N Florida Mike

Same here.

I fished no more or less than normal. I kept working because my work was considered essential. I had a good spring bass fishing but the virus had nothing to do with it one way or the other. There have been a lot more people out on my lake than normal though. And most of them have no idea about fishing etiquette. Sigh... Im used to having the lake to myself.

YES! I would have counted it up there with Red Snapper but Ive only had it once.( Grouper are in that camp too, but I dont get them very often.) Ive eaten Mahi , but again, not something I get much., but its definitely up there as well.

Its interesting how we all have different tastes. I rank these freshwater fish like this: 1st being best on down. • catfish • bream • bass/ crappie about equal I have never had walleye. In saltwater, my top 5 that Ive eaten somewhat regularly: • Red Snapper •Sheephead •Flounder •Redfish • Panfish: Whiting, croakers etc

So would ours. we even purchased a big fish cooker with entry fee money to further the cause. I still eat bass but only fish under 15 inches. ( Unless a bigger fish dies on me ) I love bass filets but am not as fond of bass on the bone with the skin. As Ive said before, I manage my small lake for fish and the lake is so productive for bass- they just overpopulate, and some of them get skinny. I continually thin the herd to get a better average size fish. I eat catfish and bream too, along with many saltwater fish, ( I only live 16 miles from the ocean ) Looks like fun @TnRiver46

^^^ This preferably. Except that I have a couple right hand reeling baitcasters ,so with those I work and fight the fish with the left hand, but reel and cast with the right.

Ive loved fishing all my life. My dad was mostly after saltwater fish and I started with that. But I caught my first bass at 14 and I have persued them ever since. Dont get me wrong- I love all kinds of fishing Ive done, including offshore,inshore and surf fishing saltwater. My son is much more in love with saltwater. We fish mostly live and dead bait ( rarely use lures) for Reds, Flounder, Sheephead, Trout, black drum etc. I still get excited catching whiting etc. Half of it is knowing theres a meal coming from it at the end. I also love catching bream, catfish, specks, whatever’s biting in freshwater. But I love bass fishing the most for some reason I cant explain.

The magnums arent as soft as the super flukes, and they are bigger , which I’m sure is why . But I still caught a 1 pounder on one, and lost a smaller one. Baby brush hogs out fish brush hogs every time- not even close. Zoom super flukes are my #1 bait. I catch most of my fish on them by just throwing it out and letting it sink to the bottom ( if it makes it that far) .

Kingsley lake is not as well known as the other trophy waters. Im not sure what the lake record is there, but I heard from a reliable source of a 16 pounder being caught there. I know of a 15.11 being caught there that was registered in the Florida Trophy catch program recently. I fished it once before public access was gone and we caught 7 dinks.Its more of an offshore type lake. Not much shoreline cover. The lake is very deep for Florida, with 80+ depths. I knew a man that had a place on it who promised to take me ( but never did). He said he did best by trolling a rattletrap at night. It is also a very clear lake, so night fishing makes sense.I had a friend that fished a similar lake at night. He trolled a baby bass crankbait back and forth across a deep hole and caught a 11 1/2 that way. I bet that would work at Kingsley but I have no access. If anyone knows anyone PLEASE let me know...

I had never caught a fish on one until yesterday. I hadnt used them much before though., although Ive caught thousands of fish on the super fluke. My goal was/is bigger fish, since Ive been in a big fish ( over 6 pounds ) slump for almost a year now. I was pleasantly suprised at the action I got- less than with smaller baits but the fish were somewhat better quality. I T-rigged mine with a 5/0 hook and no weight. Watermelon red color. How do y’all do with them?

GGpa -John M. Johnston -Corporal -36th NC- CSA - Wounded and captured , released june 1865. Uncle-Aubrey C. Johnston-Army- WW2 Uncle- Sid Barnett- Navy - WW2 Step-son -Allen Tate - Captain - Currently serving in the Air Force.

I caught a few quality fish today. The biggest ( 22 inch ) was caught on my little finesse combo with 8 pound test. Got a nice fight from that one. I caught it on a baby brush hog off a lay down. Also caught a couple good fish on the zoom magnum fluke . It was a beautiful afternoon on the water. One of those days where nothing goes wrong.

I have to lean towards Tom’s opinion on the Perry bass. Lots of loose ends that will never be tied up with that one. As far as Dottie, california rules said it didnt count, but my understanding is that it was legit under International gamefish rules had it been confirmed. I dont know about other states but it would have been very hard for me to not say heck with cali rules. Very commendable what he did, not wanting a tainted record. As far as a new record coming from Florida, Im sure theres record fish here . @Captain Phil Im not too up on lake Apopka. I though it was extremely polluted and the bass all died in it? I heard it's making a comeback due to the state spending millions of dollars on it, but my thinking is how could there be a world record fish in it this soon after the re-nourishment? I believe there is likely a world record or at least close to one in kingsley lake or Rodman. I know of an 18 + being caught in the st Johns. Ive also heard of a huge bass being caught in Ocean pond on a live speckled perch. For unknown reasons the girl that caught it did not get it registered. She did get the head mounted ( I saw the pic) . the taxidermist said the biggest glass eye he could get fell through the fish’s eye socket.He said based on that and the huge size of the mouth and head his opinion was the fish could have weighed 24 pounds. I saw all this in a Florida Sportsman magazine, including the head pic. You could have fit a childs head in the mouth , it was that big. I have tried and tried but cannot find the article.As I recall , the pic was on the front cover of the magazine. Late 80s or nineties.

I had an italian nieghbor when I was growing up. Now I loved 95% of what my mom ( from NC) put on the table, including her spaghetti and meatballs. But Mrs Barbera’s were the best Ive ever had in my life.

Thanks Tom. I’ll check em out. Interesting info. You have a good one as well.

I dont have a ccp because I have a couple mentally unstable relatives. They said they’d get theirs when I did, so... I wont, although I might be able to pull it off without them knowing. ( these are close relatives- I’ll leave it at that) Where I used to camp a lot ( about as remote an area as you can find in florida) , guns were outlawed except hunting season. This was a big struggle for me because I am extremely law abiding but wanted me and family members to be safe. Result was... I always had my pistol in reach. Once, when the wife and me were camped out there, 3 guys on dirtbikes rode up. I got a strange vibe from them because, after the initial greeting, they wouldn’t leave. It seemed like they were waiting for something. I got on the other side of the truck with the pistol under my shirt. I did not move from that spot until they eventually left. If they were up to something, I think they got the message from my stance not to try anything.

Some people do like to target shoot. Actually, a lot of people like to. I have a bro. in law like that. He doesnt hunt and has never shot anyone.

The insert is gone on the one guide. The other guides have them. Its a penn slammer SL 6.6. 4th rod down the list, but its as good as my #1 finesse rod that broke, except for the guide/insert issue. As you can tell, I dont have expensive stuff, but they still fish good... I have a Berkley Cherrywood rod without inserts that I got in 2007 brand new.

Like I said , first break for me in 45 years on a hookset. I was thinking back on the day and remembered making a cast and the rod hitting the boat . It didnt appear to have any damage from it , but maybe it weakened it enough...On that particular fish , I set the hook about 3/4 from over the top ( to use baseball terms.), but it wasnt much different from the other thousands of hooksets Ive done...

I had one friend that set the hook and it snapped an Ugly stik. He got a free replacement, of course.

Another one Ive done is name each fish alphabetically as you catch them. Allen, then bob , etc. That started at the request of a friend . Helps you keep up with numbers if you’re catching a lot.

I enjoy frying fish, probably because I enjoy EATING fried fish . My whole family are filet eaters only. I’ll eat em fileted or with the bones. My wife cooks everything well. Actually , nearly everyone in my family cooks. Nobody going hungry ‘round here!!!

I play a banjo . Was pretty good before my oldest son left home. He was my accompianist on guitar. I dont play as much as I did. Gonna try to start routinely practicing again though.

Today I looked through my excess rods and found one thats perfect for my finesse reel. It had a little split in the guide that allowed the line to slip out. Not having a guide that size, I just put a little tape on it. Nearly as good as new!!

@Oregon Native Me and you are now tied for broken/ lost rods this year. Ive broke 3.