N Florida Mike

I've noticed the English do say " reckon " a lot. Mom's family has been in NC since the 1700s. More Scottish than anything else. Yeah, I won't give reckon up either, although the wife won't tolerate antee beeotics.?

^^^ this.

Not me.

I haven't fished the Bradenton area before, but soft plastics work great anywhere else I've fished in Fl. Senkos haven't been mentioned yet. For numbers of fish, use the 4 inch ones. Watermelon colors are generally a good place to start.I like Texas rigging them. As mentioned, flukes and plastic worms are always good to have in your box.If it's tannic stained waters from Cypress trees, red shad is a good color. Bank fishing can be pretty difficult, if not impossible in many of the wild natural lakes though. Find some good retention ponds and start there, or get a boat ! If you can get a hold of some wild shiners use them.

Went for a short trip with the G-Daughter and got this one one an orange senko right before a thunderstorm sent us home.

That's cool, no disrespect intended.

Do you live in Canada ? ? Seriously, I have never heard anyone pronounce it poe-tay-toe, except Richard Pryor doing it in a comedy routine once. One of my pet peeves was my wife giving my mom a hard time for not pronouncing words the way she would . My mom grew up in a very small town in N. Carolina, and said Antee -beeotics instead of Anti-biotics.She also said " I reckon " a lot , and my wife would occasionally say it, in a mocking kind of way. But my wife , who has West Virginia and Virginia roots would say " all's " instead of " all " , and any woman she didn't like was a " wench ". But she never got any grief from me about it, you can be sure ! For fishing it has to be boaters than run over my lines when I'm pier fishing in saltwater. I don't do it much anymore for that very reason. They will run right over your lines less than 50 feet away and look surprised when they see me waving my arms and hear me yelling ( no, I don't flip them off ) Other than that, my biggest pet peeve is bad drivers. ( See my road rage thread from last year )

I've lived the outdoor life since I was very young, doing a lot of fishing, some hunting, hiking, camping ,Played all kinds of sports with little precaution and have done a lot of manual labor including farming etc. I think generally its been good for me because at 57 I feel good most of the time . My left shoulder gives me fits at times, as does my right wrist, esp. After casting a bait caster for awhile ( My friend ran his dad's truck into an oak tree with me on the side that hit the tree, breaking 3 bones in my lower thumb when I was 19 ) My lower back gives me fits if I stay out fishing too long, but by the next day it's fine. Im having a little trouble getting out of the boat at the dock, mainly due to being overweight ( 275 and just under 6 ft tall ) But all things considered, I'm blessed to be as healthy as I am. My 12 yr old G-Daughter keeps me going though. Today she had me climbing the big ol' oak tree with her out on the island in our lake.

When you go to post something hit the smiley face icon at the top, then categories, then emoticons.

Is it just me or what. I have no idea what this thread is about. Maybe I can Google it .?

I noticed that too. Or maybe he's like me and has technology limitations.

I use a gamakatsu 3/0 wide gap hook almost exclusively. I land 90 % of the fish I hook on flukes. I use a sweep set ( more horizontal than verticle) , and work hard to keep pressure on the fish during the fight, and also to keep the rod down to not allow the fish to jump.I also tex pose the hook so the point is just out of the fluke. You will miss a few on the hookset, esp. If the fish takes you by suprise and if you arent positioned correctly when setting the hook.

No, but I caught a 4 pounder once on a doughball !

My wife hasn't been with me much since she lost what I call " The bass of the lake", meaning a huge fish. It was actually towing the boat out into the lake but eventually just came off. The last time she went it was one of the hottest summer days last year, and was the worst evening last year I had fishing. I caught 1 bass and finally gave up and went bream fishing and caught only 5. She does put up with my trips without complaint, as long as the chores are caught up anyway. ?

I fish moderately clear water for the most part. A little closer to clear than murky waters. My best colors are: • Watermelon with some kind of red in it. • Other watermelon colors. • Grape shad • Tequila sunrise • June bug • Black grape • Red shad There are numerous color combos I don't use much, but occasionally catch a few on. I rarely, if ever , catch anything on blue, black, yellow , or white.

Went out for a couple hours this evening. Very windy. The fish have been as active as can be all month. Today I lost a 4 pounder by the 4th cast or so to a jump.Caught a dink and 2 pound size fish. One on a fluke, one on a senko , and one on a pit boss. Just not biting good. So with a little daylight left, I put on a black grape 10 inch Mr Twister worm, threw it up against a pontoon boat, and the pictured fish nailed it when it hit the water. Another 5 pound 11 oz. Fish. Pic. Turned out grainy for some reason.

Not this time. We released him into the creek that is the outflow for the lake.

Got this big Softshell this evening on a live bream. Thought it was a big catfish at first. My G. Daughter finally netted it after a hard fight of 7-10 minutes. It was app.25 inch long and completely filled up my cooler.

I use 3-4 inch ' gills. I have tried a lot of different hooks. Lately, I've been using # 2 circle hooks in bronze. It will seem small, but that size won't hinder the bream. He will swim more naturally with a smaller , lighter hook.Hook the 'gill through both lips going in at the bottom and coming out at the top. You won't hook the bass if you set the hook hard though. When the bass eats the bream, I count to 10, then slowly tighten up. Right before it gets all the way tight, start reeling as you moderately ease back on the rod.The fish will generally be hooked in the corner of the mouth.Sometimes it takes time to get used to not setting the hook too hard with a circle hook. If you're used to setting the hook hard you can try a #2 khale hook. If the pond is clear or fairly clear of bottom structure, I recommend not even using a cork. Just cast the bream out and let it free spool until a bass eats it. You'll know because a bass will eat the bream and will always swim steadily away, usually away from the bank.The action of the bream is stop and go, stop and go. A bass will peel the line off faster and steadier than a bream will. If you do have a lot of structure, you can use a 3-4 inch Styrofoam tube shaped cork, although I often use the round red and white ones and they work fine. Another tip is keeping the line tight when fighting the fish, and lowering the rod when fighting the fish so it cant jump. Be ready, because they will nearly always jump right after they are hooked! I expect to see some good pictures soon ! Mike

Try wade fishing in the river with them! Did it for years. Many , many more people are killed by lightning than gators. I'd just about as soon deal with a gator than a cottonmouth personally.

I need to order some. Dicks used to carry them. Black grape and black are the 2 colors I use the most. They work great in the St Johns river system. They have a great action.