soflabasser

Sadly most people don't like snakes( most likely poorly educated about snakes) and the behavior these children displayed is more common than many think.Those kids definitely need to be better educated by their parents that killing snakes for no good reason is wrong but I wouldn't give them a false diagnosis solely based on what they did ( any real health care provider knows this). These kids probably learned thier lesson and hopefully don't do it again. With that said these kids are nowhere as bad as a grown man that drives his boat close to a land based fishermen to bother them and especially nowhere as bad a jet skier/boater who flys by a no wake zone where land based fishermen are. Well said @Darren..

Welcome to the forum

I rather let go trophy bass and keep a couple pictures of them. Maybe get a couple replicas later on.

This thread is making me want to get a bass or walleye patterned swimbait and see how well it does the next time I fish for muskie.

As long as its legal I say go for it.

Mepps aglia inline spinner. Choose the size appropriate for the depth/current of the river you are fishing in.

Same here. 2 full Plano tackleboxes is more than enough for the places I fish and I leave the rest of the Plano Tackleboxes at home. I have at least 14 size 3700 Plano tackle boxes filled to capacity last time I checked and that would be way too much to bring fishing.

You can definitely catch a snook, tarpon, and redfish in the same day if you wanted to, especially on the west coast and some parts of South Florida. If you have a couple days to fish it will increase your chances of catching all these fish even more.

Good choice

What matters most is that you had a good time and caught a couple bass. Beats not catching anything at all.

Well said @DINK WHISPERER

Have caught channel catfish as bycatch while fishing for bass on swimbaits and jerkbaits.

That's terrible and I bet that fishing charter wasn't cheap. I reccomend you do your research months in advance before you visit South Florida again or any state you plan on fishing. That's what I do when I go on my fishing vacations up north and I tend to do well( have caught multiple muskies, smallies, various species of trout, rare types of bass,etc). You don't need a boat or fishing guide to catch a shark in South Florida and honestly sharks are not hard to catch in many places as long as you have the appropriate gear and you know how to handle a big game fish. I suggest in investing a decent combo for shark fishing and make sure to use a wire leader when shark fishing. You can get lucky and land a +7 foot shark with straight 12-30 pound mono and a small hook but that is unlikely compared to using 4 feet of 200-500 pound wire leader,10-20 feet topshot of 100-200 pound mono, and a couple hundred yards of 50-80 pound line. Many shark fishermen down here use much heavier line than I mentioned so your not going that heavy.

Sounds like you had a good time! Yes fishing in Florida is a lot harder than what most non Floridians think it is,especially for bass over 8 pounds and fishing for many of the saltwater species you mentioned. I have caught everything you mentioned in your list but it took me a while and it would be very difficult to catch all those species you mentioned in only 1 to 3 days of fishing. You don't need a boat to catch goliath grouper and you can catch them in the keys bridges, some places on the west coast,etc. Make sure to bring gear that can handle these fish since most gear cannot handle these fish. Another species of fish worth targeting is permit and you can catch them in the keys bridges as well.

My cousin uses yellow braid when he bass fishes and he seems to do well with it,even in the clear waters we fish in.

Sounds good. You will have a great time fishing for sharks from land in South Florida. There are other hard fighting fish you can target from land as well besides sharks. Let me know at least 1 month before you come and I will give you one of my fishing reports.

Uni to uni knot and Rapala knots are mostly what I use to tie lures and other terminal tackle.

I buy new rods every year or so but have many rods that are +20 years old. I don't plan on throwing away those old rods since they still work very well. Because of this I have more rods than I really need and probably have enough rods and tackle for a big group of people to fish comfortably.

8-10 pound mono for a size 1000 spinning reel will probably be better than using 20 pound mono.

How did your vacation go, where you able to catch all the fish on your list or ar least most of them? The fishing has been very good this month so I am sure you did well.

Fishing the Everglades is one of my favorite experiences I have had bass fishing. Make sure to bring a headlight, bring a friend, stay 15 feet or so away from the shoreline, and be very careful where you step. Would also reccomend you give land based shark fishing a try when you visit Florida if you haven't done it already.

I do a lot light tackle fishing with 8-12 pound test line in the ocean since its very fun fighting a fish this way. I do put a short leader to protect the line from cutting off from the sharp teeth many saltwater fish tend to have. Have caught some very nice bass on 4 pound test line with small lures, but I only do it in areas I have plenty of open water and few obstructions.

Nice selection of crankbaits.

That's why it's crucial to get a good education to have a profession that pays well...that or have a very successful business. Besides a little extra money can help feed the bait monkey and I am sure the bait monkey does not mind.

LOL! I am sure you noticed how packed its getting down here and it's most likely going to get more packed. Don't worry a couple decent hurricanes will scare many of them back to the west,north, and northeast where most of them come from. I don't blame them for coming here though since Florida is a paradise for much more than fishing.