George Welcome

If you enjoy sneaking around and looking over your shoulder I suppose you can get away with fishing here and there, but if not the Disney fishing is an expensive proposition. "In the late 1960's Walt Disney World planners released 70,000 bass fingerlings into Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. Fishing in these waters was not permitted until 1977, which allowed ample time for the bass to grow and breed undisturbed." If you enjoy fishing with a cane pole and worms you can do that for $12.50 per hour for the family out of Wilderness. "Back when I was a kid, you could rent boats and go out and do whatever you wanted there. Nowadays, I hear you can only fish Disney if you pay for a guided boat, unless from shore or a dock. Could be completely wrong though. " I think you might be thinking of somewhere else other than Disney World. They have been charging for fishing since 1977. You can get a guide and go out fishing Toho for less. You can find guides that will pick you up at your hotel. Fishing Excursion Times & Prices: two hours 7:00 a.m. - $250 10:00 a.m. - $250 1:30 p.m. - $225

Just came back from a 2-hour tour: Water level 24.5. Impoundments have typical summertime hydrilla mats. Found fish in the ten or so pockets I hit. Inflow from Garcia East is wide open, (all three pipes). Corner is loaded with fish - if I wasn't out to look at the lake I could have probably caught fish after fish there. They were stacked in that current. Talked with two different fishing boats out on the water. My observations and theirs: No dead fish! I also ran down the 60 canal: No dead fish!

I have heard of no fish kill on Garcia. There are dead carp washing through from the Ft Drum Marsh, and from the pvt. reservoir south of 60, but other than that nothing.

Look under that rolled rail or under the corner plates. Unless someone made that boat in the basement there is a stamped HIN somewhere. "Boats manufactured or imported on or after August 1, 1984, also have a duplicate secondary HIN affixed somewhere on an unexposed location inside the boat or beneath a fitting or item of hardware. The purpose is to help authorities identify your boat if a thief or vandals remove or damage the primary HIN on the transom. It is illegal for anyone (manufacturer, dealer, distributor, or owner) to alter or remove a HIN without the express written authorization of the Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. The regulations prescribe the format of the HIN. The first three characters are a MIC (Manufacturer Identification Code) assigned by the Coast Guard to the manufacturer or the person importing the boat; characters four through eight are a serial number assigned by the manufacturer; the last four characters indicate the month and year the boat was built, and the model year. Prior to August 1, 1984, the manufacturer had the option of expressing this in the form of a model year designation. The Coast Guard maintains a searchable database of MICs if you want to check yours out - click here. Individuals building boats for their own use and not for the purposes of sale are what are referred to as "backyard boat builders". They must obtain a 12 character HIN from their State boating agency. The Manufacturer Identification Code at the beginning of the HIN for a "home built" boat is an abbreviation for the State followed by a "Z" which indicates that it is a State identification."

ben2go, Somewhere on that boat is a second HIN that is hidden. If your boat is an 84 or later this is a legal requirement of the manufacturer. Even if it is older it more than likely had two. Contact the manufacture for the location of the second number. If the boat has a rub rail it is under the rub rail, and usually on the forward starboad side.

A great deal of them attend attitude class which is held the 3rd Wednesday of the month on alternating months sometimes at 9:30 and sometimes not. Being members of Bass Local 301 they have the opportunity to further educate themselves and most take advantage of that opportunity.

Here's one you can get for free - http://www.in-fisherman.com/reference/solunar/calendars/

Nice Kent!

Go to the Marsh.

Most successful boat on Stick Marsh/Farm 13 - Do you see any carpeting? If you are really going to worry about any noise you might make walking on a deck, imagine what happens when you run your motor.

Fiberglass- depends on how long its been leaking and how much of a repair is needed. Hydro-pressure can make what looks small quite a mess. Wet glass separates, and disintegrates. Any hull leak, no matter the material should be repaired from the outside, not inside.

If equipment to test DO concentration (meter or test kit) is not available, the following observations and conditions can be used to anticipate oxygen depletion: Fish swim at or near the surface gulping air (piping). Fish suddenly stop feeding. There is a rapid change in water color to brown, black or gray, signifying loss of an algal bloom. A putrid odor arises from the water. There has been an extended period of hot cloudy weather. There is a heavy summer wind and a rainstorm. Emergency aeration should be applied whenever fish show signs of oxygen depletion or when dissolved oxygen drops below 4 mg/L. Many recreational pond owners purchase aerators and place them on electric timers. Proper use of the timer should have the aerator turn on during the late evening (10 p.m. to midnight) and turn off after daylight (7-8 a.m.). Using an aerator is not a complete substitute for monitoring DO concentrations and an oxygen depletion event resulting in a fish kill may still occur. However, use of an aerator is recommended and will prevent many problems. Summary Dissolved oxygen (DO) is oxygen gas (O2) that is dissolved in water. Most DO in ponds is produced during photosynthesis by aquatic plants and algae. For this reason DO increases during daylight hours, declines during the night, and is lowest just before daybreak. Dissolved oxygen concentrations below 5 mg/L may be harmful to fish and piping (gulping air at the surface) may be observed when DO falls below 2 mg/L. Low levels of DO are most frequently associated with hot, cloudy weather, algae die-offs, or heavy thunderstorms. Dissolved oxygen can be monitored using an electronic oxygen meter or chemical test kit. Emergency aeration should be supplied whenever DO falls below 4 mg/L or environmental conditions favor an oxygen depletion event. 1. This document is Fact Sheet FA 27, one of a series of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published: September 1992. Reviewed: May 1997, February 2003. Please visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

My primary concern with weather and I check each day prior to the trip is wind direction. With this info I know boat-handling position. I have found no absolute other than leave well in advance of the thunder storm. I had fantastic fishing in heavy rain, prior to the rain, and after the rain. I've seen cold fronts appear to stop the bite, and I have caught fish on every cast on a cold front. There is truly no indicator that is absolute so my policy is, if it's fishable get out there and try not to dwell on the subject of today's weather.

Country location is everything: 26 July 2004: My son Scott and myself - This morning we called Don Willis to see if he wanted to share the boat but he was off for a trip to the doctor's. "Yippee" said Scott, "the fish are going to bite today." We headed out at daybreak to the Marsh and baited up with Senkos. Bass proceeded to jump into the boat: 1st lunker of the day - 8 pounds - off the grass with a Senko - purple 2nd lunker of the day - 7 pounds - off the grass with a Senko - cinnamon 3rd lunker of the day - 11 pounds - off the grass - watermelon 7X cut tail 4th lunker of the day - 13 pounds - 27.5 X 19.5 - off the grass - red Senko 5th lunker of the day - 7 pounds - off the grass with a purple 7X cut tail I've had three days in 13 years where customers had 5 or more over 10, with two of those trips occuring within 2 days of each other. It's a rare occurence however based on the number of trips that I have done over that time span.

Submitted by: Kevin "Swede" Oleen - 9/8/08 Florida's famous Stick Marsh and Mr. George Welcome summoned me to prepare my gear and depart Tampa eastbound at O dark thirty yesterday morning. George and I agreed to meet up at about 6:30am - so I left early enough to beat George to our meeting spot. No such luck - arrived at 5:55am and George was there waiting on me. After grabbing a quick McDonald's breakfast - we made the trek to the Marsh. What a beautiful morning we had after TS Hanna departed for the NE USA. Partly cloudy skies, water 85 degrees and a light breeze - perfect. We pulled up on the first stop - George says lipless CB or TX-rig - so I pull out an El Grande 6 inch Pepper Stick in Tilapia color. George hooks up with a couple smaller fish to start the day off right. Then I get a thump - I set the hook - and fight the fish pictured below to the boat. It went about 4.5 pounds and man what a fight. My 5/0 Gami was bent - a first for me - had to replace a hook after fish number 1. We went and checked out a couple more areas with not a lot happening - probably due to effects of Hanna passing through the day prior. We picked up a couple of fish though - one here and one there. George's experience on this water showed and he kept up the search. We idled into another area of Farm 13 - and there they were. Fish started busting shad out in front of us. I cast that lipless CB as far as I could in the direct of the fish and wham - fish on. Did I mention these fish can fight. I lost count - but guessing George and I had fish on - on each of our next 10 casts. All these fish in the 1.5-4.0 lb class. The fish took a short break before schooling once again - more catching action ensued before George and I decided to call it a day at 3pm. I was a hot day and I was plum wore out. I've fished most of Florida's larger bodies of water - and I can definitely tell you - fish here fight better than any other. They'd give Coosa River Spots a run for their money. They just refuse to give up. Additionally - I was thoroughly impressed by George Welcome and had an absolutely fantastic time. George and I shared some life stories, he has great equipment, and he put us on fish. I've never actually fished with a guide before, but as George now knows - I will be back. Thanks for the adventure George!

http://www.skisafe.com/antique.stm

16 Gheenoe setup with seats:

Boga Grip - U.S. Made IGFA Certifiable Last forever Cost: $119.95

Excellent response.

Some of the responses leave me hanging with curiosity - Is there any subject that relates to bass fishing that hasn't been discussed a few thousand times on here? Why should Senko topics be any different? With newcomers to this sport arriving daily shouldn't any topic be open to discussion rather than derision?

Outstanding - your cadillac of the bass family. Most will fish their whole life and never see a bass that big other than in pictures.

Based on what you are saying you have a problem with the circuitry for the lights. Increasing the fuse side could have quite nasty results. Find the problem.

Hope everyone took evacuation advise and are well out of the way. If you had to stay batten down and keep your heads down.

14.24 this AM and Gustav feeder bands hitting with T-storms right now.

Fighting characteristics are a subject often brought up on my boat. Interestingly enough, opinions change when they get ahold of some of these southern bass.