Captain Phil

This is the only lure he ever used. At the end of the day, his boat floor was covered with them.

I probably posted this before, but it's worth repeating. I fished against a tournament fisherman in Florida that never used any lure but a Smithwick Devil's Horse. He worked for fish and game. On the weekends, he fished local money bass tournaments. These tournaments are very popular in Florida. So much so that it is possible to make a decent living off the winnings. His name was Charlie Orme. We lost him a few years ago. I became friendly with him later in life. The only real modifications he made to his lures were to tune the blades and change the hooks. He was a master at knowing when a fish was behind his lure. He had dozens of retrieves from sitting dead still to chugging like mad. He was an exceptional caster that would throw his lure into the deepest cover. Fishing magazines wrote articles about him. One even took him fishing to see if the tales were true. They were. At the time we had a tournament series for anglers over 50 called the Senior Pro Bass Tour. These guys were on a different level than everyone else. Any one of them could have won a Bass Master's Classic if they choose to. Jack Adams also fished the Seniors. Ray Scott invited him to the first Classic. He was the only angler who turned him down. Charlie (Top Water Charlie) was the toughest of the bunch. The bags of fish he carried to the scales were so heavy, they often broke through the bags. I'm not sure his technique would work anywhere but in Florida. It sure did when he fished it. Rest in peace Charlie. :>)

Florida's hydrilla problem is unique. Unlike northern lakes, we do not have the winter temps required to keep hydrilla under control. Some places like Rodman for example, can be drawn down. In other waterways, this is near impossible due to conflicting interests. If Florida is to maintain decent fresh water fishing and water quality, a substantial budget needs to be dedicated to hydrilla management. Fishing license money is not enough. What we need is a dedicated source of funds that can not be hijacked for other purposes. The question is, "Are Florida fisherman willing to pay for this?"

There's always a top water bite somewhere, but you have to do it right. Most anglers don't fish close enough to the fish. A few casts six feet from cover is not going to do it. This is one of the main reasons frog fishing works so well. You are fishing where the fish lives.

The Harris Chain was the poster child for what can happen when weed control is not managed correctly. In the late eighties, local agencies and bureaucrats decided the best way to control hydrilla was to kill it all before it started. They declared hydrilla an invasive plant to be destroyed by any means possible. Volunteers rode around the lakes reporting any hydrilla they could find. Massive treatments were undertaken by untrained and unqualified people. The result was our lakes were a pea soup of algae blooms year around. Fishing declined and no one went in the water. Since then, hydrilla has returned, the water cleared, bass fishing improved and no one asks "What's wrong with the water?" Hydrilla is no longer an alien plant in Florida, it's as native as palm trees. It must be managed and maintained on a regular basis or it tops out the entire lake. This costs money. That's the real problem.

Approved weed control chemicals do not kill fish, they relocate them. Here in Florida, we have many lakes where hydrilla has topped out in deeper water. Fisherman get used to fishing these areas. When that hydrilla is sprayed, many conclude the fish are killed along with the weeds. Unless the lake is floating with dead fish, the bass moved along with the bait fish. Years ago, we had a tournament coming up in Lake Istokpoga. Anglers were catching bass in deep water around topped out hydrilla. A week or so before the tournament, the entire lake was sprayed. Dead floating weeds were everywhere. It was a sad sight. With no deep cover to fish, we fished the pads. Those pads were loaded with giants. It took nearly 30 pounds to win that tournament. Another time, this happened in the Kissimmee River. Don't let weed spraying kill your confidence. The fish are still there, you just have to find them.

When I was a teenager I lived for fishing. My parents weren't rich. I thought a career as a marine biologist would be just what I wanted. I went to the University of Miami with that goal in mind. I quickly learned those jobs do not pay all that well. Before you make a career choice, decide what kind of lifestyle you want to live. If you want to live in a nice house, drive a nice car, stay married to a nice woman, send your kids to college and live happily in retirement, you will need a career that pays well. If I was to choose a career in the marine industry today, I would learn marine mechanics. You can do that without running up $100K in college debt. Today's boats and boat engines are full of computers. If you ever have one repaired or upgraded, you will discover how hard it is to find someone good. Start out working for someone else. Learn from their mistakes and successes. When you are ready, open your own shop. Owning a small business is one of the best ways to become successful in America today. You will work harder than someone working for a weekly paycheck. You will keep more of your money. The mistakes you make will be your own. Everyone I know that has real money made it that way.

The Heddon Tiny Torpedo is one of the most effective top water baits of all time. Very underrated as a tournament winning tool. It's a finesse lure that draws strikes under the most adverse of circumstances. It catches bass when nothing else will. It's a mistake to think this lure only catches small fish. I have seen numerous 8 pound plus fish bite this lure. If you don't have one in your tackle box, you are missing out.

When throwing a spinnerbait, you will catch more bass with a trailer hook. You will catch bass that you would otherwise not know hit your lure. Below is a photo of one of my spinnerbaits. The trailer is a Zoom split tail trailer with about an inch cut off the front. It goes on before the trailer hook. I use a small piece of surgical tubing to keep the trailer hook from coming off. Let the trailer hook swing. Do not peg it in place. If you do, a fish may miss it. The trailer hook will cause more hangups. For that reason, you must learn to cast more accurately. The closer you can fish this lure to cover, the better you will do.

Braid also works well with a Carolina rig. As Maggiesmaster stated, you can feel the bottom better and you are going to use a leader anyway.

I use it for everything except really heavy mono when I use the Palomar knot.

Opinions on lines are like belly buttons, everyone has one. Here's mine. Braided line has a place in bass fishing. I use it when frog fishing as I often have to hoist a fish out of a forest of pads, hydrilla or both. Time and time again I have seen two anglers in the same boat fishing plastic worms side by side. If one of them is using mono and the other is using braid, the mono fisherman will get more bites. You can use a leader to overcome this issue, but that adds a knot. The knot often hangs up on the cast and/or collects weeds. I fish worms with the lightest mono line I can get away with and no leader. Fluorocarbon line is great for worm fishing. It's costly, stiffer and harder to cast. My son is an excellent back country salt water angler. He loves braid. He says it casts further. He does not use a leader. He spools mono under his braid, so the line doesn't turn on the spool. If you are going to use braid, you will need to pay more attention to knots. For years I used an improved clinch knot with mono. If you use this knot with braid, you will lose fish (been there, done that). A double line improved clinch knot (Jimmy Houston knot) does not slip. Much has been said already on this issue. I am sure others will have their own opinions. My suggestion is this, try both and see what you think.

Bass Pro Shop has always had an inventory problem. They always seem to be out of everything you want. They have lots of shirts, hats and boat shoes. The drive to Bass Pro is about an hour from my home. I rarely go there unless it's to buy a rod. I have never had a problem ordering from Bass Pro online. With all the mall closings, I wouldn't be surprised to see some BPS stores close as well.

Residential canals are often ignored. Most anglers like to fish open lakes. There is nothing pretty about fishing in someone's back yard, except it's often full of fish. The same thing applies to the rim ditch in Okeechobee.

Use a thin wire 3/0 wide gap hook and hook the worm in the nose just like would would with a Texas rig. Do not use a bullet weight. The weight of the swivel is all you need. The swivel pulls the worm down slowly and naturally. It's much like a Mojo rig only lighter. This rig works best in shallow residential canals without a lot of algae. Most of the hits come on the fall. If you are fishing a clear canal, make long casts in front of you. Many of the fish will be in the middle of the canal. It's deadly on bedding fish.

Zoom Trick worms are some of the best worms made. There is no way to fish them wrong. My favorite is wacky style hooked in the middle. Works like dynamite in a canal. If weeds are a problem, hook them in the nose Texas style with no weight and a swivel about 18" above the worm. I throw this on an 8 pound test spinning outfit. I've won lots of money using it, especially when fish are on the beds.

About 15 years ago, I began having pain in my legs and hips when standing. It wasn't a shooting pain, just a constant dull ache and heavy feeling in my legs. I was not able to fish standing, so I began to experiment with different boat chairs and pedestals. As it progressed, I went to an orthopedic surgeon to have it checked out. They gave me an MRI and discovered I have spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is arthritis of the spine which pinches the nerves in your back and legs. I researched my condition and concluded surgery was possibly worse than the problem. I have learned to live with my condition and have been OK so far. I take a small dose of gabapentin at night and it helps me sleep. During the day, I take Tylenol Arthritis. I learned a few things that may help you. Epidural steroid injections did not work for me. They do for some people. Keep your weight under control. Every extra pound makes it worse. Don't sit inactive for long periods of time. Moving around helps. Physical activity is good for you, just don't overdo it. Go to a good specialist and have this checked out. If they start talking about surgery before they try anything else, you have the wrong doctor. If they recommend anything that social security won't pay for, get out of there. You can't fix my problem with a 1/2 inch laser cut in the back.

At times in the past, the Harris Chain water was so murky that top water lures didn't work that well. I always did well on top water in other Florida lakes. Now that the lakes have cleared, I started fishing with frogs. I'm hooked! Frog fishing is more fun that any other way of bass fishing I've ever done. I'm getting so I don't want to catch bass unless it's on a frog. So far, I have had my best luck on a Gambler Cane Toad. It kicks up a lot of action and is fished more like a buzz bait. Those natural looking frogs look good too. I'm dying to try one.

I once caught a 13 pound catfish flipping for bass on a plastic craw. It fought like hell. My flipping stick bent over like a fly rod. I was sure I had hooked a monster bass. When I got the fish to the boat, I saw the fish had whiskers. I always wondered why more anglers don't fish for catfish?

Beautiful boat. A Gambler is the only boat that you can identify with a blind fold on. The fit and finish is that good. I bought my Gambler in early 1997. I watched them build it at the factory in Orlando. Mine had a Mercury 225 Pro Max. It ran in the high seventies depending on how it was loaded. As I remember, I paid about $32,00 for it. I sold to someone in Japan for near what I paid for it. Enjoy.

Great points. My purpose for posting on this forum is not to cause controversy. The point I was making is boats and gear do not define the fisherman. This is valuable information that took me a long time to learn. I have been fishing organized bass tournaments since they started in the sixties. Tournament bass fishing is not the same as recreational fishing. You can't weigh the fish that got away. There are no two pound bass that grow to six pounds with the telling. When you are standing in line with your bag of fish, everyone can tell who the experts are without checking the price of their tackle or what brand of boat they fish out of. There is nothing wrong with quality tackle and expensive boats. I have had my share of both. As long as you don't size up anglers by the price of their equipment, you are good to go. There was a time when bass were described as the poor man's game fish. Somehow I find that comforting. ? I dug up an old photo of my Gambler. Best bass boat I ever owned.

Does anyone here remember when the Rapala first came out? Must have been in the sixties? I read about it in a magazine article. Early on they were hard to come by and anglers were renting out their lures. Sounds crazy, but it happened.

There used to be tournaments where all the anglers had to use antique reels and lures. I haven't heard of any in a while. Out of your group, the Rapala and Devil's horse are by far the best. I love the Dalton Special, but I think the Devil's horse is better. One old lure that you didn't mention was the Johnson's Silver Minnow. It's a spoon not a plug. Decades before plastic frogs, it was the go to bait in heavy cover. Most old lures were heavy. This was because reels were not free spool and the handles turned on the cast. I learned to cast one in a bucket on my parent's front lawn. Plastic baits changed bass fishing forever.

It's not the rod or the reel that makes a great bass fisherman, it's what you do with them. Many amateur fisherman believe pros use the high dollar tackle they see in commercials. They want to be like them, so they believe the more money they pay for their boat and tackle, the better fisherman they will be. Owning a wrapped boat with 300 HP, two power poles, $6,000 worth of electronics and a boat load of $800 rod and reel combos does not win tournaments all by itself. Twenty years ago I operated a guide service on the Harris Chain. Whenever a big tournament was coming up, I was booked for weeks at a time. Those anglers did not need me to teach them to fish as many of them were much better than I was. What they wanted was local knowledge of running the lakes, seasonal patterns, Etc. Some of those angler's names you would recognize. One was a Bass Master Classic winner. I ran into him later at the boat ramp. I was surprised to see he had a boat load of the cheapest Shimano Reels they made at the time. He was the best bed sight fisherman I have ever fished with. As long as a reel is reliable and you can cast what you want where you want, it's a potential winner. My $40 Bass Pro Rods will do everything a $300 rod will do. If you wish to spend your money on things that make you feel good, I'm happy for you. Don't make the mistake of looking down your nose at anglers who don't have the best tackle or the fanciest boat. You may be surprised at the fish they catch.

If you knew me, you would know how funny this is. I have never been known as a cheap guy when it comes to anything. I always had to have the best of everything. I understand the pride of ownership. I had dozens of boats. I even had a custom bass boat built that was on the cover of a national magazine. When I moved to Central Florida from Miami, I thought I was a better fisherman than the country boys who lived here. That was a mistake. They could catch more fish off the boat ramp parking lot than I could catch in my 80 mph Gambler. One of the best fisherman I have ever seen fished with an old red Ambassador 5000 and a rod with broken guides. $300 rods and $500 reels are made to hook anglers, not fish. There's nothing wrong with buying them. They don't make you a better angler.