N Florida Mike

I'm all for giving gear to kids but I'm more into giving time to teach them.

I prefer fishing late pm when all the works done.But I'm learning that the fish don't always prefer that.A lot of it is the season.In winter , the bite is usually best for me from late morning on.The middle of the day is often best in winter.My biggest and second biggest fish were caught between 11-1,in the winter. In mid to late spring , I love the early morning bite.Then I fish shade( esp. docks ) if I'm still out after 11 or so.Summer I fish very early( best time ) and very late.And frog fish after dark.! I also fish deep holes in the hottest part of the day very slowly with a big worm.I generally do better in fall in the pm.It may be that I just fish then more. I also believe the moon has a lot to do with it,which can enhance the fishing anytime. Also, the pressure is a factor. More often than not,I go when it's the most convenient for me!!

Hey,If I could make a living doing that I would.More power to him.

Subway lol.

Lunch break today near a pond.Thought I'd give it a try.15 minutes later this was the result.She bit a 4 inch GY senko in watermelon.Absolutely incredible fight with 8 pound test.I helped the drag by stripping line off several times.The fish was nearly symmetrical at 21.5 inches long,and 21 inch girth.Extremely heavy bodied fish.Weight chart says between 8-9 pounds.Thank you Lord!

So sorry for your loss.My mom passed in Oct.Life has been surreal since she's gone.Prayers for you and your brother.

First decent fish of the year. What was weird was that it had line coming out its poop hole.I guess someone cut the line or broke it off , and the fish swallowed the line.

There's a decent amount of nuts where I hunt, humans included.But Ive only been once and it was too windy so we went after hogs instead. I'll probably go this Saturday .Got a big oak hammock I hunt.Its public though,so we can't bait with corn here in FL.o n public land.

I'm pretty sure the outcome would have been the same....

My friend used to troll a baby bass colored crank over a deep hole at night.This was a deep hole for Florida - 30 feet.His biggest doing that was 11 1/2. The lake was also very clear.

Talking about the homeless, I went surf fishing and before I could even get my stuff unloaded I was approached by a man and woman.With a story,and needing 2.37¢ for bus fare.So the man was covered with sand.I asked what happened and he said he just got beat up and as if on cue a third man showed up and just came walking slowly up like a zombie without the foot drag.So he walks up,looks in my truck,and grabs a rod holder and turns and walks off.I said Hey, bring it back .He keeps going.So I'm wondering if I want to fight over a rod holder or not.And have decided I will.The woman suddenly pipes up and says " bring it back!" He immediately spins around,comes back and drops it in the back of the truck and walks away.Never said a word.Im thinking " If there's one within a hundred miles they'll always find me " I just loaded my stuff back up and went somewhere else.

We have bats here nearly every evening in the summer, but I don't see any pattern with that and fishing here.

With Kiffin being gone for the Nat. championship there will likely be confusion with Bamas offence.But it might be that him leaving might help them.Such a whiny- baby.

Man, that is a real BLACK Bass! I caught several around this big.I THINK this one was the biggest.It was caught on a strike king 5 inch watermelon stick-o.Caught it on August 8 th, on a hot day. 23 inch long.

Congrats to your son and you. Where were y'all? Harris chain?

I was walking through a field by the lake I'd been fishing when I was 14 or so and saw this giant rat with a long tail.I mean 3 feet long.Could not believe it. Found out later it was a nutria,but we always called them swamp rats until we found out there real name.

I practice catch and release ( for the most part ) I will go to great lengths to get the hook out of a fish without injuring it. I don't ever waste a dead fish- it will be eaten.There have been a handful of times I planned to clean them later and forgot,and they went bad.I felt so bad I asked God to forgive me. I don't remember ever throwing a fish into the water.I drop them over.I don't flip them. That being said, I don't always lay them softly into the water. And I have always held a bass by the mouth.I will sometimes also support a bigger fish.Sorry,but in 40 + years I have not seen any hands-on evidence that mouth gripping a fish without support injures it. Maybe I'm wrong.I feel like I've improved some anyway.At least I don't eat every bass like I did when I was young.

We had a long thread on this earlier in the year so Im not sure if I already told this one or not. I took a friend's teenage son bass fishing.As it began to get dark we started seeing bats.He made the comment that he was really scared of bats.I explained how this kind just ate insects so no big deal etc. It wasn't 15 minutes later than that,when a bat flew between his line and rod and GOT STUCK ! He didn't notice because he was focusing on fishing.The bat struggled and freed himself just before David turned and would have seen it.I said Hey man ,a bat was stuck on your rod.He just turned and kept fishing.I think he thought I was pulling his chain. In all my years of fishing he's the only one who said he was scared of bats and it was the only time I ever saw this happen.

Hopefully Clemson. Go Gators.

Tried a couple new ponds today without a bite.Daughter prepared a great supper and I'm watching the Clemson/ O.state game. I'm with Hoosier on this one.Probably the least important holiday for me.Glad to be off from work is the main thing. Hope y'all had a merry Christmas and will have a prosperous and blessed new year. Mike

Fun times though.One of them was good at making hatbands and other items out of snake skins,usually moccasins.The other friend was deathly afraid of snakes.You can imagine where that ended up regularly....

For some reason,that reminds me of the time I got out of the boat onto a cypress tree to pee and my " friends " took off and left me there for awhile....

Wow . Finally a thread for my favorite rod.I have several one and two piece ugly sticks.Have used them for a long time.Have never broken one.I love both kinds.I would get whichever one feels best with the reel, and fits your type of fishing you plan to do with it . The two piece is no problem.I rarely have had them separate when casting.To me,there is no difference. My favorite one is a 6 1/2 2 piece and it's been so long since it came apart that it's basically fused together now!

For lighter baits I'd definitely get spinning.I use spinning more,but my frog and swimbait outfits are casting and also have a worm combo that's casting. I fish spinning at least 75% of the time.Love my stradic !!

I found a bunch of old green culprits . That was not a go- to color back then.Im going to try them.And these old Mann's worms - I found 25 or so,both the spear shaped tail and what we used to call screw tail.These are older than the culprits.Trying to decide if I should use them or save hem for nostalgia's sake.