N Florida Mike

Oh no. Here we go again....

Well, at least it didn't happen while your were ON the camping trip.And you got a truck. Sounds like things are working out.

Shell bars take time but birds will often be near them waiting for bait fish to appear. Also watch for boat clusters ! I also like fishing creeks in the spring when the fish are bedding. I would hang around whiteys fish camp also on Thursday night's if they are still having the tournaments and see what they're biting.

What are you fishing with ? I use ribbon tailed worms like culprits and Producto tournament worms in red shad, black grape, or black. Dark colored 5 inch senkos too. Look for lower to the water docks, and skip up under them. There are also lots of wrecked docks from the storms that you can pick apart .I've also caught good fish fishing cypress trees at higher tides, and also they will occasionally be on shell bars feeding on bait fish, esp.bream. If you can find eel grass or pads they will relate to them also. I have never done much of the " offshore " fishing out there, but I would try cranks and rattletraps off deep structure, and try the plastics there too. I would focus on one or two areas that maybe take in a mile of area, and start picking apart the area.. or you can run and gun between docks and other structure with the boat . I've done well in Drs lake, julington creek, Around Mandarin ,and the stretch of river down by lake George. The river is intimidating because of its size, but it's basically fishing structure just like you would anywhere else.

I don't think it's nearly as common as it used to be. As much as I love fish, bass aren't up at the top of my list to eat, esp.on the bone.I like bass filets, but would rather eat a good number of other fish more. Bass apparently do have higher levels of mercury, but unless there's an advisory in the area, or you eat them more than once a week ( don't know anyone who eats bass that often ) I wouldn't be concerned.

I wouldn't worry about it. I've been eating fairly large quantities of fish ( fresh and salt ) all my life , and I feel good, and thankfully have no chronic health issues. I also believe that our waterways are cleaner in general than they were. I also believe that a vocal minority get a lot of people worried about relatively minor issues. That's my take on it anyway.

Hey, that's good. You do well to catch much from the bank there. I catch most of mine in the back corner by the car dealership. Got a 4 and a 3 and 6 others one time. Heard of a 10 being caught there. I usually take my J. Boat with T. Motor. I'm done with my work but it's storming at my house. I guess we'll wait and see....

I got into the Bradford chain of lakes a couple times and got a 5 pounder. Used to fish the ockloconee river too, and caught a lot of variety there. Used to be a sand ramp off tower rd , and we would fish all the way to hwy 90. I tried talquin once and didn't catch any. Carr lake used to have a rep. For huge bass but It may have dried up recently.

And... there's always Julington creek ! I don't fish it in the summer much, but if you have a boat, docks are a good place to start.

I use a big Dark colored worm. I Don't let it sit as long as I do in the daytime. I reel it about 6 feet or so, let it sink, wait maybe 10 seconds, pick it up, and repeat back to the boat. 2nd choice is a booya pc. Frog. Also have done well with a devil's horse but Not crazy about the trebles at night either.

I have done well with these: Culprit worms Mr Twister curly tail worms Producto tournament worms Mann's Jelly worms ( PB caught on one ) I would use black or black grape fishing at night.

Soft plastics !!! Why ? Because they catch fish the best for me.?

A croaker head ? Still amazing. We catch them mostly on finger mullet , mud minnows, and big dead shrimp. We don't use lures much for them because the bait fishing is so good. In N. Florida they can be caught surf fishing in the fall esp.

Soft plastics are the best imo. Flukes, senkos, ribbontail worms, trick worms , baby brush hogs for starters. All Texas rigged. Baymeadows park has been on and off for me and is much better from a boat.. But it holds some big fish. Got some other spots off Kernan Blvd and hodges blvd. The UNF ponds are pretty good too, except that you need a parking permit to park there.

I may half a couple hours on Saturday. Have some work to do probably in the morning til I get through. I'll send you another message on Sat. When I know more. Baymeadows regional park has a small lake that's stocked and can be pretty good .Best with a small boat though.Its right in your area.

Where do you live ? I know a few spots .?

Some of the ponds in julington creek plantation are good. Any of them that have houses on them are stocked, and many of the ones that don't have houses have fish in them. I don't fish behind the houses, but on the sides with no houses. I haven't fished them lately, but the ones along Dewberry drive used to produce well. I fish zoom super flukes, ribbon tailed worms, and even crankbaits there.I texas rig them and use no weight with the flukes.I bet they would kill senkos there. The color you will have to experiment with. I used to use watermelon red or watermelon seed almost exclusively.

I caught 300 + fish in a month several times the one year I kept records.But it was multi-species. If I remember correctly, I caught over 3000 fish that year. Im sure Ive caught 2-300 hundred bass per year the last 10 years or so.

Im 57 and have some lower back pain but It doesn't slow me down much yet. Stretching does help if I make myself do it. My wife had more serious back issues, so we bought her an inversion table. Her condition rapidly improved . This is after the doc. approved it.

A lazy man kills fish and doesn't eat them. I thin the bass herd every year so they don't overpopulate and so my home water doesn't become " Lake of the Dinks" , but every one of those fish will be eaten. My dad taught me if you kill it, you clean it and eat it. That's what makes me reluctant to throw back illegal sized fish that die accidentally, but I make that an exception.

Nice ! They are some strong fish for sure. I've been around them all my life and never got one that big. Did you catch it on a swimbait? And on a pier? Man, that makes it even more difficult.

Welcome from N Florida ! Some of the best bass fishing in the world where you are !

My Grandaughter Mackayla holding up the stolen combo I recovered from the pawnshop.

I left it out once. Took a friend's daughter fishing, but I didn't notice until she said something like "Are we sinking"?Although I was in a fairly narrow canal, I did a 180 and gunned it to hopefully run the water out and, to at least make it back to the ramp if it didnt. It just planed off enough so it didn't swamp, and we were able to bail the rest out at the ramp.