Captain Phil

Thanks for the replies. Here in Florida there is no closed season for bass. Our summers are long, hot and humid. I prefer to stay in the air conditioning. This wasn't always the case. I can remember fishing tournaments when it was so hot we had guys in our bass club pass out from the heat. Night fishing is great if you can stand the mosquitoes. Our good bass fishing starts in October with the first cool weather. By July, it's too hot for me. Before Covid, I pretty much had the lakes to myself in the fall. Now it seems everyone and his brother owns a bass boat. There must be some big tournaments coming as my email box is full of advice requests? I try to answer specific questions.

I've noticed the fishing talk on this forum has changed lately. I would guess to many of you bass fishing is a seasonal sport? It's got to be difficult to launch your boat when the lake is iced over. I have lived in Florida all my life where it is possible to fish 365 days a year. Sometimes you wish you had stayed home, but it's possible. In Florida, the winter is the best time to fish. The summers are so hot, only the young and strong can make it out past 9 AM. Our spawning season starts around Christmas. I have seen bass on beds in June. Dodging cold fronts is the main problem in winter. Our bass don't like cold water. Our fish really turn on when we have stable warm periods in winter. Our best fishing month is April. Fall is great too. What do you guys do in the winter months?

You don't need a fancy rod for flipping. It's just a lever. Go to your nearest Bass Pro Shop. Buy their own brand IMG 7' 6" collapsible flippin Stick. I doubt you will pay more than $50 for it. My rod is stock number GPS 76MHT-T. I have caught numerous big bass with that rod and it has never collapsed unless I wanted it to.

Instead of getting your wife to like fishing, why not marry a girl who already likes fishing? My wife and I have been fishing together since high school. Last Monday was our 55th wedding anniversary. We started fishing together before and after school. We started fishing from the bank. After a few years we bought a Jon boat. Eventually, we moved up to bass boats, flats boats, even an offshore sport fish. We fished tournaments together as well. We took our son with us when he was old enough to hold a rod. Now he fishes out of his own boat. There is an old saying, "Work at something you enjoy and you will never work a day in your life". The same thing goes for spouses.

Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special 3/8 oz. tandem w. Zoom split tail trailer. Top blade downsized to #4.

Back in the eighties, Jim Bitter was one of the most successful tournament pros in Florida. He was known for his skill with a jerkbait. The Smithwick Rattln'Rogue was one of his favorites. You will never find such a wide variety of water colors as you will in Florida. We have everything from crystal clear to coffee with cream colored water. A jerkbait works in all of them. The only thing different is in murky water you must fish closer to the fish.

Here on the Harris Chain, our bass are notorious for short striking. I expect this to be due to two factors, low visibility and high fishing pressure. Without a trailer hook on your spinnerbaits, you can set the hook all day on telltale indicators without hooking a fish. If you use a trailer hook, you will hook more fish. If you do not use a trailer hook, you will never know about these fish. The same thing goes to making multiple slow accurate casts to each target. An angler who doesn't can fish all day and come back to the ramp believing there are no fish in these lakes. An angler who does will come back with a full live well.

There are many times a fish hits your lure without you knowing it. They leave telltale swirls, bubbles, strange bumps Etc. This is even worse with worms like plastic worms.

It's the fish you don't feel that you are missing. Look at the photo below. If I did not have the trailer and hook on this spinnerbait, a fish could hit at it all day without me knowing about it. This happens far more times than most anglers realize. To a tournament angler, one fish could mean the difference between getting paid or not. A casual angler doesn't care because there is literally nothing on the line. (no pun intended)

I agree trailer hooks on spinnerbaits are a PIA. Unfortunately, if you don't use one you are missing fish. If that doesn't bother you, don't use one. Your fishing day will be a lot less of a hassle. You won't have to worry about unhooking all those short strikers. :>)

Sometimes fog can be your friend. Years ago we were fishing a buddy tournament on Okeechobee out of Clewiston. The fish were in the pepper grass patches out in the lake. When the tournament started there was a fog so heavy you couldn't see 100 yards ahead. We ran down to the first cut and headed out into the lake. Image us trying to find a 100 foot diameter grass patch in 40 miles of water in the fog! Undeterred, we kept going and as you would expect got lost in the fog. We eventually saw land and started to fish. We had no idea where we were. The first fish we caught was a 5 pounder. When the fog cleared, we discovered we were in Pahokee near the airport. We ran back out to the grass patches. Back then the limit was ten fish per angler. We had 20 bass in our live well. By buddy and I won that tournament with 65 pounds of bass. There is more to this story that I won't go into here. The short story is we were ticketed by the Game officials and ended up in court. The judge threw the case out. After that the tournament limit was reduced to 8 fish per angler.

Creme were the first plastic worms I can remember. They changed bass fishing and the tackle used by most bass anglers. Before plastic worms, bass lures needed to be heavy because casting reels couldn't cast anything less than 1/2 oz. To cast light plastic worms, anglers switched to spinning reels like the Mitchell 300. Mono line came out about the same time. Back then, we fished mostly from the bank. A Mitchell 300 loaded with thin mono could cast a weightless worm a good distance. I caught my first sizable bass on a rigged natural color Creme worm with the spinner in the front. That fish weighed about 3 pounds. I was so proud of it I put it in our home freezer for 6 months, something my mother wasn't too keen on. Later a friend discovered purple worms and we switched colors. Mann's Jelly worms were all the rage at one time. When tournaments first started, we would buy Creme Scoundrels in the 100 bag. I still use them today. I am very found of the grape fire tail color It's one of the best swimming worms out there. Over the years, many plastic worm brands have come and go. Creme worms are still among the best.

Above all, be patient. Bass fishing is not about catching a bunch of fish every time you go out. People who love the sport love the challenge. If you gauge your bass fishing success by the number or pounds of fish, you would be happier fishing for other species. There is much to learn. Not even the greatest anglers in the world have all the answers all the time. I have been fishing for bass for over 60 years and I am still learning. Even after all those years if I catch one lonely bass, I am still happy.

I grew up fishing those canals. Both snook and tarpon will eat live shiners. As for artificials, the gold standard was always the 52M11 Mirrorlure. Some of those fish can be large. My PB snook was 30 pounds. You will need a minimum of a 30-50 pound mono leader. If you don't use a leader, these fish will cut you off with their gill plates. Both snook and tarpon will hit flies. You haven't seen anything until you hook an 80 pound tarpon in a canal 15' wide! Pretty intense....

In my younger days, I was always the first one on the lake and the last to leave. When I started tournament fishing, I noticed the biggest fish of the day are caught between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM. This may have more to do with my fishing style than the fish themselves. Unless it's in the heat of summer, I don't see any advantage to getting up before the sun.

I use an 8/1 casting reel for spinnerbaits in the winter. Slows down the presentation.

Years back Lake Okeechobee rose to 18 feet. We were catching bass in the parking lot at Slim's. You will do better in landlocked canals than in the big Lake or the Everglades. Fish where the fish can not get back into the flats or so far back in the weeds you can't find them. Look for current running. The fish will not be in the current, they will position themselves where they can dart out into the current when food comes by. Fish on the bottom with the current. If you have a spillway nearby, it should be good. You may catch a snook, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Bass fishing does not have to be difficult. Unless you are fishing ultra clear water, fluorocarbon line is not necessary. Anglers have been catching bass with mono line for over 50 years. A Zebco 202 is an entry level reel. That does not mean it won't work for you. I would start with 10 pound clear mono. Make sure the drag works so you don't break off a big fish. Try Zoom Trick worms. Bass of all sizes will eat them. I use Gamakatsu #58413 3/0 wide gap hooks with Trick Worms. Adjust the weight to the depth you are fishing, 1/16 oz. for shallow water and 1/8 for deeper. Small Rapalas are great lures for you. So are Heddon Tiny torpedoes. You may also want to try small spinnerbaits and 1/4 oz. Rattle Traps. The best knot for 10 pound mono is the Jimmy Houston Knot.

Mike, this is a deadly technique in Florida. More tournaments have been won that way than anyone knows about. A swimming worm is one of the oldest and best ways to fish for bass. In the bedding season, a weightless worm thrown in a bed is almost guaranteed to get bit. I throw Zoom Trick worms on a spinning rod with 8 pound mono. If I need a little weight, I tie a small swivel inline about a foot in front of the worm. The action is similar to a Ned Rig only slower.

I never heard the name "whopper plopper" until I found this forum. Not wishing to be left out of something good, I went on the Internet to find out what all the hype was about. What I found was tons of YouTube videos all touting the amazing merits of this lure. To be honest, I don't see that much as new. It's kind of a Jitterbug with a spinning tail. There have been many lures in the past with this action. I'm sure they all worked at one time or the other. All lures have their place and time. It must be the whopper plopper's time?

I'm 73 years old. My body is pretty beat up from years of casting, hook setting, cranking, standing, riding waves and whatever else came with chasing fish. I am still active and fish whenever I get a chance. I have carpal tunnel in my right hand. I worked on a computer too, so I can't blame it all on fishing. Do not fish with anything that makes you go numb anywhere. If your elbow hurts, rest it. If cranking with one hand hurts, switch to the other hand. Switching between a casting and spinning outfit helps. Heavy rods and reels are tough on your body. Try fishing with lighter tackle. You may find you catch more fish.

Everyone has their favorite top water lure. For me, it's the Smithwick Devil's Horse. I have always liked this lure. Twenty years ago when I was fishing tournaments, I fished against the best anglers in Florida. One of them was invited to the first Bass Master's Classic. He declined because he told Ray Scott he was too busy! The toughest angler I ever fished against was Charles Orme aka Top Water Charlie. I have written about him on this forum before. Charlie never fished anything but a Devil's Horse. He brought more big bass to the scales than anyone I have ever seen. Not TV bass like you see on Saturday afternoon, real bass and bags full of them. This lure fished right makes big Florida bass mad. When they won't hit anything, they will pound these things. Charlie is gone now. He was one of the greats. Here's how I remember him.

Are the waters you fish clear or cloudy? Clear water is better for top water fishing. If your water is turbid, top water is not going to work as well. The best top water lure ever made is the original Rapala minnow. It's gotten lost in today's hype and marketing. Throw it on a light spinning outfit. Twitch it along and let it pause. If you don't catch fish on it, take up golf. :>)

The Harris Chain has been the poster child for stained bass water for years. Bass act differently in stained water than clear. Bass tend to stay shallow and won't move far to chase a lure. What you want is a lure with a lot of vibration and flash. Rattle Traps, crankbaits and spinnerbaits work better than top water lures. Add fishing pressure and things can get tough in a hurry. For plastics, you want dark colors like black or June Bug. Paddle tail worms work well. Glitter worms too. Normally bigger is better. Back in the day we used to glue rattles in our baits. Fish have a strike zone around them. As the water darkens, their strike zone shrinks. If the fish are pressured such as when we have a lot of tournaments, it shrinks further. If it gets bad enough, the strike zone may be inches. That's when you get out your flipping stick and hit the bass in the head with your bait. Most bass fisherman I see fish with their trolling motor on high. They fan cast everything they see. They think 6 feet is close enough. One cast and off they go to the next pad or stickup. They catch some bass, but they are leaving most of the fish behind. Slow down, make multiple casts to each target. Try different angles on the cover. The fish are there, you just have to talk them into biting.

A safety pin style spinnerbait is designed to run blades up. If your's is spinning, it's because the balance has been disturbed in some way or it's being retrieved faster than the lure was designed to run. There could be a number of causes. If your spinnerbait is small, the grub may be too large or bulky for the lure. If your trailer has too much water resistance, it will change the balance of the lure. We used to run into this with SOB (Small Okiebug) spinnerbaits. The spinnerbait wire may also be twisted or bent. This usually happens when a big fish or some other critter eats it. From the top looking down, the wire should all be in the same plane. The angle where the wire is bent just before the body can also be disturbed. Hold your spinnerbait up next to a new bait and you will see the correct angle. If it's twisted or bent, you should form it back into the correct shape. Retrieve speed can also cause a spinnerbait to spin. This type of spinnerbait is designed to run slow. In my opinion, many fisherman pull them too fast. They would catch more fish if they slowed them down. If speed is desired, there are other lures that work much better. Cadence is very important with these spinnerbaits. When it's right, they are great fish catchers. When it's wrong, you are just chunking and winding.