N Florida Mike

That farm I pictured is owned by a old man I know. When he dies, it’ll likely be sold and will become another cookie cutter neighborhood.

This is typical of my part of Florida nowadays. Where old meets new. At least I got to see what old Florida was like in my younger life. And we still have remnants of it like this small farm surrounded by a new subdivision...? The mighty St Johns River at its widest point...

One of my “ circle of trust” baits. The fish love em. I fish the watermelon red color most of the time, and June bug an hour or so before dark or after sunrise. I probably catch 60% with a steady retrieve, and the other 40% deadsticking. I have a combo I use with them that is perfect for them. Almost never lose a fish after the hook set. One day last year I caught around 30 fish with them in 4 hours fishing.

Congratulations in advance!

I have some good spots in there. I used to fish and camp there a lot. I would try to get ahold of a small boat if possible , if there’s a way.. Most of the time , I took my 12 foot Jon boat. There were a few times I went and camped without a boat and just drove around in the forest looking for ponds. ( If I remember correctly theres 500 water bodies in there.) And caught fish. It is a very large forest - I think 385,000 acres. I can tell you some good small lakes I’ve fished but bank access is very limited at most of them. Pretty much limited to where you launch. The majority of the ponds are very clear so you must use light line and smaller baits. I always did well with culprit worms and flukes in there. Many of the ponds and lakes are also very acidic so have a limited fish population. But good numbers are possible in a lot of them. The size is also smaller than normal for Florida. I think my biggest bass in there( fishing for many years) was 5 pounds. I would go to the visitor center in salt springs and buy the fishing book they sell that has many of the better lakes listed. That may give you some info on bank fishing opportunities. I fished wildcat once and didn’t catch any but it was too windy .My favorite lake is close to Wildcat (Crooked lake ) - bank access is limited though, and it’s about a mile down a one track dirt road to get there.Theres a road to it off hwy 40 but I think it’s private access. I don’t count Rodman as part of the forest but it’s close. To me , it’s very different. The dam near hwy 19 has some bank area, but can get crowded. Most people there fish for specks (crappie) or catfish. Consider hiring a guide for Rodman. Some of the biggest bass in Florida reside there... Be safe in the forest. I always carry in there. There’s more homeless people in there now, and there have been murders out there... still a beautiful place with good fishing . I have never had any problems. I would go with you but live 80 miles or so away...

One time when I was 16-17 years old, I got caught at the other end of the lake by a severe thunderstorm . One of the few times I ever saw white caps on this lake .There was nowhere to go . So I jumped in the shallow water, turned my little boat over, held my small amount of gear in one hand,and slowly made my way toward the way out, of course staying where It wasn’t Too deep and I could walk the boat. I couldn’t see where I was going , but it was kind of fun. Lightning cracking all around. Was not ‘skeered. Made it home. I realized later that a metal Jon boat is not the thing to protect yourself with in a lightning storm. ? I should have listened better in science class, no doubt! All I can say is, it just wasn’t my time.

That happened to my lake in 2011. A lake resident and board member was also the aquatic weed sprayer. He had done it since 1985 without a kill. He treated too much too quickly. Killed everything. 2 weeks later fish began dying . My opinion is that every bass over 2 pounds died- it was that bad. Most, if not all the big bream died. I was fit to be tied. We have a professional do it now, and he does a pretty good job keeping the lake clear enough to suit the “ no weed” folks. I keep them at bay with “ we don’t want another fish kill, bad for the environment “ so we keep a healthy amount of weeds in the lake. The bass population is back to excellent, with fish approaching 10 pounds again. The bream have never fully recovered, because they are the basses main forage and get eaten.

I love watching Creek fishing adventures. I love the old days when I used to fish like that. Made me pull out the roostertail and found that fish still love it...

My lakes main weed is eel grass. They were able to kill all the Niad, which would choke the lake in the summer. This time of year it is 1-2 feet below the surface at my end of the lake. There are some deeper eel grass clumps down toward the other end of the lake. The fish really relate to eel grass edges from late spring to fall. The areas without grass don’t seem to hold fish much, unless it’s near drop offs or deeper holes, or structure. I can’t fish any kind of crank bait. I can fish jerkbaits in some areas , but those areas are real limited in the summer. I have lately rediscovered roostertails, and they can be fished over the top of eel grass as it is in the winter. I switch to edges when the weeds re-emerge. Spinnerbaits work well on the edges too, and soft plastics are the most versatile ( and most used, of course )?

Went out for a couple hours today. Today I didn’t feel like taking it to serious- I just decided to play around with the roostertail again, and the tube. Did pretty good with the rooster but nothing on the tube. I had a lot of fish follow the rooster without taking. But those that did were a blast on the ultralight. Had fun and got some peace and quiet so that’s all that matters.

They definitely have their pros and cons. I did the majority of mine in the past when I camped Out in backwoods lakes. Set it up before dark, better get the camp stove or grill set up because it was literally all you can eat. Mostly butter cats (yellow bullheads) They are so tasty. It was a tradition in our family. A good way to get supper in a short time. Most Florida lakes are chock full of bullheads, unless otters have come through. I always remove the trot lines except once when I set one, ran it a few times, went back in the morning and couldn’t find it. Can’t remember how, I think the marker jug came off or something. The hooks weren’t stainless so ... I’m sure the Gators and turtles had a feast. We aren’t allowed to set bush hooks in Florida or Id do it.

I had a large soft shell turtle one time . He had gotten the line all tangled up and had almost drowned by the time I came along. Another time a gator ate several catfish off my line all but the heads...

Got a sudden urge to fish a roostertail on my ultra light combo. The goal was to catch some bream . No bream , but got this one and 2 smaller relatives instead. Nice fight on the ultra light!!

I was thinking about getting my trotline out . In Florida we can run one up to 25 hooks without having a commercial license. I have always caught plenty of catfish on one. I mainly bait mine with old dead shrimp leftover from saltwater fishing. Cut pieces of fish work well too.I’d like to hear Your experiences with them, what you use for bait , etc.

Another nice sunrise from a few weeks ago.

I used to love the dsg near me when it was new. The fishing and hunting area was great. It still is the only place I can find 4 inch senkos. I haven’t been there in a year or so now , and hadn’t heard about their gun stance until I read it on here. I had about quit going there anyway.When Academy opened up 15 -20 minutes Away , I started going there mostly. Love It ! The second closest wal mart also has a decent fishing section that is run by a friend that bass fishes, so it’s better than average. There are a few mom/pop stores left. The one I like best is Green Acres SG. It’s near my church around 1/2 hr away. They have more hunting than fishing stuff, but they carry a LOT of zoom baits which I love. A little pricey but worth it for the selection. We’ve heard for several years that BPS is supposed to be opening a store around 20- 25 minutes from me - not sure what’s taking so long.

My first big bass: At the local lake I had gotten pretty good at catching bream and catfish. In those days I primarily fished with hand lines off the bank. I used bread or dough balls mostly. I got to where I could wind up and sling it 50-60 feet, with no weight.Usually didn’t use a cork either .You just waited for the line to start moving out steadily and pull up the slack to hook the fish. That day I had thrown a big dough ball out and the line began to move . When I hooked the fish, it pulled back much harder than anything Id caught up until then. As I got it closer , I was able to see it in the clear water. The mouth was large and the red gills flaring ! It got tangled up in a small dead tree in the water but I immediately jumped in and was able to grab the fish. It ended up weighing 4 pounds. I took it home and mama fried it up. I’m sure there was a picture of it but It’s probably in the thousands of pictures my parents had and is somewhere in my storage bin. That is what got me hooked on bass fishing. I never caught another bass on dough, but caught a couple on bread balls through the years.

I’m very sorry. I had him in my prayers since you first mentioned it. I actually thought of him and prayed for him and you on the 22nd . At a Loss for words . Please let us know if there’s anything at all we can do.

I caught a 7 3/4 pounder on a bubblegum fluke.

Me too ! To get to the boat. IMO. you win the most interesting place to live award...

Yeah I’ve never fished that far south- Stick Marsh is the furthest south I’ve fished. If I went there I would fish what I fish up here- Flukes, senkos, Zoom lizards , trick worms, speed worms, etc. Culprit worms. Might try the ol Mann’s too. Good luck !

I caught my personal best on a cut off Mann’s Jelly worm.! My guess is the worm was around 9-10 inches. Grape color.

I use the zoom trick worms. They are in my “ circle of trust “ baits . I catch a lot of fish on them using mostly the watermelon red or junebug colors..They don’t float with a Texas rig, and that’s all I use. They are fairly buoyant though ( they don’t sink too fast ) and fish like them both with dead-sticking or on a slow to moderate retrieve. Biggest fish I’ve caught on one is 6.3.

35 feet ! This is my view. Makes it easy to throw a trip together! That’s not the whole lake either- there’s twice as much as you can see here.Have fished it since 1974. It’s a shallow, weedy lake . Full of eel grass mostly. We have an undeveloped island that has good lay downs all around it. We have a fair amount of docks I can skip under, and some deeper holes. Bass population is excellent, bream population is somewhat below average, and we have a fair catfish population. Also have some giant grass carp. So thankful and blessed to be able to live here. I can also choose to fish the St Johns river system ( closest ramp is 2 miles from me ) The bigger lakes start about an hour and 1/4 away to the west or southwest. We also have dozens of ponds and small lakes to fish starting 5 minutes from the house up to 30 minutes away. Then we’ve got a multitude of saltwater options since I live around 15 miles from the coast. Great place to live if you love fishing!

Happy birthday! If I live to September 19th, I’ll be at the big 60. Cant believe it. I Still don’t take any medicine, and I will fight that as long as I can.