salmicropterus

I'm new here but the information is incredible. I'll read some topics and find some that interest me and where I think I'll be able to add some input but typically somebody has already said something that I was going to say. I'm not one to post the obvious or be redundant just to post. It is far better than the other forums I have been on.

Steve Daniel out of Clewiston for largemouth-Steve is great, former Elite and FLW top series pro who will put you on fish and teach you something as well Alan Zaremba-best peacock guide around and going for the peacocks are a special South Florida thing that any visitor ought to do Jorge Valverde for Flats, Flamingo or Biscayne PM me and I will get you contact info for each if you are interested

I couldn't agree more. My area is Toho south to the Everglades. The fish are moving based on water level. For example, the water at Okeechobee has come down about a foot since its peak in September. Already fish that were in 2' of water then and back in the grass, some of them have moved out due to the water getting too skinny and that will continue as the water comes down more. Before that, in April, May and June earlier this year before the lake came up, they were in open water and outer grass edges. Same with the Eveglades and what we call the "flats" or marsh areas-water level is very important. The other big thing is the pre, the spawn and the post. However, and a big however, is that most of the bass come up in stages so they are not ever "all" on the beds or in pre or post spawn patterns. Some are already on the beds down south and at "O" but there will be cadres coming up over as much a time as the next 4-5 months, thus from Nov to April or even May, there is some percentage of fish simultaneously in the pre, the spawn and the post spawn periods. That is one of the things that can make fishing here difficult (maybe just for me LOL)-they are more difficult to pattern as they can be almost anywhere at any time.

Saw lots of beds this weekend at "O". Water temp moved up quite a bit this past week. I suspect by next full moon it will be going hot and heavy there.

I like to pitch a variation of a Rattle Trap called a Pro Trap. It's the one with the pull through hook and the little willow blade. Looks just like a bluegill divebombing some eggs on the bed. Works great on bedding peacocks as well

Ditto on Grape Hammock-it's a great place. Trails End at the north end of Istokpoga is nice also.

Those pictures are awesome and really capture the essence of Lake Kissimmee and one of my favorite places on earth, Grape Hammock. My one club had a tournament out of there that weekend and man did it blow. Same thing happend last year-the first front of the year came through the Saturday night or our tournament. When you are sleeping in one of the trailers there and the nuts or whatever are falling on the roof and you can hear the wind whistling through the live oak-you know its going to be a-blowin that day. I was up there this past weekend with my other club-no fronts-just 15-25 blowing all weekend. Fishing was good though. I've had a couple of conversatrions with that steer!

A warm front is basically a southerly (could be SW, S or SE) flow of air usually preceding another "cold" front. Sometimes it is called a "pre-frontal" condition. Warm fronts are usually accompanied by a falling barometer and cloud cover. The combination of the warming air, the falling barometer and cloud cover should be positive for fishing, particularly if those are Florida strain bass which are pretty sensitive to those "prefrontal" conditions

That's a nice peacock there. I love targeting peacock and go everywhere from the C-100 way down south to the Ida-Osborne chain up north. I call them Florida Smallmouths since we dont have the smallies down here but they are ferocious like smallies. They will bend some hooks, particularly if you are using braid. I keep a seperate box of peacock lures like Original Rapalas, X-Raps, Torpedos etc and have upgraded a lot of hooks to 2X. We caught some out of Holiday Park this past Saturday but no 4#'s like that one. I was fortunate enough to go to Brazil a couple times and you can only imagine-Peacocks on steroids!

I pretty much lip them the normal way-thumb along mandible bit if it is more than about 2.5-3# I will support the belly. Also, no matter what size, it it has a mouth full of trebles, I'll use a Boga grip type device to lip the fish (not hold it out to cause strain) and detach the hooks

Hey everyone. I live down in South Florida and fish in two clubs: South florida Bass Kings ( a BASS Federation Nation club) and South Florida Bass Pros? Notice the question mark-that is so we don't take ourselves too seriously. I've only been seriously bass fishing for about 4 years so I have a lot to learn Mostly fish the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee although some of our away tournaments take us up to Lake Kissimmee or Toho. I also do a lot of Peacock Bass fishing. I have TR-21 with a 225 Optipopper that works most of the time Good to be here. Iv'e been in BPS forum for a couple years but it is really pooping out. Hope I can contribute to and learn from everyone here