hawgenvy

Lake Okeechobee this morning at 6:31.

I helps to have a fast reel, 7:1 or faster. It's also nice to have a rig that is lightweight, because punching/pitching all day can be taxing. But you don't need anything too fancy since you're not casting or reeling in a fish from afar. The fish fighting power when in close quarters comes primarily from the rod and your arms. For me, once I get bit, the reel serves primarily to quickly take up slack.

I invited my son, Michael, currently in town visiting from Nashville, out to a local spot last evening to catch a few summer dinks. He executed a perfect hookset to nail this puppy.

Benvenuto, Mateo! I hope you will post some photos on this site of catching fish in beautiful north of Italia.

I've caught some peacocks and LMB in the canal that parallels and is adjacent to Military trail, between Palmetto Park Rd to the north and the Hillsboro Canal to the south. It's also loaded with large Mayan cichlids, which are fun to play with. The Hillsboro Canal is full of fish also. Fish it if you can find some accessible spots that are not too steep, especially around locks. May even find some snook in there, as well as peacocks, LMB, and some snakeheads. You can catch bass and snakeheads in the canal along the El Rio Trail north of Yamato Rd if you're willing to punch through heavy vegetation. You might need a 2 oz weight. The canal along Boca Rio Road has some nice bass and it's easily accessible between Glades Road and SW 18th St. Try any golf course or residential pond if there's no gatehouse or if you can get in with permission. Good luck. Bring water to drink -- it's hot. Look out for fire ants.

I coaxed this fat little piggie out of impossible pad cover tonight, pitching a black/blue Menace Grub.

I nailed this fiesty 5-10 tonight in the shallows at sunset on a T-rigged black/blue S.K Rage Menace. I wasn't expecting much from shore fishing a pressured residential lake this time of year, so I was thrilled to get this beautiful girl. The Menace grub is a brand new addition to my arsenal, and I am very impressed with its ability to attract bites and with the variety of ways you can fish it. I'm looking forward to unleashing the Menace on Lake Okeechobee next week.

I was pitching a brushhog in the everglades last month with my Helios 7-6, and after landing a 2 pounder I saw that the blank had snapped just before the tip. Now it's a 7-5.

I have about seven Lew's reels that I use regularly in only fresh water and I do nothing at all to them. I think I once cleaned and oiled the spool shaft on all of them one day about a year and a half ago, and couldn't see any difference afterwards. I've had some of them going strong for several years now. It may be more likely that you'll screw something up when you take it apart than that you'll make it better by oiling it.

I always use the SDJ. I find it easy and fast to tie and have more confidence in it than other knots. It takes some practice at first to figure out how best to position your fingers but then it becomes second nature. I usually go around 6 times. Always wet before tightening.

At a recent family gathering my 11 year old cousin Dax expressed great interest in bass fishing, had read up on all sorts of lures and techniques, and said he wished someday to have a baitcasting set up. Well, I indulged him. I bought Dax a Lew's TP-1 MH rod, a Lew's Speed Spool reel, filled it with FC line, tuned the reel, picked up a box full of great baits and accessories, and last week brought him with me to a local pond an hour before sunset. Dax became rapidly adept at casting a baitcaster, and with the help of some tips from me and perhaps some beginner's luck, within the hour had landed this 3 pounder and this 5 pounder, along with three or four smaller fish. Pretty darn amazing, Dax!

I went out from Holiday Park this past Saturday as well. The fish bite was off and the mosquito bite was on. Only three fish all day trying every kind of bait we had. One of the other boats, though, caught a several bass at a spot where clear water was flowing from a shallow flat into one of the canals.

...yet Lake Okeechobee water level listed as only 11.2 feet. Go figure.

I agree. I think area-wide mosquito control programs hurt fishing. A healthy freshwater food chain depends to a considerable degree on mosquito larvae. I don't want to be at the bottom of that food chain, though, so I wear repellent.

It is harder to catch big fish in the summer in Florida, especially in shallow water areas.

Vicious Brown Orange Craw

I also notice a dramatic decrease in the bite after a front moves in. However, although there are corresponding shifts in barometric pressure with such fronts, that does not prove that the pressure changes are the cause of the behavioral changes. Mercury is 13 times heavier than water, so a fish can compensate for a one inch drop in the mercury by descending merely 13 inches deeper in the water column. On the other hand, 13 inches may mean a lot for a bass, especially one that is habituating the shallows. Perhaps a scientist might study barometrically induced behavioral changes in aquarium bass by compressing or decompressing a sealed air column above the tank while observing for any stress response or change in feeding behavior.

I get the problem mostly after fighting a bass over 4 or 5 pounds because of all the pressure on the line as I reel in. Another cast or two and I'm back in business. It's good to spool on the base layers of braid quite tightly, so when the braid does dig in when fishing it wont go too deep into the spool. But the outer layers can be layered on with moderate tension only.

It warms my heart to see all the good reviews on the Dobyn's Champion rods. That's because one of my favorite rods is my highly versatile Champ 734c, and it so happens that I ordered a second one (Champion XP 734) just this morning from TW. It was only $220.99 because of their Memorial Day sale. Normally it's $260. Unfortunately, it's currently out of stock, but I'm not really in a hurry to get it.

Braid should solve most of the problem. With the Big EZ I usually reel down and let the rod load for a second before slamming the hook home.

There's nothing like a frog for waddling freely over heavy weeds. Pause it in the pockets. The Gambler EZ Swimmer is a swimbait that's slippery enough to glide over and through heavy stuff. Rig it weedless and weightless. Use braid.

Top water bass fishing doubles the excitement. To see a big bass ferociously explode on a frog before you even feel anything, and then to reel down on and set your hook into that monster makes each catch a double header. Follow the excellent tips above and keep trying until you're hooked!

When I use 50 to 65 pound braid and heavy wire hooks, I'm fishing heavy cover and want to maximize pressure on the fish to control its movement and maybe pull it through or over vegetation. A baitcaster's max drag setting is usually only 12 to 15 lbs anyway, so why not tighten all the way in that circumstance?

For jigs I use Seaguar AbrazX #17 if the water is clear and vegetation not prohibitive, or Seguar Smackdown #40 if the cover is intimidating. I haven't thought of any good reason to try anything else since I started using these.

I do a lot of pitching (and the occasional actual flip), but I think I am guilty of calling pitching "flipping" most of the time. No one in this post has mentioned it, but maybe guys use it more because flipping is just a great word to say. It's a fun word. Unlike "pitching." Not that pitching is a bummer -- it has its place. Like in baseball, or when spreading a pail of coal tar. But I like to say "flipping" a lot more. I like how you can drag out the f and how your lips smack together at the end when you say "flip." Flipping. Flip. Now I can't stop saying it. Ffflipp! (Whoops -- I just spit on my screen.)