Fishing_FF

I would check the regs to see if the YakGear FishStik Version 2 is listed. It is KBF approved. It folds down for easy storage and what I run. I used a black permanent marker over the numbers and measuring marks so it is easy to see in photos. Ketch also makes a folding board (24” I believe) and a smaller 26” board with plastic versions in the works.

Does your tournament directors specifically require the hawg trough?

I fished Orange Lake in the beginning of 2019, but in March when Brian caught that big girl, I haven’t been back. The lake has seen a huge uptick in fishing due to his catch. A couple kayak groups I follow moved their tournaments to Orange Lake. The lake continues to produce with a 12+ caught in April, a 13+ in July, a 12+ in October, and a pair of 11+ in December and January. It’s worth the trip if you in the pursuit of DD bass. For me, the 2 hour trip, I’ve got a couple closer lakes that are on fire with DD bass possibilities. Gotta get some runs in at Fellsmere before they open the boat ramp.

I just started listening. When I turned it on, JT was talking about trolls living under bridges. First day too.

Here is a picture of how I hook the worm and the specific Gammy hook I mentioned (line and worm were just what I had laying around for the example). Sometimes seeing it makes it easier. I fish a wacky rig a lot, and when the fish want the bait on the bottom, it is easily converted to the Neko rig by inserting the nail weight. Both the wacky and Neko are more weedless for me than the open hook Ned head, which I constantly foul in the grass. I’ve been looking at the Nichols Ned heads with weedguards as JT fishes them down here, but as of right now, don’t have any Ned heads in my tackle.

When you hook the O-ring, is the hook point facing towards the tail? Usually with hook point facing away, the shank and line act like a weedguard. If I’m fishing shallow water like Toho or Fellsmere where hydrilla is an issue, there is a Gammy hook that I’ve found to really helpful. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_G-Finesse_Stinger_Weedless_Wacky_Hook_4pk/descpage-GSWWN.html I don’t use an O-ring when I fish a Neko rig, just run the hook through the egg sack on a Senko or trick worm.

I think I’ve heard this somewhere before. ? The sentence is the sum of the challenge and enjoyment.

LMB 9lbs 14oz. So close but yet so far from that DD club. Lol

I have had the Mojo MLXF as a dropshot rod for a while now. It handles drop shot Texas rigged Roboworms or Senkos in sparse grass just fine. I’m running braid to leader on the drop shots. It has enough backbone to open up a 1/0 Owner hook. I’ve straighten two hooks trying to get big bass that ran into cover, one in a brush pile and another into a thick hydrilla/Lilly pad field.

What type of grass? Eel grass, pepper grass, Kissimmee grass, or hydrilla? You might be able to get away with a glass rod in eel and pepper grass as I use a Mojo glass rod to rip traps through these types of sparse, stringy grass. However, if it is thicker stuff like Kissimmee grass or hydrilla, you’re going to want a MH or possibly a H fast action graphite rod to rip the swim jigs free and get any bass stuck in the cover out. My choice for swim jigs in heavy cover is a SC Avid X MH or if you need something more stout, then a SC Mojo Inshore MH.

Welcome fellow Floridian!!!

The 6’8” MF Avid X is what I use for jerkbaits and small topwater. Couldn’t find the MXF locally, so I picked up the MF instead. Been a great rod!

Try a local bait shop in the area called 44 Tackle. I’m sure they will be able to help you find a guide.

No problem, I’ll be out fishing quite a bit in January, so feel free to shoot me a PM if you need anything while down here. Safe travels and good luck fishing!

No problem, but to clarify, Toho wasn't nuked. FWC put Toho on an alternative vegetative management strategy or something to that wording effect. Basically because of the pressure FWC was receiving about the use of herbicides, they picked a few lakes to try some of the alternatives to see if they work. While I am against the use of herbicides to the degree used on Lake O and Kissimmee, the mechanical harvesting of hydrilla on Toho has been a complete failure towards the opposite side. Two of my normal launches are completely grown over to the point I have to use a push pole to launch from the ramp. The sandy spawning areas in Goblets Cove area of Toho are completely grown over with hydrilla. Even the deeper channels that use to exist in Toho are completely grown over with hydrilla, and is why FWC elected to start some deep water herbicide injections. Kissimmee and Cypress have been managed differently. Both these lakes have been nuked. I'm not sure the status of Hatchineha as I only fish it during the spawn. If it has been nuked, there is plenty of sandy flats for beds.

Jerkbaits work well year round in Florida. During the winter, it might sit for a few seconds, but not the long periods I see talked about on videos where they get cold water fish (below 50ish). For Florida, if you find water at 60-61, those fish are cold. I was at a lake that was 60 when we started fishing, and those fish wanted a reaction bait moved, stopped, and moved again. They would hit it after the pause. By the evening, the water was 66, and it was straight retrieve on reaction baits. Each body of water in Florida is different for temperature, which means they will all be in different points of spawning stages. For example, the 60 degree lake had beds with males cruising near them with the big girls still in their winter haunts. Toho was warmer at 68 with the fish feeding pretty heavy in a pre spawn pattern. Some of the deep clear lakes have big girls sitting on beds while others you'll be chasing schoolies as there are no beds to be found.

Interesting that you don't like finesse rigs. I still have not caught a fish on the Ned rig, but I saw it work this year several times on the Central Florida lakes. As for the wacky rig and the drop shot, they saved me from the skunk on multiple occasions this year. The drop shot works well on the deeper, clear lakes, and the wacky/Neko rig for darker water where the grass fouls up a normal finesse presentation like a drop shot or shaky head. During the middle of summer on one of the Fab Five lakes, we went from zero to a 26 fish in a 3 hour period with the wacky rig. As for what I'm giving up on, fishing an unproductive area for too long. I need to focus more on the 10% of the lake where the fish are. Something about 90% of the lake holding no fish is stuck in my mind. LOL

We’ve had a fairly wet winter here in Central Florida. Toho and Kissimmee are up due to rain and the East Lake Toho draw down. Lots of Hydrilla on Toho as FWC stopped spraying and tried to use mechanical harvesters this spring and summer. Late November or early December, FWC had a contractor come in to do some deep water injections to help clear up some of the deep water hydrilla. I haven’t fished Toho since the treatment as the Toho fish are already super pressured and the cold fronts make our Florida finicky bass even more finicky. Kissimmee is the opposite in terms of hydrilla. It is been nuked to the point even the native grasses are almost nonexistent. The water quality is poor due to the lack of vegetation to help clean the water. The advice for Kissimmee would be the same as last year, find clean water to find fish. The locks state they are operational. I don’t remember them shutting down last year. I know they were open for the BPT and FLW tourneys in January, but I also very rarely use the locks so I could be wrong. Good luck!

I don’t use the screw-in bullet weights, but I’ve seen them at the Orlando BassPro.

I was on the fence between Lowrance and Garmin for my kayak, too. I was leaning towards the Lowrance because it was a little cheaper and a bunch of guys I know have them on their boats. A friend hooked me up with a local shop that sold both Lowrance and Garmin. The shop owner spoke highly of the Garmin. I've been super impressed with the Garmin Echomap Plus 73SV I've got. Funny thing is, a bunch of the guys who had Lowrance now have Garmins.

Nice! You’ve got some solid recommendations here. There is a Walmart either direction on 192 for hooks. If you want some Owners and Gammy hooks, you’ll have to head into Academy or BassPro up the road in the Millenia area.

For the Disney lakes, junebug is a spot on recommendation for their tannic color water. If you decide to venture into Orlando for some fishing, there are some clear water lakes like Ivanhoe, Conway chain, and Butler chain. A lot of people say watermelon for these lakes, but my experience has been any green works. If you got watermelon, great. If you got green pumpkin, great. Good luck and enjoy!

I used to carry #1 for 4” and 1/0 for 5”, but when I started consolidating terminal tackle, I tried using the 1/0 for 4”. Didn’t notice any difference, so the #1 hooks got dropped. Both were Gammy TGW drop shot style hooks. Being light wire hooks, there is very little difference between the weight of the #1 and 1/0.

I had one of the BPS crankin' sticks. I needed a MH with a little more backbone to working cranks and traps in the spillways with moderate current. I was too stiff for the job. It made a great frogging and sparse to light cover (like lilly pads) pitching rod. A Dobyns CB rod would be a better choice over the BPS crankin' stick.

I’ve got a Tarpon 130X, and tried putting a Garmin EchoMap Plus 93sv on the flex pod up front. It was put on a YakAttack lock’n’load mount to bring the screen closer to the seat rather than having to reach down to my toes every time I need to change or mark something. I was able to lower it down, but the screen was just to big. With it lowered, it was a hinderance to legs and standing. Up high, it was in the way for a side arm cast and working lures. I changed it the screen to a 73sv, and it’s a great setup now. Low enough to cast and work lures while also being able to move around and stand. I honestly don’t run sidescan that much. It’s more the nav chart with 2d scan, 2d scan with downscan, or nav chart with 2d scan and downscan. The 73sv is plenty big enough to run the last 3 view set-up.