N Florida Mike

My wife doesn't have a hobby either,unless watching romantic movies could be called that. As I posted in a different thread, she doesn't much like to fish anymore.Occasionally , I'll come up with an idea for something she might like,and offer to do it with her. Whatever it is ,I actually end up enjoying it because the motive was good.You have to spend time and study her and learn what makes her tick and then do that more.I know it's kind of a dirty word nowadays , but commitment always pays dividends. When I do stuff WITH her,and do stuff FOR her ,she has no problem with me fishing.

The shiners in my lake hide in the eel grass for the most part.If they don't,they get EATEN.The lake used to be chock full of them.All sizes.I wish It could be that way again.T he population fluctuates widely.Right now there is a low population of them,but they will increase in the summer because the weeds increase so they can hide better. I have caught a 2 pound bass on an 11 inch shiner more than once.Its amazing what a bass can eat. I have thought that the super flukes mentioned above would do exceptional but for me they haven't been that good.I did catch the winning fish on a golden bream fluke in a small tournament we had out here.Gonna try them again though.I t seems like bass would annial ate them.

Bet it's good to eat

Ya think? I immediately thought Orlando area before I checked out your profile. What's your go-to baits there?

Mike Barnett. Jax. Is there a way to win a fishing trip with him.Id like to enter.

I've caught 90-100 this year. This is my quantity vrs quality input.Somedays I feel like fishing for big fish.Somedays I like fishing for numbers.Usually it's somewhere in between,with a lean toward numbers.If I catch enough fish,theres usually a few big fish mixed in.

I haven't fished it in a long time now,so I don't have any new info. We used to do well around bear Island. .But I'd fish the areas mentioned before.Those areas work anywhere in the river system. If I had to choose one place to fish,it would be docks,esp between 10-4 o'clock. Baits: I always do well with red shad or black in those waters.My favorite is culprits or producto tournament worms.I typically fish black early or late,and fish red shad in between.

I do the same thing with the speed craw and do well with it.For some reason I don't do as well with the worms though. My secret weapons? No secret,but the zoom baby brush hog is one of them. A another less popular bait that I pull out every now and then is the Z- hog.

My wife used to go with me a lot.One of our first dates was wade fishing the st Johns river.She was one of a few that went and wasnt "skeered" of gators,moccasins etc. She was exceptionally good at bream fishing.She would give me a run for the money in numbers each time. We would go fairly often on the home lake until she lost the " bass of the lake" A huge fish she hooked at one of my best spots.The fish was actually towing my Jon boat with me and her in it. And it just came off. That kind of took the wind out of her sails and she hasnt been with me much since. Looks like youve got a keeper there!

I honestly cant think of one... Wait a minute! There was this bass boat....

My whole hand goes numb every night.,and every now and then,during the day.I went to see the doc once about it 25 years ago.You know what his solution was?? Sleep on my other side!! It either happenned when my friend ran us into an oak tree and my thumb broke in 3 places,or when a boss of mine( another friend) made me drive fence posts into the ground with the end of an axe handle. I wouldn't worry about it.I dont.' Course,Im not a doctor sooo....

I dont know about the distribution for other states but a majority of water bodies have them in Florida. If I wanted to catch them anywhere though I would find a spot convenient for you and chum it daily with bread until fish begin to hold there .With experience,you can tell its shiners by the way they dimple the water when they are present. Check on cast net laws for your state.In florida,you can catch them with a net unless that specific waterbody doesnt allow it.All sport fish must be released if caught n a net. If netting isnt an option,you can catch them with light line,a tiny hook,and a tiny bread ball. I dont use a weight or cork.Just watch the line for movement. If theres no shiners at least you will catch some bream,which are almost as good for bait as shiners.Again,check the laws for fishing with bream in your area. When I was a teen,we often caught 12 inch shiners in the home lake.Caught a couple over 13 inch!!! Our lake record bass of 13 1/2 pounds was caught on a 12 inch shiner!

Maybe he had a heart attack. Ive never had a fish die on the hookset. I did hit a bass with the oars one time when I was rowing but at least he was swimming around in circles not dead. I scooped him up and invited him home for dinner.Figured he would drown eventually anyway swimming around and around like that.

I would love to take a week or two and hike some of the appalachian trail.I would probably need to get in a little better shape first. We have a lot of trails here.One is in the Ocala forest,and you can primitive camp and fish as you go.

Depends on what size senko too.I can cast a 5 inch quite a bit further than a 4. I use spinning exclusively with a 4. Anything 5-7 inch I sometimes use casting. I would say I can cast a 4 with spinning around 125 feet,which is more than enough distance for me. With spinning ,I can cast a 5 inch another 20 feet or so further.Not so much with casting because I dont use them as much.

I totally agree. Wish I would have followed that back then.Things I did wrong: Always moving to " better " spots.Fishing way too fast.I even would fish two rods at a time.Cast two and work one,then work the other one. I never did that when I was " just" fishing. It doesnt work.Another thing I did wrong was get too locked into one bait.Esp.T- rigged worms.Although they are great, its too one dementional. Now I switch to a senko or fluke.Ive improvd my versatility 200% !!!?

Ive fished the Northern part of the river a lot ( as far down as Lake George ) but not recently.I never got into the " offshore" fishing , but did well fishing eel grass , docks , pads, and Cypress trees, with black or red shad worms. Just like anywhere else, big worm= big fish ,little worms= numbers.C rescent has some excellent bream and speck fishing too. I have a friend that fishes the headwaters of the St Johns south of orlando.He uses small swimbaits and does well. I would also try wild shiners in pads or outside eel grass beds. You can also get topo maps of the whole river and figure out fishing deep er holes.

I fished tournaments for two years.What got me into it was : • I love bass fishing • I am very competitive • My friends thought Id be good at it • For the fellowship with some of these friends, and other bass fisherman. What I discoverd was : • my love for bass fishing did not place me high in every tournament •My competitive nature caused me to usually fish way too fast • I was not as good in tournaments as My friends thought Id be • I did accomplish the fellowship thing with friends.Looking back, this was the most important thing to me anyway. In the 2 years I fished them,I won one tournament, and placed 2nd or third several times.But I never did nearly as well in tournaments as I did just fishing. I did get to see some famous waters though! Id like to fish maybe one or two tournaments a year now if could do it with a friend or two.

5 3/4 to 6 1/4

Welcome to bass resource. St Augustine rd fish management area is full of shiners but its illegal to throw a cast net there.I catch em with a tiny hook with a small bread ball.Chum them first. There is a bait store ( arlington bait and tackle ) in town and country shopping center on University.( I think there still open) There are some in mandarin parks pond. Theres another small pond I know of,but a security guard will run you off. What part of town do you live in??

Another nice fish this evening. Caught on the watermelon slice 5 inch senko.

I love Zoom products.At least 2/3 of all my soft plastics are zoom.

My dad taught me to fish, but not for bass. I learned from 2 friends in th 70s, then went 30+ years learning mostly on my own.Bass resource and the friends Ive met on here have helped me to learn some new things. In the old days when I first began bass fishing I did some innovative things, such as fishing with a cane pole for bass.I mainly fished a shallow creek ( named deep bottom creek ) this way.I would walk up and down the creek and watch for schools of bass.Then plop the blue plastic worm in front of them. I learned casting, playing the fish, knots,drag,bait techniques,finding fish,etc.mostly through trial and error,doing it over and over by myself.Experience is the best teacher.

Thanks.What I love doing.When I take her I try to remember to make it about her,so she'll have so much fun she'll keep going with me. Her older brother is good at it too,but at present he's been bit by the video game bug.

My granddaughter and me got out for a little while before dark and she got 2. This is the bigger one.