N Florida Mike

Thanks, Sam . I smiled. Been a long time since I’ve seen this one.

I love the blue angels. They fly every year where I live, the base is only about 3 miles across the river from us. I get a pretty good view from my backyard. For some reason , I get tears in my eyes watching them.

Good job Nolan !!

Was on the water at crack of dawn this morning. Figured they’d bite ‘cause we had a hard rain yesterday evening and it cooled things down some and provided some much needed oxygen to the water. Water level is way down around here. Started out with a frog and buzzbait. Nothing on the bb, but I got one nice fish on the frog. Also caught some on the 5 inch dinger in Watermelon red around eel grass edges . Caught most of the rest of the fish with various zoom flukes. Could not get the big fish to bite, but most of them were quality fish up to 3 pounds. Ended up with 21.

^^^ This ^^^

I was on lunch break today and thinking about how in the world we were going to make ends meet this month. Right then 3 crows flew up and landed nearby and began finding worms and insects to eat, plenty of them. They looked happy and unconcerned about their lot in life. I was reminded of a story I’ve read in an old Book many times that birds are fed and they aren’t worth near as much as we are. How much more will we be fed and cared for by a loving Father, so why worry ? The birds don’t.

Well, we won’t hold that against them.

I’ve known a lot of fishermen and never known any that would snag bass. And some of those I knew would think nothing about poaching a ‘gator or deer or two to feed their families back in the day. Not saying that was completely right but I understood it at least. But snagging bass? they wouldn’t even do that to put meat on the table!! It’s kind of like the unpardonable sin of all outdoor pursuits.

That’s exactly what I do, except I carry 3-5 baits on the bank too. Usually all some kind of soft plastic.

I like teaching kids for the most part. I had some kids from the neighborhood come by and ask if they could fish out back and I let them. They came back several times and caught some fish, I even let them use some of my stuff. Things generally went well with me supervising. Then one day they came by when I wasn’t home and my daughter let them in AND gave them access to my fishing room!!!? Thought I raised her better than that! When I got home, they were already gone... but EVERY bass combo I had, and several of my other outfits were strewn all over the back of my property. All of them in various states of disrepair, backlashes, hooks gone, lines reeled all around the rods. Did I say EVERY ONE OF THEM??!!.My fishing room looked like a tornado had gone through it. Tackle boxes left out and open. Baits all rifled through and mixed up. It took me a long time to get it all straightened out. I’m still not so sure that I found all my combos but think I did! Strangely enough, they never came back. I did get one “ I’m sorry dad “ from my daughter. My hats? are off to you sir!!!

I use 10-12 pound trilene for skipping. If you use the 12 it is sufficiently strong. I don’t remember having any fish break it off under a dock or brush pile. Visibility is not a problem. I catch lots of fish with it.I used to use the yo-Zuri and liked it at first, but it seemed like The last 2-3 spools I put on were bad. It kept breaking even in open water. I don’t get that with the trilene. Cast ability is good, and the memory isn’t as bad as other lines Ive used. I use it mostly weightless. I don’t worry about how fast or slow it sinks- the fish like it , and that’s all that matters!!?

Welcome! I love red fishing- trout , not so much. There’s you first disagreement! Love bass fishing the best tho! ?

I have only bought 1 pair in the last 15 years . I think they were 65.00. I wear work boots more than anything.

I honestly have never heard of him . How’d he get caught?

Picked this one off before dark on a watermelon red yum dinger .

Pit bosses by themselves work pretty good.?

Almost the same for me. I caught 1 4 pounder on one once. I must have hit him on the head with it.! Mine is jigs. I have not caught a fish on them. I haven’t fished them as much as other baits though. But when you get enough clumps of weeds with every cast, you’d feel that way too! @Catt has tried to help. I haven’t tried them since his last tips on them though. Can’t afford any new baits right now- got mouths to feed ! Got 1 jig a South Carolina boy gave me , and still haven’t caught one on it yet!

Summer I slow down , because the fish do. Early morning bite is best when the temperature is in the 90s. Rain and temps in the 80s fire up the bass. I go as weightless as possible , because mostly I fish shallow lakes , and catch most of my fish on a variety of soft plastics, like zoom speed worms , senkos, flukes , zoom trick worms, culprit worms, zoom speed craws , and zoom baby brush hogs. I use a small bb shot with the worms and lighter baits like the baby brush hogs.The color depends on the water , but I use a lot of watermelon colors and June bug. In darker, tannic ( presence of Cypress trees ) I use red shad and black grape and the reliable June bug. I catch a few on frogs too. Like @Fishing_FF said, slow down when you ain’t catching any. Use those baits and you will.

Sorry you lost that big un. At least you got some nice fish anyway. And your brother looks happy.?

Caught mine when I was 19 years old. It was the last day of the year. Warm and windy as I recall. I had not had a bite all morning. Around 11:00 I made a perfect cast that the wind took and just missed the edge of a stand of cattails, landing 1-2 feet from the bank in a slightly deeper little hole, 3-4 feet deep. I remember saying out loud " Bill Dance makes a perfect cast " And thinking It was such a good cast I ought to catch a good fish there. It was kind of a protected little cove formed by the cattails on either side. I was using a grape Mann's Jelly worm. Felt the tap, set the hook, and the fight was on. She tried to jump but could only get head and shoulders out of the water. The fish fought left, right, left , right as I got her closer with each run. Finally lipped her and couldn't believe It. Based on 3 sorry scales and length , the fish was 8 1/2 to 9 pounds. An interesting side note is that my son caught his 2 biggest within 30-40 feet of the same spot as mine. His biggest One was almost exactly the same size as my pb. Caught almost 40 years later.! The pic is my son's 2nd biggest , which was 8.2.

And in response to the original post, I don't think your fish survived. But you should not feel too badly. It'll occasionally happen, even though you take precautions. Fileted bass aren't bad! I am not advocating lack of concern for the fishes life. I will do everything I can to save bigger fish especially, and smaller ones I don't plan to keep. But at the end of the day, there may be fish that dont make it. Like walking into a yard that has dogs, you will occasionally step in the crap. It goes with the territory.....

So you would put a bass back knowing it would probably die and be wasted? As long as bass are kept legally It's fine. If you don't want to , that's fine too. Just don't condemn those of us who do...

O man- I missed it. Will make up for it soon.?

I haven’t caught any posts from Nolan lately. Is it on another thread? I have enjoyed his updates in the past. .

Usually the summer is slower around here , but not as slow as winter. They’ve been biting well lately for some reason , probably because it rained more this week and boosted the oxygen. I usually do better in the summer starting at daybreak and fishing til 11-12 or so. I usually start with a frog and fish it an hour or so. I may try a spinnerbait for awhile and then switch to soft plastics. By 1030 or so the fish often will start relating to docks so I fish them until I quit. Sometimes if I’m still out past noon I will fish some kind of worm in deep holes and have found that big fish tend to be there I reckon because they can find cooler water there. It often produces in mid to late pm too . Just caught a 5 pounder at a deep hole the other day.