geo g

The road is still sandy dirt base. It changes from time to time based on weather, and the last scheduled work to smooth it out. Your vehicle and boat will get filthy, but if they paved it, a lot more people would fish it!!!

This disturbance on the surface if large in size, is baitfish being attacks by something. Here is south Florida the peacock often school up on bait balls and attack at lightning speed. This creates a frenzy on the surface and will often draw birds overhead. Black bass will also do the same but not as aggressively. Throw a rattle trap, zoom fluke, or anything in your hand, into the mix and you'll often find out who is doing the attacking. I have seen birds over these disruptions on Okeechobee on several occasions.

Down here in south Florida, we have so much thick heavy vegetation that treble hooks are often out of the question especially when fishing from the bank. Plastics are often the baits of choice for us along with weedless frogs. The more weight you add the less realistic the movement you get out of your bait. When casting, the less weight the better the movement on the bait. I often throw into the wind on normal windy days, but I'm not the one having the problem with a baitcaster and back lashes. This post was to help a guy with a problem . Adding weight just reduces the effectiveness of plastic baits. I also use Floro or heavy braid for plastics, but I would not recommend for beginners having problems. From the boat in deeper water, baits with trebles work fine

If your equipment is working correctly, time on the water will solve a lot of your problems. You have to readjust for wind conditions. If its a real windy day I will put the wind to my back and let the wind be my friend. This really helps if I'm throwing light baits on a windy day. If I'm fishing from the bank I will always check wind direction before I leave the truck. I will find areas where I can keep the wind coming from my back. This really makes for easy casting and makes for an enjoyable day. Lots of videos on adjusting a baitcaster. Also some lines are easier to handle then others. I would start with Mono until your past the novice level. Lots of good monos on the market.

I use my fishing reports as a log. I include complete weather conditions, baits used, what worked and what didn't, area fished, water temps and current, moon phase, time of day, date. I can go back years if I want too, It works for me, but I'm not paranoid about who reads it. If I was fishing for money I would probably have a different opinion.

In south Florida it might be fall but there will not be any changes for months. Still hot, humid and raining everyday. My least favorite time of the year!

If its rained all week and the water levels are up, fish shallow in the newly flood areas. Lots of food in those new flooded areas, from bugs to worms. to small fish eating the bounty. Also look for current and especially the slack areas close to the current. L/M will often sit in the slack areas, close to the current, in ambush mode. It can also be very difficult if you can't get back into the newly flooded areas, like in the Everglades. Good luck!

Never been close to spooled in fresh water. I have had several bass and one big peacock, take drag even with full drag set. No more then 10 yards. I have been spooled in salt water from the beach with a freshwater set up, years ago. Whatever it was, was powerful.

No peacock in Orlando, you will have to head south to the palm beaches. The further south the better, Palm Beach to Miami.

Thanks Lou, I hear crickets in the background! Lol!

It would really help if we knew what part of the country you were fishing. Go to your profile and put in location and what bodies of water you fish. Here in Florida we get violent strikes from gar, pickerel, exotics, and mudfish. They often strike but dont get hooked. They tear at the baits and often miss the hook. If you have gar, or pickerel that might be the case. Also try a quality thin wire hook like a Gama, it will help with the penetration.

If it makes you happy do it!

Alligator Alley 7:00-11:00. Its the raining season down here and has been all through the spring, and all summer. Bass are way out in the Everglades Sawgrass where there is plenty of water, and loads of food. You can't get to them without an airboat. Even with an airboat there is still an emergency closed order for all the conservation areas, to ease the stress on deer in the conservation areas. I went Solo, and fished the canals that are still open, and had the place to myself. The day started with a heavy fog, with viability of less then 50 feet. I caught a nice fish on the second cast and then went an hour without another bite. As the fog lifted and the sun came out, the bite started again. Threw a spinner bait for 20 minute deep without a bite. Went back to stickbaits, trick worm, and zoom flukes way back in the pads, and had a slow constant bite. No Kodak Moments but did find some fish willing to play. It was a struggle getting their heads up and through 20 yards of thick pads, and lost a few fish wrapping me in the pad stems. Mother Nature cooperated through the morning and made boat control easy for a change. Finished the day with 12 bass, most in the 12 to 14 inch size. Unlike several weeks ago, could not get a bite deep at the drop-off in the canal. It was a fun morning in the glades, always better then sitting at home.

Like the others are saying, slow down and look for pads, or vegetation with two or more types in close proximity. In the heat they are looking for cover or drop offs with cooler water if the O2 is right. Work the lures methodically slow until you get on the bite.

I once saw a school of bass busting bait fish along a rocky bank at the Holey Land. A big black crow was running along the edge of the bank trying to catch bait fish driven against the shore line. As the bass and bait fish moved, the crow stayed right with them. It was a learned behavior, and these guys were working together for the benefit of both. The bass were driving the little fish into the shore and the bird was driving them back into the bass. This was not their first rodeo and they were all feasting. This went on for twenty minutes. Cool experience to watch!

Ave Maria University in west Naples has a bunch of lakes in and around the campus. You can walk these banks and fish a bunch of open water. Where leather boots there are little critters around our waters, and gators in the water. Just be alert.

Definitely looks like a gar bite. We lose plastics all the time to gar in the everglades without ever hooking the thief!!!!!

One of the most important things about building a pond is not the shape of the pond, but the make up of the soil and rock at the location of the hypothetical pond. If the soil make up is wrong the fish will die. I know people in Alabama with personal ponds that spend thousands of dollars for minerals to be added every six months just to keep a fish population going. It is not a one shot deal, but year after year. Its all because the land the pond was built on was lacking essential minerals for establishing an aquatic ecosystem. Too begin with, you need a study of the property and soil samples. You may luck out with substantial minerals to support your venture, or it may be a big bust, and become a big mosquito pool. The point I'm trying to make is, it takes expertise to get in right, especially in the beginning. Its not just digging a hole and filling it, you will need professional help.

Doyle, nice job, that's a quality fish. I always did best in that lake behind the football stadium. Its been years since I've fished it. Thanks for the post.

They are all over the place these days. Look for culvert pipes, water control structures, bridge pilings, docks, concrete walls and riprap. You can find them as far north a the Palm Beaches. Remember noon is one of the best times for these exotics, and the hotter the better.

I have bank fished, and fished from the boat, at both Ida and Osbourne. Either lake has adequate open bank area, and hours of fishing possibilities including peacock. Hundreds of miles of canals with open areas surround the lake system, you just have to explore and find some spots. Look for areas with water control structures and culvert pipes. There are several along the turnpike with neighborhood roads running parallel. Both bass and peacock will hang in these areas, especially if you can find some moving water. Peacock will often school in these areas if there is some current. They are often called a wolf pack! Catch one and several others follow it in. Good luck!

I often look for bird activity when looking for signs of fish. A variety of birds are more attune to fish activity then we will ever be. They make a living on finding fish from birth to death, and are super alert. Birds sitting in nearby trees are a good indication. Osprey nests are always a good sign. They are messy eaters and bait fish hang under cleaning up scraps. Bass hang out looking for those bait fish. Water birds circling low to the water is a sign of schooling fish chasing baitfish. Herons and egrets hunt the shore line and don't hang long if there is no fish activity. Birds are a great sign, and always take notice. Bass are often keying in on the smaller fish that the birds are keying in on!

In the last few years I have had several close encounters with gator. Because I was in my 18 foot bass boat I was not concerned. In a Kayak I would definitely be concerned. Both times it was during breading season and I believe it was a territorial display. We were rapidly approached by a 10 footer who followed for us for quite some time. It kept getting closer and closer and finally made a burst of speed right next to the boat and slapped the side of the boat with a hard tail slap. It then swam off. Another time a 8 footer swam up to the boat and ran right into the trolling motor with its mouth. Thank God it didn't bite the T/M. I would not want to be in a Kayak for that. Alligator Alley is full of gators of all size during low water levels in the glades. I think both of these occurrences were territorial in nature. They just didn't want us in their area. We agreed!!!!!!

I have two confidence baits that I will go to when things are tough. I know these baits will catch fish, when nothing else gets a sniff. I will stick with them for long periods of time, because they have pulled though during tough times. Nothing wrong with being a little stubborn if you believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Bass all over the south love senko type baits. You can fish them slow, fish them fast. Swim them weightless, wacky rig them, or get them to walk with a jerk stop retrieve. You can fish them deep or shallow in the heaviest cover They are a great bait when the fish are in a funky mood or when their chasing bait. When things get really tough I always fish a plastic stickbait. Your not the only one that has become a believer!