N Florida Mike

First bass I remember catching on a lure was with a red and white spoon when I was 14 or so. I think I caught 1 more on it ever. I may have caught a bass on a live worm before that but I dont remember for sure. First good sized bass I caught was a 4 pounder that ate a dough ball while I was fishing for catfish.?

I told this one before, but I was dating a girl and we went fishing. My one rule was watch when you cast , Im behind you. About 5 minutes later I heard a swoosh and felt something ( her bait ) as my hat lifted off and was cast 50 feet or so out in the lake. She was so worried Id be mad but I thought it was funny for some reason and laughed. I did not marry her though.

Im the exact opposite !

I was wonderin' where you've been. Now I know . Great fish, and it qualifies for a true hawg. Caught my pb like you- only bite I had that day.

Exactly. Except I use 10 pound mono.

I do best under docks with t-rigged senkos. I skip em under, let em fall, and if there's a fish it wont take long and you'll get bit. That pattern is best for me from late spring to fall, from about 11 a.m- 4 pm or so.

Im 95 % sure I caught the biggest fish in my small lake when I was 19 ( just posted this on another thread ) I wade fished , swam, bank fished, and fished out of a boat several times a week there for years. I kept seeing this one big catfish, and eventually caught it by accident while bream fishing. 33 inches long - 22 pounds. I have fished the lake for 40 years since then and never seen or heard of another fish that big being caught. EXCEPT the 23 pound grass carp I snagged near the tail a few years ago.The lake record bass is 13 1/2 pounds, which was not caught by me. I also caught a 7 pound bass in a 1 acre pond., which Im pretty sure at the time was the champ. I released the fish, and app 2 years later my son saw someone pull out a 9 pounder there and kept it. ?Probably the same fish.

Man , what a blessing ! You have some great success on that lake for sure. You could make a new topic " So y'all want to know how to fish toledo bend AND win a new truck " ? ? Did you get the truck yet ?

I dont use anything less than #6 pound test for any kind of fishing anymore. For bass, it's usually 10-12 pound mono. I have caught a fair number of 4-5 pound bass on the 6, which I thought was pretty good. Ive cuaght several of these while fishing with a 5 ft rod and tiny hook for bream or shiners to use for bait. The bass clobber them while reeling them in. Its harder for me to get a good hookset without breaking the line with light line, but I succeed sometimes.? All about the drag !

I have used Wolverine boots for years. The first pair was the best , the pair I have now is the worst, they are the least comfortable, and already wearing on the heels pretty bad , and they arent even 8 months old yet. Quality seems to be dropping.

Ive had the privelege of teaching my 2 sons to fish, One of them now commercial fishes for a living. And teaching 5 of my grandkids to fish. I like to teach adults to bass fish who have little experience. Also being able to host friends and assorted bass resource members at my home lake is a blessing.

I caught a 22 pound channel cat when I was 19 while bream fishing with bread. I was using 8 pound test with a lightweight spinning reel , and the rod had a broken tip. Took 20 -25 minutes to land.

Love it ! But I dont act disrespectively towards anyone about it !?

Got this one today on a frog. One ounce shy of 5 pounds

We are fixing to have a cold snap this week. Temps will be in the 60s for highs. ?

Shoot, Zoom lizards are always on my boat, and have been for many years now. Its one of my " circle of trust " baits.

These are some of my favorite worms. For some reason they arent in stores much anymore. I plan to order some this year. They are so...slinky is the word . And coated with that slimy stuff . Love to sniff em'? Bass love em too !!

I do the same thing . Occasionally, I'll pull out my old Rebel excalibur worm box, which is still full of Mann's Jelly worms, culprits, Producto tournament worms, etc. I also have some old paddle tail worms in there, and " gator tail " worms. Sometimes I just take that box only, to really re-aquaint myself with the good ol days.

I am positive if I hadnt played so much baseball ( and done so much rock skipping ) I would not have picked the skill of skipping up so easily. It isnt exactly the same motion , because you have a rod in your hand. But it's the closest thing to that motion. Most of the time I fish low to the water sitting in my J. boat. This makes me have to skip with the rod nearly parallel to the water, maybe slightly tilted downward. I can skip a bait 40 feet accurately, and can go 50 + but dont like to. That may not seem like much distance but when half of it is under a dock , or back up into brush, it isnt bad. I like control, and when it gets too far away, you lose it. But I'll keep skipping it like a rock because it works for me. Thats's one the joy of fishing. Do what works best for your circumstances.

Thanks for all the replies. Theyve got me on some medicine, and about to set up therapy. It seems to continue getting better. I can sleep on both sides now, which I couldnt do last week. Boss at Work has let me avoid crawling under houses, which is letting it heal ( hopefully )

I use a spinning reel for skipping, which I do a lot of. I use a 6 1/2 foot medium rod with a fast tip and 10 pound mono, or 20 pound braid.You should go up on the pound test if you fish heavy brush. But 10 -12 pound mono or 20 pound braid is what I use for docks and what I consider light brush. The bait that I would learn on is a zoom speed craw. I use one bb shot attached just above the bait. Of course, You could go up on the weight if youre fishing deeper water. I fish a lot of water under 5 feet, so I prefer a light weight with skipping so it doesnt sink too fast. The motion is like skipping a rock, or like a sidearm baseball throw. Since I did a lot of both, it came easy for me. You want to start low to the water. I think one thing that helps me is that I usually fish from a jon boat which sits me lower in the water. It is very satisfying to make a good skip and get way back under a dock or brush pile that you would not have been able to reach with an overhand cast. The tap at the end of the line is the payoff ! Best way to learn is to go do a lot of it. Docks are usually best, because they offer plenty of different angles to try (and fish ! )

What do you consider Chronic though ? I cant remember but one injury that took more than a month to heal and I went directly to the hospital on that one. This hurt for around 3 weeks before I went, but it seems to hurt a little less every day. Not having to crawl under houses is helping.

Sorry friend, but your time will come. Our weather is a month early. Our March hasnt even been very windy either. Hopefully our summer wont be early !

Got out with a friend from work for a few hours this afternoon. The bite was very slow at first. We caught 11 in the first 3 hours or so. The lake was almost slick calm, which usually means you have to slow down the presentation. Byron got a nice 3 pounder when I saw the wake and told him where to throw. The last 30- 40 minutes we caught 9 more , all on the Alabama craw yum dingers. The other fish were cuaght on zoom speed craws in some brush, and the golden bream super flukes. And caught 1 on a trick worm. We lost a couple bigger fish in the eel grass. It was Byrons 2nd time bass fishing. He is learning fast, and doing much better on the hook set. Another nice weather day, almost hot , with temps in the low 80s.