FL Knifemaker

Nice Mudder! Years ago, I had a BIG one hit a spinnerbait on one of the very firsts casts during a tournament. I was SURE I had "big bass" of the day and I let my partner know that as I fought him to the boat.................... What a shocker when I finally got him in where I could see him >

Around Lakeland, where I've been fishing, I haven't noticed an unusual amount of dead tilapia. I've seen more dead Plecos than in years past though.

They were out in full force yesterday at Saddle Creak. They're great to eat but you gotta be good with a cast net. I've had them hit trickworms but usually they take off the other way

Ya.......while they were active, I didn't see the first big female bedding or swimming around. Maybe another week of 80's temps will bring the gals out.

My son swears by the bright trick worms, pink, yellow and white. He claims he can fish them better because he can see them better. I use the more natural colors, usually with some blue or red specs in it. We both fish them with no weight or sometimes a flippin hook if it's windy. He usually out fishes me with the bright colored ones I'm pretty sure he caught the fish in my avitar on a bright trickworm.

Everything was raisin HELL! When the tilapia and gars are jumping, it's ON!! I'm going to try and hit the pit again tomorrow, then Camp Mack or Walk in Water later in the week.

This is being discussed on two other forums I frequent.........and it's getting heated I'm going to get the 64GB, WiFi version. I have an iPhone and love the features, I just find it too small for any serious web browsing or overall functionality. I have a laptop but I hate trying to use it when I fly. IMHO, the iPad will do everything I need when I'm travelling or laying around the livingroom. I don't need a CD drive or an onboard keyboard. I would probably get the keyboard docking station to use in a hotel room. If the iPad will allow me to do Email, store photos while I travel and other simple, day to day tasks, it will work out perfectly for me.

Finally!! A few days in the low 80's is all it took. Everthing was bashing and crashing around, bass, tilapia, gars. It was crazy. I actually had a BIG tilapa jump and SLAM into the side of the boat! Fishing was like............look for the commotion on on the water and pitch a smoke colored craw in the middle of it and BAM!!! I caught about 20 fish, nothing big, the best being just under 3 lbs. After the cold winter and being skunked on several early outings, it was a good start.

Arrrrrrrrrgh!!!!! Those FRIGGIN Winterhaven streets > It's like a **** maze. I need to look on my map Maybe one day next week we can hook up over at Saddle Creek?? I'm self employed so any day the weather is right, I can go. It HAS to turn on over there sooner or later.

Where is Deer Lake? I fished Walk in Water yesterday and got skunked. The wind was blowing hard and forcing everyone to fish the east side of the lake. Then I got soaked putting the boat on the trailer as the wind was blowing RIGHT on the boat ramp. I should have gone on the Poker Run with my biker buddies, would have had lot more fun

I'm not sure where that ramp is. Coming in from 92 you'll go over the tunnel, just past that, there's a very shallow channel on the right. That channel, I believe is the only way to access the water beyond it. There's a long finger where people drive their cars out on and fish......Just past that is where the good areas are. If there's a ramp that allows access to that area, I don't know of it, I'll need to drive around and look. I haven't seen any bassboats out there though.

YES!! Put the canoe in the back area where no one can get to from the boat ramps. If you drive in from 92 the area is on the right, towards the back of the park. Once you're there you'll see that no one with a regular boat can get into that area becuase the water is still too low. I'd pitch and flip around the cover and look for beds.

Not exactly in Winterhaven but I fished Saddle Creek over the weekend. It was DEAD Hopefully things will be better this weekend.

Very nice!!

Dale's death marked the end of the sport for me. That's exactly how my wife feels and we used to go to 3-4 races every year. Now, she won't even watch it on TV anymore. It will be interesting to see the attendance at the Bristol night race. Most of my friends that are race fans are feeling the economic pinch and staying home. I put 90% of the blame on the ecomony and 10% on NASCAR's rule changes and BS.

I fished Saddle Creek Park on sunday. It's located on Rt 92 between Lakeland and Auburndale. 2 dinks, all day. I saw NO fish on beds. This is the worst fishing I've EVER experienced in Florida. I hope they wake up soon

That looks NICE!!

Any pond has potential. Just beware of the gators. There's nothing quite like walking through the tall grass and almost stepping on one :-?

Ya!! You should see the other ones

I like it! I never fished a PVC bait. I would ASSume they are more dense than balsa?

I'm really diggin these. Marty does a beautiful job on them. I took a bunch of photos today but these are the only ones that I was happy with. I spend a lot of time photographing the knives I make and have that process down pretty well. These shiney baits with their clear coating are HARD to photograph! I'll take more and hopefully some better photos of the other ones over the weekend. This is a baby tilapa I requested.

Mine arrived today and I couldn't be happier. Marty really does one hell of a job with these.........A TRUE craftsman. I can't wait to take them out on the water. I'm going to take some photos ASAP and post them. Thanks again Marty!!

I fished Lake Parker yesterday. I got SKUNKED on the main lake early. None of my usual early season spots showed ANY sign of life. No beds spotted, NOTHING Around 11, I headed up the canal to Crago. No sign of spawners. The only thing I could manage was 2 dinks on trick worms.

Thanks for the report! I have to stay sort of close to home this weekend so I'm hitting Lake Parker here in Lakeland tomorrow. I hope they're just as active as on the K Chain!!

Oakley has a similar "rule" My lensgrinder is happy to make mine in any shade, tint, polarized or not for 65 bucks a pair Honesly, I don't even notice the Oakley coating not being on them. That stuff scratches almost instantly anyway.