hawgenvy

Thank you so much, guys!

Sounds promising. TCS slightly heavier than Helios line? Not sure of materials quality, weight, or geometry differences between TCS and Helios. Probably I could be happy with either of the 7'6" models. Appreciate your input, Bluebasser. Thanks!

Have a Champ 734, but need much heavier for the jungle, but with some tip. Thanks, though.

Thanks, man. Maybe so.

In the market for a heavy power (but light weight) casting rod with medium fast to fast action, and under $300. Intend to spool up 50 pound braid (maybe 65). The intended use is for casting soft swimbaits or Horny Toad type baits far as I can with accuracy to bring back over heavy greenery, negotiate big-trailered spinnerbaits and bladed jigs through reeds, and also for pitching soft plastics and jigs into reeds and pads. You know, Lake Okeechobee stuff. I have a Dobyns Champ 735c which is a great rod, but I want to add to my arsenal something longer and with a bit less fast action for casting farther easier. I also have a Powell 3D Mag 8-foot heavy and fast stick for punching floating mats but it's a bit of a beast for other applications. I also like the idea of a medium/fast tip for pitching jigs as long as it has a nice heavy backbone, as I think the slightly slower action might actually load up for the set and keep big mamas pinned better than an XF. I was looking at the Okuma Helios HS-C-761H which is 7-6 and looks pretty darn good on paper. I'm interested to hear if anyone has fished with the Helios and can tell me about it; or, of course, if anyone has other advice for other brands. Hoping some of you guys have things to say. Thanks in advance for words of wisdom!

Consider that the biggest challenge to early survival is aquatic predators. That gives pioneer fry an advantage. And what do those tiny pioneers have available to eat? The ubiquitous mosquito larva, as well as minute invertebrates spread by birds, amphibians, and reptiles. There is unfortunately scanty scientific literature regarding dispersion mechanisms of fish. Interestingly, there exists evidence of viable fish eggs found in duck feces that gave rise to fertile fish. Although it is remarkable that fish eggs can survive gut transit or air transport on fish legs, it is not surprising that robust and specific dispersion mechanisms have evolved, given the tremendous species survival advantage afforded by such strategies.

Thanks, man!

In my area at least, aquatic birds are ubiquitous and frequently are seen to fly from one pond to next. Heron, egrets, coots, marsh hens, anhinga, and ducks are seen wandering the shallows and deeper waters frequently. There is no reason to believe that they don't transport any variety of local fauna from one body of water to another upon their legs, feet, beaks, feathers, or perhaps in their mouths. However there is little proof that they do that. I would like to know of an instance where viable fish eggs were indeed discovered on the birds. Good experiment for somebody to do.

Fish eggs adhere to the legs of wading birds like herons and egrets.

Hi Ridi. Went out of Clewiston this past Saturday for a club tournament. Most of the fish were caught at the east wall area not far from the ramp. We likewise did well the first hour, and the guy I was with lost a 6 pounder at the boat which nearly killed him, but later boated a 5 pounder which partially restored his sanity. Most of the fish were 1.5-3 lbs. We eventually moved to a far north spot around noon but only caught two more fish all day; meanwhile the boats that stayed around where we had been said the bite picked up at 1 pm. Go figure. The boater caught his fish on worms and I caught all mine from the rear pitching a blue and green jig with a rage craw trailer. Nothing on swimbaits. Ended up with around 15 lbs at weigh in (5 fish) which surprisingly got us 2nd place among the 8 boats.

Might try that sometime in the summer when the bass bite slows down. Thanks!

How'd you do it?

I accidentally snagged a plecostomus by the tail with a lipless crank today while bass fishing and pulled the crazy guy up to the bank. I snapped a few photos and let him go. I've heard they're okay to eat. This type of plecostomus is a common invasive species here in Pam Beach County. They apparently arose from people dumping them from household aquaria and now they're breeding like rabbits. They are supposedly unwanted but I have no knowledge regarding any harm they might be doing to the local ecosystems. They are largely plant and detritus eaters. Anybody have experience with these?

They've recently been bedding down here in Boca Raton. Look around for their fairly big beds in shallow clear areas, if you can find any.

Thanks, Ridi620. I appreciate your following up with the report! Lake Okeechobee is a beautiful, peaceful, and interesting expanse. But so far this season it seems folks are often not catching much. I'll be fishing in a club tournament out of Clewiston this Saturday. ("Thunderstorms likely.") I got a new rain suit, we'll have a fast boat (I'll be the co-angler), and tons of plastic to throw at 'em. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Yes, of course you can bring a Senko up to the top and make a little surface commotion to attract some bass! In fact, you can twitch a weightless Senko across the surface in a "walk the dog" fashion like you would with a frog or a spook. Sometimes bass blow up on it when you do this. Sometimes they just follow along under it when you walk it, but if you then let it sink for five seconds and then subtly twitch it they might inhale it. Just about every way to fish a Senko is widely described. But jerking it across the surface is a technique that is not usually mentioned, which is why I'm posting this. But it's easy to walk and it's always worth a shot if they're not eating it when it's down below. It works for me, anyway.

I keep the major Keitech inventory stored in their original plastic packs in the garage. Then I refill as needed the Ziploc bag in my take-with tackle bag. They seem to do fine in the Ziplock bag, at least for a few weeks, and I haven't had trouble with misshapen tails.

Okay. So let's say you want your plastic frog to imitate the color of, say, a frog. You'd want it pale on the bottom and some sort of brown or green spotted stuff on the back and sides. But consider this: a real frog is white on the bottom and camo on the back so that birds won't see the back easily and fish won't see the belly against the sky. If he were white on top he'd be eaten by birds and if he were darker on the bottom he'd be eaten by fish such as bass. So the most realistic color might not be the best if you're trying to get your bait swallowed. On the other hand, based on my possibly faulty logic, I think the frog bait ought to be natural colored if used in the day because in daylight he is rather visible anyway and the way you're gonna be making him dance around on the water the bass are going to see him regardless and he should look as natural as possible to compensate for the fact that he is a piece of plastic. If he looks real they just might be more likely to inhale him. But maybe in the early morning and evening twilight hours or at night his belly best be dark to be more visible. This choice seems to work out for me as a fisherman. But I'm not exactly keeping records. Consider also that when you fish a hollow body frog, you are perhaps not needing to make it look like a frog but rather like an injured bait fish.

SDJ

Morton's steak house in West Palm Beach near the intracoatal waterway, then the Breaker's Hotel for drinks, on the ocean. Classy. 45 minutes East of Belle Glade.

Please let know how you do with the guide! I'm going the following weekend out to the lake out of Clewiston. Last couple of my trips up there the fish were on a hunger strike, so I'm curious to know where the guide takes you and what kind of bait he'll have you throwing. The conditions should be good. I wish you luck! Tight lines! Nail some big mamas!

...and I jumped up and down and told him to reel steady and picked up the fish by the lip from the water's edge and high fived him and all kinds of exclamations and praise, and de-hooked, weighed, photographed, released it; and later edited the photo and ordered an 8 x 10 print for him. Yeah, I get a little credit. It's still his fish, though -- and secretly a little bit mine.

Hey, he's from New Hampshire, just down here for the wedding and a few extra days of R&R. So, come on down for a long weekend if you can and catch a few. March thru May are my favorite months for bass. But even here there's no guarantee.

Took Paul, my daughter's soon-to-be father in law, for a little LM bass fishing at a local residential pond today. He had never caught a bass -- ever. Had to show him how to cast the spinning rig. His first bass was 6 lb 2 oz, second fish was 5-0, third was around 4. On a gold trap. In 2 hours of fishing. I caught a dozen fish, all under 3 pounds; he caught just those three beauties. His assessment: "Fishing is fun." No kidding, Paul!