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Once the wind is above a steady 15 MPH, I keep the wind from my back as much as possible and let the wind be my friend. With the wind coming from your back your lines will always be slack free. Casting is easier. Easier to detect bites. A lot easier to control the boat. You are in stealth mode because your not on the trolling motor very much. I will put out a sea anchor and it slows the boat down big time. Don't fight a strong wind, let it work for you! The thing I hate the most, is when I have a cross wind, and you just can't change direction, like when fishing a canal. I usually go home early even if I'm catching fish. I just hate fighting the trolling motor all day long..

Just from taking a quick look at the lake, on a bright sunny day I would toss a lure under that bridge. They will seek out the shade. Also that point on the left side, then around those weeds on the top right side. Then its a crap shoot, just pound the water.

Find some structure. A depth change is a good one, even if it is just a foot or two. Find a rock pile in deep water. Find a creek channel entrance or an exit point, there will be current in the area. The lakes I fish from the bank all have culvert pipes and it can be magical around those openings. Always looks of bird activity. If there are fish in the lake, they will at some point relate to some type of structure.

Forget all these different pressures, if the cows a laying down, turn the truck around and go home. Its as simple as that!! Lol

My favorite fishing situation would be frog and swim bait fishing in the morning and late evening in the Everglades and Okeechobee over massive weedy flats. When its on, it can be magical.

Bring a pole up sometime and I'll meet you after work at one of the lakes. I'm out there almost every night, somewhere.

Always make a mental note of what just happen when you got bit. Was it free falling, just sitting there, moving fast, were you dragging it, or jerking it, when the bite happened. How deep was the water, close to structure, did you feel grass, weeds or rocks, is there a drop off in the area. All these things go through my mind when I catch fish, especially the first few! How many times have you had a back lash and had to pick it out. To your surprise there is a fish on the line. That tells you a lot right there! Slow down after the fall, don't be in a hurry. Everything you do tells you something. Things to repeat and things to avoid. Analyze everything you do, and be ready for a change, until you find a pattern that works.

Unquestionable 4" senko type baits, like stick-o's, are killing them. Watermelon Red, Okeechobee, Morning Dawn have been pulling them in all day long. No weight, or light weight, fished slow, walking it off the bottom. Good at various locations around south Florida. To a lesser degree Flukes and trick worms. Heavy cloud cover with wind, a small buzzbait was every cast last week. Good luck!

I think you may be able to find a way to pitch or flip it out there, but I don't see how you can generate enough torque on the hook set in thick heavy cover, sitting down. If you get it to work, let us know!

Mike you are the man at Lox. That's great the kids got a shot at great fish, with you. One of these days I'll get up there soon, hard to pass on the Holey Land right now for shear numbers.

In South Florida this is when it all happens. Bring on winter, we love it down here! Bedding bass, low humidity, mild, sunny days. It doesn't get any better then that!!!! Keep storing and cleaning your tackle, or bring it with you, and catch a double digit fish! Just don't keep them!

11/1/14 Saturday, East Canal, 8:00 - 1:30, wind 15-25 out of WNW, water temp 74*, light stain, sunny. Lures: Target frog, chatterbait, zoom fluke, trick worm, stick-o, centipede, Gamber E-Z swimmer and buzzbait.. Went out with good friend Steve Johnson. We got a late start, so we missed a hour of productive fishing. The wind started out light and made the first two hours a treat. I started with a hollow body frog in the pads. I got no action and no swirls and misses. Switched to a stick-o bait and the bite was on. If you got close to the sawgrass weed line you got action almost every time. There were lots of dinks, with a few 2's and 3's in the mix. At 10:00 a front came through with cloud cover, and heavy wind. Steve switched to a buzzbait and with the clouds, he caught a fish on every cast. This continued until the front blew through, and the sun got strong. The senko bite continued all day, and never slowed. After the front came through the wind got ridicules, blowing at a steady 25. Luckly it blew out of the west, because that sent us right down the canal to the east. There were two boats with their kids, and they were having a ball. It is a great time to take the kids out for a great time. We finished the day with between 80 & 90 bass, a big mudfish, and a Mayan Cichlid. It was a fun day, and I can't wait to go again. We are so lucky to live in South Florida with all these remarkable fisheries.

It all depends what part of the country your fishing. For Florida with all our shallow, weedy, lakes, pitching and flipping is the way to go, if you are targeting really big fish. on a regular basis. Find the thick weedy mats and start picking them apart. Some use jigs, others heavy bullet weights with creature baits and beavers. It can be tiresome but the tournament guys spend a lot of time doing it.

The Islands for smallies because my brother in law had a boat there and we did quite well for smallies and wallies. I have fished there 5 or 6 times.

I fish plastics most of the time. I usually don't set right away, unless they pound the bait. Like the first poster, I usually don't set until I feel weight. I can usually tell if its a bass or just junk fish right away. I seldom miss fish if they take the plastic lure by keeping constant tension on the line right up to the hook set. We are talking about it all happening in a matter of seconds. For years I have watched others that miss a lot of fish on the set. I have noticed right before the hook set they will drop the rod without taking up the slack line. This causes a slack in the line and no real contact with the fish. When they set the hook the fish is gone. If you drop the rod you need to take up the slack so there is constant contact with the fish. You can do this by taking up slack while you drop the rod. Then hammer the hook set. This will help prevent those misses.

Go to a 4" senko type bait, like a Stick-o, Texas Rigged and throw it in the nasty stuff. You will have a lot better chance of a hook-up then with a jig.

Thanks Dwight !

Distance is important under certain conditions. In south Florida, canals sometimes have water that is Gin clear. Long casts are important to help prevent spooking the fish. Sometimes under these conditions a boat or a trolling motor will move bass off into another zip code. Long cast to the bank edge and then a very gentle drop from the bank will illicit a strike. Moving in stealth mode is sometimes what it takes to get a bite.

No, that is a PB for this season. I have had a bunch bigger over the years.

It really looks nice, WTG!

Accuracy is extremely important. I use a bait caster 95% of the time. When aiming for a target you need to control spool spin for distance. Also wind direction and the effect of the wind. Then you have side arm casts, over head casts, backward back casts. All useful to complete the task. I look at casting like a game of darts. I want to hit that little opening in the pads, that swirl I just saw on the water, the pad that just moved back in the field, or the bubbles that just came up on the flat. I'm always looking for those little signs. They can make or break a day on the water.

Thanks Lou, I appreciate the help. Maybe some day I'll get it figured out.

Weston Lakes along Weston Road, 5:30 to 7:00, clear sky, north wind 5MPH, water light stain. Went out this evening for a few relaxing hours of fishing. I hit several lakes along Weston Road and caught 8 nice bass in the 2 to 3 pound range. As the sun was setting I casted along a weed line with a mix of buggy whips and pads. The stick-o started to move off toward deeper water. I set the hook and a bucket mouth exploded out of the water and the fight was on. I had to pull her through about 10 yards of thick pads, so I kept her head up as high as possible and she tail walked herself right through the pads. Thank God I just retied after catching the previous bass. She was approximately 26 inches long with a big, thick belly. She weighted approximately 9 pounds. Hopefully Lou will help with a picture post since for some reason I can't get that job done. It was my big fish of this season and after a few pictures she was released in perfect shape. Right before catching her I was very close to leaving, as it was getting dark and a fat snake was in the area. I'm so glad I had to have just one more cast. She made my day!

Lou you can make the turn around right where the exit hits the road. The turn around is dirt but not too bad. If you get caught in the middle I'm sure they will give you a ticket. In the canal you can go south, but going north puts you in Indian territory. Last time I went out there, there was window glass in the parking lot, and that lot is not visible from the road.

Wow my head hurts, that's deep! I agree, throw what's comfortable for you, and get good at it. Fish like all living creatures don't always want the same thing, so you need a variety of confidence baits. Baits you can turn too if plan "A" is not working. Just get good at what you do, and some days the pieces all come together, some days you have to be ready to shift gears and go in another direction.