jr231

Someone once told me the best bait to use in Florida, is live shrimp. Careful though cuz everything eats it

As soon as I read the title I thought of carp.

What you gonna do when she sees no progress from the "gym" ? Lol If the worst thing you do behind her back is fish, then you're a good man. If she doesn't allow you to fish (given all the immoral things you could be doing) then you should probably choose a different partner.

The most important factors other than location/weather/strain of bass.. is forage and other predators ! I have access to several ponds... There's a 2 acre pond cleared all the way around with a small island and cove that produced a 23 1/2" LM for me a year or two ago... There is also a 4+ acre I fish that has small "stunted" bass. This being because there are too many bass and crappie in the pond ! If you want BIG bass there needs to be less bass in the pond... And an abundance of prey. If you had a 1+ acre pond and regularly stocked it with creek chubs and crawfish from a creek, together with bluegill/sunfish.. You can still have big bass !

There is a lot of documentation on northern strain LM living well in to their late teens and also some 20+ years old. I've actually heard of one being dated by otolith rings being 23+ years. So there's a chance they aren't gone. Otters , herons and other animals can kill your bass though. Not to mention other anglers sneaking in... How bad you wanna know if they're in there ? Try a smaller swimbait (around 5") like the jackall gantarel jr.

I bet you've caught some fish tho !

Do some reading in the jerkbait thread. Many preferences! Some seasoned vets that run braid with their jerkbaits "always" . I rarely have this issue OP is speaking of. Especially with a spinning rod. Definitely not enough to make me switch from braid. I mean, how often does it really happen to you ? But who knows. Try the copoly. Might fix your issue. Maybe you should throw something else like a spinner bait or swim jig if it's so windy that you can't retrieve your jerkbait properly with a spinning rod.

I fish everything with braid . I use leaders for several reasons now, but never used to. I don't think braid is the problem at all. I agree with the wind knots.

Lol ^

@soflabasser @N Florida Mike @RoLo I don't know these guys personally but always are helpful and I know they fish Florida.

@MichaelCopeland I think you need a new scale. Lol. You get measurements on that hog!?

Any river access ? Go wade..

If it is COMPLETELY covered , then try to punch with a beaver style bait. You can punch effectively from the bank you just have to pick apart the edges.. I'd experiment and try to use the lowest weight possible but it sounds like you should use at least an ounce. Go tungsten and I'd peg it.

If you have the free time... 25 mins is ALWAYS worth the drive to fish.

Lol I think you're doin alright man. I don't even know how to do that little emoji you did with the guy banging his head on the keyboard. Been seeing alot of similar threads.

The trolls are strong here lately.

That's in the top 3 nastiest things I've ever seen. Horrible.

Structure bug, rage chunk and menace are my favorites of the bunch.

Don't sign out ? What's on this site that you can't just stay logged in lol . Click the remember me box when you sign in..

Yea big creek chubs , and fathead minnows. I only do this with guests who oppose artificial. I have used small 3-4" sunfish before as well. But not my preferred way to fish. I honestly think aritificial is the way to go, because you can cover so much more water so many different ways... I have too many lures not to be using them when targeting bass lol Try a light jig

Only you know the kids capabilities. My daughter is two and a half and I just took her fishing for the first time. To an very small, old over populated pond full of dinks. We tore them up and she had a blast. We used minnows 2-3" long and I rigged them all. I like under the jaw and out the nostril. Tail hooking them makes them die faster. I obviously rigged them up but she helped cast (spincast) and watched the bobber. I'd set the hook, and let her reel them in and I was surprised how well she did. She was done in about a half hour though lol. Even though we caught 15+. I'd say small senkos or small jigheads tipped with little split tail grubs are where I'd start if you want them to try artificial. If they can cast and reel somewhat efficiently then have them try a spinner, such as mepps

Really ?

Whats the forage ? Any other predators ? If I'm getting skunked totally I'm falling back to the basics. You didn't mention using a jig. 1/8oz head with action trailer fished every way you can . Pitch it, cast it, fast and slow and with hope and drags.. Jigs catch bass , my wife caught a nice 3lber the other day after complaining she didn't want to use artificial because she's not good at it.. she caught the biggest bass of the day ! Also, Mepps or whatever brand you prefer have caught me numerous species including Pike , catfish and crappie. Just a thought. Oh, and you know there are fry back in the coves. I'd start back there where it starts to get deeper.

I suppose it depends on the context of the statement. That makes sense to me to an extent, but even the small bodies of water I fish I've found fish without visible cover. Someone else will weigh in

It has to do with pitch. You can change the pitch of the voice and hear different words.. What is the point in this anyway.