FloridaFishinFool

Interesting. To me Mann made one of the best ribbon tail worms ever made called the mannipulator over 40 years ago. I still have 20 bags of them. I should pull them out and give them a try- again. 20 worms per bag. Don't see that any more. What set this model apart from all others was the triple swirl tail. No one had a triple! Plenty of singles and doubles, but as far as I know, only the mannipulator had that triple tail action. It has not been made in decades, but bags can still be found for sale online costing over $20 per bag. At that rate my old stash is now worth $400! Almost as good as gold.

I'm a long time curado user. I recently picked up an SLX and now I can't get rid of it fast enough. The curado has better brakes. Not sure if Shimano is improving the SLX brakes, but that remains to be seen.

Not only that, but it takes the fun out of fishing. My issue in Florida is most places are either too stained or too shallow to use one. And where I am casting to way out there, the flogger is of no use. I can see where people fishing for $100,000.00 or more might use every trick and tool they can get away with, but for guys like me fishing for fun, this thing won't be in my boat. I am OK with tournament fishermen using this. Its not cheating to see your fish. The flogger does not make a fish bite an artificial lure. It only helps those using the lures to entice a bite. And that is what we all do, just some more dialed into it than others- like with forward facing sonar. It does not make a fish bite. The fun is in fishing for fish. Not playing around with all the gizmo's and gadgets. If this were such a big deal then why don't bass pro's and all of us run around in glass bottomed boats and be done with it. Silver Springs has been doing it since the 1870's. Way ahead of their time! Heck we got guides here in Florida taking people fishing in clear kayaks so they can do the same. I think I'll just stick with fishing for the fun of it. Leave some of that mystery in there.

I have questions about old B.A.S.S. as well. One of my relatives was connected to early B.A.S.S. but I am not sure how. I know he fished connected to them, but not sure if he had anything else to do with them besides that. His name was Irvin Kasaw if I spelled it right. Could be Kassaw. Called him uncle Irvin. Back when I was a kid and we visited him in Birmingham, Alabama he used to take me bass fishing on Smith Lake reservoir. I'd like to uncover his connections to B.A.S.S. one day if there are any. And I miss old Ray Scott as well. Our ideas of catch and release were championed by him. I still have one of his signature series spinning rods made by Kistler for him. Super light blank. Some things I still do because of Ray Scott like use a reduced size guide train on spinning rods, and it seems in bass fishing everyone is going heavier- heavier rods, heavier lines, etc. and Ray Scott championed going to light tackle. So this is something I have done over the years myself in backing off the heavier tackle and going back towards lighter tackle. His website is still up and running and we can still read some of his articles https://www.rayscott.net/news/cr/ "Using black plastic tape, I positioned the reel on as a Tennessee handle, on a 7-foot custom-made Ray Scott Sportackle designed rod. Like the reel, the rod is "lightweight," about 2 ½ ounces, with a fast-taper tip, but a solid butt section for setting the hook and playing a larger bass. This is a rod design I've spent many years in testing and improving, just as Fred Kemp has struggled with his spinning reel. As fundamentally different, as Fred's big spool, is my concept of the smaller the guides, the better the casting accuracy and distance. The theory being that the faster the loops coming off the spool and the line slap on the blank are reduced or totally eliminated, the less resistance and added distance on the cast. As a result, the first stripper guide located ahead of the spool is about the size of a dime as compared to a 50-cent piece diameter on the conventional spinning rods." I think old Ray's Sportackle brand lasted only a couple of years and he did not sell very much tackle. But he tried like everyone else. I think he got stuck with a bunch of rods and slowly sold them off years after his brand was long since shut down. I wish I could get a few of those rods today! I still have the one rod he made with the Tennessee handle, but that U.S. reel was junk. It might have been a good idea, but let Shimano or Daiwa make it. A real reel company. I think that was the downfall of the reel he pushed for. It was made by people who never made reels before and it had problems right out of the starting gate. I still have old Ray's signed books.

A quick fix is to leave boat in water tied up at boat ramp, and up in parking lot use battery hand drill with socket and remove all lags and move bunk forward or backwards a half inch or so and screw it back down. Check and see if your bracket has holes for 3 lags and increase it by 1. You can also increase lag size in thread diameter. I just ordered for standard 2x4 boat bunk lags made of stainless steel 3/8" x 1.5" ***Be careful to use correct length of screw or lag so as to not go all the way through and damage hull. Had to get a disclaimer in there somewhere. Down the road you might be able to switch out that type of bracket to something like this image shows which holds up better as I see it. Keeps the boat bunk vertical and solidly in place.

Swamp Girl, one of the true pleasures of fishing is out fishing your buddy doing exactly the opposite! Sometimes it actually works! And if it ticks him off and messes up his color scheme of things then all the better! Nothing funnier than to watch him switch over to white swimbait copy cat as he desperately tries to keep up. His waving the white flag and tying on what I am using is when I win! Forget the fishin! However, his black and blue swim jig have often won the race. We showed up at one dock in a corner of a lake and he was pulling them out of there and I couldn't touch it or keep up. Fishin is war! Ha! And then who's buying the beers as we lie about our fish. Another true pleasure of bass fishing is to always carry 1 or 2 dummy rods rigged up with complete BS lures on them and keep them visible to all the tournament guys. What'cha catching them on? As you pass by and they are looking at your Roland Martin helicopter lure hanging over the side... (Kidding of course but....) There's more to fishin than just trying to catch! Sometimes its not about what you use, but how you use it as Swamp Girl said.

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh this morning! As soon as I read that I recalled what a drummer from a rock band of bass fishermen said to me one day... Apparently within that band you had to fish or were supposed to and if ya didn't then it was looked down upon. One guitarist said of another band member "Even the dogs don't like him, and besides, he don't fish!" As a put down. So one day the drummer, knowing I fished, he told me he simply did not have the patience for it. He said he could walk out onto the end of a dock and look down in the water and all the fish just scattered away from him instantly as if he was putting out some kind of a bad vibe that scared the fish away. He said if he even tried to go with others who fished his vibe would keep them from catching fish! I'm not saying you are putting out scary vibes scaring the fish away, only that I was reminded of this story as soon as I read your post. Gotta find your zen! Forgot to mention.... you kind of sound like my dad. He said he would go fishing with his brother and his brother would cast to a spot and not catch anything and my dad would cast in same spot right behind him and catch a fish. Happened often enough. My dad got a kick out of it. But his brother was not too pleased about it.

I have been running 27, 29 and 31 size batts for decades. These may be too large and heavy for a kayak. I have been thinking about switching up to newer battery types, but as yet have not made the leap. I think if I did they would have to be inside of a fire proof metal box.

To me trolling is kind of counter effective. I'm blowing past a lot of bass I could be targeting if I were not trolling and casting to them. Point is I believe I can catch more bass with less energy expended- and fuel. I read this forum and read what other bass fishermen get to do in their areas and for me in Florida I simply cannot get away with at least half of it. Like trolling for example, in Florida lakes, most are so filled with vegetation and floating debris that your treble hooks will be fouled in seconds. Troll. Clean hooks. Troll. Clean hooks. Troll. Clean hooks. Over and over. Its hard to find water clean enough where I can troll for bass. I read threads about guys using deep diving crank baits and fishing for bass on a 40 foot ledge. Yeah can't really do that one either. I never get to use deep diving crank baits. Most of the waters I fish are less than 8 feet deep, often less than 6. And the bottom of lakes I fish have a ton of vegetation growing down there. Crank goes right straight into it and makes using them virtually impossible. Texas rigging is another. If I used heavy weights and let my lures sink to bottom quite often they would be buried in a foot or two of vegetation and I'll never get a bite. And have to keep cleaning vegetation off the lure before casting again. Florida presents challenges to bass fishing that makes adapting a must. Most of the time I have to use some form of weedless. Keep the weight down, often no weights at all. Concentrate on fishing above the vegetation on bottom, and stay up higher in the water column. Top water fishing to just above the vegetation or through the tops of it like in the eel grass. I have to limit my fishing choices drastically because of the environment. Bottom line for me is that trolling simply is not all that productive. And I wind up fighting the clogged up lures more than it is worth. But trolling does work. It catches bass. But is it really worth it is what I have to ask myself. And when I answer myself no. That's where it stays. About the only time I consider trolling is when I am moving between spots. Then I might give it a go. Otherwise not a go to technique. I'm with gim on this one.

This brings up an interesting point. Bass do tend to find a home. Researchers specifically tested bass for this very issue. They would catch bass at least 4 years old or older and remove them from where they were caught and transfer them across the lake to its furthest side and turn them loose to see what they would do. Oddly enough, most of the bass returned to their preferred locations. I was surprised by this.

Now we are getting into those environmental subjects. And Pat on this one I gotta disagree. I do agree current is a great feature of successful bass fishing, for me that is not the case most of the time. I have come to realize in about 50 plus years of fishing, the environment has controlled me as well. What I mean is that for most of my life fishing in Florida, nearly all of it has been inshore and freshwater. But one thing about my environment that is different than most other places in the country, and even in this state is that no matter where I fish, it is almost always shallow. And I mean 8 feet deep or less. I do not care for being out in the middle of large lakes and large wide rivers. I live a block from one now and won't ever fish it in this part of the state. I stopped back in 1982. But my point is that for most of my fishing choices in small lakes and ponds and swamps, the water for the most part is dead still. Zero current. Plenty of bass live in conditions like these and I can't tie their feeding cycles to current or the tide. Gotta be something else all together. I'd like to point out that for me using sonar has proven just about useless. It might be great in 10 feet of water and deeper. But when I fish in extremely shallow waters sonar is of no use when there is less than 3 feet of water between me and the bottom. When I fish the St. Johns river in central Florida it is quite often less than 24 inches deep. Salt flats same thing. A few feet deep at best. I got a nice hidden saltwater lake in central Florida not far from Haulover canal that is dishpan shallow and cut off from intracoastal at low tide. Absolutely no current in there when cut off and low water. Maybe wind driven water movement at best. But some places are graveyard silent way back in the woods. A lot of my bass fishing is in shallow still waters. I've seen 'em school up in these places as well. Granted the schoolie activity is best in the St. Johns river. Could be higher numbers of fish more concentrated.

A good read! Thanks But I wanted to pick out one thing you said. That you are convinced bass are individuals. While I agree to a point, I see bass behavior as size specific. About 40 years ago the FWC and biologists did a science project on bass behavior at different ages and sizes. They used radio transmitters and computers to track their movements around the clock. One thing I have noticed is how most schooling bass are all around the same size and age. I think Glen Lau documentary on bass here in Florida called them wolf packs. But the larger bass tended to go it alone- the individual. Feeding differs between bass age and size. When schooling activity occurs the tendency of many fishermen is to instantly target the schooling action right through the center. But are we targeting smaller fish? Sonar has shown us the bigger fish are also getting in on the feeding frenzy but in a different way hanging around the outside edges waiting for an injured baitfish to try and escape or hanging out underneath all the activity waiting for a similar opportunity below. While the schoolies are fun, I now try and target those larger fish hanging out around the edges. Bass may be individuals, but their security and feeding habits depend on their size and age from what I can tell- as well as environmental, but that is another subject or a dozen.

As an old reel tech who did warranty work for all major brands for years I would advise caution when choosing lubricants for reels. Back in the old days and I mean really old days when reels were made of all metal, the old guys would simply dunk their reels into kerosene to lubricate them. That was back in the days when petroleum products were about all they had for lubricants, and reels were just about all 100% metal. Worked fine for awhile. But as reels became more sophisticated and manufacturers were putting more and more parts into reels not made of metals is when reels and petroleum products collided. Some brands intentionally created parts that would dissolve or disintegrate when it came into prolonged contact with a petroleum oil or grease. You hear stories of guys who worked on his own reel and used the wrong lubricant and now his reel don't work and some part inside turned into goo. The reel brands really do not want their end user customers getting inside of their reels. So some brands go out of their way to use things that help prevent the end user from successfully working on their own reel(s). Daiwa's magnetic fluid comes to mind. A dealer only situation right there- except for end users who were also genius scientists who could figure it out. Point to this comment is, choose lubricants wisely making sure they are compatible with your brand of reels. As a general rule, avoid petroleum lubricants, and use synthetic lubricants. When I worked in a rod and reel repair shop we had to use what we were told to use. No other lubricants were even allowed into the shop to keep warranty status intact. I think WD40 was one of the solvents pretending to be a lubricant the shop was not allowed to ever let come through the door into the shop. Today being retired, I use a combination of synthetics, some brand approved. Some not. Just how it goes. One thing I noticed in the shop as I worked there, I did see brand specific lubricants like for Penn, Shimano, Daiwa, etc. Those were allowed in the shop. And unless I knew it was a full synthetic I would not be using a Penn reel lubricant on any shimano reels. We had to do things by the book in the shop. Out here we can do as we please, but hopefully not damaging any reels in the process.

This. I swear by the solunar calendar. I know some tournament guys do as well. It has proven to be very accurate. Fishing trips are planned around it. Won't leave home without it. Even check it throughout a fishing trip. The bite turned off? Check the app and see what it says. Yep. Nearing bottom of cycle. Oh well, keep trying. They'll turn back on soon. (When the app says.) It really can be that close to it. Is this what Ben Franklin was working on? AI just straightened me out on it: "While Franklin was known for his interest in natural phenomena and published an almanac ("Poor Richard's Almanack"), his work predates the development of Solunar Theory." Well Kudos to whoever did invent the solunar calendar! OK, had to look that one up too: "The Solunar calendar, which predicts animal activity based on the sun and moon's positions, was invented by John Alden Knight in 1926. Knight, a fisherman, combined his observations of animal behavior with the positions of the sun and moon to create the Solunar theory according to Florida Today. He coined the term "Solunar" by combining "sol" (sun) and "lunar" (moon) says Mack's Lure. Knight's work was based on the idea that the gravitational forces of the sun and moon influence animal behavior, particularly the feeding habits of fish. He developed tables that identified "major" and "minor" periods of activity, which are still used by anglers and hunters today"

Do you know that part of the St. Johns river from Rice Creek in Palatka all the way up to Jax and out to ocean is all considered as "sacrificed" section of river? Sacrificed to the polluters! It has been this way for nearly 100 years. Nothing anyone can do about it until the sources of pollution are stopped. The Elite Series pro bass fishing runs their tournament just South of this pollution dividing line in the river. Rice Creek. Ronnie's widow purchased a building in Jax Beach where she opened up her FreeBird Cafe and rock music concert hall. It is now closed down and sold off. Green Cove Springs is still a small country town, but is growing. You loved it in Jax and I can't wait until I can get out for good!

It sounds like the market is copying the pro's. They gotta sell stuff. So if one thing works they can't stick with it. They gotta sell all that other stuff too! So coming directly from the pro's is this mental programming to keep switching things up. Its bait monkey mental madness! Its in all the fishing shows. Have you ever noticed a pro bass fisherman never shuts up on camera? Its always sell, sell, sell and pretend its top secret fishing information. Do what I do sometime... take just 1 lure with you fishing. Or just one type of lure. Make yourself de-program from it! I want to see all new fishing shows where we can sit out here and just watch others fish without all the words! Just fish! I'd also like to see some fishing shows where our favorite pro's can use whatever they want to use rather than what they have to use because of contracts. Be cool to see fishing without it looking like Las Vegas at night.

My Kunan was a boron blank. Just wished it was 7'. I also have some old pistol grip rods. They come in handy in a kayak, canoe, & paddleboard fishing. Some old timers like them for skipping under docks. They were the standard in mid 1980's. And great for tight overhead cover like this creek fishing. I get a chuckle out of you wade fishing at Whitey's! Too funny. Its the water there.... and Whitey's is famous for two things- their fried catfish which back in the 30's and 40's was caught right there next to the fish camp, but these days is shipped in boxes frozen from catfish farms. And for two, Whitey's is known as home to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Lead singer of the band Ronnie Van Zant lived on Brickyard road which was just to the north of Whitey's about a 1/2 mile by water. And so Whitey's became Ronnie's hometown backyard restaurant he frequented often by boat from his dock to Whitey's and back. Just before Ronnie died in the plane crash in 1977 he filmed himself and band guitarist Gary Rossington pretending to fish in Doctor's lake. All they were doing was faking the fishing for the cameras filming them at his house location for convenience. Its curious in first few seconds of film Ronnie is seen jigger pole fishing for the cameras. No one knows why to this day. But when Ronnie and band came home from the road, Ronnie did not want to fish in doctor's lake behind his house. Instead he loaded up his boat and drove it down to a private cabin he rented in Ocala National Forest on Lake Delancy. When he went there an 8' tall chain link fence was locked shut behind him locking him inside a public forest and lake but had it all to himself through the only private boat ramp on the lake. And it was there he caught his PB just weeks before dying in the plane crash. He sent the fish off to the taxidermist but never saw it finished because he died in plane crash. That PB fish he caught at Lake Delancy is now with his daughter Melody. I get a chuckle out of you wading at Whitey's because there is a reason why Ronnie did not fish in that water. Same reason I stopped in 1982. The water there is not good. The gators don't even like it. So I'd bet you probably did not even see any in that area? They have steadily declined for decades. Ronnie is filmed here using mid 1970's fiberglass rod and Abu Garcia 5000 series reel. This was filmed in doctor's lake behind his house in September 1977. On October 20, 1977 he lost his life in a plane crash. RIP And F14, I'd stay out of that water...... The camera angle here is looking to the South down along the western shore of Doctor's lake. So way down there at the bottom of this lake to Ronnie's right is where Whitey's is at. Looks like a mile here, but I think Ronnie took camera crew to area north of his house which gave an all natural woods background without houses. Looks better on camera, and was in position to be seen from camera on bridge on eastern side of lake. Ronnie doing some fake fishing here!

There are some issues to consider... 1)Bathymetry mapping created using satellites is not accurate and should not be used for navigation. 2)Some bathymetry data providers provide a combined data integration resulting maps based in part from satellite, laser, hands on sonar mapping etc. government maps, etc. and brings in various sources to generate maps. Again, all unverified it is still relevant data. So navigate with caution. Point is, a high quality app may not have sophisticated integrated mapping sources. It could all be from satellite. In which case it would NOT be useable to navigate with. If you do, then you take the risk. I personally do not use any satellite generated bathymetry data. I use government map sources made by hands-on sonar depth mapping. I get the free bathymetry maps from various sources and use them on an ipad type device or cellphone if needed. Here is one source example: https://lakewatch.ifas.ufl.edu/for-volunteers/bathymetric-maps/ Storm water & drainage depts with county governments often have the maps as well. They can be found at all levels of government- city, county, state, and federal. I often locate the BMAP reports for the bodies of water I want to fish and take a look at them from the biologists perspective which often includes bathymetry maps and other useful mapping like vegetation, water quality, etc. None of the apps provide vegetation maps that I know of. https://floridadep.gov/dear/water-quality-restoration/content/basin-management-action-plans-bmaps So you might find a great app, but what is source of mapping data? If it is satellite which a number of them are, I have not found those to be accurate enough. For example in my area is a large lake called Lake Maitland. When I compared navionics satellite mapping to local government mapping there are huge differences and discrepancies. On the hands-on sonar created map, I can see deep holes and ridges that are not even shown on any satellite maps. So I decided years ago to stop using any satellite generated mapping because it simply cannot read bottom contour through the water. May be close, but not close enough yet. And I think this is what is tied in to most apps. Better mapping comes from integrated combined sources which I think navionics may do now. Not sure of others. You would have to check each one to see how they source their bathymetry data and use it. I got apps for weather, radar, solunar calendar, barometric pressure, compass, storms, wind, lightning, etc. but as yet no app for the mapping I prefer. They just don't make it yet. So I go outside the box for the mapping I gotta have: https://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/library/learn-more/learnmore.aspx?toolsection=lm_bathymetric

And the clouds part and the rays of sun shines down upon lily pad heaven on earth laid out before my very eyes and I see a human figure walking on the water yelling your time has come! Throw a popper!... a divine message! oh, and honestly, the best time to throw a popper is when NOTHING else is working! Need a hail Mary? Reach for the popper. Its the kitchen sink and then the popper. (This comment is meant in jest. Just humor) To me a popper is just another topwater. A popular twist to it around these parts is a popper frog. Two in one. Can't beat it. Get to do both at the same time. Pop'a frog! Had my ars handed back to me with one of those- once.

AI describes it like this: "Yes, in many cases, aluminum gears are more prone to wear than brass gears, particularly under high loads or continuous use. While aluminum offers a better strength-to-weight ratio, brass generally has higher tensile strength and is more wear-resistant." Maybe using the word "softer" wasn't the best choice. I like how AI termed it that brass is "more wear resistant." So if aluminum is less wear resistant than brass that tends to make me think its not as durable of a material as the brass gears are known for. But we both agree that use plays a significant role in how a reel wears. And it is my perspective- along with AI- that brass gears do hold up better & for longer. Just my opinion. Looks like this aluminum versus brass debate is back. I just found a thread on this subject... Tatulatard had the funniest comment: "I don't want hard gears. That's a one way ticket to buzz town. Give me soft gears with big teeth and grease."

Artificial intelligence says: "Yes, you should inflate your boat trailer tires to the maximum pressure listed on the sidewall, which is often 60 psi, but always double-check the specific tire for its maximum pressure. Boat trailer tires are designed to carry a heavy load and are built with thicker sidewalls compared to regular car tires, and they should be inflated to their maximum pressure for optimal performance and safety." And it further says I should take into account about 5psi for tire heating up, and inflate to around 55psi and I should be good to go. I wasn't far off. Learn something every day.

So should we run our trailer tires at maximum rated on each tire? I guess I am fortunate to never, not once have a break down issue with my boat trailer in more than 30 years. I always attributed it to regular maintenance. Got lucky I suppose, but I have never run my trailer tires at full 60psi. Am I ok at 40 to 50psi? Or should I keep them at maximum of 60psi?

Maybe check your model and see if it has an aluminum drive gear. If so, try and find brass gears or use models with all brass gears. I tend to avoid aluminum gears as well. Aluminum is softer and may not hold up as well. Depends on how it is used also. And a little grease on gear teeth might help some. Other than that, we are all in the same boat on this one.

There is only 1 to have! Tender steak pieces in teriyaki flavor. Avoid cheezits! They will have you hanging over the rails!

At the end of the video he says pick up some light gear... while earlier in video he said he chose a MH rod. And shorter is better. 5'! He wasn't messing around! And 14 seconds into this video and one guy is dunking his reel halfway into the water! Florida gators tend to keep me either in the boat or on dry land just in case. Fun to watch others fish that way. I'm trying to imagine a 5' MH. Didn't they make those with pistol grips?