Kelvin

Currently live in South Florida. Been fishing a few places up north and in other countries--that said-- this is fishing mecca in the US beaten only by Costa Rica for saltwater big gamefish. Inshore saltwater, offshore for pelagics, deep sea bottom fishing and plenty of freshwater lakes and canals. To be honest bass fishing is the least exciting option. Peacock bass fight hard, are aggressive and plentiful. Clown knife are a cross between a eel and a snake and fight really well. And that's keeping it to freshwater. Mayan cichlids pound for pound fight well too and those are considered by catch. The options are too much to pass up. Just today in fact I had a 5.8 lb largemouth bass in a local canal from a boat that fought well but it was over in less than 30 seconds. Once you get a chance to fish all the options here its really hard to pick another place in the nation.

Reels are always Daiwa or Shimano for round reels or low profile baitcasters. The rest that I've used are lacking the only exceptions would be a high end abu garcia made in sweden. Rods are a wide range. Lean towards G Loomis, high end shimanos, Falcon and ironically my favorite is a Gander Mountain trout special....finesse rod that can punch above its weight. Megabass is my first choice for hardbaits. Nothing comes close to a vision 110 or vision jr. Jackhammer or OG chatterbait. Trailers are hogfarmer or zako. Soft plastics. Yamamoto, Megabass, Jackall, Gancraft, Keitech, Reaction Innovations, Zoom. Spinnerbaits are from War Eagle. Braid is YGK, varivas or Gosen 16. Fluro is Seaguar tatsu or Sniper invisible. In general if its not on the higher end or a JDM I won't have any confidence in it and then give up on it fast. Didn't say it was logical. Just is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cannot stand Kastking, Googan anything (complete crap) Gambler (they smell like death) Lews, 13 Fishing, Eagle claw.

Working in healthcare I've got a chance at being around some pros from all walks of sport. NFL, MLB, PGA, NHL. One day at during a break at my office I had a chance to toss a football with an NFL wideout. I was maybe 20 yards away and he was barely throwing and he nearly broke my hands. He then threw left handed and the sound and velocity of his throws from his left hand (he's a righty) were insane. He was throwing behind his back with velo and accuracy. Same thing happened with my PGA pros they were smoking and joking and hitting shots off handed much much better than I did during a range session. Trick shots, one handed, blind shots....they were other worldly good at their sport. And this was practice no less. Played a pick up game with a former NBA'er. He was d**n near 50 at the time, high as a kite and skinny as a rail and moved with an ease and quickness most can only dream about. It was insane. He was so much better than anyone on the court it was not even fair. He had to slow down to catch my passes bc I wasn't used to his speed and he still put on a clinic. Point is: There are levels to everything that no one really knows until they are side by side next to a pro when they are locked into game mode that no amateur is even remotely aware of. I'm certain when I meet a bass pro fisherman he'll be next tier for sure.

Bough the JDM version and it went smooth until it didn't. Had to send it back to japan for repair. A piece on the sideplate where the screw attaches broke off. The reel is still very nice but it ran me 75 more than it should. That said I typically fished peacock bass and clownknife fish with it. They fight harder and longer than LMB pound for pound.

Was on a fishing charter recently in 100 to 200 ft of water. The captain and mate were weary when I tied on 25 lb flurocarbon as a leader told him it was superstition. Had more line breaks than anyone else but also had more bites and landed the 2 largest fish that night a 7 and 8 lb mutton snapper. Won the pool and had the boat convinced it was probably my leader since we all used the exact same weights, hooks and bait. The only variable was the FC leader.

I noticed more bites and follows with FC leader. Using either Seaguar Tatsu or Sunline shooter invisible as a long leader probably 50+ft it can be tricky to cast into wind. Always use KVD line and lube beforehand.

Game changer. New to bass fishing myself but grew up in the video game era. Adapt, improvise, Darwin, I ching. It reminds of snook fishing dock lights where you can see the fish directly but then cycle through baits and lures until the right combination hits and slay them.

No doubt about it. Livescope is a game changer. In time more refinements will come and it will be the definitive difference in who catches double digit monsters and who doesn't. High technology is akin to modern day magic. Think of the most valuable companies on the planet and its usually tech.

Great bait. Holds the new scent Bait Fuel really well. Get some mend it and call it a day when it gets torn up.

Lost the first Megabass Vision due to a tree limb underwater. 20 bucks down the drain. That said before that 2 fish in 5 casts. Yesterday morning pitched a vision 110 around a drain pipe and it felt like a freight train smashed into it. Dead stop. 5 minutes later I hauled in a 5 lb Clown Knife fish. d**n. I would gladly pay double in terms of price per bait for that experience again.

YGK 8 strand. Varivas 8 strand. Gosen 16. I've tried many and these are my go to lines so far. Yes they are pricey and hard to find.

Each bait I see has a chance to make a memory and that's enough for me to see value in it. The bait monkey is real, make peace with it and let go.

Hard baits were taking up space and a waste of money at least for a while. I tied on a Megabass Ito Vision 110 in clear green and it was ON. 2 fish in 5 cast in tough conditions. Bite the bullet pay the bait monkey his due and tie one on....give it enough time and I promise it will change your idea of hard baits.

Great tips for modifying the bait.

Zman makes the Goby design for ned rigs. Well worth the 3 bucks. Never got into jig fishing but willing to give anything a shot. As for the Whopper Plopper it worked at first everywhere. Then the bass got conditioned to it and ignored it. The pressure is here is always high. Are there any hidden gems in the Megabass line I'm missing? The Vision 110 and Jr have over delivered to the point where 25 a bait is starting to look reasonable. Forgot to mention: Bait Fuel. Best scent I've tried so far. Very effective.

Tried all kinds of frogs from zoom to Teckels, booyah, ribit, keitech and just hate it for some reason. Maybe I'm missing something? And the speedworm to me is the most overrated FL presentation known. A swimsenko or a Deps salty fluke or a paddletail softplastic like a fat Keitech shiner is better. The Zoom trickworm also beats the speedworm. Never got bit on Rattle traps either. Only one that worked was from Jackall.

Living in fishing mecca...South Florida...is a major advantage. Fresh, salt, brackish, inshore, bank, offshore are all here. As a noob to bass I went all in on a few suggestions listening to the members here and surprise surprise some lures were insanely good while others crapped the bed. Best ones so far in no particular order. Senko 4 or 5 in. This one is obvious. Green pumpkin, watermelon and black and blue. Wacky or trig works like magic. A much slower plodding version of fishing than I prefer but no doubt it works. Ned rig weedless TRD and goby in green flash and black. Best bed fishing by far--its not even close. I will not debate this. Megabass Ito vision (all versions of them) Shad pattern, gp blue, elegy, translucent green. Was getting skunked mid day hotter than the 9th circle of hell, bluebird skies, no wind. Tied a vision jr on and caught a peacock and a cichlid in 5 casts. Whoa. Then snagged it lost the lure bitched about the 25 bucks down the drain and bought like 10 more that day. Baitmonkey on steroids ain't even close to the frenzy that gripped me. Keitech madwag fat curly tail 7 in. Green pumpkin and black and blue. Works when the senko stops working. That and it can be fished faster than a senko. Megabass spark shad 4in. Nose down tail action like a dark sleeper only more versatile bc it can be fished weedless. Situational pseudo jig. Jackhammer in white gold blade with a Zako or a Hogfarmer trailer. Mid column search bait that beats a spinner bait hands down in South FL. Megabass Giant Dog X and Megabass Pop max. White belly and the other chrome. They came in from a Japan order as a throw in gift. Hate topwater fishing. If nothing happens in 10 casts I switch. These are the only 2 that manage to make something happen if its going to happen in that said fishing window. Gancraft split tail fluke. Durable, great action fished weedless over grassbeds. Yamamoto Fat ika. Casts a mile like a bullet into a headwind. Worked when all other kinds of fluke baits stop working. Clear conditions when the fishing is tough it comes through. Do you have any suggestions that I'm missing?

Daiwa Loomis Megabass

I order JDM tackle all the time now since I want throw something a tad different than whatever everyone is throwing and bc TW took a month to get here. Japan domestic lures arrive faster than TW. They better get their act together.

Tatula SV TW is very versatile. It wins over most Shimanos at that given price point.

Tatsu wins hands down. Fishing in South Florida I learned most of the time fish not just bass are line shy. We get heavy pressure and FL strain are rather picky. The same goes in saltwater too. Snook are notorious at avoiding thick intrusive leaders.

Varivas. 8 strands. YGK Soul. Hitena silky. 16 strands

I already have this reel and its very good. Saltwater safe and I'd say it for value its close to the Daiwa TW80. An all purpose performer. Can't really finesse but proven to handle bigger inshore saltwater fish bc I've used it many times inshore without problems. Snapper, snook, bonefish, black drum, sheepshead and jacks. Saltwater fish fight 1.5x to 2x harder pound for pound than large mouth bass no doubt. I've personally pulled 20 fish out on this w/o any issue.

I have this reel for a few months now since I ordered from Japan. Light, compact and very good. The Zillion SV TW 21 outperforms it so does a tatula SV Tw 20. I opened up the reel the minute it arrived and supertuned the main and pinion gear with fabaluster and lubed it with TSI and krytox. Casts like a champion and for the cost (132 USD) it was a bargain. Very good at its pricepoint but missing the refinement a 300+ class of baitcaster in all fairness I do whatever it takes mechanically to fine tune my reels to perform at its pinnacle. Performance so far exceeded my expectations even though its a bit too early since I've yet to put the reel through its paces. Took the reel to the saltwater inshore and it handled everything just fine that said no 5 to 10 lb fish were caught yet. Rinsed and wiped down to prevent salt intrusion. Making my eq punch above its weight class and putting it into harsher environments tells me what its made of.

Yamamoto Senko 4 and 5 in. Green pumpkin and black with blue flake. Geecrack Bellows 5.8 . Megabass Spark Shad 3 and 4 in. Insane tail action Zman Trick shotz in Green pumpkin goby. Nothing beats this during the spawn. Keitech Magwag original black and blue 7 in. Yamamoto fat ika. Casts like a bullet, tough as nails. Deps Sakamata shad 5 in. Wobbles like a senko on the fall. Geecrack bellows gill. Best bluegill lure made