FD.

Eat lots of garlic, bugs hate it and fish love it

Last spring i hooked a 4lb alligator gar on a rapala, my favorite lure and when I could not shake him off I reached for the pliers. Next thing I know he's in the boat with me, my hand is bleeding like a stuck pig, I have a set of trebles hooked into the cargo pocket of my shorts and the other set still in the gar. Having that many teeth that close to several rather important parts of my anatomy, well lets just say I was more than concerned.....lets recap....in my left hand are my 10" longnose pliers, now completely covered in blood, in the pliers is a very upset gar, in the gars mouth is a rapala, and oh yea the other set of trebles in my shorts...anyway five minutes later there is a hole in my shorts, the gar is back in the lake, a bandaid on my hand and the only real damage is the blood stains in the carpet.

I cast it all the time, in Fla there is not enough deep water to fish it vertically. I use a glass rattle and pitch in under shallow docks....work great!

Drag? I was not aware that drag was necessary with 65 lb braid......Hookem, landem ,kiss them goodby. I don't fight fish, I think they have less stress with quick catch and release..Just my .02

Great Maps Dude, thanks for the link

Boca, I did not see any bedding fish, in fact I did not see any beds. The visibility was only about 6 inches with all the wind last week stirring things up. I though I might see some, I found a shallow flat, about 3 acres of 1-2 ft deep sandy bottom, but nothing on it but some bait and a lot of gar just off in deeper water. Poga has been tough for me. I last fished it in late Sep in a 2 day tourney. 2 days 4 fish. Wind howling out of the east at about 25 mph. I did find a small channel that had some structure not far from the 98 ramp. I will pm some gps numbers tommorrow. Later

Here is a link to our local fishing report..A new one comes out every thurday and in the "Around Polk County" section they usually have a report for Lake Pierce. http://www.theledger.com/section/SPORTS09 good luck!

Harris Chain out of Buzzard Beach Prefishing on Sun Dec 2... Air temp 60-80 Water temp high 60's Blue bird sky's in the morning with scattered clouds after lunch Started the morning on the S shore of Eustis in scattered grass with a frog and spinnerbait - no luck Moved to Dora to fish Boca's spot..no luck Found a deep hole on the south shore of Dora...rattle trap and chatterbait... no luck Flipped heavy grass on the S side of Dora...spooked a few fish - no luck Found a shallow flat with bait fish on it...rattle trap and spinner bait -- no luck Moved back to Eustis and fished north side near Haines creek Scattered clouds moved in and i moved into the creek. spooked a few fish flipping and moved to the middle of the creek and threw a firetiger shadrap to the edges of the grass and caught a few keepers in about an hour...decided I was hungry, loaded and went home...

JWO - I know exactly what you meant. I own a tournament rigged Stratos 201 that is completely full of 14 or so rods in the locker and no empty space in the tackle storage area. I have GPS and depth finders front and rear. Every nook and cranny is stuffed with gidgets and whatcha call its. On tournament weekends I am all business whether it is a $35 club tourney or a $150 extreme tourney. This is when my fierce competitive side comes out....It has to on the highly pressured lakes I fish.... But that does not mean that I don't break out the john boat and my favorite worm pole and go spend a day with my daughter in a local reclaimed phosphate pit and boat 10 bass an hour... 2 completely different forms of recreation with different needs and different results.

There is a pontoon boat rental place on dead river, between Eustis and Harris. That is about an hour NE of the Orlando Airport. I will get more info Sat while I'm there if you want. I will also be prefishing Johns Lake in Clermont in early Jan and you would be welcome if you wanted to tag along. Lee

I started fishing tourneys about a year ago and had the same issues. A few things that helped me. Prefish the lake not just your spots. limit your choices on locations to just a few and fish them thoroughly. slow down and fish. Dont let the pressure of catching fish make you fish too fast.

Maybe we could get together and put on a small tourney of our own. We could fish some of the less pressured lakes that don't have the access for the larger tournaments. We could even have a draw format to take some of our non boat owners out for some fun on the water instead of on the bank. What do you think?

One more for RoLo, What would you say is the major tell for spawning activity on Kissimmee?

?Question? I read somewhere that bass are more likely to bed on a western bank or shallow flat than the eastern side. Is there any truth to this?

New seats for my boat and maybe and unbent trolling motor prop....those rocks in ga were rough...

Welcome to the insanity!

I had a replica made of the 10 lber to the left. It cost around 275 and looks exactly like it. It was done in lagrange ga at Hudson Taxidermy.

Welcome to BR. I fish with my 14 and 11 year olds every weekend and love it. Here is how my 11 year old is set up. 7 ft medium casting rod (lightning rod by berkely, walmart 40$), medium spinning reel, (Pfleuger, 30$ , 10 lb braided line(red power pro) baits - chartruce or white spinnerbait or a Texas rig worm. You may not understand these terms but write them down and find a "hole in the wall" tackle shop, the crusty old guy behind the counter will know exactly what they mean. As for the lake, I have never been on it but from the satellite photo I would start with the following.. There are a bunch of docks on the west side of the lake, try the Texas rig worm under and around the docks. It also looks like there are grass islands on the south end, cast the spinnerbait just inside the edges of the grass and slowly reel it back to you. I live about an hour from you guys and fish the same kinds of water so feel free to ask any specific questions you have. I'm only a few years ahead of you in fishing experience so I understand the feeling of being a little lost

Florida has the reputation of a fisherman paradise, probably true, but with a few exceptions.. 1. My son and I fished a tournament during Tropical Storm Bob, not recommended. 2. This spring the wind was out of the east at 30 mph every weekend. 3 ft chop with whitecaps was a way of life. 3. Then the wind quit completely in July and Aug leaving us with no clouds, no wind, and 95 + temps

If he is a legal size, in the frying pan he goes...

Welcome Aboard!

great article, thanks

today http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/tenday/33563?from=hrly_topnav_outdoors partly cloudy and 80 degrees. the only ice is in my sweet tea ;D

Burn out happens for me after 12, during a tournament, in Fla, in July, with the water temps in the upper 80s and the air temps in the 90s. Did I mention no wind, millions of flying bugs and the fact that the fish will not be bitting anymore today. Luckily I usually have one of my children with me which makes is all worthwhile. I fish team tournaments with my kids against some of the best "teams" in Florida. Having hours alone with your kids talking to them about life is much more important than winning a couple of bucks and if you have seen my posts on "my outings" you have seen that they are both excellent fishing partners. It is all about perspective.

Thats one of them there dork fish. I bet you caught him on corn dog.