Captain Phil

It's not insecurity that is behind this, it's tradition. Bass fishing has been ingrained into the life of Southern fishermen for over a hundred years. We don't have fancy fish like trout. A shore lunch of walleye was not something we knew anything about. Our fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers fished with casting reels. Our lakes are weedy, full of snags and our bass are big. Today's young fishermen don't have that history. Young people consider history "old fashioned" and they want to make their own rules. This is good as long as it doesn't get in the way of success.

You don't need an expensive spinning outfit to fish those lures. Go to a Bass Pro Shop and look around. For $100 or less, you should find what you want. 3"-4" Rapalas are killer lures if you want to catch tons of fish. In clearer lakes, nothing out fishes them in shear numbers of fish caught. Worms catch bigger fish, but you can fish them on them same outfit. My favorite spinning reels are Daiwas. You can get decent models well under your budget. The rod you use needs to have a decent backbone with a sensitive tip. Don't buy a wimpy rod. I use 8 pound mono for this fishing and I have caught bass up to 6 pounds on it. The biggest problem most anglers have with spinning outfits is not loading the line correctly. There are many videos on that subject. The second issue is not turning the bail over by hand. Learn to do it manually and you will never have coils of line jumping off the reel. Spinning tackle fishing with small lures is hard to beat. I have noticed many younger TV fishermen using it these days. Back in the day, it was considered kid's tackle. Not anymore.

Here in Florida, ethanol free gas is called REC 90. It's not hard to find if you look for it. It may be a little more expensive, but there's a catch. The catch is it takes more ethanol to equal the same energy as gasoline. You will get better fuel efficiency with ethanol free gas. Keeping your tank topped off will help keep water out of your fuel. The more you use your boat, the less issues you will have. If I lived where my boat was going to sit for months at a time, I would definitely use ethanol free gas.

I never use gas with Ethanol in my outboards. That stuff attracts water like a magnet. Non ethanol gas is widely available. Use it and you will have less of these issues.

More bass have been caught on a plastic worm than any other lure period. Blade jigs are good search baits. Anyone that can cast a rock can catch a fish on one. Cast, reel, repeat, there is literally no way to mess up. There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to fish a plastic worm and they all work.

I once caught a 6 pound bass in Okeechobee using 6 pound mono on a 4" Rapala. Does that count as ultralight? It was one heck of a fight!

Try a Zoom Super Fluke.

The best largemouth bass live bait in the South are live native shiners. These are not the little silver farm raised shiners, they are locally caught golden shiners. They are expensive and often hard to find. You can catch your own with tiny hooks and white bread balls. If you want to fish for only large bass, go with 8"-10" shiners. I don't fish live bait myself. It injures too many fish.

I am printing out your post to hang on my wall. The next time I feel tired, sore or need a boost in motivation, I'm going to read it again. You, my friend, are amazing!

Me too. If I catch at least one bass, I'm happy.

I have been using a Blood Knot to join lines to leader for years. It runs through the guides better and it doesn't break.

It's great to here from all of you. Kind of inspiring actually. I checked my boat this morning, plugged in the charger and added some gas. This summer was so hot, I haven't been on the water in months. The weather here in Florida has finally cooled off and I'm ready to go.

I am 76 and in decent health for my age. I had significant back surgery about three years ago, which slowed me down a bunch. Physically I can still fish. Mentally, it's getting hard to get motivated. It's not fishing that is the problem for me, it's launching and loading the boat. Backing a trailer down the ramp is challenging. It works much better with two people. I think I could fish well into my 80s even if I have to hire someone to go with me. Applications accepted. 😂

Fishing alone is not something I enjoy. However, it is difficult to find two people who are on the same page fishing. I prefer fishing during the week. This rules out most younger people. My wife goes with me on occasion. She doesn't fish these days, but she's great company.

Fishing has been a big part of my life. There were times when catching fish was more important to me than eating or sleeping. It dominated my dreams at night and consumed a lot of my daytime too. Tournaments, travel, having the latest gadget, boats, even moving my family so I could be closer to water. I have no complaints and would do it all over again. I have seen many changes to the sport of bass fishing over the years. When I started fishing, an old wood rental boat was what most people fished from. I bought my first car top Jon boat in 1966. Terry Bass, Rangers, Hydrosport, Gambler, Storm plus the same number of salt water boats up to a 40' sport fish. When it comes to fishing boats, I learned simpler is better. These days, I fish strictly for enjoyment. Even though I still find myself carrying 6-8 rods, I rarely use more than two. I would rather catch one fish my way than fill the boat using something I don't enjoy doing. Modern electronics are great, but I choose not to use them. Other than knowing how deep the water is, I could care less what they tell me. My fun is hunting fish without having a machine tell me where to fish. I have no problem with others using whatever they want. If I was still fishing competitively, I would have whatever it takes. Today, I prefer to fish small water. The Eustis Harris Chain boat ramp is 2 blocks from my home. I drive 6 miles to fish small lakes nearer to the forest where I don't have to fight for a parking spot at the ramp. I like quiet fishing without radios, jet skis, pontoon boat tours and tourists. The water is clear in these lakes and the bass are not so picky. I catch most of my fish on top water and it's just me and the fish. Luckily, there are at least a dozen lakes like that in the surrounding area. While others are beating the big lakes, I'm having a nice quiet time on the water. It takes me back to a simpler time when bass fishing was what we did before TV, money tournaments and sponsors. The cool thing about bass fishing is you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. I'm slower now and I tire easily. I don't fish if it's raining, too hot or too cold. My Ranger is two years old, but it's still new. My wife says I should sell it, but I can't bear the idea of not owning a boat. So many great memories. I once had a large lure collection. I sold most of them when lure prices went crazy a few years back. I kept a few with special meanings for me. I still have a couple nearly a 100 years old. They aren't perfect, they've been fished. I often think about all the fishing days these lure have seen and what it was like when they did. My greatest memories of fishing are about the people I have met along the way. Most are gone now. Some were and still are famous fishermen and women. They were all characters of one kind or another and I enjoyed them all. Fishing memories are forever.

THIS ^^^^

I learned that lesson in my youth. Back then I was bank fishing when I hug a six pound bass. To me, it looked like a ten pounder, but I know better now. I broke off that fish when it surged against the drag on my Mitchell 300. After that, I always kept my drag a little looser than most. Today, I never use the drag when bass fishing. I know what the fish is going to do before he does it and I'm ready. Learning to back reel or when to free spool line is much better than counting on a drag that may or may not work. Don't try this when salt water fishing. Bass are not long strong runners.

The Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. Nothing better!

I fished out of a 16' Lowe Roughneck for ten years. Used it in both fresh and salt water. Toughest aluminum boat I have ever seen. Nearly indestructible. I would have no problem buying one used, but I would want a new motor.

I believe the answer depends upon who's doing the stocking and the fishing. Back when I lived in South Florida, the introduction of Peacock Bass was greeted with great enthusiasm. South Florida fresh water fishing has always been diverse due to land locked Snook and Tarpon swimming in from the coast. Many anglers find native bass harder to catch. At the time, I worried that black bass would become Peacock bass food. Thankfully, this did not happen as Peacocks can't live much further north than Palm Beach. A bigger problem is non native fish introduced by uninformed individuals. Today, there are canals in South Florida where the Oscars (cichlids) are so thick that's all you catch. What scares me are snake heads. It would be a tragedy if our great bass fishing turned into a "snake head hunt". Here in Central Florida, game officials have stocked hybrid strippers. Some people love them. I find them boring. They do coexist well with Florida bass and I don't find them harmful to the local bass population. Years ago, I read about a program that was attempting to "dumb down" Florida bass to make them easier to catch. I don't know what happened to it or how they would have gauged their results. Perhaps they gave the bass IQ tests? I think they should have tested the people who thought up that idea. ?

Unless you're a millionaire that likes working 12 hours a day with little to show for it, don't even think about it!

I hate to post this as it seems all we old people ever talk about is our operations. A few weeks ago, I was watching a football game when I had sudden back pain. It got worse so my wife took me to the emergency room at a local hospital. As it turned out I had a kidney stone. They gave me some morphine and a CT scan. When the scan was done, the doctor said I also had a mass in my appendix that didn't look good. I passed the stone without issue then had to wait three weeks until they could remove my appendix. They removed it last Thursday and sent it off to the lab. The results said I had a rare level one cancer in my appendix. I had no symptoms before they found it with the CT scan. If it had burst, it could have spread into my abdomen. The margins were clear and I escaped that fate. If you ever do anything right in your life, buy the best health insurance you can find. You're going to need it.

That was a few years ago and all went well. After that experience, I have regular checkups.

Been there, done that. Rest is the only short term cure. Using lighter rods in the future.