N Florida Mike

At this point, I have wavy hair- one hair wavying good bye to the other one.? On top anyway. The sides and back I trim myself until it gets too thick, then it’s off to the Bb shop. I go maybe 3 times a year. Same one I got my first haircut with...

As some of you already know, I broke 3 this year. None for the last 52 years having rods. I do remember having an old pistol grip bc rod seperate at the reel but it was old and brittle. ( That was the one my wife snagged on the bottom and gave me for fathers day.) I still have the reel. The 3 this year- One was broke between my office and the first cast- I think it broke when I dropped it in my J boat. Another broke when a fish dove under the boat and the rod hit the boat. The last one was on a hook set- old 3rd string rod anyway . My middle son lost or broke a lot of my stuff. My g.daughter broke a rod by shutting a door on the tip. My mom broke my bream rod by shutting the garage door on it. My friend broke the rod I caught my PB on , he just grabbed the rod and said “That looks like an ugly stik(while simultaneously bending the rod in an arc) SNAP!!! I didnt have time to tell him it wasnt. I never said a word - just stared at him with an angry expression. He jumped out and swam to shore until I cooled off... true story.

This time of year its an hour or so with a Booyah pad crasher, then I assess what the conditions are and make a choice. If its cloudy with a breeze, Ill try a spinnerbait. If not, then I move on to a soft plastic. I have gotten a real good senko bite in late spring mornings so I’ll usually start there...

4+

Ive learned not to stop at mini-mart type stores anymore. There will inevitably be somebody buying lots of lottery tickets in front of me with one cashier . You can cut it any way you like,but its poor service to have to stand in line 5-10 minutes while some dummy is throwing his money away and holding everyone up. I always go to bigger convenience stores, with multi- cashiers mostly for that reason. But Ive had very poor service at them as well , just not as much. TIME is the critical thing for me. My 2 worst customer service incidents that come to mind involved a pizza place and a chicken restaurant. I spent a total of 90 minutes( I kid you not) just GETTING my food at both places combined.That should tell y’all the level of patience I have. Trust me, I will never darken the door of those places ever again though . I got no explanation just a nonchalant sah ree from the chicken employee girl. I enjoy seeing the friends Ive made at the stores I frequent on my work travels. Most of them are friendly AND quick. But if you arent friendly, at least be QUICK.

Me neither. 7’ is about my limit. I dont like less than 6.6 either.

I am . I probably catch 70% of my fish on or near the bottom, and I have NO complaints with mono . I can feel the fish just fine, and I dont even use any wieght most of the time. I have a high hookup ratio as well.

Im so blessed to have had a dad like mine. He worked all the time, but always found time to get me out fishing, playing baseball, and church. Largely Because of him, I also use fishing to help others -family, friends etc. Nothing like getting out in the boat and discussing life, whether it be spiritual, physical, emotional issues,or life in general. My middle son took to it like a duck to water. He is the most like me, fishing wise anyway. I don’t remember getting bored with fishing when I was young - even when we weren’t catching anything. Joe is the same way. Of course, we usually caught fish, because I wanted us to have the most fun possible. Now, he is so into it he commercial fishes part of the year and looks at it like he’s getting paid to do something he loves. There were times when he was a rebellious teen that the Lord used fishing to keep us from being at each others throats- literally. The time spent fishing is a gift that keeps on giving.

Mono is superior for me. I have used copylomer and generally have a positive opinion of it too. I hate flouro- mainly because it sinks. With most of my successful fishing techniques, a significant part of it is due to using floating line. I fish mostly soft plastics in shallow water and watching what the line does after a cast is crucial for me, seeing the twitch when a fish takes my bait. I also dont like setting the hook with fluoro, because it has sunk you must deal with the water drag when setting the hook. It’s very hard for me to tell where exactly the fish is in the water column. I have a couple reels spooled with braid, I almost exclusively now use it for thick cover frog fishing and larger , heavier baits .

Same here.

I fished no more or less than normal. I kept working because my work was considered essential. I had a good spring bass fishing but the virus had nothing to do with it one way or the other. There have been a lot more people out on my lake than normal though. And most of them have no idea about fishing etiquette. Sigh... Im used to having the lake to myself.

YES! I would have counted it up there with Red Snapper but Ive only had it once.( Grouper are in that camp too, but I dont get them very often.) Ive eaten Mahi , but again, not something I get much., but its definitely up there as well.

Its interesting how we all have different tastes. I rank these freshwater fish like this: 1st being best on down. • catfish • bream • bass/ crappie about equal I have never had walleye. In saltwater, my top 5 that Ive eaten somewhat regularly: • Red Snapper •Sheephead •Flounder •Redfish • Panfish: Whiting, croakers etc

So would ours. we even purchased a big fish cooker with entry fee money to further the cause. I still eat bass but only fish under 15 inches. ( Unless a bigger fish dies on me ) I love bass filets but am not as fond of bass on the bone with the skin. As Ive said before, I manage my small lake for fish and the lake is so productive for bass- they just overpopulate, and some of them get skinny. I continually thin the herd to get a better average size fish. I eat catfish and bream too, along with many saltwater fish, ( I only live 16 miles from the ocean ) Looks like fun @TnRiver46

^^^ This preferably. Except that I have a couple right hand reeling baitcasters ,so with those I work and fight the fish with the left hand, but reel and cast with the right.

Ive loved fishing all my life. My dad was mostly after saltwater fish and I started with that. But I caught my first bass at 14 and I have persued them ever since. Dont get me wrong- I love all kinds of fishing Ive done, including offshore,inshore and surf fishing saltwater. My son is much more in love with saltwater. We fish mostly live and dead bait ( rarely use lures) for Reds, Flounder, Sheephead, Trout, black drum etc. I still get excited catching whiting etc. Half of it is knowing theres a meal coming from it at the end. I also love catching bream, catfish, specks, whatever’s biting in freshwater. But I love bass fishing the most for some reason I cant explain.

The magnums arent as soft as the super flukes, and they are bigger , which I’m sure is why . But I still caught a 1 pounder on one, and lost a smaller one. Baby brush hogs out fish brush hogs every time- not even close. Zoom super flukes are my #1 bait. I catch most of my fish on them by just throwing it out and letting it sink to the bottom ( if it makes it that far) .

Kingsley lake is not as well known as the other trophy waters. Im not sure what the lake record is there, but I heard from a reliable source of a 16 pounder being caught there. I know of a 15.11 being caught there that was registered in the Florida Trophy catch program recently. I fished it once before public access was gone and we caught 7 dinks.Its more of an offshore type lake. Not much shoreline cover. The lake is very deep for Florida, with 80+ depths. I knew a man that had a place on it who promised to take me ( but never did). He said he did best by trolling a rattletrap at night. It is also a very clear lake, so night fishing makes sense.I had a friend that fished a similar lake at night. He trolled a baby bass crankbait back and forth across a deep hole and caught a 11 1/2 that way. I bet that would work at Kingsley but I have no access. If anyone knows anyone PLEASE let me know...

I had never caught a fish on one until yesterday. I hadnt used them much before though., although Ive caught thousands of fish on the super fluke. My goal was/is bigger fish, since Ive been in a big fish ( over 6 pounds ) slump for almost a year now. I was pleasantly suprised at the action I got- less than with smaller baits but the fish were somewhat better quality. I T-rigged mine with a 5/0 hook and no weight. Watermelon red color. How do y’all do with them?

GGpa -John M. Johnston -Corporal -36th NC- CSA - Wounded and captured , released june 1865. Uncle-Aubrey C. Johnston-Army- WW2 Uncle- Sid Barnett- Navy - WW2 Step-son -Allen Tate - Captain - Currently serving in the Air Force.

I caught a few quality fish today. The biggest ( 22 inch ) was caught on my little finesse combo with 8 pound test. Got a nice fight from that one. I caught it on a baby brush hog off a lay down. Also caught a couple good fish on the zoom magnum fluke . It was a beautiful afternoon on the water. One of those days where nothing goes wrong.