Anybody want to talk fishing?

I sure try to bass fish from the banks.

Having just moved here from texas i'm keenly aware now that i need a boat since everything is swamp.

ultimatebass.com has a pretty active louisiana forum

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Hooks?

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Sharp ones.

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There's a lot about hooks that I don't know. Is there a science behind this? Pairing certain hooks with certain baits? Or is it pairing certain hooks with certain target species? As a complete amateur I go the route of "Sharp ones" but I feel like there's more to it. Right?

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There's a lot about hooks that I don't know. Is there a science behind this?

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Pretty simple.

Mono and Flouro lines just use standard hooks. Braid use the superline hooks, the diameter of the shank is larger and can absorb the stress braid puts on a hook much better.

Straight shank and offset shank can be used for 90% of all presentations and is mostly a personal preference which one you like.

The wacky/drop shot hooks are pretty specific to those presentations.

Size of the hook is dictated by the bait.

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I also took some good notes and made records of trips

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Helps a lot to determine patterns over time. As many factors (Barometric pressure, water temp, etc..) as you can fit in there the better.

Love to fish.... wait all year for tournament season and 90% of my fishing is for or during a tournament... don't get me wrong I love to go just for fun but with family and work obligations I just don't have the time to go wherever I want whenever I want anymore so it's more tournament centered for me at this time in my life.
Hooks
where do I start.... I actually try to keep them pretty simple... an EWG works for most applications pretty well... even Texas rigged worms.... although the old school straight shanked hooks work a little better for your big worms. Don't over- think it and use what you have confidence in.
Rods/Reels
I have several different brands for different applications but I'm phasing everything out to Lew's reels as needs and money let me. I really like the Wright and McGill Skeet Reese rods but I also like Falcon Rods and the new Lews rods seem pretty nice (I bought one last year and really like it)
Line/
I'm a braid and flouro guy but mono still has it's place... especially with topwaters and jerkbaits. I've fished Spiderwire and Vicious flouro for years. Same with Trilene big game mono.
Fav. baits
Hollow body frogs, chatterbaits, jigs, texas rigged creatures, senko.... can't divulge all my secrets
never go without
wipes. more useful than TP and easier to store.

best piece of advice:
never start your day assuming the fish will be doing the exact same thing they did on your last trip. Each day is a new puzzle that you have to put together and previous information is only a starting point. The fish will tell you what they want (or don't want). Stay open-minded and don't be afraid to try something crazy from time to time.
(i.e. buzzbaits when it's snowing.) sounds crazy but someone caught them once like that because they weren't afraid to think outside the box.

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Mossive

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you can wadefish the florida parish rivers for spotted bass.

all other bass fishing you need a boat

Favorite baits: spinner baits, jerk baits, hybrid soft plastics. In that order.

Rods/reels: use bait casters for heavier things and spinning reels for top water/light stuff.

My best bass fishing is usually done in shallow waters with cover or where water is draining into another body of water. I could never master deep water fishing with crank baits. Guess I didn't have the patience for that. Haven't been in 3 years and miss it dearly.

A few years back I switched to only bass fishing and haven't looked back. My favorite baits are soft plastics, worms, speed craw(all time favorite), lizards, brush hogs, and top water is a ribbit frog. Hooks are pretty much always the same, gamakatsu worm hooks 3/0 or 4/0. Usually the 4/0 because all my reels except my cranking rods and reels have braid and that 4/0 holds up better when I set the hook like a beast and try to rip the fish out the water. All of my rods except my punching rod are ducketts, my punching rod is a skeet Reese. It would be a duckett too but I bought it used. They're all ducketts because not only are they nice and I like the feel, but I like having all white, matching rods laying on my deck. Makes me feel like the pro I'm not lol. Reels are different, a couple lews, shimanos, and Abu garcia's. Abu Garcia is my favorite but the lews are a close second. I don't consider myself to be a good fisherman, but I don't consider myself bad either. My advice is to just spend time on the water and learn what to look for. Never expect the same results either. You might go one day and catch all your fish in rocks on the bank on one bait, and then the next day you might have to fish stumps or piers with a completely different bait to catch them. Bass are weird like that. Dicks in Baton Rouge is having a killer clearance on tackle right now that I would go hit up and get a variety of different baits so you can always be versatile while trying to find fish. The only place I really look to for tips is YouTube and that's when I'm trying to find out how to work a particular bait. I just started learning how to fish senkos so I went to YouTube and watched videos of people fishing with them. The rest I leave up to myself.