davecon

Years ago I decided to learn how to use spinnerbaits. Took one rod and reel, 4 spinnerbaits and spent 7 hours in the boat by myself. Learned to fish spinnerbaits in one day. Did the same thing with a baitcaster. It was a frustrating first few hours but by the end of the day I had learned how to use one pretty well.

Google Earth is your friend.

Why would you fish for bass in Stuart ? They have Snook there. Google "Snook fishing 101" and "Snook fishing 102" . May change your mind.

Maybe it hasn't dawned on you yet, but even though you didn't get a bite I think you found a keeper. Good ones are far and few between. You may not want her to be the one that got away.

Wait at least 5 days. Try a 12 inch worm. Give her something worth eating.

Have several St Croix rods and my favorite, hands down, is a Premier. I have several that cost twice as much, including other St Croixs, but the action and castability of the Premier simply feels better to me. Will be buying another rod within a month or two for a very specific application and it will be a Premier. Also hope to break down and buy yet another for an entirely different application and that will also be another Premier.

Tried several different brands. All I use now is Power Pro original.

Used to fish a reservoir that was a series of flooded phosphate pits. Top was 4 to 8 feet dropping off rapidly to 12 to 20 feet. Some days they wanted it coming up, some days down, some days parallel. The pattern would last for the day but I could never put any logic to it. It was consistent from drop to drop also, and there were scores of them. You would run into a friend on the water and in addition to the normal pleasantries the question was always asked "Up or down ?" and everybody knew what the other guy was talking about. In short - try all angles - it changes day to day.

Hez, sent you an e-mail. Not sure it went thru. Let me know.

Don't know if I am allowed to mention it here, and if not my apologies to the admin. But, go to ***, Florida Bass Club. 3rd item down the list is learn your vegetation (or something like that). Second page toward the bottom is an article. Again, apologies if this is not acceptable. I consider this site and that one as complementing each other, not competitors.

Bass - Shallow - original floater 7 or 9 Bass - deeper - DT 7 Flat Snook - Flat Rap Biggest problem for me is finding Flat Raps. They are very hard to find, both locally and on line. If anybody knows a good source I would appreciate the info. Problem for me is the Snook tear them up. Went through 3 of them yesterday catching 20 Snook and playing with about 12 juvi tarpon. They get beat up so bad that the internal wire hook holder is exposed and the balsa core gets torn off. It makes for a somewhat expensive fishing trip but when you catch some pretty nice Snook (one yesterday was 33 inches and 10 1/2 pounds) you bite the bullet. I have tried literally dozens of alternative lures seeking a substitute but nothing comes close to being as good. Must have something to do with the predominate baitfish. It's actually harder to find the lure than it is to find the fish ! Again, if anybody knows of a source for Flat Raps I would appreciate the info.

I think color makes more of a difference in deep water than shallow water. I proved this to myself over thirty years ago. Was fishing a new reservoir. Half mile offshore was a drop from 12 ft to 18 ft.. A tremendous amount of water was being pumped into the new reservoir that half mile away and there was a slight current. The bass were stacked up at that drop and I and my buddies routinely caught 30 or so a piece in a mornings fishing. My preferred lure was a six inch light blue Creme worm with a pretty heavy sinker. One day a small piece of debri had washed up to the lip of that drop off. If you could drag that worm through that little bit of debri, probably the size of a garbage can lid, you were almost guaranteed a fish. After catching four bass on four casts in that debri on the blue worm I switched to the exact same worm, only difference was color - purple this time. Made four casts, felt the debri all four times. No bites. Changed back to the blue worm - four casts, four fish. To to this day, if I am fishing deeper water I use blue. I know that to a lot of you guys 12/18 feet is not deep. I'm in west central Florida and by our standards that's pretty deep. As far as normal fishing goes, with plastics I usually start out early in the mornings with black. When that slows down I switch to purple. When that slows down I go to junebug with a little bit of glitter or green pumpkin. For hard baits I normally use gold with a black back due to our dark tannin stained water. If I'm in clear water, which doesn't happen often, I go with silver with a black back. For what it's worth, that's my approach after about 50 years of this crazy nonsense we call fishing.

Have several of them. My favorite is the Premier even though I have an Avid plus several others. Just like the way it casts/handles. The next rod I buy will be another Premier.

My experience is that you have to be in just the right spot. A friend of mine has a place around Kissimmee and has fished one of the lakes for over 30 years. Saw him Tuesday and he told me of a small ditch entering in to his lake where the water was flowing tremendously fast. Said they were throwing flukes into the current and letting the flow take them. They caught over 100 bass in one morning with most of them between 2 and 4 pounds. This guy is very dependable and not known for exaggerations. I have had similar experiences in the past (many years ago) but again, you gotta be in just the right spot. If you don't know of such a spot, just wait until the water calms down, usually a week to 10 days, before you give it a try. Normally I spend this time catching up on stuff around the house so when the water calms down I can fish with a clear conscience (not that that is required for going fishing).

I recommend you try the beaches for Snook. Stop by by a local tackle shop on one of the barrier islands, I know there's one on Siesta Key and another in Bradenton Beach, and they will tell you the best lures to use and point you in the right direction. You just walk along the beach and cast really close to the sand. Bass tackle works fine. Light or medium spinning tackle is what is normally used. Just tie on a piece of fluoro leader and you're set. The folks at the tackle shops are usually very helpful. - Snook season is now in full swing so you should try it at least once. Even if you don't catch anything a few hours walking up and down the beach ain't bad. To top it off, if you catch a decent snook you will forget about the bass. Really. One other suggestion is Myakka State Park. Not sure but they might rent Kayaks. 3 possible problems here though. 1 - the recent storm may have the park closed due to high water. 2 - don't think they open real early and it is still really hot down here, especially if you aren't used to it. 3 - If you are squeamish about gators, forget about it. They won't mess with you but the place is packed with them. Years ago sitting in one spot I counted 50 and that excluded those under 6 feet. One was over 16 feet long. I don't mind them but I was born and raised here and have been around them all my life.

I'm going to try describe what I put together. Start with a Hillman snap ring (that's what Lowes calls it). To that attach a split ring about the size of a quarter. Next, to the split ring attach 2 or 4 LARGE quality ball bearing swivels, like would be used in big game fishing. Attach the swivels one to the other kinda like a small chain. Now simply tie your line to the last swivel, snap the Hillman snap to a fence line, nail, etc. Something sturdy. Then open the bail/release the spool and back off 50 to 75 feet. Engage the reel and with slight pressure, enough to put some bend in the rod, walk towards the above described contraption while continuously applying pressure and reeling. The first few feet you will see nothing, but as you get closer to the contraption you will see the ball bearing swivels spinning. Every spin is removing a twist in the line. It may take several tries, but eventually you will do it with absolutely no spinning of the ball bearing swivels. Congratulations - you have removed all the twist from your line and the rod and reel will cast significantly better. I do this prior to every trip and always when putting new line on a reel. Works great with mono and helps lay braid smoothly on the spool even though braid rarely if ever twists. May take a trip to the hardware store/tackle shop and a few bucks but believe me, it works. You can thank me later.

Not so bad nowadays but decades ago when I was a kid fishing from a john boat we would put fish on a stringer and alongside the boat (nobody knew what catch and release was). If one of those fish was bleeding it was real bad. Had to be careful when you went to put the stringer back in the boat. Somehow those snakes figured those fish belonged to them. We were young and dumb so we just beat em off with a paddle. Somehow we survived.

Health ! When I was young work kept getting in the way. Now that I am semi-retired health issues get in the way. Spend more time in the hospital and doctors office than I do on the water. There's a lesson here if you pay attention !

Time on the water will tell you. I fish brackish so it is always a crap shoot but I can usually tell within a few seconds wether it's a bass, blue gill, catfish, red, Snook, trout, jack, lady fish, etc. Just takes some experience. Easiest to discern is a tarpon. Even the little bitty ones go bats*#& crazy as soon as they feel the hook.

May not be your cup of tea but check out a Gheenoe. At first glance you will say no way. I said the same. Pickled up a used one cheap and after getting it rigged out I wouldn't trade it for any boat. Actually sold the full size bass boat, 18', 150 hp because I realized that I had only used it twice in 18 months. If if you are not on large bodies of water it is great. Can be customized to your liking. Mine is 15'6", 55 lb. footcontolled trolling motor, stick steering, 25 hp electric start 2 stroke Merc, CMC tilt and trim, lights, bilge pump, depth finder etc.. Runs 32 mph in 4 inches of water and so stable you can stand on the gunnel and pee over the side. Google Custom Gheenoe. These boats have a cult following here in Florida with good reason. Terrific fishing boats and you get a lot of bang for the buck.

The good old days are, in my opinion, whenever you find that body of water that has lots of fish and little pressure. These bodies of water change over time and seem to peter out but when they are hot it is great. The time frame may be a few weeks or a few years. In my fishing past I have had bodies of water that on a good day you expected to catch 50 bass a piece, slow day - 25, really good day - 100. I'm talking average size of 3 pounds. Did it last forever ? No! But we rode it as long as it lasted - about 3 years. Hurricane ruined it. Before that - power plant lake. Same kind of numbers - if you didn't get at least 4 that were 5 or better it was a slow day. Lasted for years until power company shut it down. Before that a phosphate pit where you could always catch 15 to 25 with several 5 pounders. They drained it after about 4 years. Another that even though it received tremendous pressure was always good for 15 bass. Caught several double digits in that one too. d**n broke - when refilled it was never the same.Have several bodies of water that were just as good over the last 40 years. For the last 12 years have been fishing a river for Snook. Slow day - 10, good day - 25, exceptional day - 40 or more with some up to 40 inches. Reds and tarpon a bonus. How long will it last - who knows but I will keep going back til it slows then find another spot. Point is, the good old days are now if you know the right spot. If you don't, keep looking and you will have your own good old days. Just keep your mouth shut when you find it.

When I downsize to a 3 or 4 inch senko I go with a 1/0 or 2/0 hook.

If you are interested in small bass try a 3 or 4 inch senko weightless. Google 'the old lady angler'. Some interesting videos from that area.

One more piece of advice. Sweep the garage/shop floor real good before you start. That way when the springs go flying you stand a better chance of finding them. You don't want to know how I know this.

Look at the St Croix Premier 7' ML. Around $120 - $130. Have several rods costing twice as much and this is my favorite.