piscicidal

Jack, let's cross our fingers and hope these fish hold until our next tourney on Big "O".

Don't get too caught up in the "specialty gear". The differences between, say, my plastic swimbait rod and my frog rod is very subtle. The only reason I have eight rods in the boat is that my fishing time is extremely valuable to me and I don't want to waste one minute retying. Truth is, I could do 80% percent of my fishing with a good (Avid, Dobyns, Crucial, etc..) 7' MH/F baitcast rod.

Bruce fished a tourney out of Belle Glade last weekend where 3rd place was 28lbs. First place was 34lbs...almost 7lb average. That's just sick.

It was moving baits (skinny dippers/big ez) until about 10:30. When that bite slowed down, I started pitching/flipping to thicker cover with a bruiser intruder and space monkey and started catching again. Besides almost 30lb sack of bass I probably had a 35lb sack of mudfish. Several times yesterday, I had my heart broken by mudfish thinking I had a +8lb bass.

Bruce, I had a 27lb bag yesterday in three hours fishing by myself. I would have been well over 30 by noon, had I had nothing else but a net... You're right...the lake is amazing.

For me, the Dobyns 735C is about perfect for pitching. I like the 7'3" length...for each person the optimal length probably depends on your height/boat type. I think you want the longest rod you can pitch underhanded (i.e. max distance). the 735c has a great action for pitching...the rod will load a little bit pitching a small bait, but it has a fast enough tip and plenty of backbone to nail the fish when it strikes. Sensitivity is very good.

Yeha, braid will greatly increase your sensitivity. I've got 832 spooled up on ~6 rods right now. It seems like it is twisting up more than normal, especially on the flipping/pitching rods. Does that strand of Gore material woven in, increase the likihood of twisting?It seems like it to me... I'm changing my pitching/flipping rigs back to Sufix performance braid. It's cheaper now that 832 is out anyway...

I have a M action rod I use for lipless but I don't like it. Can't rip it thru grass well. I will replace it with a MH/MF at the next available opportunity.

If there's ANY chace of the fish hitting frogs I'm throwin em...I'd rather catch one frog fish than 5 worm fish.

Pegged: Bruiser Intruder Unpegged: Space Monkey/Sweet Beaver (depends on desired fall rate) Jig: Rage Chunk/Sweet Beaver (depends on desired fall rate)

This year, I've been using a weightless, zoom magnum trick worm for spooky shallow water fish. So far, so good!

White is also a great color when you are sight fishing super clear/shallow water or bedding fish. Easy to tell when the fish takes the bait...

Well you know the "place"... "Time"...that's been the problem for me. I'm gonna be out for awhile, again, after Thursday. We'll have to have a mini-outing up there soon. Robert is in for sure.

Cmon down...the fishing is great as you know. Your avatar looks like Lake Okeechobee. Uncle Joes Cut maybe??

Thanks, Steve. I really respect your humility on these boards...you catch fish that would eat the ones we post up, but you always have an encouraging word for others. Of the six fish I caught today over 5lbs, two of them were caught on the Space Monkey. You guys make some awesome products.

We gotta make a trip up there, soon, Eric. The place is blowing up.

Had a monster trip at the "Big O" today... Fishing by myself, I started fishing at 7:30 and was culling 4.5lbers by 10:30. Finished at 2:00...my five biggest were 5.2, 5.3, 5.8, 6.1, and 6.4= total ~28.5. I unbuttoned a couple slobs which would have put me well over 30lbs...If I had a decent fisherman with me today and a net, who knows... I can't even tell you how many fish I caught...well into the triple digits. From 8:30-10:30 I caught a fish maybe every 3rd cast. You guys do the math...the bite never stopped. I quit before the fish did...both hands curled up, cramped, I could hardly open them. My thumb looks like I've ran it over a cheese grater a few dozen times. It is impossible for me to overstate how good the fishing is right now on the Big "O".

I hope the frenzy continues for at least one more day. I'm going tomorrow for an all day trip. Anyone else heading out...give me a holler.

I haven't been on Lox in a month but my last time out there it was pretty skinny on the flats. My boat drafts 9 inches of water and I was having issues. If you want to fish the west canals, from the Lox road ramp you will have to run across ~2miles of flats to get to the cut that takes you to the canal system. Just a heads up... I hope you guys slay em! I'm out for this one...

November to early April here....

I am fairly proficient with baitcasters...when I was home this summer I was using my brother's Shakephere Axiom reel. Regardless of settings, I could not cast that thing 30 yards without it backlashing about half the time. I know you may not want to hear this, but I would try a better quality reel and see if you have better luck. You can buy a used Quantum Accurist on EBAY for the same price as that new Shakesphere and I promise you will have better luck casting it. Regarding the Zebco 33, it sounds like a loop of line may have wrapped around the bail. Just unscrew the cone-shaped nose cap and check that the line is not wrappped around that or the nut holding it on.

Thanks guys. I'm gonna try and go back out there tonight and see if I can get a 3-4lber on camera. This spot is loaded with 2-4lbers.

Yeah, he did pretty good for his first time out with a spinning rod. This rod is about a foot longer than the ol "Spiderman" rig...pretty soon he'll be asking for a Dobyns, I'm sure. The second bass he hooked today was a nice 2.5lb chunk...I look and the rod is pointed straight down at the water and drag is pulling out. I'm telling him to lift the rod and he says..."I can't!" Wish I had got that one on video, but I had to provide a good deal of assistance with that fish. Here's his "big" one today...

Yeah, Robert. Good seeing you at BPS, today. My kids love going to BPS. My son already has been stricken by the bait monkey a little bit. I always let him pick out a pack of "bugs" (i.e. soft plastics) at BPS. I get home today and notice I've got FOUR extra packs of soft plastics. He stashed a couple extras in the basket (I did pay for them!). I can't get too mad at him though. I've been known to sneak a few extra baits past the boss myself...

...as demonstrated by my five year old son. I bought this rod/reel for him today at Bass Pro Shops. The old "Spiderman" rig just wasn't cutting it for him anymore. He had a fine day...catching eight bass. Two were in the 2-2.5lb range. All were caught on some BPS "Stikos" that he picked out himself.