N Florida Mike

My friend Zach caught this one yesterday at our church farm pond , on a wacky rigged senko. No scale or tape to measure it , of course. I would estimate it at 10 pounds.

I had such a good time. I love bass fishing but I really enjoy river “ meat” fishing too. Used to do it a lot when I was in my teens to 30’s. By the way, the bass were just anialating something on top. Couldn’t get them to bite anything though.

We caught all these in our Oklawaha river trip this week… posted more about it in a post in the other species area…

Got this 20.5 inch fish in the church pond. Thought it was much bigger by the fight it put up…

Praying for Noah and for you.

We had an epic time on the Oklawaha . My son , his wife, my grandson and me met up with some friends. I had been needing to get away for a long time. My son coming into town was a good reason to go. We camped at Rodman Campground and enjoyed the fresh , pine scented air and peace and quiet. Joe had gotten there the day before and caught a nice mess of fish. We got started early and went by Rodman dam as we started down the stretch of river below the dam. We went upriver and found a spot they had done well at the day before. Caught some there before entering a side creek. We moved several times and caught multiple fish at each stop. Bream beds were everywhere.We caught Redbreast , shellcrackers ( red ears ), Bluegills, and stumpknockers , (spotted sunfish) , also caught numerous catfish , and a big gar. Almost caught a gator along with all the fish. Big fish was an 8 pound catfish. We lost count of how many fish we caught and didn’t care… I had such a good time I’m already conniving how to do it again soon…😀

Thanks for the positivity, but I actually was surprised it weighed 4 pounds. ( we know how to optimize pics lol)😆 That scale is less than a year old , I believe it to be accurate.

My son caught a 4 pound , 20 inch fish out back on a watermelon red super fluke. He was using 4 pound mono, which impressed me a little !

Another nice one in the church pond… 21 inch.

Yesterday I tried to catch the ones on the bed again. I couldn’t get them interested in corn or bread. What I noticed later when I went back to look at them: the tilapia left( saw one swim off). Then, big bluegill invaded the nest and were eating something with gusto( I assume it was Tilapia fry ) The bluegill were so invested in what they were eating that they wouldn’t bite the normal baits I catch them with. If that’s the way it’s going, we should have nothing to fear with Tilapia. I have millions of bluegills in the lake 😂

I had a some kind of mass on my lung and pancreas this year but the results were negative for cancer. Hoping yours will be the same. 🙏

Done … I think . The correct email is the one in my account settings, right ? Thanks for the notification- I hadn’t seen it until just now…😅

^^ beautiful fish Dwight! Got 1 under my boat…

Sorry that happened to you. I have a lake behind my house, but nobody trys to take advantage of it. I do have a lot of friends around, since I grew up 1/2 mile down the road from where I live now. The thing I can’t figure out is that most of them never initiate anything with me. I have to be the initiator. I have wondered why for years. It would be so refreshing if they’d just ask me to do something. At this point I tend to just let it go and try not to let it get me down.

At it again this morning in the main church pond. Got a 18 inch fish first, then a 22 inch , 5 pound 4 oz tank.

I have caught 1 Tilapia ever on an artificial. A 5 1/2 pounder on a rattletrap. ( pic below) I can’t fish one much in my lake. It’s just too shallow and weedy. I fished a friend’s pond and we caught several on bread and fish feed. In my lake , and another one I’ve fished , you can drop a bread ball right in front of them, and they won’t touch it. These all look like Blue Tilapia, except maybe the one below. Wouldn’t say Im an expert on the Id of them. Still conflicted on the benefits and drawbacks from them.

So, as many of you know, I live on a small lake in N Florida. A year or so ago, I started noticing some small Tilapia in the lake. I think these are blue Tilapia. Now I have 2 bedding at my bank that look like they might weigh about 2 pounds each. I tried to cast net them, but couldn’t get a good angle for the net to open correctly, due to weeds and small brush near the bed. We had a colder winter than some lately, but I saw no dead ones . Some of the ponds around did have some floaters. I have heard bad things about Tilapia completely taking over a fishery, and I don’t want that to happen. I have tried to get the word out for the other lake residents to stop with the introduction of any non native fish. I will probably end up investing in a fishing bow to try to harvest them if they continue. What are your experiences and advice on this ?

Maybe find a pond full of bream and start there. If he’s catching fish he’ll like it better. Then work in some bass fishing around the bream fishing. I did that with my kids and grandkids. Nearly all of them loved it, my daughter being the exception… One of my sons became so in love with fishing and good at it , that he did it for work for awhile, and may still in the future.

Fishing doesn’t hinder me with my lawn/shrubs as much as my age…😅 I also work 2 jobs. I do ALL my lawn / shrub maintenance. when I get around to it …

Got out for a couple hours before dark. Cool and mostly sunny. Worst bite in a year. I managed 2 on speed worms. The bigger one was caught off a tree that had blown down during one of the storms we had last year.

It hasn’t been proven he intentionally broke the rules. Innocent until proven guilty . Rules aside, I can’t see how getting info is worse than using something that actually sees fish. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I hope it’s not too serious. I follow him and Shaw Grigsby. Seems like a double standard if they allow FFS.

Ive told this several times on here. Essentially I got a lure with a 5/0 hook stuck in my right eye. Smashed eye lens and detached retina. 5 hours of surgery that night to try and save it. I was told that the one doctor that could do the surgery was in town and was able to save the eye. Very thankful I didn’t have to go through life with a glass eye. I have some vision with a good contact I wear…

Got a good fish in the church pond where I’m still after Mrs Big…This one was 4 pounds 5 oz.

Hey Brian, Welcome to the area. I’ve been trying to go some myself lately, but it’s mostly been limited to work route ponds in between stops. I don’t have a bass boat anymore so most of the time I fish small waters in N Florida. I do have a small lake I live on and a small jonboat, , but not sure when I could work in a trip at the moment. The bass fishing is fair in there, but a otter ate a bunch of them so the fishing’s not as good as it was pre otter. It’s also my busiest time of the year at work. Maybe we can go before the summer, because the fishing really slows down then…