It really feels great to talk about things that could stimulate your imagination and excitement. After the hectic stress of doing your activities for the whole week, you can no longer wait for the weekend to come. You start packing up your things and simply waiting for the wee hours in the morning and get ready for your trip to Ocala Florida.
While on the trip, everybody in the vehicle is sharing the enthusiasm in their journey to a land of big bass and warm weather.
There’s no place like Ocala Florida. If you want to make your fishing vacation more pleasant by remembering that it is a fishing vacation, make it a point that you are prepared to enjoy the whole experience, which includes kicking back and enjoying your friends, your surroundings, and your brief respite from the daily cares of your life. But some of the people who spend their vacation do it not simply to relax themselves from their stressful days but they go for bass fishing for a purpose. There enters the tournament, the competition of big bass fish fever caught by many anglers.
Before entering any Bass fishing tournament in Ocala, Florida try to remind some of these things:
The first step is to be sure that you have established your actual fishing goals and then ensure that they are in fact realistic, based on the amount of time you plan to spend seeking those goals.
The majority of bass fishermen will tell you that they are going to Florida seeking that elusive goal of catching a bass over ten pounds. If this is your goal have you considered how much time you will be able to spend in this endeavor? Fishing for a bass that size is what you have been doing since you started bass fishing; will eight hours on the water really give you that chance you are looking for?
Your decisions to hit the waters of Florida are a step in the right direction, but remember, fishing is fishing: can you realistically expect to get it done in an eight hour day? Sounds easy but the truth is, it’s not.
The Florida Game and Fish commission makes a list each year of what they consider to be among the top ten bass lakes which will give you a starting point. This list is based on both shock surveys and creel counts that are reported by fishermen during creel surveys. You now need to narrow the list down to your selection and the only way to do this realistically is to get several references based on other people's experiences. This is where they usually hold the tournaments. Ocala, Florida rarely leaves that list.
Most noted lakes and reservoirs in or near Ocala Florida are:
LAKE GEORGE
Lake George is one of the premier largemouth bass fishing lakes in Florida. It is the second largest lake in the state (46,000 acres), and is 18 miles northwest of Deland and 29 miles east of Ocala.
Lake George is one of the many natural lakes on the St. John’s River. It has extensive vegetation that provides excellent habitat for bass. Wade fishing in eelgrass with plastic worms fished on the surface, and other top water artificial lures, is productive. Fishing with live shiners is an excellent method for catching trophy bass during the spring spawning season.
Hot spots on the lake include Juniper, Salt and Silver Glen spring runs on the western shoreline. In winter and early spring, look for bass to congregate at the jetties on the south end of the lake. Casting deep-diving crank baits near old dock structures along the northeast shore and off Drayton Island can also be productive.
STICK MARSH/FARM 13 RESERVOIR
Created in 1987, the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 Reservoir is synonymous with trophy bass fishing. This 6,500-acre reservoir near Fellsmere, west of Vero Beach, became one of the hottest bass lakes in the country during the past decade. FWC biologists predict a continuation of excellent largemouth bass fishing in upcoming years. Electrofishing samples continue to indicate good reproduction and growth of bass in the reservoir.
Anglers can locate bass throughout the reservoir among a variety of habitats including woody stump fields, submerged canals and hydrilla. Summer 2004 hurricanes drastically reduced levels of hydrilla throughout the reservoir, however, which can affect where the bass are located. Anglers should keep this in mind when trying to pattern fish. Plastic worms, spinner baits, crank baits, soft jerk baits, and top water propeller baits are effective. Wild golden shiners are the top choice for anglers looking to catch a trophy fish.
The recreational harvest regulation for largemouth bass anglers is catch-and-release. There is a two-lane boat ramp, paved parking lot, picnic pavilions and rest rooms. No gasoline, food, ice or other facilities are available on site. This area is part of the St. Johns Blue Cypress Management Unit, see here for a recreational map of that unit.
These are some of the lakes where tournaments have been held and could be the place where future tournaments can be done. Try to practice and study the area so that when tournament time comes, you have an edge over the competition.
Whether you are on a new lake, or on one that you call home, the main purpose is to locate and catch as many fish as possible. Each body of water has an endless supply of different forms of structure and cover in a variety of depths and water conditions. You can use many types of fishing equipments to be able to get a lot of fish in a proper and legal way, so we need to take good care of our equipments used for catching fish.
Here are some bass fishing equipment tips to be remembered:
• Keeping your feet dry. Seal skin sox, a waterproof pair of shoe that can be worn in any shoe. It will help you a lot in putting your boat in a low lake that calls for a need for you to step in the water too push off, by doing this your feet will be dry all day.
• Keeping your rods good as new. It is nice to look at, especially when you always keep your rod clean. Just use a simple prep pad in cleaning the cork handles on the rod. If the cork of your fishing rods is very untidy then it makes your rods look like hundred years older than it really is. Take a very light grade sand paper and sand the cork handles, you will find out that all the dirt will go away leaving you with a brand new looking fishing rod. Plus it will make your rod last longer.
• Hi- tech basin. Handheld computer and organizers such as the palm pilot can be very helpful to the bass angler. You may be able to log conditions, creating your own checklist to avoid forgetting stuffs, and store the numbers of your new friends you’ve met along the way. You can also download map for your destinations and when you reach home you can easily access all the information to your home computer for future purposes.
• Being prepared. Always carry equipment and parts in the boat just in case some failures or problems occur.
• Batteries. Always check if you have a good connection. Take care of your battery. Always bring a spare for emergency purposes.
• Being organized. Instead of using a plastic filing box, and some hanging folders why don’t you just make an article and label them with general bass angling headings and file your articles as you finish them. Subscribing to a lot of fishing magazines and reading a lot of good articles will be able to help you for your future reference. You can put up a mini library that’s all about bass fishing.
• Boat bearings. Many anglers forget to check their wheel bearings on their boat trailers. Every spring when you get your boat out of storage, always have your bearings checked. This could save you from a serious accident with your boat
• Rod basic. The most accurate casting is accomplished when bait casting equipment is cast overhand. Bait casting gear is extremely well suited for "targeted" fishing. On some occasions placing a lure under a boat dock, under over lying limbs or between pontoon boats may be necessary. In this situation skipping a lure is ideal. A spinning outfit is perfect for this chore. Be versatile and be able to use both types of equipment.
• Graphite rods. The biggest killer of graphite rods is impact against a hard object. It may not break in that spot the day it happens but there will be a weak spot at that point. Keep this in mind when stowing rods for travel. If you are keeping them on the deck, strap them flush against the deck so that the parts of the deck aren’t rapping against it during travel.
If you are storing them in a locker, do the same or put them in a horizontal holding system, where they won’t hit the side or floor of the locker. If you are the non boater and your partner doesn’t have room in his locker, try to find the spot that minimizes the repeated bouncing they will take if they are laid over the gunwale. If you have to, lay them over your leg when running the big engine. It's never fun to set the hook on a good fish and end up with a three piece rod
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