Captain Phil

Installing steps on my trailer. I had major back surgery about a year ago and thought I would never own another bass boat. Not so fast Mr. & Ms. Bass... I'm still at it. ?

Anyone who claims they never get skunked when fishing is the same person who claims they always win at the casino. ?

If getting skunked means I didn't catch a fish, it happens on occasion. I take it as an opportunity to learn what's not working. This is sometimes more valuable than finding something that does. At this moment, the water on the Chain is in the fifties. Every snow bird from Minnesota to the Carolinas is here running up and down the lakes. Pontoon boats full of snow white people are a never ending stream. This place is a zoo. I went out last Friday and caught nothing. This told me it is time to fish my backup lakes. That is one of the advantages of fishing in Florida as there are so many options.

We can only hope....

I had no issue with Flores. I thought the Dolphins where making progress. What I have a problem with was his lawyer making his employment into a racial issue. This is insulting to everyone. Does anyone want to be hired as a NFL coach because of their skin color? No one cares what color skin you have or where you came from. You get hired to do a job. If you don't do that job, your boss will find someone who will.

There's always next season.... ?

The Dolphins are a mess. No coach is going to want to deal with all the legal issues they are facing. It seems to me the answer is for Ross to sell the team to Brady and some other investors. Brady is building a big home in Miami and it will give him something to do in retirement. Miami would go nuts for this and he could be the GCOAT "Greatest Coach of All Time".

As a long time Dolphins fan I liked Flores, but he was just one in a long line of coaches that couldn't measure up to Shula. I don't think Miami fans will be happy until they raise him from the dead. We had decent players a few years ago that could have done something, but Adam Gase traded them all off. After that, he went to the Jets and stunk them up too. The list of NFL greats than "used" to be Dolphins is a long one. I'm beginning to think the problem is with the owner Stephen Ross? By the way, the Dolphins General manager is black. So much for the race card.

Welcome to a great forum. I have lived in Florida for over 70 years. Fished both fresh and salt water, everything from bass to marlin. Lots of nice people here, so if you have any questions or comments don't be afraid to post.

I attended the 2006 Classic on Lake Toho in Kissimmee. It was a great experience. If you ever have a chance to attend a Classic, do it. The vendor show is wonderful. I met a number of famous pro anglers and got to trade a few stories with Ray Scott about his early tournaments. One of the Florida guys we fished with back then, Johnny Adams, qualified for the first Classic but said he couldn't get off from work to fish it. We both got a big laugh out of that. ?

Florida Tarpon are catch and release only. Sailfish must be 63" minimum and a Blue Marlin 90". Most offshore anglers stopped killing billfish years ago. Snook and Redfish in Florida are highly regulated with slot limits and tight season closures. This was not always the case. When I was a kid in the fifties, it was legal to snag Snook and I remember baskets of them laying on the seawall. The Cajun Redfish craze almost wiped them out too. Florida voters approved a Statewide net ban law back in the nineties which did a lot for our inshore sport fishing. The most popular fresh water food fish in Florida is the Speckled Perch or Crappie. Most of the catfish you find in restaurants are farm raised. Florida has a five fish per angler daily limit on bass. Only one can be over 16 inches. Some of our lakes have slot limits. Eating a few bass is not going to hurt fishing. Most anglers in Florida don't eat bass, they prefer to catch them again. If you enjoy eating fish, the best tasting fish in my opinion is Mahi Mahi (dolphin fish as they are called locally). You can find it in many grocery store frozen food sections. Dolphin are great sport fish too, but they are plentiful and they grow very fast. A 20 pound Mahi can be less than a year old.

I would be wary of fishing just anywhere in South Beach itself. I remember when no one went to South Beach except surfers and panhandlers. Now you can pay $500 for a dinner that looks like a picture. In and around South Beach, you will be fishing in salt water. Miami Beach itself is a thin strip of land separate from the mainland. If you wish to fish in that area, I would start at the pier or an inlet. You can catch some nice fish from shore. The nearest fresh water of any consequence is on the mainland. South Florida is full of canals and all of them hold fish. Ask first because many are on private land or you must trespass to get to them. You can hire a local guide that will pick you up at your hotel and bring you back. There are many good fishing opportunities in South Florida if you take the time to find them.

I agree. Back when we ate bass, our club always had a fish fry after the tournament. We even owned a fish fryer. I can remember cleaning 100 or more bass in an afternoon. The best eating size bass are 12 inches or so. If they come out of clean clear water, they aren't bad eating if you fry them. We don't eat bass anymore because they are more valuable alive, especially large fish. We don't kill Marlin, Sailfish or Tarpon either.

Here in Florida, bass are not that good to eat. Unless they come from very clear lakes out in the middle of nowhere, they have a muddy taste. Everglades bass are the worst. Some Florida lakes have warning signs advising you not to eat the fish. Back in the day we used to soak them in milk or salt water to draw out that taste. You can fry anything and make it edible. I have eaten a lot of northern walleye in my day and find them better than any other fresh water fish. Pike are excellent too, but you have to know how to clean them so you avoid the bones. Release bass, don't kill them.

I've been using fishing electronics since I built my first flasher with a Heathkit in the sixties. Today's fishing graphs are amazingly cheap and effective. In my opinion, Lowrance is the only way to go. I bought a HB once and never will again. The screen would go blank without warning and I never could figure out why. Their technical support was horrible. This was ten years ago, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it's better now. I have two units on my boat now, a Lowrance Hook Seven and a Lowrance Hook Five. They do everything I want them to do and without hassle.

I have owned dozens of bass boats. The perfect boat for you may not be the perfect boat for someone else. The water conditions where you fish and your style of fishing will be the determining factors. For example if you intend to do a lot of flipping and pitching, you will want a boat with a sizable flat deck and low sides. If you are going to make long runs in rough water, you may want a semi v-hull with lots of freeboard. Bass boats are great fishing platforms in the south, not so good in Canada. Storage is not a factor for me as I don't keep my rods locked up in the boat. I lash them to the deck only when I go fishing. If you buy a bass boat over 20 feet in length, you will need a big outboard and a truck to pull it. Trucks are not cheap and gas is not going to get any cheaper. My current bass boat is 17 1/2 feet with a 75 Merc 4-stroke and it runs near 40 mph. If you are going to fish tournaments, you will want a different boat than you may choose if you don't. Whatever boat you choose, remember you will eventually be selling it to someone else. Don't get stuck with a boat no one wants.

There is no wrong way to fish a Rattle Trap. It's one of the most effective bass lures ever created. I throw my Rattle Traps with a 7/1 Shimano reel and 20 pound Big Game mono. Lately, I have experimented with brad and I like it because I can feel the lure vibrate in the rod and I lose less fish with brad. I have caught bass ripping a Rattle Trap in the dead of winter and in the heat of summer. One of the longest bass I ever caught came on a Rattle Trap. I couldn't weight it because it wouldn't fit in my Skeeter's live well and I didn't want to harm the fish. If nothing else works, a Rattle Trap will always get me a fish. I jerk the rod every few handle cranks to mimic a wounded fish or a deflection. Rattle Traps are fish finders. If you are into trolling, there is nothing better. Around here, we look for eel grass. A fast moving Rattle Trap pulls fish out of that grass like a magnet. There are days if you are not fishing a Rattle Trap you aren't fishing.

I like to parallel the bank with a spinnerbait. Fish as close to the shoreline cover as you can. The outside bends are the deepest. Flipping pads is a great way to catch a big fish if you have patience. Old timers used buzz baits in the pads with great success. Gambler makes a soft plastic bait called a Flappn Shad that is killer as a buzz bait. Good Luck!

Years ago I had a very close call on Lake George during a BASS tournament. Too long to describe here, but I found myself drifting in 6 foot waves without power. Lake George is very shallow and tidal on the north end. It could also be colder than you think. Fortunately, the river itself has great fishing out of the weather. Look for pads as they hold the bigger fish in the river. Fish the outside edge of the river bends. If you run north, you can fish Dunn's Creek, one of my favorites.

My wife and I will be married 57 years this November. A good marriage is based on love, friendship and respect. Marriage is a 50/50 partnership. If you want to stay married, treat her that way.

As if things couldn't get any stranger here in Florida, we now have a Falling Iguanas alert. Iguanas are huge lizards that can't tolerate temperatures lower than 50 degrees. When the temp drops, so do they. Iguanas can grow to over 6 feet long and weigh up to 11 pounds. My son lives in Weston just west of Ft. Lauderdale and he tells me the trees and backyards are full of these things. They chase cars too...

My trailer is a Trailstar, most likely the same as yours. It came as a package with the boat and motor. I'm 6' 230 pounds and I would never step on those fenders. I have Trick Steps on my boat and they are very strong.

I bought my Ranger 178RT last year. I have owned or rode in just about every bass boat they make. My choice was between a Ranger and a Tracker. I have owned them both previously. Both dealers are nearby. On the surface, both seem similar. You can't tell the difference between the two until you ride in them both. The Tracker feels like an aluminum boat. The Ranger feels more like a solid bass boat. It doesn't pound in a chop. The floor doesn't flex. The console is solid as a rock. This little boat exudes quality everywhere you look. My boat came with a 24 volt Minn Kota and two Lowrance Hook Reveals. You don't want a 12 volt trolling motor. The 75 Merc 4-Stroke pushes this boat near 40 mph and uses very little gas. The Ranger trailer is also first rate. The most significant advantage of buying quality is when you sell it.

The DC stands for Digitally Controlled. They have an internal microprocessor that adjusts the braking of the spool to help control backlashes. I think it's better to learn to cast, but that's just my opinion. I don't like the sound they make either. For someone totally new to casting reels, they are probably easier to cast. Sort of like training wheels on a bike. 5500Cs where great in their day. I still have a couple, but I rarely use them as they seem clunky and heavy compared to the new reels. If you buy a quality casting reel today, you will like the difference.

My first casting reel was a Pflueger Akron, so you know I've been around awhile. When the 5500C came out, we thought it was the best reel we had ever seen. Those early Ambassadors were smooth as silk compared to everything else. I am sure all the reels you listed would do the job. The first thing you will notice about them is how small and light they are. I still use a Shimano Calcutta (5/1) for spinnerbait fishing as I find the small reels too small for my hands. I own a Shimano Chronarch MGL and a Shimano Zodias casting rod. I don't like the DC reels and feel the computer braking is unnecessary. My combo is the lightest most sensitive casting outfit I have ever used. The majority of my casting reels are older Shimano Chronarch 100s (7/1). If you take care of them, they last forever and have never let me down.