Eric Montes Polk FL

Hey everyone. Been a while since I've been in here. I've been reading several forum posts. Alot of cool info on this site. What I'm looking for is info on local lakes , ponds etc. I haven't been able to do much fishing lately. Been kinda out of the loop. Work has been hectic with a newborn to boot. The passion for fishing never dies. Everyday I wish I could fish for a living. As I drive by lakes I scout big bass holding locations. It's a disease I swear. I always have a pole in the truck. Never get the chance to do any damage. Gonna be slowing down my grind a bit to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I'm thinking about going back to trophy hunting. I haven't grabbed the lips of a beautiful double digit girl in over a year. I see new lures and techniques being used now. Not sure if applicable to my area. My questions are... What's the BIG new thing. Lure wise. Retrieve. New info on bass habits??? I've spent alot of time targeting high pressured waters trying to pull them old girls out in the past few years. I pretty much know where they are on a body of water. Toho, Kissimmee, jesup etc... I'm wondering what's been caught recently. If you've gotten some big girls to take pictures with you I'd like to take a gander at em. Don't need your exact location or lake for that much but if u have a story , I'd like to hear it. If u know where they're at and can't get a bite??? Let me know. I might have a few tips u could try or we could meet up and try to coax em out together. Central Florida is my interests. Beyond that is just vital info we can all collect from each other. Drop a line. Let's see if we can figure some patterns or habits out. Feel free to post some pics. Doesn't have to be double digits. Anything u got over 5 lbs with a back story would do well. Tight lines y'all. Give em hell Sry, another thing I was gonna add. I've gotten into speck/crappie fishing this last year. Tips on that are welcome as well. My brother caught one around 5 lbs. So I now have a new family record to beat. Little did he know, his fish was likely a record. He still has it Frozen in a freezer. Any way of still claiming the record???

Hell yea. Congrats man. ? Here's to you.

I see you're in the 407. Im in the champions gate area. The last bass i caught at night was quite large. I know a few tricks to bring em out at night. It also depends on the temperature , lunar set , water clarity , time of the year and natural bait. Shoot me a PM. Im always down to meet up an scout with new people. Heres a pic of the last one i caught at night a few weeks ago. TIGHT LINES.

That statistic has to be flawed. I've gotten over 30 bass 10 plus lbs. It really depends on tour knowledge of the fish. I can nearly look at a lake and pin point the heavy hold areas. Study the area and natural bait then adjust your tackle to suit. Mearly throwing a lure and hoping for big gurls to hit wont do it. If you dont start to catalog events and bites along with water conditions and weather you will never obtain the knowledge necessary to properly pick the bodies of water apart. Using basic bass behavior knowledge then forming your own style is key. I wish you all the best of luck in your chase for a trophy. TIGHT LINES

Hey bud. Try this. Use a trick worm. Solid color hooked wacky. Use a small hook. No weights. Just throw out. Let it sink naturally. Give it plenty of line so it dont just swing back to the bank. U want it to drop straight down. Watch your line while its falling . You'll see it either sink faster or twitch. Then tighten line and set the hook. If not let it go till it stops falling. Let it set for a second then give it just the lightest of bumps. If you have nearly invisible line and a small enough hook that they cant see you'll usually catch the timid ones. This works best for old sand mine pits like the one in the pic. As far as where to fish? The points of bank that stick out and the choke point between the sand pile and nearest bank is where id be first. Wacky worm is always the best for lakes like this. Try to stay low while casting. Clear water means even if you cant see them they will see you. Low and slow with minimal line and hook visibility is the trick her. Message me with some pics when u get on em. TIGHT LINES

So i've got several fishing friends who are 'That Guy'... Most people who fish with me are guilty of various shenanigizing antics that get annoying or completely hilarious at times. Ive got the 'Sets the hook like bill dance and tries to rip a yearlings lips off' guy.... The 'shows up with a catfish pole to a bass fishing trip' guy... How bout the 'Hey man , wanna go fishing?' By that he means... ' hey man... Bring your boat , tackle and know how and find us a lake.' Then I have some dear friends who make fishing awesome. I have the Otter. Appropriately named. He will keep every fish caught. EVERY SINGLE FISH. No exaggeration. From huge breeder bass (6lb plus) to the tiniest of tiny. Hell i think he fries up shinners he has left over lol. But the man is hilarious. Joking the whole time. Always smiling. Drinkin a cold beer and living life. I've got a buddy who is HELL on tackle. He can catch a tree in the middle of the desert. Backlashes are his specialty. Cant get him to stop using a bait caster. And watch out if you're on the boat with him. He'll whip a swim bait right across your cheek lmao. I'm sure im 'that guy' to someone. I enjoy fishing and find enjoyment in often annoying situations. Life is good. Tight lines everyone. GREAT TOPIC

Lmfao i know 'that guy'... Im like dude... You've gotta broaden your fishing vocab. Using the same type of rapala you caught a 5lb bass off of in 1998 for every fishing trip is never gonna get you on any magazines lmfao

Hey fellas... Haven't been on in a while... Here's one i grabbed a couple weeks ago My buddy Henry's new PB Got this one an hour after sun set. Man. I almost lost her a few times. HUGE girl Not a monster but still a solid bass Another little chunk

Some interesting info there. I just bought my second boga grip. Trying to put one in every vehicle possible. Some how I've lost two scales. So you HAVE to weigh them on land? I definitely didn't know that. The last two fish over ten I caught I didn't get pics of. I found a lake on google maps on the side of the interstate in the woods a bit... Went scouting and landed two REAL fat girls. Phone (camera) was in the truck. Was on Lake Hatchnihah the other day... Got skunked. A few other lakes have skunked me lately also. Fish have hush mouth right now for me Atleast. If your around the Polk county area you can PM me and let me know where. I have a few tricks and honey holes we can go play in. Thankz again for the helpful insight. FISH ON

I've never been on a chartered trip. I'm the unofficial charter in our family/friends group. Someone's coming in to town? Call Eric for a bass Expo lol

I'm positive I can go out with shinners and hit most any big lake and bring in several tens a day. Six poles. Six different presentations. A good lay of the lake and a little common sense and BAM your loaded with hawgs but.... Where in the hell is the sport in that. There are people who chase a double digit bass for the Mount and then people who chase one to mount for the skill. Nothing against shinner fishing. It's a great way for people to get they're hands on a big fish. But to claim title on it is like claiming a 300 game of bowling.... With the rails up. JS

No worries Wayne. We may have to have a Bass Resource meet and fish lol. Soflo Tenn and Mr DD. Get a camera crew to follow and bass resource to sponsor ha

You've got to clear yearling to ensure the larger fish have food. Over population is never good. You'll have some very skinny fish that are long with big heads and no belly lol

Definitely message me. I'm still working on making time to go fishing with you. 100+ fish sounds like my kind of day lol I'm up for that

I have this specific lake that has a TON of yearling in it. You can catch upwards of 100 bass from half pound to pound and a half in an hour. That lake has several large bass in it but they only hit certain baits presented a certain way and only on certain days lol. It's tough to get them to hit. I found that reaction strikes with trick worms work best or throwing a shad jerk bait after promotes strikes. There are some places I fish where you don't see a bass all day but when you do... They are usually four to eight pounds. I caught several six to nine pounders lately. No pics. I only snap pics of the double digits anymore. How are the hawgs on your side of the woods Wayne?