btcprince

depends on the kid but 3 or 4 is good. just dont expect him to stay in tune long. i took mine out at 4 to a dock loaded with bluegill and stuff, and we had a blast. now i took my daughter out and she caught the big bluegill of the day. we used the tip of a cane pole and crickets, but corn or other stuff works too. have fun. at 7 i started him on a spinning outfit and he has good control of it, just hasnt landed his first bass yet, but summers comin'

alright, i appreciate your input guys. i will try some other sizes, and some wide gaps and go from there. its not that i am not catching bass, its just that the hit/set ratio is off, also on some larger fish, they seem to get the smaller hook deep in the mouth and difficult to remove. thanks

all bass 10lbs+ i have seen caught or caught have broken the surface. all of these have been river fish in FL.

I don't think your theory is a sound one.

curious what hook size you use for say a 7.5 inch t-rig worm. ive almost always used a 1/0 tru-turn with the theory that you can catch big fish on a little hook, but lately seem to be missing some hooksets. with all the new wide gap and bigger sizes available, whats your preference and why? thanks

nice fish, and hooking one like that after so long is a bonus and surefire way to keep your interest up! same as you, i took about a 6 year break from the sport, but my reason was kids, trading truck for car, which led to no way of getting boat to water, so i sold boat. not good. anyways i am back! good luck to you

alright, thanks for the info. yes, the hillsborough river is my old stomping grounds, and i know the fowler park well. riverhills to the harney bridge has been one of my better stretches along it. a nice deep channel and lots of grass once the water level rises to normal. i will check out lake gibson, too. good luck to you

that is going to be an awesome boat.

anybody fish it? i hear it was stocked with some hybrid stripers some years back to help control the shad population, but have never fished it. the idle speed is nice for me because i am only using a powered canoe now and dont want to get swamped. i know some of yall are plant city folks....help out a neighbor

every briggs engine i have ever had has been good, but for 700 you can get something nicer for less on ebay or craigslist. i had a gamefisher(tanaka) 3hp aircooled that i had for years with no trouble. they make a 1.5 hp too but thats just too small for a 12 footer. i cant count the hours i put on that motor. they dont make them any longer so you can only find them used, but i cant say anything bad about my experiences with them. as far as speed, on my 12 foot skiff, it pushed it maybe 5mph with about 500lbs in peple and gear

sounds like a good day.

looks nice, and the pedal powered prop is sweet, but with the kayaks and canoes(which i am currently using), i dont like being down that close to the water. to me, it feels like its limiting how i cast, but thats just my opinion.

great pic. i took my son fishing for the first time at 4 with just the end of a cane pole and some crickets, and yep he caught some bream, but after about 30 minutes or so he had opened up the cricket container and was chasing crickets around the dock. my daughter was 3 when i first took her, same method, minus the crickets. its fun, now my son (7) and daughter (5) talk about how good the cover looks on certain lakes. good times

i bet i dont keep one for every 50 i catch. trust me i would rather catch a larger bass than a small one, and catch and release is the only way to ensure this. the last bass i kept was my 10lber i had mounted. i dont really feel guilty, as the fish did have years to contribute to the gene pool and populate the river. i do feel karma kicked me in the butt cuz i hit a bad dry spell shortly after, which in turn helped lead to my 6 year break from the sport. nowadays i would take measurements and have a replica done, or just settle for a good ol fashioned pic.

spinner baits....i am a sucker for buying them, but dont think i have ever caught anything, or anything to speak of.

not to hijack your post, but i have been thinking of sticking a solar charger on my boat to help keep my battery charged. my my 40lb minn-kota is my only motor on my canoe and rowing sucks, so i gotta come up with something

have you posted pics of this? it sounds nice

i used oceanic creations in valrico, fl to do a skin mount on my 10lber. the guy had some replicas that were outstanding. wish now i would have just gotten the replica, and given my fish a while to grow some more. the guy does great work, everything from little panfish up to a great white he was working on. if you are intersted i will get you the number

leave it with me a while....i'll test it out to make sure you got a good one! ha! enjoy!

pics would help us see what you have to work with

curious...what kind of boats are you noticing this on? you said bass boats, but like jons or what?

i live in central fl too and there are wild shiners in a lot of ponds. just gotta look. my kids like to catch them, and we usually use puffed rice cereal or little marshmellows. i have though about catching a bunch and setting up my own pond to have them on hand whenever i need them

btw.....first time out in 6 years, and i caught these 2 on back to back casts. a little rusty, but i kinda expected that

anyone ever put an outrigger on a canoe before? sold my boat 6 years ago and havent fished since, so i got a canoe with 40lb trolling motor. moves ok, but i usually go out with my dad, and hes easy 300lbs. makes for a pretty unstable ride. thought making a EZ attach outrigger might help, but it does start to take away from the simplicity of the canoe. thougths? NEVER sell your boat!

lake tarpon?