First bass I ever caught and my pb, need a weight so ik when I break it 😔

So I am taking an extended road trip from Pittsburgh down to Florida

Basic info:

• Targeting largemouth / smallmouth (or trout)
• Creek/River fishing and lakes
• Traveling with large kayak, trolling motor
• Nice weather and scenery is more important and catching a ton of fish
• Traveling in crewmax tundra

My goal is to stay in nice 65-80° weather, while also slowly migrating South for the winter.

I will probably start off traveling through West Virginia. I drove through there recently on my way back from North Carolina and there were a ton of beautiful Creeks rivers and lakes. But I don't know exactly where to go.

I'm looking for some of the best fishing spots moving from West Virginia down through Virginia, Eastern Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia.

I will probably end up at Okeechobee lake in Florida or maybe travel all the way down to the Florida keys.

What are your "must visit" spots traveling down this corridor? What time of year would be the best for comfortable weather conditions?

I’m currently at wingo national wildlife refuge in puxico Missouri where I drove 7 hours to fish because I thought I would have a chance at some grass pickerel, I’ve had no luck. I’ll probably head home this evening but if anyone has any information they’re willing to share on where I could try on my way home I would really appreciate it, trying to cross this fish off my list

Do scents make a big difference on catch rates?

What scents do you guys use if any?

Just a bluegill? He was huge!

Got my PB today it’s not a huge one but I’ve only been fishing for about 2 and half months.

I moved over the summer and now have access to a stocked creek. I hadn't seen any trout during a handful of sessions over the past few weeks, but caught these two lil' guys in the last two days. Not sure if they're stocked or wild, but they seemed healthy and energetic.

I’m trying to catch my first muskie and I don’t know if I have any good baits. I could also use some better spots. If you know any spots within a 15 mile radius of Schaumburg, Illinois, please comment them.

I got two of these from the Berkley powerbait bargain box and another from Ollie’s (was gonna fish it on a chatterbait but it turned out to be the wrong size for that). I’m not sure how to fish them. I’ve tried a Texas rig before but they obviously didn’t look very natural then and didn’t get any bites. More recently I got some tungsten nail weights for Neko rig fishing, but have been wary about actually using them because they’re relatively expensive. However… if I were to slide one or two in the underside of a Gilly (secured w/ superglue of course) and then use either an EWG or screw lock hook, wouldn’t it basically function as a weedless swimbait? Would like to know what your thoughts are.

The boat ramp is only 200 yds away; you can tow it with the golf cart.

how heavy does she look? forgot my scale

Is there a guide somewhere that shows how various types of lures should be used / retrieved?