soflabasser

Why do many Northerners stop fishing for the Winter when many rivers still have flowing water? I understand some might not like ice fishing in lakes but I would fish a river with open water even if it is snowing. From my experience it is easier to dress for warmth than it is for fishing in +96 degree temperatures with +85% humidity and little to no wind. Now that is that type of weather you will truly have to love fishing to fish in!

I have several Penn Senators older than myself and I have lost count of the big saltwater gamefish I have caught on them.

From what I researched Winter has come early to many northern states. This means more people will be online posting.

As I said before I prefer catching largemouth bass over smallmouth bass since largemouth bass grow much larger than smallmouth bass do. Many people have caught +8 pound largemouth bass but not many people have caught +8 pound smallmouth bass. Largemouth bass to me are much more impressive fish. Both are very fun to catch.

Nice catches @A-Jay. I was just mentioning the results of the study TrophyCatch did and how fish eye lens exaggerate the size of the fish. For me there is no need to hold such nice fish so close to the camera or use fish eye lens but you can take pictures whichever way makes you happy since in the end it is for your photo albums. For me I rather see the fish on a measuring board since it shows the true size of the fish. A 25 inch bass is a 25 inch bass on a measuring board but you can make a sub 24 inch fish look like it is +28 inches in a photo.

40 pound test braid is a good choice. It is nice to be able to pull a big bass out of heavy aquatic vegetation and not worry about the line breaking.

The TrophyCatch program recently did a study on how people estimate weights of bass based on pictures. What they learned is people tend to overestimate the weights of bass being held close to the camera lens and underestimate bass held close to the body or far away from the camera lens. Pictures with the fish eye lens effects are even worse since they distort the true size of the bass and make the bass look bigger than they really are. For example a true 8 pound or bigger bass held next to your body can appear smaller than someone holding out a 5 pound bass close to the camera lens. That is why it is best to take photos of the bass being weighed and photos of the bass on a measuring board.

From what I have seen most people over complicate bass fishing.

There are plenty of places in Northern Florida that still look like ''old Florida'' and I have fished several of those places. I have fished in a real fish camp and have fished rivers in Florida that you would have to research or be a local to know about. These are beautiful places that look very similar to how most of Northern Florida looked like several hundred years ago. Techniques that worked several decades ago still work well today.

If I am fishing light tackle I use less than 5 pounds of drag and if I am fishing for large bass I often use over 5 pounds of drag sometimes over 10 pounds in heavy aquatic cover.

I prefer manually closing the bail of my spinning reels.

A lot of the people fishing spinning reels upside down are left handed people who have not been taught how to change the reel handle to be more comfortable. Eventually they learn how to change the reel handle to fish the spinning reel correctly and many of them will eventually become very good fishermen. That was very nice of you and I am sure they will remember you for being kind to them.

Throughout the years I have seen many unusual techniques and learned to not criticize them since many of those techniques are surprisingly effective. For example I know people that catch bigger bass on hand lines than many people with expensive combos.

I rather stay in Florida since the weather most of the year is good but I do feel there are a couple nice places you can live north of Florida. Dealing with the snow and hard water would be worse than the occasional hurricane but you can still make it work by going ice fishing and fishing rivers with flowing water. Power plant lakes are another place you can find open water during Winter.

I love fishing too much to ever stop for the winter or any other season. I have fished during tropical depressions, right after hurricanes, thunderstorms, strong cold fronts, and other less than favorable weather conditions. If I lived up north I would ice fish and fish any river with open water for anything that bites.

Fishing for smallmouth bass in rivers is fun but I prefer multi species fishing over fishing for only 1 species of fish. I also enjoy catching lunker sized largemouth bass on heavy bass tackle but it is still nice to catch smallmouth bass in a river with beautiful scenery all around you. Smallmouth bass like spinnerbaits which most people consider a fun lure to fish with.

A lot of bass fisherman like 60 pound test braid for frogging. As long as you catching big bass than it is working well for you.

Rods like that can be useful when bank fishing in areas with lots of overhead trees and not much space for casting.

Hook into a 50 pound or bigger fish on bass tackle and you will quickly learn why a nice reel is worth having. If you are only targeting sub 10 pound fish than you might be ok with the cheapy made stuff some Youtubers are overhyping. As for line 20 pound or less braid should be ok for open water bass fishing but not the best choice for those who fish in heavy aquatic vegetation. I use 30-50 pound braid or 8-20 pound test mono for most of the bass fishing I do. For many it can help them catch a fish of a lifetime. Fishing in heavy aquatic cover is very different from fishing open water.

Well said!

That is why I do not pay much attention to them or most Youtubers. Many of them like to overhype for attention to get more views. Seems like they are selling the sizzle more than the steak.

It is very easy to loosen the drag and much more effective than thumbing the spool or back reeling.

If you see people jumping off a cliff will you do it as well to be part of a group? That is what back reeling and thumbing the spool is to me. There is a reason why more and more spinning reels do not have back reeling, it is because the drag system on spinning reels has greatly improved in the past couple of decades.

Imagine hooking into a 100 pound or bigger shark and trying to thumb the spool or try back reeling, it would not be wise to say the least. That is why it is best to get a reel with a good drag system and learn how to use the drag well. No point in using these outdated useless techniques for bass fishing as well.

It is best to trust the drag system of a reel and not rely on thumbing the spool which is a good way to have your thumb injured when a truly powerful fish peels drag from a reel. There is a reason why back reeling was known as knuckle busters. It is a outdated useless technique. I agree.