Zcoker

I'll most defiantly take the largemouth bass. Aside from the elation of catching one so big, the bounty from various organizations is around $5 million or more for the world record. I've seen figures upwards of $8 million. That's not even including all the endorsements from other companies. No tellin how much money a world record LMB is worth but it's WAY up there.

What I've noticed lately with most of these bass fishing video's on YouTube.....they're simply running out of content. So they resort to a lot of aggravating things mentioned in this post. Call it "fillers" or whatever, the actual "points" of the videos are becoming smaller and smaller with large portions of content either about driving to the fishing spot or preaching about other stuff like the weather or the new mancave or boat. I've also noticed the click-bait to be colorfully off the charts lately, like to the moon, almost like desperation!

I've had my share of issues with scales. Some of them stay on Hold or Tare or stop working altogether. In all fairness, the readings have been pretty accurate on most scales that I've had. Anyhow, I recently got this scale pictured, which I like because of the all-in-one approach....no hooks, no dangling clamps. The display is easy to read, not all bunched up. Top head section swivels both sideways and up and down....nice! It's a decent price, too. It's similar to the high dollar Catch Commander but at half the cost.

I fish shallow all the time down here in the Florida everglades (2-3ft) and never use electronics. The only time that it comes on is when I first launch to get the water temp. Then it goes off and stays off all night or all day. I always manage to catch big fish without the electronics, 4 trophy bass (8 pounds and up) last few weeks, including scores of smaller fish. Not bad for no electronics. Or, as for that matter, electronics not needed to get the bigguns!

Glad you had a great time other than the blowout. The glades is jammed pack full of so much diversity that it makes fishing practically guaranteed! The word skunk never applies down here in the glades lol. I like those odds and is why I always fish the glades so much. Try it at night! Go further west or further south to the brackish areas and the tarpon start biting, big ones, too. Snook also come alive. So the diversity can be gauged, or calibrated, so to speak, to get into all kinds of species, including black bass.

All I care about is an estimation on how much juice left in my lithium battery. That could also mean remaining amp/hours. Regardless, I know that these devices don't give out perfectly accurate readings but they do get VERY close, whether it be from a built in Bluetooth on the battery's BMS or a stand alone Bluetooth shunt like the Victron, they give a pretty good idea on what the charge state is. That's good enough for me. So far, the reliability of these readings have been very consistent and has made things very predictable and reassuring to do what I do out in the everglades.....or anywhere else, for that matter. If I didn't have any of that information, I'd no doubt alter my tactics or just guess at things

I can relate to your point for a regular gas powered boat with a trolling motor, sure can. However, it's different story when miles out in the everglades at night in a electric powered kayak....need to know precisely what's going on with ALL things, including remaining power. It's critical, as far as I'm concerned. Even in the daytime, knowing the remaining power supply in a powered yak is essential to cover needed water.

Thanks man. It's a wild world out there, probably much the same as you remember it. I bet back then 60's 70's it was even more remote! There's a lot more canals and storm water retention areas nowadays.

That's great that you can build your own shunt. TBD has one exactly like the Victron at half the cost....it may in fact be a Victron just branded differently. I got one and will try out.

Looked like a great tournament Congrats to Rivet. I was surprised, however, seeing big names like Clunn and Zaldain way down on the leaderboard. Seems like those guys would've at least held a higher position. Maybe it's just that lake. Scott Martin probably knows it better than most anyone and even he struggled.

Lot of these altercations go unreported out there at Headwaters or Stick Marsh. There's a few that do get reported, like the guy who got his boat towed and then pulled a gun on the tow operator when he heard how much the tow was going to cost! Many carry guns out there. In fact, they're encouraged to. Folks talk about the gator situation or the moccasins but it's really all about packing and feeling safe, mainly from rumors like this floating around.

Yeah, it's a rough life for some of these manatees around boat traffic. Many are scared up badly, white crisscrosses across their tops. They're just so casual and hard to see, kinda floating around like giant logs. Boats just don't see them. Best thing to do is follow the speed limit in manatee prone areas to prevent hard hits. They'll usually shy away very slowly from a slower moving craft. They are very friendly, even the little babies lol

It wouldn't surprise me. I grew up over there in Tampa and have encountered many such stories. Wonder how in the heck they found it? It's not like a busy sidewalk....it's smack dab in the middle of nowhere!

Great comparison! It's more the way they come around corners and bends, like lightening. Add beer to that and it spells disaster. Hard to say why on earth they need to go so fast out there. It's literally 3 feet deep in entire lake except the canals.

In the dark. Night fishing for big bass is much the same as fishing in the daytime, imho, only you can't see much of anything lol Gotta find the fish. Lots of moving around in the dark. Might not get as many hits from the big ones but once found, they hit with a jarring vengeance!

I'd help most anyone out if they asked or if I noticed some sort of struggling. Even on the water, folks offer up. Just the other night I was fishing out of my yak and an airboat roared closer and closer, finally coming up close to me and hitting the flood lights. I was like, what the heck! Fool has the whole darn lake! Well, he was only getting close enough to see if I was ok. How about that! Guy was flying back, saw a yak and decided to check up on it before he went in. So help can come in many forms.

Man, that place is turning into a looney farm.....and it used to be an ordinary farm lol There's more drama coming from that place than almost any other spot. Those guides are thick, gettin thicker by the week, month...they just keep jumpin on the "I wanna make some money" bandwagon, posting on facebook 100 fish days, 200 fish days, 13 pounders, easy 10's.....one big giant shiner soak box that suckers many to pack up and head for the sunshine state....I mean, who the heck wouldn't? Lotta of it is true. Great fishing. Great guides. Some good. Some bad. Some very bad! Very territorial. Some even think they own that place and are ready to protect by whatever means what they feel is rightly theirs. For example: all over Headwaters and all over Kenanville.....in fact, just about all over the place out there is LOADED with plastic PVC poles staking out the guide's bait drops. Go near one and they just might go ballistic. They also gunning at the boat ramp. Wanna see real ZOO lol. Hit that boat ramp. There's been fights, arrest, threats and guns drawn.....it's getting worse out there, so bad that I don't even fish it much anymore. I mean, I fish out of a yak and those guys in Nitro's are floored 250hp wide open on that lake only 2 feet deep lol. It's gonna dry up one day soon. The hydrilla gonna wipe it out else FWC just gonna shut it down and put it back like it was before it opened, nice and quiet and calm. Gonna take shots fired and some innocent person killed over stupid crap like we have seen or heard about. Bunch of folks acting like children out there, like Romper Room. Maybe Johnny Morris will buy it and turn it into an "adult" resort lol. I ran into that scene fresh the night it was discovered, heading out to Kenansville. Looks like a body was dumped on the side of the road, that or hit & run. Never heard much details. I know when I was coming back they had setup a tent fortress around the crime scene.

I'd suggest looking for a lithium battery that has some sort of monitoring systems like built-in Bluetooth. Not good if you go out and stay out and don't know your juice capacity. Kinda like the fuel gauge on a car, no gas means no go. If not, then you'll have to get something like the Victron shunt which are pricey. A regular lead acid battery monitor won't work on a lithium battery. In any case, I opted for the Renogy 100amp/hr with Bluetooth. This battery I can go all day miles and even all day miles next day without charging. Very confident in it's ability to get me where I need to go but.... I had to get a shunt anyway because my battery's built-in Bluetooth became "intermittent" lol

Best suggestion that I can give you is to empty your mind of all the lessons learned and all the advice given and let your surroundings do the talking, let the fish tell you what they want, let the conditions guide you.....start "thinking" bigger bass and you'll eventually start catching bigger bass.

Can't say much about the mood of the bass but wind blown areas can be a good thing. Wind pushes water. Wind moves the baitfish. So you have moving water pushing the baitfish against banks and so forth, the perfect ambush scenario. It doesn't mean, however, that bass wont bite in other areas. I find moving around to be the best bet.

I think his name is Mike Long, big bass legend for many. From what I understand, he was allegedly caught red handed snagging giant bass off their beds and then taking them to other lakes to claim a lake record or even using them in tournaments. There's plenty of info on the internet, videos with actual footage. Crazy what lengths some folks will go to for a short lived slice of fame!

If it is anything like his fishing/outdoor stores, should be spectacular. He goes all out with all things. I get lost in his fishing stores down here in south Florida. I go in for few things and come out in even bigger debt! lol

That's great! His stores are second to none. There's a big project of his that has been approved by the county commission for lake Okeechobee. The project is supposed to turn the Okee-Tantie Recreation Area into a world class fishing resort. When I was at Bass Pro recently, most employees were promoting it. Can't wait to see the final results!

Camping out in the Florida marshlands, camping and fishing, roasting hot dogs and enjoying life!

In my experience, bass bite in cycles, day or night, so it's just a matter of catching the cycle to start catching the fish. If nothing is happening, start moving around and eventually things will heat up regardless of most anything. The other day after a cold front blue bird sky I did actually that and eventfully caught an 8.5lb bass. She was hanging out between two clumps of sawgrass, ambushing smaller minnows. Moving around and casting and keeping that momentum has always produced for me.