soflabasser

Welcome to the forum

I believe in L.U.C.K which is Labor Under Correct Knowledge as well having faith.

You are going at a good time if your goal is to catch a bass over 8 pounds. November-April are the months bass tend to spawn in South Florida. A cold front might affect the bass but you can still catch them. Good lures to use are hollow belly frogs, spinnerbaits, jigs, weedless plastics, etc. Live shiners is very effective for trophy bass but you can do just fine with lures if you know where to fish and present the lure well.

Lots of people caught 8 pound or better bass in Lake Okeechobee this year so the fishing is still good.

Yes you should be ok casting a 1/2 ounce crankbait on the rod you mentioned. Avoid high sticking a rod when fighting a fish and avoid exaggerated hooksets which are known causes of breaking a rod.

I have caught muskie, pike, walleye, smallmouth, northern largemouth bass on size 4000 reels. I use the same size 4000 reels for inshore tarpon and snook fishing and those fish are pound for pound more powerful than a muskie or any black bass species.

Try shopping during Black Friday in one of the major shopping malls in South Florida or a couple days before Christmas. It becomes a zoo of greedy, aggressive people trying to buy much more than they actually need. I do not like wasting my time in shopping malls so I will continue shopping online for fishing gear. Besides you can find good fishing gear for less than you pay in many places and many times the shipping is free.

Must of been fun catching the chain pickerel and it is always a nice surprise for me when I catch them. The Everglades is the best place to catch them in South Florida. They remind me of the muskies I have caught up north and the barracudas I have caught in the ocean.

Most of the people that catch +8 pounders in Rodman are using live shiners aka '' indigenous swimbaits'' so you can give that a try if your goal is to catch a 8 pound or better bass.

Ned rig for smallmouth bass fishing in rivers.

Some good looking lures in that pile. Would be nice to try them out for some river smallmouth bass or somewhere the water is not frozen.

That is a well made greenhouse. Me and my better half also enjoy gardening and grow fruits, vegetables, and other plants. That is a frivolous price for a bass fishing book. None of my Medical books cost that much and those books are well known for being expensive. Must be a ''collectors edition'' or someone price gouging a book about catching bass.

I did not shop on Black Friday either and do not plan to anymore. People seem to lose their minds on Black Friday since their is a ''sale'' going on even though most items are discounted 30% or less. These same people are very aggressive and it is not worth the time of day dealing with people like that. I rather order fishing gear online before I go shopping during the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving from South Florida.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum

Been fishing for peacock bass for over 23 years now and they are one of my favorite fish to catch. Easiest way to catch them is with live shiners or catching them off a nest which is like shooting fish in a barrel. Good lures to use are poppers, propbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, and jigs. Good luck and have fun.

I prefer size 4000 Shimano reels with a 6'6''-7'0'' medium heavy rod for spinnerbait fishing (day or night) but most people prefer using baitcasting gear. Have caught plenty of big bass this way and I use the same gear for inshore snook and tarpon fishing so my gear is more than enough for bass. In the end you have to choose what works best for you since you will be fishing it.

Very nice lures you found. I have restored old lures by genty scrubbing them with water. I take away the old rings/hooks and add new ones.

Another movie that reminds of the fishing down here is ''Jurrasic World'' since we have so many species of large reptiles in South Florida. We got American alligators, American crocodiles, Nile crocodiles, caimans, Burmese pythons, rock pythons, green iguanas and other species of reptiles. We also got lots of hard fighting exotic fish which are very fun to catch. Add the fact that we got tropical weather for most of the year, have awesome fishing for freshwater/saltwater species and this place is Heaven for someone that loves to fish and likes reptiles.

Not surprised to hear the campground you are in is filling up with snowbirds. They also like the keys and fill up the campgrounds down there as well. That is how it starts they start visiting down here for the winter and then they eventually move down here for good. I do not blame them since living through the bitter cold winters must be awful at least for someone that enjoys sunny skies, green trees everywhere, and warm water to fish.

It is in the low 60's right now where I am in South Florida. Give it a couple days and we will be in the 80's again. Seeing more northern license plates while driving as well so the winter snow bird season has officially started in South Florida.

I fish weightless flukes on a 6-7 foot medium heavy rod and size 4000 spinning reel. Seems to work well for me for both freshwater and inshore fluke fishing.

Thank you for posting this article @MickD. It makes sense that bass will die easier after being held in a live well for a while. A live well is a very small and stressful place for several bass to be crammed in especially after being hooked in the face and fighting for their life. Delayed mortality is a major problem with catch and release fishing (especially tournament fishing) and the more time the bass spends out of the lake the worse the chances of the bass surviving. I agree with you that the fish that go in a livewell are fish to eat. I will also consider putting a fish in a livewell if it might a break a state or world record since biologist need to examine the fish for official documentation. A smart phone is more than good enough to film a bass being weighed, measured, and for getting screenshots for pictures. I do not need glory pictures of a bunch of bass crammed in a livewell or messing up the jaws of the bass by holding too many bass at once.