Captain Phil

Brown water snakes are common in Florida. I've seen some huge ones. Many people believe all water snakes are water moccasins and kill them on sight. Only six of Florida's forty four snake species are venomous. Most snakes you encounter are most likely to be non-venomous. The best course of action is to leave all snakes alone, watch where you walk and sit and don't clean fish in the water.

I have owned a bunch of muscle cars in my life. I have always been a V8 guy and the bigger the better. Before I knew what was under the hood, I drove my 2020 Explorer at the dealership. They tell me it's a 4 cylinder. It's not going to blow away any Hemi Challengers, but it is amazingly peppy. If you haven't driven one, you should.

Red hooks have been around for a long time. Sometimes a touch of red can do wonders. Years ago I fished with an angler who carried a red permanent marker in his tackle box. He marked up his lures to look like they were wounded. Hard to say if it made a difference. He thought it did which was what was important. Anything that gives you confidence is a good thing.

I don't. Some people do. I don't believe it's necessary. Adds another factor that can go wrong. These lures are made of wood and they will water log in time. This could cause the screws to pull out. Watch for that.

There are a number of "tweaks" and tricks you can do with these lures. Changing the pitch of the blades will change the action and the movement of the lure. I don't care for the larger size Devil's Horse. The one I prefer is 4" long. I use #6 Gamakatsu round bend treble hooks on this bait. I have experimented with using a #4 on the rear. This tilts the angle of the bait nose up which changes the action as well. The #4 hook is better if you hang a big fish. Don't use all #4 hooks or the bait will sit too low in the water. Pay close attention to the water behind the lure as a fish will often follow this bait. If a bass misses it, drop a weightless worm on it as a comeback. There was a time when I would have had to kill you if I told you that. ?

This is the one you want. I have my own theory as to why it works so well. I think the chrome sides reflect the surrounding water which disguises the lure. It's the disturbance that bass are attracted to, not the lure itself. Change the hooks before you use it.

These are crazy times. It seems we are out of everything. This is what happens when you move manufacturing offshore. When you have to go to China to get aspirin, something's wrong. I doubt you will find a Devil's Horse in Walmart. Try to find a locally owned tackle shop. Back in the day these were everywhere. We are lucky because we have one in our town. Ask around and you will find one.

Shallow weeds is what we have the most of here in Florida. If you can't touch bottom with your rod, you're in a hole. ?

Another great prop bait is the Bagley Bang O Lure. It comes in a prop and no prop version.

In rough water, try a Nip-I-Diddee. Throw it out, giving it 2-3 hard jerks and wait for the explosion.

Prop baits like the Devil's Horse have a unique action and sound. They are bass magnets. When retrieved in short jerks, they produce a sound similar to a wounded fish or one under attack. They work everywhere. Size difference and shape is significant with these lures. The first prop bait was probably the Creek Chub injured minnow, a great lure even today. Finesse prop baits like the Heddon Tiny Torpedo are awesome fish catchers on light tackle. The 4" Smithwick Devil's Horse has it all. It has the thin shape that bass prefer, it's balanced perfectly and it flat works. I wouldn't trade one Devil's Horse for a bucket full of Whopper Ploppers.

The motor is always the unknown. When I bought my new Ranger, I purchased the Mercury extended warranty. It wasn't cheap. I didn't buy it for myself. I bought it for the next owner when I sell it. A warranty is only as good as the company behind it. If the warranty comes from the manufacturer, it adds value to the boat. If the warranty is from an outside party, you are taking a chance.

Large live bait....

New boat prices have risen steeply in recent years. Ten years ago, I bought a new 16' Lowe Roughneck with a 60 HP 4 stroke Mercury, trailer and Minn Kota trolling motor for $12,000. That same boat today would be closer to $18K. By the time you rig out a 17' aluminum Tracker bass boat, you will be somewhere in the mid $20K range. If you move up to a quality aluminum boat, you will be closer to 30K. Finding a bought to buy will also be a challenge. Before I bought my Ranger 178, I went to the Bass Pro Shop in Orlando. Normally, the lot is covered up with boats for sale. They had one lone Tracker 17 on the floor and they wouldn't sell it to me. They said I would have to order one and wait. I asked how long and they couldn't give me a time. Boat insurance is not overly expensive, but it is part of owning a boat. So is gas, tackle, tires, and maintenance. I paid $400 just to put trailer hitch on my car. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a used boat these days. If you stick with known brands less than five years old and four stroke Mercury or Yamaha outboards, you should be fine. Better yet, find one with warranty left.

Installed the Quick Step system on my Ranger boat trailer today. Very impressed with the quality. Strong stable steps with a long handle for easy boarding. I decided to purchase two upgrades, an easily removable bottom step and a locking cover for the bracket.

Bass Pro Shop. None better.

Give your body time to rest...

My father-in-law once caught a 6 pound bass with a piece of rag tied around a hook. James Heddon said he came to the idea of a bass plug when he threw a piece of wood he was whittling into the water and a bass hit it. At any point in time, a bass may hit anything that they mistake for food or something they want out of their territory. The question is not "will a bass hit this thing?" The question is "does this thing catch more bass than my other options?"

Our area of Florida was once known as the old fishing lure capital of the world. James Heddon Sr. once lived in Clermont about 10 miles from our home. About twenty years ago I had a friend who owned a fishing tackle repair shop in the area. Widows would often drop by to give him their husband's old tackle boxes full of lures which he happily accepted. He sold many of those lures on EBay for hundreds of dollars each. When old fishing lures became investments, people started to believe they had a $10,000 lure in their closet. Very few fishing lures are old enough, rare enough and perfect enough to have significant value. The oldest lure in my collection is a Buel Arrowhead Spinner from the 1800s. I found it in the bottom on a coffee can in that tackle shop. I'm not a big time lure collector. I collect lures that I fished with as a kid. Each one brings back a memory.

I forgot about the Nip-I-didee. Great big bass bait, especially in choppy water.

The Johnny Rattler was a great Tarpon bait as well. Anyone remember this lure?

The man that taught me to bass fish was a friend of my father's from our church. His kids were too young to fish and I was eager to learn. This was before electric trolling motors, so we would take turns sculling his jon boat from the front. When I was out of school in the summer, we would fish together at night. We only used one lure at night, a black musky jitterbug. I can still remember the sound of that lure coming through the dark. We didn't catch many fish, but the fish we caught were big. Many times we would be splashed by a big fish hitting near the boat. Great memories.

There have been very few truly new bass lures in the past 50 years. The first "bass plugs" were top water frogs carved by James Heddon out of a broom handle around the turn of the last century. When I was a kid back in the fifties, spoons were popular here in Florida. Some people attached a spinner to the front of a spoon and the buzz bait was born. When the Rapala came out, it was all the rage. You couldn't buy one as they sold as soon as they hit the shelves. The plastic worm changed everything. In the seventies, the Big O craze got everyone into crankbaits. Many modern lures are based on lures of the past. A great example is the Whopper Plopper. The only "new" lure I have seen in the past 50 years has been the Chatterbait. The best antique lure in my tackle box is the Heddon Tiny Torpedo.

I purchased a used Tracker Pontoon Boat some time back. It was ten years old when I bought it and it was a decent boat for the money. It had a few small electrical problems that were caused by corrosion at the wires and switches. The engine was a 40 HP Mercury 4 stroke and it ran like new. I wouldn't be afraid to buy a used Tracker as long as it was well maintained. Lots of these boats are bought by retirees that hardly used them.