1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Dang, glad your able to still talk to us! A guy dumped a crude tanker into the ocoee  river here a few years ago, needless to say he ain’t trucking no more 

Thanks, on a scale of one to ten, pucker factor was about a 13 until I got it stopped. The road had been plowed and cindered. Bare pavement at the bottom. Got near the top and hit ice, spun out and started sliding backward. Fortunately, I was able to get it wiggled off the guardrail that stopped me, and get it backed down and take another route out. Sweet gig most of the year. SUCKS when the snow and ice flies.

14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve got 3 tents, one of them is yours for free if you ever make it down haha. I can even let you set one up on a boat dock if you’ll cut the grass………

lol i may take you up on that. your area is one i would strongly consider. in all seriousness i work in a hospital in a clinical capacity. i see way  too many people in their early sixties end up on my table. if im lucky enough to be healthy at 65 im out.

2 hours ago, Junger said:

Yep, every year I get less tolerant of the winter. Told my wife I’m ready to pack it up and move to FL.

I made similar statements and was informed that she would help me pack and keep the spare room for me in case I ever wanted to come back it up here and visit. 

7 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

I made similar statements and was informed that she would help me pack and keep the spare room for me in case I ever wanted to come back it up here and visit. 

Haha! There’s only 12 million people in south FLA ………

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

That's interesting because I'm not far from you near the Twin Cities, and we just had our coldest January in a decade.  Snowfall has been average.  This was preceded by the warmest fall on record in terms of average temperature, and the driest summer since 1988.

 

It was 41 degrees here this afternoon and there was some melting for the first time in what seemed like 2 months.

I remember a bunch of years doing the Minnesota thing contracted to Menards, I do not remember the winters fondly, and they certainly are not for the frail or weak, I have to say though, there are times that I miss fishing and running around Minnesota and it's neighboring states regularly. 

4 hours ago, Alex from GA said:

That is a very unique bass, dark color and big tail. 

5 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

The struggle is reel

?‍♂️

 

I hear you though, this year has been a doozy of work for me so far - I've slept a total of 8 nights in my own bed this calendar year. I've fished a ton (relatively) of different water around Texas because of it, which is great, but much of that water is not known for its bass fishing. In fact, I have caught fish at less than half the locations I've fished this year, and probably 2-3x more skunk days than catch days. I would consider that to be a very poor average on my normal choices of water, kinda makes one wrongly question their abilities. Also makes me feel like I haven't really done much fishing this year. I'm also now realizing that I have come to expect a catch if the water is known to be decent bass fishing and weather is decent. Uh oh.

 

I hope y'all northerners catch yourself some big, angry footballs every day for a month when it thaws. Something about making up for lost time on the water and remembering what it feels like when a bass slams that line.

Winter wasn't too bad here until around the middle of January.  Then we got some payback for all of those nice days in December, and early January.

I had to stop fishing early last year . Now I'm retired and rearing  to go but this fellow keeps hounding me to work for him . I dont want to but I might have help out a little . I'm ready to fish . Not just bass but rough fish too . I have access to a spot where a creek dumps into a river and when it floods   catfish , suckers , drum , buffalo , carp ... congregate there . Its so much fun . Build a fire , drink some beer and catch fish . 

This Winter has been the coldest Winter in South Florida in over 5 years. We had a day that the temperature dropped to 40 degrees which is very rare where I live. Right now the daytime weather is very nice and we will continue to get warmer temperatures. With that said I much rather be living where I am since we barely get any cold weather and it is mostly tropical weather for most of the year.

2 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

This Winter has been the coldest Winter in South Florida in over 5 years. We had a day that the temperature dropped to 40 degrees which is very rare where I live. Right now the daytime weather is very nice and we will continue to get warmer temperatures. With that said I much rather be living where I am since we barely get any cold weather and it is mostly tropical weather for most of the year.

Typically it’s only 40 in south Florida when I’m there hahaha

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

Typically it’s only 40 in south Florida when I’m there hahaha

Most Northerners visit South Florida during the Winter so they get to experience our cold fronts which are nothing compared to the cold temperatures most Northern states get. I would also visit South Florida if I lived up North, the fishing here is the best in the country and the weather is mostly warm throughout the year. I fished once while it was snowing while on vacation in a Northern state, it was a nice experience but not something I would like to do more than a couple times. If you get a chance I recommend you try wade fishing for inshore species such as tarpon, snook, etc the next time you come to South Florida.

2 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

Most Northerners visit South Florida during the Winter so they get to experience our cold fronts which are nothing compared to the cold temperatures most Northern states get. I would also visit South Florida if I lived up North, the fishing here is the best in the country and the weather is mostly warm throughout the year. I fished once while it was snowing while on vacation in a Northern state, it was a nice experience but not something I would like to do more than a couple times. If you get a chance I recommend you try wade fishing for inshore species such as tarpon, snook, etc the next time you come to South Florida.

I’ve done that! It’s fun . Tarpon are strong

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve done that! It’s fun . Tarpon are strong

Yes tarpon are pound for pound one of the strongest fish and they are known as the best leaping fish in the World. You don't land most tarpon that bite since they are masters at shaking the hook but every single tarpon you catch is worth the effort to catch them.

Was gonna say 40 is jeans and hoodie weather..if I'm working hard I may just do a long sleeve shirt.

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

I had to stop fishing early last year . Now I'm retired and rearing  to go but this fellow keeps hounding me to work for him . I dont want to but I might have help out a little . I'm ready to fish . Not just bass but rough fish too . I have access to a spot where a creek dumps into a river and when it floods   catfish , suckers , drum , buffalo , carp ... congregate there . Its so much fun . Build a fire , drink some beer and catch fish . 

I can get into that. There is a feeder creek that dumps into the river right behind my local ponds  that comes up in spring and the channel cats roam up in there looking for grub. Its fun close quarters combat.

Going to take a ride tomorrow. Check out one of the local reservoirs to see if it’s frozen lol.. 50 here Friday and 55 on Saturday. Would love to get out a little … than the nasty cold swings back in . 

I'm seeing a real possibility of breaking my string of catching bass in all 12 months here. My last fish  was Jan. 5 and the weather forecast doesn't really get encouraging for another week. We've got ice just like the old days now so we'll likely be crossing into March before things get going.

On 2/8/2022 at 11:08 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Haha! There’s only 12 million people in south FLA ………

North Florida is now catching up. The way the developers are going , the only woods left in a few years will be the state and national forests…and there aint many of them!?

I know the feeling Panda.  Hang in there.

 

One of my favorite lakes opens on March 1st and it is a powerplant lake so the water will be in the 50s and the fish will be very active.  Looking forward to that!  

I got out on the water yesterday.  The top ten inches was frozen, though...

 

The scenery was interesting!

 

 

The weather is wonky in the southeast this time of year. Nighttime temperatures are in the upper 20's and low 30's, maybe some 40's, and daytime temperatures are in the 60's. We're about to have a stretch of 5 days in a row where the temperature reaches the upper 60's.

 

So while it feels like great fishing weather, the water is still cold and the bass haven't started moving yet. Heck, I haven't even seen baitfish in our cove yet. I know this weekend I'm going to be tempted to go out on my kayak, but I'll probably just bank fish the mouth of the cove and see if the bass are moving yet.

 

I think we're probably 3 weeks before the fishing starts picking up again.

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

North Florida is now catching up. The way the developers are going , the only woods left in a few years will be the state and national forests…and there aint many of them!?

People are going to have to start retiring and moving to Canada 

27 minutes ago, Koz said:

The weather is wonky in the southeast this time of year. Nighttime temperatures are in the upper 20's and low 30's, maybe some 40's, and daytime temperatures are in the 60's. We're about to have a stretch of 5 days in a row where the temperature reaches the upper 60's.

 

So while it feels like great fishing weather, the water is still cold and the bass haven't started moving yet. Heck, I haven't even seen baitfish in our cove yet. I know this weekend I'm going to be tempted to go out on my kayak, but I'll probably just bank fish the mouth of the cove and see if the bass are moving yet.

 

I think we're probably 3 weeks before the fishing starts picking up again.

That’s normal not wonky, haha. You’ll figure them out soon enough. Spotted bass can be fairly nomadic and follow herring around open water 

We've got upper 40's and low 50's today through Saturday and plenty of wind to break up ice.  As of this past weekend, most places around here had 6" or more, though there are a couple lakes that were skim.  This heat should break that up and the sunshine for 5 days should put a touch of warmth in the shorelines (like 39-40 degrees).  Its enough that I might put the kayak in and start mapping some new lakes on my new zero lines card to be better prepped for spring.

 

This winter has been a tough one.  Our bowhunting season goes until this coming weekend and last year I was still out in Jan and Feb despite 3-4' of snow on the ground.  This year, the temps have been single digits and the deer populations WAY down from EHD.  Nothing is pleasant in single digit temps besides sitting in the house with a glass of something nice and sharpening hooks, cleaning reels, organizing tackle, etc.  I have my rods behind my desk chair (work from home) and will pick them up a couple times a day and pitch to the corner of the room, the couch leg, and tip of the carpet.....

 

thanks,

rick

16 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Most Northerners visit South Florida during the Winter so they get to experience our cold fronts which are nothing compared to the cold temperatures most Northern states get.

My Father's cousin has a condo in Fort Myers that he stays at from Jan - March.  He's really been on the warpath lately about the cold weather there lol.  His 9 month residence is in a suburb of the Twin Cities about 10 miles north of me.