soflabasser

Congratulations on your new personal best smallmouth bass.

I have caught bass around 2 inches on hook and line and smaller with hand held nets.

The reports of northern snakehead in Florida waters are unconfirmed at this moment in time but I will not be surprised if they eventually become an established species in Florida. I am sure you know how I feel about exotic fish. They are some of my favorite freshwater fish to catch and we are blessed to have them. South Florida is one of the few places in the world where you can catch fish from 6 different continents. You can bet I will fish for northern snakehead once they can be caught in reliable numbers or eventually take a vacation to the Northeast to catch them.

Welcome to the forum

Where did you hear the rumors of northern snakeheads being caught in Florida? I am sure the anti exotic fish people will go crazy if the Northern Snakehead establishes itself like the bullseye snakehead did in South Florida.

I have no problem fishing in the rain unless there is lighting. Yesterday I had to wait over 3 hours in my car since there was nonstop thunderstorms in the area I was fishing. The weather eventually calmed and I was able to save the fishing trip by catching some nice fish.

Saw a couple videos of people spearfishing for barramundi near the shore. They caught some nice ones but I am not sure if I would spearfish the same places they did. I have experience diving with crocodiles, alligators, alligator snapping turtles, and other species of reptiles but those animals are nowhere near aggressive as the saltwater crocodiles you have in Australia. I tend to use brightly colored lures or lures that cause lots of commotion when fishing in muddy water. From what I have researched barramundi seem to caught with similar lures. Buzzbaits, propbaits, spinnerbaits, rattlebaits such as the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps are examples. Same lures work at nighttime as well.

That is terrible you did not get a picture of your 135 centimeter barramundi but at least you had a witness and have that memory for the rest of your life. Your friends barramundi is a giant along with the other ones you posted. Is the man with the blurred out face in the picture you? If it is that is impressive barramundi you caught. Australia is one of the best places in the world to go fishing and diving so I am not surprised you meet lots of Floridians since many of them enjoy fishing and diving . Have you caught barramundi while spearfishing? It seems like a fun thing to do but I am not too sure about doing it since so many saltwater crocodiles live in the same water barramundi live in. Going back to the main topic have you used bucktail jigs and other similar jigs for barramundi?

I mostly fish with either Power Pro braid or Berkeley Big Game mono and use leaders when needed.

Have you fished the creeks that enter the river? Last year I fished a flooded northern river and caught lots of smallmouth bass fishing a creek that entered the river. The water was more clear with less current than the main river so it is worth a try fishing a creek when you are fishing a flooded river.

The current all tackle record barramundi was 135 centimeters in length and weighed 44.64 kilograms. It was caught on a swimbait that was similar to some of the swimbaits I use to catch big snook in inlets and other places with running water. How much did your 135 centimeter barramundi weighed? Would like to see a picture or video of this fish if you have it. Most Ichthyologist agree that snook, nile perch, and barramundi all had a common prehistoric ancestor. These fish are in the same family called Centropomidae which is why they are so similar to each other in appearance and behavior.

It is well known that snook, nile perch, and barramundi all share a common ancestor that is one of the reasons so many people compare snook to barramundi. I like to keep things simple and effective and not worry so much about the intricacies of the lateral line. What matters most is that bass, snook, and barramundi all use the lateral line to locate prey in muddy water, low light conditions, etc. It would be better to understand how a fish moves throughout the seasons, where do they spawn, what is the best time to catch them, what are the most productive baits to use, etc. What is the biggest barramundi you caught and how many of them where over 100 centimeters in length? From my research a 100 centimeter or bigger barramundi is considered a trophy catch for many, similar to how a 40 inch or bigger snook is a trophy catch for South Florida fishermen.

Welcome to the forum @metrolonx. South Florida is loaded with places you can catch tarpon and snook in freshwater and the hardest part is finding public water. Those freshwater tarpon and snook will hit the same lures a bass will hit which is always a nice surprise when bass fishing.

Congratulations on achieving body fat under 6%, it is no easy task. I have been under 6% body fat before and I had the ''bodybuilder look'' but it was more a byproduct of my training than me specifically training like a bodybuilder. You lift big weights, do lots of running at a good pace, eat healthy and your body has no choice but to adapt to whatever you are doing. I maintain a symmetrical body where my neck, arms, and calves are more or less the same diameter. Lower body matches up with upper body since I make sure to keep my weight training and calisthenics workouts balanced. I focus more on cardiovascular fitness these days with some calisthenics and moderate weight lifting.

Just have fun tomorrow and do not worry if you catch a new personal best bass or not. Fish the way that makes you happy. Later on in the future you can plan a trip to Florida, rent a guide that fishes with live shiners which is what many people have done to get a personal best bass.

I have been fishing for over 24 years now. It is something I am very passionate about and hopefully I keep improving in the next decades to come.

You had to be a much better bass fisherman back then to locate fish compared to most bass fishermen in this time. Lucky for me that I learned how to fish old school and I know how to locate bass without an electronic depth finder. Seems like a lost art these days since people these days are quick to rely more on technology than themselves. There was no internet so you had to put in more time on the water to be good at bass fishing and I bet lots of people that struggle now would probably give up bass fishing if they where forced to fish with the technology of 1973.

Sounds like it is time to change the fishing line brand or tie better knots and pay close attention to the line and remove any line that has nicks in it.

A person can do very good in bass fishing if they are proficient in fishing 5 different types of lures. It also helps to learn how to read the water and know where bass are located in different times of the year.

What size reel and what action is the rod rated? I use a medium heavy to heavy action rod and a size 4000 to 6000 spinning reel for most of my catfishing. The best bait depends on where I am fishing but live bait or fresh cut bait seems to work best for me. You can also do well with chicken breast, chicken liver, or hotdogs on days you do not have time to catch your own bait. I have caught catfish in all hours of the day, in every month of the year.

The sad thing is he kept bragging about how intelligent he was. If he was truly intelligent he would of used this forum to learn new fishing techniques but that must of been beyond his comprehension. Another member told him to learn from YouTube videos which is great advice. Youtube has helped me locate many fishing locations in several states I have fished and I continue learning from other Youtubers that are generous enough to post videos. Maybe he was not a frustrated newbie and instead he was a troll. If the latter is true than I feel sorry for him since he is missing out on a very good forum to learn about bass fishing.

Looks like a good place to visit. There are redeye bass in Alabama so it is worth spending a day fishing for them if you can find a river that has them.

Nice catches.

Shimano and Penn make good spinning reels that are under $100.

Congratulations on your new personal best smallmouth bass.