N Florida Mike

That's the way it is with a frog. I caught a 7.3 early on the 4th of July last year on a pad crasher. Only bite on the frog. I never caught a fish at Palestine on a moving bait. Only by fishing worms very slow. Red shad and moccasin culprits !! There are some monster specks in there too. Heard of a 3 + pounder being caught there. That lake does look good with all the cypress , grass and pads. And it's still remote enough to take you back to old Florida. You remember that little gnarly cypress tree right out from the boat ramp ? I ran a trotline for catfish off it more than once. We used to camp there back in the day and put out the line right before dark and get butter cats. Good times...

I would say a 7 pound 11 oz.bass is pretty good in my book !! Did you catch it on the frog ?

Go Braves !

I dead stick 'em. I wait 10-20 seconds, reel in, and try again. One of my better baits.

Its interesting how much they look like saltwater black drum. The color seems to be the main difference.

Bass are on the beds. The full moon this week will just about be it for this year. I'm thinking this weekend should be real good. I've been getting some good sized fish this year so far, but not the numbers.

I met one of the members from North Florida Christian bass club and was invited to fish with them but haven't yet. The website is www.NFLChristianBass.com Phone # is -904-346-1149 The whiteys fish camp Thursday night tournaments will start again soon also out at Doctors lake . You could go check them out and meet people there. Been here all my life, if I can help let me know. Maybe we can wet a line sometime.

One of the baits in my " Circle of trust " I use a 2 or 3/0 offset shank worm hook with no weight. I just throw em out and reel em in. Especially deadly around grass edges. They produce a lot of school sized fish for me.

My max. is probably 60 yards but I dont cast that far much . Im fairly accurate but I really only make that cast in open water. I mostly use soft plastics with little weight, so I could throw considerably further with heavier baits. Im actually more accurate with spinning but dont get as far with distance. I do come close with a big senko on spinning though.!!

Nice catch man. I hesitated to say anything, but I hope you're open to some advice. You might want to minimize the publicity youre giving for your spot. Once word gets out, you may have a lot of people going there and keeping a lot of the fish and end up ruining it. That being said, your enthusiasm is refreshing. You might Try zoom super flukes, they usually work well too.

Spent a very nice last 2 hours of the day on the water . Perfect temp. and wind. The fish are back on the beds again. Got this skinny 4.12 on a pumpkin zoom lizard. Caught a few more on zoom trick worms.

^^^^ this.

I had never used any before A friend gave me some garlic-scented spray last year. I used it a few times and didnt see that it helped any. In fact , I had a couple fish pick up the bait and before I could set the hook, spit it out. That rarely ever happens to me except during bedding season, which had already occured before this. I realize this isnt a test I would draw a definite conclusion from. So the juries still out for me.

Man ! Real nice fish.Looks like it swallowed a softball !

You have to learn to adapt to the new conditions. Its like that anywhere . Even on my small lake. I am not catching the numbers I did last year because the lake's weeds are now under control and the fish that used to relate to weed edges are not there because the weeds arent. But the fish are still in the lake, you just have to find them using different pattern/ methods.

Around 5 pounds.

By the way, I have never had ANY rod break , and I have traditionally been a hard hook-setter. When I was younger and more hot-tempered, I was known to have even tossed a rod or two down on the bank after losing a nice fish ! Still no breaks. I have probably used 2 pieces more than 1s through the years. I have never thought at all there might be a sensitivity issue with the 2s until I read it on these forums.

I have a few of each. I have no problems with either. I carry a two piece in the truck tool box to have wherever I go.

Good times !

Me too. My skips are all done with spinning.

The motion of Skipping a bait is very similar to skipping rocks. It works best if you start low and parallel to the water. It is somewhat below a sidearm cast. You want the bait to have just enough lift to skim across into the target area.The motion is also much like a sidearm to submarine baseball pitcher's motion, except without a little of the upward motion. Bottom line is , it takes some practice. My home lake has quite a few areas that require it, and Ive done it so much now that I often do it even when I dont have to. The entry into the water is much quieter and more natural than the loud "plunk " of a normal cast.

I always wear blue ,grey ,or camo. Seems to work for me. I used to always wear white shirts because they seemed cooler , but overall, I catch more now. Maybe Im just a better fisherman now ?? Naw, it must be the colors.

Same here. Other than my dad, I was a Dance and Martin fan mostly, and later on , Hank Parker. There were a couple locals that I also followed : Bob Mcnally, a writer , and Monroe Campbell, who lived in my area and had his own local show. Knew them both , and they were down to earth guys who would spend time talking outdoors with you.