N Florida Mike

If it’s tannic stained from cypress trees, red shad , or black are good , in addition to june bug. Culprit worms are good in those conditions…

Dang. I thought the Gators were your thorn in the side ?

Its a yellow bullhead. We've called em butter cats all my life in Florida . Delicious and extremely plentiful in wild Florida lakes.

It’s not easy to talk about , because it was by far the worst accident Ive had, and its kind of embarrassing. I was Fishing at night at a farm pond with a girlfriend. She had given me some new lures that I hadnt fished with much. I was only used to fishing T rigs . I tied on a spoon with a 5/0 hook and threw it a few times. As I was reeling in on the fateful cast, I felt a bump , and just reflexively set the hook, like I would for a T rig. Apparently it had bumped bottom close to the bank, because it was way closer than I thought. The spoon hit my eye almost even with it. I felt the impact and sat down, reaching up to see where it was. When I felt where it was ( no pain yet ) , I gently tried to pull it out , but could actually feel my eyeball move. The girlfriend drove me to the hospital. 5 hour surgery. The eye lens was destroyed and I had a detached retina. I took the bandage off the third day and could just see light and motion, but couldn’t focus. With the help of a strong ( expensive ) contact , I can see 20/30 with it. I was told there was another guy there that night that DID lose his eye to a piece of metal. I was also told my doc was one of just a few in Florida that could have done the surgery, and he just happened to be in Jacksonville that night, which wasnt his normal area. I thank God I didnt have to go through life with a glass eye....

I was using shiners once at a pond. I caught a 10 pound soft shell or so. I had hooked him right at the tip of his mouth at the very end of the the snout. I thought it would be easy to un hook. It wasnt. That sucker snapped so fast and knicked my thumb , lots of blood. I just threw him back then, with the hook still in the snout. My grandson was around 3 and said “ Gampaw I dont like bite ( biting ) turtles. Lets go home. A week later I went back and caught a 7 pound bass in the same spot... Ive never caught a turtle on an artificial bait. I’d try that.

By far my favorite is fried butter cats caught fresh on a trotline at the lakes we camp on. Other than that , its hot dogs and smores.

A large mens retreat group I was with got banned from a fishing resort after some teens in the group destroyed a couple of rooms. One of them put a hose in a window and let it run all night. Another room was damaged by setting fireworks off IN THE ROOM. They also broke most of the furniture by playing tackle football . I was in my 20s but didnt know about it til the next day. These boys were about the only ones that didnt have a dad present. .and somehow got left alone in a room... It was very humbling when our PASTOR had to pay all the damages....

Ive only been hooked three times . The easiest one was the little bream hook I stepped on in my house. Not sure how it was where it was but we have no shortage of hooks so it was bound to happen. It was in a pinky toe right against the nail. I spun it around and pushed the shank down and gently pulled- and it came out. The second one was also in the house, after I had got my hooks tied for a surf fishing trip the next day. I walked by and the hook snagged a toe. It was a circle hook and the point was slightly through the skin coming out already so I just pushed it on through. The third one was the only one Ive ever got while fishing. A 5/0 hook in my right eye when I was 24 and night fishing . 5 hours of surgery but they saved the eye. ?

I switch from fishing afternoons to early mornings, and I fish until mid to late morning. The more the sun gets overhead, the more fish begin relating to docks. Skipping a soft plastic bait under them is the ticket! If I stay out until noon, which is rare anymore, I fish deep holes where the coolest water is, very slowly with a worm. I know that if I got out before daylight Id get a good bite but with my current work schedule I just cant. Got to sleep at some point!

I would have guessed Rodman otherwise. But I wouldn’t say it’s fell on hard times. It’s still an upper echelon lake. I need to go fish it again soon!

It’s actually 60 miles or so N of orlando...

Apopka had that reputation... The way I remember it was done simply on a glossy wood board. I mean bass heads are mounted with the whole fish, why not just the head ? Im 100% sure that’s how it was. That pic has to be in their archives. Agreed.

With my limited technological skills, I cant find it. The picture of it was on the front page of the magazine...It hasn’t been on any searches Ive tried, like google.

There are a number of people that think at least a state record, and possibly a world record bass may swim in Kingsley lake in N Florida. A fish pushing 16 pounds was caught there in the last few years. Its an extremely deep ( Has depths to 80 + feet ) , clear lake that is spring fed. I read a very interesting article in a Florida sportsman magazine 20+ years ago about a huge bass caught at Ocean pond, near Olustee Fl., by a woman fishing off a dock . She was using a small speck ( black crappie ) for bait. She caught the fish but something happened, the bottom line is the fish wasnt certified. They did save and mount the head and it was huge. A picture of it was on the magazine front page .The taxidermist that did the head said that he used a number 20 glass eye the biggest made at the time supposedly, (if I remember correctly ),and the eye was too small and fell through. He had to build up the eye socket so it would fit. His opinion based on the eye is that it probably weighed around 24 pounds. Keep in mind this article was based on fact and was in what is probably the most popular and credible fishing magazine in Florida. I have tried and tried and cant find the magazine( I had that issue ), and also cant figure out if there’s a way to access the archive copy of it. The lake is in a Florida county that borders Georgia. Anything is possible.

I agreed with everything you said, except.... Id tell if I caught a world record bass. There are plenty of other places to fish, especially in Florida...?

I caught a 22 pound , 4 oz fish. But it was a channel Cat. For the record, I think Perrys fish should stand. What else could he have done in a rural country town. Have y’all not seen the picture a lot of people think was the fish? A different man than Perry was holding it, with a little boy standing there. Definitely a huge bass . Whether or not it was THE fish has long been the debate. The picture is easy to find on google. Here it is...

I broke 3 bones in my right thumb/ wrist . I learned how to cast left handed , set the hook left handed and reel in somehow. Can’t remember exactly how I did it now.

I havent ever had a bad case of them, even though Ive spent a good amount of time in the woods. The worst problem around here is the yellow flies, and yellow jackets. Got stung 3-4 times last year by Yellow Jackets, and it felt like somebody had stuck a hypodermic needle in my neck...I let out a yell that would curl your hair....

I was using “scared” figuratively. More like “ slightly concerned “.

Im scared to use the grip on my scale, because it grips their lip SO tight...afraid they’ll have lip damage ! By the way, Ive dropped some fish in my 46 years of bass fishing. Never have had one die on the bank, or had a “floater” that I released after it falling in the boat. Wish I could say that for all the gut hooked fish...but they didnt die in vain...

We had a very dry May, but have gotten several good rains already in June. The lake is still 10-12 inches from full pool, but its about halfway back from where it was...

T-rigged super flukes and yum dingers. And Trick worms... To be honest , these are usually my top 3 most of the time.

If you set a hook if it’s slack you won’t hook many fish. If you set the hook with it already tight , you won’t hook many fish either. You lower the rod and set the hook with a little slack left , to time it so that it’s tight only at contact with the fishes mouth .So I say in between... but it’s a case of semantics really...

Ive foul hooked bass before while fishing plastics T rigged . I dont think dottie was foul hooked with a treble hook from what I read... If he wouldn’t have been in cali it would have counted in other states. And I think with IGFA rules too. I dont think for a second he intentionally foul hooked that fish. He felt the “thump” , set the hook , and caught the fish. Many would disagree but If IGFA rules said it was legit, I would have at least tried to submit it. . Of course, I would have done everything I could to keep it alive , but It was at the end of its life anyway , and was found floating dead the next year, I think. Thats just my opinion. As for Perrys fish, it can’t be disproved , so should stand. I know of several fish over 20 in Florida that for whatever reason didnt get certified, including a fish that was 24 pounds. Where perrys fish was caught is only about 90 miles from Florida as I recall... So certainly Perrys record is possible. But it will never be disproved so ... As for Kurita, I agree that it SHOULD be the individual record, because it was legally certified , live bait notwithstanding , BUT that isnt the rule. Which leads us back again to dottie ...??‍♂️