Doelman

Lived in Palm Beach as a kid, did a lot of fishing, never seen or heard of anyone ever catching a SMB. With that said, people release all kinds of stuff down there. My dad once caught a bloody walleye out of lake down there, just bizarre.

I used to live in Palm Beach and fished canals full of gators on a regular basis. As long as you have good sight lines around the bank, gators aren't a problem. Ticks on the other hand.....man I hate those things. I'll take swarms of mosquitoes, ponds of gators, and fields of poison ivy over ticks.

I've hooked into all kinds of weird things saltwater fishing. An absolutely huge green sea turtle, easily 250 lbs, with a cobia jig. A 6 foot sand shark on a piece of squid the size of my thumb, hooked it in the corner of the mouth and managed to get it in on Fluoro on a snapper rod. Fought so many dolphins, I've almost had one ram me when I was wade fishing, never hooked one though. Caught a cuddlefish on a sibiki rig. Octopus on cut bait. Cormorant on a twitch bait. A boot.

This wasn't my first time fishing, but it's my first fishing memory. I was 3, fishing in a brackish water canal in south Florida with my dad, I had a tiny little kid rod. I don't remember what I was fishing with, but I do remember what I caught. It was a baby tarpon, about 5 lbs, and it jumped like crazy while my dad helped me reel it in. Been hooked on fishing ever since.

These trokar wacky hooks are officially garbage. First fish I managed to catch but I noticed, as blue mentioned, that the hook had tore a massive hole in the fish's mouth. Second fish I hooked was a nice 4-5, hook set felt perfect, and the hook came out at the first jump. Off came the trokar and I put my last gami back on, caught 3 fish in a row without a fuss. Jury is still out on the livetarget swimbait, had a couple bites but they felt small, no hook ups.

It was a weird day for sure, I didn't get on the water til 6 PM unfortunately so time was a problem. I have some smaller baits for a DS but all my stick baits are 5", I should probably get some in the 3" range. Going back to the same spot after work today, I'll give the trokars one more shot and I put a treble on that livetarget swimbait, I'll report back tomorrow.

They really aren't.... I've caught numerous ones in the 1-8lb range and couple in the 20s, they all fight the same. Dead weight until you get it up to the boat then they spin like crazy, getting EVERYTHING tangled up. Fishing is fishing, so it's all fun, but compared to other types of sport fishing lakers are pretty low on my list. I still fish for them though, the little ones are tasty. Maybe the real big ones fight better.

Where you can't seem to get anything to hook up? Did a little afternoon fishing yesterday, started off with a drop shot. First cast, good bite, set the hook, bait gone. Next bite, wait 3 seconds, set the hook, nothing. Next bite, wait 3 seconds, set the hook, feels like a good one, fish off in 5 seconds. Next bite, wait 3 seconds, set the hook, catch the king of the dinks. Get frustrated, switch to a live target swim bait. First cast, good knock but fish doesn't take it. Next bite, set the hook, decent bass splashes the water, hook doesn't take. I move to the next spot and I troll the swim bait. Gets hit hard, rod bends over, but doesn't hook up. Get more frustrated and switch at the next spot to what I always switch to when I get angry, wacky senko. Except this time I'm using some new hooks (Trokar weedless wacky 1/0). First "bite" I see the line twitch and start sinking faster, set the hook, and..... stick. Next bite, the line moves sideways, set the hook, nothing on the end. Next bite, line twitches, set the hook, fish is on for a few seconds before coming off. Next bite, again, set the hook and the fish is immediately off, lose my bait. Next "bite", the line suddenly sinks faster, I reel up and feel the weight, set the hook, snagged AGAIN and doesn't come off, break the line. Go home wondering what I'm doing with my life. I don't know about these Trokar hooks. Maybe it was just a bad fluky day but the gammies I always use have a really good hook up ratio. I'll try these Trokars once more but if they have a repeat performance, they're getting trashed. Also, these live target swimbaits seem good but I think they need a treble on the bottom ring, I'll add one and see if it helps the horrible hookup ratio.

I take a trip up to the BWCA and Quetico once a year, this year we're going in mid/late September for 10 days which is a little later than usual. I'm assuming this is a pretty big transition period for SMB, are they usually still shallow or have they already transitioned into deeper water? Any lures you guys like in particular this time of year?

The structure that's in the shade is more important than the shade itself. Dictate the fishing technique based on the structure, just know that shady areas can help concentrate fish on blue bird days if most of the lake is sunny and hot. If the water is cold, a lot of the time the reverse happens.

As a state employee.... I can think of worse ways to get rid of grass carp

I've caught hundreds of smallies in Quetico and have only been cut off a handful of times by pike, I've always used 30 lb fluorocarbon seaguar blue for a leader.

there were never whales in Lake Erie.... there are some dolphins and a porpoise that can survive in freshwater, but no whales. Also, how would they breathe in a cold winter when the lake is frozen completely over? Also, the shedd aquarium actually says the opposite, that there is no evidence there is or ever has been sharks in any of the great lakes in any recent time frame.

Most of us are already chipped and we've done it willingly. It might not be under the skin, but it's always on us and serves the exact same purpose. Hello smart phone.

My two most exciting fishing experiences would have to be... I was fishing in the Indian River for redfish, I was walking a top dog by some mangroves when a 100+ lb tarpon hit it, skyrocketing several feet in the air. Was fishing with bass gear so I had no chance catching it, but still an amazing experience. I was fishing in Canada for SMB with an ultralight rod. I got snagged on a branch on the bottom and was slowly dragging it up to the surface. When it hit the surface, a branch didn't come out of the water, but the head of a big pike. I looked at him, he looked at me, and then he made a big splash and ran a couple hundred feet. Fought him for several minutes, my first 40" pike.