Captain Phil

The Carolina Rig is deadly on bass. It works best on hard bottom. With experience, you will be able to probe the bottom composition from the feel of the weight dragging along the bottom. This makes the line from your rod to the weight significant. Modern braided line is perfect for this task. If you use mono or fluorocarbon for the leader, you have the best of both worlds. Varying your leader length is worth the trouble. Sometimes the fish want a 18" leader, sometimes as much as 3 feet. If you haven't fished a Carolina Rig before, you will find strikes are often difficult to detect. If you feel any resistance, set the hook. I have my best results with heavier weights. For me 1 oz. seems about right. It stays on the bottom and lets me feel the bottom better than a light weight. If I feel rocks or anything that feels like structure, I know I am probably going to get bite. Here in Florida, Carolina Rigs work best in summer. If you find an offshore honey hole, you will most likely have it to yourself. As far as knots go, don't be lazy. Retie often. I use a brass clacker and a glass bead. I have won a bunch of tournaments with an old school Carolina Rig. Buddy Gross won last years Bassmaster Tournament on the Harris Chain using one. Everyone else was throwing crankbaits as he sat in the same area reeling up fish.

There is a time and place for every fishing lure and technique. If all you want is to catch fish on the same thing the same way, then that's what you will do. Just know you are missing a lot of fish.

Getting a good night's sleep is important to your health. My wife and I have been married for 56 years. The first 50 years or so, we slept in the same bed. We have a great marriage, but both of us have sleep issues. We both toss and turn and move around often. She tells me I snore and I know she does. I went to a sleep center and had a doctor look at my results. He told me I had borderline sleep apnea, so I tried a C-Pap. What a horrible experience! I can't imagine how anyone can get used to that. To solve this problem, we moved to separate bedrooms. In case you are wondering, our sex life is better than ever. Now, both of us wake up refreshed and happy. We don't talk about this with our friends as they may think we are too old to care. Not true. We just want to sleep well.

This was the dream of many when my wife and I were in real estate. Unfortunately, this scenario no longer exists in Florida. Even if you found a property like this, it would cost a fortune. Given that, we believe we live in the perfect retirement spot for bass fishing. We live in a small town outside of Orlando with 1,000s of lakes all around us. Most of them have public access. Our City has a long concrete walkway right in downtown where you can fish. Public piers are everywhere. If you have a boat, there is no end to the fishing. The people are nice and the traffic is light if you stay off the main roads. One thing people don't think about when picking a retirement spot is access to medical facilities. When you are young, you don't think about this. In retirement you will spend a significant amount of time in a doctor's office. Living in Florida can be fast paced or laided back depending upon where to choose to live.

I am definitely "old school" when it comes to flipping and pitching. When flipping first started, I wanted the longest heaviest rod I could find. I used an 8' 6" Dee Thomas flipping stick because I could cover more territory. Eventually, pitching became the thing and long rods were not needed. Rod weight and sensitivity is the most significant factor in these rods. You will be holding the rod for long periods of time and you don't want to strain your arms or back. Get something comfortable. Today's rods can be sensitive without being heavy. One of the best I have seen lately is the Shimano Zodias 7' 2" ZDC72MH. It's a real workhorse. Reels don't matter that much as long as they aren't too heavy. I used a Shimano Chronarch Bantam 100 for years when flipping. If you like flipping thumb bar reels, the old Shimano Castaic CA-200s are hard to beat. Don't overthink the reel. It's doesn't do much in this type of fishing. As far as line goes, I'm using 30 pound braid now and no leader when flipping and pitching. I snell all my hooks.

My wife and I sold waterfront real estate in Central Florida for 20 years. Fishing access was always a major topic of discussion. In Florida, the water itself is owned by the public. The land around it is not. This does not mean you can fish anywhere you want. If a body of water is navigable from a public boat ramp or launching point, you can legally fish there by boat. This gets tricky when homeowners put up barriers like they do in some areas. For example, for years the Butler Chain near Orlando only had one small public boat ramp. There are gigantic homes on those lakes and the homeowners tried to shut down that ramp. They hired their own marine patrol officers to harass fishermen. They denied this, but I have been stopped by them numerous times. Finally, a long time resident left a large plot of land for a public ramp. Parking is limited, so you must get there early to fish. The park opens at sun up and closes at dark. Fishing off the bank is a much different situation. Do not trespass on private property without permission. Do not assume undeveloped land is public. Do not assume anything. You do not want to get into an altercation with a homeowner, because you will lose. Cops are not lawyers. Ask permission first. You have a better chance if you live in the neighborhood. There are so many canals, rock pits and small lakes in Florida that you will find what you are looking for. If there is a small park on the lake, it may be fish-able in a canoe or kayak. Ask first. When I was a kid, you could fish just about anywhere in Florida. Not so today.

My wife's Visa card has been hacked and replaced two times in the past few months. The bank, (Truist) has been closing her cards and issuing new ones, but it seems Visa must have some kind of problem. I never have any problem with American Express, but it's not accepted everywhere.

Fish the Pads....

I live in Eustis about thirty miles west of Deland. There is always a lull in Florida bass fishing in December. Things can improve dramatically when it warms between cold fronts. This is our "winter" if there is such a thing in Florida. Coupled with all the flooding in the St. John's by the hurricane, fishing can be tough at times. The Harris Chain was not affected by the storm. The water is high, but not exceptionally so. When the water rises dramatically, the bass follow the water level. In the river, they are so far back in there, you can't get to them. Find places where you can.

Back in the 80s I experimented with left handed bait casters. I did this for the same reasons I stated above. It worked, but it was inconvenient. Most of my finesse fishing is done with spinning outfits. I've won a lot of tournaments fishing light tackle when my competition was power fishing. The Mojo rig is something hardly anyone talks about any more. It was a secret weapon for many years.

I think the Texas rig fishes better on a spinning outfit. I'm right handed and I can work the bait better when holding a spinning rod in my right hand. My hook sets are better too. Setting the hook while holding a casting rod in my left hand always seemed awkward to me. Slowing down your presentation is a challenge for many people. It's also more productive. Try fishing a Texas rigged Zoom Trick worm with no sinker and only the weight of the hook on 8 pound mono or fluorocarbon line. It takes more time for the worm to sink to the bottom. It's also a deadly presentation. That will teach you the power of slow fishing.

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Older people can be annoying at times. They are bored and don't have much to do except let little things fester. Something that you wouldn't notice becomes a big deal to them. Coupled with the fact that they feel like crap most of the time, altercations can and do occur. When my wife and I were in Real Estate we saw this all the time in homeowners associations. I try to stay optimistic and rarely fly off the handle. I've learned it's a lot better to stay calm when others don't. Nothing is more annoying than dogs barking or running loose all over the neighborhood. Dogs cause more problems than any other neighbor issue. Try to explain to your son that the old man doesn't feel well. It's not personal, he is probably mad at everyone.

I have never seen anything in the Everglades that hasn't already been discovered. If you want to hear some crazy noises, try anchoring in Shark River at night with sharks and manatees rubbing on the bottom of your boat. The cutest thing I ever saw was a mother raccoon with two cubs trailing behind... adorable. Otters are cool too. There are lots of alligators and a few crocodiles. I left South Florida before the pythons came.

I have been fishing the Everglades since the mid sixties. Much of my summer bass fishing was done at night. I have never been attacked by a gator, but I have seen them act aggressively toward small boats heading their way. I have had snakes crawl into my boat and they seemed as surprised as much as I was. I have never seen a Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, UFO, alien or little green men. Given it's South Florida, it wouldn't surprise me if I did. Would I fish in a kayak alone in the Everglades at night? NO!

When I was a kid, there was no Fluoride in the water and nearly everyone had dentures by the time they reached their 60s. The dentist I went to did not use Novocaine when filling my cavities and it was pure torture. This made me intensely afraid of the dentist and I avoided going for nearly twenty years. When I got a tooth ache, I had them pull the bad tooth. This caused me all kinds of problems later in life. Today's dentists are nothing like in those days. Don't mess around with your teeth. You will be around a lot longer than you think and you are going to need them. If you are afraid of pain, go to a dentist that uses Nitrous Oxide. They can cut off your arm with a nail file and you won't care. ?

Both are good baits. The Rattle Trap runs shallower and the bright chrome finish attracts more bass in murky water. There can be differences between two seemingly identical baits. I believe it's due to the internal beads becoming trapped inside hollow baits. If you rattle each one, you can notice the difference in the sound they make. If you find one that consistently catches fish, keep it. I have some with all the finish wore off and they still catch bass. When I was fishing tournaments, I kept a stash of "special" Traps that I only used when fishing for money.

Back in the 70s, Tom Mann had a pet bass in his aquarium. He named it Leroy Brown and it grew quite large. It became famous and we drove by his factory in Eufaula to see it. It died of natural causes in 1980

The surface water temperature in Lake Eustis can get into the high 40s after a cold front passes. When that happens, older couples start chopping up their rocking chairs for fire wood. ?

I have been collecting Tiny Torpedos for some time. Many colors are discontinued. The orange crackle color is color code CBO. The best current bass color is the chrome with a black back. I believe the chrome surface reflects the surroundings making it nearly invisible. Bass hit this lure because of it's unique fleeing shad sound and action. They don't see it until it's too late. You must throw this lure on light line (4-8). Anything heavier kills the action.

Ask Jay Leno! ?

Every fishing line is a compromise. Mono stretches, fluorocarbon coils and braid is rough. The real question is "Do fish care?" I flip cover at least 70% of the time. I like to catch big bass and nothing works better. I don't believe the noise of braid falling through cover scares bass. If anything, it may help lead them to your bait. I do believe most anglers use line that is too heavy for the job. Thirty pound braid is much thinner than 40 or 50. I rarely flip hydrilla where heavier line is a necessity. When I switched to braid for flipping, I did have to up-size my weight from 5/16 oz. to 3/8 oz. Most of our flipping is done in Kissimmee grass where punching through is not an issue. I don't use a leader when flipping. I snell my line directly to the hook shank. This tilts the hook into the fish and has increased my fish in the boat ratio substantially. Bass in heavy cover don't have time to inspect your line, they react. Don't overthink bass fishing. It's not that complex.

Part of my Tiny Torpedo collection.

The Tiny Torpedo is not a walking lure. The small spinner on the rear mimics a fleeing shad. I fish it in short jerks and it's deadly on bass.

There was a time when I hated braid. No more, as the newer braids are much improved. Casting distance, no stretch and sensitivity are worth the cost. If I'm fishing in water where I think line visability is a problem, I use a fluorocarbon leader tied with a blood knot. I don't feel the need for 40-50 pound braid in most bass fishing. Twenty pound braid is plenty strong enough for bass in open water. I flip heavy cover with 30 pound braid and no leader. I used to use 25 pound Big Game mono for flipping. My hookup up ratio has significantly improved with braid.