N Florida Mike

I've been with 2. Pond bass,and Florida fishing fool.( who isn't on the forums anymore). Still maintain contact with both. I fish with my son a lot,but there's always time and room for others.Id love to fish with more of y'all.

I used to do it in my late teens,early 20s.A few times,I woke up the next day with no idea how I got there.Very thankful to God to have been delivered from that.Havent been drunk now for 32 years. One young man I grew up with killed a mom and daughter while driving drunk.His arm was permanently mangled..Got 7 years in prison and license permanently revoked.When he got out,I saw him one night at a store DRIVING AND DRINKING.I said something about it and he wouldn't listen.Around 6 months later he was drunk and walked out in front of a car and was KILLED.Could have been me. I think drunkenness is bad period. Even if you're not driving.

Look back to your original post.I responded on Oct 22. Mike

I am a simple man,so I keep the hooks simple.I use 3/0 gamakatsu ewg. for most of my t- rigged baits.I will downsize to 2/0 for plastic worms and like 1/0 for 4 inch senkos. I have no trouble hooking and landing fish with this method. I will occasionally fish live bait.I use a small #4 plain shank live bait hook in bronze by Eagle claw.It is small enough to not disrupt the baits natural action,but strong enough to hold large fish.Its surprising that I will rarely miss a fish with such a small hook.

This is my fishing room.Far left is freshwater catfish/ bream gear.The middle is all my bass stuff.The bottom middle Is casting gear,and on top of that is spinning.On the right is my shelves with various boxes of artificial and hanging baits ,hooks, accessories etc. The second pic shows the corner with my saltwater R And Rls. The whole room is a mess right now. I clean it up each winter. Pics are tilted again for some reason.

If I had to keep one kind of fishing and give up the rest I would keep bass fishing. That being said, I enjoy most kinds of fishing.In freshwater,I fish for bream and catfish,and rarely, speckled perch. I also do some saltwater inshore fishing,Mostly targeting Redfish, flounder and sheep heads.Also love surf fishing for whatever's biting. Also love offshore bottom fishing,but don't do that much. And I've tried trout fishing in the Smoky mts with little success. Like I said,I love bass fishing best.But I have never caught a small mouth.Its definitely on my wish list.

First fish was my biggest.App. 9 pounds.Caught on a grape Mann's jelly worm when I was 19. Second fish is my best in the last 10 years.Scale was on the blink so not sure of the weight.Caught this one on a small watermelon seed fluke.

Welcome to the forums.I grew up in the jax.area,so I know some spots.There are so many ponds,you could probably never fish them all. Many of the best ones are private .I'm always on the lookout to add new ponds to the list.My job takes me to houses,some with ponds.So I often ask if I can fish them.So cultivate friendships! I mainly fish on my home lake I live on.I have a waiting list though.Theres a lot of 3-6 pound fish here,but also too many smaller fish.Its definitely more of a numbers lake.Maybe you'd like to try it sometime. Tell me what part of town your in,and I can probably tell you a spot or two. Mike

I don't know...that's actually a good question.I ll call the friend who gave it to me tomorrow and see if he knows.You could try googling it in the meantime.

Those are some great fish.Id love to catch some small mouth someday.

I broke my thumb on my right hand when I was 19 in 3 places .My hand goes numb every night and sometimes during the day.It also hurts occasionally,but ESP.a after a long day of fishing.Had a nice bass up in the eel grass a couple weeks ago and I turned my wrist over quickly to pull him in a different direction. Wrist pain on the same area as the thumb .!!! I suppose it will slowly get worse. The good thing is I am ambidextrous so I can switch to left hand ( on spinning anyway ). Might be a good thing to learn in your case.( beside the dr )

One of my favorite baits!. My avg. size fish with them is bigger.They are great under docks and fishing weed pockets.They work esp. good for me in the summer for some reason.

Yeah,Ive done well with eel grass also.Its One of my major areas to fish.Pads always hold fish. For the most part,I will fish green vegetation.I won't fish dead,brown weeds.We also have a lot of southern niad in my home lake.I catch a lot of fish in the pockets of it. And I caught my PB right by a cattail stand.

The only newer country song I like is Huntin - Fishing...by Luke Bryant. I've been more of a bluegrass/ mountain music fan for years now.The new " country " is mostly pop music with a banjo occasionally thrown in, stupid , non creative lyrics , many songs now include a rap and hip hop leaning ,and the songs mostly are about getting drunk and immature silly relationships.And the songs aren't about country things anymore.Havent checked but I d be surprised to find out that this kind of music is selling very well.

I hadn't used a rapala in a long time.Cant remember the last time I caught a fish on one.First cast yesterday paid off,as did the second.Went on to catch several more on it.

Exactly! I was just thinking the same thing.They were onto anything I threw out yesterday,which was trick worms,senkos,speed craws,and the rapala. Haven't bit this good since spring.

Got out on the lake yesterday evening.Decided to try an old rapala with my usual soft plastics.First cast small bass clobbered it .2 nd cast-same thing,slightly bigger fish.Ended up catching several more,either on top water or just casting out and reeling in.Got nothing if I jerked it. Think I'm on to something.Have not fished with them since I was young.All I caught was smaller fish,I reckon because it was a small ( 3 inch ) rapala.Dont know the specific name of it but it has a small rounded bill,a dull finish,Dark on top,off-white side/ belly.and a little red spot where the gills would be. I could not cast it but maybe 50 feet,which was far enough but just barely.Tha lake is fairly clear( slightly stained).Thinking about using a bigger size next time.Also lost about as many as I caught.Not sure why.Thoughts anyone?

One time I went camping/ fishing with a friend.We were deep in the Ocala Natl. forest.Went to sleep around 11 . Suddenly woke up at exactly 1 o'clock.I knew something had woke me up but I didn't here anything at first.Then,kind of far off,I heard SOMETHING.It was kind of a grunt,kind of a squall. .Sounded sort of cat like.I woke my friend and he heard it too.It circled our camp . Stayed pretty far away.Kept making the sound. finally,it got quiet so we go back to sleep. At 3 A.M it woke me again,half as close this time,eventually it quit again.Then at 5 it came again This time it was right by the tent.I really wanted to see it more than I was scared of it,,so I slowly unzipped the flap and quickly shown the light out and saw.....nothing.Never heard it walking either. Next morning- no tracks.but there were some vague impressions in the sugar sand. My friend was sure it was a panther.I think maybe a Bob cat. Been out in the woods a lot and never heard that sound before or since.

I use flukes and senkos as search baits n ponds here in FL.I fish them with no weight.I use a 3/0 wide angle hook .I start with watermelon seed on cloudy days,and watermelon red on sunny days.There are THOUSANDS of ponds you can fish . Cold fronts slow the fish but just slow down the presentation n those conditions. Ponds need to be " read " to eliminate unproductive waters This is not an exact science,but here are some tips that may help. 1.I usually don't fish ponds at industrial sights .They will normally not be stocked.Not saying they don't hold fish,but it is usually much slower .I will fish them if they have some attractive vegetation, have been there a long time,or on a tip. 2.Some of the best ponds are residential.Many of these will be stocked.I don't ever fish in people's yards,but look for common areas in the neighborhood.I follow whatever signs are posted, I.e no trespassing , no parking,etc.Like I said,there are PLENTY of other spots. 3.Look for area parks.Many of these have a pond or two on them. 4.In the ponds look for drains and outlets.They are often the best spots. 5.If you see kids feeding ducks, fish those areas.Bream and minnows come for the bread,and bass will be in the area!!.I fish nearby until they leave,then close in.Cuaght a 7 pounder doing that. 6.Use Google maps for the area you plan to fish.You can't imagine all the hidden ponds you'll find. 7.Colleges often have fishable ponds.Many of these hold good fish. 8. Golf course ponds often are great,but are usually the hardest to access. Make sure to report on your results! Mike

Sorry for your loss.My mom just passed on Oct. 5th.Hardest thing I've ever been through.Praying for you and yours.

Try minnows under a pencil cork.I use a # 4 wire bronze eagle claw hook.Hook the minnow though both lips.Hook the lower lip first.You will need to adjust the cork until you find the right depth.I also use a bb shot weight about 5 inches or so up from the hook. The fish will usually pull the cork under slowly and at an angle.Just pull steadily but not hard in the opposite direction. Brush piles will often hold fish.If it's deep,you can use the rig minus the cork,but expect to replace some hooks etc. Keep us posted on the results. Mike

Caught this one a little while ago.Its a great example of a brown bullhead. She's also pregnant so I let her go. The male's usually don't get off so easy.Love em fried!!! Don't know why all my pics are crooked lately.

the Chernobyl episode is the weirdest. Probably seen all the episodes 3 times or more.

Yeah me too.Ive fished more this year with less results.I MAY have caught more fish but less size.Due to family constraints,I have stayed mostly on the home lake,where 4-5 pounders are very common.The big fish bite has just been off.Its been bugging me.Cant figure it out. I know that they're there.Tempted to resort to live bait, ( bream ) they will easily out fish artificial baits,esp. for bigger fish.I don't have an ethics problem fishing with live bait I just try to stretch myself by fishing artificials as much as poss. Maybe I need a new bait the fish haven't seen.I also haven't fished with big worms as much this year,and they usually produce. Did catch a 6.3 in the home lake,and one skinny 23 inch fish in a park pond.2 best fish in the last year.Heres the 23 incher.

The yellows are the only ones that are light brown to pale yellow like that.They are the palest of the bullheads .They can have some dark coloration but are mostly yellowish. The browns are specked dark/ white blotches. Blacks are very dark. I have actually caught a few albino channel cats in a stocked farm pond. The tail is also rounded,which indicates a yellow too