Zcoker

In many wide open spots down here in S. Florida, the particular weather conditions can dictate the results for open water fishing....or at least that's been my experience. Was out just the other day, for example, wind picked up mid afternoon, so I headed to open water....at that point I started throwing a big white buzzbait with a big white trailer and on second cast, boom! No theory involved, just grabbed what "felt right" lol

In my experience with bass fishing, there's "windows" of opportunity throughout a day. Miss one and there's always the next one around the corner.

Yes, like any other place, gotta put in the time and effort. I find the everglades quite rewarding. It’s basically a living organism in itself because each trip is totally different, meaning the landscape once familiar suddenly becomes alien. It’s constantly shifting and shaping. I also find the big bass quite aggressive…like totally INSANE! I mean, they’re totally ticked off when they destroy and annihilate the lures!

I've never ever seen anyone else out there, and I go miles through the sawgrass islands and waterways and flats until the sun comes up. So it's defiantly a wide open fishery. Not for the faint of heart, either. Has taken me a while to "adjust" lol.

Everglades has been of fire lately day or night, pulling in the big girls! All on topwater, which I just love to use. Seems the bigger fish have a thing for the topwater baits, especially late at night. Can't even begin to describe the night time fishing deep in the glades but I'm gettin used to it and likin it a lot!

Sorry to hear about your loss, my condolences. "Unavoidable" can be such a nasty word, certainly after hearing of incidents like this, much nastier than the incident itself as well as the horrible outcome. Makes grueling sense to use events like this as an example for future endeavors.

Here in Florida the statutes require those in kayaks and canoes to have on board a U.S. Coast Guard-approved Type I, II or III PFD. Children under the age of 6 must wear a PFD while under way. In my opinion, I would not even attempt to second guess the use of a life jacket while on a kayak, no matter what. Even though one may feel strong and invincible, there's always a possibility that circumstances can dish out a totally unexpected blow. And even though one may think themselves a good swimmer, one good knock on the head and you'd better pray that there's something around to keep ya afloat!

I always went by that cloudy overcast no bright sunlight no eyelids story with topwater but that got turned completely sideways a few trips ago. The day was intensely bright bluebird sky, just after a mild cold front with high pressure building, high noon and the topwater bite went totally ballistic! No just smallish fish but fish in the 7-8 pound range! And not just one, either. That scene completely shut down those notions that I hear so much about, like topwater fishing only good when it's overcast. Now I look for the opportunity just to be out there in ANY condition because I have caught great fish in the most unpredictable situations imaginable. I'm sure a lot of these sayings have merit; I'm just saying that I've seen great action on the complete opposite side of those sayings and for just about all of them.

Sorry to hear about that. I've always had my doubts about these onboard contraptions supporting all that weight on any kayak. I mean, sure, it's a good idea, no doubt about it. Maybe things hold up for a while but sooner or later somethings gottta give. On my Old Town, I just went with the Wilderness System cart and have zero issues. It goes through thick or thin, up steep ramps or even up and over ledges, works fantastic in ANY condition, super robust cart. Can even stow it in my Kayak through the front hull hatch.

I purchased an Ascend 10 foot kayak from from Bass Pro that served me very well. It was very light, I think about 30lbs and I could take it solo practically anywhere! It was quite comfortable and held everything I needed and I don't recall any major issues with the boat at all. I mainly fished it in the Everglades and a few time at Heardwaters Lake here in Florida. Only reason I got rid of it is because I went with one of the newer powered kayaks.

This is the very reason why I never fooled around with the landing gear wheels, Boonedox and the likes. I've heard of many failures like this. Maybe they work better on a purpose built kayak, like the Native brands. There's a heavy duty track along with thicker molding around the mounting areas for their Sidekick option. Any other Kayak is just too thin and with mounting plate or no mounting plate they seem to fail after a while.

This may not be a moron moment, more a live and learn moment. I was deep in the everglades late one night about 50 miles out on a levee unloading my kayak and taking my stuff out of my truck. I was on the passenger side unloading stuff, got what I wanted and then shut the door. When went around the other side of the truck to retrieve other items, all my doors were suddenly locked! How the heck that happened, I have no idea but I was very ticked off because my keys and phone were inside. It's a new truck and has never "locked itself". Anyhow, I had no choice but to find a giant rock. I must've hit that friggin window 10 times has hard as I could before it finally gave in. What I found out later on: never break the driver's window on the newer vehicles because it's usually laminated glass and cost a small fortune to replace!

Oh, I forgot about those annoying phone interruptions lol One big loss like that is enough to put ALL of them contacts on ice!

This makes a lot of good sense in being completely prepared for that big fish--mentally. I fish the everglades down here in south Florida as well as Headwaters Lake and Kenansville. In these places, double digit fish are possible every single cast every day or night of the week. And after a while, it's easy to get complacent. The mind starts to wander, the eyes dart about, maybe a bird takes flight or starts squawking...that pinpointed attention that is needed on those casts and retrieves seems to fade as time moves on. And it's usually those completely unexpected cast when that big girl slams the lure. Where is that solid plan now? I've been in situation just like that, completely taken by surprise and sorta acting on impulse to understand what the heck just happen and what the heck I'm gonna do about it lol. And it's usually when I get my bearings that she shakes me off! Sorta flips me off lol Sometimes I think what separates good fishermen from the best fishermen is in not missing fish, meaning to be completely focused mentally at ALL times.

Yeah, it's not always a good thing to learn the hard why when yaking baits out into the ocean. Even having other people around can be down right dangerous, as in your case. I've had other crazy experiences. During our annual turtle nesting season, the big tiger sharks come in hard and slam the kayaks. Now imagine that! Way out there in the ocean in the pitch black night and then boom! Feels like you just hit a reef yet you KNOW its very very deep lol. The silhouette of a kayak and paddles underwater looks like a big turtle swimming, so the tigers try to slam it, spin it, just like do with the turtles. Hard to even imagine them even eating the bony things. Crazy wild world out there.

Man, I've had days like that. Just the other day I lost four or so nice ones, even with hard hooksets, they just kept coming un-buttoned until I was even questioning my own sanity! Some of them felt very heavy, too. I would at least count them as a "close encounter" lol. Not really a catch, as in holding the fish in the hands. These fish always find a way to win, no matter what!

The problem is enforcement. Simply not enough of it going on. Some of these lakes are in remote areas and don't have the routine presence to keep things in check, so people just assume that they can do whatever they want and get away with it, which is about as true as it gets.

A lot of times with bass fishing, it's about being in the right place at the right time to get that very special hit....and I don't think the bait or the cast matters much at all and that's just my off the wall opinion. My main take on things is moving around and covering as much area as possible. Only in this way have I sustainably increased my catches while on the water out in the Everglades. The cast is, well, cast after cast until my arms fall off lol

I don't know about ALL bodies of water but most bodies of water where there are boats allowed have some sort of speed limit posted. Headwaters Lake here in Florida has speed limit posted all over the place but most IGNORE what is posted, even on the dirt roads leading up to the lake, they IGNORE them as if they are invisible. I've seen people flying on narrow one lane levees, like over 70mph when posted at 25mph. Some people just don't care, like the bad apple in the batch, there's always one bad one to ruin it for all the rest of the good ones.

Always bad news to hear about tragedies like this. But I've witnessed so many times these boats flat out wide open through the most densely populated places without much regard to much of anything, densely populated as in tons of vegetation along with many other boats and kayaks. Headwaters Lake in Fellsmere, Florida is a prime example, very shallow and covered with vegetation. There's hundreds of boats in a rather small area, all running around as if in a drag race. Heck, even on the long bumpy dirt road leading up to the lake which is posted at 25mph, I have to pull over many times to allow these dudes to go by that want to do 60mph! It's only a matter of time at that place, either on the dirt road or on the lake. I sure hope it never happens but nothing seems to be able to stop them. Folks are going to do what they wanna do, period.

I was yaking out baits for sharks at night, solo. Not the best practice doing it solo, I know. But I've done it so many time that I was thinking what the heck, just another night lol So I launched the yak as usual and was almost out to my drop point when, suddenly, I look up at a wall of water -- a giant rogue wave! Instantly I was dumped underwater with something yanking hard at right foot! And I mean HARD and PAINFUL! The yak was several yards away and I started desperately swimming to retrieve it but I kept getting yanked underwater by something....I thought it was a friggin shark! I finally made it to shore. At the shore-break laying on the sand I look down at my right foot to see the damage, thinking that a shark actually tore my friggin foot off. There was indeed damage. There was actually blood. I was shocked. The big 24/0 circle hook somehow dislodged itself from the big ray in the rear of the yak and somehow managed to implant itself all the way through my right foot! The line was all tangled with the yak, and every time a wave hit the yak, it would pull me underwater. Talk a about a towing mind flip. And thank goodness I de-barb all my big shark hooks! This all happen in the black of night on a barren beach, totally spooky and about the scariest I've been through on the open water. Needless to say, I don't yak baits out solo for sharks anymore. Now I go solo miles out into the everglades at night lol

Going against the grain can be an eye opener! I'll add this: I was on the water the other day. A good sized front had just passed through the night before, a good size for south Florida lol. So the day I went fishing was high pressure along with a wide open bluebird sky. I was not thrilled. It was high noon, the sky was very wide open with not a single cloud, and the sun was big and bold and all over the place, wind hardly a whisper, no cover to speak. Common knowledge says that top-water fishing might be iffy if not down right a waste of time. So, what the heck, I took out a big black whopper plopper and baboom! Not one, but fish after fish, some up to 7 pounds and one of them that I missed by the size of its wide open flapping mouth looked to be pushing 10 pounds! I caught more big fish on top-water in bright sunlight under those downplayed conditions. Remember what they say: bass have no eyelids and avoid bright sunlight lol. I caught more BIG fish under those bluebird extra bright conditions than I have ever caught during overcast. Remember what they say about after cold fronts and bluebird sky and high pressure....Well, what do ya know. I told my wife the same thing and she said, "maybe they were just hungry." And that simple statement was about the best fishing advice that I've ever heard from anyone!

Can't say how the wind effects the fish in a favorable way to the fishermen but from my own experience wind sure has put many fish on my hook. I find the hits increase substantially during windy days (or nights) especially if the wind is just starting up. I recall not too long ago a storm or front was just arriving in south Florida. The day had been very nonchalant with not much action, very calm. Then, suddenly, a cool, crisp wind picked up. The water rippled up and got wavier and then the wind started howling and blowing and I instantly started catching fish after fish, cast after cast. Maybe it was because of the storm, or the frontal pressure fluctuations, I don't know, wind is usually associated with both of those. Regardless, that wind sure did get things going! So 'wind is my friend' is a good motto to fish by, and I look for it to be around when I go out fishing, even if it's 25 plus mph!

For me, bass fishing is centered around my days off, not so much with the optimum fishing conditions during a particular day or particular night or even month or season. It's also centered around driving distance, especially now with these crazy gas prices! So there's a lotta little things or life events that might interfere with the perfect bass fishing scenario in any given body of water here in S. Florida. As such, I've gone bass fishing during the worst of times, conditions that no one in their right mind would ever consider fishing in, totally against the mainstream, even laughable or sometimes down right dangerous. So I've had to adapt. And I've prevailed. Not so much by using this or that, or not using this or that, but more so by just being out there and having a bait in the water, whatever the conditions or presentation may be. I've learned over time that bass are on/off like a light switch regardless of most anything, and being out there during their "on" events, or flurries, is key to unlocking many nice catches.

That's my opinion as well. I mean, if I charter a boat for good money to take me out fishing, I would EXPECT them to supply the bait, the fuel, the rods and reels...all the necessary stuff to take me out and catch fish. The reason I would expect this is simple: I am paying for it. Believe it or not, many don't feel this way, and I can't understand why. Regardless, the loophole of "giving away the shiners" seems to be working, as I have not heard anything to challenge it.