N Florida Mike

I'd be mad if it was my pond ! Esp. If I told him not to keep any . The experience I've had with Inexperienced fishermen is that they always want to keep the big ones to show off. The REALLY inexperienced anglers keep the big ones because they are big, and let all the little ones go , because they are " too small ". I manage my small lake exactly the opposite of that. I can't control everyone on my lake but I try to get the word out to the few that fish it. Anything over 16 inch goes back. Keep some of the little ones to avoid dink city!!

I do a mix of both. I enjoy it either way. I catch more usually when alone.

I never use swivels. There is no need. I tie directly to the hook. I think a swivel might reduce line twist though, but I feel like it would mess up the natural action . You will get an occasional loop in the line that can turn ugly, but I self engage the bail, which helps, and I'm constantly checking the spool for loops. I use an improved clinch knot for mono. Easy to tie and strong.

Dang. That thing is a beast.

Been there, done that.

Without a doubt, I've caught more fish with zoom super flukes than any other bait in the last 15 years. Great choice for a bait to learn. Good choice on the colors. I use watermelon red or watermelon seed or other specific watermelon choices. Also have red shad that I use for dusk fishing. Got several others that I don't use near as much. Once caught an 8 pounder on a murky golf course pond using a bubble gum fluke ! I don't fish murky water much either, but root beer ( and bubble gum ) was the best colors I used in the one murky lake I fish. I use a 3/0 Gamakatsu wide gap hook for them. I fish them weightless. Most of the places I fish are shallow, and it works better. If I fished more consistently with water over 10 ft I would use a little weight. I catch 80 % or more of the fish I catch on them just deadsticking. I throw it out and let it sit for 15 seconds on average. Pick up and check if you don't see the line twitch first. They will often be swimming off with it. I also like to throw it up on a bank and gently pull it off into the water. This induces a lot of hits. I also twitch it twice after deadsticking it, let it sink, wait a few seconds and repeat. They will also nail it pulling it over and through grass.Sometimes they will follow and blow up on it just reeling it in. When you get bit, esp. with deadsticking, reel up and set the hook asap, because if you dont you will often gut hook the fish with flukes.To me, It's one of the most versatile baits there is. As for bullet weights I don't use them much , and when I do it's only when using ribbon tailed worms .

What is a glide bait ??

We had a length only tourney once. Just total measurement for every fish ( dinks included )?. You could throw in a smallest and biggest fish prize. I mean, how many do you really expect to catch anyway for one morning ?Should be easy.

So glad everyone's on the mend.

I second the motion with trick worms and speed worms. I usually fish the speed worms like a spinnerbait around weed edges. Another one I like are the 4 inch lucky strike worms in tequila sunrise. These are very light so I fish them with a light rig and bb shot at the hook.They are super cheap at wal mart. The other is 7 .5 inch culprit worms. Start with red or grape shad. I Texas rig worms with as little weight as I can get away with. They often see and/ or take it on the fall, and the more weight there is, it sinks too fast imo. I use 2 or 3/0 wide gap hooks. There is another less known worm called Producto. I think they are made in Sanford, Florida. Their tournament worms are EXCELLENT. But you rarely see them in stores anymore.

Jigs. I have not caught 1 fish on them.I try again occasionally with the same results. The other is big swimbaits. A friend had one of those rat things and after several trips with no bites I decided that it probably isn't for me. I haven't caught many with Cranks but enough to know they work., same with jerkbaits. Getting better with Frogs and spinnerbaits, which I have now added to my " Circle of trust " baits. No need to discuss my beloved soft plastics. This time.?

I actually would choose a good day at work over a " bad " day fishing. Otherwise, there's less money for the wife , family , and bait monkey. And "bad" is all about perspective. People starving somewhere is bad. When I fish and don't catch much it's just less good.

T rigged soft plastics. • Zoom super fluke • 4 inch Senko • Small ribbon tailed worms. These are my numbers baits, that are about equal. Of the 3, I catch more quality fish on the fluke, so it has an edge . Primary colors are watermelon shades.

After seeing some of these comments, it makes mine seem pretty small. I have had a cracked tooth that I never went to the dentist for and it eventually just fell apart. It hasn't hurt any more after that. Another was a lower back pain I had for a week or so that was caused by lifting a Jon boat with water in it, and twisting it sideways to dump it out. Felt like I was getting stabbed in the back whenever I moved much. The meningitis was an off the charts headache . Felt like a man was inside my head pounding it with a hammer.

Praying for Finn and family.

I'm so sorry man. My mom had it too. She stayed sweet to the end though. This is my 2nd mothers day without her. Would give any thing for one more hug from her. Give your mom an extra hug when you see her again.

Got out after 4 today, once I did a couple mothers day chores for the wife after church. The bite was on fire, esp for the first hour and a half. I had a couple packs of yamamoto flukes thanks to @Fishing_FF , who generously brought them on his trip up earlier this year.The fish esp. Liked the watermelon red sparkle today, and when I ran out of them, the ones that I think are watermelon slice. I caught the 4 pictured fish nearly all in a row. The second fish was just under 3,The third was a 3 pound, 3 oz fish, and the last was a 3 lb 1oz, the last 2 being caught with back to back casts. Also caught a few on senkos, mostly throwing to schools of bait fish that bass were feeding on out in the open lake. Ended up with 24 again.

SON ! Good job Roland. Er , uh,, Lonnie. Not sure how I posted you again Lonnie.sorry bout that.

I did not get a freshwater licence in Florida until I was 21, because of a rebellious nature. I never got asked to produce a license , and did have many close calls, fishing all over North and central Fl. One day I felt strongly impressed to get a license and did so. The SAME DAY I got it, We were launching at Orange lake and THE MAN asked me. I started chuckling, and told him my tale, while producing my brand new , freshly printed license.He was not amused. Ever since then, I have done my best to stay within the law, after seeing where the money goes to fishery and wildlife. I believe without a doubt I am blessed to catch a lot of fish because of this compliance . I call it reaping what I've sown. Some would call it karma. If I saw someone not in compliance, I wouldn't hesitate to call on them, unless they were possibly fishing to survive or just naive. But I would definitely speak to them about it . But we already have way too much Gov. Involvement imo, so I would be opposed to stores asking for your license, and for all the other good reasons mentioned above.

This is a casting reel, Not sure about the line, it was given to me but it's 50 or 60 pound braid. The rod is a 7'0 medium heavy.I use the horny toad , the z-man frog, Ribbet frogs, etc. The hook is a 5/0 gammy frog hook .Very sharp. I have tried all kinds of hooksets many times and my hookup % and catch rate is terrible, maybe as low as 40 %. In contrast, when I fish other plastics, It's probably close to 90 %. In most cases, I initially hook the fish, but it comes off during the fight. I had thought about watching some videos on it, because the bass definitely are interested in these baits. But the poor catch rate takes most of the fun out of it. Thanks for the feedback.

Books have been written on your questions so we'll have to try and simplify things. First of all, do you have a boat ? If you do I would personally start with smaller water bodies. It makes finding the fish easier for someone new to an area. I would probably not fish Apopka. It was a dead lake for many years due to agricultural run off, and only recently has begun to improve. But there are thousands of better lakes than that at this time. Toho is legendary , but a big lake . I assume you'll be living near there so if you do fish it, it'll take time to learn it. I know many of the N and central lakes but anything south of Ocala is out of my area of expertise. Some of the baits I would use for starters : Some kind of ribbontail worm, like culprits, 4-5 inch senkos, Zoom super flukes, all t-rigged,and some kind of spinnerbait. Swimming and floating frogs are good too esp. Late spring to early fall. And don't hesitate to use native live Shiners. Best bass bait there is. Let the water color dictate the colors you choose. Where to fish is hard to say because there's so much variety . With the weather heating up , I would focus on boat docks, esp. After 11 a.m. I like fishing grass lines early. If you can ease along parallel to the grass and throw a spinnerbait, esp. On a cloudy day with some wind, you should get bit, and fish the spinnerbait by weed edges. I love cypress trees as well, they usually hold some fish.Mouths of feeder creeks can be good too.Offshore fishing can be great, but that only comes with much time and learning the contour of the lake. Lay down trees are great too. I fish them slow and use a skipping technique, like I do with boat docks, to get the bait where they are in a subtle presentation. Senkos work great for this.You can also do some flipping or pitching into pockets of pads or grass. I honestly catch many of my fish just diligently blundering around the lake, not over thinking it. Like I said, It's just too big of a subject to really address well on here. If you come north of Ocala I can be more specific.keep us posted. Mike