N Florida Mike

Finally got out surf fishing for the first time in a while the other day. . Got to the spot on S. Ponte Vedra bch. at sunup. Put out 3 rods and immediately got a bluefish. Fished 4 hours and the only other fish I caught was , of all things, a needlefish. I cut him up and used him on my biggest combo for a shark or redfish, with no results. The weather was great, but the bites were almost non existent . I grew up fishing there , and usually do pretty good. This is one of the worst days Ive ever had there, fishing wise anyway… I think the lack of current and the sw wind messed things up.

I’ve seen it happen but usually there’s a good reason. One exception was a friend that loved fishing. He could do everything I could, but he didn’t catch nearly any fish. It was downright spooky. It held true even with speckled perch. We found a bed and caught 77 that day( 3 of us fishing in the same spot the same way). One friend caught 40 something, I caught 30 something, and he caught a few. My daughter was like that. I caught 10 whiting on 10 casts once while surf fishing. My daughter said she’d like to catch one. I baited the hook, threw it out in the same spot….and nothing happened. After a few minutes she got bored and wandered off. I immediately got a bite and reeled in another one.

Told my wife the catfish were biting, so she asked me to catch some for her for the next fry… Mission Accomplished!

Got a couple nice eating size bullheads…

Get well soon @Catt. Said a prayer for you and your wife. In our house , my grandaughter was in the hospital for 3 days this week with Septis, but she’s out and ok now. My Wife and Grandson have had bad chest colds. Ive had a 3 month dry cough that wont go away. Trying to relate and let you know you ain’t alone !

Great info y’all. Thanks! @Koz it’ll take me awhile to mull through your detailed response. @Swamp Girl, I have a canoe. I keep it but rarely use it. I got blown all over the place the few times I used it. I have an old ford ranger shortbed to haul my various watercraft in, but the canoe is the longest and Id rather slide something into the bed than have to tie it off on top. @MediumMouthBass , another great response. I want to keep it as simple and easy as possible, so probably going with a paddle ‘yak. I usually only fish for a few hours at a time, so gonna be traveling light. I just want something I can quickly load and unload, with as few breakable parts as possible!

I already have one, but it wasn’t made for fishing. Just a shell you sit on. It also leaks real bad. I know little about kayaks. Trying to start the hunt for one I will like. What features are essential, what is a good length, your pros and cons , etc? I weigh around 250 pounds. I want something very stable , but as short as I can comfortably fish. I’m primarily looking for a good used one at this point. I will primarily fish smaller waters with it ..

I personally don’t fish much after a cold front . I’ve never done well fishing then, ‘specially with blue bird skies and wind.

I started to submit a fish for Trophy catch (an 8 pound 1 oz. Fish). Then I realized my freshwater license was expired! Part of the submission requirements state that you have to have a valid license to submit a fish! So I immediately went and got my license renewed, but didn’t feel right about it, so I never submitted the fish…🙁 I tried to submit the tilapia, but it says they are upgrading the site at the moment…

I’ll try it! Thanks.

Aaron, I rarely fish with those baits, so that explains not catching them. He hit violently and like you said, I thought at first it was the bass I was after. After a brief struggle, I got him to the bank. But it wasn’t far to start with. Thanks for mentioning the trophy catch program.- but I didn’t think of it and let the fish go without a picture of the measurement or weight !😕

Not an excuse to bite an ear , but Holyfield had been head butting him before that. A lot of people are saying the fight is going to be rigged for Paul. Not sure where that info. Is coming from.

My understanding is they rarely bite any kind of artificial bait, but he clobbered the rattletrap about 8 feet from shore…

Thanks. I thought so too.

I was bass fishing with a rattletrap, and caught this 5.5 pound, 18.5 inch tilapia. First one Ive ever caught on a lure.

Tried out a new pond( for me) on the work route. Caught 1 on a cut off stick bait, but also caught my PB Tilapia.( In other species thread.)

Big red snapper do the same thing. I had several cut me off on a wreck while using 60 pound power pro the last time I was out… my son was able to get a 30 pounder to the boat.

Caught several on the trick worm as the sun was going down…

Had the chance to fish a little in a customer’s canal off Doctors Lake. I clinched a tournament win in the 80s just behind the trees in the second pic. I was hoping for a fish or two yesterday to bring me a deja vu moment, but it wasn’t happening!

The chart tells what it SHOULD weigh if it is it’s ideal weight for the length. The scale tells you the real weight, not the ideal weight for its length.

I have a chart that shows how much the fish should weigh for it’s length . 2 fish I checked the other day were 85% and 90% ideal weight for the length. I forgot to do it on this fish but he was much less.

Thanks, but he was one step from malnourished!

Got this long skinny fish on a hollow body bream . I don’t remember the name of it Ive had it so long. Noticed a bass crashing bream at my dock, so I thought of the bait. Tied it on and in less than 5 minutes , had the fish. He hit it like a bream hitting a bug on the surface- just pecked it and it was gone! First fish I ever caught on it.

Got out for a couple hours before dark. Fished the upper 3rd of the lake nearest to home. Fishing into a moderate wind. They weren’t having anything but the yum dingers. Ended up with 7.

Went to a friends wedding yesterday and caught some bream around the dock at the venue. The first one had a chunk bit out of him by something. I caught around 10 in the short time I had just before the wedding. Only one was small. I did something I can’t remember ever doing before. I cast out , and the rod slipped out of my hands and went in the water. I got down under the dock and was just able to reach the rod with another rod- all with my suit on and dress shoes. I came very close to slipping in the mud twice, as it was I got mud all over my dress shoes. It was worth it, because it was one of the grooms rods !!