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Top water dude is correct. Florida bass get a lot of pressure and it is year round, not like up north where it gets iced over for months. Fish up north seem easier to me to catch than fl bass as they only get so many days a year to eat. As for other species there are pickerel, catfish and panfish to catch but again, they feed year round like bass and don’t have to feed as heavy during certain times of the year like their northern cousins. A lot of what you see on google will be private. I would suggest looking for retention ponds near highways, businesses and outside of developments. They may look like they don’t hold fish but you will be surprised. Since you have a kayak you could make the trip down to the fellsmere reservoir and try that. Check the group out on FB if you do that thing. They will give you some insight and updates.

Blue, that’s the way it is from January to March down at the Marsh. Bumper to bumper boats. I’ll go down there that time of year but April & May are MUCH better from my experience.

Never in all my years fishing there have I seen this. Got to the ramp only to find 1 trailer in the lot. I know it’s May but this isn’t normal. No one at the kayak only Fellsmere side either. Got to the south end to find the other boat. Another boat showed up about 9:00 but by 11:00 or so, we were the only ones on the lake. Felt kinda weird. We fished it a couple weeks ago and there were 6 boats all day. Nothing like February when there wasn’t a parking spot to be found and 40 boats fishing the south end. Ended up catching 28 total. Mainly swim baits and worms but got a couple on a top water and a trap. No size, most in the 2-4# range with a few dink’s.

I get a lot of fish that hit these and continue swimming towards the boat. In doing so, it’s hard some times to catch up to them and get a good hookset. Im using a 6.2 ratio reel, but think a 7 or 8 would be better. Whats your thoughts guys?

Follow up guys. Tried it today in 3.5-4.5’ of water. Absolutely killed it! No monsters, biggest just under 4 easily outfished other techniques I tried by double or triple. But did exactly what I hoped it would. They couldn’t stand the bait just hovering there above the grass. Thanks for all the comments.

Two I can remember. One was in a buddy tournament on lake Kissimmee back in November ‘89. Had one easily over 7 on a spinnerbait. Got it to the boat and my buddy knocked it off with the net trying to get it. We took third in the tournament but would have culled our small one and even if it was only 5 would have won it. I got over it pretty soon but my friend never did until he netted my PB at 11.3 close to 20 years later. Never knew it bothered him until he said he was redeemed netting that fish. Other one was down at the Stick Marsh 10 years or so ago. I was throwing a Golden Eagle spinnerbait. Hooked a giant, I mean a giant. Got to see her jump ( or try too) a couple times pretty close before the spinnerbait broke in half. Didn’t throw another Golden Eagle for a long time and still am reluctant to tie one on.

A lot of guys around here have been using Tactical Anglers power clips. They are super strong and can handle any bass. They are using them to catch monster snook and redfish at the inlets.

‘Trees, that’s almost exactly the rig I’m planning on using. My rig is an old Loomis 7’ SJR 844 with a Stradic 5000 and 20# braid and 20# leader. Hooks are same 1/0-3/0 and my go to baits are a senko or Rage Craw. This won’t be finesse fishing at all, more like combat fishing if you ask me. Too much cover and obstacles to go light! What weight sinker do you think? I’m leaning towards 1/8-3/16.

I’ll have to try that Jika rig Francho. I’ve tried a shaky head with a rage claw and caught fish but it’s a battle when it gets down in that grass. I’m thinking with the DS, it’ll get the bait up above the grass better. What do you recommend for distance?

How shallow is too shallow for a drop shot? I’ve been thinking about trying one in 3-5’ of water around the edges of submerged grass, mainly eel grass and hydrilla, where it starts to go sparse and thin out. How high above the sinker would you fish it to get it above the grass a little. The lake is not real clear, probably 12-18” vis so it’s impossible to see how high the grass is off the bottom. I was thinking about 12-18” above the weight.

Because of the line test. 40# main line and a 12# leader, the leader, being lighter test, is your weak link and will break before the 40# will.

Kylek is right. That 12lb leader will be the weak link in your setup. No need for a leader at all for frog fishing.

I have 3 of them, all 7-2” MH. I use them for worms, swim baits, spinnerbaits, you name it. Bought them to replace some older Claris rods. Not the lightest rods but not the heaviest either. Fairly sensitive. For the price I paid ($100 each I think when I got them awhile back) they work.

Some people I talk to about bass fishing cannot fathom the idea that we release them. Had a neighbor over for dinner awhile back for fish dinner, crappie I think, and was explaining catch & release to her. She argued that it was better to keep and kill the fish then to “hurt” it and let it go. You can’t make this stuff up! My brother is another one, can’t understand why you would go and catch a fish just to let it go. But then again he plays golf so there’s that ? I’m also in a fishing club here in central Florida that encompasses both salt and freshwater species. A recent survey was conducted that asked what was the hardest 8 lb. fish to catch. Choices were: bass, redfish, dolphin(mahi-mahi), tripletail or red snapper. Tripletail won. Now our area is renowned for the amount and size of tripletail we catch, most world records came from here, and it’s nothing to get one 8 lbs. All of the other saltwater fish on the list are also very easy to catch as well. But I’ll bet less than 10 members of the 250 in the club have ever caught a bass over 5 lbs.

Always heard the first tap is the fish inhaling it, the second tap it spitting it out. Don’t know if that’s true but I set the hook as soon as I feel the tap normally. Now the tap, tap, tap usually is a smaller fish but not always. Seems a bigger fish will either thump it, the line will start moving to the side or it’ll just get heavy.

Can’t say there’s nothing I haven’t tried...at least once. Now being successful with a particular technique or lure is another story. Only caught one fish on a Plopper and still trying to get my first one on a dropshot but down here in Florida not a lot of opportunities for the shot.

I’ve heard you can get carpet (or other roll material) cores from Home Depot or Lowe’s. Might want to check those out. Anything that come on a roll will have a tube core so there might be other applications that you can get the cores locally. I don’t feel you need 3” of protection on each end. The tubes themselves are solid fiber and will protect the rods. If they crush the tubes, they have really done something! Rods I have received from Dobyns are about an inch on each end. They have a small piece of foam tube on the tip end, 6” pieces of 3/16.” Bubble wrap placed at intervals along the length of the rod (and at each end) and the butt of the rod secured with a string and brought out the end of the tube and taped to the outside of the tube (for easy removal. I’ve used a piece of tape to do this instead of string). BTW, I’ve been a packaging engineer for over 40 years. As for cost there typically is a huge upcharge when you exceed 96” but for a 7’3” rod, you should be well below that at 87” +2” for ends (89” total). They are never cheap to ship but check both ups and fedex.

What we disagree on is the fact you think the state should change a catch & release fishery to catch & fillet and it won’t harm the fishery. And that we should wait for things to play out AFTER they make these changes and see if they work out for the better. I don’t believe that to be true.

We can agree to disagree then Sofla.

Main power shutoff switch is a must. Curcuit breaker/ shutoff switch for trolling motor. Direct wire bilge pump float switch (bypass power shutoff). This will allow it to function properly with power off should it be in the water and water intrusion occur, rain or otherwise, so boat doesn’t sink.

Exactly Dwight. I’ve seen what happens when you wait and “ see what happens in the long run”. It never turns out well! And Sofla I was born and raised in south Florida so I can tell you first hand how things have turned out down there. It’s nothing like it was.

Only thing I would change is to make catch, weigh & release like the MLF. Moving all the fish from one place to another has to change the lake or river dynamics. Plus the additional stress put on the fish, while in the live well and handling, doesn’t help the fishery.

From the FWC website: 5 Black bass (including largemouth, Suwannee, spotted, Choctaw and shoal bass, individually or in total), only one of which may be 16 inches or longer in total length. There is no minimum length limit for largemouth bass. You have those 40+ Boats (A DAY for 2-3 months) with usually 2 or more anglers per boat taking a a fish over 16” and you can forget about this being a trophy fish lake. Even in April & May I’ve counted over 20 boats...on a weekday. And once the “meat hunters” show up, you can forget about the 40,50 even 100 fish days as I’ve had ever happening again.

Ive been fishing the Marsh since it opened up so I’m very familiar with what happens this time of year and dealing with the pressure it receives. I have no problem fishing behind anyone down there. But the pressure is the least of the problem if they change to catch & fillet.

It’ll affect it greatly. There’s a reason everyone has the Stick Marsh on their bucket list. And it’s not to catch fish to eat. There’s only a few catch & release lakes in the entire state. If you need to catch bass to eat, go elsewhere. You have a ton of choices. If you want the mount, order a replica and release the fish so someone else catches it. I was there a couple of weeks ago, on a Thursday, and there were 40 boats fishing just the south end. How much more pressure do you think it can withstand?