N Florida Mike

Backstrap son !!!

I saw the one with Charlton Heston from the late 70s -or early 80s. I’m a ww2 and civil war buff. I’m much more interested in the pacific theatre of ww2 than the other theatres .Had an uncle that was in the navy in the South Pacific then , so maybe that’s part of the reason why. Couldnt tell you the last time I went to a movie , but I’d like to see that one before long.

I would get rid of the leader. Tie directly to the braid. In a clear lake I personally use a 2/0 so it doesn’t ruin the action of the bait. The more stained the water the bigger hook you can get away with imo. I just get more action with a smaller hook because I fish fairly clear water bodies. I would use any size shiner you can catch. Usually the bigger the shiner= bigger bass. Believe it or not though , I have caught a 3 pounder on a 10 inch+ shiner. They don’t call em big mouths for nothing! I hook mine through both lips starting with the bottom lip. You must cast them gently or they won’t last long. I would also not recommend the commercially raised shiners. They are usually silver instead of gold color. Bass don’t like them near as well.

They would break that leader when they go into cover. You at least wouldn’t be able to pull them out of it going that light. I use 25 pound test mono and can’t remember one ever breaking off. I use a circle hook so the fish will usually get hooked in the corner of the mouth. But if you set the hook like you do with a Kahle hook, it usually won’t result in a hook up. Once the fish has taken the bait, I count to 10 as I locate where the fish is, as I get close to 10 I let the fish tighten up and as it gets almost tight, I gradually lift and reel. Not a violent hook set. I cannot remember ever gut hooking a bass with a circle hook. I also run the shiner with or without a cork depending on the situation. How would you tell without a cork? You’ll know! A bass will nearly always run off quickly with the shiner. Line will start peeling off much faster than it did when it was just the shiner. I love live bait fishing! Nothing wrong with it if laws are obeyed!

Caught this 11 1/2 inch shiner and threw him out for awhile. No takers . The lake used to be full of these and bigger. I caught one that was 13 1/2 when I was a teen.

The lucky strike worms at Wally World are good . They’re in the bargain basket. I get the 4 inch ones. Tequila is my fav. Color. They are light, so I use them with a small split shot on a finesse rig . I try to stay with 8 pound test so they will cast good enough, with a 1 or 2/0 wide gap hook .Bass love em.

I used to keep a lot of bass and occasionally keep some in the 12-15 inch range to thin the herd and I can’t remember ever seeing a plastic bait while cleaning them. I caught one that had line coming out the poop hole though.

There are so many variables on this subject that whole books have been written on it. I’m more of an experience oriented learner than book learning. I’ve fished in N Florida for 45 years and don’t feel like Ive scratched the tip of the iceberg in learning bass patterns as it relates to weather. I consistently catch numbers, with the occasional large fish thrown in. That being said, Florida is a big state. Bass always bed first from south to north. The North has much colder weather. The earliest I have caught a bedding fish up here is late December. The latest is April. I have caught a few fish as late as May with eggs. In the north the colder the year the later the bedding activity. I have many times seen them go on the beds in January, and a cold front come through and they leave until it warms up. Activity is especially fervent around full and new moon cycles. Look for them to bed first near spring runs, lake George has several good ones. Talking dec/ jan. As far as transitions from one season to the next it happens , but it goes back and forth here drastically. Extreme heat and cold turn off the fish, but strangely enough, I have caught most of my biggest fish in the middle of the summer and winter. I catch most of my big fish in winter in the middle of The day. I catch more numbers in spring and fall. I could go on and on but I try to: • Spend time on the water • Get to know experienced locals in your area. • Factor in weather, barometer, moon, etc but don’t get too caught up in these or you’ll never go. • Find a couple bodies of water close to home and spend most of your time learning them and patterns will develop. It will be overwhelming if you don’t, with all the water there is here... mike

You could always get Turtle man to come ! Live action! Ye yee yeeee!

Had 3+ inches of rain last night. The bream were fired up. Got a nice mess for my boss. And a bonus bass too.

I thought 3:10 to Yuma was good. I know I mentioned it before, but one of my favorites is Last of the Dog men with Tom Beringer and Barbara Hershey. The plot is a little far- fetched ( not quite as much for the 90s ) but close enough to reality to be interesting. I give it a 3 out of 4 .

Watching “ How the west was won “ as I write. Had forgotten how good it was... Any Western with James Arness in it was good.

Thought of you this morning and prayed ...

Not sure about the gophers? but the vols Do seem to be coming around.

I have had a pretty good year fishing-wise anyway. Hit my personal best numbers day on the home lake(32) , and biggest fish was 7 1/2. I had friends over a few times and we did well. Thats the high points. This year has been a very hard year financially for us , so I took no road trips, and bought fewer baits etc than any year I can remember. Fished less overall too, and the grandkids only went with me a few times.? Mackayla was with me when I got the 7 1/2 pounder though!? As a result of the lean year, I didn’t grow much with new baits/ techniques- like I had done in previous years. I also have been trying to catch at least a 9 pound + fish this year, but haven’t yet.( I still have a month and a half !!)

I use the 4 inch super fluke on a 3/0 wide gap gamakatsu hook t-rigged weightless. Once the fish is hooked I rarely lose one. I caught an 8. 1 for my biggest fish last year on one. My biggest this year was 7 1/2 also caught on one. I have no problems with the action because I make sure the bait is rigged as straight as possible. Im sure Ive caught the most fish on these in the last 20 years or so out of all my baits. I have caught the majority of the fish deadsticking, and most of the rest on a topwater retrieve over and around weeds. Favorite colors are watermelon red and watermelon seed, Houdini , golden bream . The fluke or fluke jr. catch a lot of smaller fish. Of these 2 , I prefer the fluke. Have tried the magnum fluke with 0 success.

Got one out of another one of my work route ponds . Thought I would have done better with this big front coming in. This one clobbered a watermelon red fluke on top as I was reeling in.

This is the result of that game? This one is hilarious ( if you’re an LSU fan )

This is my favorite. Searchers is a close second, Lonesome Dove also. Also Dances with wolves and the last of the Dog men, El Dorado, the undefeated, hang em high, Open range, Qiugley down under, Jeremiah Johnson , the list goes on. I grew up in the 60s too, With Gunsmoke, bonanza being my favorites. I still watch Gunsmoke reruns several times a week. If it wasn’t for westerns I wouldn’t watch TV much, except for SEC football , of course.

Was planning to fish the last 3 hours of daylight but I helped my G. Daughter with something instead. Casted for 5 minutes and caught this one and a smaller friend on a watermelon red speed worm.

Is it winter yet? Going to be around 80 here today. ? Looks like we are getting a cold front on Friday though. We might be in the high 40s for a low this Saturday night/ early Sunday.

And I was the remote! Bet you’re too young to remember that!

You would probably have trouble launching at my best spots . They are off the beaten path back in the woods ( Unimproved sand ramps ) I use my 12 ft j boat in there. Ive done well at Little Orange lake near Hawthorne using plastic worms. Not too far N of Ocala. Orange / Lochloosa gives you plenty of water to fish also in the same general area. I used to launch at Cross Creek or marjorie Rawlings park on Orange lake back in the day... If you like river fishing, try the Ocklawaha river east of Ocala. It is still wild and scenic. Can be kind of hard to fish though if you aren’t used to fishing rivers with a current.

Will you have a boat? I know some spots in the Ocala national forest but you need a small boat or kayak. Anywhere in Florida I’ve fished, soft plastic baits with a t-rig work well for me.

These are hilarious!