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Find the pad fields and throw a frog or Texas rigged bait into the vegetation. Find a pad area with two or more types of vegetation in close proximity and you have hit a home run. Bass wilt be chilling right under the pads.

The Merrell sandal with a closed toe and a comfortable back strap is a great water shoe with no slippage. Toes are protected, very cool and supportive.

I will repeat what Sam said. If you see lightning or hear thunder get off the water. More people killed by lightning in Florida then any other state.

They have the right to keep any fish as long as it meets all state rules and regulations. I personally think it is just stupid to keep big bass for several reasons. 1). They are the top of the breeding stock and the future of the sport we love. 2). They can be caught again and that's why we are all here, to catch fish and enjoy the sport. 3).Take measurements a beautiful replica can be made today. 4).The big ones just don't taste that good, 4 or 5 one pound fish would be a much better meal. I will not lose one second of sleep over someone keeping a big slab, but it is just plain stupid for the sport!!!!!!

I have caught a hawk in mid flight on Alligator Alley, when he flew into my line and then the devil horse moved quickly up to the bird and hooked him in the arm pit. He dropped like a stone into the canal. it was an ere bringing the bird in on its back and the talons opening and closing, and squawking like crazy, in a threatening manner. Luckily we had two big towels we threw over the bird and got the treble hook out from the wing. The bird sat for ten minutes in a low bush and then flew off ticked at us. Something I don't want to deal with again!!!!!

If there is more then one of these fish in these waters then something must be going on in the environment. This is a strange occurrence!.

Wow 40 years of constant bass fishing, I have never caught a bass that looked like that!!!!

Tim is 100% correct on the thickness of the braid. If I use 65 pound braid I have fewer problems then with 30 pound braid. Thinner braid digs into itself. You may help the situation with a good line spray.

Run that motor following the break in procedure. With e 10 fuel one of the worst things you can do is let the motor sit without use. I only use ethanol free fuel in my boat. It cost more but will save money in the long run. It is better then using additives to e10 fuel. Find a station with ethanol free, they are around.

This morning I went out for a couple of hours and the bite was tough. All bass were deep close to the bottom and hugging the drop off walls. I thew the stick-o in watermelon purple and had to dead stick it until it reached the bottom, then slowly pull it a foot or two and let it sit again. The bite was very subtle, you could barely feel a slight tick on the line. Anything faster would produce nothing. Ended up catching ten in a two hour period. Big one was over 4 pounds. Summer with 90+ water temps is a tough time of the year, and takes a lot of patients to catch fish.

Welcome to the group. All our boat engines hate that crap. I have not used E10 in years. I use recreation fuel that is ethanol free, and refuse to put that garbage in the boat. Find a station with the good stuff. It costs more but saves money in the long run. Wait to they jump it up to E15.

Clear water or slight stain I like watermelon red, watermelon seed, or Morning Dawn. Dark stain, muddy water, Junebug, black. 4" senko, or BP sticko has been doing exceptionally well. Fish weightless, or light weight, and slow pull on bottom and slight jerk and long pause in the thick stuff. Watch your line closely, the bite has been very subtle

This is definitely a tough time to fish down here in Florida. Summer bass don't always go deep, they often go for heavy cover and sit under the thick vegetation where the O2 levels are a little higher, and there is shade from the summer sun. Also O2 levels are sometimes low in deeper water from dying vegetation especially in summer. Look for areas with a little current. They will set up in the shade close to the current in an ambush mode. Wind driven current will work if you have grass islands like on Okeechobee. As others have said fish early or fish late when the suns rays are not beating straight down. I will also slow down with an assortment of Texas rigged plastics and either just drag them slow, or slow jerk and long pause. Throw them in the heavy junk and be a line watcher.

I fish the bait almost everyday. Lots of good info in the previous reports. I will include a M/H rod, and take up slack before slamming the hook set. I seldom have a problem, if they are bass. Like someone said, some baitfish will nibble on the tail.

(I usually go the opposite way you did). I will begin throwing a variety of baits I think might be good for the conditions. If I determine that the bass don't want to cooperate, then I go to my most trusted pattern and stick to it until they bite. If that doesn't work, I go home and have a cold one.

You got to have one or two techniques you have real faith in, and believe they will almost always work. A lot of fishing is trust in what your doing, and sticking with a proven pattern. I know guys that their go too pattern is top water rapalas, tornpedos, chugbugs, others with the hollow body frog, flipping and pitching guys, and mine is the 4": senko with the lightest weight possible for max movement with the slightest rod shake. They all work for the believer! Find a technique and get as good as you can with one or two. There is not just one magical way to catch fish on tough days, their are just fisherman that have mastered something, and believe in it. and stick with what they believe.

Ill start with a Cane toad frog bite, or a hollow body frog fished in, and around the junk. When things really get tough I always go to a weightless 4" senko and fish it very slow. Lots of pauses and small jerks. I fish the weeds and if its deeper I'll add a 1/32 bullet weight. Use as little weight as possible to get the job done. You get a lot more movement from the bait. It always works, it just takes patients and be a line watcher for the slightest movement. Great tough bite technique. Watermelon red or Junebug for stained water. If you cant catch them with this technique move on to different waters.

Loxahatchee is a big 20 square mile swamp with a rim canal running around it. They have had speed traps set up on the levee to catch speeders. No other body of water has a speed limit other then this one. It is a federal preserve !

That boat weighs in under 2,200 pounds.

I see most agree that 400 HP is over kill. I think most of us are just not equipped to deal with the reaction time to control a boat at those types of speeds. Throw in a little chime walk and your putting yourself and passenger at risk. Professional racers might feel comfortable, but not the novice fisherman. Yamaha just came out with a 450 engine, I wonder how many have already been rigged on a bass boat. I'm sure a Lanier Catamaran might be able to handle it. It would be interesting to watch it run.

I went fishing at Loxahatchee National Preserve and a guy pulls up with a new Bass Cat with a new 400 HP MERCURY racing engine. I was shocked to see a bass boat with that much power on the back. He said it will run 90 all day long, but he hasn't opened it up fully yet. . As a long time bass boat owner, and a south Florida fisherman, I would be afraid of hitting a gator that will never be able to get out of the way in time. Big gators barely get out of the way of my boat, and it only goes 55 MPH. I loved the boat, and would be thrilled to take it for a spin, but how fast is too fast on the water. I'm sure we will be seeing more and more of these big bass boats with monster engines in the future. After 40 years of fishing I know shallow weedy lakes are just full of all types of hazards.

Great job catching your PB.

Bass could be all throughout the pad field. If your going to fish deep into the field you are going to have sturdier fishing tackle to get a big fish out of those pads. 50 to 65 pound braid will be the line of choice if attacking deep in the field. A 7' to 7.4' rod with plenty of backbone will be helpful in not losing bass after bass. There are bass back in these large pad fields, you need the right equipment to get them out. If your not prepared just keep fishing the edges, openings, and cuts in the pads with your normal tackle.

It happens down here in Florida sometimes. Its summer, hotter then hell, water temps near 90*, and sometimes stagnant water. It can be real tough! Fish early and fish late.

Over the years during hot weather with 90* water, I have had some big L/M that have been pulled in with hardly a shake and very little fight. It has always happened during the warmest months and usually in open deeper water. It is not always like that even in summer, but it has happened and it always amazes me how that big fish put up no fight. I don't no why this sometimes happens, but I suspect it might have something to do with lower oxygen levels especially in our shallow, sometime stagnant, Florida waters. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this situation, but it is weird phenomenon. Usually fish over 6 pounds.