N Florida Mike

It seems like you catch biggins if there ISN'T an insect event… Ive heard a few, but seems less than normal so far…

First cast again on a yum dinger…

I am meticulous about drag, knots, nicks in the line. But it still occasionally happens. What really mystifies me , is that I caught my pb when I was 19 years old, and didnt know much then compared to now !

A friend at church suprised me with a new combo today. A Wanyoo ? Anyone hear of that? Went home , made one cast with it, using a bama craw yum dinger and…got the skunk off…

Got a new PB today….. But it was a mudfish… We fished a lake we hadnt fished in many years. On the water at dawn. Got halfway to the first spot and Jeff had forgot to put the plug in ( again) . So back to the ramp we go. Finally get to the spot and the TM doesnt work. Mess with the connections awhile and it starts working. Fished grass edges, docks, cypress, and offshore all morning . Used Speed worms, culprits, senkos, jerkbaits, Traps, swim baits, Bandito bugs, diferrent topwater baits, even a roostertail. Flipped, pitched, skipped , you name it.Results: 3 halfhearted bites, 1 bass, a smaller mudfish, and my PB mudfish. It was 8-10 pounds , but I didn't fool with weighing it.. First bass skunk Ive had in a long time.

And you never forget certain fish you lost. I was fishing a tournament in Rodman in the 80s , and lost what was probably the biggest bass I ever hooked. She just turned , swam away, picking up speed, and the line broke like a pistol shot. I would have won the tournament and caught a PB at the same time… 😕

One of my uncles was in the navy on a carrier in the S Pacific. The only thing I remember him telling me was seeing dead japanese floating in the water. I wish I had prodded him to talk about it more. Another uncle was in the army in Europe and later, the Aluetians. He never spoke about it. My dad helped built Liberty ships during the war at wilmington NC. I remember my mom telling me of 4 brothers from her area that were all killed at Pearl Harbor. She said she was at a movie that day and they interrupted it to tell of the attack…

I’ll either do a hardees biscuit with hash browns and black coffee, or my oatmeal mix with black coffee st home.

It was an olympic spinning combo from the 70s…

Good idea. Thanks ! The problem I have is that I have done this so long now I think it just shouldnt happen . But it did. Thanks for the try, but Ive never seen or caught one in there. Im thinking the knot slipped through the eyelet of the hook. That would get me “ off the hook” so to speak…

It certainly wasnt from any kind of sonar, not that I’m against it. But it wasn’t available back when. It pretty much isn’t available now either for me… have you seen how much they cost ? Mostly spots were/are found from time on the water. I know that’s simplistic, but it’s true. And in Florida there are a million places to bass fish. Where do you start? Then , there’s individual spots on the water bodies. It can be intimidating. I fish close to home for the most part, which allows more time on the water. I try to learn a few spots well, and give up on some as I add others. I have individual things I look for. The ones that dont meet my criteria get passed over . Partnering with a few trusted friends helps too, you can trade spots, as long as they arent blabbermouths…

I meant to mention that I worked nearly a year for that bite- I had the fish on for a good ride last year and it got off-to no fault of my own. I think it may be the only real big fish in there. A 13 was caught there 10 years ago on a shiner. So maybe it’s progeny? Thanks for all the sympathy.

I actually broke my line 3-4 times with fish in a drain on another pond. One day when the sun was overhead I walked by it and saw a concrete ledge sticking out . Was actually relieved and slightly disappointed at the same time !

Im trying to come up with something to blame it on…

Yeah, I just saw Scott Martin had one break off inna tournament, so it can happen to anyone…

Fishing the church graveyard pond this morning. Caught one on a black and blue senko. Was about to quit and cast near the drain where I had caught my biggest in there , and had lost a huge fish there last year. Threw over there, felt the tap, set the hook and … it broke on the set. 15 pound big game… I yelled NOOOO! Youve been there… It was her. What I call THE FISH of the pond. Still upset after an hour . I checked everything before I went this morning, I think maybe the drag was a little too tight…😥

Congrats ! I’m 63 also but will probably never retire…

So they must not be any good to eat …

We put some in our lake 6-7 years ago. There arent but maybe 20 left, but theyre huge. 40-50 pounds. Our fishery isnt as good now. I attribute more of that to Otters than the carp though. We do have some kind of submergent algae or weed that is dark green and goops up your bait with nearly every cast. The carp may have somehow caused it , because we didnt have it before we stocked the carp…

Got a couple on the horny toad right before dark. Lost 3 also,including a bigger one. They absolutely clobber this bait , like they hate it…

My daughter noticed one on my neck awhile back and got him out before he got in too deep. What’s strange is that I hadn’t been in the woods or walking around in brush that day at all…must have been from the day before.

I was on the water shortly after 5 today. Wind 10-15, mostly cloudy, temp around 80. Decided to fish the east channel of our island , starting out with a june bug baby brush hog. Got 5 there off brush piles and laydowns. Got to the south end of the island and switched to the speed worm. Hooked a good fish that probably jumped 3 feet out of the water and shook off. I got a dink on the speedworm and moved south. I decided to do a drift across part of the lake. This is when I suddenly thought of a bait I hadn’t used much in 10 years, the Zoom horny toad in watermelon red, and put one on. Immediately got a tap on the retrieve but swung and missed. The wind took me west around a point, so I fired a cast parallel to the point down the bank . Boom! Missed again. Boom ! missed again. Next cast a 1 pounder. By then I was back near the island. I went slightly up into the west channel, and missed another fish. The next cast the rod loaded up on the drop. Pegged him and got the biggest of the day. Ended up going on to the far southeast corner where I like to end the day. Got a couple more one pounders on the toad. Threw near a dock, and the rod loaded up again before I could even get the reel engaged. She had nearly pulled the line all the way tight and I hit her hard… but it came loose. BIG fish. I didn’t turn her at all as she went on under the dock. As the sun went down , I got another fish skipping the toad under a dock. I had forgotten how well they skip!! I am excited to start using the HT again. I ended up with 11, and 5 of them on the toad !

Whem my friend is in front he usually catches 1-2 more than me. But If Im in back in my home lake with him, I usually catch more by a large margin. I think one reason for that is Im more used to fishing out of a jon boat, which is lower and he is more used to fishing out of his bass boat, which is higher. When we go on road trips we always take his boat. If it’s my lake we take my JB. Another reason is he uses more weight than me in my lake. Those fish have never bit well on fast sinking baits. Another reason he is bait caster only, and can’t skip baits. I use more spinning, and can skip baits with them…

Seems like I got a lot more breaks on the hookset with Stren, but that’s just me… I caught my PB with it though , so …🤷🏼‍♂️

I was out working in it and didn’t notice any difference in the light , and I tried hard to…