Big Mike in Fl

amber bock, Rolling rock, Bud, Landshark, Killians...and as has already been said, a free one. Not necessarily a beer, but I'm a HUGE fan of a local brew hard cider named Kelly's, many times I'd prefer to drink that to beer at all

I love skinny dippers. they're the only ones I've tried and see no reason to try any others, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

as Chris just said, The Johnny Rattler...that bait was a consistant for me this year, even with a less than ideal topwater season, this bait produced...and not just dinks, I was catching 4 and 5lbers on these, while at the same time I was getting dinks and 1lbers on skinny dippers and senkos. There is something magical about that little lure!

that pretty much means the fish is interested, but there is something not quite right, something that instinctively tells them to stay away form it, could be size, could be action, could be color, but something tells the fish not to go after it after all. something doesn't seem natural to it.

it's been YEARS since I was around the fish camp, but I have positive memories of family camp outs as a kid. it isn't a ritzy motel by any means, but it serves its purpose.

try a light shakey head with a trick worm, I was in a very similar situation yesterday and caught a nice 5lber using this exact set up, a 1/16 owner shakey head with a charlie's worm pearl trick worm.

well, though I'e never done a restore on one, I'll give you an answer other than the haters... I'd love to see a final build pic of it in some time, up on 12" re-arcs and 44" TSL's...but don't forget to change out the half ton axles for some 1 tons, and the gearing etc etc, its a never ending things really. then again, that's what I would do if I had the resources/funding/Time what you do needs to represent you, what you want to show out of the project. Drop it to the ground, with big mag wheels, and a chopped top. as long as it looks good, runs strong, and you're proud of it, that's what counts Oh, and consider a bigger motor, try a 383 stroker maybe ;D ;D ;D

The idea that the next cast may be a story I tell for years to come 8-)

I was down by the lake behind my house this morning and looked like a few spots where fish are starting to fan beds, not sure, because they weren't completely cleared. however, the majority of the vegetation was gone, and its in the right kind of place, so I'm tihnking it's going to start happening pretty soon.

Another youngin hooked on fishing. AWESOME!

apparently its not "only in pennsylvania" instead its only in michigan! funny story

Heck, yeah! An 8 pound bass anytime north of the Mason-Dixon line is awesome. Congratulations! an 8lb bass anywhere is awesome. congrats!

excellent cat paul, too bad your daughter was fond of her, that coulda been one heck of a fish fry!

I've caught tons of fish on the zoom super flukes, I think the bass assassins are about the same. I also use the Charlies worms twitchin shad's, they work well,and have a little paddle tail on the end that give a little different action, or it can be cut off to have a traditional fluke type action

east lake toho is a completely different lake, and those are definitely NOT maps of East lake. I don't think they're even maps of toho, something on one of them says desoto county and charlotte county? I think you might have gotten some info mixed up there.

I think a chimpanzee could play it... but wouldn't ;D

my exgirlfriend and i were fishing in a canal system around here about a year ago when she got a bite on her tiki stick, she was freaking out, because it fought harder than anything she was accustomed to. she said she had a weird fish on, and i thought maybe it was a mudfish (she'd never seen one) so I sorta shrugged it off and went to help her, turns out, best I can tell, it was a pirahna. i didn't know what the heck it was when she got it,I'd been fishing those waters for 10 years and never seen anything like it. so i threw it back in after getting it unhooked, thne i went home and did some research and found out thats what it was...weird

pretty much what fishindaddy said, but I'll add some. East lake is a tough lake, tricky and finicky at best, while it doesn't produce as many of the monsters that are so famous from its' sister lakes toho and kissimmee, it can still produce many quality fish. if you're gonna be there in march, you can do one of two things. if in the prefrontal stages/warmer, more stable weather, I'd be looking for spawning fish/ prespawning fish in the shallow areas of maidencane and cattails, probably on the north end of the lake. in these situations, try faster moving baits such as spinner baits, traps, toads, paddle tail swim baits. also try flukes, senkos, and t-rigged worms If you are unlucky enough to be fishing it post frontal/ cold, unstable weather. there is submerged grass (not hydrilla, but not sure what type it is) in various locations around the lake in deeper water, I believe the fish will retreat to this cover in these conditions. try jigs, creatures, c-rigs and t-rigged worms East lake usually has very very clear water, so natural colors are the key, pumpkins, watermelons, motoroils, shads are the keys. in the more stained water from bad weather, try darker colors like red shad, junebug, watermelon, and grape. if you're interested in topwater, I'd be looking for warmer, stable days and focusing the top water more towards the middle of the day. you won't get as much topwater action as you might a little later on in the year in florida, but you should find some takers around this time. (if you are dedicated enough, you can almost always catch SOME fish on topwater in florida, any time of the year) Hopefully this info can help you out.

Thank you for correcting him, its a pet peeve of mine when people proclaim to be fans, then spell the name wrong. whether "original" or not, its still good music, skynyrd has basically turned into a southern rock all star band, but its ok with me. and yes, Billy powell died earlier this year. on topic, I didn't like it, I give it a 2

I often notice the color change of the bass coming out of a live well they've been in for a little while, never thought of doing it for pictures sake from shore though. Great post!

I would just like to state, for the record, that you're all insane! that being said, I like medium buffalo sauce, and a few drops of tabasco in my chili. you guys have fun frying your taste buds! ;D ;D

"WELL, A FRIEND OF MINE NAMED STEVE GOODMAN WROTE THAT SONG AND HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE PERFECT COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG. I WROTE HIM BACK A LETTER AND I TOLD HIM IT WAS NOT THE PERFECT COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG BECAUSE HE HADN'T SAID ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT MAMA, OR TRAINS, OR TRUCKS, OR PRISON, OR GETTIN' DRUNK." Now that was country music. ;D ;D ;D

yea, not nearly the year I expected... I am optimistic about next year though. This basically turned out to be a building year more than anything.

will be interesting to see if it's in the same price range, I will have ot try them out for sure.

Apprx 11lbs. Caught april 2008, in a 10 acre pond, using a 5" smoke shad Tiki stick. Was throwing along a reed line, when she picked it up, subtly, she ran right at the boat, so I had no idea how big she was until she surfaced, and my mouth hit the floor of the jon boat. she shook her head a couple of times at the surface and then dove. fought her for about 5 minutes before I got her to the boat, my cousin lipped her. now, for the rest of the story; I had no scale, and no camera, so I got on the phone...first to my fishing buddy, no answer. next to my mother, who drove 15 miles, with my grandparents to take a picture of her. mean while, we put her on a stringer and tied her to the back cleat of the boat, where she proceeded to pull around 600lbs worth of men in a 12' jon boat. when my mother arrived, I took some pictures, measurements and back into the water she went. what a belly on her, as she was ready to burst with eggs. Funny thing is, while we'd caught tons fo dinks in that pond, she was the only good size fish we've caught in there, ever! <--------- Thats here, right there.