davecon

2 things- SLOW DOWN Google maps is your friend

If you want finesse and can fish the edge of the docks without having to skip, it’s hard to beat an old fashioned Original Rapala. I know they are out of vogue right now but the bass don’t know that.

When I was in my teens and twenties we waded all the time. Keep in mind that this was before “catch and release” was ever thought of. We had to go to croaker sacks to keep the fish in because if you put them on a stringer the gators would try to steal them. We didn’t think anything about it, it’s just what we did. However, with the influx of northerners feeding gators for some strange reason the gators have lost most of their fear of humans. I’m getting pretty old to wade nowadays but probably would in the right places. Wouldn’t be in a residential area though.

St Croix Premier 7’0” ml.

While it was my grandfather that got me started(this whole thing is his fault) I am pretty much self taught. I grew up in an era with no social media, no magazines devoted to bass, no fishing television shows, etc. you just had to figure it out yourself. To top it off, I’m in Florida where good/experienced fishermen wouldn’t give you the time of day, especially a teenager. They wouldn’t say sh#% if they had a mouthful ! Where to fish ?, what rod ?, what reel ?, which lures when ? How to work a lure? Seasons ? I’ll admit it was a long tough road but when you learn the hard way you tend not to forget it. It amazes me the info available at one’s fingertips today ! I wish I had had a fraction of that data available when I was learning.

Suggestion - find a decent cheap one from Walmart or some bargain bin. Pay a couple bucks for it, let the fish tear it up and be done with it. Used to run in to the same problem with tarpon. Gets expensive with a normally priced spinner bait. p.s. - don’t tell anybody tarpon and snook will hit spinnerbaits !

Google Earth is your friend !

You might want to look in to a kayak. New ones aren’t that expensive and used ones are sometimes reasonable. Will open up your world for a minimum investment, especially in Polk county. While she doesn’t catch a lot of big fish she sure has a lot of fun - on YouTube - “The old lady angler”. Quite entertaining. Also check out on YouTube - the bass guy. If you watch closely you can pick up some helpful tips.

Don’t ask me why because I have no clue, but a black Zoom trick worm rigged Texas style with a 1/16 or 1/18 sinker. Been using it for years and it catches big fish also. Biggest on this rig was 11.5 and I know I’ve caught at least 60 7 plus on it. To look at it in the water you would think no way, there is nothing to it ! Obviously the bass see it differently. Keep it simple !

Have both. Prefer the ML. Odd thing is I like the cast ability of the Premier series over the Avid series and I have both. Seems I’m always picking up that 7’ ML Premier. Recently added a Premier L. Had to special order it because it’s usually not stocked. Paired it with a 1000 series reel and 5 lb braid. It’s not as versatile but boy is it a lot of fun !

I fish mostly for Snook and in the spring/early summer the best lures are 3 inches long. I have to replace the hooks with 3 or 4 x hooks but some of these snook are over 40 inches long and can peel off 150 feet of line before you can blink. I use 10 and sometimes 5 lb braid on ml and L spinning rods. Been doing this for many years. Actually have very few breakoff’s. Have caught thousands of snook and hundreds of tarpon on these rigs. Would I prefer stouter tackle/lures ? You bet, but when they won’t hit the big stuff the lighter stuff works fine thank you very much.

I fish for snook often. Bycatch is redfish and tarpon. Bent trebles is part of the game. I buy 4x replacements but they get bent as well. I have a 3700 tackle box filled with replacement trebles in every size I use. Also have a split rings and a really good set of split ring pliers. I buy the hooks in packages of 100. One of the things I do when returning from a trip is check the hooks on every lure I used and replace if necessary.

Glen Lau - book and videos.

Pre-rigged black eel with red fins, 3 hooks, a little spinner on the front using a Shakespeare Wonder Reel on a Shakespeare Wonder rod. Was with my Dad and Grandfather. Can still see the fish, the lake, the wooden row boat, what clothes we were wearing, etc. Fish weighed 6 pounds. That was 62 years ago !

Can’t explain why but the Tiny has always worked best for me.

I will take friendly exception to your last paragraph. I’m in Florida and cold fronts can really have an impact. Sure a pro might scratch some out but probably not us guys on this site. I vividly remember a club tournament from the early 70’s when I had just started fishing tournaments. It was a 2 day affair. Now remember, we are just working stiffs, having a good time but still fishing hard. On Saturday 18 of 22 boats had at least one 8 pounder. One fellow caught 3 over 9. If you didn’t have at least 20 pounds you were embarrassed to go to the scales. Saturday night a cold front came thru. Sunday, a total of ONE 12 inch bass was caught ! Convinced me in no uncertain terms that some days they just ain’t bitting. These cold front impacts may be limited to Florida, but that’s my world.

I agree with all of the above but don’t overlook that you may be fishing “history”. We often try what worked in the past but sometimes changing location/lure/speed will do the trick.

Send me a PM. Might be able to help.

I fish mostly for snook. The way I fish for them is almost exactly like you would for bass. I have found one lure that , for me, outfishes every other lure almost two to one. You guessed it, a balsa Rapala Flat Rap. Problem is that snook are really rough on plugs. Think of a bass on steroids, plus they get big - 40 plus inches, 25 pounds. Some days I go through 3 or more of those Flat Raps. At $9.00 each that gets expensive ! Have spent a small small fortune trying to find a replacement lure that works as well. Have been unable to find a plastic lure that comes anywhere close to matching the fish catching ability of balsa. Admittedly this is a unique situation I’m in, especially since the water I fish is usually only 2 to 3 feet deep and the majority of plugs run much deeper which is in the mud/oysters/lime rock for me. Ironically when bass fishing with crankbaits seems the balsa lures, Rapala and Bagley, work better. It may be in my head, but I seem to have more confidence in the balsa. Throw a plastic lure in a swimming pool and watch it during the “pause” during the retrieve. Do the same thing with a balsa lure. I have found significant differences.

Don’t fish there often but another web site I visit often indicates there have been problems launching at several of the ramps the last few weeks due to vegetation being blown in to the ramp. Stumps are everywhere ! Be careful where you run and DON’T do anything but idle out of the main channel, and even the main channel can be hazardous.

Some informed members here ! A lake I fish in the Tampa area is loaded with what I believe are Blue Tilapia. In certain areas they are THICK. I understand they are pretty good to eat so I thought I might catch a few and try them. Any suggestions on how to catch them ? Would prefer artificials but if that’s not viable I’ll try something else. Thanks, Dave

What are you guys talking about ! Everybody knows that all the bass in Florida are gone ! No sense in coming down here, there just aren’t any left.

Welcome. My great grandfather was from Oxford, I believe. Traveled all over North America then settled in Florida. Quite a far piece from Oxford.

In Florida using large shiners is popular as well as using whitebait/sardines for saltwater species. The old saying around here was “start with a live well, then build a boat around it !”. There is some truth to that.

I Snook fish about 80 % of the time and bass fish 20 % of the time all on the west coast of Florida. I usually fish brackish water and sometimes straight salt. I use the same tackle for snook that I do for bass. Baitcasters for heavy lures, 3000 series spinning reels with light or medium light rods for lighter lures. I use 20/30 lb braid with about 20 to 24 inches of 20 or 30 lb. fluoro leader. Lures - early in the morning -Zara Spook, later in the day, any topwater or shallow running jerkbait you would use for bass. Weightless Flukes, DOA shrimp, plastic jigs, plain old Johnson Minnow Spoons, etc. Don’t let anybody tell you you must use saltwater lures ! In my experience, 40 years snook fishing, Bass lures work better. Just make sure you work the lures faster than you would bass fishing. Can’t help you on the shore fishing as I have never done much of that. If you want to whet your appetite, watch a YouTube video “Snook Fishing 101”. The guy that does the video can get a little annoying but his videos are pretty good. Pay attention to the tackle he uses and how he fishes the lures. You ain’t in Kansas anymore !