Afishionado

I couldn't find this topic via a search of the forum... But I was just curious, what are the pros and cons of each? New bass guy here so not sure of the differences.. Look like the straight shanks give you a lower profile and slimmer bait.. But I would think that the wide gap would give you a better hookup ratio because the bait can slide down the hook farther? Or is hook selection determined based on the situation? Thanks for any insight you guys!

Actually what usually happens with the poons is a pulled hook when they jump.. Bowing to the king gives you some extra shock absorbtion when they jump.. More often than not, you don't have a good hookset on a tarpon because trying to set the hook in that extremely hard and bony mouth is like trying to set a hook in a china plate... 99.9% of the time it's a pulled (or in some cases broken) hook on the jump.. but it never bothers me personally because putting them in the air is everything haha.. But I would imagine with a bass, keeping the line tight is paramount.. with their mouth mostly membrane, the hook can wear a hole in that extremely thin stuff if that is indeed where you hook them and once they have a little bit of slack, they gain the leverage needed to throw the hook.. This is a common problem when snook fishing and a bass and a snook have extremely similar mouths ...

Got this one on my last trip a couple days ago.. not sure of the weight at all unfortunately .. I was guessing possibly 5lbs? It's my biggest to date in my long and illustrious two whole weeks I have been bass fishing lolllllll

Thanks yall! Much appreciated.. I wish I could say I got into bass fishing under better circumstances, but unfortunately this is what led to my interest in freshwater.. watching a river die that I have fished since I could hold a rod and reel.... So safe to say I will be chasing those green things for a while haha

Florida is way too populated..We are feeling it here too in the merritt island area in the Banana River Lagoon.. This is what we have been dealing with since friday.. I have lived and fished here all my life and have never seen anything like this.. The entire state of florida is in sad shape right now..

Those are some killer fish man, great work.... I am from Cocoa and have just started fishing the stick marsh (and just started bass fishing in general) but I fish by kayak and are more or less confined to that north canal.. But it looks like the big boys are down there in farm 13! What colors are you tossin em? Seems like I can only get a bite on junebug out there..

Nice ones! They look healthy

that's a serious toad sir!

Hey guys, first post here.. I am a salty dog at heart and fish in the Space Coast region of Florida by kayak. This area includes the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon known for it's monster redfiish in just a couple feet of water.. Recently our lagoons have been hit hard by a brown tide outbreak.. At the end of last week, we went through a massive fish kill that is still going on.. Needless to say, the fishing is suffering on the saltwater side, so I figured going low sodium was a natural choice.. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been freshwater fishing in my adult life, but I am determined to learn how to bass fish which is why I joined this forum to learn a thing or two from yall! I have been on 4 trips total since I decided to go freshwater two weeks ago.. the first few trips yielded plenty of numbers but left a lot to be desired in the size department.. A couple days ago I decided to go out to the Stick Marsh impoundment here in Fellsmere.. Finally was able to put some better fish on deck.. No mega monsters but it was a great learning experience.. Not sure how big they are, the biggest one (first picture) maybe went 5lbs? Not too sure... But it was a blast catching them off the top.. Found some nice big eelgrass beds and buzzed ZOOM speed worms and 8" MrWiffelure Plubber worms over the topped out eelgrass.. I am still trying to feel out that hookset.. They must short strike it a lot because I probably missed about 15 fish.. I have been having a ton of fun with it and every trip out is a great learning experience.. Just gonna keep putting my time in and hopefully one day put that big ol 10lber on deck! Look forward to learning from yall! Marc