RoLo

In my case, I averted divorce by getting my wife involved in project "Lunacy" ;D Just like you, it was the double-blind approach that caused me grief. Too many of our best days were outside major and minor solunar periods, and vice versa. Of course, I'd like to believe that I can improve my fishing with something as simple as monitoring the moon phases. At first it looked good, but my enthusiasm ran ahead of the curve. Then it got worse and worse, to the point where even a massaged dataset couldn't save it. In the final analysis, we're part of an eclectic cosmos steeped in inconceivable interrelationships, though I failed to disclose any connection, I'd be a fool to rule it out. Roger

I'm on the same page Paul. This entertains the possibility that any solar/lunar affect may be indirect or due to secondary events. For instance, there are many who firmly believe that crayfish hatch three days before and three days after the new moon and full moon. I've yet to see it made clear, whether the day of the new moon and full moon are inclusive. If not, then we're talking about a duration of 14 days or roughly half the month. That's not exactly threading the eye of the needle. Roger

I wouldn't think that mullet would make a good indicator, since they often migrate into sweetwater. I've never targeted bass in any panhandle river. The streams leading into the gulf are better suited to chain pickerel, which have a high tolerance for acidity. Known for large pickerel are Blackwater River near Milton and Wrights Creek (former record holder). Roger

Catt accurately described the living quarters of largemouth bass in a Mesotrophic Manmade Reservoir. Hang on, because the waters in central Florida are predominantly Eutrophic Natural lakes, that is to say, nearly diametrically opposed to a meso impoundment. Eutrophic Natural Lakes In an artificial impoundment, manmade features have no depth bounds (bass depth is limited by oxycline & prey). However, in a typical natural lake the main biomass of trophy bass will live-and-die between the shoreline and the outer weed-line. The actual depth of the outer weed-line hinges chiefly on four elements: > Weed Species (For example, hydrilla can grow much deeper than bulrushes) > Water Clarity (the limit of photosynthesis) > Water Fertility (water-borne NPK and micronutrients) > Bottom Content (sand for example offers better circulation than muck) We've lived in Florida since 1998, fully 10 years. Although every natural lake is unique, our most productive year-round depth for trophy bass on balance, has been 3-feet. A rough breakdown might look something like this: NURSERY: 0 to 2 ft GREENERY: 2 to 4 ft GRADIENT: 4 to 6 ft FISHERY: 6-in to 6-ft Exceptions are lakes with offshore hydrilla beds or deep pondweed. Prior to Hurricane Charley, the key depth on Lake Walk-In-Water (our former home lake) was 8½ ft, which merely represented the depth of optimal hydrilla growth. On the flipside are the so-called hayfield lakes in south Florida's sugar belt. The cover here consists of emergent weeds like sawgrass, cattails and reeds that rarely grow deeper than 4 or 5 feet. Trophy bass are commonly taken from 2 feet of water during a hot sunny midsummer day. Oddly enough, I happen to love deepwater structure fishing for smallies, pike & saltwater species. Nevertheless, the angler who's adverse to bank-beating is going to be one lonely camper in Florida Roger

I'm assuming that you won't be trailering a boat. With regard to open water, I used to fish any retention that I seen, in fact I used to launch a 10-ft pram. I'm sorry to say that this has recently been prohibited, and they now chase fishermen off the ponds. If you'll be without a boat, Turkey Lake isn't a bad choice, but there are better. Turkey Lake is one of the Fab-Five, but in my opinion, "Lake Underhill" might be a better choice. Lake Underhill adjoins the Orlando Executive Airport at the East/West Expressway (408 toll road). I personally dislike the urban setting, but it's probably the best bass water in Orlando for the landlocked angler. (Now then, if you were trailering I would point you to Lake Conway or Lake Butler) Roger

If you're not happy with Deer Point Lake, just let it go...you have a lot to choose from in the panhandle. Though I'm less familiar with these waters, they are all trophy bass lakes in the Florida panhandle: > Lake Victor > Smith Lake > Hurricane Lake > Juniper Lake Several years back a giant bass was taken from an unnamed panhandle pond that weighed 19lbs, 2oz on an "uncertified" scale, five hours later it was certified at 18lbs, 8oz Roger

AccuWeather http://www.accuweather.com/us/fl/lake-wales/33853/forecast.asp?partner=townnews WeatherBug http://weather.weatherbug.com/FL/Lake%20Wales-weather.html?zcode=z5602 WeatherChannel http://www.weather.com/weather/local/33898? I find that they're all correct some times and all incorrect some times. Naturally, you would set the website to your area Roger

Dunno...I've never been in that situation Roger

I'm with you there man. I love to fish period! I don't pay much attention to the moon or alignment of planets, now weather conditions may be a different story. My work as a registered nurse is very stressful, fishing becomes my "quiet" place. So, if I catch a fish or two..that's great...and if not...that's good too. Great answers gentlemen... Pyle Do you have another pen? ;D

I've always believed that knowing the presently prevalent prey may be less important than we tend to think. There's a great disparity between "most available" prey and "most favored" prey. What you find in a bass's innards shows you only the most available prey, not necessarily the most favored. As Catt pointed out, post-spawn bass typically key on bluegills, and indeed they are commonly seen patrolling the periphery of bluegill bedding flats. This exhibits their love for an easy meal, not necessarily their love for bluegills. All predatory fish have a preference for "soft-finned" forage like shiners and shad, over "spiny-finned" prey like bluegills and baby baby. Regardless of their preference, predators are not elitists, they're opportunists. Since the hurricane-trio of 2004, several lakes in central Florida have been denuded of vegetation. The hydrilla beds were balled-up and torn out by their root systems, along with countless rails, gallinules and coots. Making matters worse, many of the eutrophic natural lakes in central Florida consist of shallow saucer terrain, in other words, no Contour AND no Cover. For about four years, whenever my boat was underway my eyes were constantly GLUED on the depth sounder to the point of hazardous boating. If I noticed a change in water depth from 3.2 to 3.4 ft within 100 ft linear travel I'd regard that as "contour" (structure if you prefer). The gain on my sounder was set to help me discern differences in bottom hardness, where a change from loam to sand was cause for excitement. All these subtleties represent structure, and we can rest assured that any nuances we find, were already found by the bass. Roger

You'll know immediately, after you've heard the first one. It's easy to appreciate the importance of water current. And in tidal waters it's easy to appreciate the advantage of a centripetal bulge formed by the moon. Major tidal events (higher water bulge) occur when the moon and sun are both in alignment relative to earth. Many hold that freshwater lakes are also subject to mini-tides, but that doesn't stand to reason. On a lake of average area, high tide might be 3/8" above normal pool, which pales by comparison even to wind seiches which occur more frequently. A steady wind can deflect the lake's metalimnion (thermocline) to a greater extent than a major solunar period. More importantly, the Solunar tables do not mirror the Tidal tables. Roger

Roger is correct. I went out and found some too. I've been mistaking Nitella for Chara, in places -I do have both. The Chara I have is the deepest "weed" I've got. The Nitella I've found was shallow -carpeting the shelf out to the where the milfoil wall starts. I took a couple pics: This species is different from Burley's, but there are many. The granules you can see on this one are spores. Burley's isn't producing spores at this time it seems. Here's a site with images showing many species -from the UK but showing the diversity of form. http://www.darwincountry.org/explore/001750.html WOW! Excellent field work Paul! Roger

This is always a great question: No one should go through life without studying astronomy, it's an astounding science. No one could possibly deny the role of the cosmos in our lives. We engage in slumber once per earth's rotation. Our seasons are based on the earth's revolution and orbital inclination. Females menstruate once every time the moon revolves around the earth, and so on. I've been an old salt for many years and never left port without knowledge of the tides (low tide, high tide and both slack tides). Also taken into account was the fact that incoming currents continue long after high tide, and ebbing currents continue after low tide, something many saltwater anglers aren't even aware of. In addition, there were a couple years during my freshwater fishing when I was reasonably convinced that solar/lunar forces played a role even in non-tidal waters. Unfortunately the wheels came off and my record-keeping began to unravel (very painful). I ultimately decided that I had originally reached conclusions that I wished to reach I wanted to believe that I had found an edge. With respect to non-tidal waters, I no longer place much stock in solar/lunar affects. On the other hand, many highly respected anglers do place emphasis on celestial effects, so I'm fully aware that I might very well be wrong. I've seen the Knights and Hannon's big fish solunar correlations and remain unimpressed. When you realize that the aggregate optimal period engulfs nearly half of every month, the evidence is not compelling. Add to this the fact that many believe in the solunar tables and schedule their vacations accordingly. This means that there's more fishing pressure during the best periods, which must be factored in to the end-result. Regardless, I'm wide open and am looking forward to everyone's input. Needless to say I'm not referring to personal opinion, but to credible scientific explanations as to how solar/lunar influences might affect our angling success in "non-tidal waters". Roger

Welcome to the forum Don't take Florida bass personally I've spent most of my life catching northern-strain bass, and I thought I was a very good bass angler until I moved to Florida. Florida-strain bass are not as aggressive as the northern-strain, and can be very humbling at times. To reinstate your confidence, I'd go slow with a T-rigged plastic worm (YOUR favorite worm is best, not mine). Incidentally, you're not that far from Deer Point Lake, Talquin and Jackson. Roger

It's almost a certainty that Perry's bass was an intergrade, which have a growing rather than dwindling population. California is a whole other ballgame. Florida-strain largemouth bass were transplanted into California, as a consequence the state is dealing with two stumbling blocks: 1) California waters undergo intense fishing pressure, significantly worse than the Southeast. 2) California's bass are subjected to an invisible stumbling-block known as "waning genetic vigor". We first seen this phenomenon with spotted bass that were transplanted in Perris Lake, California. At the time, Lewis Smith Reservoir, Alabama held the world-record within the natural range of the spotted bass. By-and-by, a freak spot in Perris Lake, CA broke the natural world-record. Here's the sad part, today Perris Lake is a marginal spotted bass fishery at best (almost non-existent), yet the former world-record is gone forever. When any fish is transplanted outside its natural range, initially it enjoys burgeoning growth, similar to a new reservoir. Thereafter however, with each passing generation the chromosomes of the offspring progressively revert back. Anyone who's been watching California will have noticed that new lakes enter the limelight in turn, then fade away in turn. One of the first was Miramar, followed by Casitas, then Hodges, then Castaic and now Dixon. This is the work of waning genetic vigor, something that California will always have to deal with. In my opinion, if California finally hits the jackpot, it will likely take place on yet another newly emerging Florida-strain fishery. This is not fuel for argument, just one man's opinion. Roger

It might be "relative". Bass may appear smarter-and-smarter, as the bell-curve of scholastic standards keeps declining Roger

I believe he's alluding to the fact that rivers are not subject to the same conditional extremes as lakes. Even during cold fronts and warm fronts, the behavior of stream-oriented fish tends to pivot on "water current". Roger

The Old Fart Mean Fishing Machine Team ? I'll drink to that Roger

My Favorite Angler: My Wife My Favorite Professional: Al Lindner My Favorite Tourney Pro: Kevin VanDam I wish all questions were that easy Roger

Burley, I'm pretty sure you're dealing with "Stonewort", the common name for Nitella. Though it resembles Chara (muskgrass), Nitella has Y-forked filaments as in your photograph, and is not musky smelling. Chara on the other hand, has mostly straight filaments and a garlic-like odor. Roger

World-class muskie waters are in constant transition, no different than any other game fish. The Hayward District is a good example, because Wisconsin has not produced a single muskellunge over 60 lbs since 1949. In contrast, two muskies over 60 were yielded quite recently by Georgian Bay, Ontario (61 & 65) and at least one musky WELL over 60 lbs was caught and released in the St Lawrence River (MacNair's fish). If I dared to go out on a limb, I'd probably rank the world-class muskie waters something like this: > Georgian Bay, ON French River Basin (Hartman) <> Moon River Basin (Blackstone Harbor) > St. Lawrence R. NY Its world-class potential is well documented, alive and well. > Lake of the Woods, ON (54 min) > Eagle Lake, ON (54 min) > Wabigoon Lake, ON (54 min) > Lac Seul, ON (Currently C&R <> In 2008, a 60 musky was taken) Roger

When bass are blowing-up on the lure, you're home free. On the other hand, when they're boiling and missing the lure, they're more fascinated than hungry. Slowing down and interjecting pauses can sometimes make a difference. You might also try a fluke instead of a lizard, and experiment with different deliveries in the open pockets. Roger

I heard that. I've got this Helicopter Lure that keeps loading-up with BC Bud >

Bob, that's the meaning of "fear" and "loneliness" that no landlubber could ever experience. Negotiating an angry sea for hours on end, with whitewater rolling into the trough of every swell. In the early going, I only had RDF with poor radio reception, there was no such contraption as a cellphone back then. In my own defense, I did have an EPIRB unit : ;D Roger

The water level is much improved Bocabasser, but still has a ways to go. Water temperatures averaged 84 deg Sunday, and because of all the rainfall the water was murky. But thanks to poor water visibility, the post-spawn ladies were patrolling knee-deep water Roger