ElGuapo

Bingo.

When I visit MA I fish Lake Ellis, Sportsman's Pond, and the Millers River.

I'm in Orlando and find the drive to Tenoroc in Lakeland well worth it. Toho too. If you want to try a closer body of water that is the LEAST fished lake in central Florida try this place: Lake Lucien near I-4 and Maitland Blvd on Lake Destiny Rd.

I've never seen a 3+ pound 15 inch bass in my life.

2 pounds, 1 ounce. If you're going to lay it on the ground like that why not just take it home?

My hometown 100 acre lake in Massachusetts has produced some great bass fishing over the last 30 years for me. The average bass for me usually averages over 2 pounds and one year I averaged 3.3 pounds per fish. Lots of pads, stumps, downed trees, docks, and different depths. Catching bass there has always been, frankly, quite easy. The last few years though I'll either catch dinks or lunkers, and nothing in between. In one week for example I caught 50 bass under a pound and one 6 pounder. Its a private lake but I think a few ringers have been sneaking in and catchin' but not releasin'. I'm worried about the lack of 2-5 pound breeders. Meanwhile, the pickerel population is absolutely exploding! Big ones too. I catch them way too often now, even on slow moving soft plastics. They'll eat anything and everything and frequently have the tail of a bluegill, bass, perch, or crappie sticking out of its throat. Best I can tell, they are the great white shark of the freshwater lakes. Since people are obviously keeping too many bass I'm thinking about pulling some of the pickerel out of the lake to help restore the top predator balance. I've never heard of anyone keeping a pickerel, ever. What good could it do to have 24" eating machines plucking off all the good baitfish? Your thoughts please.

I respect everything that Doug Hannon says regarding big bass and am disappointed to read his thoughts on this. I wonder what he thinks about the Fritz Friebel bass. (I believe thats his name). 19 or 20 pounds with pics and cut open to prove it wasn't weighted. If the next record comes from CA the fisherman can expect a lifetime of grief, especially from Floridians. Man made lake with FL strain bass stocked with 6 inch trout year after year. Pretty safe to say that if Perry's fish was living off of a smorgasboard of dumb farm raised trout it would have been even bigger than 22-4. Seems less legit than a Florida farm pond bass to me. Hey, why don't we start stocking Farm 13 with thousands of zoo-born duck billed platypus' every year!

Good question. I certainly wouldn't want to kill a record fish like that. I doubt one would survive being dragged all over town. If it's catch and release only with no certified scales on that body of water then you lose. Prediction: the Florida state record will be broken within a year.

The Massachusetts state largemouth bass record set in the 70's seems pretty much impossible to beat (15 pounds). Just curious, what's the biggest bass any of you has heard of being caught since then?

That's probably the best idea. Not committing to all new or all used. Go used on electronics, trolling motors, quality rods and reels, and pricier lures. Go new on most rods, reels, lures, line, accessories, etc. Rent out anything that isn't nailed down. Sell boats on consignment maybe. Sub out a couple guide services, etc. The beauty of having a small business is being able to offer all of the things that a super-store can't. And contrary to popular belief, super-stores do not have lower prices across the board. Under-cutting them would be easy enough. This could be a lot of fun.

Why do you think they failed?

Let me know what you guys think of this business idea: a store that sells just clean, used fishing tackle and accessories. I deal in used/vintage guitars and see many similarities between the super-stores for musical instruments (Guitar Center, Sam Ash) and fishing gear (Bass Pro, Sports Authority, etc). Both markets have huge catalog/online sales too. But only the musical instrument market has a strong USED market. Why is that? Is there not a ton of quality gear pouring out of Bass Pro Shop stores everyday? Not all of it is kept. Most of it will be upgraded upon, lots of it will just collect dust, and millions of lures will not be used even if the fisherman keeps fishing regularly. How about a small/medium sized store location that's loaded with clean used rods, reels, lures, tackle boxes/bags, fish finders/electronics, boat accessories, trolling motors, etc? Some new product lines would be needed to complete the store's selection, like line, hooks, etc. But everything else could be sold used if presented properly. Wouldn't you like to be able to sell or trade in your dud lures or older gear and walk out with clean used gear for 30-70% off of its new price? Going by Ebay prices I see a ton of depreciation in rods and reels especially. The difficult shipping has to be a factor in getting a good Ebay price for a used rod. I know I feel like a sucker everytime I buy a new expensive rod or reel at a super-store. I wish there was the equivalent of a used guitar shop that had rows and rows of used rods and reels. If it feels strong and the guides are good, I'd buy it for any amount of savings I could get. Cheap or semi-outdated gear could be set-up for beginners to use. For the price of a new rod and reel, even from Wal-Mart, a kid could walk out of this shop with a better rod and reel, MUCH better line on the spool, and a tackle box loaded some essential lures. And no beginner would leave without knowing how to tie a good knot and set their drag. A store like this would have the feel of an old school mom and pop bait shop with the inventory of Ebay! Employees would all be experts in their fields. Customer service would have to be top-notch. Maybe gear could even be rented out by the day, weekend, or week. Need an extra shiner rod for the day? No problem, just $6 if you bring it back in one piece. Always wanted to try out one of those underwater fish finding cameras? $20 for the weekend. This idea would work in many markets but I'm in central Florida so I'm thinking Orlando. It would be great for locals and tourists alike. Even the well-to-do would be drawn in by the used high-end gear like saltwater gear and snobby fly rods/reels. Sorry for rambling on, just trying to convince myself this is a good idea. What do YOU all think?

I'd plan on seeing a snake or gator but I wouldnt worry about getting hurt by one. Watch where you step on shore and dont steal any gator eggs and you'll be fine.

I entered my first big tourney last week. I bought a bag and cull system but didnt need either. The boater must have a PFD for every person in the boat but I'd bring one anyway. No need for the fancy $200 inflatable ones. I brought three rods and a regular sized gym bag full of tackle, rain gear, snacks, sunglasses, and a camera. Dont forget sunscreen! I'd also keep a change of clothes and shoes in the car for the ride home in case you get rained on. Bring your fishing license too.

Good question about Lake Apopka. I fished in a big tournament on Harris last weekend and neither I nor my boater caught a thing. I left thinking that I'd have to forget everything I thought I knew about bass fishing.

A couple questions: Any chance of a one-man pontoon like this flipping over from a wake and/or wind? Does anyone here use one of these in alligator country? Releasing a bass in front of you with your legs spread could get interesting. Feedin' time! And would a foot controlled trolling motor work on this?

Its not as if money is no object. I'd just prefer to aim for higher payouts...and that requires higher entry fees. Looks like I'll stick with FLW events. Five tournaments at $100 a pop is $500. I'll either make that money back in winnings or learn a ton about bass fishing. Preferrably both.

I'm entering my first tournament later this month as a co-angeler in the FLW trails. The Gator and Everglades divisions look pretty good to me. What other Florida tornaments would you all recommend? I'd prefer the bigger ones over small club tourneys. C0-angler only, entry fee not really an issue. Thanks.

I bet the lifespans are the same. Long hot summers in shallow Florida lakes must take their toll. Southern Californian bass probably have it the easiest. The bass with the best genetics in the cleanest body of water with the most readily available food will grow the biggest. I bet northern bass would grow more in the winter if they had more than baitfish to eat.

Whats the protocol on going to the bathroom? Am I expected to hold it in like a trucker or does everyone go off the side of the boat? Seems like a silly question but I honestly don't know the answer.

Breaking the world record in CA seems a whole lot more likely than the 15 pound MA record. In MA my favorite place to fish is a private 100 acre lake that's yielded me about three dozen 6 pounders. Just one over 7 pounds for me and the biggest fish tale I've ever heard out of there was just 9 pounds. I once saw a big bass pretty much die of old age. I had spooked it once but it swam away very slowly. The next night the same thing happened but it swam away even more slowly. This time I noticed its scales looked a little rough, almost like it was shedding. The next night it was dead and floating....and missing its tail. Snapping turtles were gnawing at it when I approached. It was 20 inches and I estimated that 5 inches of its tail were gone. It weighed 7 pounds. I dont know if being dead made it heavier or lighter (either way it was water-logged right?) Some more data: I caught a 2.5 pounder there in 1988 with some pretty crazy looking markings on it. A few years later it was 3.5 pounds and TEN years later it was just under 5 pounds. This was on a healthy lake and it still took ten years to reach that size. It just shows how long a ten pounder would have to live. If there's a 15 pounder in MA it would have to be feasting on stocked trout like in CA. Otherwise iId put my money on the Quabbin. The state record was caught through the ice and I think thats because ice fishing is one of the few times New Englanders use live bait for bass. If they did all year round like in Florida we see some bigger fish. Not that there are any bait shops selling big wild shiners there anyway. Its usually 4 inch McMinnows at best.