N Florida Mike

Hmmmm ?

At least they'll be plenty for the PYTHONS to eat down there.

Sounds like me except slight age differences. I would love to tell some funny stories about the topic, but I can't remember any of them !?

Frogs?

Usually the slower I fish the better I do, esp. because of all the plastics I use. I once fished a 2 day tournament in the St Johns river. The first day my motor conked out and so did the trolling motor and that caused us to just paddle North starting at the ramp. We had a nice bag, and paddled back in time for the weigh in. Took third place. Fishing slow works!

I use spinning most of the time for my t-rigged plastics.I have a lot of overhanging limbs around the home lake and do a lot of skipping there and under docks. Spinning is so much easier with these conditions. I do have 3 baitcasters I use semi-regularly.One is for swimming frogs, another for hollow body frogs, and one for spinnerbait. I'm looking to add one of each this year. My spinning outfits are pretty old and worn out, and I want a small, compact bait caster to add to the arsenal.

Church, then lunch . Watched a western movie as my grandson mowed the yard. Went swimming for awhile .My daughter and her b.friend grilled steaks, baked taters and asparagus. While they were grilling I caught a small bass out back. Just relaxed after that and got a call from the oldest son whos out west. Got caught up with him and then watched the gators lose to T. Tech in baseball.?

I grew up in the Florida heat and humidity. Spent much of my time outdoors. We would play all day outside except for lunch. If you got hot, you drank water out of a hose. Played all kind of sports also when coaches had little compassion about us being comfortable. I never got close to heat exhaustion. Fast forward to last Tuesday afternoon. I did some physical side work outside for about 4 1/2 hours. I got to the point right before I finished that I had nothing left in the tank.My fingers were cramping, I had aches all over, esp. headache, back was killing me, and I felt like I had a fever, plus being nauseated . I toughed it on out and finished. Made it home and spent several hours trying to cool off and feel better, which I finally did by drinking lots of water, and holding ice water up against my temples. Had another side job 2 days later, but I drank a gallon of coconut water the day before and day of the job.+ plenty of water, and hosed down with water several times. 7 hour job and hotter even, but I didn't get near to heat exhaustion. Moral of the story: Hydrate the DAY BEFORE, and the day of the exposure . Dont think you can handle it, even though you may have before. The BEAR will sneak up on you !

At a loss for words. This happens way too much. Just know you all have my respect, + prayers.

I've had several through the years. The latest one was maybe 2 months ago, right at the end of the spawn in my home lake. I have several traditional bedding areas out there, and I was fishing the best one. Strangely enough, I'm not positive what bait I was using, but I think it was a yamamoto fluke. I had skipped the bait out into the area, which is 4-5 feet deep and 15 feet or so off the bank. When I felt the tap, I spun the boat to a good angle, and set the hook. I immediately knew it was big, and thought " Here we go again " It jumped and looked huge. I began gaining line and had it about half way to the boat when it turned and began peeling line off. When I know I have a big fish, I sometimes "self feed " line out when they go on a run, instead of depending solely on the drag. I was doing that with this fish, and thought she was at the end of her run. She suddenly sped up and pulled extremely hard straight away from me. The drag was a notch too tight, and she broke the 8 pound test. For only the 3rd time in my life, I dropped the rod and went home. Didnt feel like fishing for nearly 3 weeks.Based on the fight, I'd say the fish was at least 8+. but easily could have been bigger.

Thanks A.J. There's a small lake that's very deep ( for Florida ) that's 15 minutes away from me. It is app. 1/2 mile back in the woods and has almost no pressure. It's on my list to do somehow this year.

Thanks for sharing the experience !. A.J , do you have any recommendations for kayak carts or dollies ? I have ponds that require a portage back to them that are too far to do by carry . Trying to stay as cheap as possible.

I don't remember ever lying to my wife about going fishing. She used to try to control me early on in the marriage, like constantly trying to legislate my schedule . I did some side work after my regular job, and would fish after the job at ponds wherever I was, and didn't tell her. That's the closest I came to lying, I reckon. Through the years, I've found that the " happy wife-happy life " thing is pretty true, so I am learning to do things that are important to her and show I love her. Now that she knows I really love her, she doesn't have any problem with my fishing. I used to think " If I do this for her, or with her I'll be missing out on what I could catch today " Even though I laugh or smile when I hear " I'm gonna miss her " by Brad Paisley, and though some of you wouldn't agree, my wife means more to me than my fishing.( Gulp, I actually said it ) Ever since I've tried to really love her like I should, now I have so much more time to fish, and I mean time when I'm not stressed wondering if I should be doing something for her- because I already have been doing it. Not saying I've arrived, just better than before.

Biggest one I caught was in the Sante fe too. Around 2 1/2 pounds. Thought it was at least a 4 pound largemouth when fighting it.. They look like a smallmouth to me.

Real Purdy fish!

Gonna try this out.I catch some on trick worms but mostly dead-sticking,and occasionally get one on the retrieve.I haven't caught as many lately on them but I bet that'll change now. Thanks,Glenn.

It's always a shock when it's sudden like that. A nearly lifelong friend of mine just had his younger brother pass away from cancer recently at 51. He got it and died 6 months later. Sorry for your loss and I'll pray for his family and you.

Cool story and Good job!

I caught a severely damaged bass a few years ago. The best way I can explain it is that about a third of his head was missing. I don't know how it was still alive. My guess is an osprey or blue heron got a hold of him for a little while. Did have a pic, but phone got wet and I couldnt retrieve it.

Got 3 fish on frogs in the last month but none near as good as yours.

I can't remember ever being bored with fishing. I have gotten a little tired of it before, but by the next day or two I'm ready to go again. I don't understand people that think it's boring either, but I try not to judge them for it. ( I said TRY not to ) Millions of people got excited about disco too, for example, and I never had any interest in it. One explanation is that My dad did it, and I loved him and what he did. I could go all day with him and not catch anything ( which didnt happen much )and never get slightly bored. My middle son is like that. He would go every day if he could. My older son is good at it but it's not a passion to him. I think it's part of a big master plan that we only see glimpses of from time to time. People are just made differently, for different reasons. As Andy Griffith once said, " Some's got it And some ain't " ?

Got this 4 pound , 3 oz. Fish on a 3 inch 'gill.

I snagged a carp near it's tail a few years ago, and it was like hooking a small submarine there for awhile. Had a heavy saltwater rod and reel but he peeled 300 feet off before I got him turned. Ended up weighing 23 pounds. I have never had one hit an artificial bait, but have caught some big 'uns on bread balls.

Is that what it is ? I thought it was the new phone and coverage acting up.