Capt Steve

Kent is a great guy. He doesn't even know me but he invited me to go smallmouth fishing with him last year. Not too many people would make that offer. Unfortunately I was unable to go at the time.

Welcome from Florida

Welcome from Florida

All the years I was growing up and bass fishing, when a person was landing a bass at boatside they either used a net or lip landed it. I rarely watch tournaments on TV but this weekend I was watching a tournament and noticed nowadays everyone reaches over the side and belly lands a bass. Is this just personal preference or is there a particular reason for this? I know some saltwater fish, snook for example, go partially paralyzed when you lay them flat in your hand. Is this the reason for landing bass like this? I used to read that lip landing a bass paralyzes it so it's easier to land and unhook. But I've also heard that it can damage the jaw of larger fish.

Grass has always been a love/hate relationship with people. When I was growing up the Harris Chain had almost no Hydrlla in it to my knowledge. Griffin was completely full of lily pads with trails running through it. Most Florida lakes had lots of hyacinths floating around. They too could be a problem if left alone. Hydrilla was considered a non native invasive species. Yes, I know grass is good for fish and for filtering water. However if left completely alone hydrilla will completely take over lakes. You should hear people complain when they can't even run a boat because the grass is so thick. Anyway, I'm not defending anyone here. I wouldn't want to be in their position of managing the water. Too many opinions. Small patches of grass is great for fishermen. But last year by late summer there were places in the chain you couldn't even get your boat on plane because of the thick "topped out" hydrilla. I'm sure the skiers and pleasure boaters really complained about that. What I always hated was the dead mucky bottom after the grass died.

I agree @Captain Phil If nothing else they should not allow tournaments during the spawning season. There were Saturdays in February that had 5 tournaments in the Harris Chain in one day. How many bass can be taken off the beds before it begins to be detrimental to the fishery? But, typical of Florida, they don't want to say "no" to anyone. Too much money involved. They'll wait til the horses are out before they close the barn door.

I fished Tuesday and I saw quite a few guys practicing on Griffin. Nobody bothered me and I didn't bother them. I'm old school when it comes to fishing near someone. It seems that a lot of people nowadays pull up right next to other boats that are already fishing. Maybe it's because the waters are a lot more crowded and that's what some of the younger people are used to. When I was growing up, if someone was sitting in a spot that you wanted to fish you went somewhere else. If you wanted to fish that place you should've gotten up earlier. You never pulled in on top of someone. The last few years that I was guiding, this happened quite frequently I had other guides (and non guides) pull up so close to me we could cast into their boat. Poor manners.

I missed the weigh in today. Was helping my son-in-law build a house so by the time we got finished, I had an hour drive. I'm sure some of them had to change their planned techniques today. It's been blowing here since mid morning. I live about two casts away from Lake Griffin, and when I got home, I could see it was rough on the lake. Hopefully I'll get up there to see it tomorrow.

I figured they would cancel it today's. I wanted to go watch the weigh in but we had a bad line of nasty storms pass through. Plus it's been blowing 20 plus all day. It'll be sunny tomorrow but still windy. Hopefully I'll get to go watch it.

They are good rods. I never use their casting rods, but when I was guiding, their spinning rods got used daily on my boat. They sometimes got a lot of abuse from customers but they stood up to the task.

The Withlacoochee is beautiful in the Spring. I spent most of my childhood summer days fishing there.

I've been using 87 ethanol in my outboard motors for years without any issues but they are run 1-3 times a week. I think sitting unused with ethanol in it is very bad. I never use it in weed eater, chain saw or any engine that may sit up for extended periods of time. I've already replaced more carburetors than I care to.

I had two of the Bass Pro Shops AM24 vests. They were comfortable but both of them self inflated even though they were inside my dry storage instead my carport. After the second time I didn't want to mess with them anymore. I returned it the second time and got store credit. I put up the extra money and bought a Mustang Elite. Ad mentioned earlier they won't inflate just by getting wet. They supposedly won't inflate until they are submerged 4 inches under water. so far it's working great but yes it's pricey. the AM24 is ok as long as you don't get it wet and keep it inside your house when not using it

Welcome from another Floridian.

Welcome from Florida