warmer

here's the effect of the modified paca toads... now this is the paca toad sr. so the craws are extra large. i look forward to trying some of the jigs that have been suggested.

okay, i figured out a good way to use the paca toad craws as a trailer. i tear them off and melt them to old throw away worms to thread them on the hook so they will stay (they dont work well inside that hollow body for me).

i having trouble making that water. i mean its got a "fish attractor" marker w/ fish on it so it must be public, but not heavily pressured. whoever heard of such a thing. its dishpan, but its got an algae bloom that looks like a phosphate pit, that turns our migrating fish that lovely shade of white. nice water, nice fish. i love central florida.

thats the spirit. if they are right about the licensing, its a true shame. but as you say, find a loophole. offer outdoor activity based "babysitting.". you know the triumph of this country is that a young man can have an idea, get in line at the dmv for 16 hours, go to the county, research the 7000 state and federal laws that heavily regulate the way that he can implement his idea, give up, and hire a lawyer to interpret the law on his behalf, and run out of money just in time to get busy at school in the fall. oh, breathe deep, the free air of opportunity young man. breathe deep.

lets see: 1. worms: my dad bought a house on a phosphate pit. and i learned to fish slow on a hot afternoon from my neighbor and his dad when i wasnt wading for muscles to nap and catch catfish and "baitstealers". 2. topwater: a fishing family in town piled in an old tub of a boat banging the topwater on the kissimmee river. DEVIL HORSE! 3. power fishing: hopping fences onto private mine land following aerial maps with a friend, and fishing fast on the fly. crankbaiting and spinnerbaiting on a sprint. 4. flipping: a friend who tapped into my competitive spirit and invited me tournament fishing at the right time. (the years of the hurricanes in florida, the water was up and the fish were shallow!) 5. toads: the fish are teaching me that!

im going to have to go w/ the elites my friend, mark davis went back.

#1 Heavy Cover Jig what weight in what conditions catt?

lol, im with lee on that one, fishing has been tough. seems like bigger stringers are coming from up north (toho), but the bite has been slow. itd be nice to tell you there are numbers somewhere, but other than a thursday two weeks ago i havent had a good day in awhile. my last tournament i caught 13.8lbs, but only 6 keepers all day. if you figure them out, let me know. pm me if youd like specific info.

thanks for the input all. what weight do you use when you are pitching grass? basspro48, those jigs look great. why do you not prefer the living rubber on your shallow jigs as well? i like these in deaper water on brush when it has time to really get those legs working. i find in the shallower stuff i prefer the quicker vibration of the flappy daddy. but like you say the subtle, flat of the chunks is nice too. i couldnt find anything about these jigs online, do you have a link. southernprog, w/ the paca craw i have had a harder time w/ getting it to sit right as a trailer, maybe because of the way the terminator is designed. i love the action on the paca, and there are like 10 backs gathering dust, so i need to make them work. have you ever tried to make the paca toad work as a trailer. i love the action on those feet for a trailer.

hey fishbear, what rod in particular? i would say that generally they are light and tight. not too tight, they seem to have good tip action and a lot of backbone. i like the 7'6 flippin/pitchin of theirs and if feels similar to my loomis, the 7'2" mh rods are going to be a good replacement for my redbone rods (though i love the redbone w/ a modified handle). i dont know what price range they are in. the store i was in had them overpriced im almost certain based on the other sticker prices i saw. but i would have put them in the daiwa l&t price range, and they seem to be a significantly better rod for the money. someday when i have $: i will replace 2 flipping sticks w/ them: my hmg fenwick 7'6" and my daiwa l&t. also my redbone 7'2 (modified) mediums and medium heavy rods. i didnt get a chance to check on the light stuff.

the limited value of a co-angler at the elite series level has been that you have an inexpensive alternative to an official observer in each boat. in fact you make some (though very little) money based on their presence. 1. outside influence: a) performance: - the problem with this "observer" is that he/she can materially effect the performance of the pro who is attempting to earn their living this way. by way of anecdote: a friend of mine who is a tour level pro, missed a final day cut because a co cast OVER HIS ROD to a schooling bass as he was burning it in to pick up a spinnerbait - OVER HIS ROD straight out the front of the boat. this cost him a 4 lber and the cut. so now, you have a sport that has progressed to the point that it can afford to have a contest that is less influenced by a MAJOR outside variable. - any fish that a co catches is a fish that the pro cant save for tomorrow. psychological: what happens when you are the pro who draws the grown up version of the kid who says "are we there yet?" "what are you doing up there?" and "one time i..." anecdotally: i fished a draw tournament where friend x suggested to a co-angler that his pro really loved it when you slapped him on the rump and kissed him on the cheek after he caught a fish. well, this pro does re-define homophobia so yes it was funny when the guy did it, but it also climbed up in his head and rattled him. the folks that were truly excited about being w/ and learning from the pros will likely be happy w/ the opportunity to go along as an observer. i for one would rather be an observer than a co-angler out of respect to the competition. after all a co-angler tournament is not as much a measure of skill as it is a measure of the luck of the draw. you could say that i did a little name calling that was unecessary. you could say that im a bit insensitive to the plight of the long time co-angler, you could say a lot of things. for that matter, you could say im a whiner, but youd be wrong about that. the people that say: - bass will lose their fan base: are not whining, just wrong - bass is losing their connection w/ the fans: not whining, just wrong - bass is going to lose a lot of money over this: not whining, just wrong. the people that say: - george bush dont care about - err i mean, bass doesnt care about the little people: whiny - bass are a bunch of corporate fat cats: whiny - i have a right to fish w/ a pro as a co-angler: whiny (bass has a right to CHANGE member benefits)

five bass limit, the most consistent argument/attack i hear on this issue is ad hominem, so i figure turnabout is fair play. e.g. bass are money grubbing, big corporate fat cats who dont care about the little people, and on and on... but, to answer your question. no, people are not whiners for voicing their opinion, BUT most of the opinions i have read on this decision were expressed in a whine. this makes them...

flipping = tungstion. texas rigged casting = lead. carolina rig = tungston.

as soon as the water comes up here in florida ill give them a shot around some docks... most of the lakes that have docks that i fish are ankle deep at the end of the dock . can you skip them?

do you flip the football jig into cover? these look good, but they seem really light, i mostly flip heavy cover. do they make one w/ more weight 1/2 to 3/4's? i picked up this "bass stalker" today to give it a whirl. and has anyone tried this revenge flip jig? one other problem im having is bent hooks. it pegs the pad and i pull it through and bend the hook even on heavy wire. i have backed off my drag to avoid straightening the hook on hookset, but i still end up bending them.

What Im interested in here is flipping cover in 6ft and shallower. I am flipping jigs with more consistency than in the past, and have found that for flipping/pitching the pads i really like to use the terminator jig. and for a trailer i am drawn to the zoom chunk, or the gampler flappy daddy. I am curious about what jigs and trailers you folks like? Are there jigs you like particularly for maidencane/kissimmee grass (Im having a hard time finding the bottom in the grass)? Are there jigs you like particularly for hydrilla?

some folks like a low gear ratio for flipping the slop so that they have good leverage on the fish, but i go for high speed reels to increase the number of times my bait hits the water during the day.

these are really nice rods... i just played around w/ some today. they are not heavy, and seem to have really nice action.

if you are going into cypress from the north you will want to go straight out between the markers keeping on the same course as the canal for at least 100 yds. if you are coming north, you will want to swing wide to the east and line up between the markers so that you come in on a line w/ the canal. if you are uncertain, just idle it one time and youll see what i mean.

navigation is no trouble at all. use caution coming into cypress from the toho canal.

I would ask myself if it would have mattered to me if i had won. If i could honestly say yes, then i would put in a phone call to the president. If he refused to acknowledge a problem, i would address it at the next meeting, and push for rules related to those scenarios.

the whiners are out in full force in an article over at bassf4n. it would be one thing if these were one day tournaments, and the pro-angler didnt have to save water, but you are going to put them in a boat w/ a different person every day (which disrupts the balance of a level playing field in terms of personality and talent) and make them try to conserve water. this is unreal. enjoy the proximity you have sitting behind the remote and let these boys work for a living. i cant believe tiger woods wont let me hobble along with him and ask why he chose a pitching wedge for that particular shot. the game of golf would be so much more personal if only i could.

i threw a fish in the starboard tank the other day and had the port pumps cranking. by the time i went to throw in #2 he was ripe, and by the end of the day he looked like he'd been dead for a month. im not saying they were on the up and up, but it happens. i think i was given a .5lb penalty.

that fish has a serious underbite and cross-eyed thing going. i bet she got made fun of in grade school.

i believe every time i swing and miss it was something other than a bass!