Captain Phil

Too much money with too few brains. How would he have felt if the girls had been seriously hurt? My bet is he didn't have a life jacket for each passenger either. His Daddy needs to cut off his trust account.

Over the years I have learned a few things about "wants". The fun of buying these things is in the hunt. Once you have them, they all lose their luster. I would be the happiest if all I did was shop for new toys that I kept for six months. The only thing I have ever kept for longer than a few years was my wife of 57 years. She's irreplaceable.

The key to catching bass in Lake Okeechobee is finding clean water. When the water is high, bass follow the rising water and go back into the shallows. They hunker down in heavy cover to escape the heat. A good guide will know where to find fish.

Many years ago the Corps of Engineers allowed Lake Okeechobee to rise to over 18' above sea level. This doesn't sound like much, but the average water level is 12-15'. I have seen it at 9', but it's been awhile. At over 18', the parking lot and boat ramp at Belle Glade was under water. I fished a bass tournament that weekend and we caught bass in the parking lot of Slim's fish camp. Interestingly enough, Junior Samples of Hee Haw fame was fishing the same tournament. I don't remember him weighing a fish. At 18', the 30' dike around the lake started to spring leaks, so they backed off the water.

I have been in your situation too many times to remember. All my life I wanted things that stretched my budget. I always remedied the situation by increasing my income. Sometimes this meant working a side job. Other times it meant starting a new revenue stream. I would advise you NOT to put that new boat on a credit card. Credit card balances are the worst thing you can do for your finances. A year after you buy this boat it will be just another used boat and you will be upside down on an ever growing loan. Find some more money then buy the boat.

Okeechobee weather in early September will be hot and muggy. Hurricane season is June though November. Water should be high. Nasty thunderstorms in the afternoon. Fishing should be good early. October is better.

Hard to say. The Creme Scoundrel was the first plastic worm released in 1949. All other straight tail worms are based on this design. The Zoom Trick worm is practically identical. I caught my first bass on a 6" natural colored Creme Scoundrel around 1960. For years my personal best LMB (11 1/4) was caught on a black grape Creme Scoundrel. I used to buy them in a bag of 100. The grape Scoundrel with a fire tail is a killer weightless worm fished as a jerk bait. No one ever talks about that anymore.

More bass have been caught on a Creme Scoundrel than all the other worms combined.

You will be fishing in the rear of the boat. Most likely the angler in the front will limit your ability to control the boat. From my experience, you will do better with the Finesse rig. If you are fishing shallow, cast a wacky rig around any cover you see. You can do this without being in the front. Smaller lures can catch fish the front angler misses. In any case, try to fish where the other angler doesn't. Watch what the angler in the front is doing and learn all you can. Being a co-angler is a learning opportunity.

I left South Florida in 1997. In the years before I left, boat ramp break ins were rising. This is a shame as the area has some of the best canal fishing. Unfortunately, there aren't enough police to patrol the more remote areas. The nicer your stuff, the more prone you are to thieves. Buy an old junk truck with a big dog in the bed. ?

Zoom Trick Worm Zoom U-Vibe Speed Worm Zoom Lizard Zoom Super Fluke Gambler Cane Toad

Yet he somehow became a multi millionaire.

Florida leads the nation in boating accidents and fatalities. Most of them involve collisions or people falling overboard. Years ago, I was in a bass tournament on Lake Okeechobee where two boats collided and one person died. The bass boat driver was in court for years after that. You never want that to happen to you.

We took our son fishing with us when he was still a baby. He's in his fifties now. We brought along a portable wooden playpen for him as we walked the canal banks on the Tamiami Trail. If you fish, your child will most likely want to be like Dad. Toddlers are a little young for fishing reels. Bass Pro has some inexpensive outfits that you may like as well. Our grandson would land his fish by running away from the bank dragging the fish behind. When your child is about eight, he will be able to cast and fish alongside you. We started our son out with a casting outfit. He couldn't cast, so we tied on a heavy weight and big worm that he would let drop to the bottom as the boat moved along. He hung an eight pound bass doing that which was bigger than my PB at the time. I eventually bested his bass. He was king of the boat for a long time and let me know it. ?

Glad you had a good time. Sounds like you sampled just about every fishing opportunity South Florida has to offer. South Florida is unique that way. That wasn't always the case. When I was a kid, there were no oscars, peacock bass or snakeheads. Bass, landlocked tarpon and snook were always an option. At the present time, exotic fish are limited to the south end of the State. Above Lake Okeechobee, bass are the predominate fresh water sport fish. The southeast coast of Florida has some of the best sailfish and tarpon fishing in the world. Offshore boats and charters are expensive, but there always seems to be lots of anglers. The population density from Miami to Vero Beach is very high. Homes are expensive, taxes are high and long waits in restaurants can be tiresome. Central and North Florida are a lot more laid back. Over 1,650 people a day are moving to Florida. Life in a small Florida town is more my speed.

I am concerned that young people will get the wrong idea about bass fishing. Bass fishing is about doing something that doesn't take a computer, a phone or a big bank account. It's learning about nature, spending quality time with friends and perhaps even bonding with your family. I took my son fishing when he was a child. He still fishes today. My grandfather and I fished off the bank. We have a lifetime of memories that no computer can replace. TV bass tournaments are reality shows. I find them boring. Real bass fishing is nothing like that.

The first modern spinning reel was the Mitchell 300. I bought my first one in the early sixties. Before that, spin casting reels where the only spinning reels available. Most were made by Zebco. Zebco had a reputation as a cheap reel due mostly to the plastic model 202. Many of these reels were bought for kids and were looked down upon by adult bass fishermen. Mitchel reels became popular in bass fishing due to their ability to cast light plastic worms which became the standard bass lure of the day. Both spinning and casting reels have their advantages and disadvantages. Until recently, spinning reels were generally faster and more fishable with lighter lines. Modern braided line has changed much of that. I use both. I find casting worms better with a spinning reel. Spinnerbait fishing works better with a casting reel. I have never tried flipping with a spinning reel, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I am somewhat confused about the price of high end fishing reels. Fishing reels are available from $100 combos to over $500 for the reel alone. I don't see anything a $500 reel can do that a $200 reel can't. Back in the fifties, the best fishing reels cost $20-$30. Using a 10 times inflation factor, a good reel today should cost about $200-$300 and it does. Anything over that is buying "feel good" rather than fishing better.

My concern with the cost of bass fishing is that it causes people to believe they "need" expensive boats, tackle and electronics to catch bass. Most of us started out being "bank beaters and bass buster pond fisherman". Many still are. When I began fishing, bass fishing was a poor man's sport fish. All I see in TV bass tournaments these days are a bunch of guys shilling for sponsors. Bass tournament fishing is not bass fishing, it's a competition between anglers. The fish are secondary.

Success is not about who is "hot" at the moment, it's about lifetime achievement. The problem with getting old is once you have life figured out, you are gone. Hopefully, you pass along some of the things you learned.

A Zoom 4" finesse worm is one of the most underappreciated bass lures going. Size is significant when it comes to bass lures. Most anglers carry dozens of soft bait colors and shapes. There are times when the size of a lure can make a big difference too. A 4" worm makes a great flipping bait when fish are heavily pressured. I won dozens of local tournaments fishing those worms on a Mojo rig.

This problem has been coming for a long time. Baby boomers were a huge group of highly skilled workers. When they retired, they left big shoes to fill. When I started out, companies trained their own workforce through apprenticeship programs. Today, businesses want to hire experienced skilled workers and there aren't enough to go around. When I was 19, I was hired by a fortune 500 company as an entry level service technician. I didn't know squat. I had good grades in high school and scored well on my SAT's, so they took a chance and trained me. Today, you have to go in debt at least $100K for a college degree before anyone will consider you. There are good employees available, but it may take an investment on your part.

Still, there is something about hunting fish on your own. I hardly ever use my electronics for anything accept depth and temperature. When I pull up to a weed bed, I want to fish not stare into a computer screen. I get tournament fishing. Those guys will use any edge they can find. If I had an AI system what would drive my boat, locate fish, cast and reel up bass, I wouldn't use it. I like fishing too much.

For a number of years I fished a Senior's tournament trail limited to anglers over 50. Those guys were the toughest anglers I ever fished against. They forgot more about bass fishing than most anglers ever knew. One angler in this tour was personally invited by Ray Scott to fish his first tournament. He told Ray he was too busy to fish. Tournament Bass fishing is both a mental and physical game. You may be able to beat a competitor with physical limitations. Beating one with years of experience is not so easy.

TV bass tournaments are not everyday bass fishing. They are money making enterprises for the TV producers, organizers and marine products companies. If Randy or anyone else wants to compete in those tournaments, they should buy their own Live Sonar. If I was still in the tournament business, you better believe I would have whatever it takes to win. What I am against is the ever increasing entry level of bass fishing. From my living room window, I can see across Lake Eustis. On any given day, I watch millions of dollars in bass boats and tow vehicles ride by. Why do all these people believe they need to spend the cost of a small house to catch bass? Bass fishing should be an enjoyable pastime, not a boat show for posers.

The BangOLure has been around for a long time. It comes in a number of sizes and colors. BangOLures are made of balsa, so they float high and have lots of action. It's like a Rapala only fatter and the hooks are better. Here in Florida, gold foil is the best color. In the larger sizes it is definitely a big fish bait. I like to twitch it on top and let it pause.