geo g

In the late 80's I drove to Okeechobee and forgot the kill switch. Dumb, dumb, dumber!!!!! If you fish long enough almost everything happens at least once.

I think Marinas have ethonol free. Its expensive!

I think most on the tournament level today are trying to provide the right environment for bass to survive the tournament ordeal. It is far better today, then it has ever been. We have better products on the market today, and better built livewells and O2 systems in the new bass boats, to promote survival. Are some fish going to die, YES, but what is the alternative, stop tournaments? I don't think so, that is a non issue. The positives from tournaments far outweigh any negatives!!!!!!! The sport is growing, lets keep making it safer for the fish.

Lou, I have had some back seaters you would know, from their site names, that have had to use the mobil throne. It works like a charm. Just remember to reload and replace the bag. For the other end I have a big mason gar. I'm getting too old to balance on the edge of the boat. Just fill the jar, dump it, and wash it out. With all the big gators, and pythons, we have down here I don't want anything hanging over the side for an extended period of time.

If you fish alot it has happened to almost everyone. I always keep a heavy duty big garbage bag in the boat and a roll of toilet paper. Empty the live well, put the bag in, some paper to obsorb liquids, sit down and make a happy!!!! I have waved to people as they go bye. Almost as good as the throne at home.

Congrats buddy, you should be able to beat that two or three times this summer.

Thanks Lou, that's exactly what I would have said!!!!!!!! Lol

Yes it has been a great year down here. Monday killed them on the Alley, none stop action.

1988 I was taking my new bass boat on its Maiden Voyage to the south end of Lake Okkechobee. I went with a dear friend Charley Yanda of Miami. We launched from Slims Ramps and fished the south end of the lake. I remember it like it was yesterday! Charlie was throwing a Charlie's Worm and catching tons of fish. I was throwing a black/blue jig and swimming it back to the boat. I had 0 fish. It was NOT my style to throw a jig, but I was committed. Down about 15 to 0 I stayed after it. In Winnies Cove I was fishing the boat trails through the area. All of a sudden my line started sideways. I set the hook and brought the fish at least 20 yards closer to the boat. It was heavy. All of a sudden the huge fish went airbourn twice, ten yards from the boat and it was the biggest fish I had ever seen anywhere. On the pinnacle of the second leap the line breaks and charlie and I sat there in silence for a good two or three minutes. The next day Charlie bought two of those Black/Blue Jigs. It was a day I will never forget because of the one that got away.

For shire size of big fish it was a trip to the Stick Marsh in Felesmere, Florida. Through this sport we love I have met some wonderful people over the years. One of the best was a friend Bruce Campbell who lives close to the Stick Marsh. Bruce fishes the Marsh all the time and invited me to join him on one of his trips. I had talked to Bruce on line for several years but had never met him in person. That morning was like meeting an old friend you hadn't seen in years. Bruce was the ultimate host. We ran to the south east end of the pond, and the pump station area. We could see big fish moving around the culvert pipes but couldn't hook up, so Bruce moved us into a stump field. I had never fished stumps this thick anywhere. Some stumps were sticking up, most were under water. Entire trunks were laying sideways. We were constantly banging into something. Many times we were stuck on two or more stumps and had to rock the boat off. No sooner had we got there we started catching fish and some big ones. I was throwing senkos and Bruce a dark swimming stickbait, a special bait he got from some guy in NC.. We fished from first light until 2:00. Bruce had 36 pounds for the best 5. He had a 9.7 and a 9.1 for big fish. I had about 27 pounds with a 7.2 big fish. All big fish were weighed and a counter used. We caught 37 fish that day with approximately 15 over 5 pounds. We left because the wind was hammering us into the stumps. This is not the place you want to take your new $50,000 bass boat. It would get beat up, big time!!!!!!!!! What a great day, with a fantastic new friend, all thanks to this sport we love.

Times get tough down size to a Zoom Centipede watermelon any shade, weightless on a #3 gama EWG hook. Fish slow, jerk and sit still. Something will bite it!!!!!

I would put in at Lox Road and fish the East/West spoil bank on the flats side. I would go across the flat to the sawgrass wall north of the flat. Fish all around the wall and move back in some of the trails. Gambler E-Z Swimmers, senkos, speed worms, and frogs both hollow body and plastic. Good luck, stay out of the boat lanes and canals.

WTG Kevin!

Senko type baits will get it done all year in Florida.

Remember Dottie was caught and released many times over a long period. See did quite well until the end.

Monday 5/26/14, Alligator Alley MM 41 west, partly cloudy, wind 5-12 SE, water heavy stain, Went out this morning from 7 until 11 with a good friend. There was a heavy fog so we started fishing until the fog lifted. I threw a dark speed worm that drew fish cast after cast. My friend threw a hollow frog. We were catching ten fish in a row on ten casts. This lasted for quite some time. As the sun got high I switched to a senko type bait and my friend a speed worm. We had countless doubles and several quality fish. In four hours we caught conservatively 120 bass, a big mudder and a six foot gator. Thank God the gator took a long run and then spit the hook. Another fun day on the Alley.

Darren M gave a lot of good advice. I fish 4"senkos weightless almost everyday. I use light wire Gama #3 or#4 EWG hooks. The light wire does allow for better hookup ratio. Over the years fishing 250 days a year I can feel the difference between blue gill bite, gar bite, and bass bite. Bait fish bites will often pull on the tail and not hook up on the bait all the time. The bite is often a machine gun hit. Bass don't come up short often or miss the bait often, if your fishing plastics slowly. Now if your not paying attention to the bite, you may miss some bass that spit it out. More often you'll end up gut hooking bass. If that happens your waiting to long on the set. If your getting snagged, try going weightless Texas rigged. A weight on the front the bait will drag the bottom and lead to snags. Weightless the bait will pop up off the bottom with a gentile lift of the rod, and will settle back down lightly on top of vegetation, or on top of the rocks instead of settling between the rocks. I get a lot less snags weightless, then with a weight in front of the bait. You will also get better action from the bait weightless. It will dance and dart with the slightest movement of the rod. Good luck, I love these baits.

I have had some sunscreens that stained my clothing. White shirts came out yellow where it made contact with the sunscreen. Do you have a sunscreen that will not stain clothing? What is the best on the market?

If you want to catch double digit fish you first have to go where they are common. There are big bass lakes, and then there are lakes where you catch tons of fish but not the monsters. You can raise your odds by using live bait, but that's like cheating! Double digit fish are not that common in some waters.

Saturday, 5/24/14, Holey Land from 7:30 - 1:00, clear skies, water slight stain, wind SW 5-12. Went to the Holey Land with Steve. We ran east again but the catching was slow but steady with lots of small fish. After a few hours we ran to the big lake and the catching improved. There were lots of fish along the west wall and in the west flat. Big old beds were visible all along the west flat. We ended at day with between 60 to 70 caught the biggest about 3lbs. Most caught on flukes and plastic stick baits.

Probably one of the biggest superstitions in fishing is the banana in the boat. I don't believe in superstitions but I never have a banana in the boat, and if I take someone with me they better not have a banana in the boat, and I love bananas. How this one got started, I don't know. It has been around for a long time, and I have seen pros stick to this one. Anyone know how it all started?

If she is up for fishing on her Honeymoon, she certainly a keeper!!!!!!!!!!!

There is nothing wrong with what you have been doing. If things get slow, I would go with a weightless 4" senko type bait in waternmelon red. Zoom trick worms work great also. Good luck!

If your fishing Florida, the U of Florida has a free site with over a hundred lake maps with contour lines on the most popular lakes in Florida. If fishing a new lake in Florida I always go to this site first.

Sunday I caught a 6+ at the Holey Land west of US27. We caught 70 total in 4 hours, with a bunch of keeper fish.