A Thanksgiving Break Excursion to the Lake '22

 Well it is not the balmy 85 degree weather we had in the Florida Canals down in the Everglades two weeks ago, but it was still fun!  The air was cool and crisp, and it was pleasant on the water.  This particular lake we fish quite often in the summer.  It is known for its dense thick grass and algae blooms!  But, as I thought...now that the water is super cold the grass has died off significantly and the water was crystal clear to the bottom.  Lil' Shaka and I mapped out quite a bit of the lake because we could see so clearly. 

Here are my notes:

• Lake is at most 10-12 feet deep, but mostly 2-3 feed on average.
• Grass and weeds still very dense but now mostly covering bottom of lake.
• Some spots are open in the lake on bottom, revealing soft mud bottom.
• Tough to throw shaky head or jig, immediately gets into dense grass or weeds on bottom.
• Caught bass on weightness Zoom Flukes on drop or bottom of lake.
• I tried mojo rig, but no luck.  It does change the presentation a bit.
• Lil' Shaka tried out a jerkbait, but no dice, got caught up a bit too.

We will get some nice days again and go.  We'll try flukes and jerkbaits again and see what happens.  I think we can learn a few more tricks and get after them again.  I think there are some ways to go after these bass in this type of lake with dense grass.  I am very thankful this year for my family and friends.  I hope all of you are doing great.  Stay Committed, Stay Driven.

November 2022 in the Everglades

Day1
The first day in the glades of our November 2022 trip...Quick notes...We absolutely crushed the Peacock bass in the Everglades.  We did some live bait golden shiners and then when that ran out, we were catching them on Rapala Shadow Wraps.  The bite was definitely on.  We caught over 100 fish in 4 hours.  It was one of the best outings we've had with our guide Brett Isackson, who is like family to us.  We've been on fishing excursions in the glades with Brett for several years and he is one of the best guides in South Florida. We've learned at ton from Brett over the years on how to fish the Everglades and appreciate his friendship.

Day2

We fished our normal bank spots in the Everglades, but tried a few other places as well.  We went to Bass Pro down in Miami, Florida after our Day 1 excursion with Brett, and tried to imitate a few things that we learned.  We picked up some Rapala Husky Jerk Minnows, and even found some of the same colors (FireTiger and BlueGhost).  Then, I also picked up some VMC Dressed X-Rap Treble Hooks size 4 and changed out the back treble hooks.

As you can see in the below picture, we had a lot of fun catching Peas from the bank that day!  We really had no luck with any finesse baits during any of the days we fished.  This is quite the opposite from what we experience in the springs months in the Everglades.  In the spring months every day seems to be a multi-species day where you catch largemouth bass, bluegill, peacocks, ciclids, bowfin, and warmouth.

Lil' Shaka caught about nine Peas and I caught one, Ha Ha.  You all know me by now, I like to experiment and try different things...Lil' Shaka will find something that is working and then GRIND!  Quite honestly that is what you need to do in order to be successful fishing for Peacock Bass.  They like aggressive retrieves...these fish are the epitome of what it means to "power fish".  Lots of casting and lots of reeling in baits aggressively.  Next thing I know, he's caught 8 and I have caught none, LOL.  I switched up to what he was throwing and caught one almost immediately.

Day3

Definitely more of the same success!  This time I ditched all the soft plastics and anything finesse and went power fishing with Lil' Shaka as well.  I was using the BlueGhost version of the Rapala Husky Jerk Minnow and had a lot of success.  We fished for a few hours and caught 11-12 from the bank between us.

Conclusion

This trip was a special one. It was one of the first times we've had a lot of success catching Peas from the bank.  And, quite honestly, it was one of the first times we had a lot of success catching several fish in the November time frame of the year in the Everglades.  We've learned quite a bit about the behaviors of these Peacock Bass and how aggressively they want the presentations of the bait to be.  We'll be back in the Everglades next year some time!

September to October fall transition at the honey hole

It's now the middle of October in 2022.  The air is nice and crisp and the sun still warms the skin in the afternoon.  Temperatures are now dipping into the 40s and even 30s at night, but we are still seeing temps into the 70s during the day.  

I have not written in a awhile, but we've been hitting the pond on a regular basis.  It is amazing just how much the fish behaviors or activity change with the temperature of the water.  In September, the bigger bass in this specific pond were "triggered" to bite.  Some of the notable baits that worked well in September:

• Jigs Black and Blue...other colors and trailers worked, companies
• Zoom Brush Hog Mid-Size Black and Blue
• Zoom plastic worms various, Texas Rigged and shaky head
• Crankbaits, couple I had in the tackle box

Fast forward to mid October of 2022 and it is a much different story.  We are still catching them as you can see in this pic.  The challenge on this day was to fish for 1 hour and see if we can get 5 bass to the bank.  This is a common challenge for us.  A little bassmasters classic tournament style excursion to the pond! We accomplished our team goal.  We caught 6 bass in an hour.  Lil' Shaka was the overall winner with four fish caught to my two!  He caught one fish on a chatterbait, and the rest he found them stacked up and ready to bite a jig.  He was using a little Strike King Bitsy Flip Jig with a Strike King Rage Craw for the trailer.

Now, in October since it has slowed down...what rig have I gone to?  In the pic above, the trusty Mojo Rig that I learned to use a bit last winter into the spring.  This rig seems to work year around in this specific pond.  It is nothing special.  Literally, I use a split shot about a foot above the hook in order to get my fluke to the bottom.  Once my bait hits the pond bottom, I just drag it and jerk it.  Nothing special...really more like a Carolina rig.  In this pond it triggers the fish!

I hope you are all enjoying your fishing adventures and excursions this year.  Get out there and go fishing!  Stay Committed, Stay Driven.

Fall Transition 2022 has started for the Bass

 

I know that the fall transition is starting to happen because the water temperature in the local pond is starting to get a little colder.  The temperature at night is now dropping back into the 60s.  The other indicator is definitely the type of baits the fish are reacting to.  I am still getting some bites on plastic worms and even flukes, but it is not like during spawn when they are biting non-stop.  You have to work a little bit more during this time of year to catch them, and there is definitely no guarantee that you will catch them either.

It will be an interesting fall.  I am hoping to catch a lot more bass this fall than last year.  I am always trying to learn new baits and patterns.  This is what makes bass fishing so fun.  I hope you are all having a great weekend.  Stay Committed, Stay Driven.

Late August 2022 Fishing Still Producing Bass

 

It has been a really fun year getting to fish this specific lake.  Lil' Shaka and me used to visit this lake only to bank fish.  It is actually a tough place to try and bank fish because it is mostly covered by the tall grasses and reeds that you see behind me in this picture.  The Pelican Bass Raider has been a great addition to our fishing adventures.

I decided to get up and go this morning.  It is always great to catch a few right when the sun is coming up.  The sun makes the bass look a deep golden color, which is a pretty sight.  Lil' Shaka decided to sleep in, can't blame him...he is just getting a chance to come back from a hairline fracture in his thumb that he sustained right before the fall baseball season started.  Yesterday was the first time he could hit and catch without pain, so we are hopeful he can come back and perform for the rest of the baseball and football seasons.

I hope all of you are truly having an amazing day.  Enjoy your time over the weekend with family and friends.  I hope you are productive!  Stay committed, Stay driven!!!