N Florida Mike

Looks like a great day. Great video .I have fished cristy critters before and have never gotten bit on them ,which is strange because the fish here love soft plastics.

Ive also got a 40 lb thrust minn kota I switch between my jon and bass hunter. It does great on small water bodies. It even lifts the front out of the water so if Im alone I put a heavy block in front to weigh it down and it goes a little faster.

They might be busy but they still shouldnt tell you one thing and do something else. That being said , i would still try to be patient and explain to them what you were originally told and ask for a new ,realistic deadline.If they dont honor it then go somwhere else.

Soft plastics and frogs fished as slow as you can stand it.If youre already fishing those and catching dinks, then go to a bigger size bait. You could also try the solunar feeding times specifically for bigger fish with these baits/ speed.I only rarely check them but its good if you only have a couple hours to fish and cant decide when to go. If you have been fishing the same baits/ speeds/ times of day ,switch it up and try something different. I know this wont go over well with some,but live bait is a great big fish producer for me in summer.The reason I dont do it as much is that its 2-3 times the work to catch the bait ,keep it alive ,and make the presentation. No better bait than live wild shiners!!!?

Thats a nice sheepie there. About 8 pounds? Excellent eating!! Thats a nice sheepie there. About 8 pounds? Excellent eating!! Fiddler crab bait ?

•You will catch bass on live bait in summer ,fall , winter ,and spring •You will catch bass on live bait whether its north , south , east , or west . • You will catch bass on live bait in big rivers ,little rivers,creeks , big lakes ,small lakes , and ponds I cant explain why you dont catch them on artificials only in the summer. Sometimes when the bite gets tougher in summer I pull out the live bait , and it generally produces. But I dont think its sad ....?

I cleared some attachments since there is a limit.( Thanks to Riverbasser ) And Glenn said to downsize the photo so I got a free picture Re- sizer app. (Thanks,Glenn ) Now my pic uploads work fine.

Theres more to it than this ,but what helped me the most was positioning myself where I could cast with the wind over and over until I got it. It must be set up right with the brake etc and the pins inside the reel.Watch Glenns video , he explains it .

Got 2 boats and a kayak out back ready to go most any time... after peter t. bbq of course....

For sake of time,I'll just mention my favorite spinning rig. It's a 6.6 ugly stick mh.with a shimano Stradic,spooled with 10 lb yo-zuri hybrid line. But I confess, I also have some bait casting combos too.

Man that sounds like fun.

If you do let me know.

Lonnie You ever getting back down here?

I have a 3 hrs. Kicker for my 12 ft Jon and it pushes it pretty good .

Yeah. I caught my pb on a Jelly worm. It wouldn't disappoint me in the least to catch a new pb on the frog though.

Favorite: Put me into the t- rigged camp as Well. And it's my favorite because I catch the most fish on them. Specifically,my best numbers baits are: • T-rigged 4 inch senko.For some reason,I don't catch anything if they're wacky rigged. • Zoom flukes. •Zoom trick worms •Culprit worms. ^^^^^^^ I often catch bigger fish with these too. • For bigger fish, Frogs and giant culprit worms. I Will occasionall do live bream or shiners and not ashamed of it.I am a product of where I grew up and who I fished with ! To me,its more work to catch bait and keep it alive and make the presentation than with artificial,but that's another thread ! • I am also gaining confidence with spinnerbaits, and have had my best year ever with them.

I've been around Gators all my life and never had one be a problem but all it takes is once, right ?. When my kids were elementary age I would take them with me in the river and they'd mostly swim while I fished.With all the splashing around one day a gator approached seeing what all the commotion was and when they quit splashing he lost interest.Of course,I made them get up on a dock. But when I have a kid with me I'm more vigilant.I honestly worry more about moccasins though.

I agree. I dont think we have pumpkin seeds in Fla. What threw me off was the dab of orange on the Gill plate

That's a red ear sunfish. We call em shellcrackers in Fla.

I regretted the one bass boat I bought so much that I never bought another one. • I had it in the shop as much as I had it in the water ,actually MORE. • The boat cracked open on the side one day fishing a tournament on Lake George.( 2nd biggest lake in FL) After my tournament days I sold it and bought a Jon boat and little 3 hrs. kicker. I've had it 30 years now. I relate to your need for room though.I can only fish 2 in the jb.

Sorry for your finger but at least it was a nice fish. Hope you put some antiseptic on it.I cut a hook out of my foot a couple weeks ago and didn't. Now it's infected.

Welcome David!

Caught this one on a grape shad culprit worm last week.

Thanks, Hez