N Florida Mike

My go-to bait for this kind of fishing is a zoom baby brush hog or a 4 inch senko.I do a lot of skipping so I can get it back into less accessible areas without spooking the fish with the boat or the excess splash.I personally skip more because most of the areas I fish are shallow,and I try to stay as far away as possible to not spook the fish.I will let it sink, wait for 10-20 seconds,then hop it ,wait, hop it,etc.Youll catch more small fish this way,with an occasional hawg mixed in.

Another time I took a large friend(500 pounds and 6'9 fishing on a small lake.I told him before we left not to make any sudden ( or just any) movements or the 12 ft Jon boat might go under. Sure enough, he leaned over slightly and water started pouring in.After quickly assessing the situation,I yelled at him to PADDLE,and as we got to the bank the boat settled to the bottom. Then a security guard appeared out of nowhere and said You can't have a boat in here!And I thought I wish he would have told me sooner!

I can only remember falling out once,lost my balance in the front of my Jon boat and went over into a weed bed.I was laughing before I hit the water,along with my friend who was Safely in back.Came up looking like a tossed salad. Another time I nearly fell out when the trolling motor ( which was in 5th gear) came unhooked as I was leaning into a turn.I hung on for dear life,trying to right myself and the motor as it took me for a ride. Saw Bill dance do this on a blooper one time.

Ive fished many of the lakes in that area but in a boat .I would see if Gainesville has any public parks with ponds first.Then I would drive around and look for ponds with access .If there's a no trespassing sign then pass it on by.If it's in someone's yard,leave it be.I fish ponds in the Jax.area esp. in neighborhoods with common areas.Ive only been asked to leave one.I would always comply,even if it's not posted.I don't enjoy fishing when I'm wondering when someone will come ask me to leave! I usually carry a rod and reel in my truck just in case I notice a likely spot. I also use Google earth to find spots I would never see otherwise. Sometimes I work at properties with ponds and have gotten pretty good at securing permission to fish them.I'll say something like" man ,I bet there's some fish in there" and see what they say.I they respond well I might say,I fish a lot of ponds like this or whatnot.I'll usually try 2-3 times and often they'll say,Youre welcome to fish here if you want.Basically,its fishing to go fishing!! And sometimes the best approach is to just ask!! Hope this helps. mike

my dodge ram 1500 has been great.Its been by far the best truck I've had.

when my wife got her Jeep Cherokee we left the dealership and headed straight out to a state park.The whole family + friends.We didn't even make it out of the county before it broke down.I mean STRAIGHT OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP.And then towed STRAIGHT BACK THERE. Another time we went camping and got it stuck in a primitive camp back in the woods.And it had 4 wheel drive.Just too dang heavy and sorry tires.T he sand wasn't even that deep.Didnt take long to get out, then we stayed on the hard dirt after that. Not real impressed with Jeep Cherokees.

That ^ reminds me of the time I was fishing off a friend's dock with shiners.Something big pulled the cork under.Im thinking 10 pound bass.The fight made me think"huge catfish".I fought it for 10-15 min.I couldn't get it in. By the dock there was a 40 gallon barrel full of small holes to keep fish alive in. I told my friend to untie it and pull it around so I could get it in there so it wouldn't break the line.My sorry friend wouldn't do it.He thought I could land it without help.I keep raising my voice telling him I can't land it.But he won't do it.When I got it up to the dock I knew it was going to break off so I just wanted to see it.I pulled it up and just barely saw the shape of a giant alligator snapping turtle before it broke the line.I yelled and tossed my rod,angry at my friend.Then I realized I didn't really care that much. That turtle was like 3×3.ft

Zoom trick worms!

I have kept it simple.I started out using a few different baits( mostly t- rigged plastics.)And I tried to learn a few areas well instead of fishing all over.

I was bream fishing when I was 19 or 20.Had caught 30 something bream on bread and got the last few scraps of bread together for a last cast.The result was a huge swirl and the bait disappeared.When I felt a heavy weight pulling hard I quikly popped the bail over and let it run with minimal pressure.( I only had 8 pound line with a light rod with the top guide broken off,and a small bream hook).The reel was old and had a worn out drag. So it ran app.200 feet and went through a brush pile.I thought I'd lost it but It came loose and went into open water I had no idea what was on the line.U would gain line and it would pull all if it back out.I had no net so I knew I would never get it in the boat.So I jumped out ( water was 4-5 feet deep).,and got out on the bank.The tug of war continued for awhile .I looked around and saw someone walking down the road.I hollered and he went and got a net.I fought it close and he went out and netted it for me.It was a big channel cat.When I went to unhook it, the hook literally fell off a whisker.It ended up weighing 22 pounds.The fight took about 20 minutes. I call it the" last cast whisker fish".

In saltwater,a yellow mouth trout.The fight is like reeling in a sock. In freshwater,a speckled perch.( Crappie if you're north of Georgia) I think bass fight good myself but I did hook one on a small bream one time that didn't fight at all.Too my great surprise,it was 7 pounder. It was full as a tick( not with eggs but with bream.!)

NC mountains is where we usually vacation.Have never done well with the fishing there. but still have some great memories there. Glad you had a great time!

The biggest deer I ever saw was on a N Georgia mountain road in the sticks.I thought it was a horse at first.My camera was up on the dash( I wasn't hunting) When I grabbed it the strap had got stuck around a little peg on the vent and I couldn't get it off.The deer is just standing there looking my way.Finally I leaned forward and tried to snap a pic with it still attached.At that moment the deer just ran off the side of the mountain.No pic.!

When I started I could not hook them.Not stupid,but just ignorant to the technique. I would sometimes fish a creek with a cane pole and plastic worm.I would watch for bass to come by and plop the worm in front of them.It actually worked pretty good. In the same creek I saw a huge bass on the other side.10+.I had one lure beside blue plastic worms.It was a little George.Sort of a deep water crank bait.I threw it over to the bass.(water was maybe 2 feet deep) and it got hung in a tree and spooked the fish. First big bass I caught was on a big doughball.4 pounds.Got hung in a brush pile and I swam out and got him!!

Dwade,I sent you a pm. Mike

Not sure how the above got on here but I can't get it off.Just trying to reply to get this started up again.Is anyone catching anything? For me it's been kind of slow.I fish around town between jobs.I think the high temps have hurt the pond fishing this summer I did catch a good number last week on the home lake.

Just spooled a rod with some 8 and caught a couple .Casts good.No breaks.

I'm having similar results.I do get a few blow-ups on top water frogs but don't hook 'em.Thought about using some kind of trailer hook but in the lakes I fish it would catch weeds.I also missed 2 nice fish on a sinking frog last week.I would consider the top water bite only fair at best in my home lake.Its just enough to keep me trying . In past years I've done better.Seems like the top water bite is off this year.Maybe because if the extreme heat we've had this year in FL.

Those are 2 colors I have no results with.The next time the fish are biting the watermelon red,Im going to try one of these colors and see what happens,!!

Sorry to hear that,but at least it happened before you got out on the river. Prayers for a speedy recovery.Hopefully you'll be out on the river soon.

Maybe someday....

I heard that! Best fish in that bunch was 2 1/2. Sometimes you just need to catch some - whatever you can. Tried for bigger fish off and on during the evening though.

Got out on the home lake this afternoon.Goals were to try a new finesse outfit, to try my new frog rig, and my new swimbait combo.By the way, I have a friend who works on used r&rs as a hobbie.So I have a lifetime of old broken equipment he recently fixed.So now I have quite a few combos I can use for different applications. 1.finesse rig:Used a Penn slammer 6.6 .light wieght rod with a fairly stiff action.I have some power pro my friend lined it with.Not sure of the pound test.I just started using it again after a long time so I cant tell the test by feel.I have what I I call a medium light shimano spinning reel.I used the 4 inch gy senko on this.I loved how accurate it casts.Used it around our Island where there is a lot of downed trees , overhanging branches etc.I could skip with it very well.With the braid and rod tip I could feel everything so good.Caught 10 on the east side of the island.I give this combo an A rating. Frog combo:For this I use a shimano catala 300 reel with a 7" mh Berkely lightning rod.Using a heavier braid on this one.Had a problem casting.I have not used casting reels much since the 80s.Getting back into it.I would cast, it would go about 20 feet and act like there was a knot in it and plop down.I tried the adjustment knob and i just couldnt get it to cast the way I wanted.Had one fish( big) on it and I swung and missed.Got to re- group on this one. 3.Swimbait combo.Its an old quantam reel on a vortex spiral wrap the friend did for me.6.6 mh. Thing casts a mile.Occasional back lash but I still havent got the settings just right yet.Result: My first bass on a weighted swim bait rig.Whoo hoo.! This combo feels good .Got to finish on the settings. 4.And fished my favorite reel.My Strada with new Yo zuri 8 pound test on an old 6.6 medium heavy ugly stick.Fished The 5 inch senko with this.Caught 2. Summary: Been detirmined to try new things this year.Its hard but starting to pay off.As usual, i really enjoyed the evening on the water.Full moon was nice too. Mike

Purdy fish!

If I was catching and keeping fish( which I often do) , i could care less if I saw someone catch a fish and let it go, because thats their business, not mine.But if I want to keep what I catch, then thats my business not yours. Neither is wrong.