ArthurLK11

Nice job. Seems like the water levels are finally getting low enough to force all these fish into the canals. Historically high rains this fall kept the levels up.

I've never been to the area, but any body of water that you catch bass at will almost certainly have catfish in it as well. Try those first.

YouTube has stepped in and solved this problem. They now require all channels to mark their videos as either for kids or not for kids. If they are for kids then they can't post this kind of content. If they're not for kids then they can post this kind of content. Now it's up to the parents to determine what their kids can or can't watch. This isn't any different than TV or movies. Look at the rating and determine if it's suitable. On YouTube look at if it's made for kids or not and determine if it's suitable.

Nikko Hellgrammite. It's a killer even in waters that don't have hellgrammites like South Florida ponds and lakes. The largemouths and peacocks can't resist them. Best soft plastics I've found.

You know the rods are tip heavy based on looking at pictures of them?

I'm going to get one just to see what it's like. I currently have a 7'1" MF Mojo Bass as my kind of all around bass rod and I think I'll get the same power and action of this rod to see how they compare. I mostly throw jerkbaits on it and some heavier soft plastics. Here's what I think St. Croix did. They went out and said "How can we make this rod look and feel expensive while still making it cheap?" They came out this this new blank and put in all their expensive technologies in it. Then they went and put $10 guides on it. I have a Legend Elite Panfish that retails for $360 with $100 guides on it. The guides there make up ~30% of the price. The guides on this rod make up ~5% of the price. I'm curious how it'll compare with the Mojo line, but I think the Mojo line is done. These rods are roughly only $40 more expensive than the comparable model in the Mojo line. Even if the rods fished identically, the Victory has a 15 year warranty vs the 5 year on the Mojo. That extra $4 per year makes it well worth it to pick up this rod over the Mojo in my opinion.

This is slightly off topic, but within the next few years get ready for the longear sunfish to be broken up into several different individual species (not subspecies like the northern bluegill and coppernose bluegill). From my understanding the research is basically done and it's now just a matter of time until the researchers decide to publish.

That's exactly how they ended up in these canals. South Florida is full of exotics species that were released as pets and are now reproducing. These guys were first spotted in 1980 and are now established in several canals.

Caught 5 of these guys yesterday. This was the salvini cichlid with the best colors.

No the gar aren't going to bother the bass. Gar aren't huge predators like bass. I'm not sure why people hate them so much. Just let them be and let nature be natural.

Roughly planning a roadtrip for this summer to GA. There are 10 different black bass species found in the state. My plan is to spend roughly two weeks road tripping it through the state catching all those species.

There are a couple good rods from St. Croix that fit that criteria. I would look at their Triumph and Premier lines. If you want to spend a little bit more (I would) I would get the Avid. It's a much nicer rod for a little bit more money.

Awesome day! How long were you out for?

I realize I'm late to the party, but I'd say around 39.5. I believe it is more than 39.5, but less than 40. I think this is the reason why the IGFA and most tournaments use measuring boards instead of tapes. Easier to stick the nose of the fish at 0 inches when all you have to do is push it up to something.

Yes. Small tanago.

That's a cool video. Those fish were tiny, but I think I have them beat. Two days ago I caught my smallest fish ever. This tiny little golden topminnow. It came out of a puddle that was about 12 inches in diameter.

Are you strictly after largemouths or into peacocks as well?

I second this. Sharp and the 2/0 is a perfect size in my opinion.

One month away from the trip and just wanted to revisit this in case anyone else could help out. From my research it seems that crawfish are the most common/popular forage species in the river. I stocked up on a few different crawfish soft plastics and some crawfish pattern crankbaits. Hope that'll do the trick for the bass. It seems that this has been a rather wet fall all over Florida. Water levels (by volume) have been 2-3x higher than normal for this time of year. Any suggestions for fishing this river if the water levels are higher than normal?

Recently I've put some thought into this. I'd like to make the road trip from South Florida and try to catch all 10 on one trip. It'll take a lot more research, but I think I might be able to spend a week driving around Georgia chasing these species. Would be a cool way to spend some time next summer.

X-Raps have worked well for me for snook. I prefer size 8.

Alright so what are the best ways to fish post-hurricane flooded waters in Florida?

It's probably too late now, but Pearly Pond is a good spot. They have a beach you can launch from on the campus of Franklin Pierce University. I worked there from 2014-2016 and lived a mile from Mt. Monadnock. Beautiful lake and amazing scenery. Let me know if you have any questions.

Not something I've put too much though into for a couple of reasons. 1. It's part of the hunt for them. They have a choice to get pinched or spined and get to eat, or not get pinched or spined and don't get to eat. If it came down to it, I'm sure you wouldn't mind a little pain either if it was the difference between eating or not. 2. They do what they can to avoid it. For example, they eat fish head first to avoid the spines and they pick off the claws of a crawfish before eating it at times.

I've never used this vendor, but it's in stock. http://www.troutlet.com/Okuma-SST-Trout-UL-Spinning-Rods-P1536.aspx