GLADES

Athletes change teams all the time. Their careers are short and with the salary cap it is difficult to put a championship team together. You can't fault the players for wanting the best chance for a championship. Pat Riley has done this before, and he understands that you cannot build through the draft in the NBA. Cleveland lost a great player, and Miami now has the potential to win a few rings. they just have to add a few complimentary players to fill out their roster. The Cleveland coach's comments were in bad taste and a poor reflection of him as a man and coach in the NBA.

It probably wasn't the first time Fabio got goosed

The Lox road ramp is closest to you.

That's a monster 10 lb+ bass!

My guess is 6-7 lb.

Awesome. Some of us dream of catching bass that size, and you catch them regularly. Congrats!

It might be wise to buy a service manual for your engine. All(or most) of your questions will be answered and you will have a resource for any future problems. If the boat has not been used in a while, replace the fuel hose and bulb with a OMC hose(no aftermarket)and inspect the inside of the gas tank for rust or contamination. Fill with fresh premix gas. It might be wise to change the lower gear case oil.

Is your prop pitch set up for top speed? It might be too much and you are sacrificing low end torque. The 2.4 200 should have enough displacement to power load. If the motor is running normally, you just need to back up a little deeper when loading.

x2 I don't know if you are having these problems at different lakes but I have learned that some ramps are different in pitch and can hold the trailer nose up a little higher too. I always try to pay close attention to when the back of the boat just starts to lift from the trailer when unloading so I can make a mental note as to what the water level on the trailer is and this has helped me a lot when reloading at different lakes and ramps. X2

Was the trolling motor strapped down? Velcro straps. That will help greatly in the chop. My outboard mechanic told me of an incident he had while pounding the waves at Istopoga. His trolling motor deployed at 30 mph. Ripped the motor right of the front of his hull. I put them on and they do help a lot in the chop. Sorry to hijack the thread, but I though it was worth mentioning. Congrats on 2nd place and big fish Bruce.

Use google earth to get a satelite image of the canal system. You can zoom in there pretty good to get an idea of the canal system. Some of the canals dead end, you will have to go under the alley bridges to continue east or west. The canals banks that have the deeper water are usually best IMHO. Never hurts to throw a big swim bait down the center of the canals too.

What they weigh, nice fish! Thank you. It was a two day tournament. 1st day 19.30 with second big fish 6.28 2nd day 25.2 with big fish 7.1/2 ( pictured left) 1st place & big fish Outstanding. Congrats on the win.

The bass are holding tight in the cover after the sun starts getting hot. You got to get back into the weeds. At first light, floating crank baits usually gets some action. I use trick worms (wat/red, wat/purple), but large worms are also effective. Frogs can be very good there as well. I have had some success with DT6 in gold/black cast parallel to the weeds.If you start catching in a area, work that area over real good. Depending where you are, the canals are generally 6-15 feet deep. Watch out when you are passing through the weirs(narrow spots in the canal) because they are VERY shallow(1-2') and there might be large rocks. Use caution. Vegetation is mostly hydrilla, lilly pads, overhanging trees and sawgrass. Hope some of this helps. Good luck.

i never prayed so many times in one day in my life. lightning was popping everywhere. made it back to slims soaked and safe.

Sounds like you guys had a great time there at OT. Those big bream and shell crackers would be a lot of fun being caught with a fly rod, or a light weight combo and beetle spin. I am not familiar with Okee-tantie, never fished out of that marina. I know where it is located though. It is a bit longer of a drive from where I live, but I will give that place a visit soon. I hope the fishing holds out until the 7/4 weekend, I got some time off for a road trip.Thanks for the report.

Right on Sal. I agree that the fish are random clustered. There is usually a indentation in the bank or the canal is deeper (ledges) adjacent to the bank. Areas where the canal makes a T at the bridges are usually good. And anywhere that there is an opening into the flats. You can fish 100 yards of bank and get nothing, then the next 50 you can catch 5 keepers. I usually make a few passes along those stretches before I move on.

I can fish on fri, sat, sun, or monday mornings. sqhertz is right, the afternoon sun is brutal and the fishing will be tough until late afternoon/dusk IMHO. If something can be worked out, I would like to participate. If the date is pushed out too far, the plans usually fizzle. How about July 2,3 or 5th at first light @ lee rd? It is a holiday weekend, and some of us will have a paid work day off either friday or monday.

My son will be fishing with me. No back seat available.

At the Broward / Palm beach county line on SR7 (441), turn west on Lox Rd. Head west about 7 miles to the Arthur Marshall (Loxahatchee) refuge. There is another entrance west of Boyton Beach (Lee Rd). It is a marsh surrounded by a perimeter canal. There are boat ramps and parking($5).No other facilities. Hope this helps.

Count me in.

My motor is a 2.0L 150 with 2.0 case. I tried a 25 once but it would not push over the bow to get on plane. It got a TP+ 24P, and it will barely push over after several seconds. A 23 pitch seems to work best for general use and I run 58-60 MPH at 5900 RPM. With the 22P 4 blade, the boat jumps out of the hole, but I cant run full throttle(6200+ RPM). She will go there and more(sounds cool) but I cant afford a rebuild. My boat is a 1987 373. She sits tail heavy and low in the stern at idle, but airs out pretty good at WOT.

South florida, those trophy's are out there at Lox. I have seen them jump out of the water a couple of times too. What a sight it is to see a big fat bucket mouth get air borne. My PB is 5.5 lb out of Lox. I fish there knowing that any given day a trophy can be boated. It can be frustrating (weeds) and slow when the summer heat is on. It is a nice quiet place and I have been going there for years. I read a posting a while back from George Welcome saying he caught a bass at Loxahatchee refuge he estimated at close to 20 lb in the 70's. Dam near a world record. What model sled do you have? I have a 373 with a 150 and the weeds can be a real pain if you set down in the thick hydrilla. Recently, it was so bad for me one one trip, I had to plow through the flats over to the canal to find clear water for take off when I used a 23P prop. I switched over to a 22P for Lox, and now I can get on plane more quickly.

The lake O trip fell through so I fished the Miami Canal north off of the alley this morning. My brother and I tore them up with wat/purple trick worms. We caught over 50 in 3 hours. Most of the bass were 2-4 lbs. The bass were fighting excellent today.

It is a few miles south of 595 on the west side of US 27. Boat ramps, store. Launch your boat and fish the spillway right in front of the docks

Fish the finger canals across from the Sawgrass Rec area (there are boat ramps along 27 & save yourself a toll), or the Miami canal from the rest area that BB told you about on the alley. Just about anywhere you launch has fish.