N Florida Mike

I was walking through a field by the lake I'd been fishing when I was 14 or so and saw this giant rat with a long tail.I mean 3 feet long.Could not believe it. Found out later it was a nutria,but we always called them swamp rats until we found out there real name.

I practice catch and release ( for the most part ) I will go to great lengths to get the hook out of a fish without injuring it. I don't ever waste a dead fish- it will be eaten.There have been a handful of times I planned to clean them later and forgot,and they went bad.I felt so bad I asked God to forgive me. I don't remember ever throwing a fish into the water.I drop them over.I don't flip them. That being said, I don't always lay them softly into the water. And I have always held a bass by the mouth.I will sometimes also support a bigger fish.Sorry,but in 40 + years I have not seen any hands-on evidence that mouth gripping a fish without support injures it. Maybe I'm wrong.I feel like I've improved some anyway.At least I don't eat every bass like I did when I was young.

We had a long thread on this earlier in the year so Im not sure if I already told this one or not. I took a friend's teenage son bass fishing.As it began to get dark we started seeing bats.He made the comment that he was really scared of bats.I explained how this kind just ate insects so no big deal etc. It wasn't 15 minutes later than that,when a bat flew between his line and rod and GOT STUCK ! He didn't notice because he was focusing on fishing.The bat struggled and freed himself just before David turned and would have seen it.I said Hey man ,a bat was stuck on your rod.He just turned and kept fishing.I think he thought I was pulling his chain. In all my years of fishing he's the only one who said he was scared of bats and it was the only time I ever saw this happen.

Hopefully Clemson. Go Gators.

Tried a couple new ponds today without a bite.Daughter prepared a great supper and I'm watching the Clemson/ O.state game. I'm with Hoosier on this one.Probably the least important holiday for me.Glad to be off from work is the main thing. Hope y'all had a merry Christmas and will have a prosperous and blessed new year. Mike

Fun times though.One of them was good at making hatbands and other items out of snake skins,usually moccasins.The other friend was deathly afraid of snakes.You can imagine where that ended up regularly....

For some reason,that reminds me of the time I got out of the boat onto a cypress tree to pee and my " friends " took off and left me there for awhile....

Wow . Finally a thread for my favorite rod.I have several one and two piece ugly sticks.Have used them for a long time.Have never broken one.I love both kinds.I would get whichever one feels best with the reel, and fits your type of fishing you plan to do with it . The two piece is no problem.I rarely have had them separate when casting.To me,there is no difference. My favorite one is a 6 1/2 2 piece and it's been so long since it came apart that it's basically fused together now!

For lighter baits I'd definitely get spinning.I use spinning more,but my frog and swimbait outfits are casting and also have a worm combo that's casting. I fish spinning at least 75% of the time.Love my stradic !!

I found a bunch of old green culprits . That was not a go- to color back then.Im going to try them.And these old Mann's worms - I found 25 or so,both the spear shaped tail and what we used to call screw tail.These are older than the culprits.Trying to decide if I should use them or save hem for nostalgia's sake.

Have used these since around 1981.Have used many different colors,but caught the most on red shad,black shad is a close 2nd.Still have one side of a box dedicated to them. But I fish a zoom trick worm watermelon red more now. Another worm that catches a lot of fish is producto tournament worms, in black or black grape.You don't hear about them any more .Getting hard to find them.Found some at Dick's a while back. Caught my PB on a 10 inch Mann's jelly worm.I was cleaning up my old worm box the other day and found a few from the late 70s early 80s.Went out and caught a small fish on one!

Not sure what bait this.Some kind of Rapala I suppose.It had been in my box for so long I forgot what it was.Only fish I ever caught on it.

I'm still in my 50s.Grew up outdoors,not playing video games.Worked on a farm from 19-26 years old.Played baseball / softball for nearly 30 years.Worked a physically demanding outdoor job for 25 years.Never had a bad injury the whole time, except the fish hook in my r. eye when I was 24. The result? I think overall the outdoor life has caused me to be healthier than I would have been.Other than moderate eye trouble,I have lower back pain if Im on my feet too long.Not serious pain,but it slows me down.I don't fish all day in a boat much anymore,unless my son takes me ( he's a die hard fisherman like I used to be )This is more due to my schedule than the back pain at this point.I have pain in my right wrist from a truck accident with a friend when I was 19.My right shoulder ( I think the rotater cuff) gives me fits at times and makes it hard to sleep on for long.and my right hand goes numb and wakes me up every night,at least once or twice. Other than that I'm good to go. For now.

I am thought to be patient by many,but I know better.Overall,its probably the one trait I struggle with the most.I worked with kids at church for around 30 years.So I thought I was patient. Then my mom came to live with me.I took care of her the last 5 years of her life.As close as we were,and as sweet as she was,she got on my nerves.A lot. And driving is the worst.At least I don't confront people like I used to.But I would love driving if it wasn't for all the other drivers. I have had good success with fishing,but when I don't I can get impatient with myself because maybe IVE OVERRATED MYSELF.So I will fish faster when I'm not having success,and that usually leads to more lack of success.Sometimes if I have been very successful in a particular body of water,and then have a few bad days there,I get real grumpy and impatient.Its like I get spoiled by success. I was the same way with baseball because IT MATTERED to me.I golfed ONCE, and laughed at myself the whole time.Why? because it DIDNT MATTER to me.So I get impatient with things that matter to me ( like fishing and people I wish would change),but not so much with things that dont. but the Lord isn't done with me yet!?

I got a fishing shirt,2 rods,A cast net ,and a book. And,got full of Turkey , ham,and fixings.

I like this!

Your welcome.Let me know if you want more in depth details.

I never fish artificials at the beach and honestly don't know much about them there.Im sure a spoon would nail some bluefish if there's any schools passing through.By far the most common fish are whiting ,pompano,and blues.( and sea catfish )The whiting love fresh dead shrimp,pompanos like sand fleas and blues live or cut finger mullet."Fish Bites" is an artificial bait that works well esp.for whiting. Check out " North Florida surf casters ". They should have some good info. January might not be too bad down there.It all depends on how much cold weather there is.Not sure,but you might be able to catch some snook down there.Ive never caught one up here.

I was wondering if anyone else does any surf fishing around here.While I primarily do bass and inshore , I love surf fishing.Its so relaxing ( once you're set up on the beach ). The action can be very steady and most everything caught there will be good to eat. It's also very nostalgic for me.Many times my Dad and me would leave on Saturday morning and fish north and south of st Augustine.Anywhere between Ponte Vedra beach to Flagler Beach.Back then,we often had the whole beach to ourselves.We nearly always had good catches of whiting,bluefish,and pompano.Occasionally black drum and reds,even flounder.Because there were so few people here then,you could park anywhere and just walk over the dunes. Sadly,those days are gone! But the fishing is as good as ever!?

Dang man,if you can do all that you need your own outdoor show !!

Happy birthday Catt.I enjoy your posts.

Great video.I will be using some of it when I reorganize next week.There never seems to enough room for everything.And I boat and bank fish,so I'm continually moving stuff back and forth.I have a small box of essentials I take for bank fishing that I try to leave dedicated just for that.

If the sun's behind you they can see your shadow.If you fish facing the sun they can't.Unless you're casting a long way,it often makes a difference.

I've done a lifetime of pond fishing in shallow,weedy lakes.When I go,I always carry these baits: •Zoom salty super flukes •G Yamamoto senkos 4-5 inch •Zoom trick worms •zoom baby brush hogs •Zoom z- hogs •Zoom super speed craw. • 7 1/2 and 10 inch culprit worms These are all good.I use watermelon seed and watermelon red primarily in clear to moderately stained water.Darker water I use a lot of red shad,june bug,black grape and black.All t- rigged on a 3/0 wide angle hook,or 2/0 with the worm.The 4 inch senko I like 1/0.I use little to no weight,unless I'm fishing a deeper lake.

I just wish it would be cold on Christmas but it ain't happening this year !!