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Speed / vibe worm swim jig rattletrap chatterbait rapala type top water senko

Not many, if any, snakeheads in the Orlando area. Too far north. Stop by Bitters bait and tackle in Longwood and they should be able to help with recommendations. As TnR stated, plastics are hard to beat here in Florida

Lake Marion where?

PB LM 11.3 on a chrome blue 1/2 oz. rattletrap on Super Bowl Sunday. Only caught a few SM in my life on dale hollow one summer. PB was 4# even on a brown jig.

Wind blew pretty good today down here on the St. John’s near lake Monroe.

Mike is right, Okee is no place for a small boat in any kind of weather. And in March you’ll be dealing with wind. Mapping is crucial as it’s easy to get turned around in a lot areas especially the Monkey box. Uncle Joes cut is a great suggestion and I’ve caught some nice fish in it years ago. There used to be some cuts on the south side that you could get back to some sloughs but don’t know if they still exist. You always have the rim canal as well. good luck and be safe

How many places are you paying now? You should at least be paying 1-2-3 but top 5 is better and what we always did when I ran the club tournaments. The top guys still got the recognition and most money but not as much. Big bass was always a voluntary side pot separate from the tournament entry. This way if people felt they didn’t want to be in it or couldn’t win it they weren’t forced to enter. What lakes are you fishing? Are they always the same ones? If so, change up the locations so as to give others who may know other lakes a better chance. Do you have off limits rules and if so what are they? If these guys are retired or have a work schedule that benefits them being able to pre-fish a lot more than others, maybe adjust the off limits to keep them off the lakes at least a few days before each tournament. Lastly, where is your club in central Florida? I might be able to help even the field a bit ?

Yes that’s the brand they use. Probably the most accurate scale out there. Many a world record has been weighed and verified on those scales. I actually had one myself and sent it to the IGFA and had it certified for records.

Breaking off probably bothers me more than anything because like Jay said, it’s probably on me. But one fish comes to mind that got away and was a lure fail. I was fishing the Stick Marsh years ago throwing a golden eagle spinnerbait. Hooked a giant on it. Got to see her a couple times when she surfaced. She came up the last time and was gone. Didn’t know what happened until I reeled in the bait. The spinnerbait had broken in two and all I got back was the blades portion. That one hurt.

I don’t know how much difference there would be between the colors. Junebug is actually a black grape color with green flakes. I can remember when they first came out here in Florida. Before that, the #1 color here was a black grape worm. If anything I think the green flake is what makes a difference. When throwing red shad I seem to do better when it has green flake.

My favorite lake, the Stick Marsh is 2 hours away right now. I’ll be moving to Debary Florida in a couple weeks so my drive will increase by 30 minutes. But I will be 1/4 mile from one ramp and 10 minutes to another on the St. John’s river.

LM-11.3 rattletrap on a Super Bowl Sunday SM-4.0 only fished for them once on a houseboat vacation on Dale Hollow.

Crawdad is more orange. The moccasin is brown.

Best was 8-10 on a Gambler Big EZ swim bait in Copperfield. Second best was 8 even on a wacky rigged Bitters salty sling (senko) in June bug blue tail Both came at the end of February

That would be a pleasant surprise. They need this change.

Shaw is the real deal. I drew him as a boater in my first Redman tournament on the Kissimmee chain in 1985, a year after he won $100K on Kissimmee which was the largest purse at the time. A cold front had just gone through and it was in the upper 30’s and blowing. You know what that will do to Florida bass. We ran all the way to Tiger cove in Kissimmee to a huge pad field that he had found some fish in practice. It was a small pocket in the middle of it and we flipped it for hours. I managed to catch most of the fish that day fishing behind Shaw but I think it was because I would flip in a spot after him and by then they were ready to bite. With a few hours left, he said I had a good shot at winning this thing and proceeded to run and gun and hit spots he thought might get me a fish or two to help me win. I didn’t win but with his help did finish 11 out of 285 and took my first check. I would run into Shaw a couple times over the years after that and he would still remember me. Great guy for sure.

The Harris Chain in Central Florida is probably you best bet based on your criteria. There’s 5 lakes in the chain so that gives you more location options. Home prices are more reasonable ( but still not cheap) compared to other lakefront areas in Florida. Your wife will like downtown Mt. Dora as it’s a cool little town. Big city Orlando is less than an hour away but there’s a lot of shopping much closer. If you want a beach and saltwater it’s within a 2 hour drive. Clermont chain of lakes is another option but prices will be much higher.

8-11 on gambler big ez Swimbait

Bass in central and south Florida will spawn over months. They will start as early as December and go until March depending on the weather. During that time there will be all stages of the spawn going on, from pre to post. As Tom said, cold fronts affect fl bass more than other states. When we get one, they’ll head for the heaviest cover they can find and hunker down for awhile. They can be caught but it’ll usually be with a flipping stick and heavy weight. As for locations you mentioned canals typically have somewhat of a drop off not far from the edge. They will hang off that if no cover available. Ponds have a more gradual shoreline and will be around heavier cover or out near the center in the deepest water available.

1. 2015 GMC crew cab with Retrax retractable/ lockable cover 2. (2) 3 piece travel rods in tubes (One spin, one baitcast) under back seat storage. Small box with basic lure selection. 3. Under seat storage unit inside truck, plastic tub in truck bed 4. In bed tub, floor jack, jumper cables, hand saw, machete. Rope Under seat, first aid kit, gloves, ratchet straps, tow strap, tool bag, extra set clothes, pair boots/socks, orange vest, tire inflator

Lunker City lures has what you want. Lunkercity.com

Merry Christmas y’all. May the bites be plenty and the bass be where you expect them in 2020.

There’s a few from Florida. Not sure they we all born here but all lived here. Roland Martin, Shaw Grigsby, Terry Scroggins, Jim Bitters and Peter Thliveros. Saltwater there’s a bunch. Jose Wejebe, Flip Pallot, George Poveromo, Troy Perez, Blair Wiggins, Rick Murphy are just a few off the top of my head.

H - Hilldebrand spinner

If any of you are planning a trip down there let me know. Maybe I can meet up with you and fish one day you’re here. If nothing else I can at least point you in the right direction and hopefully help you out. And yes, we still need to do a trip there Robbie.