salmicropterus

I am good for either the Lake or Lox. I would prefer the south end ramp at LOX but can do anything. BTW, they are really enforcing this new 35 mph speed limit at Lox so watch out if we go there.

Rods: BPS ProQualifier; BPS Extreme Reels: BPS ProQualifier or Johnny Morris (on sale) Line: Braid: TufLine; Fluro: Stren 100%, Mono:Big Game Soft Plastic: Gambler,Bitters, Attraxx HardPlastic: Rapala Jerks and Cranks, Heddon Spooks Terminal Tackle: LazerSharp; Alley's Tungsten

but it's at Holiday?? Yes, like in I'm not going to the Lake (as much as would have liked). Caught a zillion fish yesterday but found it hard to get quality

Water level at 11.50 and going south. Anyone run out of Harney recently? How about Sportsman's north out of Moorehaven or the Moorehaven canal north to the Box? I've got a 2 day coming up at Lakeport and we are trying to decide whether to launch from Harney, Okeetantie or Moorehaven

I know you are right about the Lake and I have been up there a lot and will be week after next up for 4 days. I've been so around fish but not on them there. Case in point, last Friday I run to a spot and on my tenth cast I practically choke an 8 with a Big EZ and a few minutes later shake off a 5, so I get the heck out of there. Run there first thing the first day of the T and nada. I'm getting ready to move inside a little bit and a shiner guide goes in there and all I'm hearing is laughing and screaming and picture taking of my fish from the day before LOL. This is not more than 50 yds away. Pretty much the same thing over at another spot near Ritta. It is driving me nuts!!!!!

Prepping for KOTG this weekend

What channel carried the coverage? Is there a re-run? I think FLW is on Versus and I'm sure there will be re-runs but can't say actual dates for sure

I do that with my 10-12" worm rig. I use 20-25#flouro with about an 18" leader and it works pretty good for me particularly in clearer water. My biggest fish at "O" have been caught dragging that rig around on hard bottoms

Watched the coverage of the tournament at Clewiston and a couple questions came out. They kept mentioning line choice as being 12# flourocarbon fishing even lures like the Big EZ. Only Brandon was shown using 80# braid. Am I crazy but it's hard to imagine anyone fishing heavy cover at Okeechobee fishing with 12# flouro. I fished with Glenn Browne on Thursday and Bobby Lane on Friday and they were braiding it all the way. I meant to ask Glenn what he was using with the Devil's Horse but I was too busy netting has 4s and 5s all day LOL. What do you all think if you saw the coverage?

Taking my grandson out to HP tomorrow and looking forward to a great day. I've catching lots of small ones out there but haven't found any 5s. Going to the Lake on Friday

I didn't say they were bad as a group and certainly, as you point out, there are many that have done quite well in overall competition. BTW, Miles "Sonar" is Gary Burghoff's son or relative. Gary played "Radar" on MASH, thus the play on the name. The thrust of my point, which perhaps I made inexpertly, was that it would be nice to spread the resources and pub over a broader scope of weekenders such as BFL-ers many of whom are also quite good and deserving too. I think they think they see a rich vein of marketing connection and identification with the colleges which may or not be real. Time will ell

I'm probably in the small minority on this but as to college fishing-I don't get it. It's basically taking some under-experienced people, putting some jerseys on them and selling it big time on FLW. It's week after week on FLW Outdoors and it's like being force-fed. I mean, couldn't the same promotional resources be thrown at BFLs or whatever Stren is called now? I understand it's a means to attract new blood to the sport but a resource spent here is one not spent there and it seems that the BFLs or even Bass Federation people should get some of the pie too. I'm not saying to can it just maybe help on the weekend warriors who are trying to move and deserve some exposure too. OK, go ahead and shoot me LOL

Ditto

It is a shame that happened to you but I am glad it hasn't soured you on the Lake and the Guide Service there at Roland's. They truly do have some world class guides who will teach you and respect your wishes as the paying customer. I'll echo what has been said:next time PM some of us and make suggestions or in some cases pull a string to get you situated.

The O is really good right now and should be good well into May and June. Only concern would be the water level. It just broke through below 12' yesterday and by May could be in the low 11s or worse with no rain. These numbers refer to feet above sea level not the lake level itself so 11s means very shallow in many places. You can run at these levels but you have to know what you are doing. As with Stick, a guide the first day might be a very good and in the long run less expensive idea than popping your lower unit and ruining the trip

Ha-meant small bags and big bags. I've been having the small bag blues LOL

My friend Greg Swinea and his partner Don Demott had 28 and finished 3rd-ouch!!! Tough track. There can be small differences in location between small bags and short bags and we were on the short end in the other club T out of Belle Glade on Sat. We saw people catching 3s and 4s all day about 100 yds away from us but couldn't get it going ourselves that way doing the same things. I talked to a top guide today and he told me about a place where if you stay put you catch nothing for 1-2 hrs then 5 to 7s for a half hour-on artificials

I was watching Roland's frog show from Leech Lake in Minnesota. It is striking how similar it is to our natural lakes down here in Florida. Yes, it's wild rice vs kissimmee grass but the mix of grasses, pads etc is so similar as are the fishing tactics for bass

Looking forward to it

Myself. I enter a lot of tournaments where basically I get my butt kicked but less so all the time and I'm doing a little more of the kicking all the time. It's the only way I know to improve is to put myself into that kind of situation and scare myself into getting better. I know that sounds kind of wacky but that is what has always worked for me in any other sport like golf

I have some out of town friends coming in and they want to fish. Logistically it makes the most sense to go to Lox but I haven't been there in a long time. Not looking for spots but maybe some general patterns and also where you can and can't go etc. For example, I have heard there were some barricades going north from the Lox ramp-are they still there?

Having trouble with heavier tests like 50# or higher which you need down here. By inserts I mean the rubber (or similar material) core

I get the above post and a lot of good points are made but I don't understand the comment about these guys coming "from money" and having privilege. There are some exceptions but most of these guys come from pretty normal (meaning not privileged or monied) backgrounds and had to scrimp, save and do without (and their families too) to get to the place they are. Takahiro living in a truck for six months comes to mind and he is not the only one. That is one of the reasons these guys are so relatable becuause they know where they came from and they don't forget it These guys fish and work fishing related activities much much more than 40 hrs a week. I'd say more like 70-80 hrs. Frankly, most people are not willing to pay the price (even if they got the benefit) to get what they have. I recently had the privilege of pre-fishing for three days prior to a tournament with an Elite-level pro and these are 14-15 hr days between preparation and actual time on the water. We were not the exception and maybe some people actually outworked us. It is a mistake to think that if I only spent time on the water, I would be like them. Same mistake aspiring golfers make: if I could play every day I'd be a pro. Well, what they don't see is time on the range hitting maybe 500+ balls a day working on one little thing, standing on a practice green rolling three foot putts until you make 100 in a row and if you only make 99 you start all over again. Time on the water does create knowledge but a lot of knowledge doesn't necessarily translate into success. It's a combination of knowledge, superior preparation, connecting all of the dots all of the time, all under the pressure of knowing you made a $10K bet that week that you would be better than anyone else. Not many people are wired that way even with money and opportunity.

Agree on that. Roland's is fine and clean. You should see if the trailers are available. They are clean and just marginally more expensive than the rooms but much more amenities. I stay about 30+ nights a year up there and no problems yet