N Florida Mike

This is a copperhead ( nose) bluegill.

Im always simply happy to be on the water. But I’m simply happier catching fish on the water !

Got this skinny fish on a super fluke.

I don’t filet bluegills and have never ate a walleye but other than that I rank it • Catfish • bluegill ( a very close second ) • crappie • walleye ? I would fit bass in between bluegill and crappie for taste, but theyd be second to catfish for filets in the group…

Thank you ! Ive never caught a smallmouth. It’s on my short list for fishing! Me too. A diver was there one day and told me that. So I don’t know it for sure. But it seems very deep based on the fall of the baits…

Thanks! Yes it is very deep. It is about 200 feet from I-10. I think it was dug for fill for it in the early 70s. But its only around 3-4 acres in size. Yes, it’s the graveyard pond at church. There’s 3 other ponds there too, but the others aren’t as good. 2 of them are newer and shallower. 1 is back in the woods and it’s hard to get to. Never caught anything in it. The big fish Ive hooked 2-3 times has been elusive lately.

Got 3 in under 15 minutes on the bama bug yum dinger…

Back after mrs big again in the church pond. First decent fish since the 6 pounder.

• Yum dingers or Senkos • super Flukes • Culprit worms • UV Speed worms • Baby brush hogs. If I don’t catch with these, they ain’t biting ! I use watermelon seed and watermelon red, june bug, green pumkin, red shad,and related colors. These are just for starters- got some other choices too…

I fished it only once , and that was primarily for bream. No bass, but it was the best day of bream fishing in my life!

Happy Birthday!

Yeah, If I had to choose between soccer and hockey ( to watch), Id choose hockey.

I used to fish Orange back in the 80s. Big, dark worms and traps were the baits of choice then. And shiners of course. Came in 2nd in a tournament in Lochloosa in 86 or 87…

If I get caught by rain on the water and they’re already biting, I’ll keep fishing. I don’t fool with lightning though. If it’s pouring down when Im about to go, I’ll wait until it slacks off. Recently had a 1 hour window to fish a work route pond . The sun was peeking through the clouds as I walked to the pond. Started fishing, and it immediately came a downpour. Walked back to the truck, and the sun came out . Walked down again, and another downpour! This happened several times. I finally got partially under a tree where I could still cast. Caught 9 , all in heavy rain…

Thank you Katy. The bite was pretty good considering the heat …

Got 13 this morning on yum dingers, uv speed worms , and super flukes. Done by 10:30 as it was boiling hot already. Had a 3-4 pounder up to the boat on a frog, but he got his head out of the water and shook it out. Got the biggest one on the watermelon red super fluke…she was 18 1/2 inch.

Best for me is accuracy, specifically skipping under docks and back into cover. I love skipping so much I do it sometimes when I dont even have to. And Im very successful with soft plastics. Worst is a little embarrassing. I suspect some of you have the same problem. I had my own bass boat in the 80s. After I stopped fishing tournaments I sold it, and bought a jon boat with a smaller motor. I started fishing smaller waters. Within the last 10 years I began fishing again with a childhood friend who I actually taught to bass fish. He has a more modern bass boat. So there was a 30 year gap between my old bass boat days and the recent ones. I have trouble with his boat - everything is different. I am not a fast backer anymore-and I am slow with the other gadgets on the boat too. And the boat ramps are 4 times more crowded than before. So it’s intimidating to me now and humbling to someone who’s done this for 50 years now. Im not stupid, just slower than I was…

You and Lynn are in my thoughts and prayers…

Good points. I think Im going to re-line with some big game or get the super lines hooks. I have never had these problems live bait fishing with mono. The 6 pounder or so I caught last week had the hook fall out of his mouth after I grabbed it. The SAME hook that broke today. So I nearly lost that one too.

Interestingly, I met a guy who dives/swims in there last sunday. To say that I picked his brain would be an understatement. He said he sees “a lot of big bass”,but that he’s never seen a catfish in there. There are a ton of little turtles. But never seen a bigger one.As many times as Ive fished it , Ive never seen any kind of animal in it, except geese. Ive not seen 1 gator either in 28 years. We dont have Muskys. Gars break the water to get air ( This doesn’t) A mudfish? My experience with them is that they will roll on the surface often ( This doesn’t). It fights like other big bass Ive caught. It just seems considerably bigger… My conclusion👉… Its a giant Bass.

Correct. It’s a Gammy 3/0. I usually use a small bait holder hook for this type of fishing . Youd be surprised how small. I think Im going to go up a couple sizes on the bait holder hook. It is a heavier guage hook than the EWG gammy. I wont sacrifice bait action with it at all, because it’ll still actually be a smaller hook than the 3/0. I will endeavor to persevere! 🤠

@A-Jay, I am geared up. 8 foot rod with a Black max 60 series and 40 pound power pro. Slightly ashamed to admit it lol. I cant go bigger on the hook without sacrificing action for the bait. A stronger guage hook probably would work , at least in low light conditions.

I definitely get less bites with braid. I don’t do leaders either , for a few reasons. I dont like Floro , So its fishing mono that gives me the most bites, I use Braid mostly for frogs and flipping, but thats it…

Out at the church pond again as the sun came up. Slower today- but I finally had a run and popped him. Acted like the target fish again. Swimming left to right... Had a bigger bream than last week on. But she had gone under a branch. I got 2-3 turns on her and thought the line broke. Reeled in and found this… Ive had this happen less than 10 times in 50 years of bass fishing… Tied on a new hook, and after a long time, had another run, going to the right and out. Took up the slack , set the hook, and whiffed 😕. Lord willing, I’ll try again soon… At least I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise!