RoLo

Shouldn't that be: "another Margarita"?

It goes without saying, trophy bass are caught year-round, but which season holds the greatest potential? Nothing could be easier to determine, because mid-Florida is bombarded year-round by nonstop tournaments at the local and professional levels. Throughout January, February & March, Florida yields by far the greatest numbers of trophy-bass, stringers that make your eyes run out on stems (Dean Rojas set the B.A.S.S. record stringer on Kissimmee in JANUARY). On the other hand, when you attend a midsummer weigh-in, you will encounter a disgruntled group of sweaty anglers, with a few good fish, but nothing close to the pre-spawn weigh-ins. The truth be known, the “colder” the water, the greater the potential for a trophy fish, and this is true for ALL species of fish in fresh and saltwater. For this same reason, many of the heaviest northern pike come thru the ice and more tender species, soon after ice-out. Roger

Junebug is a dark color, and in my opinion that's the sum total of its amenities. Any dark color would be the equivalent of Junebug; for instance Deep purple, Scuppernong, Black neon, Black & blue ~ ~ ~ What is a dark color? The more light a pigment absorbs, the darker the color. White reflects all light, black absorbs all light, green reflects about 50% The common thread between Murky water, Tannic-stained water and Muddy water is "reduced sunlight" (limited but not void). The angler might tie on a bright flashy spinner, but there can be no flash, where there is no light So a better option might be to move in the opposite direction, and throw a dark color that absorbs existing light. By absorbing all existing light, a black object contrasts best against a background of low light Roger

No freshwater game fish fills a shallower niche than the largemouth bass, even shallower than the eastern chain pickerel. If matted weeds are present, then the opportunity for mat-punching is also present. Some natural lakes suffer from an oxygen deficiency during midsummer. Although anglers habitually probe deeper on hot summer days, bass in oxygen-deprived water are forced into the upper few feet of water, where they welcome a canopy of foliage. Roger

Never fails, I always chase the wrong end of the rainbow

The only reason they add those treble hooks is so you don't mistake them for real fish. Roger

Ah Cum ON!

Of late, the "Jackall Crosstail Shad" is getting the most lip-service from bronzeback dropshotters. Even more than the Strike King KVD Dream Shot Roger

I like that. On slow days, I often turn to my wife and ask: "Have you ever read anything that said there's bass in this lake??". Same church, different pew Roger

Me too. Every month I read the data I've garnered over the years, and readjust my strategies & tactics to suit the season. It never ceases to amaze me all the data I've gathered over the years, sometimes it feels like I'm reading someone elses' stuff. Jot it down once, and you've got it forever. But if I were too lazy to keep log, I'd have to relearn and rehash the same stuff over-&-over-&-over again. Roger

Main Line=> Invisx Leader=> Abrazx

Good you said that...cause I made up that name ;-))

The most costly lure is the one that goes thru your picture window then lands in your wife's china cabinet. Roger

Reminds me of the Venom Ringworm, but they have a sickle-tail, not a ribbontail

I also prefer Sufix Siege to Big Game. By the way, you bear an uncanny resemblance to Al Lindner Roger

The Silent Prune (delayed mortality)

I have Saltwater Logs and Freshwater Logs that span over several decades and entail dozens of species. Since moving to Florida, I only log largemouth bass weighing 6 pounds or more. Roger

Gardner summed it up well, the Ned rig involves intuition. It's probably out of print, but Charlie Brewer's book called "Slider Fishing" is the forerunner, a similar technique that the late Charlie Brewer called "Do Nothing" fishing. Roger

Tourneys aside, if a recreational fisherman catches 2 or 3 fish on a topwater lure, the natural tendency is to keep on throwing that same lure. That's fine-&-dandy, but by sticking with the same lure, he's discarding a golden learning opportunity. The next time you find yourself in a red-hot topwater blitz, instead of counting bass, conduct an experiment. Every time you hook a bass, change to another topwater lure, and repeat that process until you've thrown every topwater lure in your tackle box. If your results are anything like mine, the importance of specific lure brands and lure colors will be brutally downtrodden, and no lure will be left behind. Unfortunately, topwater blitzes are few and far between, but I always treat them as a learning opportunity Roger

I'm sorry to hear that. I heard that Jersey fishing slowed down, but wasn’t aware of the radical change. Geez, the New York Bight always supported large flotillas of commercial boats, headboats and sixpack charters and the fishery never wavered. During the 50 years I lived in NJ, the only species that declined were swordfish and tilefish, but that was a cosmopolitan issue, not regional. Year-after-year, the Jersey Mudhole continued to produce a bounty of bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, sharks, mackerel and bluefish. The Sandy Hook proper was loaded with stripers, weakfish, bluefish, bonito, blackfish, ling, whiting, porgies, sea bass ~ ~ ~. Back on topic, the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers were loaded with winter flounder, and the bottom was paved with fluke off the Leonardo Pier, Flynn’s Knoll, the False Hook (off the balls), off Sandy Hook State Park, Monmouth Bch and Shrewsbury Rocks. That does it, I'm staying in Florida Roger

Is fluke belly now off-limits?? Aside from my own boat, I also used belly strips on the Jersey party boats. Over 4 consecutive trips I won the pool twice and split it once (3 out of 4). The Shamrock, the Sea Fox (Don Hager), not sure of the 3rd boat (probably Cap't Fossani's "Super Cat") Roger

For starters, summer flounder (toothed) and winter flounder (untoothed) are completely different animals. When I'm strictly targeting summer flounder, I'll always drift-fish with bait strips. Normally I'll start with spearing or sand lance until the first fluke is boated, then it's fluke belly strips for the rest of the day. For the postage stamps, I cut pennant-shaped belly strips about 1/2" x 4" and slit the tapered tail-end. For doormats, I'll cut 1" x 7" belly strips. When drifting, use the lightest sinker that will hold bottom. Lift & Drop the bait periodically, which serves 3 purposes: > It displays the bait to flounder farther away > It betrays a soft-mouther that's swimming with the drift > Last but not least, it serves as a bounce-test to confirm that your holding bottom (a change in current or depth usually means a change in sinker weight) With regard to the hook-set, the main thing to remember with fluke is to Wait, Wait and wait some more. I used to tell my boat mates, "You can strike too soon, but you can't wait too long" Roger

You mean 'bass-per-acre', right?

Hardware failure is not common, but the probability rises precipitously under two conditions: > When freshwater hardware is exposed to saltwater (saltwater carries a host of corrosives in addition to salt) > When hardware is exposed to abrupt shock "out-of-the-water" (when a jumping fish shocks the line - when swinging a fish over the rail - a fish thrashing out-of-the-water) Roger

Confronted with a 100-acre flat at high water, a stick worm would only be useful for sight-fishing.