Pz3

You know after how you described this.... They say there is no better feeling in the world then giving people gifts. If you got to much tackle I could use some gifts. Win win!

Big bowfin on a beetlespin is as crazy as my stories go.

To me fishing pressure determines how willing the big fish bite (they remember lures). Well balanced stable eco systems would probably be the major factor in producing trophy size fish. Water quality is probably very important as well. Parasites, chemicals, and diseases probably kill large bass more fish then anything else.

Got out on the water again. Well, landed one today 2-3lbs on the Bitters Vibe (native shiner) and hooked into a pig, est from the jump 7+ lbs. That piggy went after the Bitters Muskrat (green Pumpkin). Shook it out after diving into somethick grass. Will be out on a boat again thursday trying to find biggins again.

They are fairly predictable. Never really had issues with them.

Pretty cool that they showed it. When you see an 8+ foot gator face down in the lilly pads with its rear end swaying around out of the water as its attacking something. That is something to see!

I won't proclaim to know everything about camp blanding but last I knew it was a military base. Which means you must either know some one in the military who can get you in or you need to be a federal employee. Can't say I've ever been to the base to fish. I have trained there but as long as no signs were posted, I wouldnt see why not?

Decided to switch it up a little bit today! I tossed in around 4pm and managed to land a 3-4lb bass using a Rapala Husky Jerk. Was pretty happy about it and got several hits on softbaits but the bite died down as the sun went down. This little kid was watching me fish the whole time telling me about how he loves fishing and uses a bait caster etc. Told him he should go grab a pole and meet me at the dock. Im fairly confident in bottom fishing with bait at night. He never showed up but the night fishing was exactly what I needed. I got my 3 poles together. Rigged two up with an egg weight sinker, swivel, leader, and hook. My bass rod I put my widegap hook on it with no weights. Caught 4 brim using hook, extra line and bread. Tossed them in a bucket to die except one. I sent the one out on my bass rod to go swim free. Cut another one up and tossed the peices on the other two rods. This is when it gets fun...... First Catch of the night was on my bass rod! No it wasn't a bass, a 5-6ft Alligator Gar got him! That was one hell of a fight. 2. Channel Cat around 6lbs 3. Gar around 3ft 4. Bullhead Catfish around 3lbs 5. Gar around 4ft 6. Bullhead Catfish around 4lbs Then these two guys which were absolutely fun to catch as well. Not sure how much they weighed but gosh dang it felt as much as the big alligator gar. 7. Bowfin (around 3ft) 8. Bowfin (around 3ft) I kept and cleaned the cats up and will be chowing down later. Last but not least the little story about the little bass I caught yesterday. Reeling the ultravibe in top water no weight. I see a huge wave coming up behind it.... got so excited thought this wave had to be a huge fish! Set the hook hard! BAM!........ >1lb Bass comes flying by my head. I never sent a bass flying like that before lol.

Rattle Trap / Soft Plastic Baits *edit* Guy down near the boat dock I usually frequent Caught a 12lb bass today. Using a live Brim. The depth averages between 2-4ft deep water. With limited cover. This was around 3pm.

In this current situation, The cold front was rather mild and water temperature was effected slightly. With today being warm, the fish will move into shallows looking for mates and food. Already caught 2 today. As the air temperature goes up the fish should become more active. I would say 4pm to sundown being your best bet on catching them in shallows.

I've caught them on a lot of different things I will say this though. You really want to make them go crazy? Here is the setup...... Bait: Zoom Trick Worms (Black) 1/4oz Bullet Weight Texas Rigged. Technique: In my opinion the best way to catch them is on cool days with a fast retrieve (subsurface). The Trick worm can be off set slightly on the hook and shake the rod a bit as you reel it in. This will make the trick worm have a lot of wiggle action going on (can twist line you may want a swivel and leader). This absolutely drives them nuts. I found their fun to catch and usually target them this way when I have no bass biting. Keep in mind I am in Florida. Your pickerel may act differently.

I would look on Google. Use maps with street view to see if you can spot anything nearby. *edit* 5 minutes on there and I would say..... Nathan Benderson Park looks decent. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=sarasota+florida&ll=27.358876,-82.455107&spn=0.003859,0.013937&hnear=Sarasota,+Sarasota+County,+Florida&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=27.359248,-82.45487&panoid=aBzaJ3hs10C9HKt3OuWVfg&cbp=11,106.14,,0,-1.73

I don't know my work schedule yet but I'll swing by if possible.

Sounds good to me, I had about the same kind of day. Caught 3 around 1lb or less, Which is strange to me, that Bitters Vibe I've been using is pretty dang fat. Manage to find one around 3lbs as well. Was pretty chilly today so they were put off until the sun poked out. Nice to see three of us with similare results for a change

Fished lake underhill for an hour. Got 3 bites and landed a female 4-5lbs. Using the black bitters worm on heavy cover in the pooring rain.

Was pretty exciting to watch. Crazy to see the crowed though. Guess it didn't hurt the fishing all that much.

I have no boat at the moment but at some point I do plan on doing these types of events regularly. I would love to spend a day out with some fellow OEF vets.

Did a little bait shopping earlier today. It almost got a little crazy but my smarter half of my brain had to say no to a lot of the things I wanted. I did manage to pick these up though. Bitters Green Pumpkin Vibe. Bitters 7.5Inch Black Original Worms. Xcalibur X50 Pearl Melon (single weight) Went out on the boat today around noon with my uncle for a few hours. The lake we were on is mostly reeds with very little other cover. We tried doing some drifting with plastics and a lot of spinner bait action. Ended up empty handed. Seen crappie hitting on something (top water) tossed in a couple beetle spins but they weren't interested. Made a run to the bait shop after lunch..... Tried again late in the day 6-7pm at the Fish Camp. I didn't have much luck throwing the new hard bait so switched over to the green pumpkin ultravibe. Fishing in heavy cover again looking for the fish and sure enough found one. 4-5lb female that got hung up in the lilly pads right as I was about to pull her up. Trying to get her out she manged to get off the hook. Nice fish though. Other guy was using live brim and landed a couple nice bass, and another guy was landing a few with brown pumpkin sinkos. All in all. Its nice to see my 10lb test (trilene) can handle a good size fish in that kind of mess.

If I can get black or tan.

I got to do a little fishing today. Had to do some business near West Lake Toho so I stopped for an hour and tossed in that new spinner bait. Landed a nice bass about the same size as Lou. Was a good fight suprisingly I was expecting 5lbs at least. Poor guys on the pier were there all day and caught nothing. I come walking up and 5 minutes later reeling one in. I also pulled in a Pike over 30 inches. That guy had me going because I thought for sure it was a bass when I seen him miss the first hit.

I had them too and use to do the same thing. Then one day it snapped..... I guess maybe thats why there are no spinner baits made out of it yet lol.

I always wanted to see some kind of lures made out of that fancy space grade memory metal. Like these glasses: Spinnerbait would be a good candidate!

I know a lot of us have to do it and some probably won't tell another living soul what exactly they do. This is what I call Bait Cannibalism.... It is taking a lure and combining it with another lure, in whole, or part, and or modifying one with another, to make your own specialty killer bait. So what is your secret combo? I'll start with some of my general habits, I often: Change the colors of my soft plastic using other soft plastics to get the desired colors I want. I have been known to buy Jigs and put their skirts on spinnerbaits. Mix and match spinner/jig skirts. What are some of your crazy combinations?

Speak of the devil! I've been using the walmart 1$ spinners discussed earlier in the thread. They were hit and miss baits though. Some the skirts fall apart, some don't, I did how ever pick up this today. I'll let you know how it does after a few times out. That fish hit solid and shook violently enough to destroy your spinner thats pretty rough. Bad batch of baits? Older spinnerbait? That one spinner bait with the jointed head might be worth looking into. Supposibly it cuts down on losing fish when they shake.

I've been using a Pen Pursuit II. It is a saltwater combo and it definitly isn't My favorite. That title would go to a 60$ Quantum that my mother broke when we went fishing together (dang mothers). I have a 20$ diawa combo, and 30$ okuma combo from walmart. Out of all of them. That Okuma was best bang for the buck could feel everything in that rod and it reeled in the fish nicely. This is the problem im having with the Okuma and Diawa though. The bell doesn't lock in place anymore. Haven't opened them up yet to see why.