soflabasser

Bowfin are not related to Snakehead.They are not even in the same Family.

Snakeheads are extremely fun to catch and people have caught them up to 14 pounds here.

Nice video,but I would never eat a fish from the canals down here.Too much methyl mercury and other pollutants.

Expensive reels tend to be better made than cheap reels(more ball bearings,better drag,better metals used,longer lasting,etc).Still you can get a very good bass reel for less than $50.One of my favorite reels for bass is a discontinued BPS reel that has 10 ball bearings and has caught me plenty of bass and decent saltwater fish.

Like others have said,it's the driver not the car.You should invest more money on lures and tackle than a rod and reel.

@Outdoor Zack,yes you fish the swimbait as close to the ground as possible. Reel slowly and occasionally give a twitch.This is also a great technique to catch big bass.

You should try using swimbaits.I have caught many channel catfish on swimbaits and it's always a suprise when I see them on the end of the line instead of a big bass.

Punching and flipping jigs with trailers in the Lilly pads.Frogs over thick cover.Experiment with retrieves until the bass let you know what they want.Use heavy braid to pull them out quickly before they get stuck.

Yes you can do extremely well from shore regardless how large the body of water is.What helps me is to study the lake on Google maps and look for areas where there are drop offs,change in vegetation,where it opens or narrows,color changes,etc.I look for areas where there is a large concentration of baitfish, since bass won't be far away.Study bass biology of your area as well to be better able to predict where they will be at a certain time of the year.

Been fishing Florida for decades and never had a problem with a Alligator except one time and that was 100% my fault.I was fishing less than 3 feet from a nest and the mama gator came out charging at me.I ran for safety while she just laid out on the dry land looking at me.Since then I don't fish near nest anymore.I have swam in canals before and can tell you from experience the small alligators are afraid of people.I always got out of the water when I saw them over 6 feet to be safe.Stay away from nest,don't feed them,and have common sense when fishing at night time.Its better to deal with these alligators than having to deal with the cold,oppressive winters you Northern guys have.

That big bass is thick!

Congrats you will have lots of fun fishing there.

Looks like a white bass. Hybrid bass tend to have a broken line pattern.

The lures you posted will catch some saltwater fish, but will most likely be destroyed by them. Saltwater fish are on another level and you need to step up your lures and gear. Some lures that I recommend are Rapala Skitter Walk's Rapala Xrap's Gothca's Bomber Magnum Long A's Saltwater jigs of various sizes

I am glad we have so many exotic fish to fish for. People come from all over the United States to fish for them and spend $$$$$ doing so.

I release all largemouth bass regardless of size.

Always fun to catch bass on topwater frogs.Length doesn't mean much when it comes to bass, what matters is girth. There's double digit bass that are less than 24'' and bass that barely break double digits and are over 27''.

Live bait is free if you catch it yourself. $250 is more than enough to easily get yourself a years supply of lures that will catch bass of all sizes.

Thanks for the report. A 25 inch bowfin should weigh somewhere around 4-6 pounds.

Thank you for posting this @Bigbill.Lots of good info here. Shore fishing can be just as productive if not more in certain situations. My most productive bass fishing trips have all been from the shore. I focus on spots that has structure on structure. An example is a area where there is a old fallen tree that is submerged in deep water with lots of vegetation around it for baitfish to hide in.Paying attention to water level, water temperature, wind direction and strength are factors I take into consideration when choosing a location and technique to use as well.

Most of the trophy bass I have caught have been on lures. A well presented lure will out fish live bait for big bass in most situations, at least from the spots I fish from the shore. Still few things are as relaxing as sitting down watching the wilderness around you while waiting for a big bass to take the bait.

Thank you @BassinLou. I love bass fishing and fishing for trophy bass is by far one of my favorite types of fishing. What helps me the most is having lots of patience, along with being very determined and persistent.When I am specifically targeting trophy bass I use big swimbaits and big live bait. This works the best in the spots I fish, but have been surprised more than once when a big bass takes a lure meant to catch numbers of bass. By far the best thing to have is patience and lots of it.

Like others have said get a replica of the bass. No need to keep a bass when you can easily take several pictures of it,measure it, and weigh it. It will last longer, looks better and the bass will most likely still be alive to make more bass that can potentially be even bigger than it was.

@BassinLou,I have several pictures of Largemouth Bass between 10 -12lbs, all that I caught from the shore in South Florida. I will show the pictures in person if you want. Most of the lakes I fish are private lakes that I have permission to fish in, but have caught several +8lbers in public lakes/canals. The last +10 pounder I caught was over a year ago( in a public lake), but I just recently got back to specifically fishing for big bass and have caught over 6 bass between 6 to +8lbs in the past 3 months. The biggest this past weekend was over 6 pounds. Its not easy down here in South Florida from shore, but if your persistent and determined enough you will eventually catch a double digit bass.

Have caught a couple Channel Catfish on lures before