N Florida Mike

It’s because of that hat with the T on it. ? I have never heard of them being redone but seems like it wouldnt be too hard.

My pb was a skin mount and it didn’t look like the real thing either. Much darker than the real thing.

How could I have bass fished all these years and never heard that?! That explains a lot! Thanks, Catt !

Let me know about when you are coming. There’s an outside chance I could come down. I also live on a lake in the Jacksonville area. If you have a few hours let me know and we can go. Didn’t mean to turn you away from the forest with the negativity. Like I said , I fished and camped for many years there and had no problem whatsoever. It’s good to be careful anywhere nowdays... keep me posted!

• Coming in last in a tournament on one of the lakes I knew better than most , if not all of the other fishermen. • Any time I get hung in a tree with people around( which is the only time it ever seems to happen! ) • Hooking a trot line and thinking it was a big bass. • Not putting the plug in the boat once and almost sinking. • Losing a huge bass and then seeing folks on the bank watching intently after hearing me yell in frustration. • And once going bream fishing in the st Johns river with a friend and his dad. Before we had got far I knocked the cricket container over. You can imagine the outcome. Every few minutes would come another reminder. All day ? Thats about it I think.?

I haven’t done well at night so don’t have much to contribute. But since I primarily fish afternoons until shortly after dark it’s probably that I don’t go at night enough to judge it. What seems to happen every time, (talking hundreds of times) is that they can be biting great but as soon as it gets dark, they stop. I mean completely stop. I suspect that they start again later in the night but it just gets so dead I go home. I have done best at night ( which isn’t saying much) with a hollow body frog. I have also caught some using a stop and go retrieve with a dark colored worm.

Swimming toads, like ribbett, etc. I do ok with the hollow body frogs. Probably strange to most of y’all on here, and somewhat off topic, but I have a much reduced hook up rate with ANY bait , using braided line as opposed to mono.

This one was caught in Orange lake, fl. last year, by Brian Hammett. It was the second heaviest fish ever recorded in the Florida trophy catch program. I love fishing Orange and lochloosa lakes , although I don’t get to much anymore. They are very different water bodies, connected by Cross creek. Anyone fish them regularly?

I’ve trapped a lot of rats , ‘coons, and nutria rats. We were staying at a cabin on a mountain in N. Georgia and we hadn’t even got settled in good when my wife started screaming in the kitchen. I thought maybe she cut herself or something. So when I ran in, she was up on the table. The mouse came running right at me. It startled me and It ran by and headed for the fireplace. I had grabbed a shoe to hit it with when it went by but missed and it went into a hole in the fireplace. So I went down to the little towns hardware store, got me the last victor mouse trap they had. Baited it with peanut butter and went to bed. Next morning: mouse in trap, wife happy!?

I haven’t had one since 1982. I drank mostly Busch, because that’s mostly what my crowd drank. I couldn’t just drink one. I would drink until I got happy, then would get mad, then depressed, then drive home drunk. I Would get mean and fight over anything when drunk. It’s amazing I survived. I don’t have any desire for it anymore, but I don’t judge anyone that does it in moderation. But I’ve seen it and drugs totally destroy families and total strangers. So I’m against drunkenness for a variety of reasons.

You could go to Disney world near Orlando. They have a lake there you can hire a guide with. I’ve never done it but I hear it’s good. And you’d have plenty of other stuff to do.

Depends on how big the water body is , and if I can get some fish able water with high winds. Generally, 20 is my cut-off. My best day for numbers last year though came on the windiest day I fished which was 25-30. I may need to re-think 20?.

Wow- seems like that would be a sure thing -,we can usually get out within a few days or sooner.

Where are you located. I know it’s not near me , my biggest problem is ALL the competitors!!!

I didn’t think about it much when I was young. My dad was by far the biggest influence on me about work.We worked around our property and I saw him work 6-7 days a week for many years. My first word wasn’t momma or daddy - it was “ outside”. All the jobs I’ve had have involved being outside. I mowed a few lawns, and worked on a farm and loved it, due to all the fishing/hunting benefits! I was good at baseball , and wanted to play MLB from childhood until High school . Did play in college at least. went to college, and didn’t like being cooped up all day so would skip and go fishing 1-2 times a week. Got a degree in a phys. Ed type major, and Thought about being a coach but ended up for awhile as a park director. Manage kids sports in the afternoon and adult sports at night. Very low pay so I quit. To get to the point, about this time I decided I wanted to be a fire tower operator so I could live in the woods and totally live a off the grid type life.Also wanted to be a game warden for the same reason. Got no response to the applications so so when a friend asked me to work In lawn care/pest control, I did. Didn’t know what else to do, so I kept doing it. I have generally enjoyed it for the most part, and it’s met our needs. Have also wanted to be full time in the ministry since I was 25 , so I could help people with their needs. I have done it as a volunteer for many years now.

I used to fish down there some. Don’t have any recent reports though. Ask the folks at the fish camp. I know a lot of people fish the spring runs off lake George this time of year because the water is warmer. You can catch a variety of species in the “ croaker hole” which is on the west side of little lake George. I think it’s a 40-50 foot deep hole there. I stayed at the fish camp at Welaka before. And launched there a few times as well. Came in 3rd in a tournament mostly fishing the pads in the river between Lake George and lake little lake George. Used worms primarily. Make sure to give us a report! Mike

That farm I pictured is owned by a old man I know. When he dies, it’ll likely be sold and will become another cookie cutter neighborhood.

This is typical of my part of Florida nowadays. Where old meets new. At least I got to see what old Florida was like in my younger life. And we still have remnants of it like this small farm surrounded by a new subdivision...? The mighty St Johns River at its widest point...

One of my “ circle of trust” baits. The fish love em. I fish the watermelon red color most of the time, and June bug an hour or so before dark or after sunrise. I probably catch 60% with a steady retrieve, and the other 40% deadsticking. I have a combo I use with them that is perfect for them. Almost never lose a fish after the hook set. One day last year I caught around 30 fish with them in 4 hours fishing.

Congratulations in advance!

I have some good spots in there. I used to fish and camp there a lot. I would try to get ahold of a small boat if possible , if there’s a way.. Most of the time , I took my 12 foot Jon boat. There were a few times I went and camped without a boat and just drove around in the forest looking for ponds. ( If I remember correctly theres 500 water bodies in there.) And caught fish. It is a very large forest - I think 385,000 acres. I can tell you some good small lakes I’ve fished but bank access is very limited at most of them. Pretty much limited to where you launch. The majority of the ponds are very clear so you must use light line and smaller baits. I always did well with culprit worms and flukes in there. Many of the ponds and lakes are also very acidic so have a limited fish population. But good numbers are possible in a lot of them. The size is also smaller than normal for Florida. I think my biggest bass in there( fishing for many years) was 5 pounds. I would go to the visitor center in salt springs and buy the fishing book they sell that has many of the better lakes listed. That may give you some info on bank fishing opportunities. I fished wildcat once and didn’t catch any but it was too windy .My favorite lake is close to Wildcat (Crooked lake ) - bank access is limited though, and it’s about a mile down a one track dirt road to get there.Theres a road to it off hwy 40 but I think it’s private access. I don’t count Rodman as part of the forest but it’s close. To me , it’s very different. The dam near hwy 19 has some bank area, but can get crowded. Most people there fish for specks (crappie) or catfish. Consider hiring a guide for Rodman. Some of the biggest bass in Florida reside there... Be safe in the forest. I always carry in there. There’s more homeless people in there now, and there have been murders out there... still a beautiful place with good fishing . I have never had any problems. I would go with you but live 80 miles or so away...

One time when I was 16-17 years old, I got caught at the other end of the lake by a severe thunderstorm . One of the few times I ever saw white caps on this lake .There was nowhere to go . So I jumped in the shallow water, turned my little boat over, held my small amount of gear in one hand,and slowly made my way toward the way out, of course staying where It wasn’t Too deep and I could walk the boat. I couldn’t see where I was going , but it was kind of fun. Lightning cracking all around. Was not ‘skeered. Made it home. I realized later that a metal Jon boat is not the thing to protect yourself with in a lightning storm. ? I should have listened better in science class, no doubt! All I can say is, it just wasn’t my time.

That happened to my lake in 2011. A lake resident and board member was also the aquatic weed sprayer. He had done it since 1985 without a kill. He treated too much too quickly. Killed everything. 2 weeks later fish began dying . My opinion is that every bass over 2 pounds died- it was that bad. Most, if not all the big bream died. I was fit to be tied. We have a professional do it now, and he does a pretty good job keeping the lake clear enough to suit the “ no weed” folks. I keep them at bay with “ we don’t want another fish kill, bad for the environment “ so we keep a healthy amount of weeds in the lake. The bass population is back to excellent, with fish approaching 10 pounds again. The bream have never fully recovered, because they are the basses main forage and get eaten.

I love watching Creek fishing adventures. I love the old days when I used to fish like that. Made me pull out the roostertail and found that fish still love it...

My lakes main weed is eel grass. They were able to kill all the Niad, which would choke the lake in the summer. This time of year it is 1-2 feet below the surface at my end of the lake. There are some deeper eel grass clumps down toward the other end of the lake. The fish really relate to eel grass edges from late spring to fall. The areas without grass don’t seem to hold fish much, unless it’s near drop offs or deeper holes, or structure. I can’t fish any kind of crank bait. I can fish jerkbaits in some areas , but those areas are real limited in the summer. I have lately rediscovered roostertails, and they can be fished over the top of eel grass as it is in the winter. I switch to edges when the weeds re-emerge. Spinnerbaits work well on the edges too, and soft plastics are the most versatile ( and most used, of course )?