RoLo

Lake Kissimmee and Lake Toho are always first mentioned, but smaller waters that can't accommodate B.A.S.S. and FLW quietly yield some of the heaviest sows. As FishinDaddy said, some examples are the phosphate pits in Mulberry, Bartow and Tenoroc. I've lived in Lake Wales since 2006, and used to live on the north shore of "Lake Walk-In-Water" (lake weohyakapka). In my opinion, 'The Walk' is one of the most undertouted waters in central Florida. Florida has a Big-Catch program that issues citations for bass over 8 lbs. When the annual results were published, Lake Walk-In-Water was the number-one trophy lake in Florida, obscenely ahead of Istokpoga, Stick Marsh, Big-K and Toho. Unfortunately, the state no longer posts the annual results. It's a tough lake (shiner lake) where seasoned anglers commonly get skunked, but don't let that fool you. March of this year, Lake Walk-In-Water was electrofished and yielded 22 bass over 8 lbs, 15 of the 22 were tagged and 1 went over 12 pounds. http://www.theledger...S0603/120329269 Roger

For the past few years I've been using Owner Sled Heads, Owner Type-Z Heads and Gamakatsu Swimbait hooks when fishing soft swimbaits like the Berkley Hollow Belly, Berkley Split Belly and Gambler Big EZ. As A-Jay stated, I flank-rig the lure to enhance the gap of the 4/0 hook (avoid 2/0 sled heads) I have no beefs at all. Owner Sled Heads are a snap to rig, they run very true and hook-up very well (I use spinning tackle). The Sled Head and Type-Z Head were originally designed for tube baits, but you need to bend the rules. I really think that's why freshwater anglers are about 30 years behind the old salts. (drop-shot = ancient dropper rig <> Alabama rig = ancient umbrella rig) Roger

Some years ago, Bill Dance stated (after a long pause) that "structure" is more important than "cover". Trouble is, the word 'structure' has been bandied about for decades, and its meaning today has lost its specificity. Let's call it "Bottom Contour" instead, that way no one can refer to a mud-line as structure. Before targeting a single tree, I'd obtain the best hydrographic map available. If the lake is a manmade impoundment, then a topographic quadrangular would be just as good, but you'll need to know the shoreline elevation so you can convert elevation to depth. At your home, pinpoint all the spots that offer the most rapid depth change (compression points) It's immaterial to fish whether it's an abrupt prominance or an abrupt depression. All the matters to fish is RDC (rapid depth change). On the water, motor over to each waypoint that you isolated at home and evaluate the cover at each spot. Despite a plethora of standing timber, you'll be fishing the most promising 'cover' in the lake. Roger

One buck bass will typically sweep out several beds. The dead giveaway is that the beds will violate the 20-foot rule of territorialism. It's much like buck deer that make several buck-rubs within a small area (his area). Not surprisingly, one ripe cow will visit the beds of several buck bass and deposit eggs in each. When the bedding season is over, many if not most cow bass will still be carrying leftover roe. This leads more than a few anglers to believe that the bass are still spawning. Roger

GRUBS Like most anglers, you'll probably toy with grubs for awhile then drop them over time. Nevertheless, I believe that "ribbon-tail grubs" are grossly under-utilized. In the quest for max action at min speeds you might take a look at Kalin Lunker Grubs and the Zoom Fat Albert. SHAKY WORMS Speaking of under-exploited lures, if you're in the market for a shapely, high-floating shaky worm, don't overlook the Owner Shaky Worm (6.5" - green weenie). Roger

>> Bedding bass usually don't roll or tail on the surface. >> Carp do not have a prominant lateral line, nor are they common in Florida >> In Florida, I've personally witnessed a small buck on the bed as late as July >> Tilapia beds are usually more cratered than bass beds Based on your input, I'm unable to arrive at any cohesive conclusion (sorry) Roger

Thank you buddy. I read your jerkbait report, and guess who was taking notes? Roger

Goose52, those are two fine buzzbait sows AND on spinning tackle. WTG Kudos to your dad, I hope he's still fishing. Homer Circle is 97, and Still Fishing. Roger

Tom, if the statistics provided are accurate, I'm not sure how they might be "misleading". For instance, I find the ShareLunker statistics a little unusual, but would hesitate to call them misleading. The historic records I cited from 1943 to 1953 were submitted by the late A.J. McClane, editor-in-chief for Field and Stream for over 40 years. Neither McClane nor Field & Stream had a buzzbait agenda, which is a relationship I disclosed on my own. A summary of the "Day On The Lake" series is currently available in the March edition of Bass Master magazine. Here as well, the article has no buzzbait agenda, but was simply an observation I made. ShareLunker Program: Bass in the ShareLunker program are all Florida-strain bass transplanted in Texan waters. In their native range, the majority of Florida-stain bass live in "natural lakes". However, the majority of transplanted Florida-strain bass live in "manmade reservoirs". Natural lakes are characterized by bountiful vegetation and shallow water, often no deeper than 6 ft. In stark contrast, bass in manmade impoundments may or may not have access to dense vegetation and are therefore forced into water depths of 18 feet or more. Buzzbaits are at their best in heavy vegetation and in water depths between 1 & 5 feet. In addition, the ShareLunker program is not dealing with lunker-class bass (6+) nor trophy-class bass (9+), but deals strictly in record-class Florida bass weighing 13 lbs or more. Hopefully, that may shed some light on the broad disparity in statistics Direct quote from Kevin VanDam: "When conditions are right, the buzzbait can produce the catch of a lifetime." Roger

(I should preface by saying, yeah fellows I'm still on the map) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Central Florida is currently in the early post-spawn period, which is to say, the boys to the north have a lot to look forward to. Post-spawn-&-Buzzbaits are like Bread-&-Butter: ..............................................................................................BUZZBAITS For sheer numbers of bass, Twitchbaits & Poppers probably lead the topwater division. With regard to trophy bass however, the Buzzbait is the clear winner. The Lunker Lure Buzzbait introduced in 1976 is touted as the first buzzbait, but wasn't even close. The earliest buzzbait was the "Arbogast Hawaiian Wiggler", a lure-class originally called "buzzspins" that employed a delivery known as "skittering". When I was a kid in the 1950s, I fished the Hawaiian Wiggler and now wish I had saved a few of those vintage spinners. It was an elongate lure with a forward prop and trailing rubber skirt. The main difference between vintage buzzers and modern buzzers is the spinner-shaft. In the early versions, the spinner was mounted on a straight shaft but today the prop is normally mounted on a safety-pin shaft (over-spinner). Hawaiian culture was popular during that era, when Arthur Godfrey and ukuleles were in vogue (some of the old timers may recall). The word "Wiggler" alluded to a hula dancer and in 1938 Fred Arbogast patented the wiggler's "Hawaiian Skirt". Although the word "Hawaiian" got lost in the shuffle, the word "Skirt" persists to this day. During that same era, Al Foss produced two buzzbaits using bucktail skirts instead of rubber skirts, namely: Al Foss Dixie Wiggler and Al Foss Shimmy Wiggler. Based on historic recordkeeping, buzzspins were trophy killers right from the get-go. In this case, the term "killer" is not a hyperbole, as that was the era of "catch & keep". In fact, if you were caught releasing a bass, you'd probably be chased by men in white coats. The statistics below are based on bass citations awarded by Field and Stream magazine between 1943 to 1953. The stats represent the 50 heaviest certified largemouth bass taken from the Southern Division during that 10-year period. The "Southern Division" extended from Lake Bedford, Tennessee, southward to the southern border of the United States: LURE................HARVEST Plugs................37,,,,,(74%) Buzzspins.........6,,,,,,,(12%) Live Minnows,,,,6,,,,,.,(12%) Spoons..............1.......(2%) When I was a youngster there were only 3 basic classes of bass lures: Spinners, Spoons & Plugs. During that time, Plugs and Live Bait clearly dominated the field. The term "plug" however included any wooden or hard plastic lure which ran the gamut from topwater Jitterbugs to deep-diving Bombers. Then during the 1970s, I heard Rick Clunn refer to his cedar Poe plug as a "crankbait" (say what?). All my life the term "bait" alluded to minnows, worms, crickets and hellgrammites. From that day forth, natural bait and artificial lures would all be lumped together as "BAIT" (and so it goes). In an age dominated by plugs and bait, it's not surprising that plugs had an obscene lead. The real surprise however is the powerful showing by buzzspins (buzzbaits). remarkably they ran abreast with live bait! Some things never change. Fast-Forward to the Present Incepted by Don Wirth, the "Day On The Lake" series is comprised of leading bass pros who fish 7 hours on a small waterbody they've never fished before. To qualify as a lunker, a largemouth bass must weigh at least 6 pounds and a smallmouth must weigh at least 4 pounds. Throughout the 13-year period from 1998 to 2011, pro anglers boated 44 eligible bass consisting of 38 largemouth bass and 6 smallmouth bass. Among the 38 largemouth bass entries, only 3 weighed over 10 pounds, while the largest during that 13-yr stint went 11-lb 14-oz. (Once again, we see that stubborn "12-lb ceiling"). Standalone trailers yielded 3 out of the 38 largemouth lunkers, which I generically lumped together as "Creatures" (1 flappin hog, 1 chickenfoot worm, 1 plastic craw). Unfortunately the trailer used in the "Jig & Trailer" category was rarely specified: LURE..................HARVEST Plugs..................12.....(32%) Jigs & Trailers,,,,,10,,,,(26%) Buzzbaits,,,,,,,,,,,,,5,,,,,,(13%) Jerkbaits,,,,,,,,,,,,,,4,,,,,,(10.5%) Tubes.................,4......(10.5%) Creatures..........,.3,,,,,,(8%) Swimbaits...........0......(0%) Worms,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,0,,,,,,(0%) Senkos,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,0,,,,,,(0%) Spinnerbaits,,,,,,,0,,,,,,(0%) The breakdown reveals a few surprises, but bear two facts in mind: >>> The pros were fishing unknown waters so search lures were popular. >>> The results do not echo lure productivity, but pertain only to trophy production Back on topic: "Buzzbaits" snatched third-place as a lunker producer, not unlike their historic performance during the 1940s. Ironically, a 'Buzzbait' is nothing more than a topwater spinnerbait, yet 'Spinnerbaits' drew a blank. If I may, I'd like to touch on buzzbait features, modifications and delivery in a subsequent post. Roger

There are countless approaches to bass fishing, but most of us tend to fall into one of two major mindsets: OPPORTUNIST (shotgun approach) LOCATIONIST (rifle approach) ============================================================================ <Scenario> You have diligently fancast your favorite holding site using different lures, different depths & different retrieves, but have failed to raise a single strike. OPPORTUNIST (shotgun approach) The bass are DEFINITELY not here, and have OBVIOUSLY migrated to another location LOCATIONIST (rifle approach) The bass are DEFINITELY here, but are OBVIOUSLY not active Which mindset best describes your style of angling? RoLo

Spro Aruku Shad 75 (5/8oz - Chrome Blue) That single lure has seriously reduced my stash of lipped diving plugs Roger

When using the standard 'Upright' rigging or 'Inverted" rigging (180 flip) the hook is buried in the "width" of the minnow. However, "flank-rigging" only skewers the "thickness" of the minnow. Even though the hook-point is completely embedded in plastic, the extra space in the hook-gap results in a better hook-up ratio. Flank-rigging also transfers sideways-shimmy into the vertical plane, where it gets lost in the shuffle. In addition, I believe that the slightly different attitude of a side-rigged minnow is something that every bass hasn't seen. The only time I rig in the conventional manner is to extend the life of the swim minnow. That is to say, by rotating the bait 90-degrees, you can get up to 4 riggings Roger

For use in central Florida, the 'soft' paddletail minnow will rival any lure. We've fished both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ swimbaits, but our best success has been with "soft” swimbaits. The reason is obvious, soft swimbaits are 'weedless' and can be fished smack in the best cover. They're also cheaper than hard swimbaits, which is a welcome bonus. For my own curiosity, I rated a small cross-section of different paddletail brands, based on the 3 paddletail properties I feel are most important: Low-Speed Action - Tail Vibration - Body Stability Low-Speed Action Low-speed action is arguably the most important property, because slow-rolling and swimbaits go hand-in-hand. The best paddletails remain active to a virtual standstill, and IMO those with tail lobes that stall-out at low speeds belong in the dumpster Tail Vibration Generally speaking, the greater the area of the tail-lobe the greater the throb and vibration. Thump and vibes are very important even in clear water, because underwater visibility is sharply reduced in dense vegetation. Body Stability Although tail-action is desirable, body-action is not. Excessive body action might appeal to the angler, but looks unnatural to the predator. The bugbear of the soft paddletail is "lateral instability", better known as "Tail-Wagging-The-Dog". .Axial rotation is also unnatural, but is not as noticeable as sideward wagging. In the shootout below, the 3 lure properties above are rated from 1 to 4: 4 = Excellent (12 = Perfect Total Score) 3 = Good 2 = Fair 1 = Poor ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ .............................................SWIM MINNOW SHOOTOUT BIG EZ (Gambler) Low-Speed Action..........4........Excellent.....(Tail-action persists to a virtual standstill) Tail Vibration..............,....4........Excellent.....(Very large tail lobe) Body Stability..................4........Excellent.....(Stability is further enhanced by flank-rigging) TOTAL SCORE............12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SKINNY DIPPER (Reaction Innovations) Low-Speed Action.........4........Excellent.....(Tail-action persists to near standstill) Tail Vibration..................3........Good..........(Medium-sized tail-lobe) Body Stability.................4........Excellent....(Some axial rotation) TOTAL SCORE............11 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPLIT-BELLY SWIMBAIT (Berkley) Low-Speed Action.........3........Good............(Tail quits a tad before standstill) Tail Vibration..................4........Excellent......(Big vibes) Body Stability.................3........Good............(Noticeable lateral shimmy) TOTAL SCORE............10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PADDLETAIL SWIMBAIT (Basstrix) Low-Speed Action..........2........Fair..............(Tail-action fizzle is the downfall of the Basstrix) Tail Vibration..................4........Excellent......(Big vibes) Body Stability..................4........Excellent......(Debatably the most stable soft paddletail minnow) TOTAL SCORE............10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOLLOW-BELLY SWIMBAIT (Berkley) Low-Speed Action..........2........Fair..............(Tail quits too soon) Tail Vibration...................4........Excellent......(Our top producer in 2009) Body Stability..................3........Good............(Slight 'tail-wagging-the-dog' at high speeds) TOTAL SCORE.............9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EZ SHAD (Roboworm) Low-Speed Action..........2........Fair..............(Tail quits too soon) Tail Vibration...................4........Excellent......(Great throb) Body Stability..................3........Good............(Unstable at high speeds) TOTAL SCORE.............9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BASS MAGIC (Lucky "E" Strike) Low-Speed Action..........2........Fair..............(Tail quits too soon) Tail Vibration...................4........Excellent......(Big vibes) Body Stability..................1........Poor.............(Seriously "unstable") TOTAL SCORE.............7 Roger

I rarely find the need to flip, but do a lot of pitching. My favorite pitching reel is probably a Shimano Stradic paired with a MH spinning rod rated for 10 to 20-lb line. Roger

Though I've never personally owned a 28-gauge shotgun, I hunted alongside a man who did. That man was my dad and a 28-gauge side-by-side was his favorite bird gun (grouse & woodcock). With regard to reloading. it really doesn't pay with shotshells, which are made of cardboard (then) and plastic (now). On the other hand, I've alwarys reloaded all my own rifle cartridges. Roger

Originally I owned a 308 for close-up brush-bucking and a 222 rem mag for woodchucks. Eventually I sold off the 308 and the 222 rem mag and now do everything with .270 caliber. For vermin, the 270 may not have the FPS of a 22/250 wildcat, but has FAR less wind-drift. For big game, the 270 may not have the brush-bucking of the 308, but shoots a FAR flatter trajectory. I use the 270 as I use my bow-and-arrow, by sticking to field edges, wooded clearings and swaths I manually cleared. By the way, the 270 is a Remington Model 700 bolt-action with Redfield scope. Roger

That's "extremely" common, in fact it's not uncommon for fishing to flip from Hot to Cold within the hour. Not catching bass does not mean that the bass are gone. In my opinion, not catching bass in a known hotspot usually means that changing conditions have made them less catchable in that location at that time. Roger

Tom, if it makes you feel any better, we've encountered that same problem fishing from a boat. On more than one occasions, my wife boating a bass has caused one or more boats to converge on my spot. I've done my share of shore-fishing, and realize that shore-fishermen don't have the mobility of boaters. But strange as it may sound, when other boats converge on my spot, I typically leave the entire area. In this way, I not only lower the worth of my spot, but reduce the accuracy of my waypoint. Roger

We all know that weeds are an asset, but too much of a good thing can be a bane. If you could specify the plant species, I could be more specific. In any case, if you're just looking to penetrate the thickest mats and densest submergents, an excellent weed probe is the "Dirty Jig 1oz No-Jack Punchin Jig" dressed with any loud throbbing trailer. I should add though, that bass can also be overwhelmed by weeds, because they like areas that offer decent visibility and decent elbow room for hunting. On lakes that are predominatnly weed-choked, bass usually gravitate to airy, more open areas of the lake with a 50/50 density. Roger

I concur with the consensus, a .410 shotgun is not Big Game battery. For a youngster, I wouldn't go lighter than 20-gauge for deer hunting (BTW .410 denotes caliber - 410/1000"), Roger

When I reached the age of 10 (legal hunting age in Jersey), dad purchased my first gun. It was a 1952 hammer-operated .410 shotgun. I didn't have the thumb-strength to load the hammer at that age, so whenever we entered promising cover, dad cocked the hammer for me. I wish I had that gun today, but its whereabouts is a mystery to me. Roger

Price moves in trends, and trends tend to persist. All trends eventually reverse, but trend reversals are easier to identify than calling Tops & Bottoms. Cheap prices typically get cheaper, while high prices typically get higher (e.g. gold). Words like "High" & "Low" cannot be used without the benefit of hindsight. I don't think "Buying Down" is weird, but I do think it's dangerous. In my opinion, “Buying Down” is a form of denial, rather than admit he was wrong, the investor opts for another roll of the dice. The “Buy & Hold” approach has ran out of gas on many occasions. If you bought-down on the heels of the Great Depression, you’d have spent the next 20 years buying down. You’d either have run out of capital or died waiting. On September 16, 1929, the S&P-500 Index topped out at $31.90. It didn’t bottom out until June 14, 1949 when the S&P 500 closed at $13.60. The reward for holding steadfast through that 20-year holding period was a Net Loss of –57.4%. Going forward, the stock market didn’t reach breakeven until Sep 22, 1954, when it closed at $32, twenty five years later. That could never happen again? Well, it’s already happened again and the venue was Japan. On December 29, 1989 the Nikkei-225 closed at $38,916. Today, over 20 years later the Nikkei-225 closed at 10,450, down 73% from its 1989 level. By itself, 'Time' cannot substitute for poor timing, because 'Time' is a double-edge sword, it can heal the wound or intensify the wound. Ironically, the flaws in long-term investing are most conspicuous over the long term. Roger

Yes Dwight, I was throwing a Gambler Big EZ (forty niner)

Today’s weather report was not at all encouraging, but that has been the norm in central Florida for about 3 months. My plan was to begin at my farthest waypoint then work my way back to the ramp as conditions dictated. Bites were few and far between, and then lightning in the northern sky forced me to retreat to a holding site near the ramp I call the “PigPen”. Soon after getting on my numbers there was a cloudburst that only lasted about 3 minutes. Water visibility was obscured by rainfall and I said to Lois, “Now is a great time to be fishing”. The words had barely left my mouth when a bass lambasted my lure. Although she wasn’t as heavy as the bass I posted in July, she was a much better fighter. She produced about four whitewater vortexes, and on spinning gear she felt like a small alligator .................................Hopefully We'll Meet Again............................................ Roger