Onvacation

I have a Lews BB1 in a 5.1:1 that I bought for crank baits. Very durable, casts a mile and you can get them in your price range. I personally just seem to like something a bit faster, so mine is sitting on my kitchen counter while my wife waits for me to do something with it. Lol.

Yes they are. I started fishing in Florida when I was 6. Forty-three years later will be the first time I have fished freshwater in Florida. To say I am a bit stoked to have the potential to catch bass larger than our typical Missouri one to two pounder Would be downplaying my enthusiasm a bit. I have four different days planned on at least three different lakes. I am guessing my all time biggest Missouri bass of 5 lbs 2 oz will be beaten. I'm even more excited about my wife catching something with some size. She is already planning a trip back in September.

I prefer MH whenever weeds are involved and I always like braid. 7'3" is a sweet spot for me, even bank fishing, if I am looking for something all around, but you will hear a million different perspectives on this and none of them are wrong. Personally, if your are sticking with casting gear, My next step would be the heavy, IF, I were going to start throwing frogs or really trying to dig into the muck with a jig or something. Maybe a longer flipping rod or something if that's the direction you are going, but even there, you will find different perspectives. I kind of like pitching with a 6'9" MH but that is way short for a lot of folks. What I would really do though is buy a nice MF or MXF spinning set up and start taking advantage of some of the finesse options. Dont worry, when all is said and done, there will always be more gear to buy.

Too many variables. Try to narrow down your focus so you can get some good suggestions. What are you planning to throw with the rod? Where do you live? Lot of weeds? Rocks? Stumps? There is a reason people have and use thirty different rods. All braid can cut your finger but I seem to do it more on lighter braid. Of course enough pressure of any line against your skin can leave a mark.

Whenever I bank fish, I always have a rod set up to drop shot and I always have a Ned rig available, so I think OddChase is offering some sound advice. If you need to go heavy with the weight for more distance, you can do so. Also, don't concentrate so hard on the need to cast to the middle of the lake to catch fish because that's the deep part. First, it may not be the deep part. (This is why I check lakes with a Deeper fish finder). Second, there are always plenty of bass hiding in cover in areas that are sometimes even too close or too congested to cast to. That's why pitching is so fun. Look for shade from trees on the bank for example. Wife and I fish a local pond all of the time that has virtually no cover and little structure for the fish. While everyone is doing their best to Lob bait into the middle of the pond, we are knocking them dead 15 to 20 feet from the bank in the shade of the treeS. Any transition such as rock to dirt, grass to clear, shallow to deep, is going to be a target area for you. Also, although my days on the water where I've caught fish on three or four different colors make me skeptical of the importance of color over other factors, there have been other days when I have been proven wrong. Bass simply don't always play by the rules we have set. 90% of the time, my soft plastic color in my waters is green pumpkin. I panic if I don't have some of those white Bio Spawn worms with me though because there have been times when the color change has made the difference between slow day and no fish day.

That is a nice fish.

Is this up your way? I've got plenty of frogs that would love to be tossed in there. Also have some jigs we could try. Let me know.

Since I decided to do it right this year and started with my first bass of the year in January, I am also happy to see that I am well out of your given range. Even my wife who just started fishing in late April probably hits mid range. We fish a lot and they might not all be legendary, but they are all fun to catch. Last day I was skunked, I left early because snow was falling.

Thanks for the added info. I have a boat booked at Turkey Lake the Sunday I get there. The lady I talked to on the phone said she knew nothing about fishing but they had a picture of a ten pounder that was caught on July 3rd and all of the other people told her that was good. Lol. I love fishing frogs and any other top water so that should work. Wife will be on worm patrol and she is a die hard Ned rig fan so it should be interesting watching her toss out a 1/20 oz jig.

I usually throw the 130 on a baitcaster with 30 pound braid but have thrown it on 65. I have thrown the 90 on everything down to 8 pound flouro. Not ideal but my wife wanted to toss it on her light spinning gear for awhile. It works fine on my MF spinning gear but the 130 is a bit too hefty in my opinion for anything less than MH which is usually strung with heavier line anyway.

Helps a lot. Thanks. Now if you had to pick two of those spots, which ones would it be? The Turkey Lake boat rental sounds appealing and I've been torn between the other three you mentioned.

I had an Abu Revo for my wife for about a week before I returned it and got her a Pflueger Supreme XT. I fish Shimano spinning reels. Abu would be at least in third place on my selection list at this point.

As Bluebasser86 suggested, my wife started with a Ned rig and it will catch fish. Catching fish is the best way to build your confidence. I also like the Ned rig because it trains you to observe the line and the feel of your gear. Bass do not always slam the bait and I think there are a lot of people who miss fish because this is what they are waiting for. Also, learn to tie knots and how to handle fish properly. Tons of videos on these subjects

Welcome aboard. Great place to be.

Welcome. Love your choice in reels.

That's a regular BB1 on top and a TPG on bottom. Not a whole lot of difference. I was too lazy too pull a BB1 Pro off of a rod tonight, but if you need it, I will.

I think I made it in before the official sale started, but I still got some great prices and I'm looking forward to my shipment arriving.

Hey Florida folks. I will be staying in Orlando near the intersection of 192 and 429 from July 16 to 23. I already have an early morning Toho trip booked on the 21st, but I want to get out with my wife and do some bank fishing. To say the number of bodies of water near Orlando is overwhelming would be an understatement. Browsing through some past posts, Underhill and Ivanhoe seem to pop up a lot in regards to decent numbers and some possibly stout fish. They look to be about a half hour or so drive from where I am. I plan on fishing morning light to about 10 am. My wife would like the option of heading out in the early evening and fishing until dark. I'll only have two rods, M spinning rod and MH baitcaster. Any suggestions from locals on baits, part of the lake to fish or if I am missing some better opportunities closer to where I am staying would be appreciated. Recent reports would be awesome. My wife is a volume fisher and will toss a Ned rig all day long for one pounders. She will be doing some sort of finesse fishing. I would be happy to get a half dozen in the three to five pound range but have no problems working for a big girl. I'll toss whatever it takes, but we will be limited without a boat. If anybody wants to hook up some morning and show me your local hidden hotspot, that would be great. I promise I won't tell.

Let us know how you like it. That rod has been suggested here a couple of times as a great bargain, but hasn't really gotten as much feedback as the Mojo Bass or Carbonlite.

It's a coin flip. I have a TP, a BB1, and three BB1 Pros. The spool on the Pro seems to give me a bit more distance on a cast, but my regular BB1 out tosses both of them. The ACB braking system is a joy to work with though so that's how I ended up getting away from more BB1s and went with the BB1 Pro and the TP. I have big hands and the BB1 Pro feels a bit more comfortable to me. The TP has a cool hook keeper......that I never use. The TP to me also looks a bit sexier. It's kind of like asking if you should date the super hot Swedish model or her identical twin sister.

Any of the Pfluegers that I've ever used have been excellent. Never had a need for 15 pound braid though on one if my goal was using light baits.

I've fished more ponds than I can count with my BB1 Pros and my Stradic Ci4. The fish don't seem to realize that they don't live in the big city.

Start playing around with lipless crank baits. They have a tendency to be productive and very versatile. Of course once you start losing them on trees, you'll be right back to Senkos. Lol. Gets expensive when you don't have a boat to go out and grab them. I've been having a blast with a Whopper Plopper this year too. Just be prepared for people to tell you that top water doesn't work on sunny days as you are catching fish on top water on sunny days. I've had a lot of that this year.

I don't think there are any rules that state what you have to catch them on, so keep doing what works. Anytime you want to meet up, let me know.

I'm going to take this to mean that you are hooking up with some bass now. Way to go.