Northern Bassfisherman vs Southern Bassfisherman

[lizardsrule]

Well, since I have caught a few nice fish here in FL, I've been thinking more and more about the differences of fishing from South to the North. I must say there are more fish, and bigger fish down south, so it is easier for most folks to catch them IMO. Now I would like to here some of your opnions. I beleive that if you have a top notch Bass Fisherman that has spent most of his fishing, in the northern waters, he is actually a better skilled fisherman because of how hard he really has to work. I think many of the southern boys, do know where to go to catch fish in the south, but if they had to fish the northern waters all the time he would struggle more than a guy going south from the north would. I have fished with some good and bad fisherman in some tourneys up north, and for the most part I believe the upper tier of northern fisherman would 7 out of 10 times win out over a southern boy. This is not designed to demean any great fisherman from the south, but I was figuring that some of the guys I fished with, if they can consistantly catch bass in some of the rivers, and lakes, resevoirs up north, they would probably be in the upper, upper tier down south. Just looking for some other views. I could be way off with this

Lizards

[Rebbasser]

I think if you put a northern fisherman and a southern fisherman on a southern lake they would probably be on equal footing, but take a southern boy up north and the Yank would have the advantage, if only because smallmouth are added to the mix. Us southerners don't fish all that much for the brown fish simply because there aren't many bodies of water that will support them. The Yanks have us beat there .

Then again, it really depends on the fisherman. KVD tore up a Texas lake, Lewisville, including setting the lake recored. And Lewisville is an extremely tough lake to fish-I know that from personal experience.

[bassintom]

If you can consistently catch bass in Jersey..the rest of the world is a snap. I believe you are correct lizards, us northern bass anglers have to struggle to figure out these fish. After all we have 4 distinct seasons to dissect..whereas in the south they have 2, hot and not so hot. That may be the reason you are having such success. You had to learn the hard way in a state where there ain't double digit bass lurking under every blowdown or in every weedbed...lol

[lokust]

I hope I can make some sense here.
I am from Michigan, But I married into a Southern Fam. My wife and her entire Family is from Alabama. And this winter/spring we decided to spend it in Bama.

We have been together for a total of six years now. So that means I spent alot of vacation here in Bama. Sorry for that long winded story.

I get to fish the best of both worlds.
In 2005 My biggest Lm was roughly 4.5 pounds, While my Biggest Southern LM was roughly 6 to 7 pounds. I didn't purchase a scale to later. That is the size comparison(sp?) to north bass and south bass.

We will have been here two weeks on monday. And I have been fishing about ten times. And I have caught six dinks and two bass that were 2.5 pounds. Would I be able to do that up north? I don't think so. I am not an ice fisher

I am gonna be doing my very first tourney on Guntersville. I will be fishing the The BFL's choo choo's Feb 25th. (Went to goosepond today, The board said the choo choo is full, So maybe I will get to fish), I hope I can place with you southern gents.

As far as Northern vs. Southern anglers, I think we can all hold our own, No matter where we bass.
-Chris

[WTL]

If you can catch fish consistently on G'ville, you are pretty good. Its a tough lake to fish. The rewards are great because the average size over there is ridiculous, but I've been skunked there more than any other lake. So the southern thing may not apply to all waters.

What you have, more than a northern vs southern dynamic, is a stratified and variable dynamic. How many different types of water are there? Hydrilla lakes, riverine reservoirs, natural lakes, rivers, weedy florida bowls, canyon lakes, mountain reservoirs, glacial lakes, oxbows, japanese lakes...the list goes on and on. So what happens when a guy whose used to fishing canyons goes to Florida? Or a guy who fishes the memphis oxbows fishes lake Michigan? The results are completly variable. Its not a north south thing.

[PowerBass]

Personally, I never went South to fish, but I feel the Northern waters would be harder, GIN clear water, and tons of angling pressure. My favorite lake, Round Valley, Gets some much pressure. I have yet to hook up wiht a largemouth, and only got 2 smallies out of it. And We started at 10 am the one day, and came in at 9 pm. I also fish a local 10 acre lake, that has tons of pressure from the bucket brigade and such, But I can consistently catch bass, and decent ones at that. I know that lake like the back of my hand. Everyone else caught 1, but they used live bait. I didnt want to. Now If I were to go down South, and hoping to, I bet I could catch the same type of bass as the next guy.

[basstech]

I think it has more to do with experience on the water your actually fishing. First of all I'm not going to assume that a northern fisherman going south for the first time is going to "tear 'em" up. In fact I am sure he won't if he go's somewhere like Okeechobee. Unless he get's a lot of help from locals and where to fish. Why, you may ask, do I say that. Simply because Okee. is different than any lake I've heard of up north. When you get out of the canal that leads you to the main lake from the rim ditch, you're in 4' of water. You keep going out from shore to where you can't see land anymore, you're still in 4' of water, maybe six if your lucky. The vegetation is everywhere. If you haven't seen this before you can't expect to know how to find the fish or where to go cause it's just a bowl. There is no well defined contours like on the highland resivoirs. Then your sense of seasonal patterns are not the same. It will mess with your head. I think both(notherners going south, southerners going north) will equally struggle untill they learn the water and the seasons and how that affects the fish on that particular body of water. This is a non-biased point of view from a "mid-westerner".

[PowerBass]

Good point Basstech, I dint think of it that way. Is Okeechobee that shallow?

[basstech]

It was when I was there..but florida was in the middle of their worst drought in history...or one of the worst droughts.

[Mac3]

Just too many variables to really count and say north/south.....IMO. I caught many more fish in the northern clear waters and have yet, after 12 years, to become proficient at fishing the local reservoir. I can literally fish a long time on it without finding the fish. From one day to the next, they are here, then there, hitting, not hitting. In the clearwater north, Michigan, my buddy and I could sleep at the wheel and still land 35 in an evening.

Up in the mountains, there is a little lake featuring weedbeds and therefore weed lines. I do better there on a consistancy level as I can find "where" to fish....it's also clearwater. But, some summers, you can fish the evenings three hours before dark, and maybe the fish will only hit for ten minutes...then shut down to out wait the fishermen. At other times, they will hit in the heat of the day at high noon.

I realize my difficulties are mostly my doing, in that I became reservoir weary and didn't spend time on the water and am now realizing it just has to be done......paying the dues is very important. I still have hopes of the ten pound largemouth, the 9 pound smallie, the 15 pound smallie and the 30 pound rockfish....

At any rate, I know on the one hand folks travel to East Tennessee on fishing trips and do well, on the other hand, I have a slew to learn.....

[lizardsrule]

Great responses guys, thanks, and keep them coming. As for Lake O, well it's a ocean that's isolated on the mainland LOL. Yes it's shallow, but if you know where the holes are(yes there are some holes maybe 6-8feet deep) you can easily catch the fish. Just like the monkey box, if you can get there, then you can catch fish. I'm not saying Lake O is easy at all, but once you know where the holes are, the bass will always be there. Now finding those holes is not easy at all. So I think it's the same as any kind of pattern. You have to find it, and fish it. That's easier obviously if the fish are more aggressive, and feed year around.IMO

Lizards

[zooker]

Northern lakes are massive in size. Most southern lakes have no where nears as much acreage as northern lakes. The exceptions are bugs island, gunterville, big o, fork, ect.. Not only are they large but the major holes are not known to as many people.

Myself and bassnman have had this discussion before. On high rock for example there is maybe 20 very consistant holes. Everybody that fishes this lake regularly knows exactly where these holes are. Ok so there is a bunch of places you can sometimes catch fish in other places on the lake.

Northern lakes tend to be clear and free from laydowns-this should be against the law- the northern lakes have massive submerged vegataion. Weed beds as massive as some lakes we fish down here. the thing I noticed the biggest difference between the 2 are basically northern lakes have points far and few between. Southern lakes the points are the #1 structure focal point. Docks can be good in both more so up north. The northern lakes get just as much boat traffic as southern lakes during the summer. Remember in the southern lakes 90% of them have no season on bass the pressure is never off totally..

zooker

[WTL]

Me and Tom last week were discussing the shallow buckbrush pattern in chat. Now this is a good example what I and a few others on here are getting at - if you know how to fish buckbrush and similar cover in NJ then you will do OK in Florida cause there is a similar pattern there. Its all comes down to the local patterns you are used to and whether or not those will transfer to new lakes in distinct regions of the country. Knowing jigging spoons on Lake Powell aint gonna help someone on Okechobee, but if they've been to the California delta and learned to flip they will be OK.

[Fish2win]

There are a lot of good fisherman in the north. I have fished with several in Michigan,Ohio and Indiana. There are a lot of good fisherman in Florida Alabama,Mississippi and Tennessee. I have fished with some really good fisherman from Texas and Oklahoma. I dont think that there is any one area that makes you the best.In Florida ;which seems to be what many think southern lakes are like,The lakes are shallow and full of emergent grasses. The Florida strain largemouth grow to big sizes and have the genetics to do so. In much of the north the smallmouth are very prolific and grow well also. What you have failed to realize is that some areas have a very broad mix of species and lake types. Kentucky and Tennessee are two such places.In east Tennessee we have a lot of big fish. They are largemouth , Smallmouth. Kentucky spotted bass and Alabama Spotted Bass. Most of the lakes here have large populatuions of smallmouth and have size limits that are from 18 to 22 inches min, size.Tennessee and North Alabama are the where the Tennessee River swings down are the southern most climate for smallmouth. They have the longest growing season with the exception of the west where they are starting to stock smallmouth. I spend 80% of my time on smallmouth because they are such special fish. Here we have deep highland resevoirs that have 25 foot visability . We also have river run lakes that are very current oriented due to TVA power generation and we have stained water lakes that have emergent grasses and are not as deep as the highland lakes.
With all of these type lakes and all of these type species what would make you think that the north gives someone a better advantage to learn under difficult conditions than and other place? I know there are some great lakes that have great smallmouth fishing. But the numbers of fish caught and the size is not any better than here. 5 and 6 pound smallies are not uncommon. In fact they are becoming so common that no one says much about them anymore.In the spring tourney's 5 fish limits are often 5 Smallmouth that wiegh over 20 lbs.In fact I have brought that type bag in and not even been in the top 10. In December i saw a guy weigh in a 9 lb 6 oz smallmouth in a tournamnet at Loudon. 8 ad 9 are not unheard of at all. ten plus at Horse Creek on Dale and not unheasrd of either. I think that there are good fisherman all over the USA Arron Martins is probably one of the best ever with all those 2nd place finishes in the classic and he is from California.I dont think you can make such a broad statement. Fish2win

[Rodman_Rob]

liz, you're fishing florida during the easiest months to catch fish, wait for the dog days of summer to test your skills. when you can consistantly catch them @11am-5pm in august in 100 degree weather with 100% humidity, then you've accomplished something.

[pig n jig]

Lizards, I really believe the good fisherman can adapt to any body of water they are fishing and catch fish. Whether it would be enough to win with all boils down to who figured out the best pattern for the day and who got the big fish bite.As Rebbasser said the brown fish are tougher to fish as a rule , but when you can catch them shallow, their easier to catch a large number of them in a hurry. P N J

[flfireman]

I know lakes near rodmanrob that I will get skunked on more than I care to talk about. Ive fished two of them for 10+ years and still have trouble. Then others I have pulled in and caught fish almost immediately. Fl lakes are not always as easy as some may think

[Rodman_Rob]

Originally Posted by flfireman

I know lakes near rodmanrob that I will get skunked on more than I care to talk about. Ive fished two of them for 10+ years and still have trouble. Then others I have pulled in and caught fish almost immediately. Fl lakes are not always as easy as some may think

yep, not to take anything away from you and your last 3 hogs lizard, but most months are much harder than what this month has been consider we've just come off some colder weather, water temps are on the rise, and the bass are feeding in preparation for the spawning season. The last 3 years I've been able to throw lures the last few weeks of Jan. and managed to catch big fish on any lure resembling a SHOE! It's not always this easy...........TRUST ME!

[WTL]

I should hope its normally more difficult to catch 10s than what lizards is doing...or else 10 pounds might not be the accomplishment we thought it was....

[lizardsrule]

Look guys, I realize I have been blessed about the big fish. I wasn't neccessarily talking about me and fishing, but as a general rule. I have been skunked here, and if you really want to catch fish, then shiners are the way to go here. But I like most of you prefer artificials. I will fish with shiners, but feel sooo much better using artificials. Now here's a example of the type of thing I'm talking about though. I have now fished Wildcat Lake about 7-10 times(who's counting) and have located 3 spots that have consistantly produced bass, not always toads, but I feel pretty confident I can go there and catch at least a fish for any given day. I have LOCALS, who keep asking where to fish and how. Now I am by no means a great fisherman yet, but I figured out some lake patterns the locals can't for whatever reason. One guy who came by after work, litterally asked me if I have EVER caught a Bass outa this lake ROTFL. He said he has fished this lake about 10 times and never caught a thing. Perhaps it's my desire more than anything? And of course no-one will cast where I cast either, they are staying outside of the weeds, not in the weeds, and as Rodman can attest around here, they are thick as crap, I get hung up more than I get a good retrieveal in. Again this wasn't about me, it's was a general rule of thumb. I know a Pro can(at least should be able to) catch fish everywhere, but normal fishing folks is more of the line I was talking. Now with that said, I still look forward to the HOT days, even the dog days. Those days are much more predictable IMO, and the topwater action is great at times.

Lizard

[1FASTLASER]

I read this post and have thought basically the same thing as you have. In the south everyone would be on pretty good footing but from MY experience you take a southern bass fisherperson and throw him to them yankeee bass and you GOT A BIG PROBLEM. I admit I am hard headed and it took me longer than most to convert to the northern style of fishing but it was a hard one. Looking for stumps to throw at LOL forget it. Big HUGE open expansises of water and you bobbing around in a BIG BOWL. Me with my pool cue rods and 30lb test and no fish. Was a site to see. Then I became aquainted with med spinning rods and 10lb test or less line (the rods I used to laugh at) and started to catch fish. Hole different story techniques water everything has it changes from the north bass to the south bass. That was my experience.

[Vitruvianman]

Any specific technical differences? Other than the obvious (temp etc) I'm pretty far up north and nearly all the lakes don't have shad. Forage is mostly crawfish, hard spined and soft spined panfish and minnows, leeches and insects basically.

Do any of you that have fished both observe significant lure differences in terms of success?

Thanks

[1FASTLASER]

Old post but one that realy makes a person think. I already stated the difference in equiment.......rods reels line etc etc but really didnt discuss differences in lures and/or techniques. At times of the year it was a pretty sure bet to fish craw imitating lures and have decent success.....then as time went on I figured out that northern lakes require a even more specific lure at specific times. And to top it off you had better have lures that where more realistic looking...........now I amsaying this works the majority of the time........remeber the bass aint read the same books we have..a little humor there.

[BeaverIslander]

Great thread.

I have never fished down outside of Minnesota. That means small (75-500 acre) natural lakes mostly, and in the North, crystal clear and rocky Canadian Shield lakes. There are also countless streams and small rivers that flow into the great Mississippi River, which is considered one of the Worlds best smallie fisheries and is the place where I grew up wading islands with the help of a little johnboat, hence the name BeaverIslander .

The one thing these all have in common is that they have clear water, 6-15 ft visibility, and skittish fish, so thats my comfort zone. Take a person out of their comfort zone and I believe they will struggle at first, 99% of the time. Thats where skill comes to play. A highly skilled angler will adapt faster than the rest and soon be as good or better than the locals. Of course, the confidence that comes with skill is going to play a big part as well.

I recently found a lake almost by accident that reminds me a bit of a Southern impoundment. Its actually 2 connected lake that are a combined 400 acres, but it is very shallow and muddy and has only 2 ft visibility. Theres very little weed cover and the fish are drawn to the docks and to laydowns and shoreline rockpiles. The fish seem to be very relaxed in the dirty water and you can get right on top of them without spooking them, which is new to me. Even in August they were on the banks and easily caught with spinners, jigs, and buzzers. I would bring inexperienced people out frequently because the fishing was so easy with the dirty water. The average fish over the last month has been 2.5 - 2.75 lbs, topping out at a little over 5.25.

Then last week I went back to my usual lake, Clearwater Lk in Wright County. It was gin clear and I was spooking the fish like crazy because I was getting too close to the cover like I did on the muddy lake. Every lure I had tied on was unsuitable and I had to get used to casting as quietly as possible again. I had to slow way down and work deep weedlines whereas for the last 2 months I've had it easy, beating the banks and working docks.

I could see how intimidating this could be for a Southern angler, to have to practically give up on emergent cover and put away the flippin stick and start shaking a worm in 16' of water with 6 lb line. But put a Northern angler in a area with 1000 flooded trees and stumps and he'll probably have that same deer in the headlights look.

Comfort zone and confidence. Thats what counts.

[zooker]

You'll find that when the water temps start to drop the bass will key on brim more and alewives and shad less.

zooker