm I would get a heavy. Im assuming you fish in the same heavy cover I do because your in FL.

Im a firm believer in bigger baits+ bigger fish just less of them. I dont believe changing locations is the key especially during the spawn because the big females be where the smaller bucks are. I have actually hooked up on a small little 10-12" bass and have had big bass come up and try to eat it. The first time it happened I caught a small fish as I was reeling it in the fish got hung on a piece of rope that was holding the pond fountain in place so my little fish was just on the surface snagged to the black floating rope I didnt see flopping around when a monster bass around 8# came up and ripped it off my crank bait and ate it.

This is exactly why when you fish from shore in a pond or in a boat where there is heavy cover like we have here in FL loosening the drag isn't an option. Some times if you give a fish an inch the will bury so far in the grass your never getting the out. To me its just easier to buy better hooks its not like they are expensive its cheap insurance. This is where I had to drag a 7.5lb bass throught the grass to get him to shore I was using a rebel pop -r just on the outside of the grass to catch them.

It varies alot for me but pond fishing its usually the first hour or so of daylight and the last hour of daylight. When fising at the the lake the first hour of light and then 12am-2pm lately with the colder nights we have been having.

When the fish gets away right at the boat and your bait comes back with a straightend hook its pretty obvious what happened.

Best eating freshwater fish I've ever had. Its one fish I really wish we had in FL.

Every bait with I have with a treble hooks gets mustad kvd short shank hooks. I used to be of the opinion that stock hooks where fine it only took loosing one 8# bass because the hook straigten out to change my mind.

Where are you wanting to fish?

I use straight braid for everything.

I think you talking about John Cox on the red river.

Its hard to tell from a pic but it looks a little thin to be an 8 looks more like a 7.5 to me. Either way thats a nice catch.

spro or booyah popping frog.

I have several endurance rods and for the money they are hard to beat even at $160 but on sale they are a real bargain.

What rooster said but I use 40# braid.

Palomar knot for everything except for flipping then I tie a snell knot on a straight shank hook. When I tie the palomar I go through the eye twice before making the the overhand knot.

According to his marshal and what Kriet said he prefished there and fished there all 4 days.

The have been spawing sense for a few months. I think I started seeing beds around Christmas.

I dont use a leader at all. My dad used to be a believer in leaders and he refused to fish with out one unitl we did a comparison. We fish every weekend together for 10 trips then we compared numbers and there was no difference in the number or size of the fish. We fished lake okeechobee for all 10 of those trips and its probably one of the top 5 pressured lakes in the nation.