soflabasser

Welcome to the forum. What state where you originally from? SW Florida has very good bass fishing so you should have a very good time bass fishing in the area you live now.

You are going to get different answers for these bass fishing rod combos since everyone has their idea what is the best rod combo is for them. I say use the combos that you feel most comfortable with and the combos that help you consistently land quality sized bass without giving you problems. With that said I like using 6'0"-7'0" medium heavy to heavy spinning gear ( most bass fisherman will tell you to use baitcasting gear). For reels I mostly use a size 4000 Penn or Shimano spinning reel. These combos might not be what every South Florida bass fisherman uses but it has been more than enough for me to land big bass from heavy cover and good enough for big snook,juvenile tarpon, big jacks, and other hard fighting inshore saltwater fish.

We are in the month of May now so its Alligator mating season. The female gators don't want anyone near their nest sites and the male alligators are more aggressive than usual.

I caught most of my river smallies behind rocks near deep pools or eddies so maybe similar areas to these are good where you fish.

Almost every single bass fisherman I know longarms a bass. That's why it's best to have a picture of weighing the bass( with the whole bass showing in the picture) or at the very least pictures showing the length and girth of the bass being measured. Regardless the OP's smallie is a beauty of a fish that is bigger than most people's best bass caught from public waters without a fishing guide.

Looks like a good lure to use at night

This is a bullhead catfish and not a channel catfish. Channel catfish have a forked tail and this one has a rounded tail like bullheads do.

Do you have pictures showing the tail better and sides of this catfish? It looks like a bullhead catfish from the front angle of this picture and other pictures will make identifying the catfish easier.

The fish in the picture is a black crappie.

Chartreuse is a good color for a lure when fishing in locations with low water visibility.

Yes I have fished offshore wrecks and still do it is one of my favorite forms of fishing. For these shipwrecks I mostly fish with 20-60 pound test mono and go heavier if needed since mono has better abrasion resistance than braid. I have caught a couple in muskies in zebra mussel infested waters and have not been cut off by these zebras mussels yet while using 20-25 pound big game mono but I can see how braid can get cut off if you fished it on the floor where there is a heavy population of zebra mussels.The techniques you mentioned are also good for fishing in areas with zebra mussels.

Nice catches

Congratulations on your new pb's.

I have caught all my muskie on medium heavy to heavy bass rods so yes it's possible to catch a muskie on a bass rod. Make sure to have a reel with a good smooth drag system since a decent muskie is a far more powerful fish than a bass.

This 1 pound, 6 inch bass reminds me of the Colorado state record largemouth bass that weighed 11 pounds, 6 ounces yet it only measured 22.5 inches. Guess these two bass might be related!

That looks much more fun than catching a bass! Saw this video a couple months ago and is still very enjoyable to watch.

You are going to get a lot of answers on this subject since everyone has their idea of what the best pound test is for braid for bass fishing. For example, most people use 50-65 pound braid for frog fishing and feel thats what they need and others like me are comfortable with 30 pound test braid for frog fishing. For me 50 pound braid is for saltwater fishing or throwing muskie/big bass lures and even then I prefer using 20-25 pound test mono mainline when fishing with big lures. With that said I do see the use of using 65-80 pound test braid if someone is fishing extremely heavy aquatic vegetation for big bass.

I would choose the creature bait before the senko but then again I will only use a senko if absolutely needed.

Congratulations on catching your first 5 pound bass for 2018.

Sounds good. Looking towards to hearing about your next night bass fishing report.

Yes that's a good time. Best part is that there is usually nobody to bother you when you fish at night. No boaters, jetskiers, pleasure boaters, and random people that approach you. Just you fishing enjoying the outdoors.

Next time try to get a picture of the whole bass if possible and maybe measure its length and girth. Regardless your smallmouth bass is a beauty.

That's a bigger weight than what many would use for rainbow trout fishing but if it works for you go for it. I would use 12-15 pound Big Game Mono for a 3/4 ounce weight when targeting other species and never had the line snap on me, even on far cast.

What matters most is that you got a bunch of blowups. That means you are throwing something they like, now you need to find what retrive will make them smash the lure and get hooked. Maybe change hooks if they are not sharp enough. Keep being persistent and you will eventually catch the fish you are after.

I like your idea of getting a picture of a big bass and putting it in a nice frame for the wall and might consider doing it. At this moment I have a couple albums full of big bass pictures and no pictures/replicas on the wall.