N Florida Mike

Got a good one on the Junebug magnum speed worm…

Ive always found it an interesting subject no matter where it is. We had wolves here until they were hunted out in the late 1800s. I got into an argument of sorts with a woman that swore there were still wolves in Florida. Turns out that FWC stocked some on one island in the panhandle! So technically they are in Florida. But the historic ones are long gone. More interesting than that is that we’re the only southeastern state that has a recognized panther population. Talk about elusive! Think I saw one once when I was 10….

This is how I feel about it…

I use big game #15 on my heavier combos, and trilene xl for smaller combos with 8, 10 or 12 pound test.

Leon is on the way !! He caught 5 today on a senko.

Thank you. He even texted me and thanked me again later. It was kind of a special moment that is hard to explain. He is a great nieghbor also , always willing to help with anything he can. I may have created a monster though…😂

My nieghbor Leon called and wanted me to see his new combo. He brought it over and we went out back to try it out. He didn’t catch anything on it , so I showed him how to catch bream on my ultralight. Apparently he hooked a little bream and this bass ate the bream. It fell off on top of the grass right at the bank, and I reached down and grabbed it. I haven’t seen many children that were as excited as Leon was . It was his first bass. Now he’s wanting me to take him on saturday!!

Got 14 this afternoon. Most were 1 to 1.5 pounds, with one decent fish. Caught it on a houdini super fluke. Caught most of the fish on the june bug uv speed worm again. Nearly every fish was caught on a slow retrieve.

Got a bunch of these today.

I have one murky water lake I fish. I have only caught fish there on a blue curly tailed worm, and a root beer fluke. And every fish was tight to the bank except for a couple in pads…

Got this one with a watermelon seed fluke jr. I was working from home and suddenly thought of the fluke jr, which I haven’t fished with much lately, even though I got a 6 1/2 on one once. I put one on my third combo, went out back, missed one , then got this one . Not sure why the pic wasn’t clear.

We dont have loons but do have cormorants. I’ve been thinking that them( and otters) are responsible for the reduction of larger bass and numbers of bass in general in my lake. I was telling my neighbor I was thinking about taking care of that by lead poisoning them, and he said he already done that to one of the cormorants. 😉

Had a good morning on the lake. Much better average size today. All caught on the fluke and speed worms…

This is me. Even though it was a small bass swimming by, my eyes widened a little as realized it was a bass. I’ve wanted to catch them ever since…

Ive done both. Where I surf fished was just to the right of the pier. I primarily fish a 9 foot rod with a reel such as a Abu garcia blackmax 60. That size is more sporty when you’re catching smaller fish like whiting , spots, croakers etc, but it can handle the occasional bigger fish…And they aren’t all that expensive. I would start with a 3 oz pyramid sinker, and more if the current isnt allowing the rig to stay stationary, and a # 1 or 2 circle or kale hook. I use a “ fish finder” rig ( thats what we call them here anyway. ) You thread on a sliding sinker clip with sinker, then I put on a red bead to keep the sinker clip from hitting the knot, then tie a barrel swivel under it to a 12 -14 inch leader with the hook tied directly to the line. I also like putting a bead just above the hook as an attractant. I usually use 20 pound mono with a 15 pound leader but that’s me. You can get away with 12 until you hook a bigger fish… I use fresh ( never frozen) dead shrimp ( or bloodworms) and I peel the shrimp. For the smaller fish mentioned above, I use no more than a half inch cut of shrimp. Make sure to give a report, and Id love to see some current pics from there…

I assume they still sell the bloodworms. It’s been awhile.

Got out for 2.5 hours before dark and managed 10. The watermelon seed super fluke got 3, and the june bug uv speed worm the rest. 6 out of 7 caught on the speed worm were caught on the retrieve…

Got this one in one of my church ponds on a june bug magnum speed worm.

I caught my first decent fish in the surf at Ocean Isle when I was 8. It was a 4 pound or so black drum, caught on fresh dead shrimp. My cousin caught a nice flounder that day on shrimp too. I love Ocean Isle, nothing but pleasant memories . I hope to get back there myself someday . If inshore doesn’t work out, try the surf. Use shrimp and get some blood worms- the spots love them!

Hey, Just use a Z hog by itself… Ive caught a lot of nice fish on it.

I love fishing shiners for bass. It’s just getting harder to find shiners, with the limited time I have. Bluegills are a good substitute. To me, it’s more sporting to use live bait, because I have to catch them first, keep them alive, and present them where the bass are, and in a manner that appeals to them. It’s a lot more work. As far as gut hooking goes, I don’t gut hook any more bass fishing live bait than artificials. If that’s the main concern, use a circle hook , and gut hooking wont happen much, as long as you don’t leave your bait un attended for long periods of time…

I have 5 baits that are about equal, all soft plastics. I T rig all of them. It’s very close with all 5. • Senko or yum dingers • Culprit worms or other curly tail worms esp. UV speed worms • Super flukes • Trick worms • baby brush hogs. There are others, but these are all equals for # 1 The order I chose is based on how they produced this last year…

In JCP, I just use common sense, which is mostly just staying out of people’s yards. I fished there consistently for 10 years in many of the common areas, and nobody ever bothered me…

🙏 for your dad. I have fished with many people. Most have been a good experience. My best fishing buddy I have known since I was 11 . We have never had an argument or even small conflict. He has a bass boat, and is very well off financially. He refuses to let me pay for anything and it puts me in a weird position, because I want to contribute. I did teach him to bass fish when we were young, so there’s that. We fish the same way, have other interests that are the same, and I am close friends with his family as well. Very thankful for his friendship all these years…wish all my fishing friends were more like him, because he is the model!

You live on lake mandarin? Or you fish the common areas? Another area that has a lot of ponds with bass is Julington creek plantation. There are lots of bank fishing spots there. Yeah, the red and black ( red shad) culprit is a top bait in our area. Try senkos, flukes, and Uv speed worms too… watermelon colors usually produce well in the area…