Captain Phil

Use a fluorocarbon leader.  If you do, you can use tow cable for line and it won't matter. 

For those who don't know, the Mitchell 300 was the reel that changed bass fishing forever.  It came out just about the time plastic worms became widely available.  The 300 allowed light worms to be cast by just about everyone.  It launched what we now call finesse fishing and opened the sport to anyone with a pulse. The 300 was a great reel.  It was somewhat heavy by today's standards.  The only issue was the bail springs breaking.  We always carried extra springs and could change them in a few minutes. 

My wife and I have been married 58 years.  We met in the 10th grade of high school.  She loved the same things I did, fishing and fast cars.  We fished together before and after school.  We were married at the Miami courthouse.  We both had jobs working in a grocery store.  We drove there in a borrowed car with holes in the floorboards. We have always worked together in numerous businesses.  Whatever problems we ran into, we fixed.  A great marriage is based on love, friendship and respect.  If you are missing one or more of these, it's going to be tough.

I fished Okeechobee and numerous other Florida lakes most of my life.  I currently own a Ranger RT178. My house is a block from the City of Eustis boat ramp.  Okeechobee is a different animal.  There isn't a bass boat made that will allow you to fish Okeechobee comfortably 365 days a year.  Back when I was tournament fishing, I had a custom 22' Storm built just for that purpose.  Running 40 miles across Lake Okeechobee on a windy day will shake your bones.   I tore up a brand new bass boat in an Okeechobee tournament in the 70s.  Lucky for me, the boat was a sponsors. The good news is you probably won't be fishing in that weather.
 
In the last 50 years, I have fished out of just about every bass boat made.  Gamblers, Rangers, Hydrosports, Skeeters, you name it.  Aluminum boats make a lot of sense in today's fishing.  They are cheaper to buy, tow and maintain.  They are lighter and easier to load and unload.  They generally aren't as fast, but they are fast enough for me. I am very pleased with my Ranger.   It runs near 40 mph with a Merc 75 4 stroke and it hardly uses any fuel.  It rides much better than many of the other aluminum bass boats.  The quality is far superior as well.  Would I take it across Lake Okeechobee on a windy day?  Hell No!  Would I take it across the Harris Chain on the same day?    Yes, because I could run the shoreline.   The floor in my RT178 doesn't flex in rough weather like some of the cheaper aluminum boats. If you are used to fishing in a Jon boat, I believe you will be pleased as well. If you have any specific questions, I will be happy to answer them. 
 
 

I heard stories about Lake Talquin for years, few were good.  Never fished it myself.  However, I drove by there a few weeks ago and it's a nice looking lake.  Very natural in a pretty part of the pan handle.  From what I have read, the lake has had a lot of work done to improve fishing in recent years.   I would give it a try myself.  It looks more like a northern bass lake than a South Florida swamp.  Let us know how you do.

It's a long drive, but you can buy native shiners at Owen's Tackle in Eustis.  They have shiners when no one else does.

My Mom died over twenty years ago and I still miss her.  She was a teenager when she had me and I remember how beautiful she was. She had a tough life, but never let it get her down.  As a child, she read Bible stories to me and always told me she was going to meet me in heaven.   When I get there, she'll be the first person I look for.  ?

In last year's B.A.S.S. tournament, guys were killing it with the Hybrid Hunter.  I ordered one and threw it a few times.  It does run in shallow grass pretty well.  Other than that, I haven't thrown it much.

I have owned at least a dozen bass boats from a 15' Terry Bass to an 80 mph Gambler.  I owned a 2000 Skeeter 185 with a Yamaha 150 for ten years.  It was one of the best boats I ever owned.  Porpoising is not unique to Skeeters.  All pad hull bass boats will porpoise under the right circumstances. The most common cause is too much trim.  Back when high performance bass boats first came out,  everyone wanted to create a "rooster tail" behind their boat.  We thought it looked cool, so we trimmed the motor up until the prop was nearly out of the water.   All we had at the time were two  blade props, which made porpoising worse. I can remember when we had to have the passenger run to the front of the boat just to get on a plane. Scary stuff!
 
Mounting the motor too high can cause porpoising.  Skeeter's come from the factory with the motor mounted where it should be, but you don't know what a previous owner might have done.  Another cause is too much weight in the rear of the boat.   Moving your junk around will help.   In rare cases you can find boats with a hook in the bottom.  Modern epoxy construction has pretty much eliminated that situation. 
 
In all my years of riding in bass boats, I find most owners of these boats don't know how to operate them correctly. Your boat will not run faster if you trim the motor too high.   Every boat has a balance point.  That balance point is a compromise between speed and comfort.  If you want a race boat, buy one.  If you want a boat to fish, trim the motor down and back off the throttle.  Your boat has more than two speeds. 

Use these hooks and you will land more fish.
 
 

I grew up in South Florida and spent over 30 years fishing those canals. Your fishing will depend on the water levels. March is a good month for bass fishing in South Florida.  The worst cold fronts will be over by then.   You don't need heavy tackle to catch fish in the glades.  A spinning outfit will catch all the bass you want.  The water is fairly clear.  You can catch bass on most anything.   If you use a Rapala and make long casts, you will catch fish.  If you grow tired of catching small fish, use big plastic worms on the drops.  If water is running, fish bends and canal intersections.  You don't need to run far to catch bass.  If you can, fish on weekdays to avoid the crowd. Good luck!

The weight used when flipping is more significant than most anglers believe.  There is no perfect weight for all conditions.  The reason is because the drop of the lure is what triggers the strike.  I have used flipping weights from 1/8 oz to 3/4 oz. Some days bass want a hard fall and others they want a slow decent.   As a starting point, use just enough weight to get through the cover.  Obviously, this would be different for wood than topped out hydrilla.  In the winter, a slow drop works better for me.  In summer, bass are much more active.  I have seen instances where too much weight would kill the bite.  What you want is a "pin-ball" action as the lure falls, not a cannon ball.  I once fished a State Federation tournament on Toho when the angler in the front flipped with a 1 1/2 oz. weight and never got a bite.  I fished behind him with a 5/16 oz. weight and caught a limit.  When you are flipping very heavy cover like hydrilla, look for small holes in the grass to drop your lure into.  Light comes into those holes from above and bass are waiting for something to drop in.  There are numerous factors when flipping for bass that can make you a winner or a loser.   I could write a book on that subject alone.  One more thing, "always" check your bait before lifting it off the bottom.  I can't tell you how many times a bass has my bait and I don't know it.

I am familiar with Lake Dorr. It's a different lake than Lake Dora, which is part of the Harris Chain.  Lake Dorr is a forest lake near the tiny City of Altoona.  I love that lake.  It's probably the prettiest lake in Florida.  The water is stained black from the cypress trees that surround it. It has a small dirt ramp in a park off highway 19 (see pic below).  The park has a small fee.  There are no HP limits on Lake Dorr.   The ramp itself limits the lake to small boats.  That lake is perfect for a small boat like yours.  Lake Dorr is interesting in that it has two shorelines.  The shoreline you can see is very shallow.  30-50 feet out there is another drop off.  The main lake is fairly deep as forest lakes go being 15-30' deep in the middle.  Small top water lures work well there.  So do worms fished on the drop.  There is a rocky reef offshore on the south side where a Carolina Rig works well.   I haven't fished Lake Dorr in some time, but I plan on getting up there when the weather warms.  They were working on the ramp for a while, but I believe it's open now.  The biggest fish I have caught in Lake Dorr was about 6 pounds.  There are plenty of bass to catch. Give it a try and let us know how you do.
 
 

I had shingles a number of years ago.  Mine was a mild case compared to most, but it was very uncomfortable.  Nerve pain from shingles can last years longer than the rash. Trust me, it's not something you want.  Get the vaccine. 

This subject has been tackled numerous times on this forum.  What it always comes down to is personal opinion. Here's mine. When you first start out with a casting reel you are going to have some issues. The timing of the cast is different and you have a revolving spool to deal with.    Modern reels are much better than those we had 50 years ago, but despite the claims they still backlash.  I've been fishing with one since the early sixties and they still happen to me on occasion.   The advantage of a casting reel is accuracy and power.   They allow you to spool up with heavy line without sacrificing distance.  If you are going to finesse fish, use a spinning reel.  For power fishing, a casting reel works better. 
 
My recommendation is to start out with 15-20 pound mono.   I prefer Berkley Big Game, but any line will work when you are learning.  Mono is cheap, so you won't be crying when you have to cut off a spool or two.  Mono is flexible and doesn't jump into knots like braid.  No matter what line you use, you will get backlashes.  Don't be discouraged, it happens to the best.  Get out in a field or on your lawn and place a bucket as a target.  Before you go fishing, cast into that bucket until you can hit it 9 out of 10 times.  Don't go fishing with it before you practice or you will swear off casting reels and never go back.  When I was a teenager, to me casting was more fun that fishing.  I would spend hours "fishing" on my front lawn which always got a smile from my neighbors.  Once you get casting down good enough to fish, you can try different lines and strengths.  Good Luck!

Growing old is not for wimps.  It seems like everything hurts.  You can't eat what you used to and a new health adventure is always right around the corner.  Attitude has a lot to do with how you deal with it.  If you let it get you down, you will sit in a chair all day watching the news waiting to die.    I hurt most of the time.  I force myself to do things.  I find I can do most everything I want just not as long as I used to.  I went fishing on Monday.  In the first hour I caught a 4 pound bass throwing a spinnerbait.  When it got hot two hours later, I loaded the boat and went home feeling satisfied.  As long as I can do that, I'm happy.  

I throw a spinnerbait about 70% of the time. It is by far my most effective bass bait.  There are many variables to spinnerbait fishing.  You can't just chunk it out and reel it back up if you want to catch fish consistently.   With spinnerbaits, cadence is significant.  Every spinnerbait has a specific cadense where it pulls bass to it.  Most anglers fish a spinnerbait too fast.  I find a 5/1 casting reel to be my most effective spinnerbait reel.  Here in Florida, I like gold tandem blades.   My favorite bait is the 3/8 oz. Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special in chartreuse and white. I fish it on 20 pound mono and I always use a trailer hook.  The majority of the bass I catch on a spinnerbait are over 3 pounds.  A spinnerbait must be pulled close to cover.  2-3 feet is not close enough.  I love to throw these baits back into pads and bring it out.  Big bass will hit these baits in the middle of the day.  Like everything else, you must build confidence in a bait or you won't fish it.  If you want to learn spinnerbaits, leave all your other rods home and fish them all day.  They are deadly bass catchers. 
 
 

A safety pin style spinnerbait is designed to run blades up.  If your's is spinning, it's because the balance has been disturbed in some way or it's being retrieved faster than the lure was designed to run.  There could be a number of causes.  If your spinnerbait is small, the grub may be too large or bulky for the lure.  If your trailer has too much water resistance, it will change the balance of the lure.  We used to run into this with SOB (Small Okiebug) spinnerbaits.  The spinnerbait wire may also be twisted or bent.  This usually happens when a big fish or some other critter eats it. From the top looking down, the wire should all be in the same plane.  The angle where the wire is bent just before the body can also be disturbed.  Hold your spinnerbait up next to a new bait and you will see the correct angle.  If it's twisted or bent, you should form it back into the correct shape.   
 
Retrieve speed can also cause a spinnerbait to spin.    This type of spinnerbait is designed to run slow.  In my opinion, many fisherman pull them too fast.  They would catch more fish if they slowed them down. If speed is desired, there are other lures that work much better.  Cadence is very important with these spinnerbaits.  When it's right, they are great fish catchers.  When it's wrong, you are just chunking and winding.