Captain Phil

South Florida is a great place to start a school fishing club. I grew up in South Florida myself. There are so many options available and you don't need a boat to fish. Everything from walking canal banks, to piers and bridges. When I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, I worked with Dade County Social Services and took some kids and their counselors out in my boat. To protect yourself, make sure you have adequate adult supervision. The need is great. So many kids these days don't have parents to be their role models. I encourage you to make this happen. You could be changing someone for life.

In the late fifties, the reel to have was the Pflueger Supreme. It was one of the first free spool casting reels and all the best fisherman had them. I couldn't afford a Supreme, so I bought the Pflueger Akron. The old Ambassadors were great reels. Tough as nails and anyone could tear one down and fix it. When the 5500C came out, we thought it was the greatest reel ever made. I still have one that I fish with once in a while. I have a new in the box Mitchell 300 that I have never used. That reel changed everything because it allowed the casting of light plastic worms.

The subject of noise is interesting. Your line noise may actually be attracting bass rather than turning them off. Bass live in an environment where sound is magnified. Any sound gets their attention and it may not be negative. Years ago I fished a club tournament with a fellow member who fished a Carolina Rig in shallow water. We were fishing East Lake Toho in water about 5 feet deep. This guy was using a one ounce sinker. He would cast the rig in the water as hard as he could so it made a huge splash. This concerned me until he started catching bass. The splash was actually attracting fish to his bait. I don't recommend doing this, but it worked that day.

The virus has put a lot of boats in the water that have been sitting for years. A friend called me for a tow a few weeks ago. He took his boat out and it quit in the middle of Big Lake Harris. When I got there I lifted the hatch to look at the batteries. It was full of rags, snack wrappers, drink cans and assorted junk. I couldn't find the battery cables through all the dirt. I got the engine started and it ran until the water in the fuel took over. This guy lives in a million dollar home and he's definitely not hurting for money. Properly maintaining a boat is essential unless you like drifting in open water.

I don't think it's the sound that is the issue. Braid is rough, that's where the noise is coming from. This roughness causes the line to hang on the cover so the lure may not fall naturally. This is especially true when flipping heavy cover. When flipping, it's the fall that triggers the strike. Anything that slows or impedes the fall of the bait lessens the chance a fish will strike it. For this reason, I use 25 pound mono for flipping and I coat the lure and the line with oily attractant. The only time I use braid is when I'm frog fishing. I use 50 pound braid because I may have to hoist a big bass out of an acre of pads. My son loves braid. He's a back country salt water fisherman. He says he likes the extra casting distance. He doesn't have to worry about the line hanging up or making noise. Bass fishing is different. Back when I was guiding, braid was just coming out. If I had an angler in my boat that was using braid to fish plastic worms, I could out fish him with mono. I attributed this to the visibility of braid and the unnatural action of the stiff line. I was not going to be out fished, so I stayed with mono. I am sure there are good anglers on this forum who love braid.

Numerous turtles, birds, alligators and eels. I caught my wife's hair once with a hula popper. Not one of my best days.

How sad. Bass were once known as the poor man's sport fish. Enter tournaments, TV, sponsors and $100,000 prizes and we have the fishing industry we have today. If you don't have two power poles on your $50,000 bass boat, you don't get respect at the ramp even if you never use them. Where our sport came from is important. Take flipping for instance. Before Dee Thomas, Southern Boys were "doodle socking" bass over 100 years ago. The buzz bait was invented by Al Foss before WWI. Nothing in bass fishing is new. The only truly new lure was the plastic worm in the sixties, which led to the spinning reel's popularity. If you don't know where you came from, you don't know where you are going.

I haven't fished for bass with a fly rod for many years. In my younger days, I did lots of it. I fished mostly with popping bugs. Bumble bee poppers where my favorite. The bugs I used where about the diameter of a large ball point pen. I used an 8 1/2' rod with "C" level line. Distance was not that important in bass fishing. Neither was a light presentation. Bass didn't seem to care if my cast wasn't textbook perfect. Fly rod bass fishing is great fun. You need clear water for the best fishing. It's a terrific way to fish small residential lakes and canals. The biggest bass I ever caught with a fly rod was nine pounds. I once caught a 17 pound tarpon fishing for bass with a fly rod in a Miami drainage ditch. Have fun!

Here's a photo of Bill Dance in the sixties. Ray Scott said when he invited young Roland Martin to fish one of his first tournaments, Roland saw Bill's stringer and told Ray he didn't think he belonged there. Bill Dance was the first Super Star of bass fishing.

I started bass fishing in 1960. Back then, Jason Lucas was my hero. He was the bass fishing editor for Sports Afield magazine. This was before Bassmaster, plastic worms, electronics and bass tournaments. Serious bass fisherman back then used casting reels with heavy woven line. Plugs were heavy so they could be cast with the reels we had. Most Florida bass fishing was topwater. Jason Lucas was the first person I know of who talked about offshore structure. Without a depth finder or a GPS, he had to triangulate his spots so he could fish them again. Back then, information was hard to come by. Good fisherman kept their knowledge to themselves. Tournaments and fishing magazines changed everything. Today if someone wins a big tournament, the next month everyone knows how they did it. I credit Ray Scott for starting this. Today's anglers have a huge advantage. Bass being bass, are never easy to catch. As an old timer in this sport, I love reminiscing about the "old times". My favorite TV teacher is Bill Dance. He is very entertaining. Once you get past his jokes, he can teach you a lot.

The only smallmouth fishing I have ever done has been in Lake Erie. A few summers in a row, two friends and I rented a house for a week on Pelee Island. We towed a bass boat to Windsor Canada and took the ferry. We fished in ten to thirty feet of water. We used 1/2 oz. lead jigs inside of tube baits. We carried boxes of these jigs. I was told the fish were feeding gobys, an invasive species in these lakes. Our best colors were dark green and brown. We drifted while bouncing the tube jigs on the bottom. The smallmouth bass around this island average 2-3 pounds each. We caught 10-20 fish a day up to six pounds. We also caught some big walleye. If you want to catch big smallmouth bass in the summer, give it a try.

Lake Toho and the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are some of the best bass lakes in the Southeast. Shiner fishing is very productive. What you want to buy are wild native shiners about 5-6 inches long. I hook them through both lips. These shiners are expensive. Don't buy 3-4" pond raised shiners, they die too quickly. You must use a live well with good circulation. Small balloons work great as shiner floats. Use 20 pound mono and a 3/0 to 5/0 weedless hook. Blow up the balloon to about 2-3 inches in diameter. Tie a knot in the balloon to seal it and tie it on your line. Adjust the depth of the shiner by sliding the balloon up and down the line. I normally run the balloon about 4 feet from the shiner. If a fish runs with the shiner, the balloon will not hang up. Toho is full of fish. Look for pods of green straight reeds. Reeds are not cat tails. They are straight buggy whips with no leaves. They grow on hard ground and bass hold in these areas. It's hard not to find fish in Toho. In the summer, big fish hold out in the Hydrilla. I suggest you hire a guide the first time out. There are many good guides in Kissimmee.

I use a double clinch knot, also known as the Jimmy Houston knot. A single clinch knot will slip with braid. A Palomar works best with heavy mono.

All fishing is good. I don't find one fish better than another. A 600 pound marlin pulls harder than a 10 pound bass. I have caught both. There is something special about a largemouth bass. My offshore fishing friends find this amusing. Their bait is bigger than most of the fish I catch. I think this has more to do with my youth. I spent many hours dreaming about big bass. All I ever thought about was fishing places like Rodman, Orange Lake and Okeechobee. I wore out piles of Bassmaster magazines looking at the photos of big bass. These days I can fish whenever and where ever I want. It doesn't make it any less exciting.

I've done more than my share of night time bass fishing. Night fishing is not for everyone. However, it has many advantages. When night fishing, you have the water all to yourself. The jet skiers, water skiers and cruisers are all home in bed. Most anglers are too. It's much cooler, especially in the summer. Big fish bite better at night. The best night fishing is from midnight until dawn. There is normally a lull in the action right after the sundown bite is over. Bugs can be a problem. The best repellent is Cutter Backwoods. You can catch bass on top water at night. In Florida, this attracts alligators. My favorite night bass lure is a big spinnerbait. My second favorite is a large black plastic worm. Use a net unless you want your hand bitten by a toothy critter. Bring a cell phone, a flashlight, a rain suit and a jacket. Always wear a life jacket and never night fish alone. Here on the Harris Chain we have a night bass tournament every Wednesday night. Five fish limits regularly exceed 20 pounds. During the day you are lucky to catch one fish a day in the heat of summer. Night bass fishing is worth the effort. The fish are bigger and easier to catch.

Every State has at least some largemouth bass. Largemouth bass can live in any water. I grew up in Florida where even the smallest roadside ditch contains bass. I've caught nine pound bass in canals so ugly you wouldn't swim in it. When I was a kid, I caught largemouth bass from a sewage plant outflow. Green bass grow larger than smallmouth. If you think green bass don't fight, you haven't caught many big fish. The only smallmouth fishing I have ever done was in Lake Erie around Pelee Island. We fished with heavy tube jigs and caught boat loads of them up to 6 pounds each. I didn't find them any harder to catch than largemouth. If you want to see a tough bass to catch, fish in Florida after a cold front comes through. I guarantee you will have all the challenge you can handle.

When I was born, my Mom and I lived with my grandparents. My Grandfather was my hero. He was everything I thought a man should be. He taught me a man could love God without becoming a preacher. He taught me the reward of hard work. He was strong when he had to be and kind when it helped someone. After he retired, we would sit on the bank and fish together for hours. I missed him terribly when he passed away. His spirit is part of me and I still think about him all the time.

Here on the Harris Chain, water clarity has been a topic of discussion for years. Scientists use a Secchi Disk and a Forel Ule Scale to determine water clarity. Twenty years ago after the hydrilla spraying apocalypse, our water clarity was so bad their disk disappeared in 8 inches of water. Rattle traps and vibrating baits worked best. Flipping paddle tail worms with rattles won a lot of tournaments. The go-to crank bait colors were chartreuse and anything with a lot of flash. An all chrome rattle trap with a green back was a bass killer. Now that the water has cleared somewhat, top water lures and frogs catch a lot of bass. Our Chain has an extremely wide diversity of water clarities. You may be fishing a clear canal one minute and flipping a point out in the main lake the next. In my opinion, adjusting to water clarity is one of the major determining factors in bass fishing success. Some people believe bass don't like dirty murky looking water. This is totally false. Instead of searching for fish that will bite the way you fish, adjust your fishing to the bass.

6" Zoom worm.

One speed or retrieve does not work all the time. Slow rolling a spinnerbait is an old technique that seems to have fallen out of favor. I have a 3/1 reel that I use exclusively for winter spinnerbait fishing. I also downsize the blades, so I can pull it as slow as possible. One thing I can guarantee, if you always fish the same way you will always catch fish that way. The good news is there is almost no way to fish a spinner bait that won't catch fish,

Black and chartreuse baits are for dirty water and/or dark days. Works great in the rain. Been that way for a very long time. At one time, chartreuse spinner bait blades were all the rage. Al Lindner was a big promoter of these baits. Next time you are fishing in those conditions, try it.

The Shimano Chronarch Bantam 100 reel is one of my favorite casting reels. They are light, tough and smooth. I load them with 20 pound test mono and lock down the drag. I have one loaded with 50 pound braid that I use for frog fishing. If I hook a big bass and need to give line, I push the button and use my thumb. Bass won't burn your thumb like a bone fish or a big jack crevalle. Spinning reels are better for that type of fishing.

Welcome to the Forum. My son lives in Weston. Lots of great bass fishing in the area.

Have you ever tried L67-C canal? It a tiny canal paralleling L67. There is a 2nd ramp on Tamiami Trail where you can launch. It perfect for small boats. Hardly anyone fishes it and it's full of bass. Great place to go when the water is high.

To me, the difference is in bottom composition. If the bottom is soft, weedy or has a lot of wood, I use a Texas Rig. If the bottom is hard, I'm throwing a Carolina rig. Carolina rigs work especially well when fishing shell beds. A Carolina rig sinker bumps along the bottom while the bait follows behind. A Carolina Rig allows you to feel the bottom as you fish. When I feel the sinker go bump bump bump, I know I'm in the right place. Some Florida lakes have soft muck on the bottom. If your Texas rig sinker is dredging up junk, go to a lighter sinker. If the bottom is too weedy for a Carolina Rig, downsize to a Mojo rig. Many anglers have a hard time feeling a strike on a Carolina Rig. That's because there is no detectable tap when the bass hits the lure. A Carolina rig strike feels like a wet dish rag on your line. Both methods work. Both have their positives and negatives. I use the same hook with both rigs. For me that's normally an Owner or Gamakatsu 3-5/0 wide gap worm hook. Sometimes the fish want a long leader, sometimes short. You have to experiment.