hawgenvy

Sounds like you are an Abu Garcia man. Or maybe Lew's.

You can catch the carp. Attract them to a shoreline by tossing in a can-full of canned corn, then a few hours later use a small hook baited with a canned green bean. Keep your distance from the shore so you don't spook them. Return any carp you catch to the pond. There are also perhaps big catfish, tilapia, bowfin, pickerel, oscars, other types of bream, and crappie in your area. I believe you are too far north for Mayan cichlids, peacock bass, and snakeheads.

Bass fishing is helpful for depression (except of course to the fish, for whom it is a bummer). Anyway, it's not so much that fishing is relaxing, it's that the active pursuit of bass, the gear selection, the hunting, anticipating, enticing, and landing the bass is simply great fun. Also, bass fishing for me is interesting from aesthetic, spiritual, athletic, and technological perspectives all at once. Best of all, when you're out fishing you simply have no time to worry about anything but catching bass. Hope you love it and have many tight lines.

Try plastic swim baits, I don't think anyone mentioned soft swim baits. The beauty is you can pull a swim bait through cover as it can be weedless, and you can run it fast or slow. You can jiggle it on the bottom. You can hop it along the bottom or run it on top sort of like a buzz bait or frog. Or just under the surface so it makes a subtle wake. You can cover a lot of water, find the fish, then slow it down and catch all of them in that area that'll eat that bait. I use a Keitech Swing FAT 4.8" on #20 fluoro. Use #50 braid if vegetation is heavy. The Keitech is a very versatile bait. Use a 4-0 swimbait hook with a spring lock keeper and a 1/8 or 1/16 belly weight. My favorite color is bluegill flash. A plastic frog pulled over the surface might also work well in your area. Whatever works!

I've seen a lot of marks like that on bass and suspected they had had a run in with a gar, gator, or otter. One would like to find for forensic purposes more distinct teeth impressions, like a row of triangular teeth marks from a gator or gar, or the paired vampiric stab wounds from the long canines of otters, or the stripes of their claw marks. Perhaps those fish with the most diagnostic marks have the worst prognosis, and the majority end up being killed and thoroughly consumed by, say, an otter family. I have fished opposite a pair of otters in very good humor on the opposite bank chowing down a five or six pound bass, disassembling and consuming it quite expertly. Predators do tend to complete the job more often than not -- and I think a still viable, merely injured fish is unlikely. An exception is, of course, the human predator of bass, who surely has a bad reputation among other predators, for we injure and capture the bass, but then take the hook out and return him or her to the water, hoping the fish will be "okay." Thanks so much for that adventure, Mr Human! The honest predators must see the immorality of our actions, and I am as guilty as any. We humans frighten and abuse a ton of fish without killing and eating, just for sport. Oh, but it is really great fun! Sometimes, to seem a more useful animal among the natural fauna, I donate some bass to a local charity, namely the great blue heron that follows me around the banks. He flies over to stalk behind me when he sees me fishing. I talk to him but he does not answer back -- just looks at me. He's thinking, "Give me a fish, idiot." Anyway, I usually do. I toss it on the bank and he clamors over for it, stabs it, and flies off. Once, when I tossed the bird a larger bass, the heron decided to mortally stab the fish once and allow it to swim off. The bird stood there, attentively. Ten minutes later, when the fish had finally succumbed, the carcass rose to the surface and the bird swept in, picked it up and flew off with it. Anyway, we in Florida don't get a citation for a big one per se, but we can get the "TrophyCatch Award." I believe it involves a $100 gift certificate from Bass Pro and they put your name in a drawing for a fancy bass boat. All you have to do is show them a photo of the fish hanging from your scale weighing 8 lbs. or more.

Great article, Senko lover! I don't play with jigs much because of all the bottom slime around where I live. But I decided to toss a black and blue jig yesterday, and after striking out with my usual craw trailer, I threaded onto the jig hook something new (for me) -- a Zoom Z-Hog in black sapphire, a rather big bug of a trailer. And, BOOM!, a 5 lbs 13 oz fish on the first cast. Splashed water all over the place. Then I nailed a few more smaller ones. Definitely going to use my jig more, and the Z-Hog!

St. John's river system and Harris Chain of lakes are closer to Jacksonville. Though sometimes it's cold in north Fl in March.

I have the best luck with the 4.8" rigged with a 4-0 Gamakatsu 1/16 or 1/8 oz weighted spring lock swimbait hook. I use 20 lb fluoro on a baitcaster with a MH or H rod, or 50 lb braid if thicker cover. Reel it fast or slow, steady or pausing, along the bottom, on the surface, or just below the surface. Any of these ways may work best on any given day.

March is a great month to for bass fishing in Florida. There are thousands of good places to fish. It's a pretty big state, so you probably should narrow down your question to a region or area of Florida to get more answers on this forum.

Tomato, sir, do you have experience with, or have an opinion on, the bait casters with a flipping switch, or on those, like some Pinnacle reels, that have a re-engagement switch ("QuickFlip button") off to the side? The idea, of course is to be able to set the hook on a surprise bite right when the bait touches down, especially when you're pitching or in tight quarters.

Well then, maybe I'll get a LH at some point. You're probably right, it shouldn't be that difficult. Prob would be good idea for flipping -- but I might freak out the first time I have a pig on and my hands are switched. Still, a lot safer than an American driving in England!

Well, there you go. Makes perfect sense.

It would perhaps be more natural, with modern bait casting reels, to cast with the dominant hand and crank with the other, but most of us are spoiled by long habit and custom, and cannot assess our standard objectively. Nor can we easily change what is already deeply ingrained in angling culture. However, there are some bait casting anglers that do crank with the non-dominant hand and feel they are more efficient that way. There are indeed some pros that do it. There are some anglers who were weaned on equipment handed down by the opposite hand, and so adopted a system contrary to the standard. And many such anglers are happy to do it backwards and feel that it is a better way to do it. So this post's initiator has a good point. By the way, I find myself (a righty), more and more, especially in lazy moments and when the target is near, pitching with my left and cranking with my right, and, I say, it is nice not to change hands. My next reel may be one of those with a flipping switch or one of those with a button to re-engage the spool, to get those bass now lost during the hand-switching. Alas, I may be too old to actually adapt to a lefty reel.

I never really thought about the fact that fishing line might be too old when you buy it, way past its prime. I suppose it can sit on a store shelf for ages.

Been catching a few in S Flo. But not as big or aggressive as I remember from Decembers past. It's like we are stuck in October. Maybe the bite will get better after a cold front or two. And nature will bless us with the big aggressive, angry, horny, hungry critters we're waiting for.

Agree with you about the video. When they were wiggling that thing through the hydrilla, or whatever that was, I wanted to lunge for it myself. I suppose the name fits. Let us know how you do with it! I want to try their Little Spider one of these days, too.

How awful! I enjoyed his posts, too. He was in his 30's, according to his profile! You never now what's just around the corner in life, so fish when you can -- and get a check up and a cardiac stress test.

There's a local guide that supposedly nets a ton of small shiners or minnows before his client arrives. Later, out on the lake with the client at a choice spot, he pours a big pailful of the live bait back into the water; it makes the bass go crazy. Whets their appetite for more goodies. Then the guys catch a bunch of bass or peacocks with shiners or artificials. Pretty slick strategy, I think. Even gives the bait a (small) chance for freedom. Also, the bass are excited to see him when he motors up! Sure, he bruises some bass lips, but he throws them back, and on the whole they're glad to see him. Negative pressure! This is hearsay, I do admit. Haven't seen it myself. Great concept though, ain't it?

Seaguar Tatsu is such a rip-off. But I love it!

By far the best instrument to remove a swallowed hook from a bass throat is a Finochietto 10+ inch surgical needle holder. Second choice is a Heaney 10+ inch surgical needle holder. These are surgical instruments specifically designed to drive large curved suture needles in the depths of deep holes, such as in the pelvis or at the far end of the vaginal canal. They are very powerful instruments and can actually lock firmly onto a large curved hook such as a 4-0 EWG. Furthermore, the tip is angled so the hook can be extracted almost in line with the length of the instrument, which is key. The angle also allows for improved visibility, because your fingers or the length of the instrument doesn't block the view as much. These can be expensive but can usually be obtained cheaply on Ebay or second-hand (as opposed to the best quality new ones, which are well over $100). I am a surgeon so I am trained and practiced in the use of these tools, but they are simple to use (on a fish). Due to the compact, powerful, curved tip they are also the ideal instrument to sneak in thru the gill slits to extract a hook that way. Once the instrument is locked on the hook, rotate the instrument to extract the hook along its curvature to reduce tissue damage. I ALWAYS carry a long Finochietto or a Heaney with me when fishing, but I keep it on a retractable line secured to one of the finger holes so I don't lose it over the side. Did lose one of these last year.

I got the Lew's Team Pro Speed Spool Casting Reel when it went on sale for $100 off at TW, because the new magnesium one is coming out. Anyway, it's been Lew's top of the line, it's only $199.87, it weighs a mere 6.1 oz, comes in 6.4:1 and 7.1:1, and it's a gorgeous masculine looking reel that adjusts nicely, casts far, and is smooth as silk. So far it's been durable, quiet, rigid, and it's a pleasure to muscle in those bigguns with. And it feels nice in your palm. Mine is spooled with 20 lb. Seaguar Tatsu fluoro. Bird's nests are rare once you got it adjusted right. I think ya can't go wrong!

I don't know much about Powell corporate strategy, but I do know that my new Max 3D 806 CF Punch/Flip Mag Heavy (8 foot) stick is freaking awesome. It was and is $159.99.

I use white line for top water fishing because I think the sky looks white to creatures under the surface. So from below the fish don't see the white line as well, silhouetted against the sky, when the line is floating on or just below the surface; yet it's quite easy for the angler to see the white line from above, against the darker water. However, I feel that the last few inches of line, the part just ahead of the lure, the part the fish sees perhaps from the side, ought to be less bright, so I darken those few inches with a Sharpie. Does using white line for top water fishing, therefore, catch more fish? I don't know. I am merely applying a hypothesis.

I have Lizard Skins bar tape on my high-end road bike, and I love it. It's about $30, but is the best. It's smooth but not slippery, even in the rain, and has a luxurious feel and a nice look. I would not hesitate to put that on my rods, and I might even get the guy at my bike shop to put it on so it's perfect. An alternative is to use technique specific shrink wrap designed to fix damaged handles, like ForeCast™ X-flock or the products from MudHole.com

Except for the durability problem they are perfect. Now, if they could just use a harder, more durable compound in the nose... ...they'd lose a lot of money. People wouldn't have to reorder as often, plus production cost would go up.