SW Florida Kid

We headed out on the boat ramp at 10:00 AM Saturday morning. Since I have such a little boat, it took me about 30 minutes to get to the grass flats we wanted to go to. We checked out 5 different places of turtle grass flats in the area and we ended up catching 18 Speckled Trout and 1 Ladyfish. Right when we caught the ladyfish, we left the area. I hate ladyfish. We headed in around 2:30 PM. We goofed around most of the time drinking beer and eating nutter butters. I'm guessing we fished a total of 2 hours and caught the 19 fish. Pretty good day. We caught most of the fish on the tip of high tide. We were in 1-2 feet of water the whole day.

Awesome! I guess I made out for Christmas then. Thanks man.

You have interesting comments Thai. I think it just depends on the person. Different strokes for different folks. I've always used braid and I always catch fish. All I use are crank baits and top water crank baits. Never had an issue. I've caught anything from Bass and Panfish to Snook and Speckled Trout. I hate using mono because it stretches, you can't set a hook properly, and it deteriorates every season. Flourocarbon is for leaders... at least they are down here. Braid is always the way to go. I've never met anyone here in SW Florida that thinks otherwise.

Got a Pflueger Medalist Spinning Combo 6'0 for Christmas. I went to wally world and got some 20 lb braided Spider Wire and put it on the reel last night and tied my Rapala X-Rap on. Now I'm all set and ready to go! =) I don't know much about Pflueger. Any experience, tips, or comments?

I fish for speckled trout, snook, redfish, spanish mackerel, ladyfish, oscars, bluegill, etc. I've caught anything and everything in the waters I've fished. I just love catching fish.

Nice fish... those are on this coast as well.

omg... that's crazy. def hit me up then. heres my number 770-3327. my name is JC

We need to go fishing. You said you've been at the spot... I can show u another spot around there that is pretty good too.

I'll catch a big bass for ya soon buddy. Bass are as numerous as ants around these parts.

ALright, well.. you may be right this time. Im going to catch another one in the same spot this week and ill take a better picture... but watch out for next time Thai. ;-) lol

Hey Thai... ur funny man. THe pictures do look like oscars on the internet and everything... but if you saw them in real life, they looked totally different. I wish I took them with my actual camera instead of a cell phone. haha. Amazing how different a fish can look when you take a pic with a distorted phone camera.

YOu cant see the vertical bars that well at all because my cell phone pics are crappy... but they did have vertical bars.. trust me. They had vertical bars, slimy body, 1 inch thick body, 9 inches long, red spots on the tail.

I didnt run it in to the shore... i got out and gently put it on the shore.. im so careful with my "Sea Guppy"

I just googled oscars... wikipedia says they are cichlids too. They are all the same... but the ones I caught were mayans.. that's all we catch some days. lol

They were mayans... i took those pics with my crappy cell phone. But they had the black dots on their tails. Really slimy fish, skitzo, and have small little teeth... i've never seen an oscar here before. I love to catch bass and mayans tho.

Thanks man. I try ;-) THey were mayan cichlids... they are a non-native species that flood the area here. They all have a black spot on the tail fin. That's the give away to identifying mayan cichlid. THey are great eating too!

I went bass fishing today and caught three bass. I had a good time. 3 Bass and 2 Mayan Cichlids It was cold and windy. I fished off of the side of the pond. I got one on the first cast. That's always a sign of a good day. I think I found me a new fishing spot to add to my list of ponds. Bass #1 Bass #2 Bass #3 Mayan Cichlid #1 Mayan Cichlid #2

Just an FYI... anything over the 7-8 lb range are all female bass. Male bass do not get much bigger than 7 lbs. Females can be twice and big as males. ALL trophy bass are females 10lbs or more. Nice catch! I'd love to catch one of those these days! Congrats!

thats crazy dude... that would be fun to try to catch. haha.

Im on the southwest side in Fort Myers. The Everglades is between Dade/Broward and Lee County. Fishing is probably a lot different.

We don't have any tilapia in my area. I'd have to go to Lake Okeechobee or Central Florida lakes for this fish. Since the Okeechobee water release, the canals, rivers, and streams all over southwest florida have been poisoned with algae blooms and such. I most likely won't be eating the bass here anyways with all of the fertilizer runoff from the community lawns and stuff. I was just wondering why such a small bass size regulation. I'd feel like a baby killer. lol

Well, that sucks! lol... i feel wrong for harvesting small baby bass. haha. oh well. thanks for the help. =) I guess I'll be a baby bass killer haha ;-)

Does it mean that I can have 4 bass under 14 inches, and only 1 bass over 14 inches.... i cant imagine keeping little 12 inch bass! They aren't even adults yet. haha

I have been fishing all my life in my backyard canal for bass, catfish, and bluegill. However, I always released the fish. I never kept them. I am 23 years old. For the first time in my life, I just got a fishing license. Being born and raised on water, I never know the rules or anything. I just fished. Haha. So I am a little confused on the regulations in my area. I know there is a 5 bass limit, one of which can be 14 inches or larger. But what size do the other 4 have to be? What does this exactly mean? This is straight from the Florida Regulations book. Can you please tell me what it means? 5 Black bass[ch9632] (largemouth, Suwannee, spotted, and shoal bass, individually or in total), only one of which may be 22 inches or longer in total length. In south Florida: only one bass may be 14 inches in total length or longer.

I never take her out fishing. It was the first time ever. But she's been begging to go with me for about a year. By the end of the fishing trip yesterday, she was getting sick of being out there. Haha... That should hold her off for another year or so.