GatorBK

I caught a couple bass in shallow water today , It was a part or the member challenge here , I was bank fishing and casting paralell to the bank with a Manns baby minus crankbait . It worked well in 2 to 4 feet of water very clear water at that and spooky bass . I missed one fish that was 5 plus pounds

Kewl idea There was an old man who used to live here on the lake I fish . He carried a tablet and wrote down time and size of fish caught . he logged over 10.000 bass out of this 22 acre lake

Thanks for the tips . I just put some pics in the members challenge I took that turned out kind of chitty. I have a hard time getting good pics with my cam in bright light . I will have to tinker with it and see what happens

Nice ones I wonder what the state record is for an oscar?

I am a bank beater my self WPD thanks for the info .

Yall know of any places to catch nice catfish here in se FL .

Zara you need few nights of 50 degrees and above so they come up good

The best way to bobber fish is just to cast it out and let it swim on its own. you could add a popping cork if fishing over deep water the noise of the cork might get a basses attention . I would just twitch the cork though. Its illegal to cast net bluegill . I carry a small rod to catch bait with when Im bass fishing

I havent tried bluegill here yet I like big shiners for bait , When I was living in NC I caught a few bass with bluegills when I was fishing for flathead cats . I was using a eggsinker fishing them on the bottom I had about a 2 foot leader and had a small styrafoam float 5 inches from my hook. This rig keeps the bluegill floating about 2 feet off the bottom . But its my catfish rig , It worked on bass though. I like to hook them behind the dorsal fin. When the bass swallows a gill its head first so the hook being behind the dorsal hooks a bass good and keeps the bass from getting gut hooked . I recommend shiners for bass because they have a scent bass love. But small bluegills will work. You can fish them under a bobber as well I have caught a lot of bass that way. If you have a weedy bottom or lots of snags I recommend bobber fishing live bait

Check out this PETARD propaganda they hand out to kids its way extreme for kids to be seeing IMO http://www.nofishing.net/pdfs/DaddyKillsAnimals.pdf

I would stick with Norton , I just opened a file from a friend on my MSN and loaded a trojan a few days ago and my Norton saved me. This virus got in her MSN messenger and sent it to everyone on her contact list. She has Macafee and it ate her puter up its in the shop now. I also have AVG spyware its free spyware scanning And Windows Defender is free as well also there is Sygate Firewall.... all of those can be loaded free off the net, just google search those names and you an get free downloads They can be set up to run along with Norton when installing Norton there is a box you can select run other stuff on top of the norton be sure to check or uncheck ( not sure I think you un check ) that box

: I think you two above me were gathering a different kind of shrooms than Zara is hunting ;D I am not in morel country right now Zara but they should be up . I used to get lots in NC . I hunted old apple orchards I would find them in the shaded areas in tall grass . When you find one in the woods look for what kind of trees are near it. And when ever you get in a stand of similar trees look aroud them. I used to find lots near walnut trees in the woods . Good Hunting they are mighty tasty

Dang nice fish , what are you using shiners?

Sounds good Gotta love it , I did some fishing over your way in a lake a Medard park just outside BrandonFL. I caught some nice 3 to 5 pounders . The best bass fishing was in a small lake in Dover Fl in Dover Park , I caught a pretty big bass there . I didnt weigh it but it was over 10 pounds my biggest FL bass to date. Look forward to meeting ya 8-) Hi John J Yep I have learned a lot already here and some good people as well. Congrats on being an honor student keep up the good work, and good fishing

I sent a few to ya

I never had a lot of success with topwater till I tried the Heddon Pop~N~Image lure I like it much better than the Pop R or any other topwater I have found , I have caught close to 100 bass this past month on one, the biggest was 7+pounds and missed a couple that were bigger. It works well at night also , I love the shape of the nose because it pops and has a walk the dog action as well. And it has a great sounding rattle to it whats your favorite topwater lure?

Happy Birthday sounds like a good start , I would have to throw in a Heddon Pop~N~Image jr. and a chatterbait. And maybe some culprit worms . Have a good year and good luck fishing, hope ya get a B day bass

Great night time lure , I never have caught many in the day with one though. I need to find one the dang wal mart here dont sell them . > I guess I will have to make a drive to the nearest bass pro shop . I have been using a Heddon -Pop N Image jr at night and catching a lot ,but not the big ones like a jitterbug will.

Well I assume your from NC by your name , The bass should be spawning hard there now into May . I caught my biggest bass in NC while they were spawning , I know it sounds crazy but I caught an 11 pound bass doing the same thing you said I was using a 1/2 of a nightcrawler and a small hook like you would use for bluegill. I used the head 1/2 of the worm because it wiggles more and cast it out and let it set in the path the bass was cruising. the bass was close to the bank so I tried to hide and be still dont wear bright clothes of stomp around near the bank. The bass saw the worm moving on the bottom and I watched it suck it up and set the hook. I will do the same thing when they are spawning if they refuse plastics , I use a 1/2 nightcrawler or even a small minnow they cant stand that in their bed . Use a strong hook but small. I had big spawning bass break a hook of mine right at the bend of the hook. I was sick because it was about a 10 pounder. Well 10 minutes later it came back to the bed and I threw a nightcrawler back out and it bit again and I caught it that time.

Thanks for the welcome guys , Hope yall catch a lunker. I guess Im gonna go out back to the lake and catch a few myself in a few minutes

I saw them on tv a couple weeks ago . I am not much on buying new stuff but I thought what the heck. First cast I caught a fish. I continued fishing it and missed several bass. So I only had some 4/0 owner worm hooks with me so I added one as a trailer. It works great now. I just cast out and reel it in with a steady retrieve letting it get just over grass beds . I tried letting it sink to the bottom and tried jigging it but my strikes have came on a steady fairly fast retrieve. I have caught 40 to 50 bass in the last 2 weeks on one . My only dislike are the dull hooks that come on them but adding the owner trailer hook made a world of difference now if a bass just sniffs it hes hooked. I like the chartruse and white with the gold blade.

My 3 best baits this year have been Plastics: Culprit 7.5 inch fire and ice colored worm Topwater: Heddon Pop N Image Jr Spinnerbait: The original Chatterbait but add an owner trailer hook to it

Yes I fish some saltwater plugs for bass with sucess . I think it has more to do with the bass seeing something different in my case. I fish a the lake out back here a lot. so much the bass propably have tender mouths from being caught so much. I noticed that the same bass stick around the same areas because I catch the same ones in the same spots. So after a couple times catching them on the same lure they seem to stop biting it. I tie on something new and can catch them a couple more times. I was using a heddon Pop N Image jr . and catching lots of bass then the bite slowed on it . I have a big blue and silver saltwater rebel plug 10 inches, I put it on and caught bass in the area I had just fished with the smaller popper. I think the big baits do work. I have not tried the bucktails for I am not much of a jig fisherman but its worth a try , so I say yes try them anyhow. I have found that even small bass will hit a large plug . Let us know how you do .

Well I never paid much attention to it till recently, I have found the bass spawn near a full moon more than a new moon. I catch more bass in the afternoon on a full moon I have been doing a lot of night fishing lately and I always heard the bass bite best on a full moon at night But I have been catching twice as many bass and bigger bass on or around the new moon at night I know some of this may sound wrong but I have kept track of the moon phases and those results are what I have found to be true. Also for some reason the bass seem to react stronger to the moon phases here in Florida than they did when I was living in N C.

Bassmasta07 just be thankful its only a fishing obsession , I have seasonal ones , Its Bass in spring and summer and catfishing at night in the summer, Then its bowhunting deer early fall , then bear hunting in NC mid fall , then back to rifle deer hunting in winter, I take Christmas day off , Then there is rabbit hunting , bird hunting,predator hunting , then Oh yeah the Turkey hunting thing .. Then inbetween all this I like to trout fish if Im in NC . and also bass fish in fall and winter to see if they are biting when I get " OFF" time from my other obsessions . But like these guys say work/school first , then fish. And heck dont worry about finding a woman there will be plenty come along ,and maybe one that likes fishing as well. Do your school work and enjoy your youth Good Fishing