stratoscaster

Going up to Lake Seminole 3/26 a Thursday and staying untill the following Monday. I've fished this lake a few times before but it's huge (35,000 acres) and I'll take any help I can get. Any suggestions or reports. I have a lake map and we will be staying at Seminole State Park in Ga.

X2 Vanish is terrible X3 I thought maybe it was just me setting the hook to hard but I quess not. P-Line is what I had been using. I'm not sold on any brand yet. I need to try some other brands to make an informed decision.

Chris, if I thought it would help me catch a 14# bass I would eat a wad of live crawlers myself. Seriuosly, this lake doesn't recieve that kind of pressure. It's more about me getting away from my comfort zone which in turn will make me a better fisherman in the long run. Jeremey, I'm not familiar with those lakes. I've heard of them and believe thery're NW of Panama City Bch. There not really the kind lakes (sort of small I believe) that you get reports on. We'll be heading to Lake Seminole on the 26th and returning around the 1st of April. Everyone will be happy to know, or maybe not, but any way I fished my little lake this evening and forced myself to stay away from the bank. I fished some lily pads in the middle of the main lake (I use that term loosly). It was still only 3 or 4 ft deep but hey it's a start. Caught a dozen or more in a couple of hours. Nothing more than a coupl pounds. I'll continue to work on it.

I'm in 100% agreement with Tin. 8-) Yea, me too. That's what I'm talking about. It's like an addiction. I know I'm going to catch fish on the bank. I'll just have to force myself to fish deeper. Maybe we should form a support group, BBA, Bank Beaters Annomyus (sp?).

It wouldn't open up foe me. Oh well, what does this KVD character know anyway.

Didn't take it that way. Actually the water was a little clearer yesterday than it has been and you could see empty empty beds in 5' or 6' of water as well as in the shallows. Like I said I'll keep watching for any more bass on the beds. Tin, the problem I have with going out throwing blades and cranks around is I always end up throwing a worm at the bank. It's not like I don't catch fish, which is sort of the problem. Since I know I can catch fish wacky rigging shallow that's where I end up probably 50% of the time I'm on the water. I pitch at the pads a lot but I would like to become a more versatile fisherman. I've hardly ever thrown a Carolina rig and never did the drop shot thing. These are the things I intend to work on this year.

Catt, I'm not assuming. There are empty beds all over the place, where as a couple of weeks ago these same beds had bass on them. I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again but in this case I'm pretty sure. The water temp was almost 74* this afternoon. The good news is the bass are still biting. Not like they were though. I'll keep my eyes open for any late spawners and let you know if I see any. I can't imagine all of the lakes in the Panhandle are on the same schedule so with any luck I'll get to fish another lake and if so I'll report on that as well. WRB, you bring up some good points.I never really thought about it that way. This little lake is right on the beach so things may be even more different than we think. I tried a frog today with no takers but the summer bite is right around the corner. If the weather doesn't do anything crazy in the next week or two I believe we will be into the summer bite. As for the night fishing, very soon. ;D ILH, thanks and hang in there the ice can't last forever. Down here we a month and half of spring, seven months of summer, a month and half of fall and two months of winter.

Thanks for the welcome back and the replies, it's good to be back. I wish there were some weeds in this lake but the carp keep that from happening. As far as the lily pads go I've had some luck with them, it's mostly the isolated patches where I've found the fish. And as for the docks, that's where at least 50% of the fish are coming from. I got a 5# plus buried under a dock that's about four inches above the water Saturday, so the docks have been good to me. I'm going out in a few minutes to give it a try. It's 75*, bright and sunny which may make it a little tougher. The barametric pressure seems to be dropping so we'll see. Did someone mention snow? 8-) I will most defenitly try a tube today. I will also try the floating worm. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing more post spawn thoughts. BTW, I did check out GW site. Thanks RW.

I haven't posted in a couple of years due to starting a new business, trying to keep the other half happy (translation; working around the house) and LOTS of fishing. I'm sure some if not most are in the middle of, or are waiting on the spawn to begin. Being in the Panhandle of FL. the spawn has wound down. The water temp is around 72* and the beds are empty. I've been fishing hard for the last month and a half or better. It's been a great spring catching double digit numbers (20 plus one day last week) of fish on multiple days. The largest fish being just over 8lbs. Every year around this time I think I must be getting alot better at this sport only to realize it's the time of year it's not me. My goal this year is to beome a become a better fisherman year round. Lets start with the post spawn. I'm bad about beating the banks. I need to gain more confidence in backing off the banks and fishing different techniques. Where should I start? The lake I fish most often is a shallow (avg. 6ft. or so ?) 30 acre, spring fed, man made lake. It has a couple of 10' deep ditches that are 10' wide and 75 yards long. Not a lot of grass, thanks to the large carp that were added. A hand full of docks. There are lilly pads, some isolated and some larger areas. The lake is spring fed which means more often than not the water is very clear. As I said before the water temp. is around 72*. There are large areas of 5' to 6' flats that have little to no cover or structure. I could continue to fish the same techniques (wacky rigged senkos) I almost always fish and catch fish but as I said I'm looking to beome a better all around fisher. I sometimes throw spiinerbaits, crankbaits, topwaters, Texas rigs but more often than not I end up throwing the wackey rig toward the bank. I know you guys can help me take it to the next level. Lets hear it.

Be aware of local laws. Some of what I'm reading here may be illegal.

One more suggestion, bug spray.

How about we go with ultra-clear and ultra-tough. 8-)

I quess that's why bass fishing isn't for everyone.

This is interesting. The numbers I'm seeing would suggest that their could be as many as 100 fish per acre. Some acres will contain no fish so some acres will contain 200 fish or more. This tells me that we are dragging our lures by 100s of fish each outing. Almost makes me sorry I asked.

I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever so don't take what I'm about to say like that. What you wrote sounds so much like a country song I can hear the music. 8-) My uncle use to take me bream fishing when I was 7 or so. He was just being the great guy that he always was.

So where do you spend most of your time bass fishing? Deer Pointe? Talaquah? Seminole? Appalachola river system? My wife and I have toyed with the idea of moving to Pc. Cart, we fish those spots (except Talaquin (sp.?) which is on the calender for this fall ) and then some. We spend most of our time in the sand hills. Gap Lake is a tough ultra-clear weed fiiled lake but it does hold some big bass. If you or any of you other guys get down this way let me know and we'll give it a shot.

People should also learn how to hold a lipped bass.

In an average healthy lake that hasn't been fished to death how many bass should there be per acre? I don't know if there is any way to answer this but if anyone has any comments I'm listening.

Keith I'm in Panama City Bch.

RollOnTwo, I PMed you.

I think this could be realitive to where you live. If the bite is tough they're all good fish. I'd say in Fl I get excited about 6 pounds or more.

Moon cycles are for lunatics. ;D One thing I know for sure is you can see better at night when there's a full moon.

I don't need no stinking net. I usually lose my fish way before I get them to the boat. ;D The reason I dont use a net is I grew up watching the B.A.S.S. pros. They use artificials I use artificials. They don't use a net I don't use a net. It may be silly but it's one of the few sports where I can emulate what the pros do.

I wasn't quite sure where to post this thread so I stuck it here. Anyway, I live in Fl like some of the other guys here. I'm sure that you folks in other parts of the country can relate to this as well. The thunderstorms in this part of the country can become violent really quickly here. You see a few dark clouds on the horizon with lightning flashes but no thunder. It seems safe enough it may even go around you. With the low pressure coming in the fishing could become very active at any second. Here's where the problem lies, you feel a drop of rain then two, three and within five minutes you're caught in a downpour. Hey, it's only water. Untill the lightning is on top of you. Almost without warning you're caught on the lake in the middle of a serious lightning storm. The rain comes down in buckets, the lightning is almost blinding, the thunder is almost deafing. If you have never been caught in this situation just take a look at this years Bassmaster Classic. These guys are fishing for their paycheck. I still think they should get off the water but that's another thread. If you have ever been there you know what I'm talking about. If you have'nt try to avoid it. It can be very scary and dangerous. I know that there's some of you tough guys out there thinking, it's not that big of a deal. It is, or at least it could be. I've been caught twice. Once I was nowhere near the boat ramp when the storm caught me off gaurd. I was in 16ft. v hull when the storm blew up. My first thought was to outrun it back to the ramp. That didn't work out. The waves on the lake got so bad I was afraid the boat would be swamped and I had to pull over to the shore and wait the storm out. This was no fun as I was standing in the woods, lots of tall trees with the lightning all around me. The second time I got caught in a serious thunderstorm I was fishing a 25 acre lake down the road from my house. I was fishing down a bank not gettin any bites. It's dusk the sun is going down so I don't pay to much attention to it getting dark. Off in the distance I hear a few rumbles, nothing serious or threatening. Hey, maybe the fishing will pick up and it does. Next cast a nice little two pound bass. A couple of casts later, BAM a good one. I get her to the boat, eight pounds. Man I'm excited. There happen to be a few people sitting on a dock where I'm fishing who saw the whole thing. I weigh the bass we admire her and the she's back in the water to fight another day. I start casting again hoping for a repeat. Within five minutes one drop of rain then another then the bottom drops out and I'm surounded by lightning. The wind is blowing thirty, thirty-five miles per hour. It had went from a few rumbles in the distance to a hardcore thunderstorm in less than fifteen minutes. It only took me a few minutes to get to the ramp but it seemed like an hour. It's scarey, you can ask my dog that was hiding under the console. All I'm saying is don't take the weather lightly. It can happen quick and it can be powerful. It's not like watching a thunderstorm out of the window of your house. You can't close the shades on a bass boat. BE SAFE AND GOOD LUCK! How about some thoughts and stories. I think this is worth talking about. Is there heat lightning or is it lightning off in the distance? When do you get off of the water? Will you fish if there's a chance of thunderstorms in the area?

What FBL said.