Captain Phil

I haven't been to Toho in some time, but I can give you a few pointers. For current conditions, you need to contact a guide. Toho has some great ones. March is a great month on the Kissimmee Chain. I ran a guide trip to Toho in March some years back. The father and son I took out wanted to catch bass on artificials. I dumped a box of Devil's Horse lures on the deck and told them to get busy. In three days they must have caught over 100 bass to six pounds. Hydrilla is ever present in Toho, so expect to be fishing in cover. Look for open areas in the grass. Most of the bad cold fronts will be over by then. You will find bass in every stage. The lake will be full of bass fry. A great lure is a Zoom fluke pulled through the grass. If you are going to hire a guide, make sure you tell the guide what you expect before leaving the dock. This will avoid misunderstandings. Wish I was going with you. Good Luck!

Me too. My old Bass Pro rods that I bought for $39.95 fish better than some of the $600 rods I have fished with. It's all about comfort. Comfort varies with the person and what you are doing with the rod. Today's rods are lighter and more sensitive. I have large hands and today's rod grips don't feel right to me. You can't tell how a rod is going to fish by the price tag, you have to hold and feel it for yourself. That's why I prefer buying rods where they have a large selection. It may take me over an hour to choose. Once I know what I want, I buy another like it.

Here's my personal favorite. Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special

Bagley Balsa BangOLure

When I was a kid, I was tall for my age. My Christian upbringing taught me to avoid violence, so I talked my way out of most confrontations. One day, a kid on the bus home picked a fight with me. I told him we would settle it when we got off. He was much smaller than me and I was sure I could beat him. Boy was I surprised! This kid hit me 3-4 times before I knew what happened. After that we became good friends. I learned he was an amateur boxer. He asked me if I wanted to be his sparing partner at the local Boys Club. I told him I would if he didn't hurt me. Fat chance of that! In those days they gave us head gear when we boxed. We boxed all summer and I learned a lot from him. Later I learned that there are people in this world that get their kicks from picking fights. In time, they are eventually killed, go to jail or become marines. It is best to avoid them if possible. Never get into a bar fight. When the cops come, they throw everyone in jail before they sort things out.

I once had a friend who had a lot of personal issues. He seemed like a quiet person until he was ready to talk. When he did, I would listen to him for hours while he told me stories of Vietnam. He was an army surgeon and he cried when he told me stories of the boys he had patched up. Many of them were practically dead when they brought them in. War is a horrible thing with pain lasting long after the fighting is over. Defending your country is a lot different than fighting someone else's war. That was the lesson of Vietnam. My fear is we didn't learn that lesson.

As someone who did not serve in the military, I often wonder what my life would have been like if I did? After I graduated from high school in 1965 I went to college for a time. I enrolled in ROTC. The first class I took was "The Theory of War". I thought I was on another planet. I wasn't against defending my country, but it didn't make sense to give up my life for a piece of rice patty 9,600 miles from my home. The Vietnam war was heating up and many of my friends were shipping off to war. I had registered for the draft and was waiting to be called. As it turned out, the draft lottery was implemented and I drew a high number. What if I was drafted and saw my buddies blown up and killed? What if I killed someone? What if I killed a bunch of people who's kids are now our friends? I am thankful that those thoughts don't haunt me in my dreams. We will never know the sacrifice those young men and women made.

$30 if you will use these baits. Pass if you won't.

I have caught practically every fish on fly tackle. From sailfish, bonefish, tarpon, red fish and snook to bass, bluegills and pike. Fly fishing is about the challenge. A fly rod is not the most comfortable way to fish. Casting a fly is not the most efficient way to fish. There are places where fly fishing is a must. You are not going to catch many trout in a stream with an 8/0 Penn International. Fly fishing is cumbersome, awkward and labor intensive. It's also fun. I taught myself to fly fish on my front yard when I was 15. I believe the cheap split bamboo fly rod I bought mail order cost me about $6. I caught as many fish on that rod as I do today.

When I graduated from high school, my parents wanted me to go to college. All my friends were in construction and making great money. In the 60s, construction jobs were paying very well. I told my father I wanted to drop out of college and work in construction. Wise man that he was, he got me a job working with a road crew installing cable across highways. I forget what they paid me, but it was much more than any other job at the time. The first day, I didn't do much but stand around. The second day, the ditch digger broke down cutting through a coral rock in downtown Miami. The foreman gave two of us a pick and shovel and told us to cut the rock out by hand. We worked all afternoon and cut the ditch. The guy who was working with me was probably about 30. He looked like 50. When I got home that night my hands were a bloody mess. I quit that job and went to work repairing office equipment. That job turned into owning my own company which lead me into the computer business where I retired at 50. The lesson I learned was don't choose a career what depends on your body. Choose one that depends on your brain.

I have a few regrets. Most of the mistakes I made were because I was selfish and ignored the hurt my actions might cause to others. In time, I learned from my mistakes and am a better person today despite them. Fortunately, the person who I harmed forgave me and stuck with me. It could have turned out badly and I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. For that I am grateful. Having kids is a crap shoot. We have one son. He was never a problem and turned out to be a great person. Unfortunately, many of my friends can't say the same thing. I hear some truly heartbreaking stories. I have friends who are dead broke in retirement from paying lawyers to keep their kids out of jail. Kids who dumped their children on their grandparents. Thirty and forty something kids who are still living with their parents. They have no skills and no prospects for employment. The world today seems full of losers. If I was a young person today, I would think twice about having children. If your kids are responsible, consider yourself lucky. I would rather be the best carpenter in the world than the person with the most most college degrees. When you get to be an old man like me, being happy with your life and the choices you made is a great feeling.

Here in Florida, we have a small boat called a Ghennoe. They are made in Titusville on the East Coast. At 13' to 16'. they aren't much bigger than a good fishing kayak. They mount fishing chairs and trolling motors. Some are rigged to the gills with electronics and gas motors. You could easily power one of these with an electric motor. I have owned a few of them and found them to be great for smaller waters. They can be bought used on Facebook Marketplace or Craig's list for very little money. They are a great way to get into a small boat without the negatives of a kayak or a canoe.

Yes, and that's a good thing. I started fishing from the bank because I couldn't afford a boat. If I could have bought a Kayak on my $1.10 an hour paycheck, I would have. ?

Short arm spinnerbaits work well when helicoptering down a steep bank. Back when I was fishing Everglades canals, we would throw the bait next to the canal bank and let it drop down the side cover. You had to pay attention as the fish would inhale the bait as it fell. We caught some big fish that way.

In a perfect world, I would agree. Most bass fishermen I have seen use the reel to retrieve a worm at least part of the time. When you do this, you are actually swimming the worm which has some merit. Truth is, you would catch more bass on a worm without a reel. ?

Could have been an otter.

I started bass fishing with a Pflueger Akron reel in the early 60s. Since then, I have probably fished with every reel imaginable. My current casting reels are all Shimano. My favorite casting reels are some old Chronarch 100s that I have rebuilt dozens of times. I use a round Shimano Calcutta 5/1 exclusively for spinnerbait fishing. I own a couple of new Shimano Chronarch MGLs too. Shimanos never let me down. The most important factors in a casting reel are weight and comfort. This is totally subjective and could be different for each fisherman. The second most important is line retrieve rate. Today's reels are too fast for many bass fishing techniques. If you use a 8/1 reel for worm fishing, you may not be fishing on the bottom at all. Spinnerbaits attract bass by vibration. Cadense is very important with these baits. You will catch many more bass on a spinnerbait with a 5/1 reel than a 7/1 or a spinning reel. On the other hand, Rattle Traps are better fished on faster reels. What I'm saying is, there is no one reel that will do it all. To cover all the bases you need one slow casting reel, one fast reel and a spinning outfit for finesse fishing.

Standing while fishing is for TV shows and youngsters. I've been fishing sitting down since the 60s. I first noticed my back problems while standing in tournaments. Ended up having a four vertebra back fusion. Buy a Jon boat and install a good fishing pedestal. Fish like Bill Dance and you will never go back.

I tried serious kayak fishing a few times in my life. They allowed me to fish in places that were otherwise inaccessible. Unfortunately, they come with some serious negative issues. Kayak fishing is definitely a young man's game. Just getting in and out can be a challenge for an older or even slightly handicapped person. Back problems are the worst of these. You will never be comfortable for any length of time. A few hours is OK, all day fishing in a kayak is out of the question. Unless your back is made of steel (mine is partially titanium), you will be a mess when you get home. Fishing alone in a kayak is not a good idea. If anything happens and you find yourself in the water, you could be in trouble quick. I always went with a buddy. Buying a kayak looks like a way to get into fishing on the cheap. You get what you pay for and that's not much. Unless you fish where boats are not allowed, buy a boat.

I have lived in Florida all my life. Seen thousands of gators from 18" to 14 feet. Fished alone in the Everglades at night. Been on a few night trips with professional gator hunters. There are places in Florida where gators are as thick as mosquitos. In deep south Florida they even have crocodiles. Most gators don't want anything to do with humans or boats. The problem comes when humans feed them or otherwise attempt to interact with them. Rarely does anyone get hurt by a gator, but it does happen. Our handyman almost lost his hand when trimming bushes on a canal bank. A gator struck at movement which happened to be his hand. Small children and dogs look like a tasty meal to a gator. Never ever let either one roam around near any lake or canal in Florida. Don't swim alone where gators are known to live, which is most everywhere. Unfortunately for fishermen, gators don't chase down water skiers. (joke). The scariest gator encounter I ever had was when I found my boat in a narrow canal between a 10' moma gator and a pack of baby gators. Glad I had a 24 volt trolling motor!

Winter in Florida is a different kind of fishing hell. We are constantly dodging cold fronts that can whip up the lakes pretty bad, not to mention being downright dangerous. The water sometimes drops into the 40-50s and Florida bass go on strike big time. The biggest problem where I live is the influx of "snow bird" fishermen. The boat ramps overflow, even on weekdays. Add in 2-3 club tournaments each weekend plus a few big national tournaments and you can imagine what the fishing pressure is like. The good news is there is 50,000 acres of water to play in. I fish where other people don't.

We stopped going to movies years ago. So did many other people we know. This is why all the money and talent is moving to streaming. After "Breaking Bad" who wants to see another Batman or dinosaur squeal? Our son told us to see Top Gun Maverick, so we decided to break the drought. It was pure entertainment. No Woke characters or messages. Non stop action with some of the best action filming ever. Tom Cruise was amazing. We didn't see Top Gun, so the Val Kilmer sequence didn't mean much to us. We loved him in Tombstone and felt sad to see him since he got ill. This is one movie that's better in a theater. Watching it on a home TV does not do it justice. I would see it again.

I am not a big fan of poppers in fresh water. However, the best bass popper I have found is the Yellow Magic. They are somewhat costly, but they work. Made in Japan, they have the best action and hooks of any top water lure I have seen. Fish this lure on light line. Great in clear water.

Chain Pickerel are the only pike we have here in Florida. The best places to find them are lakes with clear water and lots of aquatic weeds. The best lures are spinnerbaits. The largest I have seen are 3-4 pounds. Most are caught as a bycatch when bass fishing.

When I was growing up in Miami, we caught our own shiners for bait. We used tiny hair hooks with bread balls for bait. Here in Florida, nothing works better for bass than a freshly caught golden shiner. When we fished offshore, catching live bait was a sport in itself. Everything from cast netting pilchards and mullet to fishing the reefs for ballyhoo and goggle eyes. It often took hours to catch enough live bait to fish for a day. My wife loved fishing for live bait more than catching the fish that ate them. We would get up at 2 AM, head out the inlet and fish for bait before dawn. We learned we could catch a live well full of bait in the lights under anchored ships waiting to go into the port. They stopped this after 9/11, but it was great while it lasted. Live bait fishing is the most productive way to catch fish. I didn't say it was the most enjoyable. When I was guiding, I hated live bait fishing because it kills to many big fish. I was being paid to catch fish and that's what it took to make people happy.