Borderline11

I just purchased the Echomap 74sv UHD unit. Cabelas has it on sale for $400 off but not sure if they even have it in stock. But I found out that a West Marine close by did and they price matched for me. I've also been told that WM's warranty service is great.

This was actually a birthday gift from the gf - a little warm weather getaway for a weekend and the chance to fish toho. Granted weather.com is still saying 68 degrees so not all that warm. Anyhow, no shot at changing the timing. It seems like we'll be up against some tough conditions. Is there any sort of frog bite with the cold weather? Do you think it'd be worth chucking some top water through those pad fields, or will everything be hunkered down? Would switching to shiners give us a better shot? I do enjoy bowling though...

I'm actually headed down to FL to fish Toho on Saturday. But it looks like a cold front will be pushing through on Thursday, dropping temps from 80+ to around 68 degrees. Just how tough do you guys think the bite will be and any recommendations on bait/tackle to pack?

My girlfriends family has a house on a private lake in PA. It's paddle/sail only and some of the best fishing I've ever experienced...in the northeast.

I found a quantum smoke on sale, but they only had the floor model left. When they went to find the box, they couldn't locate the side knob so they sold the reel to me for $30. The side know cost me 2 bucks from quantum. Can't beat that.

Jumping in on this coversation - I'm also supposed to be heading down to the orlando area for a weekend in late Feb (26-28). My girlfriend surprised me with a quick getaway to escape the cold and do some fishing for my bday. She actually did research and decided on Toho all on her own! Anyhow, I think we're going to bring some travel rods to do a little fishing on our own where possible, as well as lock up a guide trip. I've done shiner trips to FL before, and I know how fun they can be. She's a bit more apprehensive about using live bait and would prefer to use artificials. Hates the idea of having to kill something. Being that she paid for the trip, I'm trying to appease her. So there's two things - any tackle recommendations for that time of year in Fl? I will bring a limited supply of gear, so I just want to know where to focus when packing. Two baits that she has built a little confidence in are senkos and jerkbaits. I was thinking of bringing some top water as well, but want to hear your thoughts. Also, anyone have a reco for a guide on Toho, that would be able to provide experience with fishing both shiners and artificial? This is her first 'fishing trip' so I want to ensure that she has a good time and gets into some fish. Thanks guys!

I'm a NJ / PA Guy, but have been down to fish Florida several times. Typically I head down for a few days with a guide, but I always bring a travel setup with me so that I can pond hop around Orlando before my flight out on the last day. I was shocked by how many ponds in industrial areas had gators in them. Almost all wanted nothing to do with me and would try to distance themselves. Echoing what others had already said, snakes were my greater concern which is why I picked up a pair of bite guards to wear over my boots. I actually was chased out of a grassy area by what looked like a sizeable one. Knowing what I do about snakes I doubt he was actually trying to attack me, but he was moving in my direction in a hurry, so I high tailed it out of there. I did have a large gator surface no more than 30 or 40 feet from me and start gurgling when I was in a 14ft john boat that made me a little uncomfortable. I kindly tipped my hat to the big fella and continued on my way.

My brother and I do some fairly serious pond hopping and his PR, prior to us making yearly migrations to FL, was a 6lb fish he pulled out of a small pond no more than 50 yards wide at any point. It's fairly off the beaten path and I'm not sure anyone else even knows it exists, which is d**n near impossible in NJ. It would probably take you no more than 2-3 minutes to walk completely around, but has a great population of bait fish. They're there.

I found a pond in my area that's fed by a warm water spring - pumping in 52-58 degree water into the body of water year round. Even now, with snow on the ground and hard water everywhere else, this small lake (15 acres) is completely open. Air temps are in the 20's. Might make the hike to it tomorrow and wet a line. I'll probably keep it simple - senkos, jigs, & jerkbaits. Any other recommendations? The water is rectangular, running east to west, with the spring being in the south west corner of the lake. The south shoreline follows the bottom of a small mountainside with heavy tree cover, so it doesn't get any sun. Do you think I should focus on the spring location or hit the sun lit norther shore?

I may have to go back and pick up a few more baitcasting rods if these sales are still going on. I made out like a bandit a few weeks back - was able to scoop up about $680 worth of stuff for $202. However, one of the reels I bought, the quantum energy baitcaster was damaged. I had to send the reel back to quantum for service and instead of fixing the one I sent in, they opted to just send me 2(!) of the 2015 models. That ups the total to over $840ish worth of gear for $202. I still can't believe it. Kind of mind boggling. Biggest problem is I now have two quantum energy E100HPT's in 7.0.1 and shimano curado 200G6 in 6.5.1 without rods. Any suggestions on what I should pair these to and for what purpose? Was going to use one of the energy's for flipping and pitching on a H XF rod.

The one dream that always stands out to me... My bother and I were fishing in this big pond in front of my dad's old work building from a red and black bass boat (that we don't own and the pond doesn't exist in real life, it's just a big lawn with a drainage ditch). I was throwing a crank bait and hook into a monster. I'm talking WR for sure. The bass was well over 3 ft long, had a mouth as big as a basketball, and a belly like it swallowed a potato sack. Huge! Like grouper big. I'm as excited as can be, knowing what's on the other end of the line. So I'm fighting this thing in for what seems like an eternity and my brother decides he's going to reposition the boat to help me instead of grabbing the net. He has a total brain fart and steers the trolling motor right over the line. SNAP! As he's bent over in disbelief at the front of the boat, I kick him in square in the ass overboard. I then grab every rod and piece of tackle on the boat and throw it in as well. The dream always ends with me flipping him the bird over my shoulder as I throttle out of there. I'm not positive, but I feel like there's a life metaphor in there somewhere. The first time I had the dream, I woke up genuinely mad. Didn't talk to him for two days haha.

I'm thinking about taking a little southern adventure to the Ocala area to do some bass fishing right after Christmas and was wondering if any of you guys know of lakes or parks that offer boat rentals.

Well.... I ended up going back to find a couple more deals, and found a whole lot of those 'can't walk away' situations. Total damage: (1) Quantum Energy PT Baitcaster - $159.95 sticker, bought for $42.76 (1) Shimano Curado G - $159.99 sticker, bought for $42.78 (1) Shimano Crucial Rod - $159.99 sticker, bought for $42.48 (2) Pflueger Supreme Spinning Reels - $99.99 sticker each, bought for $37.48 each - Giving one to my old man for Xmas That's $679.91 worth of stuff...for $202.98! I know the sticker prices don't mean much at this point, but I'm extremely pleased. Don't need to 'stock up' on gear for a little while. Only issue is that the line feed on the quantum doesn't work, so I'll need to send that in for service, which i'm more than okay with. Hopefully it's not too much of a hassle. Woohoo...thanks again guys!

I read this post on my way home from work and ran over to the local dicks a couple minutes before closing to see if I could score a deal myself. Found a quantum energy pt bait caster, originally stickered at 190, on sale for a 100. Asked the guy in the fishing dept to run the sku for me and he said the price is already clearly marked. Asked him to check it again. The guy just looked at me when he checked the gun and asked..'how the h3ll did you know that?' Walked out with the reel for less than $40.... I may have ran to my car. Thanks guys!!

I don't think lake Galena is impacted very much from a temperature standpoint. It's an odd lake to begin with. I grew up about 10 minutes away and fished it often, always from shore. It can be a tough lake to figure out, but may be more manageable if you're fishing from a boat. I've pulled some decent fish out, but there's a 'banned' area, where boats can't enter and you're not permitted to fish in. Of course, it's this area of the lake where there's ton of cover with lay downs and pads and visible weed lines. Just looks like a fishing paradise. I actually struck up a conversation with someone while fishing at Nox a few years ago who mentioned there was a warm water discharge pond somewhere near quakertown that was teaming with big fish. I have no reason to doubt him, as he pulled out his iphone and showed me a picture of a pig that hit 8lbs on his digital scale. He didn't mention the exact location, and I'm not one to pry about other peoples honey holes, but I will admit to spending more than a few hours scrolling through google maps to find it. No luck as of yet.

Also...any of you fish or hear anything about Lake Fontana?

Thanks for all of the advice guys! This has almost become frustrating - there's just too many choices. Jocassse, Keowee and Toxaway look like they would be amazing but a 12 hr drive seems like a bit much for a long weekend. I was able to find an incredible rental property on Lake James that would fit us all pretty comfortably. Have any of you fished the lake? Any insights? What's your approach? I know that there seems to be a solid mix of LM and SM, but is it a quantity vs quality lake? Is it an artificials lake, shiners, etc? I really appreciate the help guys!

Hey guys, was hoping for a little advice. A friend of mine is getting married in the near future and I'm trying to help setup a bachelor party for the first weekend of March (I know, quick turnaround). He's more of the outdoorsman type like myself, and I don't think he'd enjoy the strippers/vegas scene as much as some. We're from PA and we're working with a limited budget for a few of the guys, so we can't do anything too crazy. I was thinking of renting a house in the Carolina's on a lake, probably a boat as well. Any recommendations or previous experiences would be much appreciated! I've heard Lake Jocassee is awesome (not sure about the bass fishing) and would be a great spot for a little man retreat. I'd like to stay down in the Carolinas to try to get away from the cold a bit. If driveable, even better. Any spots in North Carolina where we could get off of the grid and hook into some decent fish? (Again, budget needs to be reasonable, so King Fisher while a dream, would probably be unlikely). Thanks! Bryan

Couldn't agree more. It gave me a few hours on the water with the old man.

I have an uncle who is fortunate enough to have a boat that he uses on the Delaware. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to get out with him yet, but he has hooked into some ridiculous stripers all through the tidal area of the Delaware. He was the one who originally tipped me off to that little pond, which I think is actually quite a few acres. He's told me that he has put together a few nice stringers by getting in and fishing that water when it's been land locked. I'm hoping to get over there and fish it this year. I was able to get home this past weekend so my father and I got out for a few hours to a nearby neighborhood pond that I've done fairly well at in the past. It's completely unpressured as it's literally in the middle of a neighborhood, never having seen anyone even try to fish it, and was able to pluck a 3.5lber out of it earlier this year. We got nothing. Not a single bite. We bumped spinner baits along the bottom, threw suspending jerk baits, slow work jigs and carolina rigged worms. We slowed down to the point where it seemed like our retrieves were taking 3-5 minutes even. We through the entire color spectrum at 'em, tandem casted and chased each others lures in, etc. Not a thing. We couldn't catch the bite if it bit us in the ass. I heard it may be a cold weekend so layer up man and definitely let us know how you make out. Just a little side note that I thought was interesting while looking into this more...there used to be a little amusement park on burlington island in the early 1900's. Two fires eventually destroyed the entire park, all for except a carousel, which was sold and relocated to the casino pier in Seaside Heights. The carousel continued to function in original condition until this year when Hurricane Sandy decimated the beach. It was on the same pier as that of the roller coaster that went for a swim.

Fishing on the delaware has always been so hit or miss for me. I mostly shore fish and I've had most of my luck fishing little inlets and what not where the water tends to slow down and I can locate a deep pocket. I've had days up on the wing d**n when the fish were schooling where I was just killing it, and others where no matter how I threw everything I had, I couldn't get a bite. I would definitely try the cove where you've pulled fish before, as well as the rip rap WRB was saying. Quick question - have you ever been able to get onto bristol island and fish the pond that's land locked in the middle? It's been on my list of places to try ever since I saw it on a map. I'd love to paddle my kayak over and drop it in there when the water is low.

I'm a nothern (PA) bass guy. Brother and I have recently become slightly maniacal with chasing our personal records. I live and work in NYC, while he works and lives in NJ. Even now, in the dead of winter, we're still planning our every bass fishing move - between targeting certain lakes and ponds in and around the tri-state area, or planning our next great southern adventure (we'd love some recommendations!). Any how, we were raised on pond fishing. Our dad always enjoyed fishing, taught us everything he knew (we're now returning the favor), and we spent many of weekends shore fishing at small industrial type ponds, the types that are 2-3 acres at most. These were the types of properties where we could easily isolate certain buried structures and be able to fish to whatever target zones we thought might hold some bucketmouths. I've always found that you really need to do a thorough analysis of what type of pond you're working with, without disturbing whats hanging below the surface. I'll walk a little ways around the pond, just sort of feeling out what type of shorelines the place offers. Are there a lot of frogs, do you see a lot of feeder fish, what type of slope is there to the shoreline, how much coverage is there, etc, etc. This quick analysis usually goes a long ways to determining what I'm going to present that day. I have a few ponds within just a few miles of each other, and I've literally been able to concentrate the bass bites down to a handful of lures at each location, with each being different. If i can sight fish, i'll try to throw some plastic options as slowly as i can using a microlite setup, making it dance alot without ever going very far. If sight fishing isn't an option I'll slowly work some jerkbaits in some natural colors - something with an integrated rattle or some other sort of irritant. Truth be told, there are even times I'll throw live bait out there, even in this cold. Basically...just try to throw as much as you can until you find they start biting with some consistency. My father once told me fishing is a lucky mans game....I've since proved him wrong. Fishing with luck will feel good, fishing with knowledge will catch better.

Up here in PA, its common to submerge old christmas trees with the help of some cinderblocks.

My brother and I made a spontaneous decision to drive from our parents house in PA to Georgia the day after christmas to do some bass fishing as we both had the week off. We made arrangements to fish at a place called Little River Plantation, not far from where we were staying in Tifton. The place is a 20k acre private hunting preserve with apparently some world class quail hunting, but we were just looking to do a little fishing. There was some miscommunication on our end and when we arrived on Tues, we were told they were planning on us coming on Thursday and weren't really ready for us to go out. We didn't mind as we heard of a place called the Paradise Public Fishing Area that apparently holds some big fish and just figured we'd come back in two days. Any how, as we're driving down the road, the gentleman who runs LRP chased us down and apologized, realizing that we just drove 17 hrs to go fishing, and happily put us on two of his lakes with ample shore fishing. At this point, we're both ecstatic and get to the flicking and dipping quick. We start reeling em in! I have a brief moment of hysteria/exhaustion at mid day, where it seemed like I was loopy or drunk from not sleeping in two days, and sort of hit a rut. My brother, being the great older brother and fishing partner that he is, points out an area that he seemed positive would be holding fish and told me to give it a go. I notice a submerged log maybe ten feet down (clarity was excellent) and drop a carolina rigged 10" worm to the bottom and slowly pop it along the length of the tree. It only took four or five twitches for my PB to smash the worm and go on a run. My reel started screaming as I was using my micro setup (small garcia on a 5' rod) and it got to the point where I literally couldn't get so much as an inch of line in. I end up grabbing the reel with my left hand in between spins to stop the fish from pulling more line out. This fight goes on for what felt like several minutes, where I'm screaming for my brothers help, as I'm almost positive my rod was about to snap. He comes running over and immediately asks how in the world I got stuck on the submerged tree just when the bucket mouth girl breaks the surface. At which point he's as giddy as I am and we're both sort of doing what must have looked like some kind of irish jig dance as we angle this thing to the shore. Eventually I'm able to lip her, which leads to more high fives, chest bumps, strange celebratory noises and finally some pictures. Being from PA, I view anything over 4lbs as a big fish, and while we didn't have a scale to put an exact weight on it, I knew it was easily my biggest LM! We came back to LRP on Thursday and had ourselves a 30 fish day, but none topping that big girl. It was the perfect vacation and what will probably become an annual tradition for my brother and I. Here's a pic of my PB!

While I haven't personally kept any fish I've ever caught, I've made the decision that I will take a few home this year and try to cook a bit. There are a few bodies of water that I fish pretty hard (but few others even know they exist) where I've found that there is an abundance of fish in the 1-2 lb range. Unfortunately, there is a limited number of fish larger than that. Some of the older fish are starting to have the enlarged head appearance, which I suspect is the result of a lack of nutrition. Others just seem thin bodied, lacking the full, round belly. These smaller bass have limited the food source, restricting the overall growth potential of the entire fish population. A food source is not my motivation, cultivating the body of water to produce healthier, larger fish is. I don't have the resources to stock the properties with feeder trout , so I'm thinking that I may be able to encourage greater growth potentials by lessening the competition for food.