bigbassin'

I didn’t realize that, bunch of hens got lucky this past bow season then.

Maybe not the best system, but I just hang one off a rod holder if I think I may throw one that day. Don’t think I’ve ever lost a buzz bait (current two are probably 6 years old) so not to worried about bringing a bunch.

You’d be amazed how many people have no called, no showed on interviews and then called a day or two asking to reschedule…guess they never learned the importance of first impressions. Guess what the one or two we hired did within the first week? Guess where they weren’t the second week. Not an interview, but I had a guy I picked up and took to work one day try to fist fight me during the shift. Obviously had to let him go on the spot, he asked me I could go ahead and take him home since he’s off the clock. Politely informed him he’d need to find another ride home.

Luckily I don’t have to pick. I ain’t ever been confused for either ?

Do they do tournament exemptions in GA? I believe Florida has made 12” the official minimum, but when it was 14” every tournament I ever fished had an exemption to allow 12”.

Fluke, grub, crank bait that will dive 1-2’. Also the same lures I throw for them in deep water. Calling deep as a 20’ hump surrounded by 50+. I’ve always found spots may not hit a top water year round, they’ll certainly hit in the top of the water column pretty much anytime.

Limited time fishing it, but points ending at a creek channel produced my bigger spots. Spinner bait accounted for all of my point fish. For lots of smaller fish, just fishing the random shoals that are marked out with PVC stakes was actually super productive. Green ribbon tail worm with a 1/4 ounce weight. Didn’t catch any giants doing this, but caught plenty of spots around 12” (assuming 12” minimum for your tournament). The shoal pattern for small fish has been productive for me pretty much across the country, regardless of species or time of year. May not be a bad strategy to find a shoal stacked with spots, catch a quick limit, then spend the rest of the day looking for bigger fish.

If you’re finding the first two, the third shouldn’t be far away. Now there may be another bait/structure combo the bass prefer on a given day but no food and no habitat typically isn’t a winning combination. That’s pretty consistent throughout the year, not just winter time. In the salt, particularly off shore, a lot of guys target birds more than anything else.

That lure looks great, I’d definitely have it tied on. Although personally I’d probably fish it where there are fish ?.

Ya today was not a great example. Not sure how much cold y’all got last weekend but a little north of Tampa my truck was reading 29 before sunrise, frost on the ground.

Warmer months have always been better for me, May seems to be the best where it’s warm but hasn’t started raining everyday yet. If you live in the northern end of their range you may have lost a good number with the cold snaps we had this year. A big part of why FWC stocked them and promotes them as a game fish is because they can’t tolerate anything north of about Lake Ida consistently, so they’ll never be a threat to largemouth in the famous lakes like the Big O or the Kissimmee chain. They’ll expand north of Ida during warm years but seems that once a decade or so we get enough cold to knock the range back down.

That’s awesome! Went this morning, just watched bluebills flying around 100 yards away. No luck for me.

Does Hostiles count as a Western? Could make an argument either way but if we’re counting it that’s my favorite. 3:10 to Yuma and Outlaw Josey Wales are either tied for second or first if we don’t count Hostiles.

In the boat, anywhere with current I’ll anchor. I don’t think I’ve ever dropped anchor in the boat on a lake In rivers if there is a good eddy, two intersecting currents, or slack water parallel to the main current I’ll drop anchor. Saltwater probably gets the most anchoring from me. Find a pothole on a creek mouth, drop anchor a cast length away, wait for the tide to start moving, reel in fish. In the kayak, anchor and wind was my trolling motor spot lock. I really liked to fish grass flats mixed with other cover (laydowns, lily pads, etc.) where you have a hundred or more yard stretch that could hold fish. Get up wind and get your anchor ready to drop, let the wind push you through the flat, then drop anchor anytime you get to compounding cover features and work them thoroughly. Pickup anchor and continue drifting, working the flat until you get to the next compounding feature and drop again. Once you’ve drifted the whole flat, paddle back to the top and shift 15-20 yards either direction to make a new drift in the same area and hit new cover or different angles from the first drift. Most of my kayak LMB came fishing like this.

The cart will be at the base of the rudder, so close to the back of the kayak but about 1-2’ from the edge. My cart wheels were big enough that they’d hit the ground about 2” before the rudder would. If your truck has any lift or the wheels on the cart are smaller than what I had, I could see the approach angle being too steep and this not working.

What angle are you casting at the current? I’ve had by far the most luck casting 45 degrees upstream than allowing the worm to drift with the current to 45 degrees downstream. Watch some videos of swinging streamers fly fishing. Same concept. I like enough weight it hits bottom by halfway through the drift but light enough it just rolls on the bottom with the current.

2 ways: 1) Slide the kayak out just enough you can attach a kayak cart, but still balanced in the bed of the truck. Continue pushing the yak out of the bed until the wheels of the cart touch the ground. This is my preferred method if on concrete or I needed to pull the kayak any distance. 2) I would tilt my native on it’s side than slide it out the bed. This would put the weight on the side of the kayak rather than the rudder.

Biggest perk of traveling for work is all the new waters you can fish! If it weren’t for that I’d probably just have FLMB, Kentucky Spots, Suwannee, and Smallmouth.

That was my favorite spot to wade for them. Never saw a gator once but still kept an eye open. I can’t think of the username right now, but I think another Florida guy may have me beat. I think he’s caught all 9 IGFA species and then several of the Georgia/Alabama recognized sub-subspecies.

Florida LMB Northern LMB Smallmouth Kentucky Spot Suwannee Bass Shoal Bass Maybe an Alabama Spot? Not sure how you’d know without testing, but it was from part of the Coosa drainage Redeye bass Suwannee’s are probably my favorite, we’d wade clearish spring water in Florida to catch them. Loved square bills and top waters. Very unique fishery in the state, although not that different then how I’ve caught various river bass in other states. Ive caught 2 or 3 in North Georgia creeks I’ve got no clue what they were. Looked like a smallmouth/shoal bass cross but in an area that theoretically wouldn’t have either. Reckon either way they fall under the redeye bass category and then what sub subspecies they are is the question. I think Guadalupe and Bartram’s are the only widely recognized ones I still need to get. As far as sub-subspecies, I really want a Chattahoochee bass (Georgia) and a Warrior bass (Alabama). I believe the states recognize those fish as unique species but IGFA puts them in the same redeye category. Catch it out of the Suwannee or a tributary?

Did a ton of scouting this past week and just really didn’t find much. Found a ton of teal (blue wing and green wing) and ring necks in one spot Thursday and decided to hunt there Friday. Got to the lake at 4:30 AM and had a guy already setup on the spot, bummer but setup about a half mile away on the back side of the marsh. Ended up getting 2 hen ring necks. Had several pairs of 2 to 3 teals circle but never come into the decoys. Also had a massive flock of ducks buzz the decoys, couldn’t id them (all white belly/underwing, definitely bigger than ring necks or teal) but easily 30 ducks blew by just booking it. Made a couple of passes which was awesome to see and hear.

They taste just like a gamey skirt steak in my opinion, no issues at all with eating them. The smell when you clean one certainly can have you question why you took one Have to cook them rare, tried cooking them towards medium and had to throw that out.

Haven’t found many fishing podcast I enjoy. Southern Waters was interesting. Been inactive since the start of hunting season (guys also run the Southern Outdoorsman podcast, by far my favorite of any genre). Not sure if they plan to pick back up after deer season, after turkey in the spring, or if they just gave up on it. Mostly discussed bass subspecies found in drainages around Alabama/Georgia. Definitely region specific, however I don’t live in the area and enjoyed hearing about the different subspecies and throwing together rough future trip plans based on them.

Took me 4 days but found the ducks heavy this afternoon while fishing…of course I’ve got to work tomorrow morning. Guess they’ll have to wait until Friday for me.

Believe it or not I’ll lose fish every now and then. Not often but it happens. What gets me is I lose a stud in the same spot the week between Christmas and New Years every single year. Like I’m talking off the exact same lay down at the exact same 30 degree angle cast from the shore on the exact same jig every single year. Now this has been going on for 6-7 years so it’s not the same fish, rather a textbook spot that I think pulls in the dominant fish around prespawn. Sometimes I get a jump and see it’s around 5 pounds, last night I never saw the fish. It stayed low and took locked down drag twice, felt very good. Most heartbreaking was about 3 years ago and losing one in the 9-10 range when it jumped 3’ from shore (I’ve caught a 9 and a 10 on the other side of the cut 100’ away, was likely one of these 2 fish I’d previously caught). Anyone else have a spot that seems to beat them every year?