Question:
Our family of 14 (parents, brothers, wives, cousins) went to Disney World
for the last 5 days. One of the mornings we decided to book a 2 hour fishing
trip near the Contemporary Resort for 8 of us.
We split up into 4 per pontoon boat (Tracker Bass Barge 21). It had 4
seating positions 1 at each corner of the boat.
I don't know much about Bass fishing, the only thing I know is, when the
line twitches a few times or tightens up, set the hook and reel it in. I
know how to cast from fishing once in a while as a kid, but most of my
fishing experience has been trolling for dolphin in the gulf stream near
Homestead, Florida south of Miami.
The guide informed us that the fishing has been a bit slow, and between the
4 of us we should expect 10 to 12 fish in the 2 hours. =) Not surprising
since the fish population in this lake is more than 4 times the amount of
any other lake in Florida.
At 7:00am, the sun isn't out yet. The guide let us know the fish wouldn't
bite till the sun hit the water but we'll give it a shot. He was correct but
I always heard the fishing was better before the sun came up. Maybe it's a
misconception because people that bass fish usually are trying to get into
their favorite position before the sun comes up.
We used live shiners as bait and 6.5' to 7' rods with spinning reels. I
don't know the line weight or hook size.
We started out near a fairy boat dock and like I said, not a bite in the
first 1/2 hour as the sun wasn't above the trees yet. We moved to another
dock area back to the Contemporary Resort on the west side of the lake. When
the sun hit the water we started getting bites, but we missed probably 5 or
6 in a row till the guide demonstrated how and when to set the hook. After
that, we had a blast.
My 10 year old son landed the first Bass of around 3 lbs. plus or minus a
few ounces according to the guide. I took a pic and I'll post it to
alt.binaries.pictures.fishing later.
After that I landed 3 - 2+lb bass at the front of the boat and 2 - 2+lbs.
and 1 - 3.5 or so lbs. bass at the back of the boat. I switched from the
front to the back cause my brother didn't get any bites. I already caught 3
so I thought I'd give him the opportunity. First cast after we switch I
caught the 3.5 pounder.=)
Anyways, I realize I wasn't really fishing hence the name of the thread "I
went catching". Using live shiners, fishing near a dock where kids feed fish
food pellets half the day to the fish, and being in a lake that has been
stocked in the 1970's and been nothing but catch and release since can't be
called fishing.
I have a few questions about what took place and getting started:
1. While fishing with live shiners, the bass didn't hit the shiner till the
eyes were pecked out by the blue gills. Why weren't the bass hitting the
shiner until they were dead?
2. Every single time a boat came into the dock we were fishing at, we caught
fish. Do bass prefer to strike when water is rough or the water is stirred
up?
3. Do "hardcore" anglers fish near docks? hehe
4. I'm going to get some equipment to do some bank and dock fishing to start
out. Any suggestions of what to start out with? I have a new casting reel
that I grabbed from a buddy that never used the reel. I don't have a rod yet
to go with it.
5. What do you do to keep a 10 year old entertained on a day when the
fishing is extremely slow?
6. We live in the Orlando, FL area and I frequent the Wekiva Springs River
in a canoe. Where would I learn to fish this particular area or habitat?
Answer:
-Many years ago my father-in-law took me bass fishing in the Jacksonville
area using live shiners we caught using a throw net. We used spinning rigs
with bobbers. When a bass would hit it and take the bobber down, I would set
the hook and miss the fish every time. He told me to wait until it hit it a
second time, then set the hook. That worked. According to him the bass
scales the shiner on the first hit and then comes back to take it I don't
know if that's true or not, but it worked..
-I have fished the Central Florida waters for 25 years and used to guide on
the Toho chain of lakes. Shiner fishing is quite common here for catching
trophy bass, but artificials work quite well too. Just last night my son
and I caught more than 20 bass, 6 of which were over 5 lbs., and 3 of which
were over 7 lbs. We caught them all using plastic worms. We were fishing
on Lake Maitland which is part of the Winter Park chain.
In answer to some of your questions:
1. I think you were misled, as in all my years I never heard of bluegills
pecking the eyes out of shiners. Bass will usually not hit a dead shiner,
in fact it really pays to change them often to keep them lively. Bass feel
the vibrations, from a good distance away, of the shiner that is struggling
on the end or your line. The reason to wait after the bass takes the shiner
is to give the bass time to turn the shiner to swallow it (they have to
swallow it head first).
2. Not sure about the boat thing.
3. Hardcore anglers fish where they think the bass are.
4. Go to the Bass Pro Shop (Outdoor World) on I drive and they will help
you choose the right equipment.
5. If you are intending to fish for bass, be prepared for a lot more slow
days than days like at Disney. Start the 10 year old catching specks or
bream, and slowly work to bass.
6. The Wekiva River would be my last choice for bass. Many of the local
lakes offer much better fishing.
