N Florida Mike

My experience is that pre front same day fishing is usually very good. This is usually characterized by warm weather turning sometimes stormy/windy .Post front- not so good. for 2-3 days., which is usually characterized by bluebird skies and colder weather. Don’t want to muddy the water on this, but the Barometer reading has a lot to do with it , but others have spoken to that , and info about it and bass fishing is easily found on google.

Old memories- We fished this lake for the first time in 20 years last friday. The first time I remember fishing there was around 1987. We came in 2nd in a tournament then , catching many of the fish at the right side of the pic along a hydrilla line with a devil’s horse. It was a team tournament and my friend lost a 4 pounder at the boat right at the lowest notch of the treeline to the right, that would have put us in first place. This is also where a creek goes into another lake eventually. The cypress tree line on the left produced 9 bass one morning when I fished it with my oldest son. Sadly, the lake is so choked with hydrilla now it’s nearly unfishable, ? You can’t hardly get a bass boat in there now…

I did catch some fish on a chatterbait this year, ( thanks @Aaron_H ), So thats a step in the right direction!

I can’t think of anything to brag about involving fishing ?… Fewer numbers and less big fish than normal… I believe I’m better physically and spiritually after this year, the wife seems happy … and we somehow have our bills paid so there’s that !

caught on a UV Speed worm.

F Largemouth ( probably northern too) Suwannee bass Sunshine bass ( cross between a striper and white bass I think.) I caught a strange looking bass once in the Ockloconee river that had red eyes and some red on its fins. I assume it was a red eye bass.

I’ve played a banjo for app. 35 years now. My parents and aunt were all musical, but esp. my mom. My oldest son plays numerous stringed instruments, including guitar , banjo, mandolin, bass, and his latest love, ukulele. We picked together for years, and got pretty good , until he went into the military and rarely came home… This last year I’ve made a big effort to practice and have made a few you tube videos. I’m too much of a perfectionist though, and my banjo needs the head tightened to get the sound to improve. It’s on my list…. I play traditional bluegrass standards, mostly Scruggs and Ralph Stanley tunes…

My dad was too…

I have an old 10 ft bass hunter that got a lot of water inside of it somehow. I have turned it upside down in all directions and positions and it won’t drain out. I probably need to drill a hole in it somewhere but don’t want to if I can help it. I’m afraid I’ll start a bigger crack , if I drill a hole. Also not sure if there are more compartments inside that would need multiple holes drilled. So, needing advice before I start. It could be one hole drilled above the waterline would let all the water out, that’s what I’m thinking…

I used them too. They were lighter than the old culprits and were great when reeling them on top across eel grass… Culprits are readily available in any store that carries fishing stuff, down here anyway… Ive only found Mann’s at Dick’s SG , which I rarely go to anymore. And they are only the jumbo 12 inchers. I mainly used the 10 inch ones-( Caught my PB on a grape one).

Another one is “ Producto tournament worms “ It was one of my top 3 baits to fish in the St Johns river system , back when. Black grape son !!

My wife likes hallmark / lifetime Christmas movies, and convinced me to watch a couple of them. I can tolerate the ones with outdoor themes, so one of the ones we saw this year was “ Christmas in the Rockies” It was basically just like an episode of “heartland” with different characters. Also watched “ Christmas miracle at sage creek, which is a good western . I usually watch “ A Christmas story”, if nothing else but to see the kid beat up the bully, the bumpus dogs eating their turkey, and the chinese restaurant part…? Oh, and I watched both the “ Home alones” …?

March is probably the best month for numbers of bedding fish in N. Florida. I’ve caught fish off beds from late december through April here. For me , the biggest fish have come early in the spawn though…

I suspect a lot of the younger generation have never heard of culprit worms , or mann’s Jelly worms. They are both still relevant fish producers…

This is exactly my situation…

Both. They don’t control my life though.! Probably more of a cat person really because I don’t have time for dogs since they need more attention… I enjoy my daughters 2 dogs that live ( hopefully not permanently) with us. And my cat is a real sweet one…( and kills rats for us too !!!)

I’m in the jax area and you’re welcome to fish my small lake.

Hey if you come by the Jax. area and you have some time let me know. I think the iguanas are down south mostly…

World record Alligator - Yeah, I see it’s now recognized as the official biggest. For many years, it was the 19.2 in Louisiana. I don’t like how they change the criteria that judge the biggest. I guess they didn’t feel like it was official enough by modern standards. There have been numerous 13-15 footers taken in Florida that probably didn’t messure up to their standard either…

How long was it? Because a 19.2 came out of Louisiana years ago.

That’s a shame. Relatives stole a bunch of my stuff too for the same reason , including my favorite surf fishing combo that I’d had for 30+ years. At least they have started getting better from where they were 2 years ago… Culprit worms and UV Speed worms have been working best for me lately. June bug and black with blue tail have been the best colors…fished as slow as possible…

I am thinking about going this coming friday. Now if I can just convince my friend with a bass boat …?.

…and a happy New Year from N. Florida! Not a white Christmas here , but definitely a cold one ! ?

You win … I had my bass boat break from top to almost bottom on one side. We were fishing a tournament in Lake George (fl), and hit a big wave head on. We limped slowly back to the lodge, and got ahold of some kind of marine bondo and caked it on and in the crack. We fished the next day( even though then the motor conked out on us too. ) We ended up taking 3rd place just trolling along from the boat ramp !?

Circle hooks work fine. I use eagle claw size 1 plain shank hooks sometimes also.They are small, but I don’t want to ruin the action of the bait fish, which often are small bream. You could upsize a couple notches for bigger shiners…and in dark waters… I have used all kinds of hooks and am relatively sure Ive never killed a big bass by gut hooking it…I caught this one using a cork with about 3 feet of line under it… hooked him right in the corner of the mouth…