Zcoker

You're very close to world class fishing, places like Headwaters Lake. You can walk the levee by the Fellsmere Grade Recreational Area and catch all kinds of nice bass. That whole area is loaded with canals and lagoons, many places to bank fish. I've banked fished there and have done quite well, sometimes even better than with a kayak. Just be mindful of all the wildlife. Best of luck!

Ironically, the one that got away will live with you forever

This is why wind, rain, even darkness, any such natural disturbance or condition is a good thing because it mask out our human presence. One can be as quite as ever but still have their sonar pinging away. Not only quiet, but shadows spook fish, the shadow of a rod casting, many such conditions to consider besides stealth alone.

I've often thought about it because it's very very possible here in Florida, especially in the places that I fish. Problem is, what do I do with a record fish way out in the everglades aboard a kayak at 3am in the morning? Only thing that I can think of is to stringer it or put it in my net and then call the 24 hour FWC emergency operator. Whether they come out then or wait until morning would be another story. They'd probably tell me "for wildlife emergencies only." Either way, I'd be stuck with a record fish fending off the gators until someone arrived to verify whatever they verify. I've heard here in Florida that a fisheries biologist needs to be present to take samples of potential record fish, something along those lines. They'd no doubt need their breakfast and coffee first. Most likely I'd be hanging out for a long, long time because they'd also need to source an airboat. Wish they had specific record-catch instructions and contact information. Maybe they do and I just don't know about it.

All summer long I fish only at night with the exception of the morning hours, which I fish through sunrise and and then head back in to the launch site. During the night, though, I fish everything the way I would normally fish during the day, even punching mats. Yep, full moon nights can be very impressive under the thickest of cover! My focus at night is sound, vibration, which can bring forth the biggest hits. So spinnerbaits, for example, will have big single Colorado blades as opposed to the daytime willow blades, variations like that. Anything that makes a lot of vibration or sound will be a good bet to use at night. I even frog fish at night with results that are just as good as the daytime, sometimes even better. Flopping around a big black King Daddy over the thickest of cover will entice some of the biggest hits imaginable. Summertime at night is the right time if you want some great action. Just gotta re-adjust sleeping habits, etc.

These gals come out and play at night. She was just shy of 9lbs, which is not unusual at night where I fish. Be VERY quiet and VERY sneaky, like slow motion sneaky, methodical cast. No light, no sound, and you might be able to fool them into making a hard and angry hit. Yes, fool them, trick them, because they are very smart and KNOW all about what's going on around you, light or no light. And once hooked, hold on! Now you can turn on the light because you'll need it to net 'em.

As little light as possible, depending of course on your local laws for whatever you're fishing in or wherever you're fishing. You never said anything about how/where your fishing.... by boat, yak, or by foot, regulated lake, private pond, all of which would determine a few lighting situations, rules, regulations, and so forth. In any case, constant light will actually make it harder to see and adjust to the darkness. Constant light also brings on a raid of bugs. Rarely do I ever have a light come on deep in the everglades. I have all the light I need from the stars and the moon! I only turn on my light when I am netting up a big bass or tying up again or taking photos or running my kayak. Try to fish like you normally fish without re-inventing the wheel, same baits, usually darker .... but I've also had big bass destroy white baits, blue baits, green baits, yellow baits, psychedelic baits...sound is the player at night, think lateral line. Topwater is your friend at night. KABOOM is the best topwater sound ever!

When it's roasting out, gotta go where the fish are and where they are is under a starlit, cool night sky. All my big hits during the hot summer months come between 3:30am and sunup. The smaller fish start feeding after that. When I say big hits, fish are usually 7-8lbs with bigger ones very possible. I can pretty much bank on it every time I go out. Don't know how this plays out in other areas but I would probably do the same thing, staying clear of that roasting sun, especially while kayak fishing.

I'm best at night solo, prowling way out in places that no one would even dream of going. I'm the worst on myself when things don't go right, like when losing a giant bass, I beat myself up trying to figure out exactly why it happened and then I go to extremes to make the necessary corrections, whatever they may be.

Down here in south Florida most of the tackle shops cater to saltwater fishing with limited freshwater supplies, Lott Brothers, Snook Nook, Juno Bait and Tackle, to name just few that I like. Other options include big outfits like Dick's Sporting Goods or BPS. Those places have a sizeable selection of freshwater fishing supplies.

Welcome to south Florida from south Florida!

Pretty cool how that all worked out to fish that private pond. Reminds me of Pat Cullen. He used to fly around with a pilot friend to scope out ponds to fish. Then he'd go visit the land owners to get permission, often offering his services as an accountant to do favors for them, bartering and so forth. He only fished at night so it was no big deal to the land owners. The rest, as they say, is history.

Pit Boss for me. Color would be 'Perfection'. I like the boss because it's designed for ewg or strait shank hooks. I punch some heavy stuff with a minimum 2oz tungsten 5/0 strait shank or 6/0 ewg. I also use the big 5" boss with a 7/0 ewg. The boss baits seem to hold up much better than most other beaver style baits that I've used, espeically where I fish. Second choice would be Reaction Innovations.

Boynton Inlet is the most treacherous inlet on the east coast because it's so narrow. You can actually hit the other side of it with a medium cast. In that regard, the water flow through it is insane. So timing the tidal events is a big player in getting the fish. Time your fishing trips around an evening tidal event, maybe around 9pm or 10pm. Every inlet lags behind the ocean tide. Boynton is about an hour. Sebastian Inlet is about 3 hours. Very different for both. Jupiter is about 1.5 hours. So from these examples, timing things is very important to catch that tide change. You can either fish the incoming or the outgoing. I prefer the beginning of the outgoing. The outgoing is good because you can cast out and then drift out big bombers many yards out after the tide change. Those you dig in and work back in. Windcheaters are the best there. 40lb wire leader. The incoming is more for jigs, casting them out and bringing them in with the current, skipping them over the bottom. Skill here is paramount else you just gonna loose a bunch of jigs. Boynton Inlet is basically boatless after the sun goes down, so it's rather easy to work in a nice snook. It also doesn't have big rock piles by the pilings like other inlets do, so hoop-netting the big snook up and onto the jetty is a breeze. The south jetty rules for snook. The north jetty ocean-side is more for casting out bait and such. Tarpon cruise that inlet all the time and I've caught some rather large ones in it. Use surface lures, Hogy paddle tails and the likes or little minnow lures right in the rip. Learn it, fish it, and you'll eventually come to love it! It can be dauting at first but does pay off big time. Hope this helps!

All depends on location, body of water, etc. Here in south Florida, for example, many areas are controlled by water management districts who regulate the water flow and water levels. During June the water levels can be significantly raised, literally killing the fishing. Yet the fishing can be good when they are doing it because of the high flowing current. But that only last as long as the gates are kept open, which can be a few days or a maybe even a week. After that, things have to settle. The bass spread out. They have to re-adjust, which can sometimes take months. They also close certain world class fisheries for routine maintenance. Headwaters Lake, for example, was closed most of June for vegetation management, ie nuking, which can kill the fishing, taking months to recover. So June here in south Florida has a lot going on which is not necessarily favorable for great outcomes.

Maybe a target species in mind? Boca's not the best place for much of anything except big bills lol I lived there for a while and sure did pay my dues. Any hoot, might go west Boca to Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge, out there across US 441, canals along that route, many places to fish for bass out there. Beaches are much the same throughout: early bird gets the worm. Get out there early, cast a spoon, get some jacks and so forth. North of Boca is a 24/7 free parking inlet, Boynton Inlet, a power house for big snook. I've caught some giants out of that inlet along with just about everything else. As with any place, takes time to master the situations, techniques, and so forth. The inlets, for example, aren't the best place to hook a large fish during the daytime hours, espeically from a south jetty. Boat traffic is the curse. Night time offers the best opportunity and Boynton is about the only game in town 24/7.

I use a Star Plasma MH inshore spinning rod and it works wonders in heavy cover. Setup is super light and super strong. No issues out in the Florida everglades.

I flatten down the barbs on all my worm hooks. Makes getting them out easy peasy. Just use plyers. No need to grind down, which might compromise the area causing breakage.

Don't think I could stand up all day working a trolling motor, is why I like kayak fishing. I never need to stand up anyway, even punching heavy mats, so balance is not really an issue. Only time I might get off balance is when I get whirled around by these crazy everglades bass lol

I find it rather relaxing. I can punch mats all day and not feel as burnt as, say, tossing a big swimbait all day. Then, again, I punch mats out of a kayak, so I don't know if standing is any harder.

Might depend on location but summertime is not the hardest time to get them in my neck of the woods, quite the contrary. Simple answer would be to change with them. They feed at night when it's cooler out. During the daytime they prefer deep cover. So I fish at night and punch mats in the daytime. Either way, I'm still getting them much the same as I always do.

It's upper 90's here everyday out in the everglades. We'll soon see well over 100 degrees daily, just like it was last year. The heat can become unbearable because there's no wind and no cover and if in a boat or yak, the sun just bakes like and oven with no relief in site. So what I usually do is just shift around my schedule, getting up earlier and fishing until around 8am. Works like a charm plus I usually get the biggest baddest fish in the dark before the sun comes up. When that sun does come out full bore, the fish split. Even under cover they're very unresponsive. Later on the storms kick up with hurricane force winds and lighting like laser beams. So, really, the choices are already laid out unless you want to take on mother nature in all her summertime boom boom glory. I can handle the heat...to an extent, and I can handle the storms...to an extent, and I can work hard to get the fish in both but when those lightening bolts start flashing around, I'm outta there!

The front aluminum cup is bent for a specific sound, high pitch, low pitch….any change to that cup causes the bait to physically react and sound differently. I fish very shallow water so a low pitch hallow-like plop plop plop and side to side kick is what I was after. The aluminum cup is malleable. Have to experiment, is what I did, until I got it just right for my area fished. As mentioned, there’s a great video out about this very subject that explains some of the details. I just did it with the readily available affordable product which has worked very well.

I've caught some pretty decent fish with spinning rods, all from shore. I still catch & tag all of my sharks with spinning rods from shore using artificial lures. If handled correctly (and if using the right combo) the sky is the limit with a spinning rod! Just a few examples

This is an inexpensive plastic musky jitterbug ($8 bucks from Amazon) which catches just as many giant bass as the ridiculously priced wooden ones…imho. This bug is setup for very large bass, 8lbs and up. Heavy duty split rings all the way around, including the front nose with a 180lb swivel. I replaced the two side hook holders with extra heavy duty heavy gauge hangers. The puny stock ones get ripped off. BKK Fangs are about the stickiest hooks I’ve ever encountered; if a bass even touches them, they’re coming in! Front cup has been “tuned” for the big girls.