bigbassin'

If it fits in the basses mouth and they're hungry, they'll eat it. When's the last time you saw a wild buzzbait swimming around?

Take your favorite "baby" sized paddle tail, favorite regular sized paddle tail, and your favorite craw and you've basically got swimjig trailers covered. You can also rig the craw both horizontal and vertical to get different profiles.

While fishing today, I saw a huge bass, 5+ pounds laying on its side at the base of a submerged log. I took a few casts without it moving, then it immediately righted itself and took off. Have any of you ever seen anything like this? I assume it was either sleeping, or possibly laying eggs, although I'd think it's a bit late for that here.

Looks like I'll have to buy some jerk baits then, I don't ever throw them in the heavily stained waters around me. Thanks for the tips y'all, I'll make sure to let you know how the trip goes.

I'd be pretty happy with a couple like that, especially if a couple nice largemouth are caught as well. Were you using hard jerkbaits like South FLA recommended,or soft plastic jerkbaits like flukes?

Do you think it will be that bad on Ida? I've never had gators mess with me while kayaking before, they typically swim away from me, but I've also never fished near an area called "Alligator Alley."

I don't have a picture, but I've caught a 3 inch bluegill on a 3/4 ounce rattle trap.

I figured we'd probably need to keep our eyes open for gators down there. Thanks for the heads up.

We're still up in the air, but we're leaning towards putting in kayaks at Lake Ida and fishing the canals connected to it.

I'll be doing a peacock trip with a couple of buddies some time in the next month down in South Florida. Not looking for any spots, but I was wondering what the go to lures to catch them are? Also, what types of cover do they typically hang out around, is the morning/night/midday bite the best for them, seasonal patterns you can expect to see in May/June, preferred water clarity for them, etc.

Ya I used to think I was a pretty decent fisherman until I moved to Gainesville. My advice is swimming zoom speed worms, seems to work pretty well around here. Where all have you tried?

I like the ugly otters and burner craws. I seem to be the only person that can't stand their burner worms, I'll take a zoom speed worm over it any day.

I'll pay attention next time I think I've missed a hit to see if I get this slime trail. Obviously I never miss fish though, so it might be quite some time before I can report back...

I've only thrown it on one trip, but I got a 12", 2 2 pounders, and a 4 pounder in 30 minutes. All 4 came on a slow retrieve over grass with my rod tip near the water so it would dive down around 1 to 2 feet. I was using the 50 size in brown, water temp was around 60.

I'm always the co-angler so I've never had to worry about the back boater, but I make it a point that if I'm on someone else's boat they won't ever have to worry about me.

I've used singles blades in stained water during the day with success. I actually get more fish in the day with a single Colorado over double willows, and at night with double willows over a single Colorado, which seems to be the reverse of most people.

My only tip since it sounds like you're back boating is make sure you have lures to match the boaters speed. For example, if he works the boat slowly you have a lot of freedom in what you throw, but if he keeps his foot on the trolling motor all day you'll need to be throwing a moving bait.

Most of the fish I've caught on them came while waking them over shallow grass.

What rod and reel combo do you have? The line guidelines can often be more of a suggestion rather than something that must be absolutely followed. Also what baits do you have? Finally if you could describe the bodies of water around you/post a map of the bodies of water, you'll probably get better suggestions on how to approach fishing them.

When I go fishing with others, we typically have a system where it's no big deal if I use a friends lure or vice versa (with the exception of swim baits, etc. that are likely to snag and are expensive.) It's not uncommon for me to tell a friend to go in my tackle box and tell them to throw something if I think it would be productive and I know they don't have one. If someone loses a lure it's no big deal since I figure if it's not a topwater I'll eventually lose it, however it's an unspoken rule that the lure will be replaced even if the owner says not to worry about it. I could see this being an issue though if it's only a one-way system.

You definitely need to give it a shot some time. Out of around 50 day trips last year, my average best 5 would of been around 12 pounds. On 15 night trips my average best 5 would of been around 18 pounds. Those 15 trips also accounted for 2 of my 3 bass over 8 pounds last year.

From what I've heard, you bow to tarpon because they gain momentum as they exit the water (air provides less resistance than water) so their speed combined with their size will put too much force on your line and snap it in most situations. With bass being much smaller, this typically isn't an issue, so your best bet is to keep the line as tight as possible and put your rod tip low to the water in my experience.

I personally love Lew's reels, they're the only brand I plan to ever by again.

I'm currently looking at getting either a Lowrance 3x or a Humminbird 197c. What's y'alls opinions on them? Also are there any other depth finders in this price range I should check out? I'll be in an 8 foot inflatable so the screen doesn't need to be huge and GPS isn't necessary.

Awesome thanks for the replies. Being in Florida, that shiner profile really got my interest.