New to southern bass fishing....having troubles

[damname101]

Hey all!

I just moved to Quincy FL about a month ago. I bought my first legit bass boat that was "water ready" and nearly sunk the damn thing. In between patching holes
and working on the boat i go fishing.... So far im having massive troubles down here. Out of the 15 times ive went bass fishing, i have managed to catch 1 4lb lmb
from ingrams dock, a 1lb lmb from the boat and a freaking 30lb alligator lol. I had no idea alligators chased lures but they do. I now have the boat in good shape
and working as intended. 17ft bass tracker.

Im not used to this... In ohio i can go fishing any weather from spawn to turnover and never get skunked. As a matter of fact i usually out fish the tourney goers
in terms of fish caught in a given time period. In between 3-20 lmb landed per outing easy...

So down here my go to lures are not working at all really. I fish senkos both texas and wacky, jigs of all types and SP worms for the most part. Out of all the tackle
i have, only the senko and jigs are getting bit but not producing anything. Im thinking its gar hitting my lures cause we saw them swirling popping frogs and smacking
them. We have been fishing the shore and pads.

Im feeling pretty frustrated coming from an area where i knew how to fish and down here where i obviously dont. Im fishing lake talquin mostly and will be fishing jackson
and siminole. Can yall give me some pointers on lures, techniques and where the bass like to sit here? ANY advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Transom]

Plastics and vegetation are your friends.

[1Holeshot]

I have fished all three of these lakes and have done better on Jackson ( when water level is normal) and Seminole than Talquin.

Techniques vary by season but frogs and buzz baits early and spinner baits and soft plastics later are good choices.

At Seminole some crank baits on structure in the Flint River up stream should be good.

Don't give up, you can catch some big ones during February and March there.

[LewStulePH.D.]

Mikey will help You out...



Here is His YouTube™ site. Look through the videos and when You see similar conditions for Your lake, voila (whalaw)

https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeybalzzfishing

[damname101]

thanks for the replies all.

any advise on colors, lures, best parts of the lake ect? do i fish fast here or slow way the hell down?

[damname101]

5 hours last night skunked again on everything i know how to throw on lake talquin. so far no real advice as to what/where/when/color/technique

[John Jackson]

You must fish much slower than you are used to for Florida strain bass. And then slow down some more.
Look for places where different types of vegetation come together. A 6" drop can mean a lot down there, whereas above the fall line it's more like 20+ ft drop.
Try to find shell beds. If you find them, fish will be there, and a C-rig is a good way to find a shell bed and catch bass off them.

[Shadow4]

Damname101, I'm fairly new to the area as well (lived here almost 2 years) I've found that Lake Talquin can be tricky. I've had some days on the lake where I felt like a pro, and some days where I wondered if there were any fish in the lake. Talquin is definitely not a "beat the bank" type of lake (from my experience). I've had much better luck on Seminole, but not as much luck as I did last year before the hurricane. Lake Jackson is much easier to fish in my opinion, though I haven't fished it in over a year (I really need to get back on this lake). Jackson is a big bowl and you really just have to figure out what the fish are relating to on that particular day (pads or grass). The early morning bite this time of year on Jackson is going to be key since it's pretty shallow and the lake will warm up quickly. Good electronics with a good map card is key on both Talquin and Seminole in in my opinion. Feel free to reach out to me if you need any help, I'm no pro, and I'm certainly not the most experienced person, but I do pretty good most days. I'm happy to share what I know, and if want you can hop on the back of my boat and we'll go learn together.

[LewStulePH.D.]

thanks for the replies all.

any advise on colors, lures, best parts of the lake ect? do i fish fast here or slow way the hell down?

If You're going to throw in/near the lily pads then get a couple of these:

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/MESU...e-MESURAP.html

They will allow You to cast INTO the pads and then retrieve and drop into the holes. The design allows it to 'slither' through the "V" of the fronds; You don't have to dip the rod and pull losing distance on the cast. The 1/4 works better for this. A boot tail swim bait in a 3.5" or 5" or a craw.

There is a Purpleish one, I don't know what they call it, but pair this with a Missle™ D Bomb in the same purple and that color is similar to the 'Chameleon' and will be productive for most of the year.

Good Luck

[FLAbassin]

Magnum zoom speed worm. Junebug. If junebug doesn’t work. Try watermelon red. Texas rigged. Work it like a normal worm or swim it. Trick worms also work great year round.

[damname101]

thanks all! i will try it all next outing.

[TohoRookie]

Speed worms and trick worms are good suggestions....I'd add fluke to that list. Those three, along with stick worms, are good tough condition baits. I am learning how to pitch. It requires patience, which is not my strong suit, but can be very rewarding. As long as it's not too thick, I'll just flip a smaller jig with a craw style trailer. If it's too thick for the jig, or requires heavier weight, I'll go with beaver style bait and usually an ounce weight. I do add punch skirts if I feel like they want a bigger profile. I'm just a rookie at pitching, but I do know that hearing braid squeal is very fun. Find the darkest shade you can. Frogs work great. Both styles catch big fish and really you do them in the same exact spots. Search with a frog. If they miss the frog, pitch at them.

[Casslaw]

You can tie a 3/8ths oz white, chartreuse spinnerbait and catch fish almost anywhere in central Florida. Buy a few squarebills, KVD 1.5s, since they catch plenty of fish as well. Lew’s suggestion of the mesu swim jig is a great one! For a trailer use a 3.8” Bass Pro Shops swimbait and that is a fish catching machine!

In the morning throw a spook or popper along weed edges and you will certainly catch fish! Then switch over to the spinnerbait or squarebill around 10am and fish over the tops of vegetation. If you’re not getting bit throw the swim jig into pads and simply reel it back to you, the swim jig does all the work for you!

If the fish are deep in the pads or other weeds use a frog and you’ll have some great topwater action!

For the deeper water a lipless crank or little John md are my go to’s for fish that are deeper than 5-7’.

Good luck! You will find them, we have plenty of bass here! I’ve lived here my whole life and still have some pretty crappy days