Sp33dSnake

This one is easy. Happened a couple of months ago. Was fishing with my stepfather, a buddy, and we were in the Kissimmee River. Had thrown t rig magnum worms and swim jigs most of the day, big fat zero. Meanwhile, stepdad was on fish #5, my buddy caught his first ever bass, and I was having a big fat zero day. We were fishing near one of the locks, and I decide to go with a watermelon bladed jig with a super salt fluke. Can see plenty of fish feeding. Was using my 8.3 Shimano SLX XT with my 6'6" BPS Tourney Rod. After about five minutes, and just as about I was going to curse under my breath, something struck my lure and it felt like lightning shooting down my rod. Instantly, I snapped up, set the hook, and immediately knew it was something on the large side. I could feel the struggle in my wrists. A moment later, it broke the surface, and it looked to be about a 10-15lb catfish. When it went back in the water, I felt it struggling hard. ...and thats the moment the reel came off the rod. "Oh $&@!", I exclaimed, and then the line went slack. Fish off. My buddy groaned. My stepfather, as usual, was noncommittal. Got to keep my reel and lure, though the fluke trailer was gone. Now, even if I could do it over and lock down that reel like a vise, I'd still fail because a random tsunami would capsize the three of us in the water just as I was getting the fish in the boat.

Not really a sale, but snagged some whopper ploppers, spinners, crankbaits and rattletraps off of Temu for $1 per lure. The hooks remind me of Eagle Claw treble hooks...from the 1990's. xD Probably will get better hooks, tbh, but I tested them in the pool and they seem to do the job.

Boat ramp fishin'. Went with a t-rigged Senko worm. Probably about 1.5 pounds or so. Sometimes you just gotta get back to basics to reel 'em in.

Some small creeks, canals and ponds in and around Lake Okeechobee can give you some decent fishing. Especially during the season when everyone and their fat sister in law is out on the lake. This is a little connected pond that I typically breakout the ultralight on.

Walked to Taylor Creek, there are a lot of little waterways that go in and out of Lake Okeechobee. Since it's always Rattletrap season, I started throwing in a colorful one with a 8.2 Shimano SLX XT and my trusty BPS Tourney 6'6" medium fast rod. Within 15 minutes, I caught a fish, and was in Mudfish city. Catching something, is better than nothing....I guess. Now that I think about it, I've caught Nile Perch, Catfish, and Mudfish with this rattletrap...but no bass. Like, none. My lure looks like it survived the Ardennes in World War One now, but it still rattles..and still catches anything other than bass, lmao.

Like cowboying, fishing is an art without an audience. Sure, I have a smartphone, I have a go pro to show off a little when I catch something, but ultimately, it's you, your gear, and the fish. I ultimately enjoy it more than hunting nowadays.

Old school zoom finesse worms on a T-Rig. My PB was on a lousy 6" finesse black zoom worm on a Zebco 202, which struggled mightily to haul that 5.5lb bass out of the water. I thought I had a world record on that thing when I was 12. Honestly, finesse worms are still great, I don't mind throwing a skirted jig now and then. Catch mostly smaller panfish with it, but a bass still occasionally chomps down on 'em. I also have started running some shakyhead rigs on smaller worms as well. Mini rattletraps and baby spinners seem to attract more bites than full size lures when there is a lot of pressure.

I use my chevrolegs to keep my feet anchored on the bank.

Crackers, gatorade or water, sometimes soft mints to assuage my sweet tooth. I go light.

1-2 Rods/Reels, a small backpack with one Plano 3600, one BPS with terminal tackle. Ice cooler strapped to the luggage area of the KLR 650.

Welcome to the forum. There is a typically a lull after a major fishing tournament. My home lake, Okeechobee, just had a major bass tournament. There are a zillion boats going 90mph all over the lake, putting a lot of pressure on the fish. Sure they release em alive, but the fish are rightly spooked a bit after. I am not a bass expert, but my typical spots with typical lures have dried up. Have to resort to old school finesse worms to pluck a few out. Don't be too hard on yourself. We had a cold snap here as well, and that's gonna make em a bit sluggish. I've changed things up too, utilizing a tail spinner more, with mixed results. Sometimes experimenting with new lures is a great way to break a skunk streak. I'll tell you, I know a spinnerbait is considered a great lure, but I've only caught a handful of fish on them over the years, but with a bladed jig I slay them. (Which makes absolutely no sense).

Well..far be it from me to question religious beliefs, but are you sure there isn't a, "If there is a chance to catch a lunker you can be excused from bible study once a month" clause, is there? I mean, if there isn't that sort of rule, there should be. I have a small canal/pond area where I live. If I have less than an hour, it takes me five minutes to walk there and toss a lure it. There are some lilypads in there and the water is relatively shallow, so sometimes I can catch a fish with a topwater frog in the middle of the day. Then, I just go back, put my poles back in the shed and take care of whatever business I need to take care of.

In my childhood, we only had antenna. We typically had 3-4 local channels, depending on the wind. There was a guy out of WPB name Tom Twiford, his show was called, "Tight Lines". You had to get up at the crack of dawn to watch him. That was pretty much the only fishing show availible, and it was saltwater, not freshwater fishing. Much later (I think I was 16 or so), we lived in a house that had satellite TV. The one I would watch would typically be Bill Dance for fishing, or Ted Nugent for hunting. Watching Bill improved my worm technique and was good for a laugh.

If I had my way...my family came to Florida in the 60's, and didn't have a house. They tended a lock for the state, and had a houseboat on the Kissimmee River. That's would I would do. I'd take a houseboat up and down the Kissimmee River, and go after big Catfish Lunkers. I know there are some huge one in that river. Maybe have a Miami hurricanes football game on the radio with some beer. Smoke a tobacco pipe. Or a cottage Airbnb by a private beach and surf fish. Having company would be optional, but if I took anyone it would be my stepdad. I dream small.

Aren't 'no-show' jobs illegal as hell?

I don't doubt the difficulty in penetrating the social media market. I don't even think I said 'Youtube Get Rich Easy' comment. Being a 'youtube phenomenon' is like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles; there is a lot of work involved, and there is no guarantee you'll be successful. I was just making a point that there are guys that make way more money making fishing content for entertainment than being just a pro fisher. If you have nearly a million subscribers (like Norm and Ayo have), it's not impossible they carve out a decent living for themselves doing it; and they aren't top ten placers in pro fish tournaments. Before social media was a thing, pros utilized pre-social media (legacy media). Bill Dance and Roland Martin come to mind. They are good fishermen, but they are equally good salesmen. How many hunting and fishing shows to you see nowadays where there is always a product pitch, the guys wearing their sponsored clothes and utilizing their sponsored equipment and telling us how great the equipment is? That's the business. It came from guys like those two. Pro fishing doesn't have the mainstream appeal of something like Football or Baseball, where a mass amount of people watch it for the pure enjoyment of it. So if it doesn't have mainstream appeal, the sport has to make its money somehow. I love it, but there are people that love watching bowling too. Doesn't mean it's widely popular. Eventually, I'd like to compete in local tournaments for nothing more than the thrill of trying to win it. Competition is something that still stirs me up even though I'm pushin' forty. I'm not going to be a 'youtube phenomenon' <smirk>, and I don't want to even try.

It causes a more likely chance of wind knots on my open bell reels, seems to cause more backlashes on baitcasters (even with backing), and I've broken some off where the situation didn't seem like it should've broke. I wouldn't use Spiderwire in any application I fish in.

Guys like Norm and Ayo on Youtube probably do very well financially (I've heard that Ayo makes at least 200k/yr on views alone, minus sponsorships), and they are not tournament anglers. They are Youtubers that make fishing look fun. They are like Roland and Dance; they found out they could make more money in the entertainment business rather than the fishing business.

I picked up a castaway 7'3" flippin stick, a daiwa spinning rod/reel combo, and a Shimano Bantam 5:1 bait caster for $30 today. You can't hardly beat pawn shops if you're patient.

There's nothing in the state of FL I can't kill with a .30-06. But if we're talking 'ideal'. Small game: .17 HMR Varmint: .223 Medium Game: .30-06 150gr. Heavy Game: .30-06 loaded with 220gr. Fowl: 20ga Shotgun A .30-06 can use 90gr loads that have ridiculous FPS out the muzzle for Varmint huntin', if that's what you want to go with. There is quite a bit you can get done with a 20ga shotgun as well. Varmint to Medium game. A 12ga, especially a slug can take heavy game as well.

Well the problem would no longer be so much hooking, but getting the thing off the fish once its caught.

Living near the Big O, we were more concerned about Gators during mating season than anything else. I love guns, but generally, no, I didn't carry when I was fishing on a boat. If we had anything, when I was a kid, we either had a single shot .22 Hornet carbine or a Ruger Mk II .22 Pistol, but it was sort of a rarity. Generally, we didn't go where a lot of Gators were in the first place. The lake was big enough where we didn't have to bother with people either. If I get that Tracker Pro 175 down the line, I might keep a .22 pistol on the boat, but probably not on me. Not saying guys that carry ain't justified or wrong, but it's really not my thing out on the boat. Now, maybe if I'm going out on the town at night, maybe different story.

If you're talking lures that changed fishing, one could argue that the modern spinnerbait, produced in the early fifties is one of the most influential lures of all time. It inspired other similar lures like Tailspinners, Chatterbaits and Alabama rigs. And people STILL use them. And they are STILL effective. For me, a lure that changed my game, my repertoire, was a baby rattletrap. Later on, I got turned on to a full size rattletrap, but a baby rattletrap with continuous retrieve is not quite as good as finesse/senko worms for me; but it's one of those, "To hell with it, I know I can catch something with this lure, dammit!" lure.

I bought my first new rod/reel in 10 years last week...a Lew's Mach Smash Medium/Fast 7' that was discounted. Paired it with a Shimano DC 70 (also discounted). Usually, I get my stuff second hand from pawn shops. I bought a BPS Carbonlite with a 7' BPS Pro Qualifier M/H Rod that was missing several guides. I bought the reel for $35 and got the rod for free. A months work of weekends and entirely too much time went to putting new guides (four missing), and I got proficient in putting guides on rods, lol. I might try to build a rod of my own one day. But I typically try to get the most out of my money. I still have a 6'6" Medium Fast BPS IM6 Tourney Special I got when I was 16 (22 years ago). I kind of prefer it over modern rods because all the modern rods I see have micro guides, whereas my rod has smallish guides that have plenty of room for leader knots. Unless it snaps in two, I doubt I'll ever get rid of it.

Was going to get some rod socks, but thinking about it, a lot of my rods don't have baitholders, and I don't like hooking lures on the reel itself. It's just a me thing, really. So instead of rod socks, I went and got some lure covers instead. Dirt cheap, and I really like 'em. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DMT3YSSM?th=1