SFL BassHunter

2 dinks today. Not having much luck lately. But I've been trying to fish a little more with cranks. The 4 or 5 pounder at Tropical Park continues to elude me. I saw her 3 times today just patrolling the bank but no matter what she doesn't budge on any of my baits. Got a new Rod and Reel. Got me the Berkley Amp Rod (6'6''Medium) and the Pflueger Trion25 So far so good, smooth reel and very sensitive rod.

Got skunked at tropical today. Not having much luck this week.

I'd love to catch a monster like that! Gotta step it up, those 2 pounds I've been catching aren't cutting it lol.

Hi Larry, as awesome as that idea sounds, it also sounds like it could be a lot of work. lol

I like the detection on the line with braid and the feel of it, but I've had a fair share of issues with braid. My spiderwire braid is absolute garbage. It snaps so easily. My sufix braid fades. My friends power pro gets an absurd amount of wind knots. So I prefer the sufix as fading is the least of the 3 evils.

Went up to Mills Pond Park for about 3 hours and ended up with 1 small bass. Disappointing. I'm crossing that park off my list, that 2 times I've been skunked there. So I went to Tropical on my way home and hooked up 3 fish in 30 minutes. Whenever in doubt go to where you know there are fish lol. I took pics of 2 of the 3 from tropical, I always feel bad for the little babies and toss them back asap. I felt real bad for the small one at Mills Pond cause I hooked him through the mouth and into the eye. Poor little fella.

Shore fishing or boat?

Thinking about going to C.B. Smith tomorrow after I get out of work. Anything good to report from that park?

Wow! I hate treble hooks too. I seem to snag them on everything. I've caught my tackle bag numerous times, my fishing shirts, my shorts, my car seats, but luckily not myself!

It was at Amelia. What bothers me is the guy had no intention of eating the fish from the start. He was probably between 18-21 so he wasn't a little kid and should know better. The truth is if there are no signs then it's hard to enforce. Even then park officials sometimes just don't care.

Went to the park today and had no luck. There was another guy fishing and he caught 2. One of them was a nice size probably about 3 pounds. Unfortunately he didn't release them. He had them on a rope and came by to ask if I wanted them. I told him I didn't eat bass and i wouldnt eat anything from that lake. He proceeded to tell me he wasn't going to eat them either. I let him know that if he wasn't going to eat them he should have released them immediately instead of letting one die on a rope. People are idiots. It's common sense, if you aren't going to eat it, then release it.

Finally got out and did some fishing. I've had a jammed finger for about a week, the swelling finally came down enough where holding the rod wasn't painful. Alright so I am loving Okeechobee Craw color. I've been having great success with different types of plastics in that color. I was there for about 5 minutes and caught my first one. Then about 10 minutes later caught a smaller one (no picture I like to put the little fellars back in quick.). This one was 1.5 lbs and about 13 inches long.

Nice one! Guess the practice canal is stepping it up!

I'm telling you, it really isn't good. I can't stand it. Took it off one of my rods already.

Ah ok yup then forget the guide lol. I wish you luck and tight lines!

If you are coming down that far, then spend the extra cash on a guide on lake toho for sure. Or rent a boat. I tried fishing the north shore when I went up there and got skunked. I don't normally do guides but if I plan on taking a major trip to do fishing in another state, then I'll do a guide maybe the first day to learn the area and the fish then maybe rent a boat on the second day. If you plan on catching a monster then the guide is the best way to go. From shore you'll be very limited and can't go find the monsters, you would have to hope that a monster comes to you. I wouldn't be to scared of the Gators. Just keep your eyes open, I am constantly looking around making sure they don't sneak up on me. I also don't make a b line to the shore without scoping it out first. I did that once in the glades and actually ended up spooking a baby gator into the water. Lucky for me it was a baby gator and not a full size man eating gator lol. Snakes are another danger down here in Florida. They like to hang out in the grass and can also be on trees, they are harder to spot than gators. I wear tall rugged outdoor boots and thick tall socks when I go fishing along with jeans. Definitely wear pants and maybe even a long sleeve shirt (or bring repel with you). Lots of bugs, and mosquito in Florida.

Hey JellyMan just hang in there bud. Probably just a matter of figuring out what they like to eat over there.

You need a go pro to show your son what you fish for. LOL.

Tropical Park today again. Slow start at around 2pm. Didn't hook up with any till about 3 and I lost it just as it was in eye sight range. Decent size fish, probably 2 lbs or so. I then caught this one on a stick worm. Weighed in at 1.12 lbs. I had a big un swim right by the bank. The biggest fish I've seen there, it had to be 4 or 5 pounds easy. I wasn't able to retrieve my lure in time to flip near it before I lost sight of it.

At Turkey Lake I had some success using Senko and a few other stick baits. The park is beautiful, relaxing and the lake has fish in it which is the most important part. They also rent nice looking jon boats for like 35 bucks. With a motor and trolling motor. Their rentals arent every day though. Just Thursday - Sunday and you probably have to call to reserve ahead seeing as those 5 boats are the only ones they allow to fish the lake. Though you can always fish from the shore. I would give you other advice if I had any, but it's the only place I know since I am not from there.

I used some yesterday. I have them in the blue and white color and okeechobee craw. I like the design of the pit boss but always felt they might be a bit big for the place I fish regularly. I tried my new pit boss jrs yesterday and got a bass on each color. The 4" us to big for a trailer also in my opinion where the 3 seems to fit just fine. In fact I put it on as a trailer on one of my bitsy bugs and used that for a bit. I got a bite on it but failed to set the hook properly. So in my opinion, they do work and I love the colors I got. Any time I find Okeechobee Craw colors in jigs or plastics, I go for it. I've had great results with that color down here in South Florida.

Maybe I just got a bad spool of it then. I've gotten the complete opposite from mine. LOL. I won't try Power Pro. I have a friend that has it on several of his rods and he is always battling wind knots and stuff. He went to Sufix like I did and he hasnt had any knots or issues. Glad to hear your spiderwire is working out for you. Maybe some day I'll give it another chance but for now I've got enough Sufix to last me a bit. Well I have yet to do any bluegill or panfish hunting and decided to give it a shot as well. I made some bait balls with flour, water, and garlic another batch with Vanilla Extract. Probably give em a try tomorrow if the Bass bite is slow.

Penn Fierce is great. I've got one. Have you bought spiderwire braid before? I have that same braid and I switched to Sufix Braid. Though the spiderwire doesnt give me issues with windknots, it does snap rather easy. It's far weaker than my 15lb sufix.

Lou is right, google earth is a great way to find places. If you like fishing at parks where you know you won't be run out by residents you can always look at the county web sites. For example Broward has their own. Here you can find several locations for fishing, they even tell you what kind of fish are at these parks. http://www.broward.org/PARKS/THINGSTODO/Pages/fishing.aspx

The north lake where I fish has 2 sections, the more open water area (south part of the lake) and then the area with mostly cover. Lilypads and their stems everywhere. I generally fish the area with cover. I generally fish an area for a while till the bites stop there, then I move. But for example the first 2 fish I caught in the same area with 2 different pit boss jrs. The last fish I moved to a different area to catch. But the reason I mention it is because this has been a trend for me. Even when I was fishing the other day with stick baits, I was consistently catching fish when I changed out my stick bait. Anyways, hope you enjoy my artistic skills on this map of the Tropical Park lake lol.