Captain Phil

For us, boating has always been a family affair. My wife and I started fishing together in high school. We brought our son fishing with us when he could barely carry a rod. We had little car top boats, 40' sport fish and everything in between. The price of your boat and tackle has nothing to do with how good a fisherman you are. What I fear is young people will think they need to spend a fortune to be good at catching bass. Truth is, I know fishermen who can catch more bass off the bank than 50% of the TV pros. When I moved to Central Florida, I had more money than many of the locals. I bought a 20' Gambler and started fishing local tournaments. Those local fishermen humbled me. I quickly learned that throwing money at bass wasn't going to get me anywhere. My offshore friends back in Miami think bass fishing is laughable. To spend $100K for a boat and tackle to catch 15" fish is a joke because their bait is bigger than our fish. In order to appreciate bass fishing, you had to have grown up with it. My young memories of bass fishing aren't filled with computer screens and power poles. Real bass fishing is not what it looks like on TV. It's a contest of wills between you an the fish. It's about the sky at sunrise, the smell of spring in the air and the sound of the water. It's about the look of a bass when you hold it in your hands. You don't need a $100K worth of stuff to enjoy that.

The best spinner bait blades on the market are Hildebrandt. There is nothing better. Do it.....

Bad hooks are pretty much a thing of the past. Today's hooks are so much better than what we had years ago. The "cross their eyes" hook set was necessary because the hooks were dull when you took them out of the package. Today's quality hooks can penetrate from the weight of the fish alone. That said, hook points can become dull with use. Salt water fish have much tougher jaws and skin than bass and their gill plates can be hard as rock. That plus the size and power of the fish requires constant hook sharpening. Here is the hone than we have been using offshore for years. This hone will cut through a 12/0 hook like butter. It's cheap and effective. There are fancier and more expensive hook sharpeners, but none that work any better.

The best name I ever saw on a boat was "Your Name Here". 😏

I have your Ranger's brother. I never named any of my bass boats. I did name one of my salt water boats. I named it "Black Hole" because that's where my money went!

Some years back our bass club ran a big bass tournament on the Harris Chain each summer. I was the MC for a few years. This was a one fish per boat tournament with the money going to the largest bass. The grand prize was about $2K. Two guys attempted to cheat by stuffing their bass with weights. The weigh master discovered this and voided their win. Our club prosecuted the pair and it went to court. They plea bargained and the court fined the cheaters and banned them from fishing any more tournaments. Forty years ago, a major competitor of Ray Scott's Bassmaster was brought down when two guys attempted to weigh fish caught in another lake. I was there when one of the Adam's brothers pointed this out. As it turned out, the competitor was trying to create their own fishing heroes like Bill Dance and Roland Martin. This scandal eventually caused Ray's competition to go out of business. Cheating was very common in the early days of fishing tournaments. That was one main reason Ray Scott got into the tournament business.

Guides have been using stake out poles for decades. We use them when shiner fishing to keep the boat from swinging with the wind. They are standard equipment on most salt water flats boats. Power poles were invented to give you something else you think you need and to make others think you know what you're doing. Years ago, we pasted tackle decals all over our boats or sewed them into our shirts. Some even had their names emblazoned on the sides of their boats. That way you can tell the pros from the wannabes at the boat ramp!

I hear you. As we get older, we often find ourselves dwelling on the past. We remember our youth and the good times we had. People we knew are gone and the world doesn't look the same. A bigger problem with Boomers is we were once the driving force behind everything. Everybody in a TV or magazine ad looked like us. They sold us cars, houses, boats and everything else money can buy. We dominated the music, styles and trends. Today, the only boomer ads you see are for catheters or funeral services. Depression can be tough. Your decision to seek professional help is a good one. Talking about it is a good start.

I'm 77 and consider myself healthy for my age. Good sleep is one of the most important factors in your health, especially when you get older. I head for the bedroom around 9 PM every night and get up anywhere from 5:30 to 6:30 AM. I also take a short nap in the afternoon after lunch. Getting up to go to the bathroom is a constant problem. I started taking Flomax last year and it definitely helps. After my back operation three years ago, I started using a pee bottle. I don't use it anymore, but I can see why someone like me would want to. Your body needs time to rest and rebuild itself. Your brain reorganizes itself when you dream. Six hours a night or less is not enough. You may get away with this for a time, but it will take it's toll down the road.

I am truly sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. When you lose someone close, it's like losing part of yourself. The most common group to commit suicide in America are older men. As I am in this group, perhaps a little input may help. Depression is very common in older people. They are near the end of their life and may feel there is nothing left. Medical issues can make this worse. Many things that you used to enjoy are no longer possible. If the person has a spouse, this often gives them purpose. Everyone needs a purpose or there is no longer a reason to live. Isolation is very bad for older people. The worst place you can be is the feeling of being alone. The worst thing about suicide is leaving your friends and family with the burden of thinking they could have done something to stop it. Your friend is at peace. Think of all the good times you had and don't dwell on his decision.

This post reminded me something that happened on a fishing trip years ago. It's worth telling. A buddy and I took my boat to Bimini one summer morning. Bimini is an island 50 miles off Miami. You have to cross the gulf stream and it can get pretty ornery at times. We had fished all day and were anchored behind an island when a thunderstorm came up. To relocate the anchor, my buddy walked around the cabin to get to the front of the boat. As he slowly walked, he slipped and fell overboard wearing his full rain gear. He was a former Coast Guard serviceman and in great physical condition. I expected him to come to the service as I looked into the water. When he did, the look on his face was sheer terror. He shot up his hand and I dragged him into the boat. When things calmed down, he told me his rain suit had held him down and he thought he was going to drowned. If I had not grabbed him on the first try, he would have. Remember that if it happens to you.

There comes a time in everyone's life when fishing alone is not advised. I'm almost there now, but I still do. Throughout my years of fishing, I have walked past a few dead bodies laid out on the ramp. Mostly it was older anglers who went fishing in the Everglades and fell or were thrown out of the boat. Of all the safety items I have in my boat, by far the best is a pocket toilet. This little bottle has saved me numerous times. Hanging over the side in a rocking boat is one sure way to go swimming. My bass boat came with a ladder. So far I have not had to use it. It can happen to you!

I agree. Tournament fishing is not the same as fun fishing. Tournament fishing is hard work. It's mentally, physically and financially stressful. Everyone wants to catch more fish. Not everyone wants to turn something they love into a job.

I wouldn't use FFS unless I was fishing for money and I needed it to be competitive. Not because it doesn't work or because I have anything against it, because it doesn't seem like fishing to me. The fun of bass fishing is in the hunt, reeling them up is not all there is.

It always amazes me how bass fishermen can take the simplest things and make them complicated. This isn't rocket science! 😥

We did that one too! When the fire trucks showed up, we ran like Heck!

If the lure has no ring, I use a loop knot.

When we lived in South Florida, every house had a hole near the street with a water meter. The meter reader would come by monthly to read your water use. Being a hot rodder, I changed the oil in my cars often. Disposing of the old oil was easy, just dump it down the meter hole! Out of sight, out of mind. One summer day we had 18 inches of rain in 24 hours. All that oil floated to the top and killed a wide area of grass revealing my secret. My neighbor, who was Jamaican, thought we struck oil! 😅

I've cut out more of these than I am years old and that's a bunch! 😅

Years ago I befriended a guy in our local bass club. He had a terrific sense of humor and we became great friends and fierce competitors. Whenever we would go fishing together, I would pepper him with questions. He always said "You just want to suck out all my secrets and leave me a hollow shell on the beach!" You had to be there... 😅

Trolling is the primary method used when fishing for large offshore fish. The open ocean is basically a desert. Currents change the ecosystem making the location of bait fish the main challenge. It is not uncommon to troll for days or even weeks before encountering a large billfish. Once the fish have been located, baiting them with live bait is the most effective.

In the early days of bass tournaments, trolling was not considered sporting. There were a number of reasons for this. One is that there is no action required by the angler, it was totally up to the lure itself. Second, there was no casting required. Third, there was and still is somewhat of a snob attitude toward trolling. Trolling is and has always been an effective way to catch bass.

Great question. My style is to fish for bass one at a time. The road in front of my house runs along the shoreline of Lake Eustis, one of the Harris Chain lakes. As I drive by, I often look out into the lake and think about the bass. I think what it must be like to live there underwater. Do they know what day it is? Do they care? Biologists tell us all they do is eat and breed. I would like to think it's more complicated than that, especially when I can't catch one. My goal is to catch at least one fish. When I do, I'm satisfied. This may seem strange coming from an ex tournament fisherman? I remember all those times in my youth when I didn't catch a fish. I have fished all over the world and have caught just about everything that swims. Nothing makes me happier than to catch a bass. It's like.... "Victory"!

Song by Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyrics by Ronnie Van Zant / Gary Robert Rossington Mama told me when I was young "Come sit beside me, my only son And listen closely to what I say And if you do this it'll help you Some sunny day" Oh, yeah Oh, take your time, don't live too fast Troubles will come and they will pass You'll find a woman, yeah, and you'll find love And don't forget son there is someone up above And be a simple kind of man Oh, be something you love and understand Baby, be a simple kind of man Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can? Forget your lust for the rich man's gold All that you need is in your soul And you can do this, oh, baby, if you try All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied And be a simple kind of man Oh, be something you love and understand Baby, be a simple kind of man Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can? Oh, yes, I will Boy, don't you worry, you'll find yourself Follow your heart and nothing else And you can do this, oh, baby, if you try All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied And be a simple kind of man Oh, be something you love and understand Baby, be a simple kind of man Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can? Baby, be a simple, be a simple man Oh, be something you love and understand Baby, be a simple kind of man

I haven't been on this forum for that long, but I consider myself an old timer. Like George, I grew up in South Florida. Started fishing with my grandfather sitting on the side of the Highway 27 canals. My father didn't fish, but he found a Navy Chief from church that I could fish with. We fished the old Everglades bombing range at night and all the canals we could find. Charlie Infinger of Charlie's worms was a friend. He caught dozens of 10 pound bass from the 84 canal. He gave me one of the first worms he made to try out. Today, his old fishing hole is an expressway. My first bass club was the South Florida Tackle Testers in Ft. Lauderdale. My first B.A.S.S. Federation Tournament was in Welaka in the early 70s. I was in my early 20s and met guys like Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Tom Mann and the Adams Brothers. Fishing has been my passion for over 65 years. I still own a bass boat and fish when I can. It gets harder each year, but I'm still at it. I think it's worthwhile for younger people to know something of the history of bass fishing. It wasn't always 250 HP motors, $100K boats and $600 reels. Bass fishing was a poor man's sport. Something you could do without a lot of money. It was passed down from fathers to sons and daughters. I do my best to let people know this. I grew up this way and I believe I am better off because of it.