RoLo

Good question, because black bear are common in Florida. We have deer, turkey and quail, but I'm not aware of bear in our neck of the woods. Roger

You sound like a bass fisherman who lives in Florida. But we love our cantankerous ladies, don't we? Roger

Now THAT'S a shootout.

That is a shame for sure, and I know how you feel. I put a rub mark in my boat over a year ago (not the magnitude of yours) and got in touch with 2 different mechanics. I supplied both with pictures of the damage, and neither one seen fit to get back to me. For some reason, no one wants to work with fiberglass & gelcoat, and I'm still riding around with the same rub mark. In any case, that is reparable. Roger

I'm not sure myself, but I figured it's better than profanity Roger

One thing is sure, the advice and information gleaned from this forum is second to none! What's rarely addressed though is that the vast majority of information pertains to 'northern-strain bass'. I grew up bass fishing in NJ, PA, NY and Ontario, Canada. In the northeast I was fishing exclusively for northern-strain bass, a highly aggressive, easy-to-catch game fish. In fact, I had myself thoroughly convinced that I was a crackerjack bass angler. That notion was soundly trounced however, when I moved to central Florida, where I was converted back to a rank beginner (KVD admits that he fears Florida). Northern Florida isn't bad at all, because it supports northern-strain, Florida-strain and intergrade bass. But whenever you're fishing south of Ocala, Florida, you're dealing almost exclusively with Florida-strain bass, an aloof, apathetic. recalcitrant creature Roger

Brent is an amazing angler (in the money 23 out of 38), and the way he vaulted onto the tournament venue is reminiscent of Kevin VanDam (remember him?). I had high hopes for Alton Jones, Brent Ehrler and believe it not, Edwin Evers. With the others eating dust, it looks real good for Brent (the man's on fire!) Roger

The incidence of rabies among red fox is very low. Unfortunately though, the red fox population in north Polk County has been assaulted by sarcoptic mange. We've watched whole families of red fox disappear from our backyard, but fortunately a small population of fully pelaged specimens still remain. Not to mention bobcats, coyotes and cougars (Florida panther) Roger

Yum-mee! That looks good enough to eat

If you're fishing open water where weedlessness isn't necessary, I rig just the same as you. Install a line-stop, slip on a bullet sinker (as light as 1/32 oz), tie on the wacky hook of your choice then peg the sinker. However, in weed-infested waters I use the Gamee G-Finesse Wacky Jighead Roger

With regard to setting your tongue weight, you can use your bathroom scale as A-Jay suggested, but if you're tongue weight exceeds your scale's capacity (always with large vessels), you might need a marine shop or weigh station. Roger

A couple years ago my wife was selected as a candidate Marshal which she declined. It was a Bassmaster Tourney in Florida (not a Classic) and there was no mention of a fee. Roger

Around 10% is a fair benchmark. Too little tongue weight promotes 'tail-sway', while too much weight promotes 'tail-dragging' Roger

I wasn't aware of that hook...I like it.

That'll be the day when I leave a $500 outfit in my car. At home and at every motel, I always take all my outfits inside. Smash & grab isn't just for exposed gear, but also to see what makes that bump in the blanket Roger

I'm afraid I'm missing your point entirely. 'Photosynthesis' is founded directly on 'photoperiod', the two are inseparable. The entire vegetable kingdom is controlled by photoperiod, which I believe spills over to the animal kingdom. My point is simple, water temperatures are erratic, calendar periods are repeatable. Right now in Florida, my tomato plants are in, and our bass are spawning, it's the same calendar period 'every' year. Roger

I see your point. 'Baby bass' is a very popular pattern among anglers (especially for flukes), but falls thru the cracks for stickworms. That's why I jokingly asked if its popularity applies to bass or just fishermen

Somehow this thread morphed into patterning the spawning cycle rather than seasonal periods (guilty as charged). Happily, photoperiod runs lockstep with the Gregorian Calendar. On most natural lakes and nearly every impoundment, there's an annual fall bonanza when schoolies inhale crankbaits with abandon. From now on: write down the date -AND- the water temperature. Ten years from now you're going to discover a very interesting pattern. You'll most likely find that the fall blitzkriegs occurred during wildly different water temperatures, but the calendar month and weeks have repeated with remarkable similarity. Roger

For a trailer on a chatterbait, I generally don't use a paddle-tail swimbait or any trailer with a strong signature of its own. It's only a theory, but I feel that a trailer with a powerful thump may interfere or overpower the rhythmic throb of the bladed jig. This notion goes back to the first overhead spinnerbaits. It's long been believed that a single Colorado blade has a more defined rhythmic throb than a twin Colorado spinner, which cancel one another. Again, it's basically a theory. Roger

I'm working on my 3RD Navionics+ card, and you made me pull the microSD card from my chartplotter (it's sitting right here on my desk). Indeed Wayne, it plainly reads Sandisk "16GB" as you stated Roger

An excellent Navionics product is "Navionics Plus" (navionics+). With this product you select any regions, states, areas or specific lakes for which you want bathymetric coverage. You can add more areas to your SD card at any time. Total card space is 2GB, roughly the area of 6 states (Mine isn't filled yet). Sonar charts and community edits are upgraded daily, and you're entitled to free updates for 1 year. Roger

I've never had the pleasure of meeting Hugh Crumpler, but read about his legendary career. Hugh is credited with being the first man to guide on the Stick Marsh, who began guiding there in 1991. On July 29th 1992, Hugh himself boated a 32-inch bass on a zoom fluke at 12:30 noon on a bright sunny day. Hugh Crumpler's bass is the unofficial lake record for the Stick Marsh/Farm-13. Roger

Oh NOW you tell me! After I discarded all my lures under $10

27/7? I would think the overhanging threat of theft would itself be a deterrent.

uuh...Underrated by fishermen or bass?