piscicidal

My wife gave me her Lock-N-Lock containers after they had become stained by red pasta sauce. They work great! I use them to hold my keys/wallet/cell phone when fishing. Completely waterproof and float if accidentally go overboard.

I don't have too much experience with the lake either, but it was helpful for me to get out a couple times earlier this year when the lake was below 10. I made a note of those areas which were iffy and now that the lake is a foot higher I feel fairly confident running around. I went to the lake this morning with my two kids. We fished from 7:00 - 12:00, going thru all 4doz shiners. They had a mixed bag of bass, catfish, mudfish and pickeral. They caught about 15 bass (with a 30% hook up rate) with a couple near 3lbs. I caught about 10 throwing around a dipper, giggy head/trick worm and fluke. I got one which was about 4. Heres one of the bigger ones my kids got today.

I got into a school like that two weeks ago at Okeechobee. A massive school of big fish...4lbs and up. I was anchored (my son was bobber fishing) watching this school roam around me busting baits. I watched this wake just roaming around me and every once in awhile a big section of water would explode as the group would feed (presumably on shad) at virtually the same time. When they would get close enough, I would launch a bait toward them, but most of the time they were upwind of me and out of casting range. I did pull one 5lber out of the school. It was quite strange...almost like saltwater fishing with this big school of large fish waking and feeding very aggressively. I've seen schools of bass busting shad before, but this was different. Maybe because of their large size. When these fish would bust, a 100-200 square foot section of water would just explode. It was actually scaring my kid.

Get well, Robert. I'll give you the play by play account this weekend. Good luck Shane. I think they're doing some controlled burning at Lox right now. Is the refuge open for fishing?

Sure thing. If you see me, say hi...you're in the green/bone Triton, right? I've got the white Hewes with the poling platform removed. You might get out before me. I'm not going to leave home super early. I was on fish all day, last time.

I'll be at Clewiston ramp Saturday morning with my young son (6 years old today) I went to the lake a week ago Saturday (9/3) with him and we had a pretty good day...five biggest about 17lbs. We "cheated" a little bit, though. My son has had trouble hooking up lately (top water/finesse bite) so I bought 3 dozen shiners. He went through the 3dozen easily, catching a bunch of bass and five nice sized catfish. My son broke his PB three times that day and broke off a really nice fish right by the boat (at least 6lbs). I caught a 5lber throwing a skinny dipper while anchored. I told you guys he was a fishing freak...the only thing he wanted for his birthday was to go to "oppachobee". He was able to work an extra trip in last week for my birthday.

I caught two small peacock bass Saturday night fishing my golf course pond with my son. I've never been so pumped to catch a 13" bass. I hadn't caught a peacock in about two years and I was worried that the last cold snap might have got them all. There used to be a huge peacock (6-8lbs) that spawned right by my neighbors seawall but I haven't seen her in awhile.

I have experimented a little bit on flipping/punching rods and have kind of settled in on my Dobyns Champion 766FLIP and 805FLIP/PUNCH. I absolutely love that 805 rod...it's got an extra long, one piece cork handle. The rod/handle length are just perfect for me from an ergonomic standpoint (I'm 6'1"). I can pitch cast baits all day long (left or right handed) with that setup with very little effort or fatique.

DVT, you aren't kidding! I went at lunch today to return a broken Dobyns Rod. First stop: Post Office....they wanted $110 to send the rod back in a 96" cardboard tube!! I called for the manager who came and reaffirmed the price. I wasn't upset about it...just shocked. $110!! I thought surely it was a miscalcuation. I went down the road to the UPS store and ended up paying $23 there. Bottom line...don't even bother with the post office on the longer stuff. They are not even close to competitive.

Clayton, i travel overseas alot (75 days so farI this year) and have young children so I understand your situation. If you're hunting,fishing and doing overseas deployments that doesn't leave much time for her. Personally, I had to pare down my activities. I dont golf or hunt anymore. I figured I only had time for one, so I chose bass fishing. It was my choice, not hers and I dont hold any resentment about it. I would say make sure to balance your time and hang in there... it does get easier when the kids get a little older. MY 5year old (6 next week) is a bass fishing freak and that makes it alot easier to get out. My son gets frustrated when he doesnt catch much, which gives me opportunities to go out "scouting" to make sure my son catches fish when we're out.

I'm not so sure that (red font) is a true statement. I would guess that, on average, Walleyes spawn shallower than bass. Walleye require rocky, moving water for successful spawning. On natural lakes, this means windward shorelines. Most states that have a Walleye population close the season during the spawn because they are so shallow and accessable.

I was also at Lox yesterday morning. I was loading up the boat when the tow truck was returning with the airboat. Airboats aren't allowed on the refuge side of the levy, are they??? I was by myself so I decided to do some scouting way back in the slop. I wasn't expecting much because the water was a little warm, and my fishing pretty much met my expectation I found a couple deep gator holes that had some fish...got those in the GPS now for future use. Good job Dale and Glades....

Try Walleye fishing... On Mille Lacs lake, they have this silly slot limit that requires you release all Walleyes (if I remember correctly) in the 18-26" range (which is about 90% of what anglers are catching). So all these gut-hooked Walleyes being drug up from 30 feet of water HAVE to released by anglers, even though they have virtually no chance of making it. Makes you sick to see miles and miles of shoreline littered with floating fish that could have ended up as table fare. Point is...I wouldn't worry about eating one bass as long as I was making my best effort to minimize fatalities.

That's a pig, Shane. I think I know that place....

Amen, Robert! I would LOVE to fish those STAs. No offense to the duck hunters (I am one, myself) but it makes no sense why they let the duck hunters in there blasting around but not bass fishermen. Make it trolling motor only, catch and release. Heck charge me $20 per trip...I'd pay $20 to fish those things. $20 is what I pay extra in gas driving past the STAs to go to Okeechobee. It's not like the state couldn't use the added revenue.

I went to Lox this morning for a couple hours before work (8:30- 11:00). The bite was not as good as Saturday, for me. There was zero wind and the fish were more skittish. I was able to scrape up a half dozen fish, though, including a 5 and a 3. I lost a really nice fish just as I was leaving...big ol horse that dug down into the weeds and got away. He was well over 5lb. Fishing is tough, but I've been lucky enough to stay on these fish for a couple weeks now. Today was my fifth straight trip at Lox with at least one +5lb. Dave hit on a very important tip...watch the water temp and adjust your fishing. You're not going to catch much throwing a fast moving bait in 88 degree water on the flats.

Thanks. You too!

shane, 38 lbs is just sick. I haven't even seen a 7lber out of there in awhile, much less a 7lbs average. Look forward to your report.

Yeah, I think I saw you out there. I was in a white Hewes. There was also another guy with a Hewes just like mine, fishing by himself. Sounds like you got the five good bites you were looking for and then some...

You're going to need a bigger boat... That thing is a beast. I caught a couple fish this week C-rigging a 10" Rage Thumper. I like it for C-rigging, as it displaces a lot of water. I need to try the eeliminator.

The ol sarcasm meter pegged off the scale. I had a monster day today at Lox. I was off the water by 10:00 with at least a 23lb bag. Only caught about a dozen, but size was very good. Two 3s, a 4, a 5 and an 8. The big one measured 8 on the boga, which I think is conservative. She was 24.5" long with a really fat 17" girth. I really hit a nice bite today. If I'd a had a decent stick with me today, I think 30lbs was a definate possibility. I only fished ~3 hours and spent a lot of that time trying to get my five year old hooked up on a pig. There is plenty of fish to be caught at Lox, if you put the effort. My last four trips have had at least one 5lber in the boat, including the two biggest fish I've touched this year (the other being, Jack's monster bass two weeks ago). From what I saw, Robert and Dale tore em up out there today also.

I'll be there at o'dark thirty with my five year old son, tomorrow morning. Give a holler at me if you see me, Dave. I'm pretty sure Rob (South Fla) and Jack (shallow thinker) will be out there as well.

Robert (SouthFla) and I went to Lox yesterday afternoon. We didn't start fishing until ~4:30PM as the weather was fairly dicey in the early afternoon and we were on the fence whether to go or not. We dodged a couple of Irene's outer bands, but no real problems. Very comfortable fishing (78 degrees) and we caught a few fish. Rob got a nice 5lber.

IMO, a "big" fish here is 5lbs. Looking thru my journal, I've caught 614 bass so far this year. 16 over five lbs. 4 of those were over six. No sevens yet, but thats gonna change here soon. 75 nights in China this year has had an adverse affect on my big fish tally. Fat G, one of my fives came from Otsego Lake, Cooperstown. We have a couple properties up there (cherry valley, actually) and I was there for 4th of July. I caught that 5lber right in Sam Smiths marina on a frog. The staff there didnt seem all too happy about it, either.

I ended up not going. Too hot. I took the golf cart out instead and caught a few in the late afternoon.