flyfishman

Congrats to you both, Dad for thinking about the snag-resistant qualities to give it a try and son for disregarding the "girlie" color. Great story and memories you both won't forget. Don't be surprised if pink becomes his favorite color, lol. Good luck on your future outings and enjoy your time together.

Here's a photo of my personal smallest, a Brook Silverside that "hit" a Tennessee Shad Strike King 1.5 this past week in a Jacksonville business park retention pond. Very surprised to see that it wasn't weeds attached to the front treble. Fish was hooked through gill plate, so apparently was intent on doing some damage to its intended prey....

Kevin, Hope you can find the time to fish between farming chores. You're already far and away in front of the typical kid nowadays in building life skills and values. God Bless and good luck to you.

Great catch! At least you'll have the water to yourself. Let them sit around and play video games while you fish you just have to get good at taking selfies with the camera.

Don't know what you have in mind, but tackle warehouse carries a varied assortment. Here's a link: http://www.***.com/Drop_Shot_Weights/catpage-TTDSW.html

The old Ambassadeurs are a pleasure to clean and lube. No springs to pop out or off during disassembly. The spool would probably whine if you don't use brake blocks on the spool ends. Check youtube videos to show you how to disassemble the reel. I've been using two 5000C's for almost 40 years and still use the original fiber brake blocks that came with the reels. Tried small blocks and the original ones too, the spool is a tad noisier with the small blocks installed. Abu used to include extra blocks with the reels. Just use a couple of light drops of oil on the level wind pawl and keep the accumulation of weed/algae slime off that worm gear and it will last forever with just a little care. A little light grease on the inner gear cogs and brass pinion gear is all you need, no need to pack anything with grease. Congrats, and enjoy using your vintage purchase.

Great catch. I'm guessing close to 8 lbs. also. Nice healthy looking fish.

Way to go Joe ! Congrats. A couple suggestions to help cross a few "to-do's" off the list: First, take a nice scenic drive into Washington County and wade or canoe fish along the C & O Canal. Those same type of largemouth jigs will work on the smallies too. You'll also catch plenty of smallmouths using 3" Yamamoto grubs on 1/8 oz. or 1/16 oz. jig hooks w/plastic or fiber weedguards. Try gray/smoke or pumpkin crawfish colors. I've also had great success using rooster tail spinners in the 1/8 oz. size and the 1/4 oz. size will help keep the bigger ones hooked up. A small quality ball bearing snap swivel is a must with the spinners. There are tiger muskies along the Upper Potomac and don't be surprised if you hook one....Snyder's Landing, Taylor's Landing and Dam #4 are some areas where wade fishing is best at acceptable water levels. Try prop baits or Heddon Pop-R's in the low light periods and prepare for some exciting topwater action. Don't be concerned about losing a few lures and take a few extras. A big tackle box in not needed. A light spinning rod with good abrasion resistant 6 or 8 lb. mono is a good choice. The big bass lie in wait along the deep pools and hang around those rock ledges. Wear felt soled wading shoes or grippy canvas sneakers to help avoid the inevitable slip between the ledges. Be careful, good luck and have fun.

AK: for what its worth, those graphite composite spinning reel seat stems flex big time while under a strong fish fighting load. Those reels are more suited to finesse tactics with light weight braid and light drag settings. I've had good luck with 10lb Spiderwire stealth braid on an inexpensive Shimano Sienna 2500. That line is tough to break, confident it would land those large fish but I use light drag settings. Use the baitcasting gear better suited to heavier braid if you want to pressure 'em and move 'em from cover. See you out there.

I've watched 'em jumping at just about dark the last couple of weeks on the smaller ponds I've been fishing and believe they are feeding on those white moths that skitter around on the surface. Those bass are leaping to catch the ones that hover a foot or more above the surface. I've seen 'em jump to catch swarms of mosquitos too. I've caught bass using my moth and mosquito flies, real simple imitations. Have seen a bunch of those three pounders taking advantage of the insect activity. Check the surface area for small flying insects in those canals next time. If under overhanging trees they'll feed on other assorted insects. Try a small light colored. belly Pop'r next time you see 'em jumping. Good luck. Those surface feeders can be as selective as trout sometimes....

Yeah they are nice fish.

Frustrated with the cooler weather? I'm sure its not as cool here in NE Florida as in Mass., tugsandpulls, but upper 30's for the lows. Today's catch from a local southside pond at 1:30 pm on a 1/8 oz. weighted green Zoom lizard: 6 pounds on the Boga Grip, 22 1/4 inches. Released as always...

Thanks for the reply AK-NJ1986, I usually don't fish midday, but wouldn't at a high visible property like the Mayo Clinic....It may be hit or miss with seeing security or maybe depends if someone complains that particular day about someone fishing there. Some of the those gated communities may have a resident list at the front gate with an associated address, might be tough to put 2 and 2 together....I guess you've been lucky so far...

Tightlines, referring to the area at 9A/Beach Blvd, between Beach Blvd and Central Parkway...didn't know whether they are considered UNF lakes and/or subject to restrictions.

Greetings fellow Jax bassers. New to the forum and area, any news on the Beach Blvd. small business park lakes? Went to Deerwood/Baymeadows area a couple weeks ago fishing one of the small ponds off Phillips Hwy and was run off by a contract security guard working the complex there. He said all of Deerwood Park is off limits....was hoping to find a more out of the way, less visible type of lake with decent bank access. I've heard the UNF lakes hold an occasional lunker, others have tried the Mayo Clinic...thinking that would be good before the heavy algae starts to appear. Does the Mayo Clinic have any restrictions, or has anyone had an issues with fishing the grounds there? Tight lines, sharp hooks and releasing the lunkers....

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll first hit some of the ponds off Bartram Park since it is closer to my house as well. Hopefully this cloudy weather will stir things up.

I'm also new to the Jacksonville area...Looking for some help with spots to wet a line. The lakes off of Pritchard road sound like a great spot to try. I've fished a few park lakes off of Greenland Road (Palmetto Leaves Regional Park) and caught a few small bass and bluegill. This drought is really dropping the water level in the small ponds. I fished Pope Duval lake (at the end of the road) a couple weeks ago and didn't have any hits. Maybe I was fishing the wrong lake. Saw a small gator and guys there fishing for catfish. Can any guys fishing the UNF lakes advise of restrictions for fishing those lakes?