N Florida Mike

I have a 40 and it’s perfect for my 10’ bass hunter. One thing you must consider: How strong is the transom? I liked to run my 40 on the front because it cut through weeds better, the steering was better, and It was easier on my arms. But I cracked the transom above the waterline where the motor clamped on . It was because 5th gear really pulled it forward at a rapid pace. I fixed it where water didnt come in, but didn’t want to chance having the TM there again. That was with a 40. Cant imagine what a 55 would do… I go 3-4 mph in my 40 . That’s plenty for my small water fishing.

I was feeling rough over a year ago and stopped at a fire station to get it checked. I had been having headaches and feeling flushed , and felt weak. They said it was 148 over 100?.So I go to the doc. and he perscibes 10 mg Lisinopril. Since then Ive felt much better but if I eat too much salty food it flairs up. Drinking a lot of water really helps, but the problem is the frequent bathroom stops. Im going back to the doc again soon. Heard there was a substitute for lisinopril. Gonna tryto get it changed because it makes me cough… the good thing about lisinopril is it’s free !

I have fished and hunted most of my life. Culture initially drew me into it. It’s what us boys did in our area. There’s a lot of reasons why I started hunting. The connection to culture, nature, friends , The Creator, family, the planning, the scouting , being in the woods, negotiating the sometimes muddy or sandy roads to get where you need to go, the tracks, the weapons, the excitement when you spot the prey, the satisfaction of the kill, knowing you just put meat on the table for your family. And for many, the sharing of the experience with others after the hunt. That being said, hunting is fading for me the older I get. Development in our area has taken nearly all my old hunting spots. I have to go further and further to do it. I don’t have much time or money left for it either. Most of my hunting friends I had are long gone. When the suburbs crept up, they left. I would love to get out next year. I still do planning in the hopes I can go. I dont want it to die out . I have no problem with anyone killing and eating it as long as it’s legal. If I had to choose between fishing or hunting Id have to choose fishing, it’s so easy for me to fish and it was always my first love in the outdoor pursuits.

The launch area was 20 miles or so south of where I was.

What is a legitimate skunk? I do a few casts out back and dont catch something every time. That doesn’t bother me . I honestly can’t remember the last time I went anywhere in a boat and got skunked. There was one tournament in the 80s ( at Rodman of all places) that I got the skunk. I probably didn’t take it too well, especially since I hooked a 10+ and lost it… I get more frustrated over losing big fish than anything else… You didn’t yell like I would have. Impressive .

Where one of my work stops was today. St Johns river around 35 miles south of jax.

I didn’t see one. But I just watched enough of them to realize whatever they were selling, I wasnt buying… The one with the little man baby was especially bizarre…

Yeah, I had it on mute , forgot about it for awhile, looked up , saw what was going on, and turned it off completely… ?? Not this one. Also , Maybe I’m just slow, but the few commercials I watched I didn’t have any idea what was going on or what they were selling.

This^^^^

Beautiful fish , man.

I fished George’s lake recently and we caught 16, all on speed worms and yum dingers. June bug red in the speed worms, and pumpkin and bama bug dingers. A very good third bait is red shad culprit worms. I use a little weight on the worms, and fish the dingers weightless under docks especially.I dont think we caught one fish on a moving bait. For best results, fish the cane grass edges. There is some fish in the cane too , if you can pitch or flip to little pockets in it. They usually hold under docks too but not that day. Fish as slow as you can stand it ! Keep in mind this is a numbers lake. The lake record to my knowledge is 13 pounds, but big fish aren’t caught very often there. I saw a video of someone catching a 10 pounder there on a jig, but it was the only fish he caught that day. So if you want a better chance at a big fish , stick to Rodman. Depending on the wind We most often start at the ramp in the NE end of the lake and fish to the right ( north ) end of the lake to the west side. Last time we ran across and fished west to north because of the wind. We dont skip anything but just a few open patches. The best cane grass beds are on the west side. Ive caught fish all over the lake though. It is 800 + acres, so big enough to be interesting… Keep me posted on when you’ll be in the area, if you come near jax, your welcome to fish my little home lake. Mike

Another good fish on a trick worm…

A hawk swooped down once and latched onto my frog right as I was about to cast it. He disengaged , and flew about 30 feet from me, and kind of looked at me like he wasn’t sure why it hadn’t felt right to him…

Thanks for sharing these stories. You get “ Best Bass resource post of the year. “ No … Best ever post is more accurate! Growing up in Florida you hear a lot of stories. We did have a confirmed fish caught in the st Johns that was 18+. . I can’t remember exactly when it was caught, ( I think the 80s.) But a fish that size is very rare even in Florida. Catching 5 upper-teen bass is … well, there’s no words to really describe it.

^^^ Same here…

Got a nice one on a strike king black spinnerbait. She crushed it about 5 feet from shore…

North Florida is now catching up. The way the developers are going , the only woods left in a few years will be the state and national forests…and there aint many of them!?

Do this and you will….

Winter has truly arrived…?

What the heck is a ramp?

Fished this afternoon and got 12. Most were on the speed worm, and a few on yum dingers. They were not wanting flukes which is kind of strange. Nothing on a spinnerbait. Biggest fish was 18 inch. Perfect weather, but the bite was kind of slow.

I didnt tell you all of it. I worked on a local farm off and on for 6-7 years, where we grew primarily blueberries, strawberries and Citrus. There was a deep freeze in the 80s that killed all the citrus except the wild oranges . At least we could make marmalade out of them. It took us months to cut up all the dead citrus… By the way, this thread was a great idea @Mobasser

I had a friend like that . I dont really believe in luck, but … he was the unluckiest fisherman I ever knew. Once we were set up on a speck ( crappie) bed area. One friend caught 40 or so, I caught 30 something, and the unlucky friend caught maybe 5. Doing the exact same thing in the same place we were. It was like that every time we fished.