N Florida Mike

I go to Academy for nearly all my outdoor stuff now. There’s one around 20 minutes from me. Dicks is about the same distance away. The only thing I need that Academy doesn’t have is 4 inch senkos. They do have the dingers though, which I usually use anyway. I love Academy sports. Hope they don’t change for the worst.

I’m so glad to hear that!!!

Some kind of soft plastic I’m sure. The fish picked it up off the bottom. Reeling it in was like those desperate dreams you get when the faster you run the slower you go.

I had a couple lower back episodes in the last 10 years but they healed up quickly. But I had the worst one recently. I had done a side job in the Lake- cleaning the weeds out of a lady’s lakefront out in the water. I put the weeds I raked up into the J boat. I was too tired to unload that day, but 2 weeks later I did unload the weeds out of the boat with a shovel. Lots of lifting, twisting , turning. I overdid the lifting part. Back is still bothering me after 6 weeks now. If If I stand on a hard surface for more than 2-3 minutes, I can’t bend over or hardly walk without severe pain. But as soon as I get in the car to leave ., it quits hurting. As long as I keep moving -no pain.

I had cast out and felt the thump. When I set the hook, the fish went to my left, slowly and deliberately. It was a very heavy fish. Suddenly it came up, getting all but part of its tail out of the water ! Then the trouble started. My reel wasn’t working right ! For every 3 or 4 turns , I would gain about the equivalent of a 1 turn gain. I was confident it was hooked well though. The fish angled toward the other end of the boat as I desperately tried to keep the line tight with the malfunctioning reel. It was like the harder I tried , the less it worked. The fish amazingly came directly toward me, and even though I didn’t think it was quite ready to go down without a fight I lifted my rod and braced myself to lip the fish. As it got close, it did a little jump and was lying on the top ,as I tried to grab the lip. My positioning was off and I could lip it but I had no leverage to lift at that moment. The fish teetered slightly in my grip as I desperately tried to lift it up and into my boat. It was no doubt a personal best... It was on the brink of escape or being caught. And then... I WOKE UP!!!! First dream I’ve had in months but it was a good one!!!! And no , I don’t have any pics!!!

To me , air mattresses are easy and I think we have a queen sized one. ( My wife’s idea ) It came with a little pump that quickly blows it up. Very comfortable. Fits easily in our tent.

I slept on the ground for many years in a sleeping bag, inside a tent or open air. After a long time I started using a air mattress. Slept like a log either way. Just less sore with the air mattress the next day.

I thought we generally clobbered the Criminoles last night. That’s always a good night if your a Gator... Did he really wear that in the game?

Did y’all see this? EPIC. That player will be gone but not forgotten. Read the comments- they are hilarious.

Glad you got out and tore em up !

For me it’s summer, esp. late summer. We don’t have long cold winters, but it gets tough after a cold front for a few days too. I love spring and fall. I do well all stages of spawn here.

I get following game laws and not being cruel to animals but not harassing them ? There are so many of them they are in the way. Not to mention the poop.How else would you get them to move if you don’t “ harass “ them ? Now Im going to check into this. There must be a ( legal ) way to deal with the problem.

Are you serious? I wouldn’t want to live in that state! And I currently don’t even have a dog!

I agree with that for the most part. I still occasionally get a light colored fish like that. They have kind of a slight bronze color to them. Maybe there’s another reason I don’t know about. They’re not rare , but not common. Always catch those out away from cover. The fish I’ve caught in murky water here almost have no color. Just kind of gray. There are some very clear lakes about an hour away from me. Those fish are light colored too, but have distinct LM patterns, especially the lateral line markings. The Tannic water fish here are very dark like you said. And you’re right about me not being used to cold water! Hopefully it stays that way!

Get the “ re- size “ app. You can cut down the size of the pic.

No argument here!

Managed 10 today fishing the middle of the day this time. Still not a cloud in the sky, and slick calm much of the day .Low 70s. Very tough bite the first 3 hours- 4 fish. Tried all kinds of baits but all they wanted were zoom super flukes in Watermelon red, and “ something” bream- kind of silver with blue and red flake. The bite picked up again coming back on the west shoreline - got 6 the last hour.

Weird . Looks just like some of the fish I catch in my fairly clear , shallow lake in open water.

Hot dog!

This looks like fun!