N Florida Mike

We are fixing to have a cold snap this week. Temps will be in the 60s for highs. ?

Shoot, Zoom lizards are always on my boat, and have been for many years now. Its one of my " circle of trust " baits.

These are some of my favorite worms. For some reason they arent in stores much anymore. I plan to order some this year. They are so...slinky is the word . And coated with that slimy stuff . Love to sniff em'? Bass love em too !!

I do the same thing . Occasionally, I'll pull out my old Rebel excalibur worm box, which is still full of Mann's Jelly worms, culprits, Producto tournament worms, etc. I also have some old paddle tail worms in there, and " gator tail " worms. Sometimes I just take that box only, to really re-aquaint myself with the good ol days.

I am positive if I hadnt played so much baseball ( and done so much rock skipping ) I would not have picked the skill of skipping up so easily. It isnt exactly the same motion , because you have a rod in your hand. But it's the closest thing to that motion. Most of the time I fish low to the water sitting in my J. boat. This makes me have to skip with the rod nearly parallel to the water, maybe slightly tilted downward. I can skip a bait 40 feet accurately, and can go 50 + but dont like to. That may not seem like much distance but when half of it is under a dock , or back up into brush, it isnt bad. I like control, and when it gets too far away, you lose it. But I'll keep skipping it like a rock because it works for me. Thats's one the joy of fishing. Do what works best for your circumstances.

Thanks for all the replies. Theyve got me on some medicine, and about to set up therapy. It seems to continue getting better. I can sleep on both sides now, which I couldnt do last week. Boss at Work has let me avoid crawling under houses, which is letting it heal ( hopefully )

I use a spinning reel for skipping, which I do a lot of. I use a 6 1/2 foot medium rod with a fast tip and 10 pound mono, or 20 pound braid.You should go up on the pound test if you fish heavy brush. But 10 -12 pound mono or 20 pound braid is what I use for docks and what I consider light brush. The bait that I would learn on is a zoom speed craw. I use one bb shot attached just above the bait. Of course, You could go up on the weight if youre fishing deeper water. I fish a lot of water under 5 feet, so I prefer a light weight with skipping so it doesnt sink too fast. The motion is like skipping a rock, or like a sidearm baseball throw. Since I did a lot of both, it came easy for me. You want to start low to the water. I think one thing that helps me is that I usually fish from a jon boat which sits me lower in the water. It is very satisfying to make a good skip and get way back under a dock or brush pile that you would not have been able to reach with an overhand cast. The tap at the end of the line is the payoff ! Best way to learn is to go do a lot of it. Docks are usually best, because they offer plenty of different angles to try (and fish ! )

What do you consider Chronic though ? I cant remember but one injury that took more than a month to heal and I went directly to the hospital on that one. This hurt for around 3 weeks before I went, but it seems to hurt a little less every day. Not having to crawl under houses is helping.

Sorry friend, but your time will come. Our weather is a month early. Our March hasnt even been very windy either. Hopefully our summer wont be early !

Got out with a friend from work for a few hours this afternoon. The bite was very slow at first. We caught 11 in the first 3 hours or so. The lake was almost slick calm, which usually means you have to slow down the presentation. Byron got a nice 3 pounder when I saw the wake and told him where to throw. The last 30- 40 minutes we caught 9 more , all on the Alabama craw yum dingers. The other fish were cuaght on zoom speed craws in some brush, and the golden bream super flukes. And caught 1 on a trick worm. We lost a couple bigger fish in the eel grass. It was Byrons 2nd time bass fishing. He is learning fast, and doing much better on the hook set. Another nice weather day, almost hot , with temps in the low 80s.

Believe it or not, I have never had 1 problem with a tournament fisherman , Maybe its the way I look. , and my 2 sons are bigger than me. Im like the verse in that Charlie Daniels song ..." I wouldnt harm a mouse, but if I catch somebody breaking in my house "... Ive had a lot more trouble with nominal fisherman, boaters who dont realize fisherman exist, and lake owners who think they own the water near their property. I had many verbal confrontations, ( and several physical ones ) as a young man before I realized that " do unto others as you would have them do unto you " is a command and not a suggestion. I still get mad because Im human and the best thing for me is to get away from the conflict before it gets ugly.

That's terrible news. Praying for those involved. I witnessed and was the first responder to a bad accident just up the road from my house. A VW beetle with 5 high school kids went around the curve way too fast and hit a school bus head on. None of the kids on the bus were hurt but 3 of the kids in the beetle were in bad shape. Found out later the driver was doing drugs right before it happenned. When I got there, his face was a bloody mess. Met him years later and he had completely recovered and the other injured kids did too. He was very fortunate and blessed to have survived through his foolish actions, which nearly took other peoples lives.

Im not sure I understand what the change is with targeting. I think it is called WAY too much. Most of what was called targeting wasnt. Maybe poor tackling form but not targeting. A lot of helmet to helmet targeting calls are called because the offensive player lowers his head right as the defensive player makes the hit and that causes helmet to helmet contact.

Things seem to be improving a little each day. Today was the best day Ive had in over a week. Was shaving today and right arm started tingling esp. around the elbow. As soon as I finished that motion, so did the tingling. I keep thinking about the Doc. on Hee-Haw. Man comes up and tells the doc it hurts when he makes a certain motion. And the Doc. says " Well dont do that "??

I dont hate the vols but I got pretty close when Lane kiffin was there. Yeah, same here if u ever come down to gator land. If you could put me on some smallmouth I might even wear one of those " T " hats for a day that Bill Dance always wears. ?

lol

I love the state and the people, esp. in east Tn. That being said, I dont think Id be too accepted there even though my dad was from the appalachians. Once they see my GATOR hat, the smiles and friendliness usually go away. I had that experience at the smoky mtn visitor center in gatlinburg. 9 year old boy was walking by and did a double take and giving me a stare down, as I had on one of my camo Gator hats. He said with a thick E. tennessee accent " Youuu like the Gaters ???." I said yep, Florida's my home state. He looked like he was scared to death I was the boogie man or something. I wondered, what are they teaching this child at home ???

I catch some good fish on the dingers , esp the 5 inch ones. The smaller ones dont seem to have as much action, but I still do ok with them. I have used stick-os a few times and dont see much difference. I texas rig only. Dont like wacky rig because I get a clod of weeds that way nearly every cast. I only use them weightless. Use a weight and whatever action you had is lost the heavier the weight. I will buy senkos a few times a year and they outfish the imitations hands down.

I went to the workers comp dr. yesterday. Blood pressures good. They did a chest x-ray and didnt find anything. Gave me some pain pills ( which I havent taken yet and may not take ) and muscle relaxer. I took one of them before going to bed and feel like I could sleep for a week from it. Going back on thursday for a follow up. Symptoms have eased up a little.