Bangin' Bucketmouths

I may recieve a lot of hate for this, but I personally keep a lot of the bass I catch when ever I go fishing in lakes. The bass I keep however, are usually in the two pound range, and I've never kept one over 4 pounds. Bass are exceptional eating, and taste best before they get large. Their meat becomes more chewy, and can be more hazardous from mercury accumulation. I've caught plenty of large bass, but all were released safely. As for pond fishing, which makes up 90% of my fishing, all of them get released. I'm lucky to live on the Kissimmee lake system, so I know that my 100 2 pounders a year will not have an effect on the population.

As for colors go for darker colors in murky overcast days, florescent colors on murky sunny days, and natural colors for clear water. Use silver in sunny clear conditions. This applies for all lures.

I've used Spooks in saltwater, usually will upsize the lure the deeper the water gets. On the flats we will use the smaller size unless if it's windy. Then as we head out into deeper water, anything more the 6 feet, we will upsize. As for bass, I'd judge off the wind. On a really calm day without that much wind, I would use a smaller lure as a bigger lure could spook them. But on a windy day you need all the action you can get.

I have had two really ugly mistakes. FIrst, I was having fun fighting a gator on my heavy action 80 pound braid combo. It was about a 5 or 6 footer. My freind and I were fighting him for about 30 minutes. I guess at which that point he had enough, for he took off and ripped drag out of the rel that would have me spooled within 30 seconds. In an act of desperation I grabbed the line with my thumb and palm. Simply said, it made my pole into a cheese grater and blood was shed. Not to mention I lost of my $30 braid, and my favorite Baby Torpedo. This next mistake was more embarrasing than it was detrimental, I was fishing with my cheapest baitcaster, with some cheapo-mono spooled on it. I was night fishing with my friend, and I always carry my tackle back pack with me aroud the pond as we fish. I went to go make a long overhead cast. Since neither of us could see what we were doing, we listened for the splash of my lure on the water. When it didn't come, we looked at eachother puzzled, until he flashed my reel. The biggest rats nest of all time had occured because the lure had hooked into my backpack and my spool kept spinning... I ending up having to strip all the line of at home and my night was over. At least it wasn't another spool of $30 braid. As long as you fish, you'll make mistakes.

Grab a jig, make a long cast at roughly a 30 degree angle to the water side if you're facing parrallel to the shore. Work it in really slow, spending about two minutes on each cast. If you don't understand what I'm saying, visualize yourself with your arm perpendicular to your body and it should be parrallel to the shore. The make a cast 30 degrees to whichever side the water is on. I've caught several large fish in my ponds using this method, including my personal best 12.8 pounder.

The worst feeling is when a fish breaks your line then jumps next to you to spit out the lure. The feeling of picking your torpedo out of the water with the line snapped and the fish gone is a terrible one.

my mistake, I should have rechecked my sources, all that I know is that I saw in a Field and Stream magazine maybe 4 years ago the WR caught in Cali, and the said it was 3 and a half pounds. Thanks for the correction.

Nothing beats a pair of Costas though. My father has a pair and even though I love my polarized Oakleys, the Costas are as close to x-ray vision as you can get.

Thanks guys, I think I'm going to take the jig route, and use my black and blue strikeking rattle jig, and throw a creature bait on the back, if that doesn't work, I just picked up a pack of Junebug Horny Toads. Thanks for the feedback guys!

Tonight I'm going to try to go night fishing. Nothing new. However, I'm a little bit confused because it has been raining for the last few days and the water has been stirred up quite a bit. I need something thats completely weedless, and my normal go to nightbait is a frog, but I know from before that cloudy water often turns off the topwater bait. Spinnerbaits are off limits due to the amount of vegetation in the water. Any suggestions? I live in Orlando Florida, and the water temperature is around the 70's

I personally have the best luck with jigs on rainy days, but it could be different in your case, when in doubt I throw the jig.

Try fishing with a dark colored finnesse worm on a split shot rig, that's what I have been catching most of my bass on recently. If that doesn't work throw in a jig with a rattle on it or try a colorado bladed spinner bait.

I have a friend whose father has that rod I think. It must be good because he uses it often and has never complained about it.

I just make a knot like when you go to tie your shoes, the first step where you cross you laces under. I do that twice, whatever that know is called.

I caught and ate probably a 7-8 pounder recently, after fighting her on a pole I was using for bluegill fishing. The world record for bowfin is 21 pounds caught here in florida, they do pull harder than any other fish their size.

Flyfishing for Mudfish sounds like one hell of a fight, from some other forums I've read, I imagine the best way to do this is after their spawn. They protect their fry cloud, and dragging a fly through one would almost certainly intice a strike. I've even read of mudfish attacking waders that walk into their cloud. A fearless fish if you ask me.

LMAO This made me laugh so hard. I agree with you so much. SoCal fishermen are ridiculously spoiled with ridiculously sized fish. An "average" nice fish is 10 pounds. Even here in Florida 10 pounders are exciting and rare.

Just make sure there are not any signs that warn against it, and be sure to always zone out the neighborhood. Focus on the pond, be quiet, and don't attract any attention. As long as you don't look suspicous, you won't seem suspicious. If someone is in their backyard or trying to enjoy the pond, be courteous and walk down some ways. If the pond has a side that is undeveloped, fish this side first, as it will usually have better fishing anyways. Like others have said, if someone asks what you are doing or asks you to leave, respond in a courteous and polite manner.

The Bowfin: you either love them or you hate them. Most will catch the toothy fossil and then bang them against the side of their boat or stab plyers through that bony skull after the infamous mudfish has ravaged their favorite lure. As for me however, I look at this fish with wonder an awe. The product of perfection, the bowfin has evolved little in 150 million years. In the rare instance I catch one, I make sure I safely release them into the water, to carry on their rather mysterious lives of ripping schools of baitfish or slurping crawfish off the bottom. Whenever I do catch them on artificials, usually a white spinner bait, I enjoy the hard pulling and headshaking fight they put up, making aggressive runs ripping drag and shaking the rodtip as thrash their heads, attempting to throw the hook or slash your line. They really are a work of predatory art, even more so than our beloved Bass. The rumors run wild with the Bowfin, from the terrible tasting meat, to their "bass only" diet. Both of these are rather untrue, as I have had delicous mudfish both fried and smoked, so long as it is fresh. Mudfish, depending on their area, usually feed on crustaceans and crawdads, as well as scavenge all the dead fish in the water. While a small bass may occasionally show up on the bowfin's menu, they do not target gamefish specifically. Therefore I must ask you of my beloved bowfin: Are you the fishermen that kills the fish and leaves it to rot, or do you release or eat them, just curious if any others share my opinion.

It all depends on where you live. Most places a large Bluegill is roughly a pound. Here in Florida though, Bluegill are not considered big until they're a pound and a half, and I've caught some big ones, including a 2 pounder. The world record was caught in Cali and weighed a ridiculous 3 and a half pounds. Any big bluegill will be one that has given up that tan coloration for the dark purple and blue body, and will often have a white spot on its head. These are called "shellcrackers" and for good reason, these will crush small baits harder than almost any fish besides a bowfin.