Zcoker

How about that awful hateful sound that a big everglades rock makes when busting into your new truck to retrieve the keys!

Look into the 6th Sense Trace (no affiliation). They have a variety of offerings from color to weight, floating, slow sinking and fast sinking. Great for whatever water that you are fishing. They're top notch detailed baits at an affordable price, around $30. They catch monster fish!

I didn't particularly like throwing the bigger swimbaits (especially in the everglades) until I started getting some consistent results.

Yep, I knew this was coming lol The sound I hate the most is the cursing I do when I loose a big fish!

Still the same laws here. The permit of which you speak is a tarpon tag. Good for a year. Must be attached to the fish that is taken out of the water. Available at the local DMV drivers license department. Might have to do some education at the DMV because when applying and asking for a tarpon tag, the employees look at you cross-eyed lol. Tarpon must remain in the water per FWC. If they are 40 inches or less, they can be removed from the water. Florida tarpon tag for anyone curious on what they look like.

I've heard the same sayings but they don't really mean much here in south Florida. Wind is wind and where it blows from has no effect that I can tell. For surf fishing on the east coast, there's a saying "west wind, go home" but I've found the opposite to be true with that saying. Only saying lol

Well, man, at least you can look at the situation at all angles and turn it into a teachable moment, as you say. No blame nor fingerprinting, just learn and move on. Happens to all of us. Losing a jig is a drag. Rod breakage sucks. Having no receipts is normal. But the outcome of no injury I consider a big WIN!

My favorite fishing sound is the hollering I make when I land a giant!

I've fished the rocky sloped shoreline for the longest time and have never needed a landing net, even for fish weighing over 8lbs. Just one more thing to get in the way. Just one more thing to carry around. One more hassle to worry about. One more thing to fail. When the fish is brought in, the water gets shallower and shallower, almost to the point where a net would need to be laying on top of the jagged rocks underwater, risking entanglement. Not to mention having to horse the fish over the hoop area in order to scoop it up, both hands Helter Skelter. I usually choose my fishing area on the rocks to accommodate the best landing zones. Places that have good foothold, maybe an indentation in the rocks, a V perhaps....choosing the area to land the fish before fishing that area is better than any landing net, in my opinion.

Kinda like using a clutch pedal on a car, having complete control over the mechanical side of things. All done subconsciously once learned. The difference between a manual and an automatic. Personal preference. Yet still driving the same thing. Thumbing the bar takes practice and has just as much merit once learned.

Seems like you already have a good feel on when (or when not) to go fishing. I mean, if you make family plans for something else, then just stick to your plans. Same goes with fishing. As far as weather goes, my approach is basically a neutral approach because ALL conditions can have favorable outcomes, some more than others. If I make plans to go fishing, I simply go fishing and deal with the conditions at hand, sometimes with surprising results! I know many guys who will not step out on cloudy days; same goes with a little wind, or a little rain, they simply call it and stay home. Sometimes the weather can be foul in the early morning or late afternoon, leaving the next half of the day wide open and beautiful. My best advice is to go fishing when you can and make the very best of it, just like life itself.

Fall weather is wonderful down here in south Florida, absolutely wonderful. I love the crisp fall air, that feeling of change, the far reaching blue sky, many such things inspire exploration. Not only is the weather nice but the fishing is spectacular! We have our famous fall mullet run that kicks in, bringing in some of the best fishing on the planet. Grab a rod, walk the beach, and hook into monster tarpon or giant jacks or big snook...the list is endless! Bass fishing is just as good. We don't have much of a fall transition, so the fish are pretty much the same all year round. Fall just makes things so much more pleasant to go out and catch them. As hot as it's been down here lately, it's a big relief to get away from the raging heat. It's been like Death Valley this year!

I've experienced better fishing around shallow rocky areas when it's cold out, or at least after a chilly night. The rocks retain heat and seem to attract the fish. Could be something to it, maybe so. I've noticed significant temp differences around rock piles compared to, let's say, regular grassy areas.

Typical night bait that I modify for shallow running. It's all in the tinkering. Big main hook. Trailer hook not sneaky at all, as if saying, come and get me! Tracks perfectly well. Most of all it holds the fish like glue so I can net them.

Yes, he does and so do I. Even in daytime, I use them. Don't see any difference in the way they track with or without a trailer hook. Blade selection is a much bigger influencer for spinnerbaits, imho.

Old habits are hard to break. He's done it for years. It's just the angle, the pivot. Quick hit and the hook pops out, quick and efficient. When tournament fishing like he did, every single move must be as efficient as possible.

All I use lately, trailer frogs. They're great and catch decent fish.

You could try it, sure. I just don't trust spinnerbaits without some form of trailer hook. Spinnerbaits have a bad habit (usually a good thing) of attracting very large bass. Here in south Florida those fish are usually 7 pounds and up with over 10 pounds being very possible. No way I want to risk loosing a fish like that. Most of my comments come from direct experience because when I do bring up a fish that size with a spinnerbait, the trailer hook is the only hook that has them pinned tightly. Maybe it's the the free swinging nature of the trailer that keeps them pinned, that opposed to a rigid length. Some of the bass I've lost on spinnerbaits without trailers still haunt my memory. I can see them now, blasting out of the water with a white mouth the size of a basket ball, shaking and tossing that single hook spinner bait a country mile. After numerous scenes like that, I just made up my mind to always use trailer hooks. In fact, right now if I don't have a trailer hook on, I feel self conscious and naked and won't fish until I get one on. That's just me. Others may certainly differ.

....Or make your way to the local jetty lol

I won't fish without trailer hooks on spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, or chatterbaits. I've lost too many nice fish from not having a trailer hook. I like 2/0. Especially chatterbaits, I used to loose tons of fish on those. Not anymore. Can't recall a fished lost on much of any trailer-equipped bait. Ironically, no issues with snags either. I fish the everglades, mainly at night, yep, and not a worry in the world about getting snagged. Check out Pat Cullen, he's a big trailer hook advocate, catching thousands of 10 pounders, I'd be an advocate too!

I've fished in many a hurricane and big nasty storms in the thick of it, fish are just a crazy and active as the weather fished in. Fished Frances and Jean which were direct hits in my neck of the woods, back to back! Neat when those eyes pass over, the wind dies, the sky turns a rich blue, what a lovely day! Until the back side of the storm comes back, like a wall of devils!

I like big worms, worms like the Zoom 12 inch mag ol monster. No doubt, the bites come and come and come....tons of fish on a worm. Nice thing about the bigger worms is that I can catch a lot of fish on them before I have to change them out. Smaller ones can vanish in a heartbeat. Those worm bucks can add up! I've been having great luck using frogs as trailers instead of paddle tails. Just a simple change like that got things going in my neck of the woods. My retrieve speed remains the same on just about everything.

It's weird how bass start off hot on something and then brush it off later, almost as if they 'know" it's fake. I recall when the whopper plopper bite was insane, just about every outing with many explosive hits along with a bunch of big fish. Nowadays, hardly a hit to the point that I rarely use them anymore, mainly at night...which is another story, probably because they can't see it that well they strike. Must be a visual thing with the paddle tails? I don't get hits on them like I used to, either. Only bait that I know of, that never seems to fade, is the plastic worm. They always nail those!

If the fish is large, I usually play them out when they start pulling hard this way or that way, giving in to them with just enough resistance to keep the situation under control. Lately, I've been thumbing the spool, using my thumb as drag, which has worked out very well (when I remember to do it lol) Otherwise, no babying around, I'm horsing them to the net for a quick scoop. Or just putting the net near them while they jump strait into it.

I've been hearing about all these wonderful qualities with the kayak experience and, quite frankly, I think I've experienced many of them as much as the next person, with or without electricity. Weight is no issue. I can launch anywhere. Stability is rock solid. It's peaceful & tranquil, plus I can paddle it anywhere. Most of my core exercise comes from fighting fish lol And after a long day of fishing, it sure feels just as wonderful hitting that throttle! OP says he's thinking about it. Just putting in my 2 pennies.