james 14

Have one. Used it twice. Only had one about rip the rod out of my hands but missed the hook. Caught ZIP. I probably won't use it much until after spawn when the water temps hit 70 and we start getting the early morning shad spawns. After that I may pull it over deep structure when the bass are in a summer pattern...this is where I think it'll be most effective for me - a situation where the bass are holding in schools in one place. Time will tell. At this point I don't see it as such a big deal. We'll see once the FLW and Bassmaster series get started if it wins every tourney. I bet it wins no more than two for either trail.

It also depends on the pan you're using. I have to go WAY lower since going with stainless, all clad pans. Pan frying as opposed to deep frying leaves a sear on the bottom so your heat level will depend on the cooking time required and type of pan used as a stainless pan requires waiting until the meat "releases" from the pan surface to acheive the best sear and flavor level...and to avoid tearing the meat off the pan when you turn it. It tastes GREAT but requires some trial to get it right. With a teflon coated pan you've got a lot more room for error but may not get the same sear. A temp probe will be the only way to get the oil as hot as you can without reaching the burn point of the oil. If you don't have one and don't feel like getting one I'd do what others suggested and stick to 6 or 7. Eyeball it so you only have to turn it once while giving each side equal cooking time. After a couple rounds of doing it you should be able to write down the stove setting and how long you cooked it on each side to get it right from then on.

I've read more than one article stating that its not the female's choice but the male's. The male creates the bed and then moves out to find a female and push her back to his bed. Maybe he picks the big ones first because "bigger is better" or maybe he picks the first one he runs into that's suitable. I have no idea if this is all true or not. The same articles also said that not every female will get picked and will end up not spawning at all.

Even if you're dropshotting over a midlake dropoff

Its all about water temp with a little moon and length of daylight thrown in. Optimum water temps are 63-65 degrees, however, bass will spawn at higher or lower temps. There are a LOT of articles online if you do a Google search. Generally, once they get started they'll keep going until they're all done with a few breaks thrown in for the occasional cold front.

<p style="margin-left: 40px">Always think about what the mat is giving the fish and look for things that meet that same need. It's basically blanket over the water. A lot of times when you have a mat on top you have very thick vegetation underneath it. Some might disagree and I'm sure its not always true but I think the fish would want a little more room. They certainly won't sit with their eyes covered up. The ideal situation would be a mat of hyacynths on top that leave open water underneath. The mat provides a good blanket while allow the bass to see and "hear" without the wad of grass all around them.</p>

It really depends on the body of water I'm fishing. I have a tendency to move a little bit more but that's only because I'm looking for a pattern that's putting consistent fish in the boat. The hard part for me is being able to figure out when a certain day or time is going to be a grind...and then grinding. There's always a limit of fish to be caught somewhere doing something...and usually in FL that's a 15-20lb limit. Its hard to "grind" when it only puts 3 dinks in the boat all day long. I won a tourney just this Fall when everyone else struggled to catch fish and we caught 20lbs. 2nd place had 7. I don't really want to pigeon hole myself into one or the other. I can tell you I'd rather be casting and cranking or flipping than bouncing a shaky head or dropshot any day of the week and if I can catch them doing that I'm going to have a very good day.

It was last year on Cataouatche using crankbaits through a stumpfield. He never did say how many he lost but I imagine there's a small fortune of chartreuse KVD 1.5s in that NW cove. No big deal since he probably didn't pay for them anyways. Back to the OP. I think its been said enough...set the hook on anything that feels different. I set on a fish last year when bed fishing at night. I don't remember feeling anything at all...just had a strange sense that he had the bait.

Do a search for last year's FLW tournament on Lake O in January. It was a mat flipping parade with 8 foot rods resembling broomsticks and 80lb braid. They set the 4 day record with 106lbs. If I remember correctly the conditions were post front. Check the FLW site as I'm sure they'll have a complete run down that should help you out. Sounds like a good idea to me. I really can't say either way. I'm sure it doesn't help the situation when they feel that heavy weight but you can't catch them if the bait doesn't get down to them. Something I wanted to experiment this year was flipping with a heavy duty drop shot type rig. I would leave 4-5" of tag after tying my palomar knot and connect a heavy weight to the tag end. When the bait hits the bottom it sits a little more naturally in the water and right at eye level with the bass. Then you can jiggle it in place much easier and subtler than hopping a ounce+ weight. This would also alleviate most concerns with the fish feeling the weight in their mouth. Also, once you get the feel for the technique you won't be giving the fish much time to spit the lure out before you set the hook.

Bass holing up under grass mats is usually something they do after a good front moves through and usually once they've begun the spawning sequence. Earlier last week was a good example of such a front but I'm not sure if they would've started spawing yet where you're fishing. If they haven't you'll probably find more fish in deeper water (not sure that's possible in the canals?). Picture this: The fish is on bed and a big front moves through. Since the urge to spawn has been set in that fish's mind they're not going to move out very far if they don't have to. This is when they hole up in the nearest clump of thickness with a prime target being matted vegetation on top of the water. Now look at it the opposite way. If they're not spawning their first inclination is to always move to deeper water so flipping grass mats doesn't make much sense. But again, it depends on the body of water you're fishing. Looking at your narrow canal I'd focus my attempts in the middle where the deepest water is most likely to be. There also may be a spot on the canal that has some change in contour. It may be a turn, a wider section, a spot with deeper water (even if only a foot), or anything that gives the bass something else to relate to. If the entire thing is, indeed, matted over with vegetation you may have few other options besides flipping. Technique-wise: I find that nearly all my bites come on the fall and for this reason I try to use as light a weight as I can get away with. Sometimes you need that 1oz weight but other times you can get away with something much lighter. This isn't usually the case when punching through grass mats...you need weight. In cold or post-front conditions it may take a couple hops off the bottom and allowing the bait to sit still for a couple seconds to entice a strike.

Ice, rejuvinade and h2o2 shouldn't be necessary for a 20 minute trip...especially if the water temp isn't above 75* or so. Once the temp goes up the oxygen goes down. Be mindful of the number of fish you have as well as that decreases oxygen. I use a 120qt cooler as my livewell and I don't like to put more than 6-7 fish in it depending on size. We put two limits in it during a tourney this fall...probably 30-35lbs of fish and they started dying. We promptly took the time to stop and let all of our culls out and will always perform our culls immediately after the 6th fish in the future. You'll also have to factor in how much time the fish will be sitting while you catch them before you make the trip to the other lake. I suspect this will be much more than 20 minutes. If you can exchange the water in your tubs a time or two with fresh lake water while fishing you (or the fish actually) should be fine. A little ice wouldn't hurt in this case. If nothing else it make them a little more lethargic and less likely to jump out on you. Just don't overdo it. The most important question, however, would be - Why no fish fry?!

A healthy 23" fish is around 7lbs. A spawning 23" fish could be close to 9 or more. A skinny one like that is probably around 5.5. I've had a few "big fish" weighed for tournaments that were in that size range come out to only 5.5lbs. They looked skinny like that one. Still a nice fish. Just cause he wasn't engourged enough to weigh 3lbs more doesn't mean he's any less of a fish...unless of course you were in a tourney

Actually we're coming up on a full moon which will surely bring some spawners up as we warm this weekend. This is an interesting and potentially very tough time of the year bass fishing...especially in FL. The fish could be spawning one day and then suspended in open water the next. Some lakes are worse/better than others. We have a couple deep, clear water lakes that hold very few shoreline fish except for the spawn and fall schooling periods. Combine that with little offshore structure and you have a recipe for boredom unless you're really good with your electronics and running and gunning...then it can be exciting. Move on over to one of our many shallow, stained water lakes with plenty of shallow hydrilla, lily pads and "kissimmee" grass and nearly every bass in the lake will be 4ft or less regardless of the weather. This is a very important time of year to keep good notes on weather, water temp, date and moon phase when you fish. The various scenarios are seemingly endless so it helps to look back on past experiences to determine what you need to do on any given day.

Thanks for the info. I have considered a flats boat or an intercostal model like some bass boat companies make but there are far fewer of them out there for sale used compared to bass boats. I'm talking about maybe 3-4 days per year while running the OB for most of it. If I stopped it would be to pull up to an island and spend some time on the beach. Where I live there is a river that exits into the bay and I would put in at the river about 5-6 miles inland. This would prevent salt water on the trailer and give the boat and OB a good wash down while coming in. I would promptly spray down the inside as well and probably even keep several gallons of fresh water on the boat just for washing off feet and wiping down on the ride back down the river. I'm not sure if I can be meticulous enough or not to prevent corrosion but I would give it my very best.

I saw some spawners in Dec when the water had gotten down into the 60s and down in Okeechobee they apparently can start as early as October. I'm no scientist but I think they wait for some kind cold snap to come through and then start after it warms back up. For instance, this cold weather we have right now should turn into spawning weather as we warm back up over the next week. I haven't been out to see what the water temps are right now but they'd have to be in the 50s with two days of low 50 highs and 20 lows. I had the same question this year since its the first time I had spent much time on the water in Dec. I'm usually in a deer stand.

Old post I know but being in LOL I'm curious if the credit union you were looking at is Suncoast and who you ended up using. They offering 7.9% right now I just can't come to terms with financing at that rate and I really don't want to do 10 years even though I'd plan on having the boat for longer than that. I check Bank of America and their's was around 5% but still... I'm thinking I'm gonna set about 10k aside and pay cash for a late 90s model bass boat. That idea might change when I start seriously looking but its my current plan. I can fish another year out of the jon boat and pay cash in a year. The truck will be paid off (0%) this year and that money will go into the boat fund.

Another inexpensive and lightweight option for framing would be aluminum studs used for screened rooms. I used PT 2x4s on my front deck before I thought of this idea and wish I would've been a little quicker. I might could've even laid them out side by side to create the full deck supported on the sides and ends by angle alum. Not sure how I would've cut out a door for my dry storage though. On the floor in the middle I used regular 3/8" ply treated with sealer laid across the stringers with a couple PT stips laid lengthwise to fill in the gaps. I carpeted the underside of each strip to keep them from making noise when I stepped. It wasn't that heavy and its rock solid. I lost maybe 1 mph off my top speed after the floor.

Are you planning on adding a deck or floor? Or buying it with a floor? Many jons come with the bare bottom leaving the stringers exposed. I bought a Lowe 1236 for less than $700 new and added a wood floor and front deck with carpet. The carpet looks good and I have a few tips to make it look good and hold up well if you want. With a 15hp motor I can still run 25mph by myself and it'll plane out with me, a friend and a livewell (modified cooler) full of fish. We aren't heavy guys by any means but it'll still plane and run over 20 with 400lbs of "person" inside plus battery, 6 gal gas tank, tackle and TM. I really like the carpet and it makes a world of difference with the level of comfort in the boat...its just not friendly to treble hooks There are also a few spray-in options if you have an aluminum floor.

I've been blessed to have a wife who enjoys boats and being on the water. The caveat, however, is that she likes big water and big boats. I've fished out of jon boats for a good portion of my life and am in the position where I can move up to a decent sized bass boat...especially if I look used. I actually have my eyes on 20+ft Stratos and a Ranger which would be a leap and a jump ahead of anything I've ever fished out of. I could actually make do with something smaller but I want to be sure whatever I get could handle the occassional trip out into the bay (Tampa Bay). I'm familiar with the precautions needed for traveling into the salt but what I'm not familiar with is the ability of these boats to handle riding around in the bay or possibly even the gulf side on select days. I'm not looking to make this a weekly endeavor and I'm not even looking to fish in the salt at this time (although I wouldn't be against running the flats for snook and reds if I learned how to do it well). I just want to be able to head out in the big water on most days without putting my family in fear for their lives. I have virtually zero experience here but the bay isn't much bigger than some of the lakes I've fished so I'm thinking I'll be ok with the boats I'm looking at. Compared to my 12ft jon they look like barges. I've also thought about getting a flats boat but their not as available in the used market and don't look much different than a bass boat. I'm not sure if they're built any differently to handle rougher water or if they're pretty much an uncarpeted bass boat. Plus I'd really rather have a bass boat since I'll be in fresh over 95% of the time. Any thoughts? Advice?

2011: Won my first tournament and took 2 out of 5 this year. Caught my first 20lb stringer in a tourney...twice. Won a tourney on crankbaits...never used them much before this year. 2012: Win at least 3 tourneys including the club classic in March $$$ Catch 20lb stringers in every tourney (gotta aim high...I do live in FL after all) Definitely want to catch a limit in every tourney Buy a bigger boat. Got my eye on a few 20ft mid/late 90s Stratos and Rangers for less than 10k. Get my wife to catch her first fish.

I won't say that I haven't fallen out before But it was only once and wasn't even in this boat. I thought I was turning the handle in reverse and instead went forward as I came sharply around a fenceline in the water. The initial thrust didn't throw me out but the resulting rush of water over the side and sloshing across the other side did. This was in a smaller jon than I have now. I really need a bigger boat.

I'll second the "buy as big as you can afford" suggestions. I currently run a 50lb MK on my 1236 jon boat and its "just right". I'm looking to buy a bass boat in the next year and it will more than likely be getting a 100+ if it doesn't come with it already.