hawgenvy

The larger ones can taste kind of mossy, especially here in south Florida. I don't eat them anymore; but I used to soak thinly sliced filets in cold milk, salt, Tabasco, and white pepper for a half hour, then coat with corn flour and deep fry. Eat with lemon slices, tartar sauce and a beer. I can tell you, great blue herons like bass a lot. Today I was tossing a senko in a local canal for a half hour. From the bank. I hooked a dink bass on the opposite shore, water skied him in and threw him back. A great blue heron apparently saw what happened. The beast had about a six foot wingspan. Anyway, he dove from the sky right at me, and with fanfare, and screeching mad, landed with a dramatic whoosh on the shore not 5 feet from where I stood. "I'm sorry man!" I pleaded rather loudly, "I swear I didn't see you till it was too late. I would have given you that fish, really!" He stared at me silently with one big eye, and wasn't gonna move till someone gives him a fish. "You know, these are post-front conditions and it's going to take a few casts, but I'll get you a fish." He stood absolutely motionless but I could see his eye was on me -- and he was still mad. A few more casts, and nothing. "Okay," I said, "please be patient, give me a chance, I'll make it up to you." He didn't move a muscle. He was clearly counting on me, but he was also, I imagined, skeptical of typically hollow human promises. On the next cast I landed a dark chunky little 12 oz largemouth. I unhooked it and held it out to him. "See! I told you! Now, is this guy too big for you?" All he did is crouch down a little. Didn't say a word. "Okay, I'm gonna drop it right on the shore near your feet and then it's up to you, understand?" No answer. I dropped the fish like I said. He angled his eye downward only slightly; he seemingly didn't want to acknowledge the gift. The fish flopped around a couple of times at the water's edge, then righted himself and started off through the weeds. He did not get very far. Within a millisecond the bird speared his prey faster than a human eye could see, and a second after that the blue aircraft was flying away with the bass I tossed him in his beak, soaring off through the trees. He didn't look back, but did emit one last extremely loud squawk, perhaps for my benefit. It didn't sound at all like a "thank you." It was more like "SUUCKERRR!" Anyway, his recipe: Speer a fish, fly to safe ground or onto a tree, and swallow it head first. Burp.

Thanks, AVID!

That big lake by the Osprey golf course? I've been meaning to try fishing there from the bank but haven't gotten around to it. I think you can go in from Glades Rd.? I once tried a pond in the more northern part of the park near Kimberly Rd, where there was lots of vegetation but the fish were tiny dinks, and access difficult due to tall grass and bushes at the shore. I got scared off after I saw two cottonmouths at the water's edge and I was wearing light sneakers. Maybe I'll go check out that bigger lake over the weekend. Thanks!

You will be fishing less for the next 16 years.

Thanks for the tip, Shallow! I'll follow the lead.

In my home town, Boca Raton, Florida, there are at least several hundred man-made canals, ponds, and small lakes. The lakes and ponds are mostly residential, in golf courses, or in parks. Virtually of these bodies of water were dug for drainage and for collecting soil to build up the adjacent areas for homes, golf courses, commercial areas, etc. A lot of Boca Raton used to be everglades that was reclaimed for human use. Of the hundreds of bodies of freshwater in Boca Raton, I don't believe any of them are natural. Some of the larger canals may have boat ramp access. Virtually none of the ponds or lakes are large enough or suitable for bass boats. In my estimation, probably every body of fresh water in Boca Raton has bass. Almost all are amenable to shore fishing, though many are private and accessible only to members of the surrounding community or golf course. The vast majority of these, if you toss in a bait when they are feeding, will result in a bass on the line. Many of the canals intersect, many can stretch for miles, and many connect by underground pipes to nearby lakes or ponds. The lakes and ponds typically have pipes that connect to other lakes and ponds. I believe vast networks of suburban bodies of water are connected in this way. There are also dams, spillways, valves, and pumping stations that the South Florida Water Management District uses to control water levels in response to seasonal variation, rainfall amounts, storms, and for other factors beyond my knowledge. When a residential or other lake is dug, it is stocked with a particular balance of fish species to try to make it a viable ecosystem for mosquito larva control and for other reasons. Fish eggs also arrive on the legs of wading birds. Triploid (nonbreeding/sterile) carp are put in for weed control. Overgrowth of vegetation is also controlled by harvesting and chemical herbicides. I would like to know if there are legal guidelines for how the private lakes are managed. What are the rules? Does management of these bodies also have as an aim maintaining a viable bass fishery? Who manages these lakes and how are they monitored? What species are stocked and how often? Are the lake managers doing a good job? How do we know? What kind of chemicals are used for weed control? How polluted are these waters? How safe or dangerous is it to eat the fish from them (some folks do fish the lakes and canals for food)? Are there local biologists that are involved in helping to manage the public and private ponds? Living here and fishing here, I am eager to learn more about my local fresh waters, and would like suggestions or links to learn more on this subject. So any of you that can point me towards a source of knowledge, please do so. (I am not much interested in unsubstantiated opinions on the matter, however.) This map is from just the northwest quadrant of Boca Raton.

Thanks, Maxximus, I'll order some hardnoses next time, maybe the worm or toad.

Security is really tight. I might be able to get you in one or another with me if you want, if you call me when you are in the area. I often bank fish after work in the evening for an hour and a half, or for a couple of hours in the evening on the weekends if my wife loosens the leash. I have some good spots. If you're interested, message me when you are in FL, or soon before, and I'll give you my contact info. I like your persistence. You are really determined to catch bass on your vacation, as opposed to pursuing chicks on the beach. Apparently you are as crazed about bass as the rest of us.

Okay, I'll admit this wasn't terrifying, but it was freaky, especially because it happened this evening. I was bank fishing at a golf course pond with my cousin and her husband. From atop a five foot wooden wall, I pitched a brush hog out over some shoreline pickerel weed and into the stained water an inch past the weeds. A bass struck it so fast and hard it took me totally by surprise, and when I set the hook it was like setting it into a moving freight train. The fish pulled the rod right out of my hands and my rig flew down into the thick pickerel weed below. As I stared at the rod in open-mouthed disbelief, the rod started moving further away as the fish pulled on the line. This was a Dobyns Champion 734c rod with a Shimano Chronarch reel, not a rig I would give away without a fight. The rod thankfully then got deeply wedged in the weeds and was stuck there, as the fish strained at the 65 lb braid that was tamped down by a drag tightened all the way. The fish pulled this way and that, and actually jumped a couple of times trying to shake the hook. My cousin, meanwhile, was struggling to get her lure unstuck from some lily stems, so I ran past her to her husband and grabbed his rig which was armed with a shaky head jig. I pulled some ottery looking creature off the hook, and was soon grateful to learn that a shaky head jig dangling from a rod is a perfect instrument for retrieving a downed fishing rod. I snagged the jig hook on one of the line guides and reeled in my rod. Well, the darn fish was still on! I successfully landed it, 4+ pounds of very impressive largemouth muscle. Of course, I tossed him back. You know, I'd never before had a rod pulled out of my hands, and hope it'll never happen again. I truly admire that powerful fish, the first one that almost hurt me back.

Mostly watermelon or black/blue flake on a 3-0 or 4-0 weighted swimbait hook. Usually it works best wiggled across the surface like a toad, but lately they're eating it only on the fall, near cover. Seems to attract big fish.

Yes, I definitely fish golf courses when I can. Gambler baits are great. I go through a lot of EZ Swimmers, esp around sunset.

Had a dozen 2 to 4 pounders -- and lost two huge ones -- today in the evening. Caught them from the bank (practically all I do is bank fishing) on a green Brush Hog. Tried senkos, toads, swimbaits and jigs, and all they bit is Brush Hogs, pegged T-rigged. I did better than I expected given post front and gibbous moon. Too bad I'm now out of Brush Hogs!

Fairly even; to me, for bass fishing, the rod may have a slight edge. Any technological/mechanical item of exceptional high quality and durability gives to the user a great and lasting pleasure that is hard to put into words. The sublime pleasure of lightweight power and smoothness. The beauty of perfect fit and finish. The pride of ownership. Admittedly, the mere perception of quality greatly enhances the effect, and such pleasing effect often exceeds the utilitarian effectiveness of the device. So, go for it.

1) Soft plastic baits that have a much firmer compound just at the head so it won't slide down from the hook eye -- for T-rigging or on a spring keep, or on a jig's trailer keep. This really sounds doable. 2) Also, in order to keep T-rigged plastic baits from sliding down the hook, there ought to be a tiny mechanical rivet gun that snaps a tiny plastic peg through the hook eye and plastic bait but is short enough to stay just inside the bait (or else protuberances would pick up green yuck). This could be easy too. 3) Develop a hook with a quick and easy (and light and cheap) way to detach or compress the hook barb to enable painless and injury free hook removal from fish or man (or angry girlfriend). This is not an easy one. 4) A good mechanism to hold my second rod when I'm bank fishing. Sounds feasible. 5) A holder to securely hold my iPhone on my head to make it a helmet cam. (There's probably something like that out there somewhere. Yes, I know, I know I'll look stupid wearing it. 6) And I really want one of those drone subs to see what's down there. I know those Florida summer bass are hiding somewhere! (Eventually my drone's going to drag a bait, too! - Ha! Of course by then they'll have a law against drone fishing.)

I've only been bass fishing intensively for about a year, but I seem for some very strange reason to have accumulated many boxes full of plastic creatures, swimbaits, senkos, ribbon tail worms, frogs, toads, flukes, crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, spooks, poppers, and propellered torpedos. I use the senkos and soft swimbaits mostly; the other stuff patiently waits its turn. I have enough rods: M, MH, H, in both casting and spinning setups, braid on some, fluoro on others, mono on one of the spinning reels. I keep telling my wife, don't worry, I finally have enough stuff. No more boxes from TW on the doorstep. But, you know, I certainly MUST learn to use a JIG better: "...the most versatile big bass bait. No tackle box should be without a selection of jigs." So, I ordered a dozen assorted jigs with bags of matching trailers and got 'em in just last night. Today I tossed two different craw-trailored brown and green jigs fifty times with no bites. I wanted so badly to tie on a T-rigged senko or cast a swimbait. I started to sweat, to shake, but I persevered, resisted the urge. Kept with the jigs. Changed colors, changed trailors, but kept with the jigs. Finally skipped one under a low bridge and nailed a powerful 5-6 pounder that unfortunately popped off just before I could grab her. Okay, jigs probably could work pretty well. Though the first batch of them cost me over $60 bucks. (Naturally you have to order $50 or more for free shipping, but then you'll surely want to pay extra for second-day shipping). Now I'm thinking about a dedicated jig rod, heavy/fast, about 7'3" and superbly sensitive and paired with a nice, fast, strong, light baitcaster reel spooled with #15 fluoro. I know my wife will be ticked off, we can't afford this stuff. But you GUYS understand, right! I NEED a jig rod, right? Whoa! Whoa, what was that? A determined little sharp toothed monkey just zipped across my bedroom! The monkey's going to bite me hard, again -- soon; I just know it! Hmmm, you know, just maybe I have a problem...

8 lb bass average length should be 23.55 inches, according to the tables.

I recently read an interesting past article on the Bassresource site called "Are my Bass Overpopulated," by Dave Willis and Bob Lusk. It contains two tables, one metric and the other in inches, that compare length and weight of LMB. They can tell you how fat or skinny your bass is, and therefore how well fed the bass in a given pond are. The article and tables should precisely answer Chris S's question. http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/overpopulated-bass.html (By the way, I wish the Bass Resource articles had the published date listed. How do you know if an article is new or from 20 years ago? Especially when it comes to technology, it would be nice to know.)

Primetime, I find it amazing that you can so coolly and offhandedly characterize a dozen or so baits that all fall within the category of "swimbaits under 4 inches for bass fishing." I am honestly impressed. You might be some sort of incredible small-swimbait prodigy. Maybe there's a prize for that, or at least a store coupon? (Golly, I'ld contribute.)

I am grateful, Whitwolf. I will definitely, and soon, buy some packs of Zoom Magnum finesse worms in various colors during my next costly spree at T***.com. My wife, as you might imagine, so looks forward to the series of brown boxes that show up on my doorstep, filled with incomprehensible plastic bits. I will reassure her that the great Houdini himself, as well as the Whitwolf of Morgantown, have inspired this lucky purchase. I will explain that bass must be caught in great numbers repeatedly, and released thereafter, generally with only minor physical and psychological injuries, and that this box will assist me greatly in that very useful and healthy enterprise.

I'm addicted to Gambler EZ Swimmers, though they are a little longer (they are 4.25") than delineated in the criterium. I nailed this 6.0 from the bank about five hours ago and a 5.1 fifteen minutes later. Both caught on a dark blue EZ weightless burned across the surface in shallow open water. After a stressful day at work, those fat ladies made my day!

I haven't tried the Keitechs and don't plan to, given the poor reviews as far as durability and the fact that I probably have 2,000 plastic baits stockpiled in my garage. However, I am intrigued by two great sounding concepts in the manufacturer's description: a salty core sealed by a surrounding layer that protects the salt from dissolving, and firmer plastic in the nose to keep the bait in place on the hook. I hope these features can be realized successfully and affordably in future plastics.

Gambler EZ Swimmer (darker colors) weightless or weighted hook, and Lake Fork Magic Shad (white) with belly-weighted hook.

Bassontheline has them, and I truly appreciate the link, but I can't bring myself to pay the ridiculous shipping fee of $20 (standard shipping) for 4 little bags of worms. Will prob buy some Zoom Magnums. I have never tried them but they do look delicious.

Thanks for the tips, guys. I heard from Stephen at Yum also. They discontinued 7" due to poor sales. Still available here and there till stock runs out.

Every once in a while I toss out a T-rigged 7" Yum Dinger senko-type stick bait. It's big and fat so it tends to attract the big mama LMB, like this 4 pounder from just after sunset today. I intended to order some more 7 inch Dingers. But TW and BPS don't carry Yum Dingers at all, and the Yum site has only 4, 5,and 6 inch Dingers. Oh, well. I have an email to Yum asking about the sevens. Meanwhile, anyone know of any salted stickbaits as big and fat as the 7 Dinger?