bigbassin'

The difference for me is that I treat a spinner bait as a night only lure. I can't seem to buy a bite with spinner baits during the day, my top night producer by far though. As far as throwing a crank bait during the night, I'm sure it would still work but spinner baits are effective enough and are a little more forgiving due to their lack of trebles and weedless design.

Update: I saw a lot of males roaming around today, only saw one bed. Since it's upper 70's to low 80's everyday up here for the next week, I'm guessing the spawn will be fully on by this weekend if not earlier in this particular pond.

Anyone seeing any bed fish yet? I have yet to see any in Gainesville, I'm thinking this warm week should change that.

Thanks for the replies everyone, seems to be a wide-range of opinions which is kind of what I was expecting. Next time out I'll give it a try with a trick worm and a swimbait and see if produces, figure it can't hurt to try.

This isn't a technique I've seen or even heard of someone using in Florida outside of on bed fish so I figure I'd likely be showing the fish a new presentation. I'd be using it to fish weedlines in the 10 to 12 fow range with 1 to 2 feet of visibility. The fish around me are still prespawn, believe they'll stay that way for another month or so. Do these conditions make dropshotting an effective option, or does the water need to be clearer/deeper/colder/etc. to make it worth trying?

A swimjig is really the only lure I throw where in my head I'm clearly imitating a bluegill and not just presenting a generic forage fish profile. The skirt gives it more height than a plain swimbait or crankbait, similar to how bluegills have a rounder body shape than most fish.

These guys are pretty versatile, no real wrong way to throw them. By far my most effective method is swimming them like a paddle tail with a 1/8 weight through grass, have done alright swimming them around laydowns as well. I've had really good days fishing clear water grass beds letting the worm fall into the grass then ripping it out using jig heads. At night dragging it like a conventional worm on a t-rig/c-rig is very effective, think it puts off a little more vibration compared to other soft plastics. I've even had success using half of one as a chatterbait trailer. A lot of guys down here use them as topwaters, particularly the gambler burner worm, around pads and other topped off grass and do very well. Personally never caught much doing this, but I've watched others crush them so it has to be user error.

I think I've read Hawaii has largemouth, spots, smallies, and peacocks. Not sure if they're all on the same island or spread out though.

Anyone ever fish the Chipola River, and if so how did you do? As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd like to target shoal bass in Florida this year and I think this will be the location that I will fish. Is there reasonable shore access that I can wade from safely? Or is the current too strong, not enough access points, gators, etc. that would make this difficult. If necessary, I can rent a kayak/canoe, but saving the money if it isn't needed would be ideal.

Update: I went ahead and purchased the reel and have used it three times. Based on how its performed so far, I would recommend this reel if you're considering it. Reel is extremely smooth, feels solid, drag is good, ridiculous casting distance. I was able to get a 1/2 swim jig at least 45 yards out, I was kind of surprised to see my jig fly like that honestly. Gone down as far as a 1/8 shakey head (on a mh rod) and still get around 25-30 yards out of it. Obviously still to early to comment on durability, but I have no reason based on the feel and past experiences with Lew's to think this will be an issue.

I don't think hybrids like meanmouth are officially recognized. Still a fish I'd like to catch one day however. Do you know if the shoal bass in California are the same as the Shoal bass around FL/GA/AL? I tried looking them up but couldn't find anything on them.

From what I've read, Florida-strain largemouth are considered scientifically different than Northern Strain. Spots are also broken into two groups between Kentucky and Alabama (Coosa) strain. The other 6 are smallmouth, redeye, gaudalupe, suwannee, shoal, and choctaw.

How many different species of black bass have y'all caught? Interested in seeing if anyone has caught all 10 species.

I did a 30 boat tournament out on Rodman that time of the year a while back. The people that stayed on Rodman did't get many with no one catching a full limit, but two over 10 were caught, including a 12. From what I was told, both of those fish came off docks. Folks that locked over to George did much better as far as a 5 fish bag go, with speed worms and swimbaits being used by basically everyone. If you're going after a trophy, Rodman with live shiners is one of the top lakes in the state. Never fished the St. John's around Palatka, heard it can be pretty tough compared to other stretches of the river but a lot of big fish can be caught. Never fished Monroe, but I know a lot of guys love that lake. Good Luck

Anyone ever target these fish? These are the last type of black bass in Florida I haven't caught, and I'd like to knock them off the list sometime this year. Any general areas, tactics, etc. that would be useful in targeting shoal bass that y'all are willing to provide would be greatly appreciated.

As the title states, I’m looking for a 7’ medium fast rod for 120 or less and just want to hear any suggestions y’all would recommend. I would almost exclusively be throwing flukes and trick worms on it, along with grubs, shakey heads, jerkbaits, and topwaters on a very rare occasion. Edit: I’m looking for a casting rod.

Having never done this before, should I be getting grease all over the gear and in every little crevice? Or is it like oiling the bearings where just a few drops is all that’s needed?

Anyone have any experience with this reel? I'm looking at replacing my current t-rig/jig reel over to this model and just want to hear any pros/cons you may have experienced while using it.

Was at the river this past week, the water is now low enough to safely fish.

As far as lures go, your favorite texas-rig bait will work, with most seeming to prefer creature baits over worms for flipping. Jigs are also a solid choice. If you're punching grass, more compact craw-style lures work better so the appendages don't get wrapped up in the grass on the way down.

I've only been able to find one pond within Gainesville that doesn't have a no fishing sign and actually looks worth fishing, biggest bass out of it in 4 years is only 1.5 pounds. The pond fishing here just isn't what it is in most of Florida based on my experience. If your willing to drive about 30 to 45 minutes north and aren't scared to wade, the Sante Fe river is pretty fun to fish. It's definitely a seasonal thing, water is too high from about May to mid-October to wade typically, too cold in January and February, of course buying waders can fix that issue. From what I've seen online, the river level is still several feet too high to safely wade due to Irma, so it may remain unfishable until around December. The river has largemouth and Suwannee bass, which is basically like a 1 pound smallmouth. They like fast-moving, rocky areas, almost all of ours have come on crankbaits, and they fight much harder than largemouth. The slower moving and grassier areas tend to hold largemouth, whith worms account for most of the ones we catch.

This coming May, me and a buddy will be taking a two week trip with the goal of catching as many trout and smallmouth as possible, not too concerned with largemouth as we can catch those anytime we want down here. We will likely be camping to save money, and would like to hit around two or three states that way we can see some different scenery without wasting our trip driving around (and of course the fishing matters much more than the scenery.) If it makes a difference, trout will be done exclusively on the fly rod, we'll probablly start with conventional tackle on the smallmouth but once we've caught a few the fly rods will be coming out for them as well. Is there anywhere that we just have to hit, any pointers for making a trip like this, etc.? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You fish it from the bank or in a boat? I've been thinking of making a trip out there for a while now.

Thanks for the advice y'all, I'll be sure to keep it in mind...Cherokee and Norris are about 2.5 hours away from where I'll be and I have no clue if my buddy will want to tow his boat 100 miles, but I'll definitely look into them.

I'm planning a smallmouth trip to Tennessee this May, and am looking for some advice. Being located in Florida the majority of my fishing happens in shallow, weedy lakes for largemouth so I'll be learning a new species and trying to figure out how to fish highland reservoirs at the same time. Just looking for any suggestions on lures, lakes in the far southeast corner of the state worth fishing, seasonal patterns, preferred cover, etc. I will have a boat if that helps. Currently I'm thinking jerkbaits, topwater, crankbaits, tubes, small jigs, and craw imitations are the way to go based on everything I've read. I see dropshots also get a lot of love for smallmouth, but I don't have any experience with one and it would likely be a last resort if I'm throwing one.