US 27 5/29/17 (Rick and RChiuz)

SFL BassHunter · May 29, 2017, 05:21:08 PM

Took the boat out and met up with Roberto on US 27. Was going to meet up with Lou and LMG but due to lane closures on the highway I got there after they had already launched.

Started at around 7am

The day started off CRAPPY. Put the boat in the water, the motor started right up. That is a good sign. NOPE. Put it in reverse and it cut off.Tried to start it multiple times and every time I put it in gear, foward or reverse it would cut off. I'm going to have to take the prop off and see if there is any line still in there from the last time I took it out. Got all tangled in line, but it looked like we had got it all. Seems like that may not be the case.
So I had to make a decision. Call off the the boat outing, or risk it and just fish with the trolling motor.

Knowing Lou was out there on his boat gave me enough comfort to venture out and let the wind push us slowly down the canal. Only using the TM when needed for maneuvering or to get in and out of the finger canals that are attached to the main one.

Started off with a white booyah frog and quickly started getting hits. Missed a few off the bat, but I tuned my hooksets and started ripping fish out of the water. Any bass that hit my frog today are probably regretting it. I started catching them at a decent pace that kept me wanting to continue throwing the frog even though the size of the fish weren't much to brag about. Some chunky fish out there though.

Eventually the frog bite kind of died down for me and I was in need of some rest. Sat down and started throwing the uvibe. Caught some fish on that. Eventually went back to the frog and caught some more.

At around 2:00pm the sun was brutal, and beating down on me pretty good. I was satisfied with leaving. Except I couldn't cause I had to keep trolling. I pulled out a pack of GY Senkos and caught some more on that deep.

Got back to the ramp at around 3:15pm

At the end of the day Roberto and I finished with 38 bass caught. Roberto caught some Pickerals as well, and I managed to hook a baby gar with a spook. Most of the fish caught were in the 13-15 inch range with some smaller ones thrown in the mix and a few bigger ones. I managed a couple of decent ones 16-17 inches.

Oh right, and it's that time of year where gators are very aggressive and territorial it seems. There were a few gators posturing and we saw several baby gators around.

Also one of the scariest things I have experienced in the glades, a fairly big gator came out in one of the finger canals from down below. I look down on my right hand side and I see something surfacing. A gator with it's jaw open, staring right at me. I tried to reach for the trolling motor control but it happened to be on that side of the boat and a little too close for comfort. I started slowly backing away as much as I could in my tiny tin. It came up and snapped its jaw just as the wind blew the boat over him.
If he would have decided to jump in...well, I don't know that I would be writing this report right now.
The rest of the trip I was paranoid of any gator I saw around and avoided them like the plague. But the fact that it was completely undetected until it surfaced 2 to 3 inches from the gunwale, really freaked me out.

In the end it was a fun productive day of fishing with Roberto who is always a pleasure to hang out with. I am positive we both broke our record of fish catches in a day.

Here are some pics of some of the fish I caught.

Our combined total

That is a big dead gator.

BarryFL · May 29, 2017, 05:33:54 PM

I haven't had any get that aggressive but I've had some over 10ft come right up to the boat. I fish alone a lot and am usually packing. If one came up snapping, he might find out what a 45 from a 1911 taste like. I'm good you didn't need to change your pants.

-Barry-

West6550 · May 29, 2017, 05:57:09 PM

Nice report Rick, sounds like a good day even if you didn't find a big girl or three.

big g · May 29, 2017, 05:57:28 PM

Nice report Rick, I'm glad you and Roberto had a nice day out there, minus the big Gator.

I was amazed when I saw you pulled over on 27. I was past you when a realized it was you out next to the road. I immediately thought trailer bearings. I was glad when you said everything was OK. We hung it up around 12:30. Just too hot for me.

Did you see the dead gator on the road south bound. Looked like a 16 wheeler wiped him out. The gators are getting more aggressive out there for some reason.

SFL BassHunter · May 29, 2017, 06:08:51 PM

Quote from: TR21PDCTampa on May 29, 2017, 05:33:54 PM
I haven't had any get that aggressive but I've had some over 10ft come right up to the boat. I fish alone a lot and am usually packing. If one came up snapping, he might find out what a 45 from a 1911 taste like. I'm good you didn't need to change your pants.

-Barry-

If it would have come up any higher, I would have needed to change my underwear, pants, shoes, socks...I mean it would have been a mess. Poor Roberto right behind me would have had to jump in gator infested waters just to get himself cleaned up lol.

Quote from: West6550 on May 29, 2017, 05:57:09 PM
Nice report Rick, sounds like a good day even if you didn't find a big girl or three.

I was in need of 3 big girls. But hey thats ok. I hit passed the 100" mark this month. So that's something. LOL

Quote from: big g on May 29, 2017, 05:57:28 PM
Nice report Rick, I'm glad you and Roberto had a nice day out there, minus the big Gator. I was amazed when I saw you pulled over on 27. I was past you when a realized it was you out next to the road. I immediately thought trailer bearings. I was glad when you said everything was OK. We hung it up around 12:30. Just too hot for me.

Did you see the dead gator on the road south bound. Looked like a 16 wheeler wiped him out. The gators are getting more aggressive out there for some reason.

George, thanks for calling me. Yeah like I mentioned I was checking on my temporary tail lights because I thought one had fallen over.

I saw the big dead gator, that thing was huge and all mangled up. Yeah one of them big trucks had to have done that.
I think its mating season, and a lot of the gators are protecting their young. Every time I saw a baby gator in one of them finger canals I turned the boat around and high tailed it. Most of the babies were at the end of the finger canals. They made themselves known coming after the frog.

Lipripper · May 29, 2017, 06:16:53 PM

Thanks for the report Rick and looks like the glades were on fire today.

Glad y'all caught several fish and glad that gator didn't come in your boat. Hope your motor is going to be OK and that maybe just some line in there you missed from last time out.

Capt. BassinLou · May 29, 2017, 06:19:48 PM

Thanks for the report Rick, sorry about your motor, mtg up with you and Roberto would have been fun. I'm happy to see you guys laid into a lot fish. Wtg!!

SFL BassHunter · May 29, 2017, 06:22:24 PM

Quote from: Lipripper on May 29, 2017, 06:16:53 PM
Thanks for the report Rick and looks like the glades were on fire today. Glad y'all caught several fish and glad that gator didn't come in your boat. Hope your motor is going to be OK and that maybe just some line in there you missed from last time out.

Thanks lip! Yeah fingers crossed about the line. Because frankly if it is ANYTHING else, I'm done with that boat and that motor.

Quote from: Bassinlou on May 29, 2017, 06:19:48 PM
Thanks for the report Rick, sorry about your motor, mtg up with you and Roberto would have been fun. I'm happy to see you guys laid into a lot fish. Wtg!!

Yeah it's too bad we missed each other out there. Next time!

LgMouthGambler · May 30, 2017, 05:37:46 AM

You guys did really good out there despite the hiccup. Don't worry about them gators, they harmless. We had one that was right next to the boat, I could have reached down and touched him. Lol. They just curious.

<")))>{

Deadeye · May 30, 2017, 09:08:26 AM

Way to make the day work even with the motor issues.

Keep you eye on them gators and don't let them have a Rick Sandwich.

SFL BassHunter · May 30, 2017, 09:14:27 AM

Quote from: LgMouthGambler on May 30, 2017, 05:37:46 AM
You guys did really good out there despite the hiccup. Don't worry about them gators, they harmless. We had one that was right next to the boat, I could have reached down and touched him. Lol. They just curious.

<")))>{

No this guy wasn't curious. He was letting me know I had to go. He came up and snapped at me. Never had them do that before. They usually just swim along side the boat. This guy was letting me know I was an unwanted guest in that finger canal. lol

Yeah one of the things I was curious about and asked Lou this morning was about cover. Because I remember both times being out there, there were a lot more pads than we came across yesterday. We got almost to the tower, but that is where you guys started. Unfortunately due to that hiccup we were fishing very sparse pads. Because the landscape was more baron, the majority of the fish were holding deeper using that drop off as their cover. Any pads we found usually resulted in a fish catch. I also caught some under branches, and just about any cover that was out there. We were also fishing behind 2 other boats. So we did the best we could with what we had lol.

Quote from: Deadeye on May 30, 2017, 09:08:26 AM
Way to make the day work even with the motor issues.

Keep you eye on them gators and don't let them have a Rick Sandwich.

Thanks Fred! Yeah I'm not gonna take up gator wrastlin any time soon. lol

cport · May 30, 2017, 09:49:50 AM

Great job, Rick! I gotta say, I'm sure that most boaters would have rightly loaded back up with that motor issue, but you did the same thing I would have...ain't nuttin gonna stop a planned fishing trip!

FloridaFishinFool · May 30, 2017, 09:56:22 AM

Sounds like a fun day despite the difficulties. Glad you caught some fish and a good number too!

SFL BassHunter · May 30, 2017, 09:59:13 AM

Quote from: cport on May 30, 2017, 09:49:50 AM
Great job, Rick! I gotta say, I'm sure that most boaters would have rightly loaded back up with that motor issue, but you did the same thing I would have...ain't nuttin gonna stop a planned fishing trip!

Yeah Cport it wasn't an easy decision to make.

Lipripper · May 30, 2017, 10:05:40 AM

Quote from: rickdelprado on May 30, 2017, 09:59:13 AM
Yeah Cport it wasn't an easy decision to make.

It helped knowing that Lou wasn't to far away and could give you a tow back to the ramp if you needed one.

SFL BassHunter · May 30, 2017, 01:25:08 PM

Quote from: Lipripper on May 30, 2017, 10:05:40 AM
It helped knowing that Lou wasn't to far away and could give you a tow back to the ramp if you needed one.

Yup!

FlatsNBay · May 30, 2017, 02:17:12 PM

Glad your trailer bearings made it to the ramp but only to find your motor not working. Sounds like you still can't shake the bugs out of your rig! Nice job on the fish in limited waters.

SFL BassHunter · May 30, 2017, 02:37:53 PM

Quote from: FlatsNBay on May 30, 2017, 02:17:12 PM
Glad your trailer bearings made it to the ramp but only to find your motor not working. Sounds like you still can't shake the bugs out of your rig! Nice job on the fish in limited waters.

No I can't, but if this turns out to be something other than what I think it is. I am going to shake the rig out of my yard. lol

West6550 · May 30, 2017, 02:51:43 PM

Easy tip for small engine repair Rick, pour gas over it then watch it burn!!!! Lol

SFL BassHunter · May 30, 2017, 06:39:56 PM

Quote from: West6550 on May 30, 2017, 02:51:43 PM
Easy tip for small engine repair Rick, pour gas over it then watch it burn!!!! Lol

Hell if I'm going that route I'll make sure it's attached to the boat still so the boat goes up in flames too. Should be quick with the wood deck and all lol

j102 · May 30, 2017, 08:31:15 PM

Thanks for the report Rick. It sounds like a productive and fun (even with the alligator encounter) day for you guys.
It's hard to see using my phone, was it really a dead alligator?

SFL BassHunter · May 31, 2017, 05:55:23 AM

Quote from: j102 on May 30, 2017, 08:31:15 PM
Thanks for the report Rick. It sounds like a productive and fun (even with the alligator encounter) day for you guys.
It's hard to see using my phone, was it really a dead alligator?

Yeah it was a big bloated dead gator. It looked and smelled dead lol.

j102 · May 31, 2017, 06:29:43 AM

Oh man! You don't see too many dead ones.

SFL BassHunter · May 31, 2017, 08:05:08 AM

Quote from: j102 on May 31, 2017, 06:29:43 AM
Oh man! You don't see too many dead ones.

Not unless they are on the side of the road.

Capt. BassinLou · May 31, 2017, 08:12:40 AM

That dead gator more than likely was a boat strike. The one on the side of the road, which I did see heading back home, was obvious vehicle strike. I also saw a nice snake on the side of the road also. Few months ago, I saw my first dead python.

big g · May 31, 2017, 10:12:01 AM

Yah Rick the big ones don't move out of the way of the rocket boats fast enough. They can put a hurting on a lower unit. I once saw a dead one at the first cut at Loxahatchee. The vultures were taking turns riding the blotted body and having a feast. The smell was horrible!