N Florida Mike

Sometimes mine wouldn’t run WITH gas!

This makes 3 for the year! And some of y’all may remember that I had never broke a rod before this year. This one snapped in the middle when I set the hook. Must have been a big fish. Ended up with 12-13 fish but nothing over 2 pounds, so no pics but the broken rod. It was an old one anyway. Now I’m using a 3rd string rod on a first string reel!!

Same here! Maybe it’s the way we were raised. If I threw down a wrapper or something I was always told that “ the policeman would come get me “ if I left it there. When I got older , it was always “ He’ll write you a big litterbug ticket” or you may have to go to court etc. It worked!!

The urban ponds in my area are the worst- and I rarely see anyone else at the ones I go to. Little styrofoam worm containers are the most numerous, followed by drink cans, bread bags, etc. I think it’s largely the non- serious , occasional anglers that do it. They are also the ones that keep everything in spite of limits. In my area , a lot of them are foreigners that haven’t been here long. I don’t mind people keeping some fish- just obey the laws. I keep Bass occasionally in the home lake to thin the herd and get a better average sized fish. My little slot is 12-15 inch fish only, unless a bigger one dies on me, which is rare anymore. Filleted bass is good!! My biggest aggravation while trying to fish off piers or docks in saltwater is the rude, or oblivious boaters that get too close going by and wrap up all your lines. I get almost fighting mad when it happens ( which is at one of my favorite spots in st Augustine) , but I’m usually very mellow about most everything else these days...

My wife likes it . I tried it once but didn’t. I make up for it with all the fish I eat though!

I’ve switched several times. I’ve gone from Stren to trilene, back to stren, then P- line , back to stren, then Yo- Zuri, then back to Trilene, sometimes big game. Very happy now with these two, although I prefer the extra strong Trilene. I like the smooth casting trilene for some applications I use. Ive given up on Stren. Just too many break offs. P line was strong but way too many bird nests. I really liked Yo Zuri for a year or so , but I relined with it a couple times and started getting bird nests and break offs. I rarely get either with Trilene.

Welcome from N Florida!

I got some upside down flukes from them once. The slot that’s on the bottom was on the top. Theyre my favorite bait company by far though.

I’ve done it some and haven’t had any fish die. But that was just transporting up to 8 fish no more than 15 minutes away. I just fill up a cooler with water. I don’t use an aerater , but that would work if you have longer distances to travel.

I caught my first decent fish as a child at Ocean Isle beach. My granma lived at Shallote. I don’t claim to be an expert there, but fresh caught dead shrimp will catch a lot of fish there, especially “spots” , black drum , whiting, etc. If you can get bloodworms at a b/t store the Spots love em.

I’m sorry for your loss. My mom passed at 96 3 1/2 years ago. It was the most heartbroken Ive ever been. I have nothing but good memories of her and dad. Praying for you, and also you too Sloan.

Looks like you “found” the big one! Nice fish!

Not biting too good today. It was mostly cloudy with a nice breeze. Cool here for May. I thought it might be a good spinnerbait day, and I did get a few on one with a double blade and black skirt , also some on a big bite craw in watermelon seed. Only cuaght one on a fluke.

I haven’t laughed that much in a while!!! We deal with Cicada killers here. They are scary looking but not very aggressive. Sometimes people want us to treat for them anyway. I’ve stood in a yard full of their nests and them flying around, and they don’t seem to care that your there...

Here’s another one...

I love these...

If I had one color I could use, that would be it.

The majority of bass Ive caught over 5 pounds at ANY time was in less than 5 feet of water...

Numbers : Smaller soft plastics. Bigger fish: Larger soft plastics The bait I have that consistently catches both are Zoom super flukes. So guess what I use the most?

I fish through an area once. If I do well , I fish it again. If I don’t that time , I move on. Its that simple with me.

I would have caught the fish eating the bass eggs and had a fry.

I use the “ dead stick “ presentation more than any other kind with my soft plastics. My # 1 rule is , If I’m not catching fish, I’m fishing too fast. The slower I fish, the more I catch

If I had a choice between Specks (crappie) and bream, Id take the bream. I have had some sunshine bass( Cross between striper and white bass) and i haven’t felt the urge to have it again. I love catfish also in fresh water. There at least a dozen fish I commonly eat from saltwater.My favorite overall is red snapper. A close second is Sheephead. We also eat a lot of flounder and redfish. Making me hungry. We are having some bass filets ( bass tastes good to me if it’s filleted.) and some whiting for our bi-weekly fish fry tomorrow. !

Interesting post @Brian Parkerson, but look at the date of the first post. Hopefully he caught one by now!?