Fishing_FF

Toho can get tough in the winter due to its shallow nature. If you go, you'll want someone that really knows the lake. Toho hasn't been sprayed since spring, and recently spraying is being conducted. West lake Toho is also about 2 feet higher than normal as a draw down of East lake Toho is being conducted. It has changed fishing there. If you are open to fishing other central Florida lakes, Butler and Conway can provide some great winter opportunities for schoolie fishing which are good alternatives should conditions at Toho be off.

No jack fish? I catch more of them then mud fish. LMB Mud fish Jack fish Catfish (at least 2 different types but I don't know the variations we have in Florida very well) Gar Osprey (dove on a swimbait and was successfully released)

300 size, and yes, the major complaint the Lexa guys had in the discussion that started about Tranx vs Lexa, the Lexa guys said it was an overly large reel compared to the Tranx. The Tranx guys couldn't answer the Lexa guys claims about excelling at with weightless lures though. There are pros and cons to both reels.

I don’t have a Tranx. Actually, I don’t take any of my baitcasters saltwater fishing. I know there are some in the Orlando and Central Florida kayak clubs I’m a part of that fishing baitcasters both freshwater and saltwater. I put up posts for both groups to get you some info from those that have and use the reel from kayaks. The most common reel was the Shimano Tranx, but the Daiwa Coastal SV TW and Lexa were popular. No one with a Tranx was throwing weightless lures. The lightest response was a Owner 1/16oz weighted hook with a small DOA style fluke (said to weight in the 1/4oz range). I was a bit surprised no one was using the Tranx for weightless Senkos, but most were on MH rods which probably wouldn’t be soft enough for such lightweight presentation. I have a St Croix Mojo Inshore rod rated MH, and it says the recommended lure rating is 1/2oz-1 1/4oz for comparison. Two people with the Lexas said the reel absolutely excelled with weightless lures like flukes and Senkos. They haven’t said what power rod they were using, but matching the reel to a rod designed for lighter weight lures will probably be more of a key than whether the reel can throw the lure. 30lbs braid was the most common line from responses.

Tranx is the only sealed on I know of that is a low profile baitcaster. The Calcutta is a round baitcaster with rubber seals on the covers designed for saltwater, but doesn’t list Shimano’s CoreProtect technology on this reel. You can still use a non-sealed reel. My lower end spinning equipment does fine in saltwater, but I know when it goes in for annual cleaning, I’ll problem have to replace a bearing or two. My sealed Stradics have been cleaning only for comparison, no bearing replacements for 3 years now.

Another heads up for both the Shimano baitcasters you are looking at. Neither is sealed, so make sure you learn how to rinse, clean, and oil the reels to limit the corrosion if you are using them for inshore fishing.

Nice! I kind of figured based on the lures you said you used, it was Butler with Chuck. Johns Lake is similar to Butler (contour wise having some good grass lines with deep drop offs). If the water is clear (relative like Butler) or you find clear water, the techniques you were shown Butler will work on Johns. Chuck fishes Johns Lake, so it might be worth searching his videos. Good luck!

Good luck. When you hired Chuck, did you go to the Butler chain?

Lots of good advice here. Pitching, flipping, and even punching can be done from the seated position as well as standing. The recommendation to sit and practice in your kayak’s chair is a great one. Do something similar, having measured the height of my kayak seat to the top of the kayak gunnel and creating the same offset on the back porch with a patio chair and one of the kid’s toy boxes. This allows me to practice the technique and gain accuracy while the kids are outside playing. Once you start practicing, you’ll find either a slightly higher starting position for the pitch or a sidearm roll will be more comfortable for you. From there, practice and have fun with it.

Hello @SLABMASTER1 and welcome. I have had no response to my e-mails to the Governor and other officials at the state. I started sending them after watching @SC53's video. The channel the provided the video has updates, many just as sickening as the first video. I am friends with a couple FWC guys, and funny thing is some of them believe the how the grass is being managed is wrong. However, since they are in a different division of FWC than the vegetation management group that is responsible for monitoring the grasses and subcontracting sprayers, they have as much luck getting their voices heard as the citizens have.

Same with my son’s elementary class. Being a little younger, they didn’t watch any of the videos, but they learned what happened on 9/11. After he got home, we had a long talk as well as watched some of the ground zero footages with the towers getting hit and collapsing. A local college had a remembrance ceremony that we attended to finish out the day.

RFB......

Yes, the Saturday NHC models predicted a slow down and stall. The Sunday NHC models pinpointed the stall for the multiple days. Yes, I foresee this as a problem. 2 years ago, Florida state officials and the media hyped up Matthew, and this year, they did the same with Dorian. Both took similar paths. A lot of people are drawing the correlations. Hopefully they see it for what is was, the officials trying to be cautious with an unpredictable potential disaster. Disney parks and attractions closed early on Tuesday (most in the late afternoon), and re-opened Wednesday with normal hours. There wasn't any significant damage to the inland Central Florida areas. I know the coast has some minor issues with flooding, power loss, and tornados, but nothing what the Carolinas is dealing with. Dorian has hit them far worse.

Yep, finally turned and moving, NW @ 1MPH per 0800 NHC update. Here is a satellite photo of Grand Bahama, showing what Dorian has done to the island:

Yes, Dorian is due east of my family that lives in South Florida. They chose to stay, so like you, they are hoping for the turn. He's barely moving (west @ 1PMH) which hopefully means the turn will be soon. Take care @Mike Land drive safe! If you need anything afterwards, just let me know. I've got to report to the station soon, so completing the final house preps for my wife and kids.

Same boat here. Just waiting to hear if and when I have to report to the station. Alligator snapping turtle, slow but one heck of a bite. Looks like the focus is shifting from Florida to possibly Georgia and Carolinas. It continues to be a waiting game.

I didn't assume. I know I'm a screw up, on here just as much as I am in real life. If I encounter the bug again, I'll just leave the post as is so it can be approved. Thanks for the info. Back to the topic of this thread, Dorian has slowed yet again. Now forecasting a Tuesday morning land. Geeze, turtle!

Gotcha. It happened twice in this thread, so I figured it was something I was doing wrong. Thanks! Thanks @J Francho for clearing up the double post and putting up the link!

There was a website listed on the news last night for parents with students at UCF. Unfortunately, the site won't let me put the link here. It hides the post. Try typing "UCF Hurriance Dorian" in Google or go to the Orlando news station "ClickOrlando" for the story with the links.

How I have felt since Monday when Dorian set a mark on Florida with a possible landfall. If you aren't able to find a place to stay @Mike L or need help afterwards, let me know. The fire department hasn't called me in yet, so for now, I'm off duty until next week.

Yes, it is listed on their Facebook page:

Welcome fellow Floridian!!!

The answer is "No, and there was no hesitation with the answer if there are peacock bass in Lake O. There are some invasive species from South Florida that have made it into Lake O like the mayan cichlids, but the peacock bass haven't progressed much beyond the Osborne chain. I was told they are very cold sensitive, which slowed and eventually stopped their movement. I forget whether he mentioned it was a year or two ago, the Palm Beach area had a cold snap that killed a lot of peacock bass in the Osborne chain. There might be a rogue peacock bass or clownfish or even a tarpon like Mike said, but they are isolated fish, not established communities.

I have not heard of peacock bass in Lake O, but I’m fishing with a FWC biology division guy tomorrow. I’ll hit him up for an answer. Last I knew, the Okeechobee guides were traveling down to the Osborne chain (South Florida) for peacock bass.

Same. I didn't get it at first, but now that I’ve got a better understanding of structure fishing, it means the difference between finding fish and getting skunked. Listen to @Catt. Trust me. Catt is wise. Catt is good! (an old movie reference that perhaps shows my age, lol)