Captain Phil

Years ago we used to think bass like this had been injured. A fisheries biologist told us it was a genetic bass deformity.

The wind is dropping and it's getting hot. Good for the Lake Griffin flipping bite. No one is going to catch Bobby Lane.

A Carolina Rig is great at finding fish holding structure like hard bottom, rocks and shell beds. It allows you to cover a lot of water, so you can use it as a deep water search bait. With experience, you can tell the bottom composition by the vibrations coming form the sinker. In light grass, you can downsize the sinker. Great way to fish bridge pilings. The best Carolina Rig bait in my opinion is a Zoom finesse worm. A MoJo Rig is a downsized Carolina Rig. It's deadly on pressured fish.

It's interesting how this tournament format changes the fishing strategy. With a five fish bag limit, kicker fish have traditionally been a big part of any Harris Chain win giving flippers an advantage. With no bag limit, you need to get more bites than your competition by covering more water. It's good to see the Harris Chain put on a good show for TV viewers.

The Harris Chain water level has dropped some in the past month. This puts more big fish near the edge of the grass. The flipping bite this time of year is awesome. Look for big weights. I recently discovered the MLF. It's great that they release fish at the boat. All bass tournaments should adopt that format.

I used my 16 Lowe Roughneck aluminum boat in both fresh and salt water for ten years. My son is still fishing out of it. I did not use any extra anodes. The biggest problems when fishing salt water is the trailer and the wiring. Fresh water boats used in salt water do not have the same wiring as a boat built for salt water use. That's one reason flats boats are so expensive. When you come back, wash everything with fresh water thoroughly, especially the trailer brakes and hubs. Salt water is tough on equipment. We used to call it "Rust while you watch!" ?

I spent a lot of my life fishing offshore in salt water. Bass fishing was my true love, but the challenge of big fish was something I enjoyed. My club in South Florida got into catching big fish on ultra light line. My goal was to catch a large bill fish on eight pound mono. A 100 pound plus fish of any kind on eight pound line is a tough goal. I was able to reach my goal one time. It took hours and involved a lot of luck. The sail fish you see in the photo below was caught with an Ambassador 6500C loaded with eight pound Ande mono. Our club eventually decided to stop these attempts as they stressed the fish so much they often died. The problem with ultra light line bass fishing is you often catch bass around cover. In the ocean, you don't normally have this issue. Also, when catching big fish in the ocean you work as a team with the boat. The lightest line I have ever used to catch bass was 4 pound. A 5-6 pound bass on 4 is all the drama you could ever want. I suppose you could use sewing thread for line, but what's the point?

The pier where we fished was next to a major inlet. The shark fisherman would have their baits carried out in small boats so it would sit near the current. The reason for the big reels was line capacity. These guys all looked like body builders. Some of the fights would last for hours. There were some surfers who swam near this pier during the day. Lots of bathers too. When the water was clear you could see big sharks swimming along the pier looking for a meal. When you reel up half a 100 pound tarpon, you don't want to get in the water.

I grew up in Miami. As a kid, my friends and I often fished in the ocean off the pier all night. Our fathers would take turns driving us to the pier and picking us up the next morning. We slept on the pier, waking up when we had a bite. We caught big snook and tarpon along with buckets full of snapper and grouper. There was a group of men who shark fished on the pier with us. They used big Penn Senators like this. The pier manager would only allow them to fish for sharks on Wednesday nights as shark fishing takes up a lot of room. One angler landed a 900 pound Tiger Shark fishing on that pier. They landed it on the beach next to the pier and hoisted it into a truck. The local paper printed a photo in the newspaper. I fished offshore all over the world for many years, mostly for bill fish. I have hooked many big sharks. We cut them off because they weren't what we were fishing for. You don't need a huge reel to catch big fish unless you are fishing from shore. The weight of a reel like that is actually a handicap. I have seen Marlin over 600 pounds caught on standup gear. Someone I fished with for years caught a grander that way. The biggest shark I ever caught myself was a hammerhead. The dorsal fin looked 4 feet high. It hit a live 5 pound jack I was slow trolling off Miami Beach. I could have waved to the swimmers on the shore.

Blood knot. Used to tie running line to leader. Runs easily through rod guides without hanging up. Also used to make tapered fly rod leaders. Not a difficult knot to tie. If you like knots, the Bimini Twist is fun to learn. It's used to make double line leaders mostly for salt water fishing.

Here in Florida, April and May can be dry months. When this happens the Everglades flats go dry forcing all the fish into the canals. It's nothing to catch 100 bass a day during this time. Most of the fish you catch will be small. This is the time to pull out the big worms. I have used worms up to 13" in length that looked like they were cut out of a truck tire. I once won a tournament on the St. John's River using J.W. Hawg-Hunter giant worms. I've been looking for one for my collection and haven't been able to find even a photo. I don't think anyone makes a worm that big anymore, they should.

My first casting reel was a Pflueger Akron. I learned to fish from a friend of my father's from church. He used a Pflueger Supreme. His was one of the first casting reels to have a free spool feature, which meant the handles did not turn on the cast. This was a huge innovation back then. A Pflueger Supreme like his cost $20 in the late fifties. No one had one except the best fishermen. I don't remember what I paid for my Akron, but it wasn't near that amount. When the Ambassador 5500C came out, it changed everything. Those early 5500s were head and shoulders above all the rest. Other than the weight, it's still a great reel today. The newer ones are terrible compared to the originals.

52 colors? This lure has been around so long, I'm not surprised. EBay makes collecting a lot easier. Wonder what the rarest color is?

Wacky rig.

I was raised in a Baptist church. I'm Presbyterian now. Do you know the difference between a Baptist and a Presbyterian? A Presbyterian will say hello to you in the liquor store. Old joke, but still funny. ?

I believe I bought my first electric trolling motor in the late sixties, it was a 12 volt Motorguide. I was always a Motorguide man. Must have bought a dozen of them. In the early days, trolling motors were pretty simple. When they broke, you could easily fix them. The mounting brackets were the worst part. They were weak and wore out, making lots of noise when fishing. About twenty years ago, things changed. We started to get more and more Motorguide failures and repairs were more expensive. One day, I fished a Federation Tournament with an angler that had a Minn Kota trolling motor. I couldn't believe how much better it was than my Motorguide. It was much quieter, stronger and could cut through hydrilla like butter with the standard prop. I bought one myself and never went back. I love my Terrova. My fish don't run from it and I have never met the Minn Kota repairman. This is not a knock on new Motorguides. They may be better now? I'm reporting why I switched.

Anyone have an autograph from Jason Lucas? If you do, you are really old. ?

I have a rod signed by Jimmy Houston and a hat signed by Dean Rojas after he set the one day 45 pound record at Toho. I don't believe they have any real value other than to me. I also have a copy of the book Bass Boss signed by Ray Scott. I met him at the Classic. We talked about the old says and he was nice enough to sign my book.

Funny story. When I retired and moved to Central Florida, I joined the local Federation Bass Club. It didn't take me long to figure out who was the best fisherman in that club. We became good friends and still are. I was always trying to pry information out of him and he was always kidding me about it. One day he said as a joke, "All you want to do is suck out all my secrets and leave me a hollow shell on the beach!" You had to be there. Another time we were in a tackle shop together and I picked up a bag of Zoom Finesse worms. He looked at me with a serious look and said "You are not allowed to use those." It didn't take me long to find out why.

I started bass fishing as a young teenager in the early sixties. I caught my first keeper bass on a rigged Creme Scoundrel using a Mitchell 300. Later when tournaments first started, I bought Creme worms in bags of 100. They were then and still are some of the best worms on the market. I have seen them fished every way imaginable. Once in a Federation tournament, I fished with a guy who fished them with a swivel 12" in front and no weight. He threaded the worm on the hook so the worm would spin. He caught bass all day. I found out later he was Top Rod in his club. You can still buy Creme worms today. I don't because I use Zoom Trick worms instead. The Zoom Trick worm is by far the best bass catching worm ever produced.

That's why I fish out of a boat....

In my youth I caught a lot of bass on a fly rod. Mostly on popping bugs. My best streamer was one I tied myself. Nothing fancy. I used a long shank hook, covered it in tin foil with some white bucktail on top. It looked like a white Mickey Finn pattern. My biggest largemouth on fly was 6 pounds. As I remember, I used a 8 1/2 foot rod with "C" level line, whatever that is today. Bass flies are generally bigger, so you need a rod with some backbone. Don't get carried away. Rod weight is important as you will be doing a lot of casting. For the best fly fishing, you want clear water. The bass you catch will generally be smaller. Even a small bass is fun on a fly rod.

Productos are great worms. I still have a couple hundred of them. Back in the early seventies my bass club members all liked Pace worms. I think they came from Texas? Pace made some of the first worms with the tail a different color than the body. Fleck worms did also. Over the years I must have thrown away two large garbage cans full of worms. Funny how worms fall in and out favor. There was a time when bubble gum colored weightless worms were all the rage. Merthiolate was too. I don't believe there is a worm color that doesn't catch bass. Purple is tough to beat.

One of the best plastic worms ever made. I used to buy them in 100 bags. The Zoom Trick worm is a close second.

Anyone remember Mann's Jelly worms?