Zcoker

I sure do! I do that whole place atop a powered kayak, so I'm all over in the thick of it lol Anything you can offer up I'm sure would be appreciated. That place has made some great memories for many, many people.

Readers digest version because I spend a lot of time on that lake and if I started posting pics, I'd fill up pages lol.

The tactics that I've given up on is carrying around a tackle store when I go fishing lol. My lure selection has become quite limited, only a few lures I use consistently. The more I limit my lure selection, the better I become at using the lures that I have. For me, it's more about moving around and around and around. Sometimes it doesn't seem to matter what lure I'm throwing because when the bass go into their feeding mode, the lure gets smacked whatever it is, wherever it is. Then the whole process starts over again. The way I see it, bass feed in cycles throughout the day (and night) and what seems to make the biggest difference is being in the right place at the right time when they do go off. Whatever lure I have out at that time is the lure that usually gets slammed, regardless of anything. This kinda mindset has certainly upped my catch ratio for trophy fish (over 8lbs) here in south Florida.

Although I love to fish I just could not do it everyday. Two or three days a week is fine for me. If I did more I'd probably just burn out. There's so much more things going on in life that have just as much a high priority. The key is balance, balancing it all out so that everything fits together nicely. Can't have a happy life without a happy wife! But to give an idea on just how much I drive to fish, my truck is almost 3 years old and has over 90k miles on the clock, most of which is for fishing only. So I do get around for those few days that I do fish.

That's the only downside, other than catching a true trophy breeder fish like that but killing them in the process.

I can't speak so much for the large deep lakes out in Texas, only the shallow marsh areas here in south Florida. But both are similar in that big bass move around in groups. I don't use FFS, either, just old school hunting. I've caught plenty of nice fish back to back in any given area just by moving around a lot. Often, the fish are all about the same size, which I find interesting. Nowadays if I come upon an area and catch a nice fish, I say to myself 'if there's one around, there's another biggun nearby!' Big bass aren't so much solitary creatures, as the saying goes. Guys like Milliken or Jones are just now proving this with their modern electronics. Nothing new to the bass. They've been doing the same thing forever lol.

I've seen some of his son's videos. Seems like he's following in his father's footsteps! Out of curiosity, I've always wondered if there's some sort of bad blood between the two because I hardly ever hear Roland speak about his son or include him in any of his many videos. Heck, if any of my sons shared the same vigor that I have about bass fishing they'd be in every video that I made! Yet I never see Roland share any of that kind of family enthusiasm with his son. Maybe that's just the way it is in the YouTube world lol.

I once caught an 8 pound large mouth in a narrow boat ski lane on a busy public lake. The area was basically lifeless except for the boat traffic. It was the last place in the world that I would fish if I had been the least bit "serious" lol. I was only testing out a white spinnerbait that day....like, wow, I was in total shock when I reeled that big girl in! Goes to show that nice fish can be ANYWHERE ANYTIME in the least expected places. Never underestimate that cast!

I met Roland Martin some 30 years ago at a local tackle store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was giving some sort of seminar there, so I stuck around for a while and listened to his speech. Seemed interesting enough and did get my attention. I really can't say that he "inspired" me, as I was more into the salty side of the world. Remained in that world for a long, long time. It was some 30 years later that I got back into freshwater bass fishing and started watching some of his fishing videos. My, how things had changed! He had changed hardly at all! Roland didn't seem a year older lol. Anyhow, I watched some of his current videos more because they related to my fishing area, which is the Florida Everglades and Fellsmere. His topics and presentations were spot on for those areas. So I guess he inspired me in that kind of way.

Sad news, especially with a young family and child. Goes to show that even with a buddy system, conditions can go from good to bad to worst out in a kayak.

I watched the video and found it interesting how bass tend to track back to their original holding spots, wherever that may have been, and hold tight for weeks or even months on end. I recall JT Kenny on a podcast talking about how these big tournaments like MLF, Bassmaster keep catch statistics. The accumulated data showed that bass are usually caught in spurts all over the lake all at once by the anglers, a sort of on/off pattern throughout the course of the event. Many of these catches where in spots that were previously fished hard by the anglers without results, which basically says to hit the same spot over and over throughout the day to eventually get a good bite. In other words, if a spot looks ripe, has the appeal to harbor fish but somehow cast after cast is dead, then just come back later and it may be on fire. I proved this to myself the other day, a certain spot was dead as a doornail. Then, after I ate some lunch, I took a blind cast expecting nothing really and an 8 pounder lit up my world. I had previously hammered this spot over and over and came to the conclusion that it was a dead end street. And I basically quit fishing it. I only took a lazy cast that day because I happened to be near it. So it's very interesting how bass do hold onto their spots, day in and day out, until they get that urge to strike. Now, if one could figure out what causes that "urge" and what causes it all over the lake all at ounce, then that would be the icing on the cake!

Here ya go. My favorite. Sixth Sense Trace Live Shiner. This thing rocks!. No affiliation.

Stage 1 ~ I want to catch Bass – any Bass. Stage 2 ~ I want to catch as many Bass as I can. Stage 3 ~ I want to catch a Big Bass Stage 4 ~ I want to catch bass the way I want to catch Bass. Stage 5 ~ I want to help other folks catch Bass. Great post! Like most, I've experienced all these stages mentioned and pretty much settled on stage 3. In my younger years I played around on stage 1 and then progressed to stage 2, basically following the pecking order. Took a long time to learn that my biggest obstacle was my own thought process, like breaking away from a stage in order to move on to another stage, eventually getting the experience in order to get to stage 5. All the stages where great but all shared one thing in common: I always desired that big bite! And when I finally started getting those big bites, I knew then what I wanted most. Big fish for me became my total focus. Sometimes I use other stages like stage 1 to let me know when the bite windows open in order to get the stage 3's. But big bass is what I'm after when I hit the water, day or night. I know they're out there, silently waiting. Might not get as many bites. Might not get as many fish. But when they do exploded on my lure, and that heavy weight feels like a living bomb, it's a flash like no other! It's very rewarding to pursue and catch a big, smart, explosive bass.

Lol yep, in some places can walk over them like rocks, just like in Jesup, mainly in the summer. Gators can be quite useful at night.

I kayak fish at night down here in the south Florida Everglades. Started out bank fishing at night. Never a problem with any gators. Actually, they are lot easier to see at night. Their eyes glow red when light is shined. Easy to pick out when casting. Helps save on the lures lol.

I'll most likely be where I am at right now, which is Florida near the coast. I'd need to be near both fresh and saltwater because I fish both. My only problem is having two places here, one on the east coast of Florida and one on the west coast of Florida. So it'll be a coin toss between them, I reckon.

Yep. It's more a wind knot that wasn't seen on a previous cast and then frazzled up good on the last cast. Hats off for not doing it for 36 years!

One of the main things that I watch out for (and I don't see much of this happening with many fisherman in places that has a lot of gators) is to be VERY mindful when handling those exhausted bass IN the water, catching or releasing. I've seen many guys dangling a fish over the side of a craft in water with very low visibility--reviving or whatever, lotta meat dangling around just below the service for a 9 footer to take quick advantage of! I've seen many gators dive off the bank, only to hug the bottom for a long time. They claw into the mud, locking themselves down, all the while looking upwards, silently watching and waiting, which is what they do. So they're down there, big ones, watching and waiting for that ripe opportunity. Sharks do it. Why not a hungry gator? Watch those hands!

Yeah, man, took a lot to get things dialed in. I mainly fish the glades at night, so it was more a sensory learning curve, meaning I had to learn to rely more on my sense of feel, sound, and shadow, not to mention that good 'ol sixth sense! lol.

2022 was a pretty good year down here in the south Florida Everglades. One of my most memorable outings was catching a bunch of trophy bass, all back-to-back, 8-9 pounders. They just kept coming lol. Average size, 24-25 inches

It's all one big picture, as far as I'm concerned. I don't fret when things get blurry, just push myself harder to clear the way. And if that doesn't work and if at the end of the day I show up empty handed, then no biggie. There's always a next time. And that next time, or even that next cast, is always the thrill that keeps the picture alive.

I hear ya. You want to win. You want to be in control. Yet I really think that your over thinking this. I mean, even in the best fisheries on the planet, there's going to be "off" days, even after that first cast catch. There's no piece of the puzzle to be had anywhere. No pro around or no great fisherman or no great electronic marvel can ever win over that fact. Just the way it is. One learns to take what they can get out of any situation. Regardless, I think most here would just LOVE to have your problems down there in those fabulous unpressured lakes lol.

Happens all the time here in the south Florida Everglades. I run across them all the time basking or just chilling and then out of the blue they explode into a stupendous run, making all kinds of racket to scurry away. Sometimes I shake my head, like really, why all the fuzz lol Goes to show they fear us as much as we fear them! At night they just float around all red eyed doing nothing much and when I get near them, they do a slow sink and vanish.

First thing I do is avoid the pattern syndrome altogether, thus avoiding the frustration and fishing sickness of which you speak. Those kinda thoughts will make short work out of the sport and perhaps end it altogether or at the very least skunk ya to death. Fishing is not ALL about catching fish, imho. There's plenty more to it however one may define it. Often times when I just go out to have fun and explore and relax, caring little about what I catch if anything, I tend to catch more nice fish than when I am totally focused and serious, sometimes even netting a giant trophy catch! I've surprised myself many times doing exactly that and say to myself that there must be something to it, perhaps subconscious or however subtitle, there must be some rational as to why that happens the way it does. Sometimes just letting go and following the instincts is the best bet. Try it.

Fronts and how they effect the fishing is also based on location. Down here in south Florida, for instance, a cold front can blow through and drop the water temps only by a few degrees, having little effect on the fish both before it and after it. Most of our cold weather is very short lived and when we do get nice chilly blow , temps can be back up in the mid to upper 80's or even 90's a few days later! Heck, most of December and January has been short pants and T'shirts lol. We have more bad effects from those big north winds mudding up the water, like on lake Okeechobee, for example, turning some of those nice fishing holes into chocolate milk. Ain't gonna catch nothing in that kinda mess. Some places fare much better than other places during the same weather conditions.