SoFlaBassAddict

Hit lox this morning. Sun up until 11. HOT weather today. Water temps were up there also. Probably my last trip out for a couple of months unless I can sneak out next weekend. I start up a big project on the 18th. Slow bite today. Took a while to find a few fish. Went back into the flats a good bit and found a deep hole that I never knew about. Wide open clear spot with about a foot and a half of deeper water in it compared to what surrounded it. Slowly swum a weighted Burner Worm through it and started to get bit. Ended up with a decent bag. I'm becoming more and more of a fan of that worm. It just comes through grass so well. Nice option for getting down into and through deeper grass. It's become a regular in my lineup.

The best and the best for the money? Something completely custom and completely paid for.

Somebody call OSHA....

Owner mosquito #1's. Having had a reason to stop using them. Good, quality made hooks.

Threads discussing this topic have made me realize one thing: I am so glad I don't have to deal with dock fishing. I realize people catch a lot of fish on them, but wow. Sometimes it seems like it's just not worth the headache. I constantly read stories about people getting into serious arguments with the dock owners. Having stuff thrown at them, threatened with gunfire, etc etc. Just isn't worth it.

I get my tires from a local place. Bring in just the rims normally. Walk in, get them mounted and walk out. Generally it's quicker than waiting with the boat, etc. Like Sam mentioned, check out the bearings, etc at the same time. Never hurts to give them a look.

All depends on how and where you like to fish. Down here pitching or flipping a big heavy jig into grass is a great way to catch giant fish. So is doing the same with just plastic lures. There's a time and a place for each. You won't find many guys dragging jigs in 20' of water in southern Florida, at least in our natural lakes. Deep is relative to the average depth of the lake you're on.

The more I fish, the less I find the need to use Plano boxes for soft plastics. I've started more towards the cheap snap top plastic tubs you can get at places like Walmart. Toss original bags in those. I only use two or three general colors of each bait now.

Exactly the first thing I thought of. Just part of life down here. We have some pretty powerful storms pop up almost every day. Just gotta keep an eye on the weather where you're fishing. I wish the weather reporters would just say you've got a 50/50 shot of it pouring on you.

Anything that moves. My pug is such a sissy. He's good for nothing other than keeping you warm and taking up every available inch of a bed. Love that goofy lookin beast.

Good luck. Sounds like you're going to need to save up for a bit though. 1500 bucks isn't going to get you far. There are a lot more expenses immediately after you pay for just the boat. Registration, insurance if needed, along with the costs just to operate it. That's not even touching any repairs that will eventually come up.

For me, I'd have to say it'll happen while flipping mats. Even though my PB came on a frog, I catch far more larger fish flipping.

I lock each and every one of my trailers. All the time. All locks do though is keep honest people honest. If somebody really wants it, they'll be able to chop through a lock.

Spent the morning on Okeechobee out of Slims. South end of the Lake had some pretty dirtied up water. Went into Pelican Bay to a spot I've had great success the last three trips and found some clear water way back in the grass. Flipped up a whole pile of fish from on BB Crickets and Why Nots from 7 to 10. This place will be a gold mine come spawning time. Lots of bait and forage fish in the area. Not sure what kind of fish they were, but there were a bunch of beds around. Started to rain a bit, so I moved back into some more open water just in case I had to run from a storm. Finished out the morning with Gambler Burner worms swimming them below the surface with a 3/16th weight. Landed a handful more for another hour before I called it a day and headed home. Good fun morning. Okeechobee is alive and well. Water levels are just shy of 14 ft. Might be my last trip out there for a while. Big project coming up that'll occupy most of my time. Managed to have a Manatee breach right next to the boat in 2 foot of water. Scared the absolute hell out of me.

Without getting really specific, that's basically what I found last weekend out there. Find those hard bottom spots with clear, preferably moving water, and you'll probably get bit. I would imagine the water is even higher than it was a few days ago. Lots of rain has dumped into the area this week.

Weather Underground, TWC, and Weatherbug. Weatherbug recently added the lightning detector page also. Kinda handy. Between the three I always manage to get what I need.

Albright or Modified Albright (Alberto). I use it for freshwater as well as inshore and offshore saltwater. Never had one fail if it is tied properly. Fantastic, low profile line to line knot.

Short answer, yes. Though I will add this; bass down here are notorious for shutting down for a bit when the temp drops.

Short answer, yes. Though I will add this; bass down here are notorious for shutting down for a bit when the temp drops.

Anybody who eats Mexican before leg day, or any heavy lifting day is just asking for trouble. To quote Charles Barkley: "Man that would be just trrrrbull..."

You know you want to make the drive. That bait monkey is calling! Swap them out and pick up a couple of lures while you're there. It is odd that two of them have the exact same problem.

WTG! That's how it's done right there!

I haven't been out to the Holiday area for a while, but with the water levels going up, fishing in the canals will slow down some. The fish will start pushing back into the marsh soon if they already haven't. Add in the heat and it just makes it worse. For the fish and the fisherman. Early morning and evening should be the best. You can still get some pretty good bags even in the dead of summer though. I'm almost always off the water by noon during the summer. It's just too d**n hot. It would take some freakishly good fishing for me to handle an all day trip right now.

In a nutshell, yes. If the motor is too high you can have cavitating. Or depending on the prop it could do the same. Two different problems possibly. Both could cause what's happening. Both combined would multiply it. It may or not be his problem. Never hurts to find out though.

Dumb question. You said the motor was mounted all the way up on the transom. I'll assume no jackplate. What kind of RPM's are you seeing when you try to get up on plane? I'm not familiar with that boat, but you could have the motor too high and are cavitating a lot. Could also be too much venting on the prop, or a combination of the two.