soflabasser

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Overall I am happy with my catches this year considering obstacles that occurred attributed to the pandemic. I was able to catch new species of fish, big fish, and many fish. The weather is nice and there are a couple days left this year so I hope to go fishing and catch more nice fish.

Sometimes the younger ones have more common sense than a lot of older fishermen. You won't catch any fish with a new lure still in the original package so it is best to buy lures that you will actually fish with.

Redfish are very good especially when blackened. Next time you visit Florida you should try catching a keeper sized snook during snook season and cook it. It is one of the best tasting fish you can catch from the shore.

I bet a lot of people that do not like eating freshwater fish would love eating freshly caught snapper or any other quality saltwater fish. Getting a fish in a store is not the same as catching it yourself.

Good subject. I have fished for over a quarter of a century which has been most of my life. In the beginning I did not even know how to tie a hook and my old man use to do it for me. With time I learned as much as I could from him, others, and from my experiences while fishing. At this point in my life I am comfortable fishing in small mountain rivers all the way to deep sea fishing. With that said fishing is hobby you learn for a lifetime so I plan on learning as much as I can and hope to continue improving.

Welcome to the forum

Hogfish, snapper, grouper, dolphin, and other saltwater fish are my favorite fish to eat.

Thank you for the suggestions. I ordered some Trokar 5/0 EWG hooks and I am looking towards to fishing with them.

Hollow body swimbaits are good but I prefer solid soft plastic swimbaits such as Keitechs. Have you tried fishing a larger size Keitech or similar lure? You might get less bites but the average size might be bigger.

Thank you for your response. I am thinking of getting some Trokar 5/0 EWG hooks soon. I have a couple Rage Toads they are very good. I hope these hooks maintain sharpness for a long time since the other brands I use seem to get dull faster than I would like. I like to use swimbait hooks for soft plastic frogs as well. If the place I am fishing is very weedy I will use the weightless swimbait hooks.

I have noticed that I can get a lot of picky fish to bite if I add pauses in the retrieve. Other times reeling fast gets the reaction bite. Some days they will bite with any technique you use. You have to experiment and see what they want especially in pressured waters.

In your opinion what is the best hooks for soft plastic frogs?

Nice catch especially from the shore. LOL!

That is good since exaggerated hooksets are unnecessary and are well known for damaging fishing tackle. I am very careful with my fishing rods as well since I want them to last as long as possible. I have rods that are over 25 years old and I still catch lots of nice fish on them.

It is common for a rod to break during and right after a hookset. There is no need to do exaggerated hooksets If you have high quality hooks and know how to set a hook properly. Seems like those who like to do these types of hooksets want to feel strong but it is not the way to show strength. A better show of arm strength is curling 60 pound or bigger dumbbells, anyone can exaggerated hooksets on a fish. It is good you are getting a replacement for the rod.

That was a defective rod for sure. Hopefully rod companies mentioned in this thread improve on quality control since I have seen too many online post and too many YouTube videos on rods breaking while bass fishing. A lot of bass fishermen do exaggerated hooksets with locked drag which can lead to a broken rod. High sticking is another way a rod can break while fighting a fish.

Did he break it on the hookset or some other way? Maybe the rod was defective. Regardless of the reason a MH rod should never break while fighting a 5 pound bass. Imagine if a 8 pound or better bass bites and the same thing where to happen, most would be very upset to say the least.

Interesting report thank you for posting it. Never had a bass break a rod but I mostly fish with heavy bass rods that can take the abuse. Have flipped 6 pounders as well. The larger ones I either lip or use the net.

I enjoy adding different seasonings to fish but still prefer to keep it simple with salt, pepper, and lemon. I find it very boring to eat freshwater fish with the exception of salmon which is very good. Walleye is supposed to be excellent tasting yet the one I cooked the same day I caught was nothing compared to most saltwater fish I keep. Hogfish, snapper, and dolphin are some of my favorite fish to eat.

The lower the quality the fish meat is the more you have to do to make it taste good. Salt, pepper, and lemon is enough for a fish with good tasting meat.

Last week we had a couple nights with the lows in the 50's in South Florida. This week is warmer with the highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's. I am sure we will get many more coldfronts this Winter but it is ok as long as it does not drop under 40.

A big Nor'easter recently occured in several sates. It is nice to see snow in pictures and but I would prefer not dealing with it very single year. Ice fishing does look fun but I prefer fishing in water I can fish with topwaters.

Ocala and surrounding areas has some of the best bass fishing in the state but most of the fishing is done from a boat. He can bank fish some of the lakes and rivers but he has to be very careful with the alligators. There are a couple parks in the area that he can try bank fishing in. Tuscawilla Art Park has a nice pond which looks like it is worth a try.