Captain Phil

After doing a little more research, I discovered the new Shimano Zodias rods have many of the features of the Poison Adrena for around $200.

For many years one of the best full time bass guides in Central Florida was Captain Lynda Hawkins. She has been fishing and winning tournaments for many years. I had the pleasure of fishing tournaments with her and she taught me a lot. When I fished tournaments with her, we never had an issue that we couldn't work out. She was a pure professional in every way. If either one of us had to take care of nature, we looked the other way. She was also in my bass club and very tough to beat. At one time, we had a Senior Bass Tournament Trail in Florida. It was a team tournament where one angler had to be over 50. We had numerous women team entries. These were the toughest tournaments I ever fished. Going up against a room full of men and women anglers with that much skill and experience was humbling. My wife has fished many a "He and She" tournament with me. She out fished me on numerous occations. There is nothing in bass fishing a woman can't do just as well or better than a man.

I was flipping through the channels last night and happened to catch the last few minutes of the women's Olympic marathon. Two Kenyan women took the gold and silver. The bronze medal went to 5' 4" 107 pound Molly Seidel. When I saw her wrap herself in the flag it made me proud to be an American.

Florida bass guides prefer fishing with live shiners because it removes the skill of the angler from the equation. If you fish Toho with wild native shiners, you are almost guaranteed to catch bass. The time of the year is also significant. In March or April, I could hand you a stack of Devil's Horse lures and wear you out catching bass. Shiners catch bass year round. It doesn't take much skill to swim a live shiner around some pads and jerk the rod. If you are going to limit your bass fishing to artificial lures, you should be prepared for whatever happens and make sure your guide knows this in advance.

Over the years I have had numerous Johnson/Evinrude, Mercury and Yamaha outboards. Most were good, a few were awful. Today's modern 4 stroke outboards are nothing like them. They are miracles of engineering and reliability. Both Mercury and Yamaha outboards are excellent. What it comes down to is service. I had a Yamaha on my Skeeter for ten years. The closest Yamaha dealer was 35 miles away making it a hassle every time I needed service. Mercury dealers were much closer. I'm on my second Mercury 4 stroke now and I couldn't be happier.

Protesting is not a bad thing. My generation did our share of protesting. Protesting has impact. When it's overdone, it begins to draw more attention to the protester rather than the issue. Our country allows peaceful protest and that's a good thing. I believe there is a time and place for it. I don't believe the Olympics is that place. Perhaps we should have the Protesting Olympics? Do you think any other countries would compete? How about Cuba, Russia, China or North Korea? I am grateful to have been born and lived in this great country, even with it's flaws.

I live in the Florida "Mountains" (joke). The highest spot in Central Florida is Sugarloaf Mountain, about 10 miles south of my home in Eustis. It's a massive 312' above sea level. Lake Okeechobee is 33 miles across. At the present time, it has an average depth of 9'.

Not when they are three miles wide and totally flat. Many Northern bass fishermen come to Florida expecting bass to be in the same places they are at home. They criss cross the lake staring into their fish finders unsuccessfully looking for offshore creek channels, humps, rock piles and whatever other fish holding structure they can find. Except for offshore shell beds, offshore bass in Florida are so scattered they are difficult to target consistently. Hydrilla changes this. Many an old worn out reservoir or lake has been rejuvenated by hydrilla. Unfortunately, hydrilla in Florida doesn't die back in the winter, so it quickly gets out of control. One day you are catching bass in eight feet of water and the next weekend the spray boats have taken it all out. The majority of the larger bass I catch come from shallow Kissimmee grass beds or pads in less than six feet of water.

Most Florida lakes are shallow sinkholes with little or no bottom structure. Ambush predators like bass have no place to set up shop other than weed beds, docks and pads. We rarely do any vertical fishing in water deeper than six feet. Hydrilla has changed that somewhat, but you never know what you are going to find due to control efforts. The electronics on my boat rarely tell me anything I couldn't know with a long stick. ?

I'm looking at new rod options myself. I'm not an expensive rod guy, but the Shimano Poison Adrena interests me. I never buy a rod without holding it unless I've bought the same rod before. What feels good to me may not feel good to you or someone else. I've had $50 rods that are prefect and $250 rods that I hated. That's why I like Bass Pro Shop. I walk around and test every rod to see which one feels right. Lately, my local Bass Pro has been down on inventory. I'm heading down there soon to see what they have.

Mid day direct overhead sun, calm water, cold front conditions and any time other techniques don't work. I rarely flip before 10 AM. Most of my big fish are caught between 11 AM and 2 PM. Fishing money tournaments is not like fun fishing as you are only looking for five bites and you need a kicker to win. In the spring around here you need at least a 25 pound bag to have any chance. Locals are very tough to beat.

Here's a few tips. 1. Let the lure fall on slack line under it's own weight. It's the fall that triggers the strike. 2. Don't use too much weight. You want just enough to get through the cover to the bottom. My most common flipping weight is 5/16 oz. I have used 3/4 oz. in heavy hydrilla. I use a plastic sinker stop to peg the weight to the bait. 3. Always check the bait before you move it off the bottom. It is common for a fish to have the bait and you don't know it until it's too late. 4. The best way to learn the flipping technique is to leave your other rods at home. Once you catch some fish you will have more confidence. 5. Have patience. Flipping is a big fish technique not a numbers technique. Good Luck!

Personally, I do more flipping than pitching. When I fish for money, I prefer team tournaments over draw tournaments. Team tournaments are very popular in Florida. We have one locally that has been going on every Sunday for as long as I can remember. Some of the larger ones pay decent money. In a team tournament, I flip from the front of the boat and my partner pitches from the rear. Some days the fish are close to the edge and other days they are back in the cover. By fishing this way, we cover a wider area.

Flipping, pitching or punching as you call it, is about all I do these days. Florida bass waters are shallow, so I hardly ever use the reel as I can reach most of the pockets I need to with a near vertical presentation. It is often necessary to take up slack line when a fish hits. I can see how a faster reel would make this a little easier. It's such a small amount of line that I don't think it would make much difference. In this type of fishing, the rod does most of the work.

We watch sports to be entertained, not to be lectured. If athletes wish to speak their minds, they should do it on their own time.

This post reminds me of something funny I once heard before a tournament. A guy walked up to his drawn partner's boat lugging a huge tackle box that must have had a dozen drawers and compartments. The boater was a semi famous local expert known for his sarcasm. He looked down at the non boater's tackle box storage trunk and said, "Stash some black plastic worms in your top pocket and let's go!" ?

Good video about an all time favorite that's been forgotten over the years. There are many reasons why this lure was a standard fifty or more years ago and why it isn't used as much these days. In the early days of sport bass fishing, reels were not like they are today. You needed a heavy lure to get any distance. It wasn't until free spool reels hit the market that lighter lures were usable. The Johnson Silver Minnow was the frog lure of it's day. It could be cast farther than a wooden lure and it was weedless. Al Foss made a similar metal lure a hundred years ago that was actually shaped like a frog. The Silver Minnow added the side to side wiggle and the weed guard. In Florida, I knew great anglers who never fished anything else. You could throw the lure a country mile and into places where other lures were impossible to fish. Those anglers used pork chunk or pork strip trailers. The added distance and weedless nature made these lures perfect for fishing the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. The hook on these lures as they come out of the package is one of the worst hooks I have ever seen. Why they haven't fixed this by now is amazing to me. In any case, buy a good hone and sharpen it before you use it. I have caught fish on this lure in open water, but that's not the best place for it. It works in the same places you would throw a frog. The hookup percentage seems to be better as well. Some people put a plastic worm on the lure as a trailer. I use a Zoom split tail trailer. For years the standard big fish lure in the Everglades was a black silver minnow with a black worm trailer. The gold silver minnow is still one of the best Red Fish baits even today (if you are so inclined). You need strong line to fish these lures as they are heavy and you will be fishing in heavy cover. So why don't you hear much about this lure today? Because there are better lures that can be fished in the same places. Plastic frogs and buzz baits have replaced the Silver Minnow. The Silver Minnow is still a great lure, it's just not the best.

I do not know why any particular color works better than another, I only know that it does. After years of tournament fishing, I can tell you with confidence that certain colors at certain times produce better results. I have fished in boats with two skilled anglers fishing the exact same bait in different colors and one would catch more fish than the other. I have driven 30 miles before a tournament to buy a particular bag of worms that have been sold out locally with the only difference being the color. Some fish will bite any color. What I am talking about is weighing more fish than the other competitors. If you don't fish tournaments, you have nothing to compare your results to. What I like about tournament fishing is you can't weigh stories. Personally, I believe red on a lure signals a wounded or crippled bait. Years ago I started carrying a red permanent marker in my tackle box. I often mark red lines and dots on my Rattle Traps and it makes a difference in my catch rate. If you look at many successful lures you will find they have small red areas for this reason.

An old bass guide friend of mine told me there are red bait fish during the summer. I have heard this from a number of different sources. I don't know if the bait fish are red or if parts of them turn red, but it's been around for a long time. I do know that red flake makes some soft plastic baits more effective. Watermelon Red is a great bait color here in Florida. It's my favorite fluke color. The most popular soft plastic bait color in Florida is June Bug (purple with green flake). I use Christmas which is Purple with green and red flakes. Zoom calls this June Bug Red and it's a killer color. Our bass waters are fairly turbid, so red may make the bait easier to see.

When athletes and actors started becoming politicians, I quit watching sports and movies. However, I still watch football. I would rather watch a rerun of a super bowl than some person protesting about something that they have never experienced and that only happens in their mind.

I am still breaking in my 75 Mercury four stroke, so I haven't been able to run wide open for long. Last weekend with my wife and all my tackle with me, I opened it up to check the top end speed. With the boat trimmed in flat water, my max RPM topped out somewhere around 5300. Both the GPS and the speedometer showed 42 mph. When I got home, I looked at the prop that came with the boat. It's a standard Mercury three blade aluminum prop stamped 17. From what I have seen so far, with a better prop and a light load it may reach 45 mph. If you want me to check the height of the motor or anything else, let me know. Are you trimming your boat high enough? I have had high performance bass boats before and this boat acts like it has a pad. There is a big difference in speed with more of the boat out of the water.

When I was young, I dreamed of catching big bass. In the magazines I read about places like Rodman Reservoir, Lake Jackson and the Ocala National Forest lakes. Back then, the big thing was a "Gold Stringer" of mounted ten pound plus bass. There was a tackle Shop near Tallahassee that had a stringer of 12 pounders that I still have a photo of. My heroes were Jason Lucas, Bill Dance, Al Linder and Tom Mann. On vacation, I stopped by Tom Mann's factory in Eufaula Alabama to see Leroy Brown. I held a 12 pound bass that was being kept alive in a shiner tank near Salt Springs. I still remember feeling the power of that big fish in my hands. I never thought I would still be fishing at 74. I remember a teacher in school telling us about the year 2000. I calculated that I would be 53 years old which seemed like forever in the future. That was twenty years ago. My attitude is different now. I have come to realize that age is relative. Some people that are 60 years old are 80 inside. Many physical issues can be fixed or delayed today. My recent back surgery is a good example. It changed me from thinking like a 90 year old guy sitting in a chair to someone who has a future. I just bought a new bass boat. That in itself is amazing as I never thought I would be able to climb in one again, much less sit in one for more than an hour. Attitude is everything. Get out there and enjoy the time you have left, even if it's only a day.

Started bass fishing when I was 12 walking canal banks. I'm 74 now. Until I was about 25 my PB was 6 1/4. My first big fish was 8 1/2. One rainy summer afternoon on Lake Okeechobee, I caught an 11 1/4 that I still have mounted on my wall. This was before catch and release became popular. While flipping a patch of grass in front of my dock on Lake Eustis, I caught an 11 1/2 which I released after taking this photo. The boy in this photo is my grandson. Over the last five months I have been recovering from back surgery. I am feeling great and will be concentrating on setting a new PB which I hope to reach before I'm 80.

I have owned my new Ranger RT178 for a few months now. I am no stranger to boats having owned dozens over the years. I am so impressed with this little boat that I thought I would add my own comments to those that have already been made. My Ranger RT178 has a Mercury 75 four stroke. This motor is so quiet at idle that I have to look to see if it's running. Top speed loaded with two passengers is about 42 mph with the standard 17 pitch Merc aluminum prop. It planes out fast and trims with 1/3 of the boat in the water. It's no speed demon, but I find it more than adequate. What's amazing to me is the ride. I've owned and fished in aluminum boats before and they tend to rattle and slam in any chop. Not this boat. It has an excellent ride for it's size and construction. Would I take it out on Lake Okeechobee in 4 foot waves? No, I would be home watching TV. For everyday bass fishing, the ride is great. The boat is very stable. My wife and I are both in our seventies and we have no problem moving around in this boat. The quality of this boat is much better than all the other aluminum bass boats we looked at. There is nothing wrong with lesser boats, but you get what you pay for in this boat. The seats are the same as the big Ranger seats. They are top quality and very comfortable. This boat has lots of storage with four compartments plus a full length lockable rod box with tubes. The carpet is what you would expect in a Ranger. All the hardware is top quality as well. An Aluminum boat hull does not look like a fiberglass boat hull. You can tell it's aluminum as you can see some of the panels down the side. My boat is painted white with red and black graphics and I think it looks great. The shape of the RT178 is much sleeker than the other boats in it's class, especially the console which is fairly racy looking. I upgraded the trolling motor on my boat to a 24 volt Minn Kota. I don't consider a 12 volt trolling motor to be adequate in hydrilla. I also have a triple battery charger in my boat. My boat has two Lowrance combination Sonar and GPS units, one in the console and one on the trolling motor. Personally, I wouldn't own anything but Lowrance electronics. I have tried others and always come back. The Ranger trailer loads and tows great. The only complaint I have is Ranger shortened the swing away tongue 9" recently and I find it too short. This puts the boat too close to the tow vehicle in tight turns. I use a hitch extender on my Explorer to fix this issue. I find the 17' length to be adequate for the type of bass fishing I do. I have owned 20-22 foot bass boats before and they are can be hard to maneuver in tight canals. For big water tournament fishing, they are a necessity. For someone currently like me, the smaller boats are fine. They run well with smaller motors, don't require 100 pound thrust trolling motors, and use less fuel. I tow my little Ranger with a new Ford Explorer with a 4 cylinder turbo and it tows like it's not back there. I can even back my boat up a steep driveway with ease. Fully rigged, my entire boat, trailer, 24 volt trolling motor, extra seat, extended eight year motor warranty and all electronics listed around $28K. With fiberglass bass boats starting in the 50's, it's a decent value for the quality received. I can't find anything negative to say about my little Ranger. So far, it does everything I want it to do in style. It's a boat you can be proud of at the ramp without mortgaging your house to buy it.

In my youth I did a ton of night fishing. That's practically all I did in the heat of our Florida summers. Extra care must be taken when night fishing. You can't see where you are going or casting. A small issue during the day can become a major problem at night. I can't imagine fishing in a kayak at night. If it turns over, you are going to be treading water by yourself in the dark. Water snakes and alligators are more active at night. One or more of them could only be a few inches away. Not to mention the bugs. Never fish alone at night. What are you going to do if you cut or hook yourself fishing alone at night? I fished alone in the Everglades at night when I was young, one of the dumbest things I ever did. I am lucky that I didn't have an emergency of some kind or I wouldn't be here to tell you about it. A Jon boat with a buddy? Yes. A kayak? No way.