N Florida Mike

After watching Glenn’s video I’m going to try the hook he recommended. Maybe you CAN teach an older dog new tricks.?

I don’t use horny toads much anymore because to me they had a low % of fish caught for all the effort. And I would lose many of the fish that did bite. I didn’t have much trouble with them flipping over though. I never found a hook I liked, even some that were recommended. The smaller the hook, you couldn’t hook the fish because the body of the toad got in the way. If you used a bigger hook, it was too long for the toad body. So at least I can empathize. I love Zoom z- hogs. They are lighter and the hookup and catch rate improves greatly with them. Havent seen them in stores lately, but I’m assuming they are still there. It is one of my fav. summer baits. I seem to get a larger avg. size fish with them too. The best hook I can find is a Gammy 3/0 wide gap hook. It isn’t the best because it doesn’t fit the body of the bait just right but it will catch lots of fish if you don’t mind The bait slipping down the hook a lot. I’m sure there’s a better way but haven’t found it yet. Maybe the screw-in hooks. I never could find the right size for them either though.

I used to squirrel hunt with an old 22/410 over/under that belonged to a friend. I have a separate 22 rf and 410 sg that I used to use a lot. I often didn’t use a scope with the 22 and was pretty accurate . Where I primarily hunt now has fairly high pressure from other hunters, and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be, so I use my 12 gauge with 7 1/2 shot . The squirrels there are so skittish they are often pretty far away and I can reach out to them ( and still hit them ) with the 12. I let my grandson use the 410 usually. I like to slowly stalk through thick woods with big trees , esp. Oaks. Walk a few feet as quietly as possible, stop and listen and look, and slowly move on. In a particularly good area , I may sit and wait awhile. Watch for them on the ground too. A friend gets probably a third of his squirrels that way. My problem now is finding new areas to hunt close to home. The N east Florida woods are rapidly diminishing due to all the new subdivisions coming in.?

I know it sound simplistic, but I just fish the heck out of a variety of soft plastics. Which ones I use each trip mostly depends on kind of an instinctive direction I get, which I believe is partly or even mostly based on experience. I’ll go fishing and just kind of think of a bait I want to use and so usually go with that direction. Some of it is based on the weather, time of year , etc. but the bait that I want to fish is often what the fish seem to want that day. I may change it up a few times and often it works. I fish spinnerbaits occasionally also , following the gut feeling also. I also do some frog and top water fishing at night or low light conditions, again following the thought of those baits and following the desire to fish them. I realize this is more philosophical than “ how to “ , but it seems to work for me .

Caught my first fish out of the marsh at Ft Fisher NC when I was 4 . It was some kind of little perch, according to my dad. This would have been 1965. Caught my first good sized fish when I was 8. It was a 3-4 pound black drum, caught while surf fishing at Ocean Isle beach, NC , with my dad and cousin. I was completely hooked on fishing after that. I started bass fishing in ‘74 or’ 75 , after going bank fishing at the local lake, catching some bream and seeing a small bass swim by. Caught my first decent bass ( 4 pounds ) on a doughball shortly after that. Have loved bass fishing the most of all kinds of fishing since.

Welcome back! You have this to look forward to:

I played golf once with friends from work. I couldn’t quit laughing at all my miscues. For some reason they never asked me to go again ! I like it better than soccer though (but that aint saying much ) I actually seriously considered getting a golf course membership so I could fish all the ponds!?

I don’t use circle hooks for bass unless I’m live bait fishing. It helps to reduce gut hooking fish in that case. I probably don’t hook quite as many bass with a circle hook this way but it’s close enough. I use a relatively small one too, I think it’s a # 2 ( not 2/0 ) . This size hook allows the hooked bait to swim naturally instead of being too weighed down by the hook. I just let the fish get it almost tight, then lower the rod , start reeling and as it tightens, lift the rod in a slow but continuous motion.The fish will most often get hooked in the corner of the jaw.

I have never used a leader once in 45 years bass fishing. I get plenty of bites in the moderately clear water I fish. I don’t see how using a leader would catch me more or bigger fish. It definitely opens the door for more to go wrong. I tried floro once and hated it because it sinks, and I rely on mono or braid because they float, and it helps me to see that “ twitch “ when they bite. As for braid, I don’t prefer it on spinning either, but I tone down the hook set considerably and it helps. But I lose a lot more fish with braid on spinning gear than mono. My keys to not losing fish: • Use sharp hooks that match the bait you are using • Check diligently for nicks, and retie frequently even without having one. • Don’t let the fish jump. • Maintain constant pressure on the fish. • Religiously check and readjust the drag

I’ve tried too, and can’t find one that helps either. My son loves em, but I have big wrists and forearms so the fit is too tight and won’t allow good air flow. I may try a Columbia shirt tho and see how it does. My shirtless days are long gone but Long sleeves burn me up.

I’ve known a few. One of my old friends was one of the best I ever fished with. He was “ the man “ on one of our local creeks and the river. He went off into the turkey hunting twilight zone, never to be seen again. Another one used to fish tournaments for years, and had a membership at a privately run series of lakes. He just up and quit, sold his bass boat and took up golf. He called a couple weeks ago and we went fishing for the first time in 5 years. Looks like he’s starting to come around.

It was 100 here yesterday. It hasn’t rained but a little bit in May. Fire season ! As for the Western sizzlin’s, the toughest steak I ever had was there. I think they had run out of meat that day and threw a saddle on there!!!

Very true . We had one just miss us here in N fl. in the 90s. The sky just north and west of us had that terrible green and black look. It was dead calm at our house , nothing moving, no birds etc. but the lightning and scary clouds looked like it couldn’t possibly miss us but it did. I had to go that way a little while later and about a mile away the damage was bad. Pines snapped off, big oaks blown over and uprooted. I turned around and went home. Found out my daughters friend had a tree land on her house 1/2 mile from us. And I think it was only an f-1, or just a bad downburst. We normally don’t get the real monsters like the plains states. We just get hurricanes and lots of lightning!!? Y’all be safe out there!

The pain is completely gone now. I’m still not overdoing it, but have started back with my normal routine. It feels like it never happened. Thankful !?

I don’t fish docks with people on them either. When I fish docks I mostly skip a t-rig under them for a few times and move on. I’ve only been told to leave once in the last 30 years .I was anchored up at a dock catching bream. ( owner was not out there at first ) He came out and rudely ordered me to leave because his “granddaughter fishes there” I thought “ What does that have to do with me, I’m not on your dock, there is plenty of fish in the lake “ I just disgustedly pulled up anchor and left without saying a word and him still running his mouth. Im a dock owner on the same lake and have people come around and fish . It doesn’t bother me a’tall . I look at it as an opportunity to make a friend. And I have a granddaughter that fishes there...

Those are all good ( although I’ve never heard of a pumpkinseed fluke). I would also try ribbontail worms like Culprit , mr twister , zoom ol monsters, etc . and zoom trick worms...

I’m another one that’s pretty much stuck in the past. I change about as fast as a tortoise. What matters to me most is catching fish and I’ve had satisfying results ( for me ) with my soft plastics , and sometimes will get diverted to use spinnerbaits or old top water baits like devils horse ( Catt )! .I still occasionally fish culprit worms ( mostly red or grape shad ) which are a throwback from the 80s.2 of my old friends that fish the St Johns river a lot still throw them almost exclusively and do well. Now, I have refined the overall technique so the end result is often better than it was back in the day. I have considered myself a bass fisherman since I started targeting bass 45 years ago... I still don’t know much about many of the new rod and reels, and some of you rave about baits that would tire me out trying to figure out what they are. I catch most of my fish out of a 30 year old Jon boat. I just love to bass fish. I still use my 6.6 ugly stick as my primary rod, if it ain’t broke ( and it won’t ?) why fix it ?

^^^ This!

Yeah , my son and me target Reds , sheepheads and flounder primarily in saltwater. Most of the ponds have at least a few bass in them. It takes some work to find the best ones though.

Welcome to the forums! Small waters are my thing too , and N.E Florida is full of them.

I use the super fluke with a 3/0 wide gap gamakatsu. I t-rig them and go weightless. Ive used a 2/0 but I don’t hook near as many with it. The smaller “fluke” works better with the 2/0. I don’t catch as many with the fluke jr. , so I don’t use them much. ( There is a difference between all 3 in size and action .) There is actually an even smaller fluke I’ve been seeing in the store but I haven’t tried them. I have used them for nearly 20 years and I have probably caught the most fish on them since then of any bait I’ve used.( mostly using the super fluke) I’ve caught a bunch of 4-6 pounders on them, with the biggest being 8 pounds.

I know one thing- if you don’t go you won’t catch anything. You wont know if they’ll bite top water baits if you don’t try...

It’s been a great spring here , numbers have been great with some big uns mixed in , but it’s fixing to slow down. Summer is almost here. Supposed to be 97 a couple days this week coming up. I’ll be switching to mostly early morning tactics til fall .

Rodman reservoir

I fish mostly shallow, weedy lakes that are neither Chrystal clear or murky. What works best for me in my situation is: Soft plastics • Senkos • flukes • worms • creature baits/frogs spinnerbaits are my 5th choice. I Texas rig the plastics, and go as weightless as possible. Mike