N Florida Mike

I sometimes do an old school trip too. Ive got some old worms from the 80s. Specifically, I have a lot of green culprit worms. Ive got some manns worms too , but Im saving what I have left of them. Also have some gold flake paddle tail worms. I don’t know who made them. I keep them in my old Rebel box from the 80s. One of the sides top broke off, but I still have the other side…?

Yeah, it was brand new.

I’m not questioning their right to be there, if they had been there first I would have gone somewhere else or waited until they moved on. I just don't get how they can see that you’re obviously fishing and start throwing frisbees anyway . Some of those things can knock people out. Judging by how bad they were throwing, the extra 100 feet they would have gained by walking around me would have helped them considerably…

A friend gave me this battery for Christmas. Used it once with no problem, but when I got back after the second trip , I saw that the base of the terminal had melted down and the terminal sank down with it. Somehow I didn’t notice it when in use. Thankful it didn’t blow up … I’ve used or been around trolling motors and batteries for 40 + years and never had a battery do this. The last battery I had was the same kind and I had no problem. I had it hooked up correctly, and the nut tightened down. I use it on a 40 PT minn kota. I don’t have the receipt from walmart either because it was a gift. Hoping they’ll credit me anyway… Anyone ever had this happen?

Purdy fish ! Good job !

The other day I was fishing a pond that is in the middle of a frisbee golf course. It’s public . I was there first, but had only made a couple casts. Suddenly a group of 10 or so , mostly younger aged frisbiers showed up. God forbid they could just walk the 100 feet around me. They started firing frisbees anyway. One went over my head. Another one went in the water right where I was fishing. For some reason, that really ticked me off. Instead of saying something in anger I just reeled in and left. They probably have no clue they did anything wrong… or maybe they did after I slung a little mud taking off outta there…

They are in all 67 counties in Florida. People regularly have pets killed by them around here. I’m wondering if the holes might have been made by a mink or weasel. They aren’t very common in N Florida I don’t think . ( I’ve never seen either one ) but FWC says there’s some around…

That’s possible too. Although I haven’t seen or smelled one in years around there.

I’ve had plenty. The worst karen would be the one that kicked my jon boat when I was 17 or so. She had a chain link fence that went 4 feet or so out into the water on her property line. I had tied up to it not hurting anything. I was catching bream off a big bed that was out from her neighbors. She came out and very rudely told me to leave, because I was “hurting her fence”. I wasn’t. Because of her attitude, I didn't leave . She threatened me with her husband and the police. I was polite, but just kept fishing. Finally, she rolled up her pants leg, stepped into the water, hauled off and kicked my boat. That made me mad so I splashed her with an oar and she retreated. Then I left before she went and got a gun. Not saying I was right by not leaving at first , but I probably would have if she just would have been nice about it to start with… That was me at 17. Not saying I would do that now…?

Fast forward 5 years, and we are getting lots of coyote sightings and other animals, probably due to the enormous amount of development around here… I went to a large property today working in southern Duval County and found these holes dug into mole tunnels. The county agent thinks they are being caused by foxes trying to get the moles. There were dozens of holes…At first I thought they were Armadillo holes but they all connected to a tunnel. There’s no way it could be caused by moles going into the ground. They don’t come out that much, not all at once like that… Im thinking also a coon, or maybe even the barred owl I heard hooting in the creek bottom below the property. Never seen one dig , but I don’t see why they wouldn’t. The digs are small for a coyote, in my opinion… Didnt see any tracks either. Be cool to put out a trail cam and see what shows up…

It does , but Ive never seen one in my lake in 48 years. Some of my friends shot one once in the creek outflow. We do have gars. Im 100% sure it was a bass. Even after that fish broke off, there was still activity on that weedline. But I couldn’t get another bite…

I have actually lost a mudfish like that , because he chomped down on the line.

Thanks for the empathy. That is the first bigger fish I’ve lost in … well I can’t remember when. I don’t think it was a pb, but you never know… It didn’t jump, just went bulldogging to the right, out into open water. Who knows, maybe the fish wouldn’t have bit at all if I would have stopped to re-tie. That’s what I’m telling myself but it’s not helping much… At least I had the right bait, at the right time, at the right place. So there’s that.

I finally made it out today for the last few hours of daylight. Cool, sunny , windy. Not my favorite conditions. Decided to fish the south end where I have some dependable bedding areas , but the first good one didn’t produce. Got a random fish on the zoom lizard in june bug off a laydown. The bite was very slow, and I was battling the wind in the area I wanted to fish. So I went to the calm side and fished an area that is usually good right before dark. Was getting nothing on the super fluke, so I switched to the yum dinger. Got the skinny first fish pictured, and as I was reeling him in, I saw a blow-up just ahead on a weedline. Cast over there and got a bigger one. I was releasing that fish and saw more activity on the weedline . Cast over, and got another bite. I thought, this is the end of a perfect little flurry of activity, and just as the sun was going down. Then it happened… It was the big fish of THE YEAR. I had him but he was powerful…then the line just parted…. Then I remembered thinking about checking for nicks in the line right as I saw the weedline activity. I couldn’t resist casting to it… It cost me…?

Zoom super fluke…?

Very nice! I fished wildcat once but it was super windy that day so we moved to another more sheltered lake. My favorite lake is close to wildcat ( crooked lake). Ive fished South and North grasshopper lake in that area too… What did you catch it on?

Ive done that for years. The Ocala Forest has lots of small lakes and ponds that people rarely fish. The problem is that homeless people set up on some of them…

I was thinking about @bigbill. I wonder if Bigfoot finally got him?

My son moved to Michigan a couple years ago. He told me today the high had been around 10 for several days there. I asked “ Are you still working? “ ( He’s a plumber) He laughed and said they only get off if theirs a blizzard. I said “ if it was 10 here nobody would go outside until it warmed up”… I remember the one ice storm we had in my lifetime here. ( Which would probably be a little one for up north ). I think we had something like 350 accidents in the 2 days of it …?

My lower back pain is slowly getting worse. If I stand on a hard surface more than about 10 minutes, my lower back tightens up and kills me when I bend over or try to get in the little work car I drive. If Im walking or driving it doesn’t hurt at all . Years of physical labor taking its toll, I reckon. I tried stretching exercises but they didn’t seem to help any. Im getting enough pain to make me very interested in this thread!

I’ll buy people food but don’t give money anymore. There’s enough people that I know that are poor and are doing the best they can. I’ll help them because I know their situation. The last several people that looked hungry that I bought food for appreciated it. You just need to use some discernment. I am not a bit afraid of a homeless person, but wouldn’t turn my back on them either… You did a good thing @KSanford33

I taught myself. My dad wouldn’t filet fish, because he thought it wasted too much meat. He would pick every piece out to the tiniest one, then eat the tail for dessert…?

I meant to say this on my other post, but I have a happy story, in that I got to move onto the lake I grew up fishing. So no access problem for me here anyway. ? We can just barely afford it, but I’m working on it …?

I could write a book on this for my area. I grew up in a semi-rural area that is now in the suburbs. Many of the ponds in the woods back then are now surrounded by homes or businesses. The hunting spots are worse ,if anything. A hunt club ran dogs for deer in an area that was wide open, app. 30,000 acres. There is now maybe 8000 acres of it left, and they are developing it as fast as they can. One example of the fishing loss of spots is the St Johns river system. One creek off the river is just 15 minutes from where I grew up. Caught a 5 pounder in there once. My friend lived near it , and we would have bb gun wars along it’s banks , and fish in between the trees and brush along its banks. We used to wade all up and down it too, because it had sand bars and little holes in it. At where it went into the river there was a dock we fished on or wade fished in the river. It’s been surrounded by a nieghborhood now for many years , with no access. When it got closed , I started fishing more 20 miles down the river. There was an access at the end of a road that you could hand launch a jon boat. Then they built a house there and it closed. I went another 10 miles further, and found a great wade fishing area. Went there for years, especially for the huge bream I caught under shrimp platform docks . Where I parked was only 20 feet from the river access. The last day I went, someone had put up a white vinyl fence! People had fished there for centuries, and I didn’t see any signs, so I went under the fence, fished, and when I returned, I saw it… A no tress passing sign on a cypress tree facing the river. I was outraged, to say the least.? I never went back…

Mine was 43 ?