IwillChooseFreeWill

trailer... more gear can be bought later if needed but a trailer will take you and your boat farther and have more fun

theres actually plenty of good suggestions and info in the other thread http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1266255733

Thank you for the idea... I sent them an email with 10 suggestions of local lakes, but I stuck with the 65+ acre lakes. There are too many smaller "ponds" to request them all, plus a good portion of them are on military land (which means I will need to make my own). EDIT: I already got a response back and they stated that they should have it live sometime later today (Friday) for 3 of the larger local lakes. They also stated that it has been difficult finding contour maps of Lake Seminole and they get that request a lot. again, thanks for the idea!

Figured I would toss this in... I found some basic contour maps of my local lakes which is the ONLY thing available to me. Between looking at the satellite pictures and the contours, I marked up a bunch of spots where there are faster drop offs, points extending into the water and other spots to try. Here is what my map looks like: I mark up the interest areas, then I will also bring it along in a water proof ziploc bag and a black sharpie to mark spots where fish where caught, where they bit or hit the lure but no catch, seen and so on. I marked each type of area so I can take a quick look and decide which lure to use. What I use in the creek mouth will be different than the beds or points... Hopefully this helps you plan and map things out better.

usually it is best to do a google search for something like "guntersville contour map" (no quotes) The first link came up with this: http://www.outdoorcontours.com/Lake%20Guntersville%20existing%20maps%20page.htm

first, whatever you fish, keep it slow. the fish will liekly be in the slowest or still water areas, toss in a bulky jig or worm. Sometimes you need to leave it sitting there for half an hour just twitching it until they either get hungry or get mad at it and finally hit it. Otherwise there is not much you can do in this cold water other than keep trying different stuff, and remember: cold water = slow to no movement warm water = fast movement hot water (+90º) = slow deep lures So far that has worked very well for me on these south AL/northwest FL lakes and ponds

I need to find a larger scale just to see how much mine really weighs... I would say somewhere around 110-120 lbs., plus myself coming in around 220 lbs. Luckily it is 14' long and 36" at the center widest point. I have been looking at 12V systems locally on craigslist, I can find running 5-10HP gas motors for $100 or used trolling motors for $150+ (although there is a 46lb one here for $40, wonder whats wrong with it).

I see people pulling in huge saltwater fish from a kayak/canoe so a simple small mouth should be no problem, just reel in like normal and if it pulls the boat, no worries you can move back if you liked that spot

I refuse to spend more than $20 on sunglasses... between the wife, 2 young daughters and always on the go, I am lucky if a pair lasts me more than a month. I even bought a $80 polarized pair that was perfect for fishing, only wore it when I went out fishing... second trip out I put them on the brim of my hat and they fell off.... so next time I hooked them over my shirt collar and when I leaned over to lip a fish, off they went into the water. I had them for 3 weeks and second fishing trip...

NOTE: press the "calibrate" button before weighing anything... thanks for the reminder

the Texas rigged worms should work in any water or weather condition. For the mornings, try it as a drop shot. Later in the day, try wacky rig with a little weight to get deep. Also since water in the low 60s is pre-spawn (they usually start spawn when it hits around 63-65º on the beds), they are hungry so larger weedless jigs bright back slowly will probably land you more than a faster spinner bait. They are not quite in "chasing" mode yet. Largemouth bass fishing normally picks up in late February and early March (but possibly later this year due to cold weather) as water temperatures rise into the upper 50's and lower 60's and bass begin moving into shallower waters for pre-spawning and spawning activities. Prior to this time bass can usually be found in 6-15 feet of water. Dark colored plastic worms and Rat-L-Traps fished slowly are usually productive. As water reaches spawning temperatures (62-68 degrees around the bed) bass can usually be found in waters 2-6 feet in depth. Plastic worms, crankbaits, and surface lures can all be productive at this time. Periods of several warm days in a row following a cold snap can really turn fish on to a feeding binge and result in some excellent fishing. Cold fronts moving in throughout the next month or two will send fish to deeper water and slow feeding/spawning activities.

I fixed this same problem by returning the baitcaster and using mostly spinning reels ;D

I am of the belief that there are certain things that we do where it is better to go with a friend or by yourself, than to bring a spouse along all the time. In my case I go fishing to get away from the wife and kids, even if we all go, or if we are camping at the lake, I still go fishing to get away and to relax. Sometimes my wife will fish too but she prefers to just sit back and relax, usually without a pole. Now that I have my canoe I can get farther away

You are right, I have never fished them. By extension I meant by proximity, not fishing type or scenery or anything like that. Graph? What graph? I just got my first canoe not too long ago so I have no fancy electronics. I have to rely on these online maps and satellite images to determine where to fish on the local lakes when I get there. I know all the little tips of points, steep banks, hump in the middle, creek entry, springs and so on, but I have to rely on online maps at home for this info, I cannot do this on the lake at that time. I do plan to pick up a new transducer for $40-50 for my Humminbird PiranhaMAX 150 that my brother in law gave me for free, and mount it on my canoe. I don't have the income to buy a boat or expensive electronics or even the fishing gear itself... most of my equipment has shakespeare somewhere on them ;D but I also fish for fun, for relaxation, and to get away from it all. Catching fish is just an added bonus. I wish my brother in law would take me out on his bass boat but he is always working, fishing local tourneys or saltwater fishing (which I hate). Oh and to the original poster, try the last page of this PDF: http://www.metroparks.com/images/maps/stony_creek.pdf edit: I finally found some contour maps of the larger local lakes http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_forecasts_nwr.htm

Irondequoit Bay is super large? LMAO.... They add new lakes all the time. I looked it up online and there are parks along the bay you mentioned that are bigger than the largest inland lake in most of the FL panhandle, Hurricane Lake, 318 acres; and I do not include Lake Seminole as that actually has more water area in GA than FL (but Lake Seminole also does not have any underwater topos on that site either and that is 37,500 acres). From what I see online, that "bay" is still in excess of 2000 acres, plus the connection to Lake Ontario makes it more of an extension of Lake Ontario than a lake sitting on its own like many areas of the US. Try this location: N 30.94136 W 86.75702 and the surrounding areas, no underwater topos of this area until you hit the Gulf of Mexico and the attached bays

The problem with that angling technologies is they only show depth for SUPER LARGE lakes and offshore/ocean depths. None of my local lakes show up as anything but flat blue on those maps which is why I prefer the Acme and Google Earth maps. that site is pretty much useless unless you only fish offshore or 500,000+ acre lakes

Thats good that all options were looked at... and I wish my canoe was that light... mine comes in somewhere around 100+ pounds, but it has thicker aluminum supports.

I use a 7' rod, spinning reel and PowerPro 10 lb braid line and have never had a problem casting or pulling in anything. I also have a 6'6" rod with a spincast reel using 14lb mono for topwater or super shallow diving (0-2') baits. I plan to get another spinning reel with 7' rod for the mono so I can switch the 6'6" setup back to 6lb test for larger bream fishing.

my problem is that too many times the fish takes it through the top and has no other holes to use, but so far have not seen any problems temporarily using the gills... now anything over 7 or 8 pounds it will be better to use a normal flat scale instead of a hanging scale as any single area holding their entire weight can dislocate or break their jaw or tear the gills.

I tend to base most of my targeting based on the real satellite image like your first one. Topo maps don't do much except maybe tell you where a point may have a steep drop. Here are the areas I would suggest to concentrate on

I would think there is a spring or something pushing in water that is maybe 1 or 2 degrees above the rest, and the shaded area helps keep them as if there was surface vegetation. Maybe there is a slight leak in a drain or waste line that is seeping up slightly in that area causing water temps to be slightly warmer? Have you gone to that area with a thermometer or temp gauge to see if there is a temperature difference?

its not a kayak, it is a 14' fiberglass and alum canoe.. but this will be my primary transportation for it until I figure out some sort of mount for the roof of my 04 Durango

nice... but for that price may as well buy a jon boat with trailer that includes that stuff already. It will be a lot more stable and less chance of tipping and ruining $500 worth of electronics... Also need to remember, most states require anything with a motor or engine of any kind to be registered... versus if you go without the electric motor, you can get away without registering it saving plenty of money.

welcome from northwest FL

There are bass pulled out of rocky streams and lakes during the winter months that have sores on their heads, and after further study, apparently they push around small rocks to get after the buried craws and whatever else they can get