N Florida Mike

I probably beat all y’all in total years since I caught my pb Largemouth. 43 years. I came within 2 ounces of it around 5 years ago, and came within 7 ounces of it 4 years ago. What’s strange is that I caught that fish when I was 19, and had only been bass fishing seriously for a few years. I have barely lost several fish that would have beat it easily by several pounds… I did, however, catch a LONGER fish about 3 years ago, that beat the heaviest pb by a inch and a half in length, but was a pound less in weight… This is the longest one I ever caught-26 inch.

That’s really great! I remember how disappointed you sounded when he wasn’t playing and had lost his interest. Baseball was always my favorite sport. I ended up pitching a one hitter in college( it was really a no hitter but our left fielder dropped an easy fly ball on the 2nd to last batter of the game, and they scored it a hit ?) I could play any position, but never played 2nd and only played shortstop once. The best pitcher by far that I ever hit against was Storm Davis, who went on to play for the Orioles. He actually goes to my church and I see him often and tell old baseball stories. He is now helping our school’s high school team and is a really humble, nice guy. It sounds like your son is on track for something good… keep us posted !

I’m more concerned down here with otters. They are obviously gaining in population. We hadn’t had one in our lake in 10 years or so but theres a medium sized one that got in sometime in the last year or so. They are eating up the catfish and bass. Numbers of bass and big fish are way down. We have nutrias too, but they aren’t fish eaters so I don’t care much about them. They did eat a couple feet of my bank in one spot. I trapped several of them and it slowed down a lot…

Otters probably did it…

Got several in one of my work route ponds on the watermelon red super fluke. It was 84 here today. Definitely will have some bedding fish if it holds up for the full moon next week…?

Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Hank Parker , Shaw Grigsby. I used to enjoy in fisherman too, to find out how the heck they did fishing up there. I think their show was the first time I ever heard of walleyes and muskys, lol. My dad taught me the basics. 2 friends probably influenced me the most with bass fishing: Bob Scott taught me bass fishing basics, and Billy Hood taught me the finer points… And Ive learned a lot on my own, and on bass resource, of course…

Sorry I missed you the first time around. I honestly dont know St augustine very well for bass ponds, but I know inshore saltwater there very well. And surf fishing. I fish ponds from Nocatee north primarily, including the jax area. Hundreds of ponds there…And occasionally natural lakes , rivers in the area… I can tell you a couple near highway 1 south and 312 NOT to fish though. I couldn’t get a bite in the big pond at the hospital, and some kind of retirement home down the road …

Welcome from a N Florida native… Was in St Augustine working this morning!

I’ve used it all my life when I have had bad head colds. I stick a finger in the jar for a small glob and stick it just inside my nose. Has always worked great for me to clear up the congestion.

I haven’t fished for them near as much as Bass or bream, but My PB is 1 3/4 pounds. Caught in Sante Fe lake on a white rooster tail off a brush pile…

I like it better than golf or soccer, but that ain’t saying much ?

I’m exactly opposite… I have gotten to where I don’t like it sickly sweet if you know what I mean. Just middle of the road sweet. I drink the Chrystal light kind usually, and it’s pretty good. No sugar in it…

Thanks for sharing that. Happy adoption anniversary! I adopted 2 of my kids legally , after marrying their mom, and also raised 2 grandkids. I’m pretty sure they’re glad.☺️ All I know is I love them very much.

Sweet Tea…?

I’ve never had white bass but I love catfish. We obviously don’t catch them in cold water here in the summer, but they are just as good to me anytime… Got a real nice shellcracker ( redear ). Caught 15-20 in a hour or so…

Julington Creek- Another creek I grew up fishing. That low Island was always a good producer on the side you see in the pic. Bass love bedding there at the base of uprooted trees…. We had a spring pattern in there that always produced. The last several times I fished it I didn’t do well though…

This ^^^^

I wouldn’t put up with that. A good kick or two would have fixed her problem!

This^^^^

The Outlaw Josey Wales. # 1 The Searchers Lonesome Dove Dances with Wolves The Good, bad and Ugly Quigley Down Under El Dorado Jeremiah Johnson The Long Riders. Butch Cassidy Open Range Tombstone was recently rated #1 , on a thread. I think it was very well made but I personally didn’t enjoy it that much. I think it was because I primarily enjoy westerns that take place outside of the cities. Tombstone took place in a town for the most part…

At 62, I can relate. I’m more laid back with most scenarios. The one thing that continually seems to irritate and anger me more is poor drivers. I work 6 days a week, and the majority of time working involves driving. They go way too fast or way too slow. Long lines can bother me, mostly if there’s a dumb reason for it. Like someone buying scratch off tickets with one cashier in a “ convenience “ store. I can’t do “news” any more either. I figure if it’s earth shattering I’ll know. I look back at the past more, because I have more past to look back at. I see everything so clearly, and wonder why in the world I couldn’t see it then because it was obvious. I also look at the future with much excitement and anticipation though.

It’s hard to mention them all. I used to fish the Ocala forest waters for complete solitude. It was rare to see anyone all day at most of them. Now I stay closer to home and fish my home lake the most. I’ve fished on it for 48 years now, and lived on it for 15… It started out as a creek going into a cypress pond. In the 50s my friends family logged the cypress out of it and they enlarged it and started building houses on it. It had almost nobody fishing it until covid except me, but a lot of new people moved in that use it more. Still not heavily pressured. It is spring fed, so it stays pretty clear. It is shallow, only 7 foot max. depth now. There are 3 distinct sections of the lake . The north end is long and narrower, the middle is the Island area, with channels on either side, and the south end is wider and rounder… We don’t allow outboards or jet skiis anymore, so it’s usually quiet. Many people have dogs though, so that often ruins the peace. The wooded Island is a peaceful getaway though - The same 200+ year old live oak I climbed as a teen is still out there… Even if I don’t go out in the boat , I can relax at the dock, which is about 35 feet from my back door…

Seen these Sandhill Cranes today… These are some real big birds !!!

Black for me…

I remember my first crush, which happened in first grade too. Her name was Kandy . I can see her face as I write this. I can’t remember much except that I felt strange, like you did. She had dark brown hair , pretty smile , and was kind of shy. She would smile at me and we would talk with each other. She seemed to feel something for me too. She wasn’t in many of my classes after that until middle school. It was a Christian school and one of the things they ( tried ) to teach us was etiquette. I was nervous with girls in general by then, as bad as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs lol. This one time they were trying to teach us how to hold a chair for a girl and then push it in when she sat down. Guess who my girl was ? ? It was her … Kandy. I was glad and scared at the same time, hoping somehow I would impress her, or that she would smile that smile at me. When it was our turn, she scowled, sat down quickly and pulled the chair in herself, before I could react… Everyone laughed… I was crushed…not even a smile…?