piscicidal

Thanks Dan, Shane and Dale. Dan, Eric was throwing your big worms/frogs. I really like those frogs you guys make! Those things are big and tough and throw a pretty good wake! There was not much of a frog bite going on Saturday afternoon, but I really want to give those things a try.

Next time one of us needs to remember the scale, though. At 24.5" long and ~17" girth...the calculator puts her right at 10lbs. No way was she double digits (maybe 7-8?), but you always have the chance out there at a 10+. I know of another 8lber caught out there last week, so I think the big girls are starting to go on their pre-spawn feeding binge.

Glad you could make it today, Eric. Not fast action today for us (15 in 3.5hrs?) but good weather, some decent size fish and one good kicker.

Yeah, they just opened the one in Plantation (at The Fountains). I went there for lunch earlier this week. Real good selection of hard baits and jigs. They carry Reaction Innovation stuff which is a major plus. The rod/reel selection is so-so...they carry Shimano/Quantum products, but the rods were lower tier. For example, they had Compre rods in stock but not Crucial...St Croix Legend/Mojo rods, but not Avid....etc... I'm pumped just to have a place to buy dippers/beavers without having to go thru TW.

I forgot to reply to the text you sent me. I told you that you'd have a good day because I couldn't make it Stupid Murphy's Law. I could have used you, Eric. I would have had that toad with another guy and a net... Was a fun outing. Found a cut that had fish just stacked...shad were so thick in that cut you could have practically walked over them. Gonna try and get out Saturday afternoon to lox....

I fished Okeechobee yesterday and pretty much caught fish from 7:00 until I left at 3:00. I would guess I caught at least 40...The bite was a little faster in the morning, but the size got better later in the day. My two biggest fish were caught between 2-3 (one 3lbs, one 4lbs). I dropped a toad (+6) off next to the boat during that same one hour span.

I'm an eight handicap who used to be better. I play once a week in a tuesday night league and occasionally on weekends. Unfortunately, there is only so much free time between work, wife/kids, business travel...etc. When I do have some free time, it comes between golf and fishing. Fishing usually wins. The great thing about golf is it is a perfect compliment to fishing. There is no one blame but yourself after a bad day of golf. After a bad day of golf, you wish you went fishing. After a bad day of fishing, you wish you had played golf.

I've got a BPS Extreme Rod. It's my soft swimbait rod (skinny dippers/Big Ez). Crankenstein is right...you probably won't get $50 for it. I think I got mine for about that new (clearance at BPS). It's a good rod, though...you might want to just hold on to it. I have 2 Avids and 1 Crucial. Today I went to Okeechobee...I caught about a dozen bass on my Avids (worms/beavers) and at least 20 on my BPS Extreme swimbait rod. This rod has been very good to me and will always have a place in my rodbox.

Looks like Central Park, just north of Broward Blvd. Correct? I used to live at Jacaranda on the south side of the blvd. Some REALLY good fishing spots in Jacaranda, but the proprietors are even more strict. I've been kicked out of there a dozen times, at least. I've been booted off the golf course ponds where I live now 2-3 times (by sheriffs office)...and I have a membership! Commando fishing in South Florida... 8-)

In general, I don't think one brand is necessarily best at producing all styles of baits. I do think some brands excel at different types of baits. Some of my favorites.. Worms: Zoom (ol monster, dead ringer), Rage (10" thumper), Lake Fork 10" Lizards: Zoom lizard, Gambler (Loco Lizard) Swimbaits: RI (Skinny Dipper), Gambler (Big Ez), Lake Fork (Magic Shad) Frogs: Zoom (Horny Toad), Gambler (Cane Toad) Flippin/pitchin: RI (Sweet Beaver), Gambler (Ugly Otter), Rage (Space Monkey) Stick: Yamamoto Senko (others do not compare) Jerkbaits: Zoom (Fluke), Manns (Shadow) I have hundreds (no exaggeration) of packs of plastics in the garage. To be honest, if I ONLY had the products above, I'd be just fine. I love trying new baits though...Part of the fun of bass fishing (for me) is all the different baits/techniques.

From "Secrets of a Champion"...KVD uses snaps on all hardbaits. He also says don't remove the split rings, as it impedes the action of the lure.

Zoom horny toad and Spro bronze eye.

My partner (Jack) was one of the five teams. I would have joined you guys if not for my golf tournament. 38" is a beast...must have been a good fight on bass tackle. These things FIGHT.

Any of you guys fishing the Gambler tourney Dec 12th? I submitted my entry for it yesterday. Free tourney, but you have to use Gambler products. That's fine by me...I love the Gambler products, especially Big Ez and Ugly Otter. I'm gonna fish Okeechobee tomorrow. Hopefully the weather cooperates a little.

I haven't been out enough, lately, to giving a statistically significant answer. I had one afternoon at Lox which was awesome (cloudy/windy). One afternoon trip to Miami canal was very poor (sunny/windy). We caught fish all day in the Ghost/Goblins tourney at Okeechobee (cloudy/slight breeze). That's basically my month of October, minus a couple treks to the golf course at night...

Cool article regarding the KOTG winners using their 16" worms... http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-06-03/sports/fl-outdoors-lead-bass-king-0604-20100603_1_snake-fishing-rods-tim-feller

I think Captain Obvious hit on something with his "match the hatch" comment. Bocabasser and SoFlaBassAddict mentioned that big worms are a staple of South Florida fishing. I think that stems from the fact that snakes are an important food source down here. The "King Of The Glades" winner crushed everyone throwing 16" worms swam on the surface like a snake. I fished in a couple of these qualifiers and I've come to the conclusion that you HAVE to go big to compete. Bocabasser qualified for the KOTG finals and as he mentioned he throws 12" and up. You come out here throwing 8" worms you'll weigh an 8lb bag while the contenders are weighing +20lbs. Of course a big bass will eat an 8" worm if given the opportuntiy...in this case, though, I think the bass are specifically keying on the snakes. IMO, The bigger worms are more effective because the bass are specifically targeting them.

I love that ragetail thumper worm also. Were you using the 7" or the 10"?

Hmmm....seems like someone changed my vote, changing it to Revo from Accurist PT. And Accurist PT is no longer on the list. For what it's worth, I have both reels and the Accurist PT blows away the Revo S. I would have never made that choice.

It would be REALLY hard to beat the weather in South Florida in March. The fishing ain't half bad either...we get very little rain from November thru April. The everglades dry up and all the water ends up in the deep canals around the marsh areas. The bass pile up in the canals and they're easy pickins. 100 fish days are not uncommon in March/April, provided it's a dry winter. Perfect weather, great fishing. Okeechobee is an hour North. Toho/Stick Marsh/Istokpoga two hours north. Any of these options offer a chance at a double digit fish. Plus it is South Florida...there are other amenities that may be attractive to college students as well.

you forgot the mosquito. the king of annoying. Good point. There's recently been an encephalitis outbreak down here (South Florida)...mosquitos might well be the most dangerous of the (many) critters one might encounter one a night fishing trip, right now. Speaking of toothy critters encountered on night fishing trips...I got this guy last night. 26" snakehead. Caught four bass also, but small. Beautiful night, last night. Clear skies and big full moon...

LOL I had been crushing bass on my golf course pond at night. I stopped those expeditions a couple weeks ago after stepping into a fire ant nest and getting bit about 40 times. I was sick for three days after (not 100% sure those bites were the cause, but I can't remember the last time I was sick before that) I also got bit by a banana spider out there two months ago...I still have the welt on my shoulder which I suspect is permanant unless I have it surgically removed. Alligators, snakes, spiders, fire ants, angry wifes...all kinds of dangers associated with night fishing in South Florida.

Nice work. You two have em dialed in up there.

Especially when you factor in the alligators and water moccasins that inhabit these waters... Eric, friends don't let friends tow their boat back with their teeth. Next time, give me a call, man! (Not sure what I would have done, but I'd have thought of something...)

Nice! I could have used some of those 3.5lbers you were throwing back. You fishing with your buddy Jerry?