bocabasser

Early last month, I fished a tourny and won with 5 fish that weighed 34.15. It was an amazing day and I also had first and second big fish with 8.6 and 7.10 respectively. I also had a day about a year ago where I sat at a pipe during a monsoon, and a friend and I caught over 300 fish standing in the same spot in a 2 hour period. It was absolutely crazy. Nothing big, but fishe between 1 and 3 pounds.

i really don't look at the cost of making my own soft plastics. i save everything that i use, and i am in a club and asked the members to give me their used soft baits. i look at it this way, i want to make a bait that nobody has. if it works and you start stroking fish on it then you have a bait that will catch them and only you know about it. i make my molds out of plaster of paris.

i need some help selecting the right color bait for fishing a canal that has tannic water. the water is rust colored and very clear. what colors will work in this type of situation. i have caught a boat load of fish in this canal, but i just know that a certain color may produce the "big" one. please help.

i will be turning 40 this year, and i am truly blessed that i was born and raised in the great state of florida. i clearly recal fishing from my dock on c-14 (a local canal) when i was 5 years old. every saturday and sunday my mom would take me to the bait and tackle shop to get night crawlers. whenever i ran out of bait, which happened often, i would get in the water and collect clams, slapp them together and use the meat for bait. i would fish from sun up to sun down every weekend and after school. i have never stopped fishing for bass. in my late teens i slowed down a bit, because i got heavily into surfing. i still however never stopped catching bass. now i have 2 kids, a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn daughter. i pray that they will love to fish for bass as much as i do.

always keep a journal. i have been journaling every trip this year. the president of my club turned me on to keeping a journal. he has been journaling for 10 years, and he chooses sites for our tourny's based on his findings. as a matter of fact, holiday park here in florida has been red hot. however, it is starting to slow down. our next tourny is at a lake that according to his journal will start firing soon. so it helps when trying to find fish and what baits are working.

if you join a club and most of the guys will not share info with you, find a new club. there are a lot of guys that just don't share info. i am a firm beleiver of karma. if you help someone out, it will come back to you. there are a lot of bass clubs here in florida, but the club i am in, everyone shares info. they might not tell you 100% of there knowledge, but most will give you a heads up on what areas and baits are working.

you have to set the hook sooner. watch the line. sounds like everybody has given great advice, but if you are not comfortable with trying to remove the hook from a bass' gut, just cut the line as close to the hook as possible. the fish will still live with the hook in its gut and eventually the hook will erode and fall out.

i caught 34.15 in a tournament 2 weeks ago. i also had first and second big fish with 8.6 and 7.10. i walked with $940. it is still the heaviest stringer at holiday park this year. i also have big fish at holiday with the 8.6. it was an amazing day and all of my fish were caught on top with a gambler lizard.

lake okeechobee lake toho lake istokpoga stick marsh-i caught about 30 over 6 pounds, and i was with a friend who caught an 11.7 holiday park sawgrass loxahatchee at least 5 golf courses and a couple of lakes that are kinda hidden behind stores and stuff

i don't know about pickerel, but every time i hook into a dink (very small bass), i reel him in nice and slow. i once had about a 12 pound hog come up and make a swipe at it. so i am sure it works. i don't know if it is legal though.

i would go with at least a 50# thrust trolling motor. you should get a deep cycle marine battery (wal mart 60$) and that should be plenty. i have a flats boat and a 55# thrust trolling motor and i can use the trolling motor for a good 6 hours.

anybody know of a website that carries plastics for molds?

RL, you can definitely do it yourself. i got 3 quotes to service my outboard, and the cheapest price i got was $350, and the most expensive quote i got was $500. do yourself a favor and by your engines manual. i bought my engines manual from ebay for about 20 bucks. after the 3 quotes i got, i went to the marine center, bought the waterpump kit which included the impellar, gaskets, and everything i needed plus i bought the oil and the total was 45 dollars. i did the job myself and saved a boat load of money for the bait monkey. do what i did and call some mechanics and pick their brain, most of the guys will give you helpful tips.

jc, go to walmart and buy 20 or 30 pound power pro and respool your spinner. you can use a number of baits, but i would try the gambler cane toad in bullfrog color. slowly swim the cane toad over the pads and hang on. you don't need to buy a baitcaster or different rod, just change your line and hold on.

different skirt the eye of the jig has an opening no reflective tape on the blade dull hook the trailer is made of a different plastic they still catch fish, but have heard horror stories that the blade will come off during a fight. i use the original 2 that i got about 5 months ago, only in tournaments. the new ones i got yesterday, will get the field test tomorrow when i prefish for a sunday tourny.

after just receiving my order from RAD that i placed on 3-05-06, and seeing how they actually made the bait cheaper than the original, i am considering making my own with the split rings, just like the gambler swim blades. it should not be that hard.

start with a buzz, but if no blow ups, do what texan said and go with a pop r or my choice a frog. i like a frog better than a buzz because i can really sloww a frog down and still keep it on top. i am fishing in the a.m. as well and i have 3 top water rods rigged with a speed worm, frog, and a big spook. tomorrow will be hot so at around 10 or so, i will start flippin, chatterin, flukin and big wormin it.

JUNEBUG

Cali may have the most heaviest bass, but remember that ALL of those fish, are a strain of the FLORIDA largemouth. We just don't have lakes that have trout in them for bass to eat.

7pounds 13oz. caught at lake istokpoga during a club tourney. the thing that sucked, is another member of my club caught an 8pound 5oz. fish the same day.

WOW. that was rad! i was contemplating dropping $30 on the strike king "king kong" swim bait, and that video does it for me. just gotta use 65# power pro.

thank you sir.

just switched chargers from a shumacher to a black and decker smart charger 15/10/2. it asks what type of battery, a wet, gel, or agm battery. what does this mean? please someone help.

born and raised in broward county. i now live in boca (palm beach county). i fish everywhere from holiday park to lake istokpoga and everywhere in between. best fishing for me is in a gated community in coral springs. lots of big large and giant peacocks. i also fish for snook and tarpon. matter of fact, i got an 80# tarpon last night on a doa shrimp. but i love fishing bass tourneys.

thanks rw. it is an all star, do you know if they would have them?