SC53

Terry Scroggins has the molds for Bobby’s worms. He makes some for himself I’ve heard and hopefully he will start making some to sell to the public.

@FryDog62 Thanks for the reply. The main reason I asked is the wife and I are Florida crackers, born and raised and lived here our entire lives. The changes I have seen in my lifetime is hard to imagine. But we are getting tired of all the things you mentioned ( except for the condos issues as we don’t live where that is happening). I’m in my early 70’s and semi retired ( work for myself and can work anywhere with Wi-Fi) and we have even been talked about moving elsewhere. We’re just north of Orlando and have been looking north of here. The problem with Florida is the further north you go from here, the less lakes there are. Plus at our age, medical care availability is always a top concern. As others have said, if a place is everything you want, a lot of people are probably moving there too. Please keep us posted on your search.

@casts_by_fly curious why Florida is a hard no for you.

Like @Catt said, based on drive time, I would probably lean towards Florida too. As for conditions, like @Mike L stated, most lakes are ok except for in central and western Florida. I live on the St. John’s River and all ramps are closed from Harney to George until the river comes down. With the high water and honking current, it would be a waste of time anyway. The ramps on John’s Lake and the Clermont chain are closed. Harris Chains are open. Apopka is open but water is so high you can’t back your trailer far enough for the boat to come off the trailer. Plus the trailer parking area was closed due to a downed tree. Headwaters and Stick Marsh are open. Kissimmee is probably open as well. Toho probably is too, at least one of the ramps. Lakes to the south would probably be open as well. But these ramp closures may not affect you as much as you have the ability to launch your kayak without a ramp. As it gets closer, contact me and I’ll let you know what I can about what’s open and not.

Mainly Development and population but some pollution. Hurricane Andrew destroyed a lot of the natural habitat in Flamingo also. The fishing pressure today is just off the charts. We went to Marathon this summer. I hadn’t been in years. I couldn’t believe the amount of people. It was unreal. We saw one sand bar that must have had 50+ boats partying on it.

I grew up in south Florida in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. While we didn’t have the size of Tom’s fish, we had quantities. I fished the glades canals and Alligator Alley when it first opened. Most of the times we were the only people out there. And in saltwater I got to fish the Keys, Flamingo and Biscayne bay when they were still great. I’m good…

Still raining and blowing. 91 mph winds recorded in Daytona Beach so we probably had 100 here. Water in our backyard is 4” up the side of the house. Looks like a river between our homes. Thankfully we still have power…for now. 2.9 mil without power in the state. Lots of tornadoes to the east and south. My buddy in Loxahatchee had one come through his back yard, missing his 36’ Contender by feet.

How long have you lived there?

Awesome. Where are you in MT? We had friends that lived in Libby.

@Mike L you too Mike.

I’m in Debary and we are staying. I’m 100 miles from Tampa where it’s expected to make landfall as a cat 3 or 4. And its path takes it a little further south than expected, which is good for me. Hurricane force winds are only 50 miles from the center. We’re as prepared as we can be. The biggest problem with going is having to get back. There are only 2 roads to get to where we live and both are lined with big trees. Some will definitely fall and block the roads. Plus even if we wanted to leave, there are no hotel rooms until almost GA. And I75 is bumper to bumper and very little gas available along I75. I4 is jam packed as well.

lol, I agree on being conditioned to shiners. Last couple of times I went there you couldn’t hardly buy a bite on an artificial. It’s such a long trip for you ( 2 hours away myself) and to experience the poor bite leaves a bad taste in your mouth for sure.

@Zcoker thanks for the update. HW is fishing smaller and smaller every year due to this. For a 10,000 acre lake, I’d be surprised if it has even 4000 acres that’s fishable. And when it’s sprayed, all that dying vegetation sinks to the bottom creating more problems. You’d think they would have learned as many lakes they have done this too but unfortunately they haven’t. But how was the fishing? @TOXIC you should be ok by February as a lot of the hydrilla will die back during our winters. But that parking lot won’t look anything like it does now.

@A-Jay what Andy said. I can’t take a knife to a nice bass. If my freezer is empty I’ll keep a couple bass. But I fish for crappie and hybrids in the winter plus I go offshore saltwater a couple times a year so I’m usually good.

Note I said guaranteed. I don’t see a money back guarantee if it doesn’t. Let us know if does catch one after another.

No lure is worth $35 , much less a spinner bait, unless it guarantees multiple fish again and again.

I got to fish Mercurys Lake X 3 times in my life back in the 80’s. It was never fished except maybe a couple times a year. Our club was invited to fish it as guides for the customers of the guy that bought it from Mercury, Ken Kirchman. You could call you shots almost everywhere. If there was a grass point and you threw a lure by it and you just knew there was a bass there, and there was. It was an amazing place to fish. I’ve had numerous experiences when flipping that I’d drop my bait into a spot and the grass or pad would shake and I would just set the hook. There’d be a bass there every time.

There’s more of us than you think. Wait until you get 71. It’s as much a safety factor as anything. When I first met my wife, she would go along and sit in the back and read a book or photograph wildlife. She told me you’re having way too much fun catching bass. Once she tried it, that was it for her. She’s been fishing with me ever since.

Well, I’m the opposite of most of y’all as I prefer fishing with someone. My wife is my #1 fishing partner for almost 30 years now. We fish great together. She fishes a certain lure while I fish another. It helps me figure out the pattern much faster. I can make whatever on the water decisions that need made, with her help a lot of times, and we adjust locations. I have a couple of buddies I fish with, especially saltwater but if it’s bass fishing, it’s the wife.

I’ve only been on a few guide trips in my life. Two were saltwater flats trips and one on Headwaters. The SW flats trips, the guides never fished. The poled the boat around all day and told us what to throw and the approximate location. We caught fish on both of those. The guided trip on HW was with a guide that didn’t fish. I discussed this with him beforehand. He ran to the spots and once there, he ran the trolling motor from the back of the boat. He recommended what to throw is all. Towards the end of the day I told him to fish and he declined as that wasn’t what he did. The reason I talked to him about that was because I’ve seen a number of guides that post pictures of the fish they, not their clients, caught on their charters. That to me is wrong but that’s me. If it’s discussed beforehand ( and it should always be) and you, the client, agrees that the guide is allowed to fish, then that’s all good. If I’m not catching fish, based on where the guide takes me and offers advice as to what to throw, then I might ask him to fish to figure out a pattern. But once it’s established, I expect the fish to be mine to catch, not his.

Besides white or pearl what color flukes have y’all had good luck with.

Haven’t fished Clermont chain in decades. Used to fish it quite a bit back then. Had one tournament in the summer and a guy caught a 12.5 throwing a worm to the base of the cypress trees in lake Louisa.

Chatterbaits, crank baits, jigging spoons and even beetle spins. 6-14# cats.

You’re correct, trolling motors only.

We use them almost daily down here in Florida. It’s all about the water depth of your lakes.