I hit the pond behind my house again, this time with my younger brothers visiting from Virginia. This pond is just full of action and life right now! Only landed one today but hooked around 20. I also found out I need to replace my line. I had a huge hit and it just started rolling, it cut back suddenly and with one final roll snapped my braided line just like that, 15lb braided. Saw 2 schools of tilapia, a water snake and I think I actually hooked a tilapia. I threw a b line into one of their beds on the edge of some plants and I couldn't see it but something grabbed it and ran directly to my right in a straight line then with a simple shake of the head underwater which is the only flash I saw, it spit the hook. I have heard about some of them grabbing things out of their beds to spit it out elsewhere and being hooked that way. This didn't fight like any bass I have felt yet.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180328/784d6d74009f7ad4aaf1a4042a7cf7a2.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180328/06101d98c32abfee2e102b1ad79e32af.jpg)
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Very cool. Having a lake in your backyard is awesome!! Thank you for sharing.
Residential ponds and lakes can be very productive. I don't doubt there are some BIG fish in there. Thanks for sharing your day with us! Hopefully you can land a few more next time.
A water snake? What in the? :shocking: That looks like something from the ocean?!
thanks for the report and glad you caught something. I think on my next outing I'm going to hit up one of them retention pons and see if I can find any action.
Quote from: Bassinlou on March 28, 2018, 10:53:08 AM
Very cool. Having a lake in your backyard is awesome!! Thank you for sharing.
lo
you spelled snake wrong!
pretty water!
Quote from: coldfront on March 28, 2018, 04:54:30 PM
lo
you spelled snake wrong!
pretty water!
Lol!!
Its Fl, I'm surprised he only saw one snake... lol!!
Ponds are always fun.
Now that snake looks like nothing I've seen on land or in fresh water. Stay clear of that one.
Quote from: zippyduck on March 28, 2018, 05:08:07 PM
Ponds are always fun.
Now that snake looks like nothing I've seen on land or in fresh water. Stay clear of that one.
Looks like a FL banded water snake. But since I respect snakes a whole helluva a lot, I still won't get that close to identify it... lmao
Quote from: Bassinlou on March 28, 2018, 05:20:43 PM
Looks like a FL banded water snake. But since I respect snakes a whole helluva a lot, I still won't get that close to identify it... lmao
as my good fishing buddy always says, ALL SNAKES ARE POISONOUS. lo lo
Quote from: Lipripper on March 28, 2018, 05:28:19 PM
as my good fishing buddy always says, ALL SNAKES ARE POISONOUS. lo lo
That's my theory. ;D
the only good snake is a dead snake.
that's my theory.
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A friend of mine posted a picture on how to identify a venomous snake by the features on its head.
I said if I can get close enough to notice those features, I'm already dead! I rather just run the other way without trying to identify if it's venomous or not.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180329/48b67c844c15c6f36e9c72bd4bc54339.jpg)
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Quote from: Lipripper on March 28, 2018, 05:28:19 PM
as my good fishing buddy always says, ALL SNAKES ARE POISONOUS. lo lo
always fascinated at folks who hold tight to 'old-time' beliefs and just can't seem to grow past them.
have a whole LOT of stories about snakes in the grass 'taking off' and my heart just about leaping out of my chest. if I were a cardiologist, I might want to patent that 'stress test'. lo
but man are they cool to watch 'doing their thing'. of course, good eyesight and the knowledge to identify species are key. not so cool to try and pick up a copperhead, rattlesnake or moccassin.
but once you get 'there' the rest are fair game. (floridians need to also know what a coral snake looks like and how it's different from banded king snakes - really cool little snakes by the way)
now, to be fair, those water snakes can be evil tempered, nasty little fellas. just not poisonous
I'm much more worried about yellow jackets!
I laugh at my Buddy John when he says that cause I respect snakes but they are not all deadly and they eat a lot of Varmints like rats and mice and help keep the population down.
I have a father who thinks the only good snake is a dead snake.
growing up on a farm, we used to occasionally run across the 5 foot bull snake that hung out around our milk barn. played with it, handled it every chance we got. endless garter snakes, ribbon snakes and water snakes hung out around our pond. Once got to handle a rat snake that I found in my room under a pillow (old farmhouse). the black racers were way too fast to catch.
we paid a LOT more attention to the brown recluse spiders.
Native snakes play an important role in our ecosystem. I don't wish ill will towards them nor want to kill them. Identifying them are easy, the problem is since they are so damn camouflaged, walking up on them unexpectedly could spell trouble.
I love snakes I think they are so cool. I'm with Coldfront bees and hornets or any flying bug that I can't identify terrifies me. I never kill them unless necessary because they have their place in everything but when they come flying around I turn into a statue. I have seen so many different snakes since moving to Florida. Once ran into a giant rattlesnake fishing a pond in the woods needless to say I went a different way.
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Quote from: HTTR on April 05, 2018, 05:34:29 PM
I love snakes I think they are so cool. I'm with Coldfront bees and hornets or any flying bug that I can't identify terrifies me. I never kill them unless necessary because they have their place in everything but when they come flying around I turn into a statue. I have seen so many different snakes since moving to Florida. Once ran into a giant rattlesnake fishing a pond in the woods needless to say I went a different way.
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Now just what was that rattlesnake doing fishing that pond? ;) ~shade lo
Quote from: HTTR on March 28, 2018, 10:46:14 AM
... Only landed one today but hooked around 20 ...
We might have to work on the hook-up ratio a bit next time ... according to my calculations that is a bit low.
Quote from: basss on April 09, 2018, 01:15:58 PM
We might have to work on the hook-up ratio a bit next time ... according to my calculations that is a bit low.
You're telling me good lord! Haha I have improved that dramatically. I was tying my lures straight to braid and fish were shaking it every time. I have since added a mono leader and no longer have that problem.
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They tell me that tilapia can be "trained" to bite on bread balls. I have never invested the time to find out. I catch them on a fairly regular basis on crank baits. Caught a 2.5 lb one cranking in 15 ft of water yesterday. They always have just the rear hook in them so they are striking at the lure for some reason.
Tilapia colored cranks have produced some big bass for me but the number of strikes is a lot less than say a blue gill colored one. I believe that in the water I fish that it is mostly the larger bass that are feeding on tilapia.
Interesting I never thought about tilapia colored baits, I will have to look for some of those.
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