N Florida Mike

I caught an 8 pounder with a bubble gum fluke...

I had this happen once. I had caught a few specks and was loading up when he came up. In broken english he asked to see the fish . I showed him the fish. Then he asked to hold one. I said ok, then he grabbed one , stared at it for a few seconds, then turned and walked away with it ! I told him to bring it back, and he walked a little faster. I told him to bring it back NOW, and he nearly broke into a run. I decided one fish wasn’t worth the trouble and let it go ( it wouldn’t have happened that way 10 years before. ) One of the worst things anyone can do is steal a fish from a southerner , lol.

Had a friend over yesterday. We ended up with 14, caught on various baits. It was a strange day for me though. I missed a lot of fish on the hookset, had one break the line,and lost another big fish in the deepest hole in the lake, and got hung up numerous times in brush piles due to the baits I had tex-posed and skipped up into. Ended up kind of frustrated but happy that I put Robert on some fish.

Yes . Theres 2 jax urban fish ponds ( total of 12 acres ) that is always hard. It is state stocked but still tough. Biggest bass I ever caught there was 3 pounds. Biggest number per trip= 6. Probably average less than 1 fish per trip though. I think part of the problem is the murky water there. What I catch fish well with in clearer waters just doesn’t work there. It gets a moderate amount of pressure also. But even with these conditions it still should be better. I am absolutely positive that fish over 10 pounds inhabit these ponds( Ive heard stories) , and had a giant break my line once . It has water to 18 feet deep in both ponds, and has an insane amount of forage. But it continues to be a mystery . Even fishing with shiners you very rarely catch a fish, and if you do they are small. I have a friend who diligently fished there for years with shiners and never caught 1 over 4 pounds. So I just cant get motivated to go back. Just too many other spots that are much better...

I finally got my granddaughter Mackayla back out this afternoon . We took the canoe . The fish were still all over the yum dingers...

I havent known many women that fished much. My mom went when I was a kid and teen . Our whole family would go and saltwater surf and pier fish. She was fair at it, but her biggest contribution was managing the fish fries. My wife used to go with me some but not lately. She was good at bream fishing and fair at bass. Like @Catt , Ive got one Gdaughter that Im raising that is good at fishing , but even she hasnt gone with me lately...

It must still be winter somewhere...

My problem is that most of my family is in NC , and they douse that pulled pork in that vinegar. I HATE vinegar. I love everything else cooked there tho! Made me the man i am today! Most of my 270 pounds. Not counting my wife’s ( virginia ) contribution!? I pretty much love bbq other than that...

Congratulations, ! You come up with some of the best topics on the forums. I expect more of the same now that you’re retiring! As for me , I doubt if I’ll ever retire. Love my job, I can fish in between stops and when I get home, and Someone’s got to keep the family fed, etc...

Dont think I’m a bad parent, but when my kids were young we would all go wade fishing and swimming in the St Johns around the picolata area. There was a 5 foot gator that grew to around 8 feet in the years we fished there. He / she would always come out into the river from the cat tails when we were there. It would come out, watch us for a little while, then slowly go on out further into the river. He would do the exact same thing nearly every time . One day it was just me and 2 of the kids. The gator came out as usual, and did his usual pause. I was bream fishing under shrimp docks, and the kids were splashing around nearby. When I looked for the gator, he was gone, or so I thought. Then I saw him coming toward us and already halfway there. I made the kids get up on a dock, and I hung at the bottom of the ladder. As soon as they quit splashing, he quit coming, turning back out into the river, and went his way. It was the only time that one did that. Im sure the splashing made him curious.

Then why are they so regulated? Just curious...

Yeah, you pretty much have to really provoke a gator to get him ticked off enough to chase you... Could have been a female with young nearby though.

Haha. Drinking coffee as I read this. So , you can’t fish at all? or You have to throw everything back? Or just throw bass back if you “accidentally “ catch one ? Because if you fish for other fish you might catch a bass by mistake? Sorry, but I have no concept of a place where you can’t freshwater fish for part of the year. Well, I guess I do partly understand: We have closed season almost all year for Red Snapper . Everyone ( except the people that “count”) know that red snapper are insanely numerous , and the season needs to at least be extended from TWO days a year...

Gators are part of life in florida. You have a lot higher chance of being struck by lightning, getting run over by a crazy driver, or being murdered than getting kilt by a gator.

Nobody in my family is ( 1 son in the military though .) All my family back the blue (even the outlaws , lol)

33 years in lawn care, pest control field. Including being a tech, field manager and currently doing inspections and sales for all the services we offer. Earlier jobs: Lawn maintenance, farming, shrimp boat mate., asst. pastor. and maintenance man. I currently also do part time security at my church...

I have about a third of a freezer full of fish , and it’s down some from all the fish fries. I keep some bass to thin the herd on the home lake. These are all filets for the family. I used to keep a lot of bream and catfish but haven’t done that as much lately. We saltwater fish too, so we usually have some sheephead, flounder, redfish and black drum filets on hand, and bone in fish like whiting, croakers , spots.

Got out with a friend for a few hours on saturday. Bluebird skies, and started out windy. The only thing the fish seemed to want were yum dingers. 18 of the 20 fish were caught on them. i tried bigger fish baits off and on with no success at all, neither one of us caught anything over a pound and a half. We really enjoyed being out there though. Beautiful day to be on the water!

This ^^^^. is my favorite. I also love docks to skip under, drains and culverts. Isolated weed patches, Wood thats trapped whatever the wind blew in , eel grass edges... I

My biggest health issue ( that I know of) is my weak right eye. I have to pay basically double for contacts for that eye, but I see good with them. Without the contact, I was 20/80 the last time they told me. Basically , all I see is light and movement. With the contact , I think it’s 20/20 or 20/30. Another problem is those dang floaters. Im always swatting at them thinking it’s bugs! ?

This ^^^

The clearer the water= yes The more stained water= no.

I got out after a thunderstorm for a couple hours and worked hard to get 7 , 6 of them on the rage tail cut-r. Got the biggest one on a bitters bc buzzn gator in june bug blue...

I still have beds around the lake but it’s about over with this full moon the other day.

This Karen is disturbed on many levels. Hooked babies and dogs.? Dogs eating fishing line? Releasing earthworms into the soil, or minnows into a lake? God help us.