Captain Phil

I have killed or lost dozens of cell phones while fishing. When they first became popular, I would carry them in my pants pocket. More than once, I hoped out of the boat to wade or free the boat when I would hear that sizzling sound of another frying phone. Back in the 80s when Porsche sunglasses were in style, I must have lost a half dozen pairs. If you drain Rodman, you could find a truckload.

A big black fresh water eel that looks like Thanksgiving Dinner. ?

Steve, whatever you do fish Lake Erie at least once in your life. It is an amazing Small Mouth fishery. It's out of your range, but you won't regret it. Definitely put it on your bucket list.

Florida has some of the best bank fishing in the country. Before 1900 or so, practically the entire State was a swamp. To drain the swamp, they cut thousands of canals and rock pits. Practically every neighborhood has some fish-able water and golf course ponds are everywhere. Access is tricky sometimes, but there is enough to go around. I started bass fishing from the bank and still enjoy it today. I usually carry one casting outfit and one spinning outfit. My tackle box is a zip lock bag I carry in my pocket. I've caught some nice bass fishing from the bank. Around here, a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worm seems to be the hot ticket and I never leave home without my Devil's Horse.

Too many anglers chasing too few fish. The popular story is Southern California lakes got their bass when some military guys flew in a tub of Florida bass. Don't know if this is true? Maybe you need another couple of tub flights? Then again, maybe the bass moved to Florida, it seems like everyone else is. ?

Congratulations! This November will be our 58th. Finding the right life partner is like hitting the Lotto only better!

I once drew a partner in a Federation tournament that was a veterinarian. While we were fishing, we started talking about dogs. I told him we had two West Highland White Terriers. He said "I love those dogs. They put my two daughters through college!" He was right about that!! ?

I just spent $6,000 a tooth to have mine put back in. Don't do it!

The Gatortail was an awesome bait. I caught a bunch of big fish on it.

From my experience here in Florida, black and blue works better in the winter. June Bug works in the warmer months. Both are good year round.

I have been using Daiwa BG spinning reels for as long as they have been making them. I use them in both fresh and salt water fishing for everything from bass to tarpon. They are great reels that don't cost a lot. They are smooth, have great drags and are easy to service. The old BG13 reels I use for bass fishing work as good today as when I bought them twenty years ago. You can pay more, but you won't get more.

Hooking a trophy bass is being in the right place at the right time. Getting it to the boat is not guaranteed. "The one that got away" is as old as the first human who ever fished. Doing things right one time is not rocket science. I once saw a 12 pound bass caught on a crappie jig. Tournament fishing is not the same as fishing for fun and relaxation. To better your PB only takes one fish. Winning tournaments consistently is hard work. When you see someone with a winning bag at the weigh-in, you don't see what they had to do to make that happen. Tournament fishing is a mental as well as a physical game. It's not for everyone.

This photo reminds me of something that happened about 25 years ago. I entered a State Federation tournament on Lake Toho. I entered as a nonboater so a good friend of mine could fish out of his boat. My friend ended up winning the State Championship twice, but that's another story. The boater I drew has impressive. He didn't talk much. When I got to his boat, he had a top-of-the-line Ranger with enough electronics to launch a trip to Mars. When he opened his rod locker, I almost fell over. Hanging under the lids where what looked like dozens of Loomis rods, all of them rigged with Shimano Metanium reels. He must have had well over $10K in rods and reels on board. A nasty cold front came through the night before, which shut down the fish big time. We ran down to Brown's Point and he started to flip grass. He front ended me so bad that I had no place to fish. I looked around and there were some 6-10 foot bare spots within casting distance. I took out a $4 chrome Tiny Torpedo and started to fan cast around the boat with my spinning rod. Bass after bass came up through the bare spots and in no time I had my limit. While this was going down, the big money boater started looking through his hatches trying to find something that would work. He eventually caught a couple of small fish on a Rapala. Having money is a good thing. On that day, knowing what to do with it was better.

I own bass fishing rods from 6' 6" to 7'6". Each length has advantages and disadvantages. Casting accuracy is something that seems to have fallen out of favor with young anglers. Shorter casting rods are more accurate. Longer rods cast farther and take up more line on the hook set. My longest rods are used for frogs, flipping and spinnerbaits. Everyone is different. You won't know until you try each one.

At the present time, I own about a dozen rod and reel combos. Each one is for a specific individual tactic. It is nearly impossible to haul all of them with me at once. When I was fishing tournaments, I carried at least 8 with backups in my rod locker. Now that I fish for fun, I know in advance what works best at each lake and bring what I expect to need. If I am going to fish a clear spring fed lake, my tackle choices will be different than a large murky lake. I believe you could get by with 3 combos in a pinch. One lighter casting rod, one heavier longer casting rod and one spinning outfit for finesse fishing. You would be cutting and tying a bunch, but you could get by.

The Gambler Flapp'n Shad is ideal for that situation. Use a wide gap spring lock hook and fish it like a buzz bait. You can fish this bait over the heaviest weeds and it catches big bass. You can use heavy line or braid for this type of fishing. The bait is thin which makes the hookup ratio much better than with frogs.

Zoom Trick Worm.

Some members may wonder just how a Devil's Horse is "tuned"? The most common way is to bend the blades changing their pitch. Not only can you change the sound and action this way, you can change the distance the lure moves on each jerk. Less pitch makes the lure move less. This works well when you want the bait to linger in one spot. More pitch makes more splash and moves the bait farther. It is very important with these lures that the blades move as freely as possible. One thing to be careful of is water getting into the wood from the holes in the bait. This can enter from the screws in the hook hangers and the long screw that holds the rear hook. It is best to use sealer or just throw the lure away after each period of use. These lures catch big bass and you don't want the hooks pulling out. As you can imagine, there have been many personal modifications made to these baits over the years. They were and still are one of the greatest big bass baits ever made. Strikes can be ferocious or subtle. More than once I have had water thrown on me from a bass attempting to kill this bait.

If you are serious about targeting only big bass, you should know you are not going to get as many fish in the boat and you may fish for some time without a bite. Big bass eat big food. Not always, but generally. They don't expend a lot of energy feeding. Here in Florida, this means fishing with large native shiners. Nothing works better. If you want to fish only artificial baits, you have two options; large soft plastic baits or flipping heavy cover. One of the largest Florida bass caught in recent times was caught with a worm made from two worms fused together. It weighed 17 pounds and was caught in Lake Roussea west of my home in Eustis. Years ago I was in your position. My PB bass was 6 1/4 pounds. At the time, there was a 13" worm called a "Hawg Hunter". It was humongous and sounded like a bull whip on the cast. Within a month, I caught a 8 1/2 on that worm. I guided a man who caught an 11 on one. That worm is no longer made, but large worms still catch big fish. In all my years of flipping, my biggest bass have come in heavy cover near deep water. My best big bass flipping bait has been a large craw. This photo was when I was younger and better looking. The boy is my grandson, He's now 30 something with a son of his own.

For those who don't know, a Mojo Rig is a downsized finesse Carolina Rig. It was a well guarded secret tournament tactic for many years. It's deadly on bass. I use it when the bottom is covered with short grass or when a large weight will hang up. I won many tournaments using a Mojo Rig under the toughest conditions.

Most of my old friends are dead or sick. I restored and raced muscle cars most of my life, but I had to give that up a few years ago and sold all my cars. I did keep my old torque wrench. It still has the label on it that I made for my son when he was a teenager. It says "Don't use to change tires!" ?

Happy Birthday! 75 is a milestone. According to polls, you are now officially old. I haven't been close to death yet, but I have had some close calls. I am surprised that I can do more than I thought I could at this age. Motivation is my biggest challenge. See you at 80! ?

I start by casting shallow and working deep down the point. If the bottom is good, I go deep to shallow. If I find a depth or spot that is holding fish, I target that spot. Bottom composition is more significant than direction. I look for hard bottom or structure on the point. If there is current, I work the bait with the current. Current fishing caused by summer rains can be some of the best fishing you will find. Surprisingly, it is ignored by many fishermen.

That's a mess. Our water sometimes gets like that in the summer. I would use a weightless swimming worm. It won't keep all the junk off, but it will allow you to fish that stuff. A plastic frog will work too.