Big Mike in Fl

my best fishing decision was just that...fishing. about 3 years ago, I was well on my way to alcoholism. I was partying every night, getting wasted every night. yadda yadda, you get the point. I always fished, but it wasn't nearly that important to me. it was a once in a while thing, well, at some point in time, the two things (drinking and fishing) switched priorities. now I'm virtually obsessed with fishing, and I drink once in a while. now, when I'm upset, angry, depressed... I grab my pole and head to the water, it used to be the first thing I grabbed was a beer (or some southern comfort ;D) so anyway, you catch my drift...fishing is probably the best decision I ever made, I just wished I had made it before I wrecked my beautiful truck... but that's a whole other story.

sounds exactly like some bass assassin lizards I have, I just got them actually, and have no idea if they are glow in thwe dark,b tu they have a chart tail and the "glow in the dark" white body, with the body how you described it, I have n o idea if they have the grinner on it tho.

XRAPS XRAPS XRAPS does rapala make anything else??? but seriously, xr8 ghost, those things are magic! I like original floaters too.

I baught two extremes last month, basically on the reviews I read here, as well as other places. they were my back ups when I couldn't get to the accurist sale in time. after only a month, and not too much use or abuse, I'm dissatisfied with both of them. the 6.4 that I got has a bad grinding/ vibration, I think its the bearings. the 7.1 seems to have a problem with the worm gear as the levelwind keeps snagging/stopping. its very frustrating to know that two brand new reels are crapping out on me. I guess its back to BPS I go to return them, which is frustrating because I live about an hour and a half from the nearest one, so I'll have burned some serious gas because they sell cheap products. I guess I'll be getting a few more revos instead. I baught a BPS frog a year ago and it wouldn't float, the stick-o's seem extremely rigid and have virtually no action. I think I'll shy away form anything that is BPS brand from now on. may jsut give up on shopping there all together. >

I'm not sure if this is a yes, or a no, but... I think there is a misconception about bass fishing atleast in fl., I can't speak for cali, but I know here, even catching a 10lb is a huge deal, some people fish here all of their lives and don't get one, my main fishing pal has been bass fishing longer than I've been alive (25 years) but he's never landed a DD, don't get me wrong, he's one heck of a fisherman, he taught me basically everything I know, and he's caught lots of nice fish, but he's never pushed that 10+ button. basically,it isn't like all of us land atleast one a season, its still the catch of a lifetime for many of us. and a five lb fish looks real good, no matter what state, at the weigh in.

I would fish the wood closest to the creek channel, and work your way through that until you find the depth the fish are holding at, start off early morning with topwater, then as the sun goes up, throw traps, spinner baits. if you aren't getting on those, switch to a worm, either t-rigged, or c-rigged. if those presentations aren't working, then switch up to a jig, again,either around the wood, or fish the rip rap. you'll gain confidence in those when you feel the bites. if you havn't developed a solid pattern by this time, go into the lily pads and start throwing senkos and worms again, paying attention to depth, and little subtle differences so that you can establish what is holding the fish. and if that doesn't work, then the fish are obviously jsut late risers and don't fish the morning

I really enjoy catching on one particualr bait, when no one else on the lake is catching, that tells me that i'm tuned in well to the fish and situation. gives me more confidence in my fishing abilities.

Ditto, even the same color, LOL. They were the first thing I ever took Bass fishing in NC and as suck I have more confidence in them than just about anything. X3 smoke shad tiki stick PB Tiki sticks are all I've ever used, and I disagree with the assessment that they don't wabble much on the fall, I've seen them wabble more than senkos. they do seem heavier than dingers, and can cast a good distance, just watch the wind

I think its a florida thing guys, we have the benefit of being able to fish topwater 11 1/2 months out of the year, some times better than others, but I find it hard to believe anyone in florida wouldn't throw some kind of topwater at some point during the day. I'm not much of a chug bug fan, but boy do I love my spook jr's!

I had one about 3 lbs jump in the boat on garcia before, it was pretty cool

mike mc, congrats on your first DD, and on the awesome days down here on the marsh. sounds like you guys got into the fish at the right time and mad ethe most of it. I enjoyed your post and am happy my area could provide such an awesome time for ya.

the guy who lives next to my girlfriend's parents used to be on the B.A. pro staff, he has hundreds of pounds of assassin baits, i baught about 30 bags from him on saturday for $15, and he said any time I need/want more stop on by, anything and everything conceivable.

I'm a spook throwin fool, I NEVER go out without having a spook jr. on,and i've caught some narley bass in the dead of winter on them. but then again, here, the dead of winter is still fishable

its so hard for me to say, it seems each year around here there is a different bait that just tears them up, i'd have to say consistant baits for me are senko's (Tiki sticks) and super spook jr's.

I disagree with the consensus here, I fished a small pond (maybe 20 acres) a few times, sounds somewhat similar to yours, with the exception of reeds, instead of wood. all I was pulling out of it were small, 10-12" fish.but there were lots of them, it was convenient, so I fished it....then I hooked up to my PB in my avatar. that big girl was obviously the dominant fish in the lake, and pretty much ate anything in the lake big enough, keeping the others from getting anywhere near that big. I tend to believe there is ALWAYSa big fishor two in any body of water that sustains life.

my suugestion would be similar to another...kissimmee, orlando area... toho, the aligator chain, the kissimmee chain, an hour and a half from stick marsh, the st. johns. etc etc. but not jsut fishing wise, there is about anything you would wanna do in orlando, and not far form it any where around is rural, good hunting (the deer are small, but get yourself a 300lb boar hog and you'll forget deer) if you're into that, decent people for the most part. an hour or so form the east coast if you get yourself into saltwater fishing. My point is, there are endless possibilities around there, and it isn't just a huge metro area, there is still a lot of country left in florida.

I think sometimes, we put too much stock in the catching of the fish as the most essential part of the enjoyment of fishing. He may be fishing with worms and other plastics the way he wants to fish, whether it means it will catch him bigger fish or not, for example, I'd rather fish a super spook junior all day, catch 8 fish and witness the explosions, than fish a carolina rig and catch 20 fish. My partner essentially refuses to flip, unless in a tourney, because he just doesn't enjoy it. yes, he knows he can catch fish that way, but he doesn't find it to be very fun. now obviously, for tourney situations, all bets are off, and you gotta do what you can to get in the money, but if this guy is mostly fun fishing, and he most enjoys the techniques he uses, and the thrill of the catch on them, then there is nothing wrong with that. I've caught over 50 fish on an xrap, several times, but one of my most memorable days was 20 fish on the stick marsh on top water. its jsut all about how you enjoy to fish.

I tihnk he's talking about a different lake than the one near st. cloud, since he said pinellas county, and st. cloud is osceola county

actually, north into palm bay would be your best bet for a room, it is closest to the stick marsh and there are a couple hotels right at the I95, malabar road interchange which is pretty close.

yea, you probably need to buy her something nice after that...that is unless she reads this at work and was onto your post???

wow, I'm actually in the minority here I guess, I will adjust my drag during a fish if I see the need, for instance, I usually keep my drag pretty tight (I don't actually test it with a scale, just a simple hand test) but, if I hook up on a bigger fish 5lbs+ I will loosen the drag to allow that fish to take more line freely, I'd rather fight the fish for 10 minutes than have the hook pull out because I was forcing him in. this being said, I use 30lb braid, so the line breaking is not an issue, I just don't want to sort of hollow out a hole in the fishes mouth by forcing on it,tearing the mouth open. I also don't crank the drag so loose I can't still have control over the fish, I jsut like to loosen it a bit so I know if the fish wants to turn its shoulders and fight, it can take a bit of line. oh, and thats the exact method I used on the 11lber in my avatar, as well as plenty of 5,6,7, and a few 8 and 9's too. I can only recall losing 1 big fish (over 8 atleast) and that was on a topwater where he threw the lure.

do many people use Lizards as their jig trailer, instead of craw/creature/chunk type trailers? I'm trying to get a bit more into jig fishing, but I don't think we have many craws in the waters I fish (we may, but I'm not aware of them if we do) so I was wondering if a lizard might appear a bit more natural to the bass a a trailer? don't get me wrong, I've caught a few fish on jigs recently, with a creature trailer, and there was about a month long period a few years back where fish were KILLING a craw bait, but I havn't had much luck otherwise, so I'm looking for ideas

I'm very sorry to hear it too drew, that's a tough one. I used to have a fairly frequent reoccuring dream/nightmare that involved snakes, always started with seeing a large diamond back, then I'd be rolling down a hill, or around on the ground,and I could never stop because if I did I would be landing on one and it would try to bite me...it was a weird dream that I've had for many many years, but I do not have a phobia, Isee them frequently when out bank fishing and have never had a major run in with one. altho I have considered getting a little pistol to carry on me for just such the occasion. because I have seen cotton mouths a few times, I've just been real good at avoiding them when I see 'em. about 6 months ago I had to pin down a pygmy rattler while my girlfriend and her 3 year old walked by it because it was sitting on the trail where they had walked to fish. it was a good thing she saw it, a pygmy rattler would probably be fatal to a 3 yr old. but after they walked by, I let it go. I try not to kill any animal if I don't have a use for it, I love hunting and fishing, but I'd never kill an animal on purpose I didn't plan on using in some way.

I use a small side accessory pack that I got actually for hunting a few years ago, it works great, a couple bags of plastics, a small box of hooks/hard baits/weights. and maybe some pliers. I also use this in the boat so I don't have to dig through my big okee. fats bag to find another plastic when one gets used, i have the bags of all of the plastics I have rigged up in the pouch,so unless a bait change is needed, I don't have to dig in my bag.

physical...no, I don't believe so. now mentally, that's different. people who are smarter, more perceptive, have better memories and understanding and knowledge than others...that's where the difference lies. the rest is instincts, money,and even a certain amount of luck to be any good at bass fishing professionally. that's my opinion.